Here is a map showing the major star systems of the Juventius Sub-Sector, home of the Juventius Free Regiment (John’s renegade [?] Imperial Guard faction in our Caluphel Awakenings campaign). Look for future game reports and mini-campaigns set in the sprawling worlds of the Juventius Sub-Sector!
One of several ways to earn points in our current Caluphel Awakenings campaign is to paint up new units. Last month I knocked out a squad of Plague Marines for my Death Guard vectorium, the Maggot Magnates.
This month I am pleased to showcase another unit for the Magnates (my take on Nauseous Rotbone, the Plague Surgeon) as well as some minis painted by fellow player Jim: a trio of hulking, brutal Bullgryns known as the Bill Collectors. (Possible tagline: “Past due? No good for you.”)
I’m particularly enamored with the glowing blue effect Jim achieved on his shock mauls.
And here is Nauseous Rotbone, the Plague Surgeon for the Maggot Magnates. Hold still, this won’t hurt a bit.
That’s all for now! We’re planning a Kill Team night this weekend, so be sure to check back for photos and a game writeup.
If the enemies of the Imperium could be said to have a grand plan, then the slow-moving catastrophe taking place in the Glouroth Sector is proof positive of that plan’s effectiveness. A grinding years-long invasion of the sub-sector has been accomplished by the nightmarish legions of the Maggot Magnates. Only now, as forces compete to exploit the secrets of Caluphel Prime, are the true ramifications becoming known.
Warzone Endymion
The Glouroth Sub-Sector is dominated by Warzone Endymion, a horrific quagmire centered on the charnel world of Endymion-Delta. Across the half dozen worlds in Warzone Endymion, plague marines from the Maggot Magnates vectorium have entrapped an entire Imperial Guard regiment — the stalwart Magnadim 216th Shock Regiment, better known as the Ironshields of Magnadim — in a protracted war of attrition.
Endymion-Delta
The Maggot Magnates‘ strategy is on obvious display here, with great hordes of plague zombies choking the cities and hives on the planet’s surface. After years of fighting, the Ironshields of Magnadim have been reduced to isolated, understrength combat forces fighting desperate defensive battles in the marshy outlands. Food, ammunition and other supplies are in desperately short supply. The Magnates’ strategy is not to defeat the Imperial Guardsmen on the field of battle, but instead to keep them locked in a costly war of attrition so that the many virulent strains and diseases carried by the forces of Nurgle can do their work.
The Rictus Moon
A vast, thousand-kilometer-long scar gouges across the surface of this small moon, a legacy of centuries of careless industrial mining. Now the moon itself is wracked by earthquakes and scoured by gale-force winds — but its proximity to Endymion-Delta makes it an attractive spot for a forward operating base for the Maggot Magnates.
The Hollow Moon
The Hollow Moon represents the ghastly future of The Rictus Moon. The former mining colony has been cored out like an apple and even now trembles on the verge of collapse. Raiding parties — both Imperial and Chaos alike — nonetheless brave the landslides and chem geysers in search of vital promethium deposits that have been unearthed by The Hollow Moon’s death convulsions.
Moulder’s Landing
This small planet is dotted with isolated settlements, many located hard against trackless forests and tundra. With only token support from the Ironshields, the hardy Imperial colonists on Moulder’s Landing have effected a surprisingly effective defense of their meager home world. After a few costly forays, the Maggot Magnates have ignored the planet for now, allowing the settlers to breath a sigh of relief in the otherwise grim environs of Warzone Endymion.
Pestus Maximus
A former shrine world, its surface encrusted with monuments to the glory of the Emperor, Pestus Maximus was one of the first planets to fall in Warzone Endymion. When the forces of Chaos arrived, millions of pilgrims fled to the few star ports on the planet’s surface, hoping to find safe passage off world. What starships remained, however, were quickly pressed into service elsewhere in the Glouroth Sub-Sector, leaving the pilgrims to be summarily slaughtered by the invading Chaos army. Today the shattered statues are blackened by creeping fungus, and drenching acid rain falls across the entire planet — landing chiefly on the vast, roaming hordes of Poxwalkers, which are occasionally rounded up and shipped off world by plague marines seeking reinforcements for other battlefields.
Hundvolst
Prior to the outbreak of war, Hundvolst had been a prime recruiting world for the Ironshields of Magnadim. Warring feudal states, operating a tech level best described as “medieval,” produced hardy warriors for the Imperium. The Maggot Magnates swept in like a storm, annihilating key population centers with a series of precise orbital drops and sending the survivors fleeing into the dark, forested hinterlands. Today, the uplands of Hundvolst are dotted with the ruins of castles and keeps, and the grim survivors have launched a doomed guerilla war against the occupiers. Rumors persist that the Hundvolst resistance is being organized and led by a shadowy Inquisitor operating toward his or her own motivations.
Venar-661
Nominally a dead, lightless world with no obvious value, Venar-661 commands the approach to the Silurian Expanse and thus offers a strategic observation point for fleets approaching Warzone Endymion. Both Imperial and Chaos forces have landed small vanguard detachments onto Venar-661’s craggy, cratered surface, and it is only a matter of time before war comes to this small planetoid.
Torrid Pointe
Along the storm-wracked margins of Warzone Endymion, the Imperium has managed to keep one small escape corridor open. Torrid Pointe represents the only safe, navigable deep space route for refugees fleeing Warzone Endymion. A ramshackle squadron of warships from the Imperial Navy and at least one Space Marine chapter have pledged to hold Torrid Pointe for as long as possible. Meanwhile, the Maggot Magnates have recently become apprised to the location of Torrid Pointe and are mustering a strike fleet to destroy the defenders and “close the curtain” once and for all.
Magnadim
With the greater part of its strength trapped in Warzone Endymion, the 216th Shock Regiment finds itself hard pressed to organize a defense of its titular home world. For now, Magnadim itself — with its ash-choked skies and ferocious volcano chains — is calling up conscripts by the thousands, forcibly recruiting the hardy miners and geotechnicians that make up the planet’s workforce. Bolstering this effort are the isolated platoons and understrength companies that manage to escape the Warzone via Torrid Pointe. Magnadim’s commanders can only hope that their hasty recruitment is enough to stop the inevitable invasion that will come when Warzone Endymion finally falls.
Fumarole V
The fifth planet in the Fumarole star system, Fumarole V is a frigid, radiation-drenched planet where indigenous life struggles to survive beyond single-called organisms floating in seas of chemical brine. The planet’s hostile environment meant that most explorator missions bypassed it in favor of other destinations, so its surface is largely unexplored and unmapped. With the outbreak of war, Imperial reconnaissance patrols, desperate for resources or strategic advantage, have uncovered evidence of crashed vessels, possibly Imperial in origin, in the shallow chemical oceans near the planet’s equator.
Glouroth Listening Station
Installed originally to monitor the peculiar region known as the Gulf of Bittenbrach, the Glouroth Listening Station has now refocused its efforts on the inexorable advance of the space hulk Crucible of Flesh. Extremely long-range readings of the approaching space hulk suggest a massive vessel, tens of miles in length, composed of centuries of accumulated flotsam and jetsam from deep space. Historically, space hulks can often contain long-lost archeotech, so Imperial leaders in the Glouroth sector are strongly considering mounting a salvage mission.
Palus Primus and Palus Secundus
Twin hive worlds orbiting a common yellow sun in the Palus Reach, these two planets operate massive factories staffed by millions of indentured hive workers. While initially dedicated to the production of large-scale agricultural equipment destined for off-world export, the outbreak of war has been the factories of the Palus Reach re-engineered to produce materiel for the battlefield. Even now, tanks and artillery vehicles have begun rolling off the assembly lines. The invading Chaos forces have taken note, and a spearpoint assault aimed at the heart of the Palus Reach appears imminent.
What madness has gripped me? Somehow, against my better judgement, I’ve started piecing together a Skaven army composed primarily of the old metal models that I coveted in the pages of White Dwarf magazine as a young man. Such folly!
But, of course, this announcement comes with some caveats.
First of all, I’m building an army for Dragon Rampant, not Warhammer. DR requires fewer models and gives players quite a bit of leeway to customize their forces, so my Skaven horde needn’t be represented by 100+ figures.
The typical unit size in DR is 12 models, with elite or specialty units often represented by just 6 models. So to start out, I’m shooting for the following:
So as you can see, I’m looking at maybe 50 models or so. And I should be able to use most of the old-school Skaven models I acquired and painted up a few years ago.
But why now? Well, the genesis of this particular idea came when I purchased a big ol’ box of random, mostly metal Middlehammer minis from a guy in Norway. If you know me, you know that I live for grab bags like this. I pulled out a few intact units, listed them for sale on a buy-sell, and made back the money I’d sunk into the purchase.
That left a random assortment of Middlehammer-era Skaven for me to ponder. I started idly painting them up a couple months ago, just as a palette cleanser between 40k units for my Death Guard army. I play plenty of skirmish games, so I can always find a use for a few evil ratmen fighters. Here are a few of the guys I’ve completed lately.
I gather that this fellow is a Black Skaven from Mordheim. He’ll fit in perfectly as a bodyguard for my warlord.
And this guy was sold as a Skaven Warlord, but to me he looks like another bodyguard type. That’s probably the most heavily armored Skaven figure I’ve ever seen!
And here’s the first of a few support weapons: the Warpfire Thrower! I’ve got a rattling gun ready for some paint, too.
I’ll end with a request. Building units in multiples of 6 and 12 has made it a little hard to track down individual models to fill out squads. If you have a few spare metal Plague Monks or Clanrats bouncing around in your bits box, I’d love to swap you something for them and add them to my army. Drop a comment and maybe you can help me out!
Here’s one last faction writeup for our Caluphel Awakenings campaign! This one comes from Alex and focuses on his Salamanders Space Marine warband.
Long before the 41st millenium, during the Horus Heresy, the Primarch Vulkan had Forge Father T’kell hide nine of the powerful artifacts he had created in a hidden vault upon an unnamed world. He did this to ensure the artifacts would never fall into the hands of the traitor forces encroaching upon the loyal Imperium.
The artifacts were lost to history and hunted by loyalists, traitors, and xenos alike. The Salamanders did not recover any of the artifacts until the early 41st millenium, when Forge Father Vulkan Dir’san found the forge-ship Chalice of Fire along with the artifact known as the Eye of Vulkan drifting in space. This discovery kickstarted a new search for the rest of the artifacts. The Salamanders now have five of the nine and are still in their perpetual quest to obtain the final four.
Near the end of the 41st millenium, Techmarine Argos, the Salamanders’ Master of the Forge, discovered a clue as to the whereabouts of the vault that was meant to hide the artifacts upon the Chalice of Fire. The ship was designed to transport the artifacts to the massive vault that would hide them.
This spurred the full mobilization of a battle group meant to finally find the ancient vault once and for all and — hopefully — uncover more clues as to the whereabouts of the last four artifacts. The forces composing the battle group where the entire first company, elements of the second, third, and the seventh companies, and including large elements of the Salamanders armory and a sizable chunk of their fleet power.
The battle group was led by the Captain of the second company, Al’kehere, and Forge Father Vulkan He’stan. Now known as the Crusade of Fire, the battle group departed just as the Thirteenth Black Crusade got underway. As they were in transit, Cadia fell and the Cicatrix Maledictum formed and broke apart the fleet. Three quarters of the Crusader of Fire materialized from the warp southeast of Macragge. The rest of the fleet was lost to the warp, including the majority of the first company, the Forge Father, and almost the entirety of the Salamanders armor.
However, a beacon of light gave hope to the broken Crusade. The Salamanders’ ships picked up the astropathic calls of friendly Imperial forces in a nearby sector, above the world of Caluphel. Not knowing what had transpired or how long they had been lost in the warp, the Salamanders resolved to meet their Imperial allies — who, beyond the Crusade’s knowledge, were being reinforced by a new ally to the Imperium.
Captain Al’kehere was chosen to lead the Crusade of Fire for his knowledge of the area and its native xenos, experience he gained from prior engagements in the sector.
The captain was born near the middle of the 41st millenium to one of the few remaining nomadic tribes of Nocturne. He was discovered by the captain of the seventh company on a training mission as young Al’kehere was attempting to save his father from a firedrake with only his hammer.
It was a losing battle to be sure. The seventh company captain saved him and his father and rewarded him with a choice for his valor and courage. He would either escort them home, or Al’kehere could have the option to join the next batch of aspirants to join the seventh company.
Realizing it was an amazing honor to join the Salamanders’ ranks, he was encouraged by his father to accept the Captain’s offer. He managed to survive the grueling tests of the Salamanders and made it through his time as an aspirant to become a battle brother in the devastator core of the second company.
He rose quickly through the ranks of the second for the same courage that won him a place in the chapter’s ranks. By the end of the 41st millennium, he had achieved the rank of Captain and Master of the Watch for almost 400 years of exemplary service. During those four centuries, he perpetually fought for the Emperor and Vulkan, making him an ideal leader for the Crusade of Fire.
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