Hitchcock + Cryx

Alright, all 20 Carrion Thralls are complete.

 Nothing super fancy here, just undead robot crows.

I like having the option of two full squads or two smaller 6 model squads.

 

Sucks that these are only force allowance two, as three 6 model squads would be fun to play.

Now to find some way to transport these. That will be an issue.

The wings, height and poses will be a transportation nightmare.

Talon of Horus book report!

The cover is 100% not accurate to the story.
Actually it is more like 2% accurate.

Aaron Dembski-Bowden, this dude has become my second favorite writer of 40K tales.

Talon of Horus is a tale staring a Thousand Son sorcerer, Khayon, who is a prisoner of the Inquisition. He has been tortured and bound and left alive to answer various question and tell his tales. Why? Well the Inquisition is interested in the founding of the Black Legion and its leader Ezekyle Abaddon.

Khayon takes us back to the time between the end of the Hersey and before the first Black Crusade. It is a time where the traitor marines are the “boogey men” the Imperium warns their children about. They are legend and no more believable than Bigfoot. Well that is outside the Eye of Terror.

Inside it is a different story with traitor warbands battling each other for glory, goods, lands or because they are bored. We get a good bit of description of life within the Eye o’ Terror and the powers of Chaos. It is a much different description than that of previous Eye o’ Terror cannon. A bit refreshing to see it isn’t just a place of angry Marines, demons and cultist loons 24/7.

Khayon and his little warband (which is full of demons, a Dark Eldar Scourge, a World Eater who is fantastic dry comic relief, a living space ship computer drive  (think Melfina from Outlaw Star anime )and an Emperor’s Children (or is it Child when only one guy?)are recruited to help stop a contingent of Emperor’s Children, led by Fabius Bile, from creating a clone of the long dead Horus. Along the way we get stories of; how Khayon became what he is, how he formed his warband, the death of the Sons of Horus and after 75% of the novel being over, the groundwork for the founding of the official Black Legion. Sprinkle in a bit of Eye o’ Terror travel silliness and the typical Space Marine action we all know too. This all comes together is a really damn fine and fun story.

It was great to see a bit of a look into the Traitor Legions post Hersey. It was even better to see the Eye as not some place of just madness and guys screaming at one another while crazy shit happens in and around them at all times. Plus the characters are all Chaos marines and they aren’t the typical a-holes like in most novels. They are actually pretty damn likeable even Abaddon isn’t the D-bag he is portrayed as in the Horus Hersey series and beyond. This was a good bit of refreshment. Then there is the epilogue. Well that was a bit of beauty, especially if the 40K tabletop game world is tied in anyway shape or form to the Black Library novels. This last bit could a great introduction to that new 8^th edition the interweb has been speaking about.

Some great action in here. Better characters than most 40K stuff. A damn tight story too. Go grab this and soak in the awesome!

Indiana Comic Con experience

Skipped over to Indianapolis last Friday to check out their comic book convention.

It was what I expected. A lot of collectables, a lot of comic boxes to dive through, a ton of artists and artwork, and comic industry celebrity.

I did see a lot of cosplay, but I was too busy looking at stuff to snap pics. Mostly the artwork. There were a ton of really great pieces to gawk at.

We hit up the 501^st Legion to see what they were doing. While there of course we got a family photo with a wookie and some Storm Troopers. Then we were draw into a conversation about Star Wars. It was then discovered that some members of the family were interested in Jawas and Tusken Raiders. Sooooo that might be a thing I the future?

Easter and Birthday weekend!

   Happy Easter !

It was also my birthday this weekend.
The wife is pretty awesome as she made my favorite cake in cup form.
Then she created a little faction battle on the frosting.
She gets me!

Have Friday off what to do?

Well I'm heading over to Indianapolis this morning to see what this is all about.

Maybe fun. Maybe lame.

Either way I'll spend some cash and have an excuse to eat some good food downtown.

More Grymkin

Making the interweb rounds.

The next phase of the Grymkin.

The Malifaux Dreamer with an Iron Kingdom skin.

Evil Mary Poppins

Corpse Cart with a marching band?

Metal balloon robot flying rifle dwarves?

What is this? Steampunk airship/balloon metal dwarves?

Are these fantasy squats or just something wildly new?

These are the new Kharadron Overlords. Whatever that means.

Now thankfully I got into 40K after the squats had been taken away. Looking at them what a mess! Seriously isn’t bad enough that the 41^st millennium has the  space orks, space elves of both varieties, space ogres, space vampires, space tomb undead/tomb kings, space werewolves, space chaos forces, and space vampires. Did it (does it) really need space dwarves too? There was (and still is) more than enough fantasy crossover into 40K.

Sorry off topic there.

Too many metal beards!

SQUEEEEEEE!!!

A return I never imagined and in 90 minute movie form!

Especially after the not so happy break from Nickelodeon.

40K...err.. um...30K book report

Pharos: Dying of the Light

Well the Horus Heresy continues to crawl forward.

A quick online synopsis of the book…..

“Just as Guilliman’s dream of Imperium Secundus seems finally to be realized, the Night Lords launch a full invasion of distant Sotha. Their target? The mysterious Mount Pharos…

With the noble Emperor Sanguinius ruling from Macragge, Imperium Secundus stands as a lone beacon of hope even as the Warmaster’s forces continue to ravage the rest of the galaxy. Roboute Guilliman, still Master of Ultramar, has convinced his brother that Terra has fallen and that the mysterious Mount Pharos on Sotha now holds the key to mankind’s future. But the Night Lords, those cruel and pitiless sons of Konrad Curze, have been watching from the shadows, and make ready to launch their long-planned attack on the Pharos itself…”

See the series continues to stagnate in the whole 500 Worlds of Ultramar/ Imperium Secundus. Why? I am so tired of asking that question.

Anyway there is a planet with an alien communication/teleportation beacon on it, the Pharos. Here the good guys have set up shop to be able to communicate to each other through the ruin storm that still plagues the universe.

Then the Night Lords show up to claim the Pharos and torture the population of Sotha. The Night Lord stuff is equal parts good and awful. The awful? Well we are introduced to twin brother Night  Lords. I guess I am supposed to like them, but they are dead end characters who serve no real purpose. We get it the Night Lords are awful, but having to learn about the previous lives of these two bros prior to their ascension to Astartes is drek.

I did enjoy the rest of the Night Lord stuff where we see them at their worst. Goo to see them then  and still now as vile twisted comic book villains in power armor.

The most enjoyable part was the interaction between Curze and Sanguinius ( Emperor of Imperium Secundus Sanguinius ). That was a good bit of alright. More Curze for me please! He is just so unlikable that he is likeable.

The rest of the novel plays out as expected. There is battle and loss, but the good guys ( Ultramarines and friends ) sort of win by the end and the sort of don’t.

See the epilogue had a sweet fan boy reveal that I never ( or I doubt anyone else ) expected. See with the Pharos reaching into the void of space someone or more likely something/ things heard the call to the Ultramar system!

Still this series stagnates. Why are they not moving forward? I need another Ultramarine world story like another hole in the damn head. Yet still I read hoping that every book will eventually lead to the start of the big showdown on Terra.