Tuesday 4 June 2013

Opus Maius Renatus

Aye up.

As some folks might remember , this blog closed it doors seemingly permanently back at the start of the year. I  can suffer from occasional bouts of pretty severe depression  ( mainly in winter ) and the blog had become a hobby/chore in itself that I become tethered to. As fun as it had been I closed the doors for the sake of my sanity and to preserve my enjoyment of the hobby

Six months on...and plenty has changed ...

My good buddy Fulgrim over at The Tears of Isstvan Blog  who has been a constant blogger friend for the  couple of years or so the blog was active  as well as a real life friend and gaming buddy has only gone and  got himself a  real hobby job the mighty GW Design studio !  Many heartfelt congrats to him . First The Tears of Envy   now  The Tears of Isstvan .. note to self .. if you want a job at GW design studio just add the word Tears to your blogger header ;-)  of course I jest , both Tim and Tammy are extraordinarily talented in their respective fields.. which is really everything actually as i have come to find over the years.  And I eagerly await to see the work that Tim will be doing for the company.


So.. what now ...mm.. well I am not sure to be honest .. I had been dedicated to consistently  blogging my hobby life for the past three years now ... first on Dakka then on the ammobunker and here.  Even though I took six months off web logging it, I still hobbied diligently on a weekly basis. and to be honest i am just knackered .. it takes me such huge amounts of time and space to hobby and then equal amounts of time if not more to blog about about it.. My family life was suffering /indulging me quite a lot over the past three years .. and it all seems too much to take on again really ..

I just wanted to see if i had it in me to blog again like i did before , but  i think i have answered my own question ..oh well never mind maybe next year..

I did gather all the old opus blog content sans the comments into one huge blog post called opus maius Historia for nostalgia's sake . buts its a bit glitchy !

I may upload some new stuff I have been doing in due course or I may not .. I am not sure not trying to be flippant just to give myself back control over what I am doing. I dont want to fall into a trap of doing stuff just for the blog which is what happened last time . Rather the blog shining a window onto what I do already.


speaking of control .. if the blog does stay up ,  and i am not saying it will it will be a shadow of its former self  really , just a place where i can share my thoughts and work without been beholden to it. in that respect  I have disabled all comments, not because i dont want to read what other folk have to say, but so i am not constantly wondering if folks will comment at all. This way I dont have to worry ..now if only i could disable the stats window as well.




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                                                   Inqvitational June 2013




Any how.. I went to my third Inq28 Event last weekend ,The second June Inqvitational - The Sins of The Master.  lots of fun was had meeting new folks , Ghostlfame - Bruticus -  Koval - Nuclearhawke -
Marrovian ?


And seeing old faces again as well .. Chilli fuelled hereticLittle Brother - Marco skoll - Amber Gris -

kerravin - Tychonaut - Dr DeadSpace- Dazz1286-  PDH - Tears of Envy  - Rise of the Magi- and Mr Blanche


I must thank Mol before going any further as the day was just great .. very relaxed atmophere chilled out gaming lots of amazing narratives  great terrain and stunning miniatures , some  courtesy of many folks from afar.

my favourite being the wonderful inquisitor Zuul by the legendary Kraut scientist.

It takes a  huge amount of time  effort to organise these events , and Mol and his co workers really do an amazing job of pulling all the strings and narratives together for so  many different folk of differing abilities .. It can often feel like a thankless job i imagine but , rest assured it was a absolutely amazing day  that was appreciated by all , one of my favourite outings to warhammer world yet actually .,.

Darren aka dazz1286 in particular really made my own day , the effort he had gone to , to ensure the first game i had with Ghostlfame went well was just fantastic , and was my favourite game of Inq28 so far , he has an account of it  up on the ammobunker  and if i get time i would like to add my own account from Vendrakes point of view ..

I have been wanting to meet  Bruticus AkA Jake  , for over a year , since he first posted his amazing Necromunda terrain on dakka  and he and PDH and I shared a Taxi from the train station to the event.

it was great to finally meet him in person .. and thank him for single-handedly  inspiring the Yggdrassilliume board to be so much more than it could have been with his mindbogglingly good Terrain..

likewise it was also great to meet up with Ghostflame Aka Rob who is a real character ;-)  and who's miniatures were just jaw droppingly good .. and thankfully i got to play against them on in the first game gmed by Darren. ;-)


Both Bruticus Aka Jake and Ghostflame Aka Rob won the Painting competition for best retinue and best inquisitor  respectively . or the other way round ..? there was some confusion on the day if I recall , either way both are brilliant retinues and Inquisitors ;-)

you might notice I made some new terrain for the event , a 3by3 ice planet based on the the thing in the ice trope . I learned a few new tricks in the process , casting with clear resin and I used an airbrush for the first time. following the age old salt weathering and hairspray techniques for the buildings and pipes .

the rock molds are from woodland scenics    and the snow effect was created by mixing pva glue with woodland scenics snow effect - woodland scenics realistic water with the snow effect - and woodland scenics water effects  with the snow effect. in different places .

this was over a base coat of liquid nails , extruded polystyrene and expanded polystyrene spray .

that was washed with turquoise ink

the ice affect is poured clear resin over   painted liquid nails. 

the houses/hab units are half drainpipes with added detail from the gw manufactorum kit . and a few toy bits from gi goe  i think .

the stairs are from the GW Dave Andrews trench kit

the whole thing is based on  3mm mdf , which in hindsight was too thin i think. ;-)



some highlights for me were seeing Tears of Envy Aka Tammy's stunningly good Eldar outcasts
unfortunately for Vendrake they also saw him , albeit through the scope of a sniper rifle :-(

and seeing first hand some rather Amazing 40k hab units made by the legendary  ferociously Talented and equally prolific terrain maker  Dave Andrews      courtesy of another GW star Andy Hoare

good stuff indeed !

photos from some folk are here

Marco http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoskoll/sets/72157633886126565/

Kerravin http://s96.photobucket.com/user/keravin/library/Inqvitational%202013?sort=3&page=1

Koval http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/Koval32/library/INQvitational%202013%20-%20The%20Sins%20of%20the%20Master?sort=2&page=2


and a few from me

 Game one: Ice pact Dazz1286 Gming

- Ghostflame : Dante : Hex : Isabella Red-Widow  plus one NPC guide

- Neil101 :Vendrake : Duke fourniere Adaliase : Souel  plus one NPC guide


         



 Ghostflames inqusitor Dante and Retinue search for artefacts on the war torn ice planet, as        proposed by a shadowy inquisitor  Ferox     




                      Vendrake and co also join the search unbeknownst to the other party.. also led here by the seemingly  beneficent Inquisitor  Ferox


                          the Duke tries to shoot open the iced shut heavy plasteel doors
                   Whilst Hex uses his Psychic powers to tear his door from its hinges

 Hex discovers hidden artifacts  in the ancient bombed out hab units


             The guide sent by ferox - Reaf starts firing upon Dantes retinue  starting a blind shoot-out 




                 The Duke draws a bead on Dante as Vendrake dives for cover whilst under fire.

            The Red Widow Dante and the Dante's Guide return fire  from the cover of the icy pipes





                         
                               The nimble Vampiric agent falls flat on her arse on the ice whilst attempting to flank Vendrakes retinue


 Dante takes hold of his double crossing guide, threatening to shoot her if she doesn't explain to him  whats going on,  during a firefight started by Vendrakes double crossing  guide. !

                                     Vendrake attempts Diplomacy to calm the situation

 Vendrakes duplicitous  guide turns on his master under the psychic command of the Red Widow
                 Only to be shot down by the Vendrakes most loyal body guard Duke Fourniere Adalaise
                                                              of Praxus.. hurah!
 the ice queen toys with her injured  prey , flitting stileto hairpins into his already wounded body
           Dantes' retinue member the secretive Hex searches for the artifacts to be kept for himself.


 the shadowy inqusitor Ferox's plan to lure both vendrake and Dante into conflict and take the artefacts for himself backfires when both inquisitors join forces and interrogate the last remaining guide.
                                                Ferox's right hand man Raef


as the incident drew to its conclusion .. Dantes retinue had found several objects/  and artefacts of import  hidden in the ice habs. Vendrakes astropath Souel  trumped it all by finding a F***%$ Huge  Warlord Titan Hidden beneath Ice !



game two: comeuppance  Littlbrother Gming  Neil10 - Koval

Inquistrix Eliesa  - Sergeant Eirick Visstra - Astrid

Titus Bell - Sergeant Ellis - Brother something ?

Vendrake : Duke : Soeul  


the Roguish Inquistor Titus Bell of the Ordo Xenos is reprimanded by his fellow peers  for some downright dastardly behaviour... including ambushing Vendrake last year  during the first Inqvitational .
         the formidable Inquistrix Eliesa by Koval  attempts to arrest Bell in her wheelchair of death


                       Vendrake and co join the party to overwatch some inquisitorial justice



 much arguing and protesting  ensues from Bell  but ends with him fleeing the multy laser chair as his subordinates lay wounded on the ground.





 an inglorious but well timed escape sees bell flee imperial justice this time ! albeit with a sniper shot to the leg.





game three :   The Eldar Scrolls

Tears of Envy : Eldar Outcasts leader, sniper close combat specialist. ?

Koval :Eliesa : Vistraa : Ceridwyn Grieve

Neil101: Vendrake: Duke Adalaise:  Sgt Chiron : Arbitrator NPC




This was going to be a fateful encounter for Vendrake ,

As a puritan Ordo Xenos , Vendrake is staunchly opposed to any Aliens.. He fought many orks first-hand on the front lines as a young inquisitor  during the scouring of  Phalanx Hive .. one could say its what made him the man he is today.. A careful and studios tactical  , manipulative man , who saw he was more use directing the imperial warships to prevent such incursions , and fostering relationships with imperial commanders sector wide , enabling  him to collect the vast annual  imperial army tithes in time to bolster the front lines of these wars.

He is not comfortable on the ground doing investigative work any-more , if ever he was. But it is an important part of the Role , unearthing plots that could destabilise his plans for sector wide stability .
and gathering important resources , contacts and information. Dogmatic and dog-eared he is .

During the failed arrest of  fellow Ordo Xenos, Titus Bell. Inquistrix Eliesa  Gave Vendrake cause for concern. His astropath had picked up information that led Vendrake to believe  Elisesa was an Eldar sympathiser .. His suspicions were conformed  after following Elisea to the border worlds .. where he intercepted a meeting with the treacherous Xenos .

Note :

Vendrake is most fearful Aliens for who truly knows what they are thinking ? they are not human and as such cannot comprehend our tennets , nor we theirs .. and even if we could , what would we find but hate and fear .. there is not enough room for all species to live side by side , they must be eradicated now whilst we can to allow us room for growth..would you give up your world for them ..No ! and neither would they , the sooner they are gone the better chance we have for long term survival .. we have no need for them and they must be eradicated.. fear and foolishness has crept into the mans heart who wishes to parley with them,  How can we settle knowing they could come for us at any time , we must keep up the fight and hold the line for if we fail .. all is lost!

.

   The Border worlds --



Eliesa Trundles towards her rendevue

 The leader Emerges from his cowardly hiding place ;-)
 Vistraa sets up overwatch


 The sickening transaction begins with Elisa offering up Imperial resources to the despicable eldar !



 The Arbitrator reveals himself and shoots into the parley

 Vendrake and co Announce their intentions to arrest Eliesa and capture the Xenos

 The Nimble Eldar drop flash grenades and disapear behind the out buildings
stunning and confusing Vendrake and his men

 The retinue recovers its posture as the arbite flees from Eliesa's now powered up  Multylaserd Chair
Grieve flanks Vendrake and shoots a blinded Duke in the leg

 Vendrake attempts to  psychicly control the Eldar sympathiser Eliesa and her whirring chair of death.
Unfortunately for him Eliesa is no puppet ! and she commands the ruffled Vendrake   to stand Down !
whilst powering up the multilaser to full auto
  Ignoring her Elderich lies , He marches forward insisting she help reprimand the outcasts or face the consequences .

As  Grieves shot rings out ,and the duke falls to his one good knee. The
sniper takes aim on the now visible Vendrake , sensing trouble the eldar shoots Vendrake in the head.
As the ageing inqusitor falls , his men are forced to fall back leaving their Master incapacitated to the will of the nefarious  Eliesa and her conspirators ...!