Hello folk,
Well this blog (in some for or another looking at you Opus Maius!) has lasted long enough to see my first ever inq28 game back in 2012 and now my most recent 4th event a few days ago 14 years later!
I was 36 quite newly back to the hobby with 3 young kids back then, looking for a space where I could do something creative to help my mental health, which was suffering due to being a stay at home father and being out of work.
Games workshop was a different beast back then too, it had moved away from its skirmish routes and was focused on big army games and 40k. I like many others felt like it had also lost its way somewhat with its own IP. Necromunda was done as was mordheim and inquisitor , very few skirmish level games were about yet the artwork and background was tremendous and had much untapped potential . GW shops were only interested in space marine armies which is fair enough but it left space for us narrative inclined folk to find purchase in older games..like Inquisitor necromunda and mordheim.
So much has changed since back then, Games workshop is now a behemoth and nearly every corner of 40k has been explored and commercialised in some form or another, their are multiple skirmish games multiple animations and brilliant video games.
In Many ways the warhammer we were seeking back then truescsale space marines, proper gothic entropic 40k sisters of battles, stories about the small man in 40k, the ecclesiarchy necromunda killteam bloodbowl etc.. etc.. has now been explored thoroughly, our tiny inq28 ammobunker forums where Martin aka commissar Molotov, PDH Peter Hudson and friends managed to inspire some of the brightest and best hobbyists among us, and i think its fair to say the Grimdark dark Blanchistu and inq28 movements that came after those amazing blachistu White dwarf articles as orchestrated by the eternal Legend John Blanche paved the way in many ways consciously or unconsciously to the rebirth of Games Workshop itself - the darker models- the skirmish games and even video games and animations, all come back to Johns vision of 40k. By supporting the nascent inq28 community and joining in and giving his seal of approval and status, which then validated the group, and then by showcasing the talent and different approaches to painting styles, gave birth to the Blanchistsu movement itself.
So 14 years later and we are all the same but different, life has been life and we all got older, Kids have grown up, we have seen friends and family pass and games workshop change, we have seen our little corner of 40k become mainstream, and our original ideas and models have gone on to influence a generation of hobbyists.
Its been a while since we gamed together as a large group , and for some longer than others, I am not sure how many games have been played in the Dalthus sector in total but I think there has been around 5 main Inqvitational events
With the death of Lord Mandred, the
Inquisitors of the Helios Cabal turned
upon one another in a ruthless
struggle for dominion. At her
coronation, Inquisitor Madine was
slain by an unseen hand.
As Madine’s funerary procession
travelled aboard The Sealed Fate, it
was ambushed by renegades led by
heretic Astartes of the Coiled Lash.
Few lived to tell of it.
Now Inquisitor Tybalt guides the
shattered remnants of the Helios
Cabal from the shadows, hunting
those responsible for its fall. Many
within the Dalthus Inquisition see
opportunity in the chaos and argue
for the cabal’s dissolution.
Seeking to divert scrutiny from the
wounded cabal, Inquisitor Tybalt and
his fellow puritans have moved to
indict the Xanthite Inquisitor Zuul on
charges of heresy. Amid these
manoeuvres, Tybalt uncovers the
assassin responsible for the death of
Inquisitor Madine. The captive
endures unrelenting interrogation, yet
yields nothing, whether through
defiance or ignorance.
As the proceedings unfold, Inquisitors
Benadice and Harrow uncover
disturbing revelations concerning
their late master. Their investigations
lead them toward a single, unsettling
conclusion: they may at last have
glimpsed the true identity of the
elusive figure known only as the Dark
Master
4.The Fall of Iron Port
Encircling the Mutaran Demesne, the
Ring of Iron forms a vast chain of void
stations that guard the dominion of
the Adeptus Mechanicus. Among
these colossal bastions, Iron Port was
counted among the greatest. It served
as both a bulwark of defence and a
vital nexus for trade with the outer
Imperium. Yet its strength proved a
façade.
The pirate crew of Sancus Charan,
driven by greed, anarchy, and an
unseen patron, infiltrated the station
and shattered it from within. Their
sabotage culminated in a catastrophic
detonation that sent the entire void
station spiralling into the gas giant it
once serenely orbited.
In the final hours before its fall,
Inquisitor Cordatus succeeded in
uncovering fragments of a deeper
conspiracy. He found evidence of a
hidden hand guiding events from the
shadows.
These events have wounded the
Adeptus Mechanicus, who long
regarded their realm as inviolate.
Sensing opportunity in the weakness
revealed at Iron Port, the Inquisition
moves swiftly to consolidate its
position.
5.The Kararoth Bequest
The long lost hoard of Rogue Trader
Konrad Kararoth resurfaced, its vaults
pried open and its contents prepared
for auction. The relics within were of
such dire and forbidden provenance
that they drew the attention of
heretics, smugglers, and Inquisitorial
agents in equal measure. What begins
as a simple bequest threatens to
ignite a shadow war over the legacy
Kararoth sought to bury.
Inquisitor Cordatus claimed a number
of relic treasures from the bequest
and set about interrogating his foes,
each one psychically mindlocked and
rigged with lethal traps. Even as their
bodies fell still, Cordatus felt a deeper
unease. Someone in the shadows was
guiding these events, shaping every
outcome with deliberate intent.
I Myself only attended the first 3 games so its been 13 years since I last gamed in Dalthus !
Needless to say stuff has happened since I was away. My original Inquisitor Vendrake has left the system on a Pilgrimage to Terra, to help thwart a tyrranid invasion after being near mortally wounded during the 3rd INQvitaional , his retinue has scattered throughout the system and Darthur a former acolyte and interrogator with a complicated past and future picks up the reigns where Vendrake left.
It was good to see old friends and foes alike :D
Peter had organised this iteration of the event with some help from Martin and Dan.
Participants PDH aka Peter - Martin aka Commissar Molotov - Mark aka Kerravin - Jon - aka Rise of the Magi - Ben aka Reqiuem82 - Jack aka JTrainpainting - Dan aka chillifuelledheretic and myself Neil101
There were a few folk who were also invited but couldn't attend for various reasons , and the event was held at Underworld Games who were great hosts due to lack of space at Warhammer World.
The Ruinations at Black Sands
Upon holy Vigil, Living Saint Lisieux has set her designs upon a
crusade into the Thasantii Sphere, lying upon the Coreward
border of the Dalthus Sector. That sphere, long overrun by the
forces of the Archenemy, has languished in stalemate for many
years. Now the foe has been reinforced by the Coiled Lash
warband of heretic Astartes, and the power of the warp is in
ascendance. The crusade must make haste, lest further aid be
drawn from the raging Howling Stars warpstorm.
Across the sector on the Rimward border, the Orks of the Delvis
Rift have descended upon the Sword Point Stars, where
beleaguered Mandelgarde has borne the full measure of their
fury. Wearied by the greenskin menace, the faithful stagger
beneath the toll it exacts. Factions within the Ecclesiarchy, most
grievously afflicted by the Orkish scourge, now clamour for
reprieve. They seek to divert sacred resources from the Living
Saint, funnelling them toward a desired Sword Point Crusade.
Their voices rise in urgency, lest the White Ork of the Delvis Rift
summon a Waaagh of unimaginable ferocity. Should such a
storm be unleashed, it could engulf the entire sector in ruin.
Within the Ministorum’s Dalthus Sector Synod, the Prelate Cardinals invoke ancient rights
and laws to bring forward Living Saint Lisieux’s glorification. This has diverted her from the
Thasantii warfront, in the Terullian Sub, and her imminent crusade against the Archenemy.
For reasons known only to the ArchPrelate Cardinal, the Black Sands Monastery has been
chosen to receive the Living Saint. Within its obsidian bounds, thousands of ecclesiastical
dignitaries have crossed the pilgrim routes of the Dalthus Sector to bear witness to her Trials
of Glorification. What is being declared a gift from the Emperor has become a weapon in
the hands of those vying for power, twisted to serve their own ends and fuel their power
struggles.
You stand as an extension of your sponsors’ machinations, entangled in politics and violent
skirmishes you are working to their agenda.
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The Black Sands Monastery
On mighty Rosicant, the vast and brooding Black Sands
Monastery rises starkly from the iron‑rich waters of Lake
Bled on the northern continent. Deliberately placed far
from the grand cathedral of the cardinal world, the
monastery stands alone upon a volcanic island encircled by
a natural moat at the lake’s heart. Its isolation is no
accident. Unbeknownst to the wider Ministorum, the Ordo
Malleus quietly sustains the monastery, using its shadowed
halls to shape and temper the feared Black Priests.
Abbot‑Preceptor Rievaulx, master of Black Sands and
Custodian of the Obsidian Cloister, was forced to accept
the decree naming his monastery as the site of the Trials of
Glorification, for any reluctance might have drawn the
cardinals’ attention to the true loyalties of his order.
I was excited to try and capture the feel of how Peter described the Monastery with images and terrain.
I tried to capture the feel of the blacksands with this one
small board that I made to get the feeling of obsidian and volcanic
A prototype test piece, that helped inspired the board Peter made for the ruined Monastery
Unfortunately I couldn't bring most of these, as I was travelling alone on public transport, but I did bring the torpedo board though.
Peter had organised a few 1v1 games in the morning and a group game in the afternoon.
I wont put the pics up in any particular order or explain the games for the that matter suffice to say my games were fun and chaotic and Darthur and Deacon caused much disorder and in the end failed in his attempts to dissuade the saints chaos crusade.
