Xenos on Crusade: Introductions and Kick Off

What a great time for hobby, eh? 

Games Workshop's announcement of 9th Edition 40k has come as a very welcome burst of excitement in these difficult times, and reignited the passion and interest in 40k for all our Warlords. 

There's so much great stuff coming out on Warhammer Community right now for the new Edition it really is shaping up to be the best edition of Warhammer 40k to date!

One of the new ways of playing that has really piqued our interest is the Crusade system. For those not following the community page, Crusade is a new narrative way of playing that will see your force evolve over consecutive battles. Not only does your force increase in strength from game to game (via points/power rewards that allow you to bring more to the table), your individual units are able to earn honours (bonus rules/stats) and battle scars (negative rules/stats) for the acts they commit on the tabletop. 

This RPG-style evolution of a force doesn't only sound like a great way of playing normally... but the perfect set-up for another Tale of Five Gamers! 

From what we've seen so far, 9th Edition seems to be shifting the primary focus away from the Imperial vs Chaos narrative and focusing more on the Necron threat. 

In honor of this change we've decided to follow suit, hanging up our Imperial Aquila's and Eight-pointed Stars (Tim!) and reaching for our more exotic wargear.

That's right - the Xenos are going on Crusade! 

9th Edition is still a little way off, but we've pieced together a plan for Crusade based on the information we have available from the Warhammer Community Article for this new way to play.

All our Warlords are planning a 50 Power Level (PL) force (based on current 8th Edition Codex's and Psychic Awakening books) to act as their starting Order of Battle, in line with the details on the Community article. 

Over the next few months we'll start our tale, aspiring to complete the hobby goals listed below: 

Month 1 - June 2020 

• Plan a 50 PL force 
• Purchase/ build as much as possible 
• Paint at least one unit from our 50 power to get started. 

Month 2 - July 2020 

• Paint units up to around 25 power (approx half the force)\ 

Month 3+ - August and beyond

• Paint any outstanding units from the 50 PL 
• Paint any new units added to the force using crusade requisition 

With the rumors suggesting 9th will drop some time in July these soft goals should help us get a Crusade ready force in time for release.

With the world the way it is at the moment getting any gaming in will, of course, be challenging. With lockdown easing off and summer approaching there's always the potential for some outdoor hobby sessions, but we'll assess things as they go. Hopefully we'll be able to fill the blog with some great Crusade battle reports moving forward! 

With goals set and the gauntlet laid down it's time to introduce the Warlords, and the factions that they've chosen for the Xenos Crusade: 

The Five Warlords 

Neil the Devourer

I've chosen the Tyranids as my Xenos faction for Crusade, with my Hive Fleet Lindwyrm that I'd started previously (giving me a whole 6 power head start on the painting). My initial 50 power roster (made with the 8th edition power levels) is going to be:

• Hive Tyrant with wings "The Void Herald"
• Warrior Brood with 3 warriors "The Dark Stalkers"
• Hormagaunt brood with 20 hormagaunts "The Bladed Swarm"
• Maleceptor "The Benighted Devourer"
• Toxicrene "The Caustic Tendril"
• Tyrannofex "Hell's Annihilator"

My Hive Fleet Lindwyrm will use the custom hivefleet traits from Blood of Baal, which I will work out what fits my narrative best for the end of month 1 post but my current thoughts are the prey sight and senses of the outer dark traits. I've also used the name generator to name my monsters and broods, which is also in the Blood of Baal book.  To follow my progress on the painting check out my Instagram where I post WIP pictures as I go. Over to the next crusader and remember to eat your biomass.

Tim the Cruel 

After my last army, the competitive and resilient primaris space marines of the Dawnbringers chapter, I fancied a change in playstyle - in particular, I'm tired of the overwhelming need to castle up for the combined chapter master / lieutenant / apothecary auras at the heart of the intercessor brigade. Also, I'm a heretic at heart and needed to paint something with more spikes.

So... something mobile, fragile and spiky?

Yep, I've chosen those archetypal glass cannons the cruel Drukhari as my xenos faction, perhaps to be followed later by some allied Harlequins of the sadistic masque of the Reaper's Mirth. I love this model range and have amassed quite a collection ready for battle, with a spread across the army's three sub factions

Accordingly, I'm starting with a triumvirate of cruelty assembled by my Archon, Naz'ul Orfeon of the Kabal of the Shattered Lung. Having once, for an instant, drawn a fragment of the attention of Slaanesh, Naz'ul is haunted by She Who Thirsts, and he seeks obsessively to evade her grip by perpetrating crimes of such sadistic brilliance that his flagging soul will be renewed. My starting 50PL pool is as follows:


Kabal of the Shattered Lung (Obsession TBC, probably Kabal of the Flayed Skull) (15PL)

• Archon Naz'ul Orfeon
• 5 Kabalite warriors
• 5 Kabalite warriors
• Ravager 

Cult of the Red Mirror (Custom Obsession: Berserk Fugue, Test of Skill) (6PL)

• Succubus Elaria the Mirthful
• 5 Wyches 

Coven of the Unraveling (Obsession TBC, provisionally Prophets of Flesh) (16PL)

• Haemonculus Khaizin the Skinless
• 10 Wracks
• Talos 

Mercenaries and transports; Motor Pool of the Loathsome Traffic Offence (13 PL)

• 5 Mandrakes
• Raider
• Venom

Are you sitting comfortably? If so, you haven't put enough spikes and envenomed edges on your weird xenos armour. Try again. In fact, why not strap knives to your narrow elven shoulder pads and bits of thorn bush to your hands? You need some pain to keep that soul safe from Slaanesh, after all. 

Done? Then we'll begin.

Medge the "Honourable" 

For this Tale I've decided to be altruistic to my fellow warlords, and bring them enlightenment of the Greater Good! That's right - I've chosen the Tau Empire as my faction!

I've loved the Tau ever since I first played Dawn of War; Dark Crusade waaay back in 2006. 

The clean, anime-inspired aesthetic is really unique within the Warhammer universe; radically different from the Gothic Imperium and the sleak, curved Aeldari.

They're also portrayed as having an almost idyllic society compared to the hopelessness/ cruelty of the Aeldari, and outright insanity and barbarism of the Imperium. 

Some would argue they're just as bad as the Imperium of course; a mind controlled, propaganda driven society that hides the true horror of the universe from it's citizens and rules through lies and enforced ignorance. 

And to these people I say; it's called "The Greater Good", not "The Great Lie"... duh!!! 

**laughs in Tau, whilst paying due respects to the Ethereals** 

I've dabbled with collecting the Tau over the years, and despite being sat on nearly 2000 points of Tau I've never really committed brush to plastic for them. 

But as with all things "Blog" related for me, I'll be using this an excuse to Bash the Backlog!

One of the main turn-offs for the Tau for me has always been their representation on the Tabletop. The models are gorgeous, but the competitive armies always field such a narrow selection of units that don't really reflect the true Mont'ka/ Kauyon tactics of the Tau. Hopefully the narrative nature of Crusade will let me field something a bit more diverse, whilst still getting some great games in (and maybe even some wins!)

My initial 50 PL force will be split into two sub-forces based on the models I have available to me; 

A Battlesuit contingent containing: 

• A Commander in a XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit (8PL) 
• Two 3-man squads of XV8 Crisis Battlesuits (12PL Each) 

A foot-soldier contingent containing: 

• A Cadre Fireblade (2PL) 
• Two 5-man Breacher teams (2PL Each) 
• One 10-man Strike team (4PL) with accompanying Drone support (1PL) 
• A 5-man Pathfinder Team (3PL) and Drone Support (2PL) 

This gives me 2PL left for an Ethereal to provide some spiritual guidance to the force. 

Not only is this force pretty balanced, but also provides a strong narrative core; a Shas'O Commander and his veteran Shas'el Fireblade leading two different elements under the overall watch of an Ethereal. One minor change I may make, finances depending, is swapping the two Breacher teams out for some Kroot auxillaries; something to add a bit more variety to the force and an extra narrative element to explore. 

As a newbie to playing the Tau empire I'll likely run these using the new Custom Sept rules from "Psychic Awakening; The Greater Good", coming up with some suitable supporting fluff in the coming weeks. I've also got a test scheme in the works so with luck I'll get one or two test units down by the end of the month. 

As always (shameless self promotion incoming), I'll be documenting my progress on Instagram so please follow along if you're interested! 

Tom the Unliving

I started playing 40k back at the end of 2nd Ed and the start of 3rd when "Necron Raiders" had a tiny model range and virtually no background. I remember their first codex and the unleashing of the C'tan, with the Nightbringer being an utter beast with T8 and 4W combined with a 4++ save. I hated playing them with my Eldar of the time and never found them appealing as a force.

The new upcoming releases have totally made me reconsider and have me enthused about playing 40k again (I've not played since the start of 7th)...

My initial force was based on half the contents of the Forgebane box that Medge purchased a couple of years ago, with the certainty that he would get round to doing a Necron force at some point... No sooner had we had the new 40k preview and seen the first shots of the new Necron models I was high-tailing it round to pick up the models!

Forgebane worked out at 26PL and contains:

• Cryptek
• 5 Lychguard
• 5 Immortals (Tesla carbines)
• 3 Wraiths

In addition to this I have also picked up:

• Necron Lord (thanks Tim!)
• 9 Scarab bases

That takes me up to 37PL, and I expect the remainder of the army will initially be comprised of several boxes of the new Necron Warriors when they are released.

I'm actually really excited about the new edition and trying out a brand new army. So much so that I have already started painting the force. I'll hold off sharing an WIP pictures until we actually get started. This is mainly due to my excitement and having already painted most of the Forgebane box! Follow me on Instagram to see my progress and other painting! 

James the Seer

With our decision to go for a Xenos-centric Tale there was only one faction that I would consider collecting - the wise, superior and superlatively skilled Aeldari. I've always been a  fan of Elf inspired factions in games and novels and the Eldar were no exception. Ever since I laid eyes on their artwork way back when I first started playing 10 years ago, they've been a faction that has always called to me. Once I owned a sizeable collection of Craftworlds (the superior faction of Eldar as Tim will soon learn!) and Harlequins, but everything changed when the fire nation attacked... 

Sorry, I've been binge watching too much Avatar TLA recently...

What I meant to say was the dark times of 6th and 7th edition rolled around and my love for 40k disappeared quite rapidly. I was left with several armies that I hadn't touched in over a year and made the (what I would come to realise was) regrettable choice to sell most of my collections, including my entire Aeldari army. Within that was something I've been left missing for quite some time, a subsection of my Craftworld army known as a Wraith Host. 

For those who haven't yet made the enlightened choice to collect the mighty Craftworlds a Wraith Host is an army made up almost exclusively of Wraith Construct units; From the "small" Wraithguard and Wraithblades, all the way up to the towering Wraithknight and nimble Hemlock Wraithfighter. It's a brilliantly fun and thematic army that operates differently to how Craftworld armies usually do, replacing speed and flexibility with unbelievable durability and destructive firepower. I spent a lot of time building up my collection when Codex Supplement: Iyanden was released, which provided a suite of rules and bonuses to the army (but nothing on the level and depth of the latest marine supplements). Many conversions later I had an army I was really proud of, I just had no desire to play the game as it was so unenjoyable for me. Fast forward a few years and here we are starting a new Tale and with it a perfect opportunity to rekindle an old love of mine. 

My relentless mentioning of my old Wraith Host and the boundless regret I felt from selling it led Matt to very generously buy me one of the Craftworlds Apocalypse Vanguard Detachment boxes, a perfect starting point for a Wraith army (I say starting point, the box is effectively all you could ever need!!). Given the elite nature of a Wraith Host it does mean I'll be light on the ground in terms of models, but that's fine by me as it lets me spend more time lavishing all my attention on painting them. So what will my initial unit pool look like?

Wraith Host of Mymeara

• Farseer Taeleath (6PL)
• Spritseer Irlinelle (3PL)

• 5 Wraithguard (11PL)
• 5 Wraithguard (11PL)
• 5 Wraithblades (10PL)

• Wraithlord Caerlion (8PL)

So 18 models in total, just the way I like it! My idea for this starting army was to stick to the core narrative of a Wraith Host, with a nice core of Wraithguard, backed up by some vengeful Wraithblades and a powerful Wraithlord to watch over the two Seers. A small narrative I've put together for the Spiritseer and Farseer is to have them be twin sisters, with Taeleath feeling the call to skein the strands of fate, while Irlinelle instead became bound to commune with the dead. 

I've decided to base the force from Mymeara, a relatively unknown Craftworld that's only been briefly mentioned in a few codexes and IA11. This provides me with a bit of a blank slate in terms of story telling which is great for Crusade, as I'm planning to build upon the narrative of my army with each successive game. Hopefully by the end of the Tale I'll have a grand story woven from the heroics of my force, or, I'll have added a few more souls to the shells of Wraith constructs. Only time will tell.

That's all from me for now. I'm really looking forward to cracking on with this Tale! Everything I've been seeing about 9th edition indicates it's going to be a great time for the 40k hobby in general and I can't wait to start playing some games when the new edition drops. I'll be putting up a lot of posts on Instagram detailing my progress, so if you're interested feel free to give me a follow! 

***

So now that all of our warlords have introduced themselves and their crusading armies it's time to get our hobby on!  Come back at the end of the month to see how the building and painting has gone for our crusading forces, and remember that work in progress pictures can be seen on our Warlord's Instagram accounts.  If you're also looking forward to going on crusade with the upcoming 9th edition of Warhammer 40000, we would love to see what you're doing and hear from you!  See you soon for more Xenos.