Return of the Soroibus Tortus

With the new Codex: Emperor's Children, I've had to massively reorganize my old Emperor's Children force - that was organized using the rules in the previous edition's Chaos Space Marines Codexes... Really, it was a bit disappointing how much things changed. 

In previous editions, Noise Marines, if taken in a force with the Emperor's Children key words, they were considered Troops or Battleline - your basic troops that you can take as many as you want of (or six units, instead of just three, in the most recent edition) and they could be in units of five to ten... 

In the current edition Noise Marines are fielded in units of six (no more, no less - which makes sense, being the magic number of Slaanesh!) but are NOT BATTLELINE!! Meaning I can only take a MAXIMUM of THREE units of these - a grand total of eighteen Noise Marines!? 

While they weren't all painted, I already had THIRTY Noise Marines!? Then I got twelve more in the Champions of Slaanesh box set!? 

What am I to do with all these Noise Marines!?

I haven't decided ultimately what will happen to ALL of them... but for the time being, I've decided to rebase the ones I've painted (as they are now fielded on 40mm bases!?) and painted up any of the older ones I need to fill out three units of six of the older models as fast as I can and use those... 

What will I do with the dozen other old ones I have...?! I don't know.... 

What will I do with the dozen NEW ones I have...? I don't know... I could just sell them while the Noise Marines are still popular..? Or just keep them around and paint them for funsies... or paint them to replace the old ones (eventually) 

For now, however, I've painted two of the older ones to add to the Soroibus Tortus...

The two new ones... 

Soroibus Tortus Noise Marines

The unit was inspired by the American heavy metal band Twisted Sister and the costumes they wore on the cover of The Best of the Atlantic Years album... 

Sometimes when coming up with names for 40K, I just latinize them, sort of... I'm not sure how I got to Sororibus Tortas...  I'm guessing it was based on Torta (Twisted?) and Soror (Sister)...?  

I could have gone with Perversa Sorore... or Fraternitas Torta... or Fraternitas Perversa!? Alas... Sticking with the original name I came up with for them! 

I have three or four more of the older Noise Marines to finish up to complete the three units... 

When they're done, I could potentially field 740 points of stuff... 

• Daemon Prince of Slaanesh (1)  195 pts
• Lord Exultant (1) 80 pts
• Sorcerer (1) 60 pts
• Noise Marines (6) 135 pts
• Noise Marines (6) 135 pts
• Noise Marines (6) 135 pts

Here's what I've done so far.. 

That's an OLD Keeper of Secrets I'm using as my Daemon Prince of Slaanesh. the Daemon Prince of Slaanesh I now armed with an infernal cannon... Not sure I wonder if I should convert that to have something shooty like...?

Or... maybe that dangly bit I added between their legs could be the Infernal Cannon... I mean... It IS Slaanesh we're talking about here!?

Starblood Stalkers and Sonic Weapons

I ordered a few things on Warhammer.com this past weekend... It started with ordering the Warhammer Day Commemorative Miniature (there's a whole discussion about that one the Warhammer Day post!) and I'd JUST ordered that because, now that there's a Warhammer Store in town, I can just have it shipped there and go pick it up, instead of needing to order $100 worth of stuff to get free shipping (or pay $20 shipping!?) 

[apparently it's now only $80 for free home delivery shipping... I'm sure last time it was $100 - or more!?]

It's a nice ride out to the Warhammer Store - expecially in the fall... 

I ended up placing TWO OTHER orders later on the weekend... 

Starblood Stalkers and Sonic Weapons

The Starblook Stalkers - the only Seraphon warband is one of... nine...? Warbands that I didn't have and the only one I was really sad about not getting when I had the chance... There was a copy at Dragon's Den Games for years, and I guess I just expected it would sit there FOREVER... but one day I went in and it was gone and I've been kicking myself ever since. 

A LOT of the Warhammer Underworlds warbands were re-released without the cards - for use in Warcry or Age of Sigmar... but without the cards, there was no point in getting them. (I know, some crafty people will download images of thecards and print them off and put them in sleeves... but I'm not one of them!). But since the NEW EDITION isn't going to NEED those old faction decks, I decided to snap up a team - before everyone else realized this and they went out of stock again!?

Also.. with the teasing that there would finally be an Emperors Children Codex next uear.. I decided to get a pack of Sonic Weapon upgrade sprues... I have one squad that I kitted out with some third party sonic cannons... but I don't love the look of them, they are SO MUCH CHONKIER than the Games Workshop ones (which is not something someone gets to say all that often!)... So I thought I'd best grab one of those sets before THEY disappear from the website - as I'm sure with the Emperor's Children Codex release there will be a brand new plastic Noise Marine kit and these will be going out of production! 

I guess I could have waited and just bought one of the new kits and just retired the guys with the chonky sonic weapons... buuuuut... I don't know... 

40 (+)Days of 40K - Part Six

 I took a bit of a break and now I'm getting back to working on these... but maybe not so quick as before (because I DO want to get some MINIATURES painted!?)

#29 - Primaris Eliminator of the Tangermarines Space Marine Chapter. 

#30 - J'Frer of the Soroibus Tortus Noise Marine band

Another illustration based on a miniature of my own... 

Soroibus Tortus - from left to right; J'Frer, Marcus, D'Snydr, Ajax, and Fingur. They are part of a small detachment of Emperor's Children led by Deamon Prince Garfongdong.

#34 - Servo-Skull

A Servo-Skull is a cybernetic floating drone made of electronics, machinery, anti-gravity field generators... and the skull and brain of a deceased citizen of the Imperium - so they may continue their duty to the Emperor even after their body has passed.

#35 - Khorne Berserker

I was very excited to see that there is a World Eaters Codex, along with NEW plastic Khorne Berserkers, in the pipe... Not because I care about the World Eaters, at all... but because if they do a World Eaters, it means they're finally getting around to giving the other chaos gods some attention... Death Guard (Nurgle) and Thousands Sons (Tzeentch) have had codexes and their own lines of specialist troops for a while. Surely this indicates and Emperor's Children codex (and plastic Noise Marines - not that I NEED MORE!?) could be not too far off as well...? 

I had hoped it might have been around the same time as the new Hedonites of Slaanesh Battle Tome for Age of Sigmar... since they adding new Slaanesh Daemons and upgrading the models of some older ones... alas, it was not to be. 

Work-in-Progress Wednesday - Noise Marines and Squats!

The local 40K club (Hunters of the Warp - if you're in or around Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) does a little Work-in-Progress Wednesday post each week where everyone shares what they're currently working on. I thought since many of you might be at home and bored and desperately looking for NEW CONTENT on all of your favourite blogs (and this one!) I thought I'd share the pics, that I posted there, as well...

The lighting in my painting space is not... ideal... hence not-so-great photos...



Starting in on the next batch of Noise Marines! Also, OBLITERATORS!

These Noise Marines are ALL METAL! Like, HEAVY METAL!

There is less of a panic rush on these, as I fully expect Battleforce Recon to be cancelled (and if it isn't cancelled, for some reason, I doubt I'll go...)

Last night I also finished assembling the last of the units in the Start Collecting Chaos Space Marines box (so far, the only one I've painted is the Venomcrawler) while watching a couple of episodes of Impulse with Amanda. Still to paint is a Master of Possession, two Greater Possessed, the two Obliterators pictured above, and ten Chaos Space Marines. They all look really fun, but I think I'll wait until all the Noise Marines are done until I seriously get started with painting them.



Another little side project that's been on and off my workbench for a couple months - Squats! Primarily I was thinking they could be used as a Venator "gang" in Necromunda. A Venator gang is basically supposed to represent a group of bounty hunters all ganged up together to go on a hunt - but they have different stat blocks you can choose from - and one of the sets looks remarkably similar to that of Squats - slower move value, toughness of 4, etc.

Three of these are some of the oldest 40K miniatures I've owned - recently stripped of their original paint job. One is from Victoria Miniatures, two are from the Astropolis II Kickstarter and the other five are ones I've picked up on eBay over the years and finally have a purpose for them. I also have 3-4 squat bikers, all from back-in-the-day, that I might paint/repaint (only one of them was ever fully completed, the others have been in a half-painted limbo for nearly 30 years!)

I had thought I'd wait until they were ALL painted before posting them all together with a group along with some extensive background fluff I've been working on... but here they are.

I DO have ANOTHER side project that is partly completed that I'm also waiting to complete ALL of the miniatures for to post together with some even MORE extensive background fluff... that one I WILL wait for. I'll give you some hints though - It's a 40K Kill Team... and it in some way involves some more of the oldest GW figures I have, and some very new ones, and... Blood Bowl... and the destruction of the Old World... How the hell do I tie all THAT together!? Well, you'll just have to wait and see!


In Other News...

We spent a bit of the day yesterday trying to figure out Roll 20 so Finnegan can keep his D&D games going in this era of social distancing. I happened to note that there are Wrath & Glory character sheets available on there...

ALL of the Amanda and the kids activities are cancelled and we're already finding we have a LOT more free time on our hands - I hope this will translate into MORE GAMES being played and more time to post game reports - to entertain all of you stuck at home in quarantine or self-isolation.

What are you all working on?

Getting in any extra games (solo, online, or otherwise)?

Have your kids reached Willing-to-Play-Games-with-Parents-Again levels of boredom? (Mine have!)


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Probably the Noise Marines above completed.

The Squats will probably take longer.

Game Reports of games with the family?

MOAR NOIZ

Well... Most of our extra curricular activities have been cancelled. If I were being totally honest, I am not at all disappointed about this!

A few more Noise Marines rolled off the workbench this weekend. I've been working on these, on and off, for the last few weeks. Most of my hobby time this last week has been spent assembling new models - mostly from the PILE of stuff I bought last week... and I got a little distracted and ended up painting the Venomcrawler!

These are taking a long time - I've been trying to do them all a bit different - Noise Marines are described as wearing " armour painted in various bold colours, as their senses are so distorted that only the most extravagant shades and patterns register to their minds". I also painted a few pieces to look like they were stolen from other marine chapters - either as trophies  or to replace worn/damaged bits - see if you can spot any - some aren't obvious (any yellow could be Imperial Fists, any blue could be Ultramarines) but there are others that can only be from one particular chapter!



Six NEW Noise Marines! These are parts of two different squads. Three of them are newer (but not the newest) plastic GW Chaos Space Marines - they all have Sonic Blasters from Kromlech - and one of them has a back pack from Kromlech as well. The other three are old metal Bile's Enhanced Marines - two have metal sonic blasters from GW and one has a gen-u-ine GW Noise Marine backpack, the other one has a Kromlech Sonic Blaster and two have the Kromlech backpacks.



All of them so far!

I'm sort of trying to do them in bands of five - that can potentially link up into squads of ten.



First Squad - These are all plastic (Except the Champion, D'Snydr, he's SO FUCKING METAL!)



Band #1 - Soroibus Tortus - from left to right; J'Frer, Marcus, D'Snydr, Ajax, and Fingur.

D'Snydr is an old metal GW Noise Marine Champion with Chainsword and Power Claw (Fist?), the rest are plastic GW Chaos Space Marines with the GW finecast Noise Marine Upgrade bits.



Soroibus Tortus backs.



Band #2 - Mortuis-Lac-Hominibus - from left to right; Mundus, Sanguis, Talci, Sinomine, Haec.

These are all GW plastic Chaos Space Marines - two of them have the sonic blasters from the GW finecast Noise Marine Upgrade bits set, the other three have Kromlech Sonic Blasters.



Mortuis-Lac-Hominibus back.



First part of the second Squad (ALL METAL! well... except one) Band #3 - Sabbatum Nigreos - from left to right; Pincermarum, Dios, Ozimandus, Iominus, and Equisolis.

Ozimandus is the ridiculously overpriced plastic Noise Marine that GW released last year - I think as an anniversary of the release the first Noise Marine. The plastic one is an updated sculpt of the original (of which I have one, still to paint!) The rest are old metal Fabius Bile's Enhanced Marines - three have metal sonic weapons from GW (of which, two have a gen-u-ine GW Noise Marine backpacks) the other one has a Kromlech Sonic Blaster (and two have the Kromlech backpacks).



Sabbatum Nigreos backs.


With these I am HALF done - a little more than half, really, because there are a few of the remaining ones that I have partly painted...

They've been fun, if laborious, to paint. I just hope they don't SUCK in the game!


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

STILL MORE Noise Marines!!!

Game Reports!?

Probably some Blackstone Fortress... maybe some 40K once I get the last of the Noise Marines done - trying the 1000 point force out against some of the others we have around the house - We had a Drukhari and two Assuryani 1000 point forces we put together for Strange Bedfellows last year. I can easily put together a few different 1000 point Imperial Guard forces. Finnegan has LOADS of Orks... it's just getting those kids to PLAY with me now... mind you, if all their activities are cancelled, there are only so many videos they can watch on YouTube before they get bored, right...?

The idea was to try out my new Chaos forces - to get a bit of practice using them - before Battleforce Recon in April... but I'm feeling like there is a pretty strong possibility that it, too, will be cancelled - or at least postponed. Whatevs... plenty of armies to play against here at home!

NOISE MARINES (and a Plague Marine and some Epic Bone Krushas)

I finally finished up a full squad of Noise Marines!



I'm a little torn about how to organize these. Squads of five or ten...? Initially, I was feeling like five, because then I thought I could try and paint them like iconic rock/metal/punk five-piece bands... but then when I went looking for colourful icon costumes for rock/metal/punk five-piece bands, I wasn't coming up with much. Other than KISS's iconic face paint (and maybe the Misfits)... it's mostly a lot of studded black leather... which is LAME. I was thinking bright, gaudy mismatched colours. Almost like Dazzle camouflage but even MORE colour!

I did find one band pic to base this first squad on...



Can anyone guess the band...?  



Maybe now....?



Look close.



Or this one...?



maybe if I turn it around the right way...?

Here's another *HINT*

Let me know in the comments if you figured it out and what gave it away...

So... units of five?  Like bands (whether they are inspired by actual bands or not)? or ten? If they were in fives like rock/metal bands (I don't know too many punk bands with five...? most seem to be three or four...) I could give them names! These could be the Twysturd Cysturs (Oooh! Another Hint... although that sounds a little like a Death Guard band....?)

Speaking of Death Guard...



Another Plague Marine - this time metal and armed with a Melta Gun!



Brother Bloatus!

He happened to be available from one of the eBay sellers I was picking up Noise Marine bits from... and there is another batch of metal ones on the way from another seller - again, the main purpose was picking up Noise Marines... but then there were good deal on older Plague Marines. These just aren't in demand - with all the fancy-schmancy plastic ones available now! I did pick up ONE plastic one - a Malignant Plaguecaster - So I could have an HQ element to lead the Death Guard Detachment...

And now for something completely different...

(but still 40k-ish...)



and a pair of Epic Ork Bone Krushas

FINALLY I have some TANK-like-things for my epic ork force. everything else I have is infantry, truks (like the original, boring plastic ones) and Stompas/Gargants. Not that I have any of the Truks or Stompas or Gargants painted yet, but I also stumbled across these on eBay from a seller I was picking up Noise Marine (and other) bits from, so I snatched them as well... and... since they were here, I painted them...



I thought I'd try painting one with gore trailing behind from those it's crushed... but I didn't totally love it, so I didn't bother with the second..


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

We were originally going to play Power Grid last night (Friday), but both of the other players I'd originally lined up to come and play with us bailed... both sick. Then Keira admitted she was hoping they'd show up so she wouldn't HAVE to play - which would have been nice to know earlier, otherwise I could have arranged for MORE players... as it was, it was just going to be me and Amanda for Power Grid... So I thought I'd offer to set up a game of Hellboy. Keira IS apparently interested in playing THAT still - as long as she's playing Liz Sherman! So we set that up.... It was a good thing too, because I really had NO IDEA about many of the rules - luckily Finnegan joined us and HE remembered EVERYTHING, and it was really more like HIM running ME through a game! I did take some pictures, but not really enough to warrant a post on it's own about it. We are planning to play again tomorrow (Sunday) evening, so perhaps I'll do a double game report...

After that, Tuesday is the big Wargaming Birthday Bash Necromunda Game. It is the same game I'm running a week and a half later at ToonCon. I was thinking of this Tuesday's game as another Play-test... but I think I've MOSTLY hammered it out and... really... Tuesday's game has become a beast in its own right. I have six people actually threatening to show up! (only ONE seems to be registered for the game at ToonCon, so far!) It should be a good time... if any hiccups appear, I have a week and a half to sort them out before ToonCon...

NOISE MARINE (and MOAR Blackstone Fortress and Chaos Stuff!)

CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZ!!!



Yeah... That's one down, twenty-nine to go...



(No, they're not ALL the absurdly expensive special edition Noise Marine...)



Silly detail that likely no one will notice: I gave him a White Scars elbow pad... I think I'll do this with some of the others - give them bits from other chapters that they've scavenged...

As I explained as part of a reply to Iain's comment on the previous post... I've been rethinking what I might bring to Battleforce Recon in April.

Briefly, I was thinking of picking up a Start Collecting Chaos Space Marines box - This notion came about because I was looking at safer ways to bring the the Daemons onto the table and a Master of Possession seems to be the ticket there - but they're only available in that box set.... of course you can get them off eBay, but then they're $30-40CAD each (once exchange and shipping is added in...) but the box itself is only $115CAD... and it includes two Obliterators... and two Greater Possessed... and a complete squad of 10 chaos space marines ($70 on their own)... AND a Venomcrawler!? So... Start Collecting Box...

Of course once I thought I was going to get that, I started to rejig the plan to include the Venomcrawler and maybe some of the Greater Possessed and/or Obliterators...

Of course, once the brain had the idea (and I had the spousal go-ahead) to spend money on NEW THINGS for the chaos army, well... the floodgates were open... and now I have a whole new plan...

NOIZAPALOOZA!!!!

THREE squads of TEN Noise Marines!

I have zero idea if this will be at all good... but I'll have a RIOT painting them!!! (and a not-so-QUIET one to boot - I will be cranking the metal and speed punk for the next month and a half to get them all done!) and it will give me a chance to do a little Bill & Ted/Wylde Stallion-style air guitar riff every time they annihilate something on the tabletop...

I have six more at home and spend the last few days tracking down assorted bits and bobs on eBay to cobble together three full squads of ten... and it came out to slightly less than just buying them new (which entails buying boxes of Chaos Space Marines - currently $70 for 10!!! - and THEN buying a couple of upgrade packs to turn them into Noise Marines - at $20 each... so about $110 for a squad of Noise Marines - Yikes!!)

Hopefully I'll get the squad I have finished up before the others start rolling in!


In other News... 



Obsidius Mallex, Chaos Lord of the Black Legion, and two Black Legionnaires.



Pious Vorne, Missionary Zealot and Blackstone Fortress Explorer.



14 Traitor Guardsmen - not my best paint job ever... but they're DONE and we can get playing

(well, after I finish up the four Negavolt Cultists... hopefully this evening!)

(I also have a few more Explorers to do, but I have plenty enough to get us started!!)



Giant Necromundan Greenback Spider (actually a Reaper Bones miniature...)



Objective marker made for my Chaos Armies.



Other side of said objective marker...

Brother Lorgag and Brother Feldar - two more Chaos Space Marines for my growing collection of Emperor's Children force. Bother Lorgag is the Aspiring Champion for the squad - the miniature is actually an old metal possessed miniature, but he was conveniently carrying a Chain Axe and had a pistol in a holster, and still has some of his armour. So maybe he's only a little bit possessed...?



The Whole Squad - for now... Enough for a Kill Team.

These guys could be the Rhythm Section for the Noise Marines! laying down a staccato beat with their bolters...

 Well... at least until I get some Havocs!


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Negavolt Cultists - to finish off the baddies for Blackstone Fortress!

Then... MORE CHAOS (and maybe the rest of the Blackstone Fortress explorers...)