Blog News and Shamless Ebay Plug

Hi Folks
just a quick note that over the next few days there will be some changes to the tabs at the top and their content, I'm looking to consolodate some of the options and shrink down their content (think subpages). I will also be adding some new Labels to posts, so please keep an eye out.
Once everything is live it would be great if you could let me know what you think of the changes. Also please let me know if there are any changes I havent made that you might like.

Secondly, please keep an eye out from some more TOFG news and information coming soon.

Finally to help fun my hobbies and plastic habit I've decided to have a small clear out, theres Figures, FW, DVDs and Lego. Odd collection I know!
Many items have gone via Buy It Now already but there are some nice bits left, so please check them out here:
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/the-inqusitor

Thanks and enjoy!

A Tale of Five Gamers - 500 Point Force Voting Results!

Hello Folks,
Back from my holiday adventures and pleased to announce that thanks to all your votes we now have a result for the voting on your Favourite 500 point force from the TOFG challenge.

The result is as follows:

As you can see and I am very pleased with is that I with my Imperial Guard Force have won the first round of the challenge. I am very pleased with this and especially pleased with the margin by which I won. So once again here if the winning force along with a link to the round up article:

The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force

Once again thanks for the votes, I don't know if we can organise a small prize or if its just going to be bragging rights at the moment, however I will be chasing up the other guys to finish their forces and for those that did not complete on time I will also be chasing for their Dead Model/Objective Marker penalty for not finishing the challenge.

So thanks for sticking with it and voting for my force. I hope you are all looking forward to more in the way of models, challenges and various articles coming soon.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Completed Forces Final Round-up and Voting!

Final Completed Forces Round-up and Chance to vote for your Favourite Force

Well folk's there you have it the completion (for some) of the TOFG 500 point challenge. OK, so not everyone has completed and yes it's taken a while however for the most part it's been worth it. Not only have we all got back in to the 40k hobby but we have managed to introduce another victim to it, for that alone it's been a good challenge.

So why this final round up post? well this is where you all come in, while I'm away on holiday there is a vote running at the top of the blog where you can vote for your favourite force in this leg of the challenge. To help you recap and decide who to vote for here is a rundown of all the submissions:

• Dan's Complete 500 point Space Marine Force:
  Ultramarine Recon Force Phi
• Jono's Complete 500 point Tyranid Force:
  Tyranid Hive Fleet Tenebrae
• Chris' Complete 500 point Tau Force:
  Tau Stormstrike Expansion Cadre
• Rich's Complete 500 point Chaos Space Marine Force:
  Word Bearers Chaos Space Marine Coven
• Millest's Complete 500 point Imperial Guard Force:
  Imperial Guard 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force

As you can see varying degrees of completion but all give good viewing. So please cast your votes at the top of the blog, also please feel free to comment on this post or even direct on the posts above, to assist with that comment moderation has now been turned off as I wont be here to moderate. Not sure if there is a prize or its jut bragging rights but I will discuss this with the guys and we will announce once the results are in, but any thoughts would be great as it might persuade them to get involved.

Hope you have all enjoyed the progress and the models that have come out of the challenge, apologies it has dragged on and there has been little updating in some areas. Suffice to say however the 750 challenge will be over a much shorter period and hopefully there will be some nice completed forces from people. Not to mention I will be working on the odd side project as well on my return so who knows the hobby content might actually increase!!

So once again thanks for sticking with this and getting this far. Hope you all like what you see and hope you feel able to vote.

Thanks to all and hope to see you after my holidays.
Millest

A Tale of Five Gamers - Millest's Complete 500pt Imperial Guard Force Round-Up

Up now the final update, and possibly most complete, prior to the final vote (and most importantly my holiday) hope you all enjoy!

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The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force

The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force History

Currently Operating on the Eastern fringes the 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary force was initially tasked with the exploration and eradication of Tau enclaves and inroads in to the region of space to the galactic north of Quintairn. Under the direct control of the Ordo Xenos for the duration of the campaign the 1313th were tasked with stamping the Emperors authority on worlds that were only nominally under the control of the Eagle, eradicating those worlds infested with tau and persecuting those that openly consorted with the alien.

It wasn't long however before on the outpost world of Troya Majorus that a greater threat came to light in the form of a genestealer cult.

Upon discovery the cult threw themselves at the members of the Expeditionary force with tooth, claw and more conventional weapons. This single horrific attack which resulted in the complete destruction of the capital, Hawkesfall, soon revealed an infestation covering a number of neighbouring systems and only hinted at the horrors to come. The Campaign on Troya Majorus dragged on in to the close of 881.M41 when Troya Majorus fell.

Pre-empted by the screams of Astropaths, Navigators and psykers alike the Tyranid reinforcements arrived. The invading tyranids were identified as Splinter fleet Tenebre and the full menace of the Xenos threat, both Tau and Tyranid, was revealed and all out war reigned.

Since this time more attacks have come to light and the marauding destruction of the Splinter fleet has shown to cover a vast swathe of planets on the periphery of both the Human and Tau empires. It is here that the 1313th is now engaged in an all out war on two fronts with two of the most dangerous foes the imperium faces.

The 1313th Expeditionary Force are currently on permanent detachment to the Inquisitional Enclave at Quintairn, the forces of the Lignum Iugo are proud to serve the Inquisition with distinction in campaigns across the region. Originating in the Eastern Regions of the Britarius Sector the world of Lignum Iugo is a careful balance between Industry and Cultivation providing many local systems with large quantities of food and technology. The regiments of Lignum Iugo are known for the dual specialties in Air Assault and Scouting but amongst these regiments the 1300's stand apart from the rest.

The 1300 regiments, those bearing the numbers 1300-1399, are considered by many in the sector as a guard force without peer, of particular note are the regiments of the 1313th, 1349th and 1373rd. Selected only from the best men and women of the planets many regiments and the brightest and most martial students from the planets Scholams the 1300's are some of the best in their fields.

Referred to as Expeditionary forces the 1300's are forces that are sent on either the most critical of missions or campaigns where a hard hitting strike force is required. Their most common role however is acting as a fighting force whilst assigned to Rogue Traders, Adeptus Mechanicus Exploratory forces or, given their proximity to Quintairn, as Inquisitional Troopers. The 1313th is one such regiment who by their deeds has seen the regiment seconded permanently to the Quintairn enclave. It is here where they have fought under the Insignia of numerous Inquisitors of various Ordos before the current assignment which sees them battling the dual threat of Tau and Tyranid incursions on the Eastern Fringes.

Members of the 1300s, rarely return to Lignum Iugo as the troopers they once were, scarred and decorated they often go on to lead other regiments raised from the planet. Some are requested to serve as bodyguards and retinues for inquisitors, and even other members of the imperial hierarchy should they be deemed deserving. The rarest and most sought after path is that of the honoured few who even join the ranks of the inquisition where the free thinking and autonomous nature of the 1300s shines through and prepares them for the darkness they fight. The knowledge and skills of the 1300s is without peer in the region and is one that the Inquisition is more than happy to encourage, cultivate and utilise.

Army List

The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:

500 Point Challenge Images

Below are Images showing The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector.

Complete Force

HQ

Interrogator Ratner (Counts as Psyker)

Troops

"Custos" Platoon (Troops choice 1)

Platoon HQ

Squad 1

Squad 2

"Subruo" Hardened Veterans Squad and Chimera Transport (Troops choice 2)

Fast Attack

Sentinel Unit - "Argentum Steed"

Heavy Support

Medusa (counts as Griffon) - "Semotus Mortis"

Terrain Selection

Additional Images of the units and terrain above can be found here:
Millest's Complete Force Round-up Album
please be aware these are un-editted so could well be "massive" hope there is something in here you like.

Some words from Millest

Hello Folks,
welcome to my first completed force in so, so, so, so many years! I know it isn't huge, it is only 500 points after all but after picking up a brush for the first time in years it feels great. I must say not only am I pleased with the overall results but I'm very pleased with myself for meeting every aspect of the challenge, from fluff and list to the models and the terrain. I must apologise for the pics though, at present it's very overcast and the light isn't great, dont worry though this is something I will be looking to remedy for future picture taking.
As I say I am pleased and when it comes to the 750 expansion there are somethings I'd like to add to these guys or change, chief amongst them is backpacks all round, replace flesh heads with gas masks, pick out the icons etc in white and finally see about adding some litanies and text to discreet areas of the vehicles. They aren't big adds but I think they will add to the feel and fluff more.

The overall aspect of the army really does please me. I have tried to follow the same patterns and schemes all the way through and I think the very limited palette works well, especially when used to mimic the Tank camo on things like cloaks and gun Shields. The other thing that ties the force together well is the use of the Secret Weapon Minis bases, these are great and will be getting a review later. I also found that only having a limited choice on some of the bases (mainly the 60mm ones) meant I had to be creative and convert them, something that actually was more fun then I anticipated.

Other little nods are the small conversions dotted through out, like the chimera (virtual cookie for those spotting all the work), the bits and pieces in the Veteran Squad as well as the HQ choice. There are lots of little things here and there and there is a virtual cookie for the first person to spot the one and only metal GW component used in the Infantry (the Secret Weapon Packs don't count).

So please enjoy and comment, any questions or thoughts would be great and please, please vote for me when the poll goes live!

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There you have it folks, the final Round-up of a completed force and all being well the vote will be up later today.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Rich's Complete 500pt Chaos Space Marine Force Round-Up

The fourth update in the 500 point challenge, unfortunately even more disappointing but included for completeness and to round things up a little.

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Word Bearers Coven

Word Bearers Coven History

Little is known about the latest incursion by the Word Bearers in to the realms of Ultramar but given the past history between these two founding legions the root no doubt lies in the forgotten days of the Heresy.

Army List

The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:

500 Point Challenge Images

Below are Images showing The Word Bearers Coven at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector.

Some words from Millest on behalf of Rich

Hi folks, not a lot I can really say here on behalf of Rich, as a friend of a friend Rich asked to join the challenge unfortunately however little has been heard from him since his inital posts. There have been promises of updates and pictures but alas none have materialised. I and no doubt you are a little disappointed by this but I guess thats just the way these things go sometimes. Still in the 750 expansion it will give Rich time to decide on if he is or isn's going to be involved. However despite all this please enjoy and feel free to comment on the pics we have so far.

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So folks, for what its worth and to wrap this stretch up that was Chris's update, thanks for sticking with it but apologies there has been nothing fron Rich for quite some time.
please stick with it, only one more force update to go and this ones actually finished!!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Chris' Complete 500pt Tau Force Round-Up

The third update in the 500 point challenge, a tad disappointing but included for completeness and to round things up a little.

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The Stormstrike Expansion Cadre

The Stormstrike Expansion Cadre History

With the third sphere expansion well under way, Commander Shadowsun has ordered her forces be split and sent in several directions to probe nearby Imperial worlds for weakness. At the vary tip of these fleets are the expansion cadres, small forces, little more than scouts and water caste bodyguards. Their role is to reconnoitre imperial worlds, assessing defences and where possible making contact with the more open minded planetary governors. Contact with enemy forces is kept to a minimum, with the cadre containing just a handful of firewarriors, pathfinders, and a contingent of crisis battlesuits. A long way from the inner Sept worlds, the forces must make do without the support of their allied races and heavy armour.


One such cadre pushed further in to Imperial space than most, and entered talks with a governor whose tithe was putting tremendous strain on his economy. Receiving intel that a neighbouring system may be negotiating with the xenos, the Inqusition despatched the fiercely loyal forces of the 29th Lignum Iugo Mechanized Regiment to eradicate the Tau and send a clear message to local systems. They struck quickly and the small Tau force made a desperate retreat, outnumbered, and outgunned by the superior force. The regiment landed a large amount of armour in the area with the intention of swiftly eliminating the Tau before they could extract.

The Shas’vre charged with the security of the force, made a risky move and led the other crisis suits back to the Orca dropships ahead of the main force, leaving them virtually defenceless. A single Orca then set course straight for the Guard detachment using the low cloud of the planet’s storms as cover. Making it directly above the force without being detected the Shas’Vre led the crisis teams in deadly vertical assault in to the heart of the enemy formation. The strike was a complete surprise and coupled with the cloud cover, the guard’s hydras didn’t even obtain a target lock before the Tau were among them. Landing atop the chimeras and battletanks, the suits ignited them with their fusion blasters whilst gun drones pinned heavy weapons teams. Using the burnt out husks of the tanks, the suits jumped from cover to cover, sewing confusion and death. Without any weapons to pierce the crisis armour, and the storm interfering with communication equipment, the 29th fell in to disarray and were slaughtered to a man. Not a single crisis suit was lost.

Earning the name Stormstrike, the Shas’vre was promoted to Commander, and has begun requisitioning further battlesuits to build a hunter cadre. Wherever Stormstrike is spotted, death from the skies is sure to follow. The extreme and deadly tactics have not gone unnoticed however, and an Ordo Xenos inquisitor has been despatched to end the threat. Requesting aid from the fearsome 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary force, and with rumours of a Deathwatch kill team en-route, Commander Stormstrike will have plenty of opportunity to fight for the Greater Good.

Army List

The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:

500 Point Challenge Images

Below are Images showing The Stormstrike Expansion Cadre at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector.

Some words from Millest on behalf of Chris

Hi All, unfortunately due to many unfortunate circumstances, some unavoidable and out of the control of Chris and some down to him himself, Chris hasn't been able to progress as well as he or we would have liked. Despite repeated pestering, offers of help and general rollockings Chris as you can see had issues. Still as this is the 500 point deadline I have included his work so far to demonstrate what has been accomplished. Chris assures me that the force will be finished soon (we shall see) and we will hopefully have pics of the completed force in time for our first battle report.
So once again he offers his apology as do I on his behalf. So as you can see whilst progress hasn't been amazing at least he has kept us updated!

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So folks, for what its worth and to wrap this stretch up that was Chris's update, thanks for sticking with it but apologies it wasn't finished in time.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Jono's Complete 500pt Tyranid Force Round-Up

Up now folks the second update from the TOFG team. Here's Jono!!

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Hive Fleet Tenebrae

Hive Fleet Tenebrae History

During Hive Fleet Behemoth’s assault of Macragge, the Hive Mind, convinced of yet another victory, sent out splinter fleets to survey the way for the advancing swarm. In the closing hours of the battle, the Imperial Forces performed an assault on the man Hive Craft in orbit in an attempt to stop the swarms of Tyranids bringing devastation to the Planet's surface. During this lucky hit, the assaulting Tyranid force was thrown into a state of disarray which ultimately gave victory to the Imperial forces. It is believed that during this valiant assault, a 'Norn Queen' was either wounded, or killed. To this day, the Ultramarines believe that the Norn Queen is the embodiment of the Hive Mind, controlling the entire fleet with her will. Be this true, or be it that the target was merely a larger Synapse Creature further up the evolutionary chain nobody will ever know. Regardless of this, the temporary lapse of synapse that ensued caused many of the scouting splinter fleets to fall into a state of dormancy. Many of these dormant vessels and splinter fleets were either destroyed or simply wandered out of Imperium space in to the dead space between the stars. One such splinter was dubbed Hive Fleet Tenebrae.

Hive Fleet Tenebrae was brought to the attention of both the Imperium and the burgeoning Tau Empire when it re-entered the galaxy close to the Quintairn system, where it is hypothesised that its relative proximity to the Ymgarl system (The once theorised home of the Genestealer) and to core splinters of Hive fleet Behemoth resulted in the awakening of the hive ships many decades later. This is the first recorded active sighting of the Hive Fleet and I am sure that it will not be the last.

Army List

The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:

500 Point Challenge Images

Below are Images showing Hive Fleet Tenebrae at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector.

Some words from Jono

Hi All, its been a while and as you can see.. progress hasn't been amazing! Alas, vote for me because despite being a bit lethergic recently, I STILL have more done than chris!


Since my last update, I have based everything that had a final coat of paint, and put a few more layers on my gaunts. Although they aren't up, I actually have about another 25 gaunts in my box, just for the Tervigon to churn out. Cannon fodder ftw! Note to self.. avoid horde armies in the future!

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Only three more updates to come before the vote.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Dan's Complete 500pt Space Marine Force Round-Up

Hi Folks,
well here it is, the end of the 500 point challenge finally and we have our first complete force. The order was drawn randomly and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Dan drew the short straw and gets the first post in the series of round ups prior to the voting.

All the round ups will be posted over the next week or so prior to the final vote and will all follow the same format with the fluff, army list, pic and some words to show you what has been produced, so with our further ado time to hand over the blog to Dan:

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Recon Force Phi

Recon Force Phi History

Recon force Phi has been dispatched by Captain Sicarius to investigate the loss of contact with an Ultramarines remote monitoring site near the borders of the expanding Tau empire.

Under the command of Veteran Sergeant Karras, recently returned from a tour with the Deathwatch, the force has become embroiled in the dual encroachment of the Tyranids and the Tau upon Imperial space, and the worlds under the stewardship of the Ultramarines. Due to the increased threat level of multiple xenos incursions, Veteran Sergeant Karras has notified Macragge and has requested reinforcements.

Despite continuing to gather intelligence for the imminent arrival of a full sized strike force, the Ultramarines have been unable to make contact with the planetside Imperial forces, causing their loyalty to be thrown in to doubt...

Army List

The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:

500 Point Challenge Images

Below are Images showing Recon Force Phi at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector. 

Complete Force

Troops

Tactical Squad 1

Tactical Squad 2

Fast Attack (Proxy HQ)

Assault Squad

Some words from Dan

Yoddle!
So this is it, challenge one down, done and dusted. Really happy with what I've managed to do.

So what we have is two tactical squads each led by a sergeant who stands out a bit. On top of that we have the assault squad led by a deathwatch sergeant. My favourite minis are the heavy weapons boys and the deathwatch mini, to be honest the entire assault squad looks really nice.

To explain why there is no HQ choice it was decided that at this points level for a Marine force the cost of an effective HQ was too high so the decision was to let me not take one but i had to make at least one of the Sergeants a Veteran to show some kind of leadership within the force. It was also felt for fluff reasons it wouldn't be unheard of for a decorated Veteran Sergeant (especially a Deathwatch Veteran) to lead a small recon force rather then an Officer

As we progress through the challenges and as my skills improve I will return to these models and apply some more detailing

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There you have it folks, the first of our round ups, i know its taken a while and we're all thankful for you sticking with it this far. Once holidays are over we will of course be expanding the forces and posting some battle reports. So thoughts, comments and feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks and enjoy!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20 - Round up!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20 - Round up!

First up it is time for this weeks round up of all the action - as sparse as that may be once again!

Week 20 Updates

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20-1 - Dan's Marine Update - Dan has popped up some pics of his ongoing Ultramarines with some clearer pics!
• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20-2 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update – I show off some FINISHED(!!!!) tank repaints - possibly the first finished units of the challenge!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20-2 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update

Millest's Week 20 Update

Well Folks, time for some good news!! I have finished models!! This week after much fannying about I have managed to complete both my Chimera and my Medusa. So those guys are added to the tally of completed terrain.
This week I will mainly be finishing guardsmen and my psyker (slight change with him so hope you all like him) but as I say lots of hard work this week. I dont know how well the pics reflect it but the models are painted in a black and green pseudo-berlin style camo and are then weathered up with some nice drybrush effects, these use tin bits, boltgun metal, a dark grey/brown and then a final all over dry brush (though heavier at the tracks) of khemri. As you can see - hopefully - from the pics the tanks have many many little conversions to them and a virtual cookie to anyone who can spot them all. So on with the pics:

Enjoy and comments would be great!
Cheers

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20-1 - Dan's Marine Update

Dan's Week 20 Update

Hello again!

With the final hurrah approaching on this challenge I can say that I have paint on every single model, and not just black undercoat and smurfish blue!

So moving on to my actual update of what I have done. This week I have turned my attention to the final unit that had no paint applied to them, yes folks that’s right my assault squad. I have followed the same scheme throughout my units, regal blue as the primary colour, burnished gold for the iconography and company markings, ultramarine blue for accenting joints et al. But with the assault squad I have used boltgun metal for the jump pack straps and bleached bone for the skull motif at the centre of this. Piccies below:

The eagle-eyed and observant of you will notice a lack of actual jump packs! These are the only components that have yet had paint applied, alas this is soon to be rectified and hopefully my assault squad will be fully assembled.

And for a teaser… I have recently purchased the Chaplain with jump pack in Finecast, must say I am really impressed with the detail....BUT more on this in the next challenge!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19 - Round up!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19 - Round up!

First up it is time for this weeks round up of all the action - as sparse as that may be once again!

Week 19 Updates

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19-1 - Dan's Marine Update - Dan has popped up some pics of his ongoing Ultramarines with some clearer pics!
• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19-2 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update – I show off some tank repaints and the finalised colourscheme.
  

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19-2 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update

Millest's Week 18 Update

Hi Folks, just a quicky from me, lots of work and time away recently but have some pics of my tanks to show the final scheme prior to weathering. I hope you like them and any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.

cheers folks.