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Honestly, this is one of the more disappointing aspects of this release. I recommend writing an email to GW to request that he gains rules. Mine is still sitting on sprue because of this. As nice as he'd look as a Terminator Champion, his size and awesomeness deserves his own rules, IMHO.

Hell yeah, that's gotta be one of the more solid Combat Patrols in the game.

Ha! Whoops, fixed now. Thanks for the compliment and heads up.

THE CRUENTES Arkrath, the Hand of Khorne DAEMON PRINCE, 11PL For ten thousand years, the Astartes who would become Arkrath, Kratus, has led his warband of Chosen Terminators. Entering the Long War as a veteran warrior in the ranks of the XII Legion's Terminator elite, Kratus was frequently found in the most bloody of battles. This boldness amassed for him a significant following of Terminators, and they adopted the moniker of Red Butchers, once a reviled and pitied name but one that had since taken on a new sense of respect in their new worship of Khorne. It was from these same ranks that a warlord named Bardûl rose to prominence, his single-minded devotion to the Blood God eclipsing even Kratus's own. When Bardûl declared the founding of the Aksha'i Cruentes and the start of the Red Crusade, Kratus stood beside him, ready to go to war with the galaxy. As Bardûl's chief bodyguard and confidant, Kratus defended the man who called himself Hand of Khorne, as well as delivering justice to those who impeded the Bloodfather's dominance. It was not uncommon for Kratus to be dispatched to kill other Champions of Khorne who had displeased the Hand in some way. During the War for Janus, however, Bardûl grew impatient with the gifts his Daemonic patrons bestowed upon him, and he drank too greedily from the well of power that is Chaos worship, transforming into a monstrous Chaos Spawn. The power vacuum was quickly filled by the former Terminator Champion, who tore the symbolic chainfist from his erstwhile master's broken Terminator plate and took it for his own. Kratus's ascent was meteoric, and before long he was courting the same Daemonic patrons as his former master. Unlike Bardûl, however, Kratus's ambition and arrogance were tempered by personal sacrifices, having suffered several grievous wounds, including the loss of his own leg. Such losses displayed a certain dedication to the Lord of Battles, however they were still defeats in the eyes of the Blood God and would be punished. After one such defeat, Kratus was whisked away to the Warp before the alien witch's magicks could kill him. It was there that Kratus was first imprisoned and tortured by his patron, known to him as Ska'nzand the Wrathforged. He was held here for eight hundred years, by his perception, however never did his faith and determination waver. Impressed by this, Ska'nzand released Kratus on a quest of penitent rage throughout the Eye of Terror for another eight hundred years. In realspace only hours later, a winged figure manifested before the Cruentes, who were on the verge of tearing themselves apart to find a new leader. Monstrous in stature, this figure was armoured in what appeared to be a mockery of Terminator plate and bore a warped chainfist on its right vambrace. It did not use the name Kratus, for the man who bore that name was dead, it said. This was now Arkrath, the True Hand of Khorne. Warlord Trait: Hatred Incarnate Relic: Gorget of Eternal Hate Rank: Legendary Battle Honours: Scorpion Tail (Chaos Boon) - +1A Serpent's Fangs (Chaos Boon) - +1 to wound in first round of combat Warp Stalker (Chaos boon) - reroll advance and charge Razor-edged - improve AP of melee weapon by 1 Blackstone Shard Amulet - cannot be targeted by psychic powers Null-field Disruptor - ignores invulnerable saves Baruda, Blood Priest of Kharneth DARK APOSTLE, 6PL An early convert to the Cult of the Blood God, Baruda was instrumental in the formation of the Cruentes. He wears the charcoal black armour of Loyalist chaplains in dark mockery of his misguided counterparts. Baruda is an extremely - and some might say excessively - zealous individual, to the point that those around him view him with slight unease. However, there is no denying that his entreaties to the Dark Powers are an effective tool. He knows the Dark Zealotry, Wrathful Entreaty and Illusory Supplication prayers. Warlord Trait: Eternal Vendetta Relic: Mantle of Traitors Rank: Heroic Battle Honours: Detestation (Path of the Righteous) - cannot be targeted by psychic powers Stoic Fervour (Path of the Righteous) - 6+ FNP, 4+ FNP vs mortal wounds Just Killer (Path of the Righteous) - +1S when attacking units smaller than his Daemonic Flesh (via Chaos Reward Requisition) - unit gains +1T Aspect of Khorne (via Chaos Reward Requisition) - once per game free use of Fury of Khorne or Scorn of Sorcery stratagems Razor-edged(?) Crozius (via Victor Bonus) - AP of Crozius improved by 1 Thrax Gorechosen EXALTED CHAMPION, 6PL Thrax is a wandering traveller, claiming to be an original member of the War Hounds Legion and claiming to be the bearer of the coveted relic, Gorefather. Regardless of the truth to his words, the Berzerkers who follow Thrax into battle are invariably inspired to great deeds of bloodshed as Thrax himself frequently seeks out the strongest enemies he can find. Warlord Trait: Flames of Spite Relic: Gorefather Rank: Blooded Battle Honours: Sigil of the Shadowlord - 4+ Invul, 4+ FNP vs mortal wounds Validon's Bloodthunderers 8x KHORNE BERZERKERS, 10PL Validon is one of the Cruentes' longest-serving Berzerker Champions, and has been instrumental to the cohesion of the Cruentes as a fighting force. He instituted a gradual change to the Eternal Warrior's fighting pits: instead of individual combat, the pits would focus more on squad-based combat. Through repeated training in this manner over hundreds of years, the instinct to fight in a squad of brothers became so ingrained that even in the deepest frenzy, Berzerkers would know to fight together. Validon leads seven Berzerkers, collectively known as the Bloodthunderers. Rank: Battle-hardened Battle Honours: Hate-fuelled Butchers - +1 to WS Divine Guidance (Path of the Righteous) - improves melee AP by 1 Dreior's Hunters 8x KHORNE BERZERKERS, 10PL A newer member of the Cruentes, Dreior is a vat-grown gift from Fabius Bile's gene clinics. Implanted with false memories, he believes himself to be a veteran of the Long War, and despite his relative youth, he is a consummate fighter. He and his squad are often seen breaking through enemy lines and hunting down specific targets. Dreior leads seven Berzerkers simply known as the Hunters. Rank: Battle-hardened Battle Honours: Bitter to the Bone - can choose their Wanton state Fervid Focus (Path of the Righteous) - can move horizontally through terrain and models Trusted Hounds (via Warfleet Favour) - can choose a character's aura to always be in range Gorm's Stalkers 8x KHORNE BERZERKERS, 10PL Another long-serving member of the Cruentes, Gorm leads the newest inductees into battle. His strict command gives these initiates their first taste at combat, and puts them on the path to becoming fully-fledged Berzerkers of the Cruentes. Gorm's habit of consuming the flesh of the dead, however, often permeates through the ranks of those under his command. As a result, a significant number of Cruentes share his cannibalistic tendencies. Gorm leads seven Berzerkers known as the Stalkers. Rank: Battle-hardened Battle Honours: Hate-fuelled Butchers - +1 to WS Fervid Focus (Path of the Righteous) - can move horizontally through terrain and models Serpentine Fangs (via Dark God Favour) - Gorm's attacks gain +1 to wound on the charge Covenant of the Bloody Hand 20x CULTIST MOB, 5PL Despite this cultist warband's high attrition rate - or, perhaps, because of it - the cult members rarely have any trouble finding more volunteers for their ranks, as few mortal followers of Khorne can resist being given the opportunity to have their blood spilt on the battlefield. Members of this warband have begun adopting a sigil of a bloody handprint as they are inducted, signifying the dead passing on their covenant to the new warriors. Rank: Blooded Battle Honours: Believers of the True Faith - gain the Let the Galaxy Burn ability Murdax's Butchers 10x CHAOS TERMINATORS, 19PL Led by the dangerously ambitious champion, Murdax, the Butchers are a sub-warband of Terminators within the Aksha'i Cruentes. Fierce warriors all, this warband adopted the nickname of Red Butchers upon their descent into the worship of the Blood God. With Terminator plate being difficult to manufacture amongst the Traitor Legions, and with the World Eaters' excessively high attrition rate, the warriors in the Butchers are, ironically for their namesake, some of the more measured of the Cruentes. However, this should not be taken as a lack of aggression - they are capable of as much as their Berzerker brethren, however they have all trained for millennia to hone their use of the Butcher's Nails. Rank: Heroic Upgrades: Red Butchers (via Specialist Reinforcements Requisition) Battle Honours: Ambition's Edge - Murdax gains +1A, +1W and +1Ld Trusted Hounds - can benefit from certain character auras outside of range Hate-fuelled Butchers - +1WS Fervid Focus (via Path of the Righteous: Glorious Ceremony Requisition) - can move horizontally through terrain and models Vervek the Condemned HELLBRUTE, 7PL Vervek's fate is a cautionary tale for any individual who stands in the way of a mighty Champion of Khorne and his glory, for this former Terminator stole a trophy kill that Kratus had claimed. In the eyes of the Blood Father, of course, such triviality didn't matter - however, in the eyes of the corporeal judge and executioner claiming the god's authority, he was little more than a usurper. Vervek was carved out of his Terminator plate with little care, being no more than a head and torso before he was entombed within a Dreadnought's sarcophagus. Rank: Battle-ready Xarian the Bloody Idiot HELLBRUTE, 7PL Once the champion of a whole Cruentes warband, Xarian - formerly known also as Doomgore - was deposed of his position after it was apparent that he did not deserve to lead. Originally, he was the lieutenant of a rival World Eaters warband, the control over which he seized through betrayal, before he pledged them to the Cruentes. As a reward for bolstering their ranks, Xarian was gifted with command of his own warband and a rebellious Daemon sword. The sword resisted Xarian's ownership at first, having not been seized through combat. However, after several battles, Xarian appeased the weapon by stabbing it through his own stomach. Amused by this attempt at sacrifice, the sword appeared to capitulate. It soon became apparent that the sword still had not deemed Xarian worthy. Even though its power had been unlocked, it still rebelled at some of the worst moments possible, often leading to Xarian's defeat. Out of frustration, several conspirators - including Kratus and his Terminators - turned on the champion, dismembering his body and burying the Daemon sword deep within the Eternal Warrior. Xarian was kept alive as an amusement, more than anything, and was interred within a dreadnought sarcophagus. Xarian is a Helbrute, armed with a plasma cannon and hammer. Rank: Battle-hardened Battle Honours: Hate-fuelled Butcher - +1 to WS Despoiler Without Mercy - +1 to BS Chaos Rhino Motorpool CHAOS RHINOS, 4PL x2 Ranks: Rhino I - Battle-ready Rhino II - Battle-ready Rhino III - deleted Bardûl the Wretched Fool CHAOS SPAWN, 1PL A horrid, mutated mess of flesh, Bardûl is kept by the Cruentes as a "living" cautionary tale for those who would squander the gifts of the gods. Bardûl was once a mighty Champion of Khorne, blessed by the Blood God's favour and a promising locus around which the shattered remnants of the World Eaters Legion could gather. However, Bardûl was tempted with more power than he could bear. One of his Daemonic patrons offered him a tiny sliver of immortality, but the Chaos Lord demanded more. In a painful twist of hubris, the mighty Hand of Khorne was wracked with torment as his wrathful masters poured ever more mutating power of Chaos into the champion, until he was no longer recognisable. Rank: Battle-hardened Battle Honours: Fleet of Foot - +1Mv, +1 Advance and Charge rolls Grizzled - 6+ FNP THE PACT CRUENTES - DAEMONIC ALLIES Gorethane RENDMASTER, 7PL Equally at home hewing through ranks of foes from atop its warped chariot as it is duelling with enemy champions, the Gorethane is a dark master of battle. It can be seen directing its Bloodletter hordes from the front, always eager to slay. Warlord Trait: Glory of Battle Rank: Battle-ready Bloodseeker SKULLMASTER, 7PL The Bloodseeker is a swift butcher, and one of the first Neverborn to swear allegiance to Arkrath during his penance. Wielding the accursed axe Bloodbane and thundering into battle atop a loping Juggernaut, the Bloodseeker is a terrifying foe in battle. Relic: A'rgath, King of Blades Rank: Battle-ready Bloodletter Packs 6PL Rank: Battle-ready Bloodcrushers 6PL Rank: Battle-ready Flesh Hounds 5PL Rank: Battle-ready

Took my time, but I finally got around to writing up a full Order of Battle page, complete with images and narratives. Now just to keep it updated as things change!

With Codex: World Eaters just around the corner, I thought it was time to bring up the topic of how to approach a new codex release with an existing Crusade. The natural reaction to any new Codex might be to simply start again, but I find that solution extremely unsatisfying. Being a narrative format, it would be disappointing to simply throw out all the narrative development I've put into this force so far. On the other hand, the Chaos Warband rules for CSM are pretty powerful, as far as benefits go. I have lost most of my battles, but all three Glory trackers are at Favoured status thanks to a judicious use of Agendas. And when a Chaos Warband is Favoured in a category, they get some significant discounts on important Requisitions - especially increasing supplies and adding WLTs and Relics. Importantly, there's no requirement to use those free Requisitions on CSM units, so you can add free WLTs and Relics to allied units as well... There is one big disadvantage to this, however: if you have started a Chaos Warband, your trackers always go down in every battle, regardless of whether you even use CSM units or not. But to increase your Glory trackers, you must use your Warband Champion in battle. This means your Champion is always exposed to battle scars, and our campaign house rules state that scars can only be removed if a unit skips a battle. This is why Kratus, prior to his ascension, was being used in every battle (even when not the best choice) and had accumulated two very detrimental battle scars. For several battles, Kratus had been unable to perform Heroic Intervention, for example. Ultimately, my concern is that I have benefited heavily from using the Chaos Warband rules, and those benefits might not be replicable with Codex: World Eaters, so they might feel undeserved. But then I did the Agendas and I suffered the battle scars on my Champion, to my detriment in many battles. So, I have a solution: All CSM-specific battle traits and Crusade relics will be exchanged for the nearest World Eater equivalents. Arkrath benefits from keeping all his pre-ascension Chaos Boons. This is something currently unique to CSM, since both Death Guard and Thousand Sons Daemon Princes lose their boons upon ascension. I don't know which way World Eaters will go, but if WE Daemon Princes lose their boons on ascension, then I will need to drop those as well. Similarly to (2), any benefits gained through the Chaos Warband that can't be done using the World Eaters' rules will be reversed. For example, Dreior's Berzerker squad gained a battle trait because I had a Favoured Warfleet - if World Eaters don't have some equivalent mechanic then I'll simply remove the trait. If Berzerker PL changes to account for the new Berzerker Eviscerator, I may need to change unit sizes or I'll be at a significant disadvantage. The main reason they're at 8-man squads now (other than Khorne's number) is to match the 1:20 PL/points ratio. Units that I've lost access to will need to be replaced with their nearest equivalents. The last one will be easy enough for most things: Thrax the Exalted Champion will become a Master of Executions and the Cultists will become Jakhals. But the Dark Apostle, Baruda, will be a bit trickier. I may have to consider giving him a new weapon so he can conceivably use the rules for an MoE as well, but it feels boring to have two virtually identical characters. I'll have to think on that one. Of course, all of this is assuming that World Eaters even get Crusade rules. There's no reason to believe we won't, but this Codex is looking like enough of a departure from existing 9th edition Codexes that there's a small part of me that wonders if maybe we won't. But hey, if that happens then I'll just continue using the CSM Crusade rules!

True! Maybe a bit harsh to say they didn't kill much. They did draw a lot of firepower from Tankbustaz and distracted five Meganobz for the whole game. Thanks!

I didn't get to play another Crusade game last week, but I did play a 2k Nephilim GT battle. I didn't bring an optimised list with me to the club, but I was still happy with how the list performed. Turns out adding a Black Rune to Terminators is as useful as expected! I didn't take notes or photos for the battle so I won't go into detail. I took World Eaters and Khorne Daemons against Blood Axe Orks. Some highlights: 10 Red Butchers with Black Rune is an extremely expensive investment in CPs. They walked up the field, set up a banner and enemies (including five Meganobz and Warboss) just bounced off them. They did amazingly, but probably didn't need the Red Butchers upgrade to do their job - in hindsight, they probably would've done just as well with the occasional use of Wrath of the Chosen and/or Fury of Khorne rather than the early investment of Red Butchers. Arkrath had his debut as a fully-painted model and very much made up for his pre-paintjob Crusade performance. I played a little cagey with him, moving up slowly behind the Terminators before flying out to prey on a Battlewagon (which he just killed, but still) and mop up what was left after the Terminators did their thing. The Daemon allies were decent. I took six Bloodcrushers who, along with the Terminators, formed the front line and absorbed quite a bit of shooting. The Crushers didn't kill much themselves since they weren't really presented with ideal targets (other than trampling some Stormboyz and killing most of a Meganobz mob before dying), but they did hold back an entire flank by themselves. Berzerkers in Rhinos formed my reserves and did exceedingly well. While the Terminators and Bloodcrushers held the enemy back, the Berzerkers held back in their Rhinos where they would then spring out and reinforce where needed. It was very effective. The end result of this battle was an 83-72 victory to the World Eaters. The score was very close, but there were very few Orks left on the field while I still had most of mine. I found it difficult to keep up with VP scoring, though I imagine that comes with practice, but it was a good little palate-cleanser from all the Crusading. Other than this battle, I have been working on a new project: some replacement Terminators using the newer plastic kit. I love this kit, despite the awkward weapon options, and now that we know a little more about what's coming in Codex: World Eaters, I feel a lot more comfortable working on this project. Enjoy!

Terminators have to be some of my favourite models in the game. Personal tank armour? Hell yeah! I've been sitting on a couple of boxes of the newer Chaos Terminators for some time, but have been hesitant to build them with Codex: World Eaters around the corner, especially since some earlier rumours suggested that there wouldn't be any Terminators at all. Now that we've seen all the releases and have multiple leaks indicating that Terminators are still in, I feel a lot more comfortable working on some replacements for Murdax's Butchers. Here are the first five members of the new Butchers: The heads and crests are 3D printed to resemble the old Forgeworld upgrade kit. The heads are a simple STL file, but the crests came from a Berzerker head kit that I modified to fit the Terminator armour body. I also added some weapons and bits from the new AoS Chaos Chosen kit for a little variety, and added some chains to the weapons to resemble the upcoming Berzerker kit. Murdax himself is already made from the new Terminator kit, so once these guys are done it'll just be a matter of making four more Terminators to round out the squad.

Yeah, about that... Gods damn this was such a fun kit to paint. some of the detailing was a bit of a slog, but in the end it was so satisfying.

Took a month, but Arkrath is finally done! Painting red Daemonic flesh when the model is also wearing red armour is always tricky, so I went with the option of painting the flesh like a redder version of his moral skin tone. Of course, had to slather on the blood for the oversized chainfist! I expanded on the rock that the Daemon Prince model comes with, making it feel more like the type of rocks the rest of the army uses. I also added some more similar rocks made it feel less like a random "hero rock". I'm also particularly pleased with how the bionic leg turned out - I've been wanting to do a biomechanical Daemon for years! That Venomcrawler leg just happened to be the perfect bit and I couldn't be happier. Overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out. The Daemon Prince model is such a great kit, I honestly can't get over just how neatly everything fits together and how many options it has. It did take a long time to paint, though - there are just so many details. I noticed several details that I missed just while taking these photos, but honestly, it gets to a point where you have to call good enough "done". Enjoy!

After whoops nearly four weeks, I finally got around to writing up the report from my last battle! Our group has been on break for Christmas over the past few weeks, so I haven't had any games since then, but hopefully will get one in this week. Enjoy!

25 November, 2022 With Kratus's ascension into the Daemon Prince Arkrath, his forces have been seized with a renewed vigor for bloodshed. No longer caring about the relic bounty hidden beneath the city, the Cruentes have turned their attentions to simply butchering their way through the hordes of mutants and xenos pouring from underground, ordering their fleet to bombard the whole city from low orbit. In their lord's wake, wisps of unreality coalesce into Neverborn allies as the followers of the Blood God gorge themselves on their violent urges. However, an old foe from earlier campaigns in this region are likewise fighting their way free from the mutant swarms. Space Marines of the Ashen Ghosts chapter, a Raven Guard successor, seek now to push the Cruentes into a xenos entrapment so they can slip away themselves. In this battle, the newly-ascended Arkrath commands Thrax the Exalted Champion, Validon's and Gorm's Berzerker squads, the freshly-upgraded Covenant of the Bloody Hand Cultist mob and Vervek the Helbrute. Daemonic allies in the form of a Skullmaster, ten Bloodletters and six Bloodcrushers also lend their support. The mission is from the Plague Purge mission pack, with diagonal deployment zones. Four objectives are spread more or less through the centre line between deployment zones and are numbered 1-4. On the second battle round, the Attacker removes either odd-numbered or even-numbered objectives. On the third battle round, the Defender removes one of the final two objectives. Objectives are scored every round with a varying number of VPs each. For my Agendas, I choose Blasphemous Ritual (for Dark God Glory points), Instrument of Vengeance (from Path of the Righteous - basically Assassinate with fewer XP but also gaining Righteous Inspiration points) and Reaper (because it's easy). As part of the campaign, a Chaos warfleet is indisciminately bombarding the city. Each player in their Command phase can place a bombardment token on the table - players roll off, and the winner can move the token that many inches in a direction of their choosing. All units within 3" of the token then take mortal wounds. I set up the Bloodcrushers and Berzerkers in the centre, flanked by Cultists and Bloodletters. Arkrath deploys somewhat conservatively to avoid the enemy Eliminators. My opponent uses some redeployment shenanigans with his Infiltrators to block my Apoplectic Frenzy pre-game moves, however I still manage to use it to edge the Cultists on the right closer to the objective. I am defending, so I get first turn. The indisciminate bombardment lands in the middle of the enemy army, killing a Suppressor and one of the screening Infiltrators. The Cultists on the right and the Bloodletters on the left move forward onto their respective objectives. Everything else moves up, with Arkrath moving to continue avoiding Eliminator fire. Spotting gap in the centre of the line, the Bloodcrushers thunder forward and charge both the Infiltrators and the Vanguard squad behind them. All of the Infiltrators and half of the Vanguard were trampled underfoot. In my opponent's turn, his bombardment was ineffective. On the right, Infiltrators open fire on the Cultists, killing seven. While on the left, several Bloodletters were gunned down, though they took far more firepower to shift than they should. Daemon saves! By the end of the turn, only one Bloodletter was left - I must've forgotten to take a new photo. In the centre, he fell back with the Vanguard, hoping to delay my reinforcements through the centre to the Bloodcrushers. Elsewhere, he also strung out some Infiltrators to delay my Berzerkers on the centre-right, however I forgot to take a photo. My Bloodletters (with the help of the Insane Bravery strat) passed their morale test, though a few of the Cultists ran. Enough were alive on both objectives to score points for me, however. In my second turn, my bombardment was ineffective. My opponent, as Attacker, also deactivates the odd-numbered objectives - located on my far left and in the centre-right. That's fine by me! Arkrath decides to grab the bull by the horns and attack two of its big close-range threats: a squad of Eradicators and an Invictus Warsuit. Unfortunately, the Eradicators were tracking the Daemon Prince's movements, so were able to get a solid shot off against it as it charged. Frustratingly, Transhuman Physiology and some lucky saves protected the Eradicators, though the Invictus was pummelled into the ground with only a single wound left. I forgot to take photos of this, but in my centre, the Exalted Champion, the Skullmaster and Validon's Berzerkers all charged the Vanguard. My opponent smartly chooses to interrupt here, and rips apart both characters (despite each having several wounds and Invulnerable/Daemon saves!). Thankfully, the Berzerkers finish off the Vanguard. Gorm's Berzerkers on the centre-right easily blitz through the Marines in their way, though unfortunately it does set us back a turn. They use the Kill, Maim, Burn! stratagem to get right into the teeth of a Suppressor squad. In my opponent's second turn, the Phobos Librarian and the Chaplain move up to deal with Arkrath, while the Eradicators fall back. Arkrath's Blackstone Shard Amulet wards off any damage from the witch's mind bullets, though. The Invictus suit crawls off to be a roadblock to the Berzerkers on my centre-left. The Eradicators unleash their firepower on Arkrath, with completely unsurprising effect. I use the They Are Risen! stratagem from the Path of the Righteous rules to resurrect the Daemon Prince. This puts it at its maximum number of Righteous Inspiration points, however, which means it can never use those stratagems again in the campaign. Over on my left, the last, pesky Bloodletter was finally banished. Over on the right, some Intercessors march onto the objective and turn the Cultists into red paste. At the end of the shooting phase, Arkrath stands back up with three wounds remaining, but it's surrounded by a witch and some melta-toting enemies... The Marines charge the Daemon Prince, with the Librarian scoring two wounds against it... And, with me lacking the CPs to interrupt, the Eradicators pile into the Daemon Prince as it fought off the shadowy Librarian. Striking from an unexpected angle, the heavy infantry sapped away the last of the Daemon's hold on the material world. For what must be the first time in the history of Daemon Princes, Arkrath suffers from New Model Syndrome twice in the same turn. Thankfully, not much else happens across the battlefield. At the start of my third turn, I deactivate the objective that my Bloodletters had been guarding on my centre-left, since I want to move Validon's Berzerkers away from it anywaty. The bombardment was ineffective. On my right, Gorm's Berzerkers charge the Intercessors standing on the objective. A spray of blood later, and the Intercessors were gone. Meanwhile, Validon's Berzerkers move in to avenge their master's fall by charging the Chaplain, Librarian and Eradicators. They carve into the Librarian first, causing the shifty witch to disappear in a display of psychic sneakery, while also killing an Eradicator, wounding another, and injuring the Chaplain. With only a handful of Marines left on the battlefield, my opponent concedes, since he doesn't really have much left that can threaten my objective. He offers to let me choose which units killed the remainder of his army, and we decide that Validon's squad would've been able to perform the Blasphemous Ritual once in the centre of the board before the end of the game. I only gain four Chaos Points to go towards my trackers, however I dogain an extra Dark God Glory point thanks to the ritual. Result: 55-20 Victory Arkrath's Personal Glory: 7 -> 7Khorne's Dark God Glory: 7 -> 8Cruentes' Warfleet Glory: 6 -> 7 The battle was extremely close in points for most of the game, however having the objectives down the middle of the table was massively in my favour since my opponent very much did not want to get close to my army. Still, aside from a few small mistakes, I think this army worked reasonably well. None of my units gained Battle Scars, and I ended up giving the Bloodletters Marked for Glory for their part in securing the early objectives. (I also just realised that I never mentioned the Helbrute during the game, because I kept forgetting to take photos of him. He was deployed behind Arkrath, and just fired potshots all game before charging some Suppressors at the end, wiping them out. At least he did something!)

Thanks! That was a conversation idea I've been planning since I first saw the new DP model. I even built a mock-up using an old DP and some foam, but decided to go with plasticard and putty for the final one. And yep! It was looking a bit plain, so I added a bit of trim before I started painting.

I love Crusade, so much so that I've been keeping a blog of it for the past six months: Speaking of which, I've got another battle to post and a certain model to finish painting and photograph...