M31 Battle Report 8-1: The Beginning of the End (The Crucible of War)

   "We are but ghosts. We are already dead. Yet our hatred rips us from the grave. There is no victory, no hope, nor even survival. All that matters is that the blood of our enemies flows in torrents."

-Khan Muqal, Brotherhood of the Broken Blade 

Background

At the time this battle was fought in February 2025, we had been playing our Horus Heresy campaign for the Xhorik system for seven and a half years, starting in July 2017. We started with the First Edition rules and transitioned into Second Edition (by the time we fought the finale, the Third Edition was being released.) We played at least 38 battles spread over seven campaign phases, with the Traitors winning six of the seven phases. (See the M31 Campaign Summary Page for links to all the battles.) We decided to play one last phase to wrap up the campaign. 

At this point, it was not really a question of the overall campaign winner; the Traitor domination was so absolute it would be ludicrous to declare a Loyalist victory even if they won the final phase. Thus, we decided that the Traitors were victorious in taking the Xhorik system for Horus. The Loyalists would be fighting for honor, revenge, and to disrupt and bloody the Traitors as much as possible. This felt like a suitable storyline for the final phase: a hopeless battle not for victory, but to take vengeance on the hated enemy, to kill for its own sake.

After years of defeat, the White Scars had transitioned from the noble Brotherhood of the Wind, fighting loyally for the Empire of Mankind, to the desperate Brotherhood of the Broken Blade, consumed by their hatred and vengeance, fighting only for their desire to kill Praetor Wolfgang and Ghrodd the Slaughter Lord and as many traitorous dogs as possible.

Life was very busy during the time we played this phase and I was also busy writing battle reports for our M32 campaign, The War of The Beast. I am now catching up on battle reports from games played well over a year ago, sometimes missing the army lists and notes on the action. Hence, expect these battle reports to be shorter and less detailed than the earlier phases. The models look too good not to get some photos on the blog, and the campaign has come this far, thus it must be concluded.

Scenario: The Crucible of War

We decided to play all the scenarios from the Siege of Cthonia book for the 8th and final phase of the campaign.

Prior to deployment, three objective markers are placed. At the end of each of their player turns, the Active players scores 1 Victory Point for each objective marker they control. 

Secondary Objectives:

Slay the Warlord: 1 VP + 1 VP if the warlord is a Primarch

Giant Killer (Destroy super-heavy, knight or titan): 2 VP

Last Man Standing (have more units at the end of the game): 1 VP

Break Their Ranks (destroy a unit first turn): 1 VP  + 1 VP if it was an Elites or HQ choice

Game Length: 4 Turns

Belligerents:

World Eaters - The Crimson Path (Pete)

Ghrodd and his Rampagers

Red Butchers in a Land Raider Proteus

Apothecary Detachment

Tactical Squad [Tactical Squad]

Despoiler Squad in Rhino [Line]

Recon Squad [Line]

Contemptor Dreadnought

Predator Squadron

White Scars - Legion Recon Company (Phil)

Praetor Muqal and his Skyhunters

Recon Squad in Rhino [Line]

Scout Squad

Tactical Squad in Rhino [Line]

Tactical Squad in Rhino [Line]

Contemptor Dreadnought

Sabre Strike Tank Squadron

Sicaran Omega

Sicaran Arcus Squadron

The Recon Company combined with the V Legion rules meant I could either virtually guarantee going first, or setup second with a strong chance to seize the initiative. The Whtie Scars had somehow been outclassed in shooting, melee, and survivability by the Traitors for over seven years. I finally painted my Sicaran Arcus tank squadron before this game was looking forward to using their impressive firepower. I took a very tank-heavy army, hoping to gain the advantage in shooting, at least, since I knew I had no hope of besting the World Eaters in close combat. Knowing this battle was about claiming objectives every turn, I took three Line units in Rhinos (one that could infiltrate) to ensure I could quickly reach multiple objectives for early VPs. The plan was to whittle down the World Eaters as they approached, while my array of mobile Line units grabbed objectives. 

Crimson Fists Army Update 1-Year In

As I'm about 1-year in to my journey to make an old school Crimson Fists army, I felt it was a good time to reflect on my progress, as well as look forward to the next units and additions. 

I think I'm showing my age and maturity as I was able to form the core of this army with 1 HQ w/ command squad, and 3 Troops choices w/ 2 dedicated transports. Impressive restraint! In my early days of 40k, I would have started a new army with nothing but terminator squads, dreadnoughts and land raiders! 

This command squad makes me smile. Bright yellow flamer. White armored apothecary. Crimson stripes down the center of their helmets. A heroic captain covered in robes and medals. Iconic stuff.

I still have a company standard barrier to finish to complete the squad. But I'm struggling a bit with the immense flag and how to paint it. Or only use transfers? Or both? 

I want to give a special shout-out to my bro, Phil, for all his help bringing this dream army to life. He has helped me flock my bases with charming bright green grass, just like the early days of 1st and 2nd edition. And he has lent his impressive Warhammer transfers skills to bring my vision of adding big clunky line/troops up-arrows to my tactical marine shoulder pads. Now THAT is good stuff - tactical marines just like in the old codexes, rules books, and other early drawings. 

As for the unit flags, those are also a call back to the early days of 40k, when it seemed every unit on the battlefield had a colorful flag flying high above. The look reminds me of armies from the medieval or renaissance areas, when a general needed to see where his units were on the battlefield by their unit colors, as well as the imperative to look flashy while riding into combat!

I don't quite have the mountain of Crimson Fists firing in all directions in a desperate last stand against hoards of orks, as in the iconic imagery and stories, but I'm getting closer. 

Year-2

I have the following units already purchased, assembled, undercoated and even painted Kantor Blue!

• Dreadnought with Assault Cannon and Power Fist
• Whirlwind Tank
• Land Raider
• 10-Man Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher and Plasma Gun
• 8-Man Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher and Plasma Gun
• 5-Man Tactical Squad with Missile Launcher
• 1o-Man Assault Squad w/ Jump Packs and 2 Flamers

Now, can I paint all that in a year? Ummm... history would point emphatically toward "no". But I hope I can make a massive dent in that list. I would think the assault squad and dreadnought would be the immediate priority, as those units would give this army a little more oomph on the tabletop. I don't think the army as it currently stands would pose much difficulty for Phil's Orks or Bill's Tyrannids. Bolters just don't put out enough firepower to lay low hoards of angry xenos armed with sharp stabby things. 

The only models that I still need to purchase for this army to be complete are a terminator squad and Padro Kantor. Terminators because, well, they're just the coolest looking damn models in the entire Space Marine range. Even if they're overpriced for their usefulness at 40 pts/each, they are the epitome of the rule of cool. Never forget that's the real reason for playing this game. Now the hard decision will be, do I go traditional, or assault termies? 

As for Padro Kantor, I think I'll need to start with the Padro model still available on BLM, and then build it up with more recent MKVI armor so the size is right compared to the rest of the army. But that old model has the iconic Kantor flag pole and fist-mounted storm bolter, so its got to be part of the conversion. I probably need to get started on this project soon, as Padro will be needed for our Rynn's World campaign this year. 

Final Word

Hopefully for those who recall an earlier era of Warhammer 40k - namely Phil and Bill - this army has been fun to watch come to life. I've been having a blast and feel truly inspired after a long offroad into Horus Heresy for what felt like a decade. It's satisfying to come back to my roots and circle back to an army I always wanted to give a go. I was a damn kid, probably not even 10 years old when I saw those early images of Crimson Fists beakies fighting and dying in a scary post-apocalyptic battlefield. What that does to one's imagination... 

So on we venture into the next year and the next project! 

Crimson Fists Scout Squad

The most memorable image of space marine scouts when I was first getting into 40k in the mid-90s was this depiction of wild, colorful, and fierce scouts with painted faces and big combat blades. Ever since, this has been the benchmark of cool for any scout models I ever saw in a battle report, on a tabletop, or online. 

As I continue to work on my ultimate 90's nostalgia Crimson Fists army, one of the cornerstones had to be an inspired scout squad. I think I nailed the assignment using the new Kill Team scouts, which obviously were somewhat inspired by this terrifically old-school image below. Mohawks!? Big combat blades!? Fantastic!

For those who appreciate a good throwback unit to a more fun and colorful time in 40k... enjoy!

Doc Skrapsaw and his Cybork Nobz

Finally got a chance to get this beastly nobz mob painted up. These guys are very fitting for Deathskulls as they literally pieced together from scrap and looted kit. I even had the chance to throw in three references to their main foes in the Rynn's World campaign with Crimson Fists helmets on the banner pole, bike fender for the gyro-stabilized monowheel, and a Rhino hatch on one of the bases. Since the warband is the Skulltakaz, it is only fitting that they use the biggest skull they have taken as their Waaagh! banner. And as usual, they each have a smaller skull carried on their person or weapon somewhere. 

Uzrog Mag-Kull's Deathskull Clan Warband, the Skulltakaz

 Uzrog Mag-Kull

Ork name translation:

Uz = sun, yellow, hot, thirst, dry, fire, daytime

Rog (possibly alternate/corrupted form of Ruk) = attack, charge, a fight

Mag = big, great

Kull = skull, head

Thus, his name translates roughly as Fire-Attack Big-Head. Uzrog likes to emphasize his large head with his lucky horns, making himself easily recognizable on the battlefield. 

His warband (using the 3rd Edition Codex), according to the Andy Chambers article in White Dwarf 235:

Using the 4th Edition codex, I can make the same army:

• Warboss Uzrog
• Nob retinue in transport (battlewagon or trukk)
• 1 unit of 'ard boyz
• 5 units of ork boyz
• 1 unit of gretchin
• 10+ ork warbikerz
• 3-6 light attack vehicles (warbuggies or deffkoptas)
• 3 killa kans
• 1 looted wagon
• 1 unit of lootas

Goff allies:

• Warboss
• 2 units of veterans. Since there are no longer skarboyz, these would now be nobz mobs
• 1 unit of stormboyz
• 4 units of ork boyz
• 2 units of gretchin
• 3 units of ork boyz in transports
• 1 battery of big gunz
• 2 deff dreads

Painboy and his Cyborks

I had a blast raiding all corners of the bitz box to build this unique mob. Some of these bitz have been in my collection for 10 or 20 years waiting for the day that I would finally build those cyborks I had been daydreaming about since I was just a yoof. I even had to give a nod to the old 2nd edition wargear item, the gyro-stabilized monowheel! Is is pretty rare that I post unpainted models, but these guys had a fair bit of converting and the unpainted photos help convey that story.

Da Kollectaz - Deathskull Lootas

 Deathskull warbands are famous their lootas, orks that build all kind of crazy guns out of whatever weapons and equipment they can scavenge after a battle. I had a small unit of these in second edition when their kustom kombi weapon used the artillery dice for strength, giving a result of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or explosion! But those models are long gone and I never made a unit of lootas in 3rd edition (when they used the actual rules for the guns from other armies) or 4th edition when they once again got their own models and custom gun rules. So, Da Skulltakaz, being Deathskulls, gave me the perfect excuse to finally dive into this unit. 

I had two boxes, which only makes 8 lootas and 2 meks. I wanted a big unit of 10 lootas. With Mob Rule giving morale based on unit size and ork BS of 2, I feel orks need large units to be effective in 4th edition. I also did not want any of the 10 boyz to look alike, despite there being only 4 unique sculpts. So I pulled out the bitz box, knife, and glue. 

I had some fun unleashing my bitz box to make the custom weapons. I even utilized an old metal lascannon from the 2nd edition metal ork dreadnought. I decided to give a nod to my two main opponents: Crimson Fists and the Tyranid Hive Fleet Tarasque. One or two guns may be a little over the top, but this is 40k and orks so there really is no such thing as a gun that is too big! I just could not resist the look of a giant "spud gun" made from industrial terrain. It looks like a junk launcher out of Fallout. And it is fueled by the power plant of a Crimson Fist's power armor. I also could not resist trying to mold electrical with organic for a looted Tyranid bioweapon. I figure the electrical signals from the copper wires can cause muscle spasms that fire the gun. The hardest part was making the extra harnesses so all the models would look roughly equivalently beefy. The only ork without a harness has the ammo grot on his back and he still has a cross bar so he can mimic the look of how the others hold their weapons. 

I think these guys look like they could dish out some serious damage. With ten boys with D3 shots each at S7 AP4, they will be deadly against anything except space marines. And whenever they do not do much, I can chalk that up to misses and misfires and just assume the guns did not shoot much that round.