Reader Army Showcase: Vijil
We have a lot of talented readers and forum members, and to tie in with Dawn of War we’re going to be showcasing some Warhammer 40,000 armies of particular merit. Vijil, one of the leading artists on the Relic Forums, tells us all about his spectacular Iron Warriors. Click on the thumbnails to the right to see the full-size versions.
…With the frenzied courage of so many witless Orks, I saw an entire mob of the vile creatures pour onto the swinging hulk of a Traitor Daemon, the kind which once must have been a marine. Seeing my chance while it was distracted, I ordered my brethren tactical squads towards the temple. As the Dark Angel Rhinos clattered their way through the maze of rocks and boulders I could only stand and stare at the sheer power of that great mutant. With a surprising ferocity to equal that of our own assault squads, the thing would swing mightily through the horde, decapitating five or six Orks with each swing of its insignificant looking blade. Flailing bodies careened through the air to land crunching on boulders, or with a dull thud on the earth. The air itself soon began to choke with a green fog, which almost perplexed me until I recognised the putrid stench of Ork blood.
My brothers in armour had just begun to unload from their Rhinos, and were starting to forge their way up the mount of rubble towards the remains of the shelled temple, and hopefully also a sacred relic that could turn the tide of the war on this planet. As the first reached the alter and the rest fanned out into a defensive formation around the artefact, I could sense the tide of battle turning in our favour. My sense of accomplishment was cut short, however, when an almighty roar, or perhaps the scream of jet engines, or perhaps even both sounded through the fog from somewhere beyond the ruins. I looked, and through the mist shone four jet plumes, blasting away the blood fog to reveal a hideous form, the deamonic thing that could not possibly have killed every Ork by now. My eyes refused to believe the scene as the silhouette swooped towards my brothers on the rubble, who with the stalwart determination only a Dark Angel could have turned to face the looming threat and poured a storm of steel into towards it. Perfectly aimed bolts ricocheted to no avail from the hide of the airborne beast, and it continued its descent, immense weapon drawn back to strike the first of the brothers. My heart swells with pride for my brethren who stood firm where any other would have fled, indeed they took not a step backward, but such courage could mean little in the face of such a creature. As it approached I could see that it was a fusion of machine, daemon and man, steel armour glinting through a thick coat of Orks blood. Surely this would be the end. Surely we had lost.
But the Emperor did smile on me that day. The roar of the monster turned to a frustrated grunt as the thing tried to land on the loose boulders beside the Artefact. Its immense sword clattered harmlessly to the ground as it sprawled awkwardly among the boulders, trapped. “Awww, nuts.” I heard it bellow. It seems the ‘God’ of our foe had been rolling badly that day.
— Dark Angels Commander Munsen, after a battle on Istaan IV in which a Traitor Legion once known as the Iron Warriors were encountered. His corpse was later found horrifically mutilated near a green stained pile of rubble which may or may not have been the same as the one he describes.
First of all I have to commend Jay Wilson for his truly excellent Ork army shown here a few weeks back. I’ve never seen quite so many Orks painted that consistently well before. It’s a hard act to follow!
The above story is based on an actual game I had a few months back. It was a simple four way objective mission, in which the objective was sitting on some difficult terrain. Feeling rather sly, I figured I could fly my Prince in, grab the objective and leave before anyone could touch him. Just my luck, after finishing off some pesky stormboyz I rolled a one when he landed on the objective, meaning he counts as an instant casualty regardless of his armour or his ability to survive five rail cannon shots… there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth that day.
That wasn’t long after I started gaming, only just over a year ago when I moved into a flat full of 40k freaks. The fact that my Christian group leader at university was also a keen gamer who’d brought a great stack load of models from the US (including 32 imperial tanks) to New Zealand with him added to the incentive. Throughout my time there we would organise huge weekly games at his place, sometimes with up to 24000 points worth of models from 12 armies on our 16 foot table at a time. My army, as it grew, became very focussed on heavy support, something that worked quite well in a team setting where other allied players such as Orks could do my close combat work for me. Most of it would either sit back and shoot or walk forward to be slaughtered by an onrush of Dark Angels assault troops. Ah, the wonders of inexperience.
Since then, the force has become more rounded for use in tournaments, with a couple of fast attack options being added. Other additions included a predator to give me some anti infantry firepower, while some obliterators added some serious punch for a bargain points cost. If there is one piece of advice I’ll give to new gamers it’s that you should never underestimate the value of troops. They make great meat shields for your heavy weapon squads!
My next project is an Iron Hands army I’ll be doing up steampunk styles, with more Forgeworld and conversions in it than I will dare to let my bank account shake a stick at just yet. After that comes a colourful Eldar Harlequins army just cos they’re cool, and after that…
…I might see some of you guys at the soup kitchens :/
