+++ TALES FROM THE ASTROPATH +++ (UPDATE 11/21/2022)

[WallyTWest]

Rules of Engagement: I am trying something a little different here. I am attempting to write passages and in-universe for the catalog of roughly 300+ images I have just uploaded into my gallery. If you comment, please comment "in character" or "with humor". Participation means something, and I hope we can make this fun. If you see an image in my gallery you want posted - please comment on the image or PM me.

+++ INCOMING TRANSMISION +++
FILE: BG4-A8X2
PRIORITY: OMEGA
SOURCE IDENTITY: UNKNOWN
SOURCE TIMESTAMP: UNDETERMINED

TRANSCRIPT: Spoken aloud by Astropath A-442 at 0241L
"Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen in Carcosa.
Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies
But stranger still is lost Carcosa.
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in dim Carcosa.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead;
Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
in...
Lost Carcosa..."
FLOOR MANAGERS NOTE: At this point, the Astropath fell off the dais and began screaming while ripping away the flesh of his face. Subject A-442 was euthanized at 0245L.
+++ END TRANSMISION +++
.
.
...
/DEL BG4-A8X2
TRANSMISION DELETED

IMPERIAL DATE: 4858004.M39 LOCATION: SEGMENTUM OBSCURUS, CIPRA MUNDI SYSTEM, CIPRA MUNDI (FORGE WORLD) FACILITY: NORTHERN POLAR REGION, ASTROPATHIC LIGHTHOUSE OBS-A-0001 "LUCERNA"

Pictured: Quintus Pictus, Illuminator and Historiographer Primary of the Cypra Mundi Scriptorium

The offices were once ordered sequentially and by floor. However, the facility has been operational for over 5,000 years. It takes some time to find the office of the Section Manager. The hallways are lit by candle to prevent unnecessary electromagnetic or electrokinetic interference, you pass through numerous checkpoints. Finally, you reach your destination - Room 4552, Level 14, Section A. The brass plate reading "Scriptorium Primus, First Office" in an ancient high gothic.

Welcome, welcome my good sir! A thousand greetings, and the Emperors good fortune be upon you! I see you have found your way into my office. I also see your clearance badge says Beta 7 - that's perfect, you will be able to examine most of our historical records - and I will not be forced to call Naval security. You would be surprised to know how often I have dregs or unidentified bondsmen dragged away...

Whom am I? I apologize good sir, how very rude for me not to introduce myself. I am Quintus Pictus, and I am the officer primary and first manager of this section of the Scriptorium. My job is Lead Illuminator- its a thankless chore but I assure you very important. The Astropaths I work with receive messages from all over the sector, its my duty examine the writings- then order and establish chorographical and geo-temporal sequence so the data can then be organized and brought to the fleet offices for consumption by Imperial authorities and decision makers.

It can be a confusing job - Astropaths are a special type of psychic whom use telepathic means to communicate between the stars. In the best circumstances, the messages are "passed in the clear" using a simple communication vernacular that is taught after Astropathic adepts receive their initial schooling. In times of war, when the swells and unnatural tides in the sea of souls reach their peak its not uncommon for entire choirs to broadcast out a single message in unison - encoded in pictographic layering and multiple ciphers. The stress of attempting to send such a message is often a deadly affair... and receiving it may drive an Astropath mad or worse...

Additionally, most imagery and videography or longer records may only be delivered by currier. I often have to match records against the Astropathic or historic database to determine its proper context. Hence, I "illustrate"- as in the Codexes of olde. To complicate matters further, Astropaths may receive ancient echoes or data may come to light that is positively ancient in origin. Very rarely, we sometimes we can receive a message before it is even sent!

But, of such dour topics - why loiter? I see you have a data slate in hand, how can I help you today? Stay awhile and listen...

[WallyTWest]

+++ REQUESTED IMAGE - UPLOADING +++

IMPERIAL DATE: 4646025.M38
LOCATION: APX 40 LIGHT YEARS NW OF MORDIAN SYSTEM

The Iron Warriors battle barge was adrift in system, with no sign of life or activity besides minimal energy signature. Captain Samus Joraso, Anointed Executioner of the Third Company, held council with his counterpart Captain Sartin. The astropath sways silently moving back and forth, scanning the distant ship for any sign of sentience or malefic portent. They had held their position for nearly 6 days like a vulture examining a cadaver for signs of life. Shadowing, and gradually approaching the ghost ship to run increasingly aggressive auguries.

Awaiting enemy action was a necessary condition that was inflicted upon the warrior, but in these circumstances it was oddly tranquil aboard. The ship had the peace of the grave... thus, the practiced and well drilled crew of the Lunar Class Cruiser "Lord Cesturius" remained implacable and calm in the face of a adrift and lifeless enemy.

The noise on the observation deck was only occasionally broken when the Astropath would occasionally mutter to himself while trying to read the opposing vessel. Joraso spoke, breaking the spell of silence with a stern and metallic voice cast though his helmets speaker. "I recommend boarding torpedoes... If there was an active machine spirit or skeleton crew they would have reacted by now. Such a vessel would be a mighty prize, and ships of its type are sorely needed to replenish our recent losses in the sector fleet."

"...there is nothing my lords..." - a weak voice interrupted and conveyed bewilderment, but failed to hide a sense of optimism. "There are primitive minds aboard, but I doubt its more than bilge rats or perhaps a handful of nearly lifeless dregs in the lower decks. No presence nor entity aboard, just the intrinsic bewilderment and sorrowful groan of the vessels hull for loosing its crew."

Sartin put his hand upon his belt- and looked to the marine. The Blood Angel was wearing his full battle plate in all of his splendor, a mighty warrior and trusted enough by his chapter to be given artificer armor of the most ancient design imaginable. Death Masks were worn by the Blood Angels. Fashioned from the likenesses of their fallen brothers, they are worn both to honour the dead and strike terror into their foes. His eyes were barely visible behind the dark red lenses of this death mask, the face of an ancient and honored warrior. "Permission to disembark granted Captain Joraso. However, I recommend taking the shuttles. Best to save the boarding torpedoes for a worthy advisory... and I suspect the ride will be more pleasant. I will begin organizing an engineering detail to bring the vessel back into operational standards and prepare an operational plat to bring her to the closest port."

The two shared a simple nod - Captain Joraso gave a shallow bow, turned about and walked off the observation deck with a calm grace, preparing to address his fellow marines who anxiously awaited his return with news and information of a possible disembark. Sartin noted the time and began to busy himself with the engineering detail. Astropath Hoke dismissed the phantom sensation of being watched and his sudden headache... 

...somewhere in a distant shadow needled teeth snapped a spry and wicked grin...


Space Crusade Marines and Rogue Trader Scouts

Painted Collection of Genestealers

"Angel's Last Stand" - Based off the cover illustration from the Space Hulk Compendium

[Storm Wolf]

 
Beautiful
 
Keep at it please, if possible

[WallyTWest]

+++INCOMING TRANSMISION+++
MORDIAN SYSTEM (M36)
OBFUSCANE (Industrial World)

CAMPAIGN OF BONE AND IRON
BELIGERANTS: Mordian Iron Guard (Astra Militarum), Rho-Delpha Expeditionary (Mechanicus), Iron Defilers (IVth Legion Traitor Astartes), The Dolorous Lesion (Lost and Damned)

The Battle of Mordian was a battle waged on Mordian and in the planets of the Mordian System between the invading hordes of Chaos and the Mordian Iron Guard. The battle would prove to be one of the most significant events in our empires history not just for Mordian but for the Imperium, as it represents one of humanity's rare victories against Chaos in preventing the loss of a world to damnation.

However, the seeds of Mordian's doom were sowed over decades before the incursion and the cataclysm of 4000537.M36. A complex and secret conspiracy had gripped the system. These dark cabals met in secret in the depths of various hive cities and, making the necessary incantations to the Gods of Chaos, began weaving a spell and sewing the seeds of discord. The blood of innocents was spilt in the secret holdings and centers of worship in hidden temples dedicated to malefic powers.

Obfuscane was an Industrial World in the Mordian Sector, and would fall victim to the first raids nearly a decade prior. And while these were considered a major incursion, the sudden attack and departure left the forces of the Imperium unable to respond. By the time forces had arrived in significant number to eradicate the attacking force vast promethium fields had been depleted and vast cabals of worshipers had been press-ganged into the attacking fleets crew complements. Many of them skilled workers and technical experts.

The campaign in its entirety is hard to grasp and little documentation remains. However video logs of the Rho Delpha contingent remain and an understanding of the complexities of the raid can be reverse engineered from these records. 

VR
Quintus Pictus, Historiographer Primus








IMPERIAL
Mordian Iron Guard (Astra Militarum)
Rho-Delpha Expeditionary (Mechanicus)


Iron Defilers (IVth Legion Traitor Astartes)
The Dolorous Lesion (Lost and Damned)

[WallyTWest]

+++ INCOMING TRANSMISION +++

Olympia (FIG 1.1 - EST M39)
System: Olympia Majoris System
Type: Dead World (Currently) / Civilised World (Formerly)
Affiliation: None (Currently) / Imperium (Formerly) / Iron Warriors (Formerly)
Planetary Governor: None (Currently) / Perturabo and Satrap Dammekos of Lochos (Formerly)
Note: Olympia was an Imperial Civilised World characterized by a culture of city-states before it was destroyed following the Horus Heresy (Est M31 - See sub-file B-432 "Empire Of Iron").

With regards to the following image -

THE HORUS HERESY As the tragic outbreak of the Horus Heresy grew closer, Perturabo had become consumed by bitterness. He believed that he and his Iron Warriors, who were often used by the Imperium as garrison forces or as siege-breakers, had not received the glory and recognition he believed to be their due. Some have postulated that it was Horus who, time after time, engineered events at Olympia and adjusted the deployments to Perturabo and the Iron Warriors' detriment. For the Iron Warriors Legion the Horus Heresy came as the culmination of a series of reversals and fell tragedies that occurred in the final years of the Great Crusade. In this way, Horus hoped to sway his brooding brother to the side of his planned rebellion. Foremost of these was the unexpected rebellion of Olympia against Imperial rule. With the death of Dammekos, the long-lived Tyrant of Lochos and the chosen Imperial satrap of Olympia, the duplicitous and viperous politics of Olympia finally burst into infighting and insurrection. The violence and division flared up worse than ever before because of the changes the Imperium had wrought on Olympia, and the discontent grew, due to generations of the planet's finest youth having been tithed for the IVth Legion, never to return. Perturabo and the IVth Legion, battered by the demands of the Hrud campaign, and enraged and embarrassed by the rebellion of their homeworld, returned to Olympia. Angry beyond measure, Perturabo presented the Olympian population with a simple choice: enact decimation, selecting 1 in every 10 of their own to be executed, or face complete extermination and enslavement if they refused. When the rebels refused to bend, Perturabo and the Iron Warriors brutally purged the world city by city, overrunning the fortresses he had personally built and sparing no one who stood against him. Some Iron Warriors also refused to take part in the carnage against their own people, and they too were ultimately struck down by their brother Astartes. By the time the massacre was over, five million Olympians had been killed and the rest put into vicious slavery to the Iron Warriors. Perturabo looked on at the remains of his homeworld in cold silence. Only once the great pyres were burning to cleanse the world of the heaps of corpses created by the IVth Legion's assault did Perturabo fully realize what he had done... The Iron Warriors were no longer the saviours of the Imperium; they had been destroying the alien Hrud one moment and yet, in the next, they were committing genocide against their own people. With the cooling of Olympia's mass funeral pyres had come the realisation that nothing the Lord of Iron could ever do from that moment on could ever atone for such a worldwide genocide.

I assess with high probability by examining architectural records, videography sub-data, analog decay and record storage artifacts -  that the following image dates to the Olympian purge...

VR
Quintus Pictus, Historiographer Primus


Note: Based off the Night Lords illustration from the 3.5 Chaos Space Marine Codex

[Storm Wolf]

Yes, yes, yes, nice!

[commissarmoody]

Very cool.

[beefcake]

Very cool.

[tomrommel1]

like it a lot!

[Kourtchatovium104]

Great! 

[WallyTWest]

+++ INCOMING TRANSMISION +++

// FILE UPLOADING....
CAMPAIGN OF BONE AND IRON.txt

MORDIAN SYSTEM (M36)
OBFUSCANE (Industrial World)
4213522.M36
Yersinia Planus - Lowlands, First Sector

Attackers - The Dolorous Lesion,  Warhost Secondary (Lost and Damned)
Defenders - Mordian Iron Guard, 5th and 7th Detachments (Astra Militarum)
1000pts, 4x4 Table, 3rd Edition Rules

The first open engagement of the Obfuscane raid. At 2941L (Orbital Rotation being 47 standard hr) the Bardeleben Line would come under bombardment by Iron Warriors artillery hidden in the local elevations and subsequently be assaulted by PoxWalkers and genetically modified troops known locally as Necromutants. The defenses were intended to prevent infiltration into the Yersinia Plateaus. Local defenses withstood nearly 3 hours of assault before being over-run by plague enhanced troops. Unimpeded, the Iron Warriors columns and the mining vehicles of the mutant host known as the "Dolorous Lesion" would begin to pillage and salvage vast quantities of technological components as well as force Mordian defense forces deeper into the promethium complex. Routed Mordian elements would retreat in good order, sabotaging abandoned vehicles and setting up a secondary defensive perimeter. Lesion forces would be unable to break through until a dedicated assault could be waged by the Iron Warriors formation known as the "Iron Defilers".

Layered defenses and gunlines are a favored Moridan tactic while on the defense.

All positions were manned regardless of injury, Lesion forces would not take prisoners.

Due to the terrain, it was not uncommon for defensive lines to be assaulted form multiple angles.

Flanking attempts were made by cultists, necro mutants and pox walkers - whom benefited form the knowledge of their "host culture".

Rho-Delpha expeditionary elements were used to supplement Mordian reserves.

[WallyTWest]

+++ Review +++
My short review- Xenos Rampant
BLUF- It’s the new standard for SciFi Wargaming, Recommended Buy.

I’m a fan of the “Rampant Rulesets”. A little like the Millennial Falcon she is ugly but she flies, takes the shortest route, may not be elegant but it will be a memorable time.

Xenos Rampant will not do everything you want it to- I’m short a few entries to get the full feeling I was hoping- I can imagine fans making supplements. It will also fight to scale up and remain “entertaining.”

That said- buy this product.

Rebels and Patriots gave me a ruleset for King Phillips war to early revolution - it allowed me to use my “dead models” that I had collected again, and I was very thankful for that. The ruleset was dynamic and allowed for some clever interactions.

Dragon Rampant gave me back Warhammer Fantasy. Giving a unified ruleset that allowed my friends to interact with a reasonable model count. Suddenly everything was on the table- it was fun again.

Lion Rampant gave me back my Late Roman collection. Gave me the “want” to paint a Hun army my mentor Allan had given me almost 20 years ago. I’m so thankful.

Xenos Rampant is friendly, fun, engaging and encourages you to play. For its faults, I’ll be using it for club gaming for years. With any luck we will see some fan supplements.

I’m very optimistic for a second edition of Dragon Rampant or R&P.

Secondary Thought- Read the “Other” rules in the book. There is a complexity with the long range engagements, terrain, reactions and unit design that is a radical improvement. Feels like a proto WW1/WW2 ruleset… and I’m very optimistic about that. You could easily do a WW1/2 game with these rules due to inclusions like occupying trenches, I suspect it would work… well.

Layout - Logical 8/10
Artwork - Generic 7/10
Customization - Falls a little short of a perfect conversion for 40k/exc. Still does the job. 7/10
Gameplay - Logical, Engaging, Tense, not too punishing- 7/10
“Fun” - Still a wargame, you have to learn a system to get the most out of it. 8/10
Multiplayer - 7/10, slows down at higher participation, but on the whole pretty good.

Scoring Conclusion- Strong 7/10, Would Play of game was offered. Recommended as entry level game or for any home brew setting. GW/Game Designers should take notice- this is strong competition for any ruleset and its lateral viability makes it highly appealing for club play.

Withholding final scoring until more games are played.