Trench Crusade: Printed Rulebook

The Trench Crusade Core Rulebook!

Over the last year or two, we have been dabbling with the miniature-based skirmish game Trench Crusade. We wrote about our first impressions with the ruleset and how we used the system to play games in our Vastarian setting. We also commissioned our friend Eli (Redwetskeleton) to start creating a Trench Pilgrim warband for us. To our collective surprise, sometime after the two successful Kickstarter campaigns, we were contacted and asked if we wanted to help proofread the Core Rulebook, before it went to printing. We agreed and spent a few weeks working with their editor and the rest of the Trench Crusade team to finalize the book. It was a fun and humbling experience to be involved in the project, even if only in a small way. The book has finally been printed and is being sent out to Kickstarter backers. As part of our involvement, Trench Crusade kindly sent each of us a copy of the book, and we want to share some photos!

Dragged into Turbolasers 130: Impressions of the new Warhammer 40k Space Orks

We talk with our friend Brad about the newly revealed Warhammer 40k 11th edition ork models. We discuss how ork design has changed during the last few decades and our hopes for the future.

Trench Crusade: Communicant by Redwetskeleton

Fault and Fracture.

Over the last few years, we have been interested in the miniature skirmish game Trench Crusade. We wrote about our first impressions with the ruleset and how we used the system to play games in our Vastarian setting. Despite this, we have yet to create a warband for the game, and we realized our pace at creating models is so slow that it might behoove us to commission someone to create one. Immediately, we thought of our good friend Eli (Redwetskeleton). He has the ability to make some of the most stunningly grotesque miniatures imaginable, ones that truly make your skin crawl (in the best way), as evidenced by his recent contribution to the Godling art show. His style is very befitting of the Trench Crusade setting, so we asked if he would be interested in creating a Trench Pilgrim warband, following his own internal muses. We are thrilled that he said yes and are excited to share photos of the first model from the group, a gruesome Communicant!

Painting one of The Longsnouts

Every Man is an Enemy.

Ever since getting into Warhammer 40,000 at the tail end of the 2nd Edition of the game, orcs have held a special place in my heart. The artwork for the 2nd Edition Codex book was filled with character, with notable work by greats like Mark Gibbons, Wayne England, and John Blanche. The template for the orc designs seen in the 2nd Edition codex was established earlier in the Rogue Trader era by artists like Paul Bonner, where the orcs were lanky, with wide lower jaws and long, slanting upper jaws. Brian Nelson gave the orcs a noticeable image change in the 3rd Edition of Warhammer 40,000, giving them a hunched, muscled, and aggressive look. It is this Nelson design that really captured my imagination. Games Workshop has slightly updated the orc aesthetics over the years, but never quite captured the magic that Nelson harnessed with his designs. Much to my excitement, sculptor Carlos Pérez Bugedo started a project designing his own orc models that take aspects of Paul Bonner’s orcs (somewhat lanky and long in the face) and combine them with the hunched aggression of the Nelson designs. This project is fittingly called The Longsnouts, and had an earlier Kickstarter campaign for STL files of some of his initial designs. To stir up some excitement for his second Longsnouts Kickstarter, he held a painting competition to paint one of his models. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to break out the paints and paint another model.