Vastarian: Houston 2024 Day 3

With immense mental fortitude, Saint Voskhodh - the Voice of the Outer Dark, clawed their way back from the brink of doom, escaping the damning clutches of the Empyrean, intent on activating the lighthouse at Ravachol.

It is hard to fathom, but it has been over a year since we, with the help of Bill Ford, hosted our first Inq28 narrative event: Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious! While we covered the first two days of the event (see here and here), life intervened, and we did not share what happened on the final day. We wanted to rectify this and start sharing how the event concluded! On the final day, all the participants played multiple simultaneous games, culminating in the final confrontation at the hyperradiant lighthouse in Ravachol, Vastarian. We plan to post numerous updates documenting the chaos of these games, aiming to give readers a glimpse into the multiple narratives unfolding. Hopefully, this time it will not take an entire year to finish!

Film Review: The Grim & The Dark

The Grim & The Dark

Building and painting miniatures for wargames like Warhammer 40,000 or Mordheim is a relatively niche hobby. All of us involved have likely been asked about our hobbies, and when explaining how we “assemble and paint miniatures for wargames,” are accustomed to responses like “oh, like Risk” or, more apt but still a little off the mark, “oh, like Dungeons & Dragons.” Depending on how much effort we want to put into it, we can say “yeah, similar to that,” or delve into what the hobby actually entails. When my friend Cody (@magos_buer, now of Buer Games) announced that he was producing a documentary about miniature wargaming, specifically the grimdark/Inq28 scene, I was excited. Perhaps this would be the ideal film to show some of my family to demonstrate the allure of this hobby? Furthermore, a film delving into the “grimdark” aesthetic was even more appealing, as that is one of the specific aspects that drew my brothers and me to Warhammer 40,000 in the first place. While the term “grimdark” is inextricably tied to Warhammer 40,000, with its tag line of “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war,” the term has expanded into other media outside of the miniature gaming world, including music, literature, and art. From the moment I first heard about Cody’s intent to make a film to its official release, the film evolved considerably, becoming what is officially titled The Grim & The Dark: The Search for John Blanche. Somewhat surprisingly, Jon Heder, of the Napoleon Dynamite fame, was pulled in to be the main face of the documentary. Cody had expressed his desire to interview many people involved in the Inq28 scene and asked whether we would be willing to be interviewed. Things came together rather quickly, and Cody, Jon, and the rest of the crew joined us on the first day of our Vastarian narrative gaming event in November 2024, where Heder interviewed the three of us and some others at the event. The interviews were not planned and were very much off the cuff. Afterwards, we didn't hear much about the documentary or how the footage from the Vastarian event would be used until it was released in late September 2025. My brothers and I were kindly given the opportunity to watch The Grim & The Dark shortly before its release. After having some time to reflect, I wanted to share some of the thoughts the three of us had about it.

Vastarian: Using the Trench Crusade ruleset

Inheritance.

It is hard to fathom, but it has been almost a year since we hosted, with the help of Bill Ford, our first Inq28 narrative event: Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious! We have written about the first two days of the event so far (one, two), sharing the participants and the rules we used. While we used a modified version of Necromuda for the event, we have encouraged people to use any ruleset they enjoy to play games in the setting. Ultimately, it is more important to use a ruleset you are familiar with, as the games will flow more smoothly and allow you to focus on narrative elements. It is our hope that people will not be chained to rules-as-written and will be willing to modify things to better suit the narrative as cool moments unfold. With this in mind, I had been meaning to use the Trench Crusade rules for some Vastarian games, primarily because they streamline many mechanics and because the religious setting of the game parallels Vastarian's. To my good fortune, work brought Bill to Baltimore recently, and when he suggested we play a game with some of our Vastarian warbands, I suggested we give the Trench Crusade rules a try.

Vastarian: Church Raid

The Cult of the Lantern (created by rojasnoirlac) has made its way to Ravachol, Vastarian.

Recently, when Bill Ford was in Maryland for a work trip, we had the good fortune of meeting up with him and Dave Taylor! Not wanting to miss the opportunity to roll some dice, we were able to set up Bill’s Chapel board and play a game within our Vastarian setting! Below are some photos from the game with a loose narrative conveyed in the captions.

Dragged into Turbolasers 115: Talking to Redwetskeleton about daemons and the Vastarian Inq28 event.

Herald of the Child Inverted: The Paramour

We chat with Eli about our Vastarian Inq28 and the incredible daemons he created for the climax of the event. All hail the Child Inverted.

Vastarian: A suffocating darkness

Eli standing next to his horrifying creation, the Child Inverted.

Last November we held an Inq28 event with Bill Ford: Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious. The setting revolves around the cathedral world of Vastarian, which is home to hundreds of disparate Imperial religious sects, each venerating the God-Emperor of Mankind in their own unique way. The opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum, a great tear in the fabric of the Milky Way Galaxy, has resulted in a psychic awakening across the populace of Vastarian. Each religious sect on the planet now believes that they alone were blessed with a psychic emissary touched by the Emperor himself. The tenuous peace on Vastarian has now devolved to bloodshed and persecution. During this psychic turmoil, the Astronomican, the purifying radiance of the Emperor, plummeted as if it were a tallow candle guttering in a tumultuous wind. It was in dreams that panic spread, a euphoric terror spawned from an encroaching darkness–a presence that seeping in from the margins, dripping from the stars as if they were untethering from reality. This darkness was later attributed to the manifestation of a daemonic presence on Vastarian, the Child Inverted. These daemons were made in secret by Eli (redwetskeleton) and only revealed on the final day of the event, when the lighthouse was activated!

2024, a year in review!

With 2025 upon us, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on 2024 and what we accomplished on the blog, before moving ahead with new projects. The blog has now completed twelve full years! Throughout 2024, we were able to maintain regular blog posts while also continuing our podcast, and weekly Twitch streaming. With this post we wanted to look at our most popular posts of the year, while also highlighting our favorite episodes of the podcast.

Dragged into Turbolasers 113: Interviewing Sovthofheaven and Noclearcoat (Hive Scum) about the Vastarian Inq28 event.

We chat with Steve and Gage, from the Hive Scum podcast, about the Vastarian Inq28 event in Houston Texas.

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 112: Interviews at the Vastarian Inq28 event, Houston, Texas!

Chatting after the Vastarian Inq28 event in Houston!

In the evening after the final day of the Vastarian Inq28 event in Houston Texas, we interviewed many of the participants!

Vastarian: Houston 2024 Day 2

Death Was The Colour.

Here at Between the Bolter and Me, we have spent the entirety of 2024 working on Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious, our Warhammer 40,000 setting. During that time, we have been encouraging others to get involved with it as a collaborative worldbuilding effort. The setting revolves around the cathedral world of Vastarian, which is home to hundreds of disparate Imperial religious sects, each venerating the God-Emperor of Mankind in their own unique way. The opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum, a great tear in the fabric of the Milky Way Galaxy, has resulted in a psychic awakening across the populace of Vastarian. Each religious sect on the planet now believes that they alone were blessed with a psychic emissary touched by the Emperor himself. The tenuous peace on Vastarian has now devolved to bloodshed and persecution. During this psychic turmoil, the purifying radiance of the Emperor, the Astronomican, plummeted as if it were a tallow candle guttering in a tumultuous wind. In desperation, many of the Spyrehead conclaves on the planet pooled their resources and delved deeply into crumbling treatises on the nature of astropathic beacons and put into motion a fantastical gambit: fortifying the principle lighthouse in Ravachol as a psychic conduit to amplify the waning Astronomican.

In an effort to continue developing the setting, with the help of Bill Ford we hosted our first Inq28 narrative event at Asgard Games from November 15-17. You can read about the first day of the event here. The second day was the core of the entire event, where participants played three games that would lead up to a final game the following day (Day 3). There would be no way for us to capture every game played during the event, but we want to share pictures and write some evocative captions to help convey what happened in the games we were involved in. We hope you enjoy them!

Vastarian 2024: Rules and Scenarios

Wizard Fight!

Now that the first official Vastarian event has concluded we wanted to provide the rule system and scenarios we used, for anyone that is interested. We encourage everyone to make use of the material and get together with friends to play and create new stories on Vastarian! Feel free to modify the rules as you see fit, we certainly did when playing games!

Vastarian 2024: Participant Cults, Terrain, and other contributions.

The lighthouse at Ravachol, Vastarian.

We recently got back from holding our first Inq28 narrative event alongside Bill Ford, based in our Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious setting. It wouldn’t have been possible without all of the amazing participants and people who created models and terrain for the event. We wanted to use this post to showcase all of the amazing Cults that were present at the event, along with any other donated model, terrain, or game board!

Dragged into Turbolasers 111: Reflections of Vastarian with Weirding Way and Modern Synthesist.

Just days after our Vastarian Inq28 event in Houston, we are joined by Weirding Way and Modern Synthesist, to reflect on the event.

Vastarian: Houston 2024 Day 1

We have all seen the signs in our dreams and know deep in our marrow that our apocalypse is nigh. But all is not lost, for we put our Faith in Him (Model created by Isaac @weirdingsway, Presbyter Alcubierre the Blind - Bastard Scion of Navredo House Oberth).

Here at Between the Bolter and Me, we have spent the entirety of 2024 working on Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious, our Warhammer 40,000 setting. During that time, we have been encouraging others to get involved with it as a collaborative worldbuilding effort. The setting revolves around the cathedral world of Vastarian, which is home to hundreds of disparate Imperial religious sects, each venerating the God-Emperor of Mankind in their own unique way. The opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum, a great tear in the fabric of the Milky Way Galaxy, has resulted in a psychic awakening across the populace of Vastarian. Each religious sect on the planet now believes that they alone were blessed with a psychic emissary touched by the Emperor himself. The tenuous peace on Vastarian has now devolved to bloodshed and persecution. During this psychic turmoil, the purifying radiance of the Emperor, the Astronomican, plummeted as if it were a tallow candle guttering in a tumultuous wind. In desperation, many of the Spyrehead conclaves on the planet pooled their resources and delved deeply into crumbling treatises on the nature of astropathic beacons and put into motion a fantastical gambit: fortifying the principle lighthouse in Ravachol as a psychic conduit to amplify the waning Astronomican.

Vastarian: the Beacon awaits

We have all seen the signs in our dreams and know deep in our marrow that our apocalypse is nigh. But all is not lost, for we put our Faith in Him.

Take the pilgrimage to Ravachol, bringing resources to construct the beacon. Bring those among your congregation that have psychic aptitude, to power the beacon and illuminate the world.

Finally, most of all, bring faith. For faith in Him is the bedrock of the Imperium and only it can quell the darkness dwelling in our souls, a blackness that is slowly eroding the liminal space between wakefulness and sleep.

Vastarian: Updated Rules for the Church of the Red Athenæum

The Church of the Red Athenæum.

Shortly after announcing the Vastarian Open Invitational, we created a post showcasing potential rules for our Church of the Red Athenæum cult using different rule systems, including Necromunda, Forbidden Psalm, and MiniGangs. The intent was to get people thinking about getting into the setting, adapting any ruleset they are comfortable with. Now that we are very close to holding our first Vastarian event alongside Bill Ford, we thought it would be instructive to showcase our finalized Church of the Red Athenæum warband for the event. The ruleset we are using for the event is a simplified version of Necromunda (2023) with elements from Mordheim.

Vastarian: The Knights of Reclamation

And I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives.

Since its creation, we have been thrilled with how many people have gotten involved in our Open Invitational Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious, including through our contest, creating Cult Shrines, and creating civilian cultists. Some people have even created entire warbands that they sent to be used in the event, including an amazing Adeptus Mechanicus Cult by Nicky Grillet. Excitingly, this week, our friend Jake (@master_splinters_pizza_kits) provided us with a warband he created for use in the Vastarian event in Houston this month!

Vastarian: Ligeia Orr, Prophet of the Crimson Veil, Dreamer of the Apocalypse

Lo! 'tis a gala night

Within the lonesome latter years!

An angel throng, bewinged, bedight

In veils, and drowned in tears,

Sit in a theatre, to see

A play of hopes and fears,

While the orchestra breathes fitfully

The music of the spheres.

Mimes, in the form of God on high,

Mutter and mumble low,

And hither and thither fly—

Mere puppets they, who come and go

At bidding of vast formless things

That shift the scenery to and fro,

Flapping from out their Condor wings

Invisible Wo!

That motley drama—oh, be sure

It shall not be forgot!

With its Phantom chased for evermore,

By a crowd that seize it not,

Through a circle that ever returneth in

To the self-same spot,

And much of Madness, and more of Sin,

And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout

A crawling shape intrude!

A blood-red thing that writhes from out

The scenic solitude!

It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs

The mimes become its food,

And the angels sob at vermin fangs

In human gore imbued.

Out—out are the lights—out all!

And, over each quivering form,

The curtain, a funeral pall,

Comes down with the rush of a storm,

And the angels, all pallid and wan,

Uprising, unveiling, affirm

That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"

And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

- Attributed to Terran Poet Poe (circa M2)

Vastarian: The Eater of Saints

God gave me no name.

The figure hunches at the end of the table, smiling as it cracks bones and tears flesh. Its very presence is discomfiting, stained with the agony of countless psykers.

“A plague of Saints?”

The figure chuckles, and meat and bone shards spray from its maw.

“You do know how to keep me satiated, Inquisitor…"

The Beast smiles once more and it is that ancient and terrible grin that has haunted her nightmares for the last decade.

She nods, and begins her briefing.

Vastarian: "Civilian" Cultists

Bathe in the glow of sunlight's beating rays.

 

Before it descended into chaos after the “Emergence of Saints,” Vastarian was on a well-traveled route to holy Terra. As such, it was a holy world beyond compare, filled with massive houses of worship, an expanse of stained glass and minarets, labyrinthian catacombs revering the hallowed dead, and cavernous libraries and repositories of holy texts and religious scholarship. It also welcomed thousands of disparate orthodoxies and splinters of the Imperial Creed, where they all lived in relative harmony together. With the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum, a psychic awakening swept over Vastarian and caused the planet to collapse into bedlam, and with it millions of lives were upended.