I've got my ticket, have you got yours?
Hi, my name is Sam and I‘m a Five Year Arc40k Veteran. I’ve been collecting and playing Warhammer since I was a kid - that was at the end of 2nd edition so you can probably guess how old I am!
I moved to Australia from the UK about 8 years ago and didn't know anyone. Warhammer, and the Arc40k event in particular, has introduced me to a heap of new people. Each year I attend and my aim is to try to make at least one new friend!
Since getting into the hobby I have found different aspects that have interested me over time:
Building and converting
Painting
Basing
Gaming
Fluff (creating a background or even a story)
Over the last couple of years I have been actively trying to improve my painting skills.
That’s involved seeking advice from other painting enthusiasts, experimenting with new techniques, and of course lots of practice…
It’s why I love the hobby - there are so many avenues to explore - And Arc40K as an event that for me embodies all of them.
Up until now, I’ve collected Yme-Loc Eldar, Space Marines and Death Guard.
But for Arc40k in 2023 I really wanted to bring something different, something new!
Is choosing a new Army something that takes time for you?
Well, it’s not been an easy decision for me. I've gone back and forward - trying to lock in what that might be…
I really wanted something that played the mission, meaning I had a lot of units and the ability to perform actions. This is something that my current army (Death Guard) had loads of options with units of Plague Marines and Pox Walkers.
So, I’ve finally made a choice and settled on Chaos Daemons!
I made that decision because I think Chaos Daemons offer me another level of tactical flexibility over and above the Death Guard. I hope that they will play to my style of gaming. There’s also the shinny new Chaos Daemon Codex which I’ve picked up and am keen to put it through it’s paces.
Having a good look inside I began thinking that adding some Nurgle Daemons to my Death Guard would be a great way to expand my collection.
But then I started to look more closely at a very unique Character. I began to ask myself, why aren’t I more interested in Be'lakor - the first Daemon Prince?
He may not have the offensive output or resilience of Mortarian or Magus - the two Daemon Primarchs! But combined with some of the Noctic Discipline powers, and the Warp Storm effects, he has a very good chance of showing them up.
There is also this two command point stratagem - Blessing Of Be'lakor - that can reduce a damage roll to zero if you are running an exclusively Disciples of Be'lakor army.
Be'lakor himself is also equipped with the Blade of Shadows. These allow him to pass in and out of reality at his will. So Invulnerable saving throws cannot be made against this weapon.
Zero Damage, no invulnerable saves - this is a rule set I think I could get behind!
Disciples of Be'lakor is an army of renown and come with a lot of restrictions - mainly involving having to take one of each of the Chaos God Aligned units before being able to take more.
The benefit of this restriction is that everything gains the Disciples of the Shadows rule.
The fanatical worship of Be'lakor affords his disciples a fragment of his unnatural obfuscatory powers. What that means is that each time a combat attrition test is taken, you add 1 to the combat attrition test. And each time a ranged attack is made, if the attacker is more than 12" away subtract 1 from the attacker's hit roll.
So rules wise they are a little sorcerous and spicy - which I‘m thinking you might guess is something I really like. Decision made - Army choice and project for Arc40k 2023 is Disciples of Shadows!
To represent my choices the best I can on the tabletop I want to paint my Disciples of the Shadows slightly different to a standard Chaos Daemons army.
I’m really hoping to create a Dark and Atmospheric feeling! Describe that as a lurking in the shadows feel. This will result in the style of painting being that the deep shadows will be contrasted with some very bright Object Source Lighting or OSL. I will attempt to control the volume of colour as a way of catching the viewer's eye.
So a strong focus on painting the army differently from anything I’ve done before is the first challenge I’ve set myself and I hope you all enjoy following that part of my journey to Arc40k.
Of course any self respecting Arc40k army needs to have a display board…
So I’ve already got plans!
Mine is going to be based on Nocturn, the Forge World that has been corrupted by Be'lakor himself and whisked away to exist within the Realms of Chaos.
As soon as I brought my ticket I started making my display board. So army journey and display board look likely to go hand in hand. I hope to share more with you in the next instalment.
The road to Arc40k is paved with plans of epic armies… So follow along and get some insights from Sam as he documents his journey to create a new army for a new arc40k - keep an eye out for future ArcArmy Challenge articles.
Comments