As the Thunderchild Battle Barge traverses through the Warp, A pulsating energy of torment, despair and agony calls to the Avatar of Nox drawing the Sons of the Eighth Legion to the planet of Thanatos…
Hey Hereteks, Mutants and Loyalists alike! It’s your resident spooky boy The Warp Forge with a new series of articles!
So, that last few months I’ve been rather silent. Lots going on behind the curtain per say and a lot of hobby progress was done the past few months. Those who know the past 3 months I’ve been making all My stuff for my Black Templars (Because sometimes you just want a piece of the Space Marine equal opportunity cake too) and so time has been scarce.
Now that project has subsided and the goal achieved it was time to move ahead for there is no rest as the machine hungers and the cogs of progress keep on marching, and march they shall for in this new series will be dedicated to getting a force worthy of the eighth to an event hosted by none other than the Guardsman himself! Mordian Glory!
Who is Mordian Glory?
So, unless you’ve been living in a distant planet on the eastern fringes (ripe for Night Lords prey) eating raw canned Grox for a pastime, then you’ll know Mordian Glory as a stellar Guardsman YouTuber, starting way back in 2015, Mordian really stuck in the grind in 2016 when he started Imperial Guard videos. Since then, through consistency, Iron Will, determination, grit and above all passion and love for the Guard, he’s managed to make an outstanding reputation within the Guard community showing invaluable insight and experience helping other fellow Guardsmen become the best generals they can be with list advice from his Live Steams, tactics videos and Tournament experience with Tournament reports going to various RTTs and GTs.
What is Thanatos?
For Mordian, one of his long time goals was to organise an apocalypse event that shows off the true scale of what 40k can do and what 40k can achieve. Mordian wanted not just a massive game that threw two forces at each other like two sledgehammers on an anvil of war but wanted to show off a grander story and narrative that gives depth and meaning the players that participate.
Enter Thanatos.
Thanatos is a planet besieged by all manner of horrors and witchcrafts that threatens the very souls of the innocent and bold under the Imperial Eagle! Though sheer negligence and political corruption of their planetary governor, the planet has allowed itself to be influenced by the darker powers of Chaos and the infestations of the Hive Mind as the day of Ascension approached. Now the day has come and what a planet that should be subjected to Exterminatus for its failings, must be protected for various strategic points and relics among its lands. It is a tale of Heroics and defiant last stands, intrigue, and villainous scheming. Above all it is a tale of endless war.
Thus, Thanatos was born! It is a tale of sacrifice, betrayal, and bloodshed! This event became a multi-table event that spanned a monolithic amount of 300,000 pts. Armies of all factions came to revel on the slaughter from Necrons, Tyranid and Chaos to the Knight Households, Arbites and of course, Imperial Guard and oh boy, there was a lot of Imperial Guard.
Every table had different missions and situations. There was an “Imperial Shrine” that was really a chaos shrine that the enemies of the Imeprium could sacrifice their own units to buff existing units and get even more benefits the more souls they sacrifice. There was a Hive city board where the goals were to assassinate the Planetary Governor for the enemies of the Imperium and a goal to slay the Patriarch for the Imeprium. On a jungle/forest board the Tyranid spearhead arrived and a defiant last stand was held for the Imeprium to protect the village located there. The event was packed with story and immersion at every step.
But at the end of the day The Imeprium stood firm. They won most of the battlefield scenarios but it was a pyrrhic victory for the Enemies of the Imperium won the overall narrative as the Shrine was taken and a strange, pulsating aura birthed forth a wound in the Warp, ready for new horrors to creep in and approach the planet of Thanatos…
And so next June will be part 2 of the Thanatos event and that where my story begins with my Night Lords! It’s been near enough a decade since I had my last apocalypse game. I personally am not one for massive games as I find they can be very time consuming and I can feel fatigue from very hard and long drawn out games, but what I find catches my interest in this event is the fact that there are missions to play, you’re working with a team and there’s a respawn mechanic for units that die so you’re not completely left out if your force gets an absolute hammering during the game. You’ll be involved every step of the way.
Now for those who know, I’ve been promising folks for about 6-7 years I’d have a fully painted army of Night Lords to throw down for games and this goal has never been fully achieved. That is until now. I have made a pledge to get 3000pts of my Night Lords collection painted by the event next June. Already I’m feeling the pressure but I know deep down that this will be one heck of a motivational push to get these units painted so not only can I can play in the event but it can get me making more progress on my YouTube Channel too and come back to doing the content that I loved doing as a teen: Battle Reports.
It also allows me to get some articles done here for your reading pleasure as week-by-week I’ll be showcasing my hobby progress showing stage-by-stage building, painting and kit bashing, getting my Night Lords off the ground displaying them in their full terrifying glory! What horrors will you witness? Find out in the next Article as we travel the road to Thanatos starting with the Avatar of Nox!
This is the Warp Forge, signing out and remember, Keep on Forging!
– The Warp Forge
Credit of Pictures goes to BobWins and Mordian Glory
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!