Vastarian: The Cults of Vastarian

Vastarian is an open invitational where we are encouraging people to create Imperial Cults that are at war with each other on the cathedral world (Vastarian). While we have shown two cults on the planet (the Church of the Red Athenæum and a faction of Spyreheads), we wanted to do more to give people ideas to create their own Vastarian cults. After some deliberation, we came to the conclusion that some Vastarian artwork would be an ideal way to get peoples’ imaginations flowing. Having worked with Martin McCoy on multiple volumes of 28 magazine, we knew he would excel at creating some concept art for Vastarian. We commissioned him to create a piece of artwork that displayed a host of different cults, to emphasize how eccentric and divergent they can be from one another. Ultimately, Martin created two amazing companion pieces. At the time of writing, you can still get prints of each piece of artwork on his Etsy page!

Season's Greetings 2023

Season's Greetings!

Between the Bolter and Me is about to advance into its 12th year as a blog! It was another fantastic year, continuing our Twitch streaming and podcast, but also participating in NEMO 2023 and Rich Grimmond events! The last quarter of the year was defined by us starting our Vastarian Open Invitational! With the year coming to a close, we want to extend our best wishes to all of our readers this holiday season!

Dragged into Turbolasers 106: Reflecting back on 2023 with members of Hive Scum

2023 is coming to a close!

In this episode we are joined by Steve and Gage from the Hive Scum podcast. We reflect on 2023 as a whole and how we first met Hive Scum at the New England Mordheim Open at the start of 2023. We also touch on the Rich Grimmond Inq28 event and some notable releases throughout the year.

Vastarian: Rules for the Church of the Red Athenæum

The Church of the Red Athenæum.

Since announcing the Vastarian Open Invitational, we have showcased factions (Church of the Red Athenæum and Spyreheads), revealed the logo, recorded an episode of our podcast, and wrote a battle report. Despite all of this, we have not spoken too much about the rule set we have been using to play our games. In the original post, we suggested that we would primarily be using the 2023 Necromunda rules, but encouraged people to use whatever system they enjoyed and are familiar with. Indeed, we have played a handful of games, mostly using the Necromunda rules. Additionally, we have also played games using Forbidden Psalm, like at the Rot of Hondious event. With this post, we want to show some sample warband lists for different rule systems to give readers a sense of the possibilities for playing games in the Vastarian setting!

Blanche: The Rise of Grimdark Review

John Blanche’s biography!

Although John Blanche retired earlier this year, he is still quite busy. Case in point, he released another Voodoo Forest book titled Scions of Voodoo through Hollow Press. He agreed to be the feature artist for volume 6 of the digital magazine 28. On top of all of this, he worked with authors John Wombat and Ruth Moreira to have his biography written! This biography, titled Blanche: the Rise of Grimdark, was published by Wombat Wargames (December 2023). I am happy to say that we were involved in the creation of the book, albeit in a small way. Earlier this year, when exchanging emails with John Blanche, he mentioned that he was working on the biography and asked if we had some photos from the 2016 Pilgrym game and if we could share a few words about it. We excitedly obliged, reaching out to author John Wombat, who suggested that he would quote us in the final book, as well as include some of our photos of the event. Advance a few months forward, and in late November we saw that the book was being released on December 1st! Excited to see the final book, I ordered a copy from Amazon and promptly received it on December 2nd.

Vastarian: Battle Report 1 - the Breath of Organthus

Purpose. Divine Purpose. It was finally within his grasp again. He would not lose it this time. These last few years were not some cosmic joke taunting his faith (or increasingly, a lack thereof).

Vastarian: Logo update!

Recently we began an open invitational encouraging people to create Imperial Cults that are at war with each other on the cathedral world of Vastarian. We have now shown two of the cults that the planet harbors, the Church of the Red Athenæum and a faction of Spyreheads. We also talked more about how the setting came about on our podcast, Dragged into Turbolasers. Although Adam already designed a basic logo for the event, featuring a lighthouse that has been used as a watermark in most of the Vastarian images, we wanted to also have a text-based logo. When considering this, we quickly thought of the incredibly talented graphic designer and miniature artist Weirding Way. We reached out to him about the project and he agreed to help us! Fitting to the INQ28 theme, he created the logo using a typographic kitbash, scanning letters from a book on early book printing type, with the V being an A modified from an 18 century Norwegian title page!

Dragged into Turbolasers 105: What is the Vastarian Open Invitational?

In this episode we are joined by Bill Ford, host of Mordheim 2022, to talk about the Vastarian: Dreams of the Pious Open Invitational we recently started on Between the Bolter and Me. We describe the Vastarian setting, and how it is filled with warring Imperial cults, each certain their own ideology will usher in a new age of prosperity for the Imperium. We talk about how Mordheim and Inquisitor influenced the setting and how it offers a way to continue to expand the Church of the Red Athenæum, after Iron Sleet’s Pilgrym event. We also talk about how the writing of Thomas Ligotti shaped aspects of the setting, as well as make some musical suggestions to put you in the right mindset for diving into the setting yourself!

Vastarian: Spyreheads

A procession of Vastarian Spyreheads.

When thinking about other potential cults for the Vastarian setting, we knew it would not be complete without a sect of Spyreheads! Stygian_thorne created the concept of these enigmatic architecture-wearing pilgrims. The idea was at least partially inspired by a piece of artwork created by the legendary John Blanche for Iron Sleet’s Pilgrym, entitled Ascend the Celestial Stair. We thought a world like Vastarian, which is covered in monolithic houses of worship, would attract devotees to the Emperor and the Arxvs Dedicatvm. We commissioned the iconic Ana Polanšćak of Gardens of Hecate to create the first five Vastarian Spyreheads!

Vastarian: Generic Cultist conversion

Vastarian cultists.

Earlier this month we started an open invitational encouraging people to create Imperial Cults that are at war with each other on the cathedral world of Vastarian. The planet harbors many strange extensions of the Ecclesiarchy’s Imperial Creed. The Church of the Red Athenæum is one such faction. Although we plan to showcase others in the coming months, we thought it would be fun to convert a random citizen of Vastarian, a faithful pilgrim alongside countless others, just to get peoples’ ideas flowing. Looking through our collection of old models, we found one of Brian Nelson’s classic metal preacher models, and decided it would be a fun starting point for a conversion. Having recently experimented with creating one-piece silicone cut molds, we realized we could make the conversion process easier if we first created a mold and cast a resin copy of the model. Having a resin copy would facilitate the converting process, as resin is far easier to cut and work with than metal. This worked out really well and we were able to quickly convert a faithful supplicant of the Emperor using various pieces from the plastic Sisters of Battle range and modeling putty. Furthermore, the initial mold making process was so straight-forward that we created a second mold for the finished conversion so we can easily make copies of the new cultist!

Vastarian: The Church of the Red Athenæum recap

Vivere est pati.

The Cathedral world of Vastarian is home to a vast assortment of strange splinter cults of the Ecclesiarchy’s Imperial Creed. In addition to its presence on Terra, the Church of the Red Athenæum (which we created for Iron Sleet’s Pilgrym event) also has its own cells on Vastarian and has been trying to expand its influence there. The Church is a radical faction of the Imperial Creed that believes suffering is the highest form of veneration of the God-Emperor. Although we originally created the Church way back in 2016, we started to revisit them in more recent years, creating a host of new models, including a Gunfighter, a heavy weapons specialist, a Halfling, and a new Bibliognost of the Church of the Red Athenæum. All of these models are going to be used in the Vastarian setting, where they will be one of the major factions battling for their spiritual beliefs to dominate the planet. Below is a summary of some of the lore behind the Church of the Red Athenæum, which will continue to get expanded as Vastarian continues to develop!

Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious: Open Invitational

Blessed the mind too small for doubt.

Vastarian is a vast cathedral world located within the Totradus Sector, in the southern region of Segmentum Solar. Although it is on a well-traveled route used by the faithful on their pilgrimage to holy Terra, that fact is not what makes it special. Instead, it accumulated its renown from two particular aspects. The first is its many architectural marvels: 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. The second, and more surprising aspect, is that in an age characterized by intolerance and persecution, Vastarian welcomes thousands of disparate orthodoxies and splinters of the Imperial Creed, where they all live in relative harmony together. Provided the God-Emperor is venerated above all others and His will is promulgated, the Ecclesiarchy turns a blind eye to minor deviations and differing interpretations of the Lectitio Divinitatus. After all, isn't all of humanity a part of His flock, of His Grand Design? While there are some documented instances of schisms that led to bloodshed, most were limited to internecine disputes and selective purges by the ever watchful Ordo Hereticus.

32 - Episode 17: Interview with Trent from Miscast

In the latest episode of 32, Eric talks with artist and YouTuber Trent Holbrook, known as Miscast. We talk about his journey through the hobby and his DIY ethos for approaching it.

In Rust We Trust: Simpso Shield Slam

I sculpted a shield!

In Rust We Trust is a wonderful Discord community that celebrates the “28” style of the miniature hobby, including kitbashing, sculpting and playing narrative style games. Excitingly, the discord group recently passed the 600 member mark, suggesting how a niche aspect of the miniature hobby is growing in popularity! To celebrate this, they are holding a contest encouraging people to experiment with sculpting using modeling putty. Specifically they teamed up with Tanner Simpson (@simpsominiatures) to create a contest to sculpt a face on a shield and send pictures to ‘inrustcommunity@gmail.com’ by September 30th 2023. Shields with faces on them are a classic element of GW designs in the 90s, championed by John Blanche himself. In the spirit of 90s design, I wanted to create a shield that paid homage to one of my favorite GW artists of that era, Wayne England. His style is iconic, with its grimacing skulls and warped faces, with taut skin, bulging veins, and singed hair.

Flames of Orion - The Sumar Conflict

Pitch black resolve.

At the beginning of September, Steve (sovthofheaven) of the Under the Dice/Hive Scum fame asked if I wanted to take part in a playtesting session for his mech combat game, Flames of Orion. I had played a game of it at Rich Grimmond 2023 a few months earlier, and had a great time with it, so the opportunity to play a few more games was one I was not going to pass up (even if I had to drive quite a few hours to do it).

Resin Casting: One-piece cut molds

One-piece silicone cut molds are a relatively easy way to cast miniatures in resin.

Six years ago we ventured into the world of resin casting to make copies of some of our conversions. It took a lot of trial and error to get something that worked consistently, but we found making a pressure pot was essential. All of the molds we created over the years were two piece molds, which are quite labor intensive. After watching a few YouTube videos by Miscast, where he talks about some of the imaginative models he converted and cast, I started to think about the prospect of creating molds again. What interested me most was trying to make single-piece cut molds, like Miscast favors. These are molds where you pour the silicone all at one time, creating a solid block of silicone surrounding the model. You then use a blade to cut the original model out of the silicone, taking care to cut it just enough to release the model and remain as a single piece. Robert Tolone has some excellent YouTube videos about the process that I encourage you to watch if you are interested. In one of his videos, he used one-piece cut molds to cast some characters from the excellent board game Root. In it, he attaches the models to small plastic cups and pours the silicone into them. This seemed like a relatively straightforward process, so I decided to give it a try, making molds of some old metal Games Workshop models I hope to use as a basis for conversions in the future!

The Rot of Hondious: Battle Reports Games 1-3

The Rot of Hondious - Martin McCoy

Last month we had the absolute pleasure of attending the hobby meet-up Rich Grimmond 2023, hosted by Martin McCoy and Mike DeBolt. One of the highlights of the event was a narrative Inq28 campaign called The Rot of Hondious, that Martin and Bill Ford (of the Mordheim 2022 fame) co-ran. It centers around a backwater feudal planet largely shunned by the Imperium. Its isolation has escalated into a strict quarantine in the last twenty years as the planet has been wracked by a curious plague. The Red Joy seemingly takes hold of its victim’s central nervous system, compelling them to dance with joyous abandon, a rictus smile on their face until they collapse dehydrated, blood leaching from their pores. The Inquisition has recently taken an interest in the phenomenon, and the plague has started to become sentient, having infected the planet's meager psychic population. We played a Red Joy warband at the event and wanted to use this post to describe the narrative and how the event went!

Dragged into Turbolasers 104: Reflecting back on Rich Grimmond 2023 and the Rot of Hondious

Having been a month since the Rich Grimmond 2023 Inq28 event in Richmond, Virginia, we got Martin McCoy (martin.mccoy.art) and Bill Ford (the_ruin.501) to talk about how the event went and if there is anything they would change if running another event in the future.

90's Marine Challenge: Dark Angel

Two Space Marines models from the 90’s, one just painted (left), the other when we just got into the hobby (right), circa 1997.

Over the last few years I have been painting Dark Angels Space Marines in honor of them being the first Space Marine Chapter we ever painted when starting in the hobby. Although it started primarily with Primaris Space Marines slightly converted to be true-scale Space Marines, I started to paint some older models to capture how Space Marines have changed over the years, including some Rogue Trader models, a MKIV, and a MKVI Space Marine. So when Darren Latham of Games Workshop fame started a 90’s Marine Challenge to paint a plastic 2nd edition Space Marine in a Chapter of your choice, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to paint one of the classic statuesque power armored warriors. Admittedly we did paint a bunch of the models when we first got into the hobby and got the 2nd edition boxed game of Warhammer 40,000. Space Marine models have come a long way since the 90s, and I am happy to say that I think I have too, at least in terms of painting!

Rich Grimmond 2023 - Other Games

Out of step with the world.

Late last month I attended the Rich Grimmond 2023 event in Richmond, Virginia. While my brother Adam was busy playing games of Mordheim and Forbidden Psalm (for the The Rot of Hondious event), and Eric was taking photographs, I was free to interview attendees for Dragged into Turbolasers (listen to that here), and play other games, many of which were designed by people in attendance!

The Rot of Hondious: Red Joy warband

The Road to Recovery is a Dead End Littered with Dead Bodies.

The Rot of Hondious, an Inq28 campaign held at the Rich Grimmond 2023 event, was fantastic. It gave us the opportunity to use Lucretia Barghest, an infected spyrehead, in some games of Forbidden Psalm! Although we had a few posts about her, including one showing how the model was converted, we have not shown the rest of the warband on the blog, and wanted to fix that. Part of the reason we decided to create a Red Joy warband, a host of bloody and mindless degenerates, was that it would give us an opportunity to paint a few eclectic models we recently got, namely a pair of MÖRK BORG goblins from Westfalia Miniatures, and a Bellman sculpted by Ana Polanšćak for the Folk Horrors II Kickstarter. While the models are quite different from each other, their macabre styling fit the concept of a deranged and bloody cult. For the remainder of the warband, we decided to use a selection of eclectic models we acquired over the years. Two were models from Ana’s first Kickstarter, and the final was one of WilhelMiniatures’ Forest Dwellers that I painted last year.

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 103: Rich Grimmond 2023 and the Rot of Hondious

Rich Grimmond 2023

In this episode, we interviewed people at the Rich Grimmond 2023 Inq28 event in Richmond, Virginia. The first interview is with Mike (gundamofficialhobby) and Grant (underworldalliance) talking about their new game Caliban28. The second is with Martin (martin.mccoy.art) and Isaac (weirdingsway), chatting about Inq28 events and the use of Forbidden Psalm for the Rot of Hondious event. The third is with Scott (scotomancer) talking about Heroquest and paint. The fourth is with Jonny (Witchhammerstudio) discussing his amazing “The Breath of Organthus” board. The final interview is with a bunch of the Hive Scum crew, chatting about how they got to the event and other aspects of the hobby.

Rich Grimmond 2023: a recap

Rich Grimmond 2023.

It is hard to believe that after a few months of planning and excitement, the hobby meet-up Rich Grimmond 2023 has come and gone. The event spanned a few days, and brought over 25 talented hobbyists to the main branch of the Richmond, Virginia Public library to play games, look at models, chat and just generally have a good time. The get-together was planned and hosted by Martin McCoy and Mike DeBolt. A major focus of the event was a narrative Inq28 campaign called The Rot of Hondious, that Martin and Bill Ford co-ran (of the Mordheim 2022 fame). Words cannot adequately convey how amazing the event was, filled with jaw-dropping models and terrain, and some of the nicest people in this miniature hobby. It was great to meet old friends and create new ones, all the while sharing our love of the miniature wargaming hobby. Below are a series of photos that we hope capture a fraction of the excitement of Rich Grimmond 2023!

The Rot of Hondious: Lucretia Barghest

Pandemic Containment Collapse.

Lucretia Barghest used to curse getting stuck on the backwater of Hondious. Her glorious pilgrimage to Terra to bask in His radiance stymied by warp storms and the ill-fated rogue trader Mathias Torvald, or was it Sorvald? It didn’t matter. Her convictions were changing. No, not changing. Evolving. Transforming into something that could better celebrate His majesty. Something that could truly stand tall, projecting His magnanimous spirit. And those convictions were not based around walls. Not built around architecture, minarets, nor spires. Everything was so much simpler now, the scriptures of the Arxvs Dedicatvm finally clicked into place. It was not mortar, brick, or ferrocrete that formed the building blocks of the Imperial Faith. It was Flesh. She could hear them calling clearly now. She could hear them discussing it everywhere. Finally, there were no secrets. And what a joyous revelation it all was. Knitting everything together. Or rather everyone together.

The Rot of Hondious: Spyrehead conversion

When all antibiotics become useless.

Later this month, Martin McCoy and Bill Ford are running a narrative Inq28 event called The Rot of Hondious. It centers around a backwater feudal planet largely shunned from the Imperium. Its isolation has escalated into a strict quarantine in the last twenty years as the planet has been wracked by a curious plague. The Red Joy seemingly takes hold of its victims central nervous system, compelling them to dance with joyous abandon, a rictus smile on their face until they collapse dehydrated, blood leaching from their pores. The Inquisition has recently taken an interest in the phenomenon, and the plague has started to become sentient having infected the planet's meager psykic population. We thought it would be fun to create a small Red Joy warband centered around a wayward pilgrim that got stranded on the planet and got infected by the plague. We always wanted to convert a Spyrehead based on Stygian_thorne's concept, and decided this was a great time for it!

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 102: Chatting with sculpting extraordinaire and Space Wolf fanatic Valbjorn

In this episode we are joined by Valbjorn, someone who got a name for themselves by creating incredible Space Wolf Space Marines that are more believable in scale. We chat about how he got involved in the hobby and what led him to start sculpting. We also talk about his love of different sculpting putties and the importance of engaging with the hobby community!

The Church of the Red Athenæum: finishing touches

Our future ends here.

Over the last few months I have been working on a few models for the Church of the Red Athenæum, namely a Genestealer Neophyte conversion and a ratling sniper for the Olden Demon painting contest. Despite largely finishing the models due their respective posts, I decided I wanted to go back to the models to add some finishing touches to the models, like painting some iconography and replacing the ratling's base to better fit with the rest of the warband. After putting the process off for some time, I finally pushed myself to do it and with a little effort, am really happy with the results!

32, Chapter 12 - H.P. Lovecraft on vinyl, an interview with Chris Bozzone of Cadabra Records

In this episode of 32, Eric and Greg Wier interview Chris Bozzone, a composer and musician from Cadabra Records. Cadabra Records is a vinyl record label that has been tirelessly promoting weird fiction, both newer and older authors, with amazing spoken word recordings of short stories, each with their own musical accompaniment. Since their start in 2015, they have produced a staggering number of releases featuring classics by H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Clark Ashton Smith, and M.R. James, along with newer authors like Thomas Ligotti, Jon Padgett, and Matthew M. Bartlett. In the episode we talk about how the record label started and how they produce so many varied works. We also touch on the live performances they do, like the recent Nightlands Festival.

John Blanche: a new beginning!

The Broken Road - John Blanche, 2016

After an illustrious career defining and shaping the world's of Games Workshop, John Blanche retired last week. It is impossible to overstate how important John was in helping Games Workshop become what it is today. His boundless creativity and vision has touched all aspects of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, epitomizing the dark style that now defines it. For the three of us, his artwork literally brought us into the hobby. A large cardboard standee featuring the central Blood Angel Space Marine from John's cover for the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40,000 beckoned to us from the window of a local hobby shop. This led to us getting a few blister packs (we recently repainted one of the first trio of models we got from that very store) and eventually the 40k boxed game, and the rest was history. His evocative artwork kept us engaged in the hobby since that time, and his Blanchistsu articles in White Dwarf helped inspire us to push ourselves beyond what is featured on the box art and create our own sliver of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. To our continued amazement, this creative journey led us to the Inq28 movement and John Blanche himself, when we participated in Iron Sleet's Pilgrym event in 2016. When starting the hobby, we would have never imagined meeting John, let alone playing Warhammer 40k (or Mordheim!) with him. We feel incredibly blessed to count John as a friend, and want to wish him a wonderful retirement and are excited to see what he does next!

Dragged into Turbolasers 101: Mosscairn and 28 magazine with Martin McCoy

Mosscairn

In this episode we are joined by Martin McCoy, known for being the resident artist for 28 magazine. We talk about how he got into the hobby and how it fit with his journey as an artist. We also discuss how he developed his artistic style and some of the projects he is working on including Necropolis 28 and Mosscarin. We also talk about the Rot of Hondious, an Inq28 event he is hosting later this summer, including how people can get involved.

Olden Demon 2023: Ratling Sniper

The first generation of ratling snipers are still my favorite, and it was great to repaint one!

I am happy to say I was able to find time to paint a model for chilvers_industries annual Olden Demon painting contest! It asks contestants to paint an old Games Workshop model, celebrating the wonky models from the 80’s and 90’s, complete with a Goblin Green base, a hallmark of the ‘Eavy Metal team at the time. While last year I painted an ancient Warhammer knight, this year I decided to paint a Warhammer 40k model, specifically an original Ratling sniper model, which was actually the first model I ever got in my teen-aged years! After converting the model a small amount, it was great to paint the model and compare it to the other two from the original trio of Ratling models. I have come a long way from those early days in the hobby!

The Unforgiven: Oldhammer Dark Angel

A Dark Angel amongst a decaying city scape (created by Totally Not Panicking).

I am continuing my quest to paint Dark Angels, and after talking with Koltti on our podcast I decided it would be fun to paint another Rogue Trader era model. It also marks a year since painting my first Oldhammer Space Marine for last year’s Olden Demon. Space Marine models from the 80’s are quite fun to paint, due to how simple the one-piece models are. Furthermore, it is amazing how inconsistent the old Space Marine models are, from different sized hands, feet, and even different helmet designs. I am really happy with how the model turned out, and hope to paint a few more to go alongside them.

28 Vol. 5 out now!

We are excited to announce that volume 5 of the digital magazine 28 is finally out! As always, it is free to download from their website. It is filled with all sort of grim hobby content, along with some excellent interviews and tutorials. It was a long road editing the volume, but we are glad it is finally complete and hope you enjoy it!

Dragged into Turbolasers 100: Chatting with Pax_acrylica about converting and sculpting miniatures

In this episode we are joined by Pax_acrylica to talk about his journey through the hobby and how he creates imaginative miniatures that push the boundaries of Warhammer 40,000. We talk at length about his building and converting process and about some of the sources of his inspiration, including video games like Half-Life 2 and Disco Elysium. We also touch on his love of board games and learn about what he is playing at the moment.

Smash Bash 2023: Birthed in Blood

The pitfighter towers over these Sisters of Sigmar.

Earlier this month I showed the conversion for my entry into this year’s Smash Bash: a brutal pitfighter whose existence is violence and blood. The original model was sculpted by Lux Thantor Miniatures and is being sold by Totally Not Panicking to celebrate Smash Bash. I tried to channel Blood Meridian energy in the model to create a paragon of mankinds’ ultimate trade: war.

Oldhammer: Rogue Trader Space Marines

A trio of Rogue Trader era Space Marines!

Earlier this year we interviewed Koltti on our podcast, where we talked at length about his various Oldhammer projects. Towards the end, he proposed a challenge where we all found a Rogue Trader era Space Marine and painted it. We are always looking for an excuse to get and paint new Oldhammer models, so we jumped at the opportunity to get some Space Marine models from the 80s. After scouring eBay, we were able to find three characterful Space Marines from the late 80’s, including one with a shuriken catapult! Although the models were in good condition, they took quite a bit of effort to prepare for painting. This required the careful removal of moldlines and sanding, as well as some sculpting work to fill in gaps and make elements of the armor more symmetrical. Now that the models are built we can consider painting them!

Dragged into Turbolasers: Northeast Dungeon Siege 2023 with Hive Scum

In this bonus episode, we talk with sovthofheaven and noclearcoat of the Hive Scum/Under the Dice crew about the recent Dungeon Synth music event, Northeast Dungeon Siege 2023. In addition to chatting about the event and some of the artists and bands involved, we also talk about various aspects of the miniature hobby!

Smash Bash 2023: Mordheim Pitfighter Conversion

Smash Bash, an annual miniature competition to create gruesome and evocative miniatures, is hosting its third competition entitled Brackish Birth! Entries are due by April 28th, this month. To celebrate the third year of the competition, Totally Not Panicking commissioned Lux Thantor Miniatures to create Schopenhauer, an Undead Knight. I thought it might be fun to convert the model to enter the competition, creating a pitfighter for Mordheim, a battered and downtrodden warrior birthed in blood. Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian was on my mind when creating the model; the pitfighter is a practitioner of mankinds’ ultimate trade: war. And like the character Toadvine, the pitfighter would have a necklace of ears!

A look back: Notable Hobbyists of 2022

Normally in January of each year we write a post about some of our favorite hobbyists who inspired us during the previous year. Time got away from us this year and it is already March! Despite this, we are happy to say the post is finally here! Like every year, there were countless hobbyists producing remarkable work, which made it difficult to acknowledge everyone we wanted to. Additionally, we purposely did not choose hobbyists that we featured in previous years, although many of them are still creating incredible work, so we would encourage people to look back on our selections from previous years!

Zone Secundus: Ratling Sniper

So now I know where snipers come from.

The Church of the Red Athenæum has always had a favorable view towards mutants in their congregation, recognizing their devotion, even though they are often persecuted throughout most of the Imperium. Unfortunately, we have not converted too many models to represent this, with only one in the original Pilgrym warband, and one from the newer one. When looking through some of our old model cases I found a trio of Rogue Trader era Ratling Snipers, the first GW miniatures we ever purchased. It seemed fitting to convert one a little and repaint it as a new member for the Red Church, their diminutive stature being welcomed with open arms.

Dragged into Turbolasers: New England Mordheim Open 2023

In this bonus episode, we were at the New England Mordheim Open 2023 event and got the opportunity to chat with some of the people who made it out to play in the event, along with some of the hosts, the Hive Scum/Under the Dice crew. The episode begins with the three of us talking briefly about what we are expecting the evening before the event, followed by the various interviews during the event.

New England Mordheim Open 2023: a recap

Back Into the City of the Damned.

Hot on the heels of Mordheim 2022, we drove up to Chicopee, MA to play in the New England Mordheim Open, held by Under the Dice/Hive Scum group. It was an amazing event with well over 40 people coming together to celebrate the hobby and play Mordheim, a game not supported by Games Workshop for over 20 years. The event took place in a single day, with each player participating in four games. In addition to playing Mordheim, we also brought some of our recording equipment along and were able to interview some of the people at the event and those running it. It is hard to express how fun the event was, meeting so many cool people and playing some fun games on a huge number of amazing boards. Although it cannot come close to conveying the magnitude of the event, below are some of the photos we took during the day. We hope you enjoy them and cannot wait to participate in the next NEMO event!

Zone Secundus: Church of the Red Athenæum - Painted Genestealer Neophyte

Bleed out.

Following up the last post, where we shared a collaboration with Nicky Grillet where she illustrated the Cardinal of the Church of the Red Athenæum, we wanted to show off the first Church member painted this year, a converted Genestealer cultist! It is nice to be painting miniatures for the Church of the Red Athenæum again after what has felt like a long hiatus. The Genestealer Neophyte models are surprisingly complex models with all manner of small and weird details. I found myself on numerous occasions unsure what certain details were to even represent (there are lots of little switches, knobs, and cables everywhere). This also resulted in the model taking much longer to paint than I was initially envisioning. Despite this, I am really pleased with how the model turned out!

The Church of the Red Athenæum: Aseneth Levedescu, (3rd) Cardinal

And I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives.

With the blog recently turning 10 years old, it is hard not to reflect back on what we have done in that time. One of our favorite creations is the Church of the Red Athenæum. Designed for Iron Sleet’s Pilgrym event, the Church is a radical splinter of the Imperial Cult that believes suffering is the highest form of veneration of the God-Emperor. In 2021 we began to revisit the Church, creating a host of new models, including a Gunfighter, a heavy weapons specialist, a Halfling, and a new Bibliognost of the Church of the Red Athenæum. In 2023, we hope to continue developing and expanding the Red Church. And while we created a host of different characters from the Church, one of the most iconic is the current Cardinal, Aseneth Levedescu, and her mobile throne. We wanted to celebrate the character and showcase her again on the blog, seven years after her initial creation. To do this, we knew we could take better photos of the model and share the lore we wrote pertaining to her, but we wanted to do something more special. For this purpose, we commissioned the amazingly talented and visionary Nicky Grillet to illustrate and paint Aseneth!

32, Chapter 11 - Necropolis

In chapter 11 of 32, Alexander and Peter (Owlshield) discuss Peter's new game, Necropolis. They talk about game design, the undead and how smaller games allow for a more artistic approach.

Dragged into Turbolasers 99: Chatting with Oldhammer legend Koltti.

In this episode we are joined by Koltti, who has spent the last few years showing the world how miniatures from the 80’s can look as good as modern ones. We chat about how he found the Inq28 blog Spiky Rat Pack and first met John Blanche. We also talk about how he joined the Inq28 collective Iron Sleet and was involved in some of their many projects like the Pilgrym and the Thorn Moons Crusade. We also touch on his painting style and how he found his way back to painting Oldhammer miniatures.

32, Chapter 10 - Angels of Death: Origin

In the first episode of 32 for 2023, Eric Wier and Alexander Winberg get together to chat about Warhammer +/ Warhammer TV. While they intended to watch and discuss the Angels of Death CGI series, Alex discovered that Warhammer TV is not available in Finland (at least at the time of the recording). Due to this, they instead watched an episode of the prequel series, Angels of Death Origins, because it was made available on YouTube.

Painting Sector Mechanicus Terrain

Dead Industrial Atmosphere

Although we have been building and painting miniatures for years, long before even the start of this blog (2013), we have never really painted any terrain, despite collecting a variety of the plastic sets Games Workshop released over the years. Ten years after starting Between the Bolter and Me, we decided we should change that. To our good fortune, Ana Polanšćak from Gardens of Hecate, recently released a tutorial for quickly painting derelict machinery and industrial terrain. The process looked quite easy, relying primarily on using a sponge to apply an interesting pattern of rust, so I found the Sector Mechanicus terrain I had sitting around since the release of Shadow War Armageddon (2017), and decided to give it a try!