Blanchitsu: From Artwork to Miniature
In this Blanchitsu post I am turning my focus to the first miniature in my second warband. This warband will follow the Genestealer Cult rules for Shadow War Armageddon. The first miniature is based off a piece of John Blanch artwork. This sketch below I assume is representing a Chaos Cultist however I may be wrong. Either way it's an awesome character and I knew I had to make a miniature for him.
The Tzeentch Kairic Acolytes had the perfect head for this miniature, I just added some hair to him. His blunderbus is from the old Empire Militia set, as is his torso. He uses legs from the Genestealer Cult Neophytes which is a great set for any Blanchitsu conversion. He has various spikes, including some ork armour plates and green stuff fur. I even added a little bottle on his back from the Tzeetnch Enlightened.
I've almost finished building the rest of this warband who we'll see in a later blog post. I will also be showcasing both warbands in a video for our YouTube Channel.
Blanchitsu: My First Warband – Part 3
In part 3 it's time to look at the last two miniatures for this warband.
First up is this Astropath. A simple conversion using the Chaos Sorcerer for Age of Sigmar with a flagellants head and a couple of other little accessories.
This second model I call The Grave Digger. He uses the Necromancer miniature as his base, this time using a head from the Empire Great Swords, a metal top hat. He also has a shovel tucked away.
And here we have a group shot of the warband together. I do eventually plan to add something big and mechanical for these guys
Blanchitsu: My First Warband – Part 2
So as promised, the second part of this series will focus on some of the weirder elements from this warband. I don't yet have names for any of these but we will start with this guy made from a Cairn wraith. He also uses hands from the skitarii ruststalkers, an old undead horse head and various pipes and tubes.
The next character is built primarily from a ruststalker. He uses some bits from Bellasarius Cawl and a hat from the Empire Greatswords.
In the next part I will show you the last two miniatures from this warband.
Blanchitsu: My First Warband – Part 1
Yes you are seeing this right. A blog post on our blog and it's not April Fool's day anymore. This is the start of a blog and video series all about Blanchitsu. What is Blanchitsu? Well it's essentially Inquisitorial warband creation for Warhammer 40,000. If you're familiar with the game Inquisitor then if you think of it in 28mm scale then you're on the right track. Miniatures are usually painted extra dark and grimy to get that John Blanche feel. Below is the first video in our series looking at Blanchitsu which will tell you more about it, where to find inspiration and also how to get started.
So now that you know a little more about Blanchitsu I want to show you guys my first warband. The first miniature in this warband is already painted. This miniature was originally built for a steampunk style Ad Mech army that I had planned a while back (I may reignite this project in the future).
He is built mainly from the Tech Priest Dominus kit but uses the head from the Shaking Sean miniature from a game called Smog.
Next up we have the two henchmen for the warband. This first miniature uses the head from a Skitarii Ruststalker, Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrid Arms, Empire Greatsword Legs, a Cadian Backpack and a Militarium Tempestus Scions Torso as well as a couple of extra little bits.
This second henchman also uses Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrid Arms and Empire Greatsword Legs. He uses a slightly different cadian backpack and also has a head from the Genestealer Cult Upgrade Sprue, a metal cowboy hat and a torso from the old Empire Militia set.
In part 2 we will look at some of the more weirder creations from this warband.
Bitzbox on Patreon
As some of you may know over the last couple of years we have been making content for our YouTube channel. This includes painting tutorials, battle reports, reviews and much more. The channel has grown very well over the last few months and we really enjoy making the content. We have put a lot of investment into making the content which has allowed us to grow the channel and we want to do even more with it. That's why we have started a Patreon page to help make this a possibility. Of course we have some great rewards on offer or our Patreons who support us. The bags of gubbinz that we sell on our website are one of our rewards and for the time being this is the only way to obtain them. Another reward is a free shipping voucher code that you can use as much or as little as you want. The video below goes into a little bit more detail:
Path to Glory Warbands
For our upcoming Path to Glory campaign on our Youtube Channel, we have created this page with photos of our lords plus our starting rosters.
NURGLE WARBAND ROSTER - nurgle
TZEENTCH WARBAND ROSTER - Tzeentch
KHORNE WARBAND ROSTER - khorne
SLAANESH WARBAND ROSTER - slaanesh
Odessos Prime
Brief History
Former capital world of the Thracian Sector, Odessos Prime was never a shining beacon of imperial virtue for during the great crusades was an independent realm called the Oddryssian Kingdom that fought fiercely to deny the imperial truth. Eventually brought to compliance, the sector stayed out of the Horus Heresy and existed in relatively stable peace, rather unusual for an imperial sector on the fringe of imperial space.
In mid M39 a catastrophic accident occurred, the first moon exploded over the capital shattering the sectorial fleet that just happened to be at anchorage in orbit and of course decimated the planet beneath. Weakened the entire sector came under prey from Xenos incursions such as Ork Waaaaaghs! and Eldar pirates.
Upon Odessos Prime amidst all the destruction hive Tertius declared independence from the imperium and launched forbidden atomics assumed supplied by rogue elements of the mechanicus and decimated swathes of the two remaining hives Primus and Secundus before defensive measures could be taken.
Now after 500 years the Imperium has launched a reclamation campaign into the sector with seemingly random goals and a fierce intensity. One of the primary goals is the reconquest of Odessos Prime for which the situation has since deteriorated upon the planet.
Two factions currently vie for dominance upon the surface, the newly revealed forces of Chaos that was behind the rebellion of Hive Tertius and The Imperial loyalists of Hive Primus that are still attempting to maintain order.
History : The Last 500 Years
500 years ago - The Calamity: The event that rendered the entire sector defenceless. The entire sectorial fleet had gathered at the orbital shipyards about to embark on an important endeavour now forgotten, and though security was tight no one could of anticipated the primary moon exploding. The explosion devastated the fleet and shipyards, the resultant debris rained destruction upon the world devastating swathes of the land. As if this was not enough Hive Tertius declared war on the other two hives and levelled Hive Secundus with forbidden Atomic weaponry.
460 years ago - Revelation: Hive Tertius finally reveals its true colours as increasing waves of chaos warbands arrive and daemons are summoned into service.
500 - 20 years ago - The Years of Terror: 480 years pass with a grinding stalemate with the loyalist forces defending the remnants of Hive Secundus pushed back and now defending the besieged Hive Primaris. A few isolated mechanicus outposts hidden from the populace reveal themselves during this time and lend aid to the populace.
20 years ago - The Krieg - 3 lone troop transports exit the warp above planet and immediately descend to hive primaris’s starport the defenders unsure about the new arrivals are relieved when Death Korps of Krieg emerge specifically the 135th Assault Brigade with the 113th Death Rider Brigade attached. These forces save the day on more than one occasion but are unable to tip the balance in the imperiums favour.
15 years ago - Zylek : The imperial forces holding well due to the kriegs expertise in siege warfare are outmanoeuvred when chaos forces use sorcery to create warp portals teleporting them into there midsts, the Krieg General is cut down in a challenge by “Zylek Architect of Despair” a dark apostle of the black legion believed to of been behind the initial corruption. Before the krieg could get revenge Zylek escaped through the warp. Field Marshal Kruger of the 113th Death Riders takes overall command and is renowned for his stubbornness.
Now - Salvation: The imperial defences have collapsed and the chaos host march on Hive Primarus. The imperial forces see all hope lost and Governor Garrick Al’Vorn considers overloading the hives generators to cause a cataclysmic explosion. All hope however is not lost for above the turbulent stormy skies an imperial crusade fleet has entered orbit hoping to liberate the defenders below.
What happens next? We shall soon find out.....
Bitzbox Chapter: Librarian Dreadnought and Death Company
I've had these painted up for a while not but haven't got round to updating the blog. These Death Company and the Librarian Dreadnought are the latets additions to the Bitzbox Chapter. I do plan on adding more Death Company in the future.
Bitzbox Chapter: Assault Squad and Sanguinary Guard
I have completed the first two squads for the Bitzbox Blood Angels Chapter. They are an Assault squad and a Sanguinary Guard squad. I will be adding more units of assault squads and Sanguinary Guard to the army as well as various other units over the next few months but in the meantime I hope you enjoy these.
Bitzbox Chapter Colour Scheme Winner
So we have a winner of the Bitzbox Chapter Design competition. Congratulations to Joshua Henry Christian Lockwood for this design.
I am really looking forward to painting the quartered coloured scheme as it's something I've never done before. I will be making an odd change to this design, for example the left shoulder pad will be white so the chapter symbol will stand out better. I may have dark grey weapon casings if the lighter red doesn't stand out from the darker red. The chest eagle will also be dark grey instead of silver.
Over the coming weeks I hope to have some models to show you guys. I have my christmas break coming up so hopefully that will give me plenty of painting time.