warhammer 40k sideblog

Historical-like cavalry in a futuristic setting with automatic weapons and tanks is stupid anyway, for the same reasons cavalry mostly went away in our real world. There are extremely niche modern military uses for horses but they don't make sense for most of the confrontations that happen in 40k.

the death riders to me seem like really wanting the 'role' of cavalry for style (that is pretty much nonexistent post-WW1) while absolutely hating horses. Their relative fragility, how they look, how after their military use is over they're often associated with women, stuff like that. The mount critters REEK of a fear of 'pretty pretty pony' and have removed all features that invoke 'pretty pretty pony' under the guise of cutting logistical inconveniences.

Except the resulting creature is worthless. I am sorry to tell you that a horse's coat of hair was pretty much the only thing making them semi-resistant to irritating gas weapons. The hooves are able to be shod and thus become resistant to being worn down by sharp terrain; giving them Claws won't help. And it fucks up their stride such that now they wouldn't be able to do what you want horses to do.

The lore about them being able to be freeze-dried is dumb too, because the only advantage of horses is that they're able to go fast without gasoline. Eliminating the logistical drawbacks of taking care of the horses (via axing all those Pretty Pretty Pony Features) also eliminates the entire tradeoff that explains why you might choose horses in the first place.

Unfortunately, a great deal about 40k is explained when you understand that from its authors perspective, a wargame is about war which is primarily about spectacle. The point is the ridiculously large guns and absurdly oversized pauldrons and gonzo tanks with things like MRLS systems styled after church organs.

You can see this from another angle with space marines, to be honest. Doctrinally speaking, space marines are useful because of the kind of force concentration and strategic endurance they offer; they're fast and strong and tough and well-armed, sure, but they can also operate for days, even weeks at a time without needing downtime due to fatigue or stress or accumulating minor injuries. They're extremely well equipped for surgical strikes on the enemy's rear echelon elements, too, so they can open a campaign with a drop pod assault on the HQ and then fight a high-tempo guerilla campaign to dismantle the disorganised remnants.

And if you're making a wargame for this, you'd want to stress the strategic campaign layer, right? Give the space marines advantages in selecting mission types, more lenient rules for injury/fatigue/equipment breakdown over multiple battles, that kind of thing.

Hello folks!

Today, I present to you the two forms of Supreme Matriarch Miao Ying. A labour of love that took over a month to finally finish.

I would like to dedicate it to everyone who has to spend this Pride living a double life to appease the society around them. Whether you're a girl, a dragon, or none of the above, know that I felt your pain as well, and while I'm glad not to have to pretend any more, my heart aches for all my siblings who are still being persecuted for the brave act of existing.

All the terrible cogtooth trim has found its home! (... I sadly have to make more trim now, more on that later), and somehow I managed to actually finish this garment rather than give up on it halfway. Very much not perfect, and it needs to be ironed, but other than that it's pretty much done!

With much gratitude to the Elder Adepts of the Sewing Machine (the ladies at my local walk-in sewing café) who helped me not hand-sew this entire thing, and the guys in my group chat who were cheering me on every step of the way.

Bonus mini servo skull because it was a slow day at work and I had some supplies :)

With the capelet done, I'm moving on to making a loincloth thing for this cosplay, which as we all know means... More Cogtooth Trim. I had the foresight to buy a ton of that silver fabric, but... I'm gonna need a bit of courage for this next round of trim-making xD

Anyway, some more progress pics underneath the cut!

PRIDE MONTH IS COMING FAST

As soon as I get them in my grubby mitts and can do a Quality Check, they'll be up in the shop!

The head and scene are a bit common fantasy for me so I used mismatched pieces and some clay to make the face more of a rotten Predator look-

Oh lawd he prowlin’

I’ve also decided the scene will depict Mr. Marsh delivering some new bells to Gnarls:

"Oh no, what happened? Did you stub your toe?"

". . . Yeah . . ."

"Hey, you're gonna be okay. What does a big brave girl say when she stubs her toe?"