We already saw the initial party. Now it’s time for the rest of the explorers.
This group includes both of the xenos explorers in the game (other than White Dwarf). Amallyn is a Eldar, with a very long gun.
Grekh is a Kroot, and a somewhat shorter gun.
Esperno gets the second best hat in the game.
Janus is such a dashing swashbucket he doesn’t wear a face mask.
We’ve got the boss, it’s time for some heroes!
This first batch of heroes was selected mostly for their appearance, and formed our initial party.
I went with a blue for the base hexes on the heroes. This gives them a little extra to stand out from the mob of hostiles.
Models like Taddeus really drew me to Blackstone Fortress. GW goodness combined with unusual subjects? Space pope? Yes please!
UR-025 is universally known as “the robot” in our games. “UR-025” just isn’t very easy to say, or even shorthand. Sorry buddy, I know you were hoping for some identity.
I scored a Blackstone Fortress box as a Christmas gift. My hope for it was to play on my own, with the kids coming and going as they pleased. And of course, get a fresh taste of 40k painting, to go with the Underworlds and Blitz Bowl I’ve been enjoying.
I’ve been playing a session every weekend, and having a ton of fun. The kids are mostly with me. It does work well for them to drop in and out. Many a dinner conversation is about our exploits to date.
I wanted to do something interesting for the bases, but not shell out for resin ones. I settled on hexes (masked with cut out tape, airbrushed, then edge highlighted by hand), pipes (made with my trusty Tentacle Maker), and good old fashioned sand (painted grey). The hexes mesh well with the general aesthetic of the game, and the sand hides slots and reduces the number of tiny hexagons I need to cut and place.
This character pack for the Institute adds three new named characters, including named versions of the Courser and a Gen 2 Synth.
A-2018 presents almost the worst of all possible colors; black and white. I used my standard Reaper Blue Liner for the black, mixing in some white and pale blue for the highlights.
Kellogg has a rad cyber arm, though the limits of casting (and my paint) render it somewhat less rad.
I wish Z2-47 was more distinct from the other courser sculpts. If you put him next to the courser in the faction core box you’d be hard pressed to tell which one was the named character.
