It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor of Mankind has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Carrion Lord of the vast Imperium of Man for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day so that He may never truly die.
Yet even in His deathless state, the Emperor continues His eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars. Vast armies give battle in His name on uncounted worlds. For all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat to humanity from aliens, heretics, mutants — and far, far worse.
To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times.
Yes, we are bringing back the Invitational.
Over two and a half years ago we asked some of you to come up with a group of three miniatures on different base sizes. This year we are finally revisiting what is without a doubt one of the best moments of Iron Sleet. And this time it’s open for all.
Regiments of the Thorn Moons
Study humanity in the eternal war – the imperial guard and its many regiments sent to bring the moons to compliance, their rogue brethren set to burn all, the Thorn Moons twists in their corrupted millions and Green Mechanicvm and their planetary defense skitarii in desperate defense of their realms, the human foot soldiers of the inquisition in their esoteric glory…
Build and paint five human sized models that beautifully and fittingly describe the humble human in the galactic war and show of your original ideas and understanding of the Warhammer 40000 universe.
Story is king.
What is the Thorn Moons Crusade?
A year long narrative wargaming campaign and world building project set in the Warhammer 40000 Universe with the following principles:
- story is king
- miniature art is gravity
- spirit of the game is key
- Warhammer 40k 8th edition rules are the mechanical framework
The storyline is built around the genius of FPOA a.k.a Stefan, who’s Green Mechanicvm for Pilgrym faction inspired the whole endeavor. The idea is to take Pilgrym level miniature and terrain building to a new Army level scale and have a bunch more events and games culminating to a campaign weekend finale in California, summer of 2018.
In short, the Thorn Moons are a secluded region in the Crataegus Fragmentum, an area that has been cut off from the Imperium of Man for ten millenia. A route from Terra was only recently discovered, and still passage is uncertain and can take anywhere from a few months to decades. The Moons themselves are a cluster of over a hundred astronomical bodies, orbiting an incalculable center of gravity. Whatever caused the Thorn Moons to be rediscovered now, can only be guessed at.
How do I take part?
Start imagining now!
We will asking you to submit black and white work-in-progress pictures before the end of this month. These can anything from blu-tacked together to almost finished paintwork. These pictures help to show everyone your thinking, and also help us plan how to present everything.
The finished work is submitted before December 1st.
It should include three pictures of your beautifully painted Thorn Moons Regiments characters, and up to 200 words of background story.
In December we will have a beautiful gallery of unforeseen work to guide us into the new year, which we hope will illustrate a collective vision of what it means to be a human in the 41st millennium.
IRON SLEET 
Now, this is exciting!
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It is!! We’ll come back about where to send entries, but this should get imaginations fired up.
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The (un)Invitational was my first foray into the “INQ” realm and I haven’t looked back since.
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WHAT?? I cant wait to see what this brings us in the way of looking at new art, talent, and ideas. The images and stories here are already over the top inspiring!
Looking forward!
Wolf Lord Kejl
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Earlier today I was thinking about making som different guardsmen, looks like I have a some more motivation now.
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Well, I was looking for something to do now that my rogue trader crew are all done…yes, this sounds awesome.
Just for clarification, should all 5 be on the same side?
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Great! Welcome aboard.
I guess ideally they should form a ’regiment’ but what that means is completely up to how you understand 40k. Story is king!
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So, erm … would it be totally cheating to use this as the motivation to finish off some half finished models that have been sitting on my desk for a few months?
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Story is king. 😉
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So looking forward to this! Can I posit a question though?
If we’re making guardsmen, are we therefore limited to the regimental rules from the Index/Codex? I.e. a boggo standard guard armed with just a lasrifle, or can we arm them with different weapons (within reason)? Can they be mounted Rough Riders, or veterans or heavy/special weapons squads?
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Wow this is great! I have always been inspired by the stuff you guys make. I would sure like to take part in this and hopefully make the inspiration come full circle. 😉
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I have been wanting to create some more unique one off individuals with my hobby time and I cannot think of a better way to do it. I plan on showcasing my exploits into the Thorn Moons Crusade over on my blog “The Chaos Manifesto” . I have several ideas that have been tormenting my mind for quite sometime and it will be a relief to try to satisfy them. Cheers
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Hooray!!! Preparing to venture deeper into the Gaudían realms of Thorne Moons…
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I’m game – I’ve had an itch to make some guardsmen lately. Not guaranteeing it’ll come together, time and money being tight at the moment, but I’ll give it my best shot. Just need to have a rummage in the old bits box and see if I have what I need.
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This is a good reason to finish my project “the Macharius´ Last”, the old bodyguard of the Solar General, now soldiers of fortune. I have to think about it
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Stupid question.. where to submit? 🙂
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Well setup an email adress only for this later. That way we’ll keep everything neatly in one place.
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Awesome! Count me in 🙂 give me an opportunity to branch out from my usual reds and tans 😉
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Sounds like fun. I’m all in on this.
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Is it encouraged, or mandatory, to use GW models as the basis? Or are similar 28mm troops alright?
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It is not mandatory but highly encouraged to use GW models as basis. The whole endeavour is after all (also) a celebration of the 40K universe GW has fostered over the years 🙂
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Yeah, fair enough. I had a few preliminary ideas with Victoria Miniatures in mind, which is why I wanted to clarify. Back to the drawing board! Thanks, FPOA
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Count me in! First five models assembled. Will be a great opportunitiy to receive and give inspiration.
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What does human sized mean? Mega Primaris right down to crippled wretch?
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It’s down to you, but as a guideline expect smaller than astartes. The smallest wretches probably don’t add much to the battle capabilities of the regiment, but they can certainly add character. And some regiments might be using growth hormones or even have mutations to bolster their physique…
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It means human sized as in the mentioned references and illustrations (notice there are no Marines in any shape or form). First and foremost: Story is king! How you interpret that is up to you to decide 🙂
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This is going be Great….
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I’m so in.
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Hell yeah ! Can’t wait to see how awesome this will be !
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Yeah!
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Is a power armour considered as human sized ?
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Space marines, not ideally. Although if the concept is strong and there’s a reason for it, why not? As to what armour your human models wear, that’s all down to what kind if regiment you’re building…
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No. Human, not super human is the entire point of this 🙂
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Starting imagining already & get organized.its exciting …I ll get back where to send pics until the end of this month..get involved!!
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Wow I’ll be watching but not participating. I have far too many projects going at once as it is haha. I can’t wait to see the posts and minis though.
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Parts ordered – really looking forward to exploring the Thorn Moons.
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All in!!
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Even though they’re meant to be human sized do the bases have to be standard 25mm or does anything go as long as it shows the story??
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The latter 🙂
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Would having a human-sized miniature on a mount (i.e something horse-like) be against the guidelines?
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Absolutely not!
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I too have one small question…would a model like a weapon team consisting of two infantry-models on one base count as one model against the five? have some very specific ideas about the fighting style of my regiment, and putting two guys on one base would make it far cooler. To show the most of my idea there would be seven models on 5 bases.
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know what,…skip that question,..will do them on seperate bases,..nothing speaking against aranging them together for some concept-foto-shooting 😉 I think
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Hi! My name is Luis and I’m so excited with the possibility of take part in this awesome project ( I’m a big big fan of J. Blanche and Blanchitsu stile, and Pilgrym as well ) , and last years I was try to follow this in the building of my armies…(dark) mech and Death Guard…
I would like to ask you something.. I would like to show you some ideas and work in progress miniatures.. where can I to find more fluff and background about the Thorn Moons ? It’s all here, in the “Invitational II”?
Thanks a lot and congratulations for develop this awesome and inspiring challenge. 😉
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There’s a lot of background/inspiration material here – https://ironsleet.com/2017/06/11/codex-thorn-moons/
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