Last Battle of the Year

So this past Sunday, i played my last battle of the year 2013 against a guy from my local store who plays Grey Knights. We played at 1500 points as he is still building up his force for  2000 point list. It was a fun game, and nice way to end my hobbying year. Hopefully next year will be just as good for releases and new GW release strategies like the dataslate calendar. Anyways i digress, the battle report follows :)

Tyranid Teaser is up.

Hey guys, its been a little while since my last post as i have been enjoying some much needed time off and before that had a crazy busy week at work. I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and good time with family, etc. :) So onto some minor news, by now we all know Tyranids are imminent for release at the beginning of the New Year and with that, Games Workshop have put up the new teaser for everyone's favorite Alien bugs. Here's a link to go check it out if you haven't seen it already :)
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=12500050

P.S - I'll be posting a battle report that is my last battle of 2013 later today :)

New Horus Heresy Vehicles Released

Busy morning so far. :) Another piece of news from Forge World. Just released is the new Kharybdis Assault pod, and the Legion Basilisk. Both are nice new vehicles to add to existing armies and are yet more wonderful releases. Forge World has been infinitely better than Games Workshop for realeases recently in my opinion. Everything is new and the stuff that isn't at least has enough new bits to give it a completely different style from their original kits. Futher Info and more pictures for the new releases can be found on the links below. :)
 Kharybdis Pod - http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/LEGION_KHARYBDIS_ASSAULT_CLAW.html

Legion Basilisk - http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/LEGION_BASILISK.html
Enjoy your day everyone.

Horus Heresy Limited Edition series

Hey guys, i hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I finished reading the second of the two latest limited edition Horus Heresy novellas on Saturday and realized that a lot of people probably haven't had a chance to check these out. These are some really nice releases for fans of the lore and the Heresy Saga in general and have a lot of neat little extras. More info and pictures follow....

Death Guard Grave Wardens released.

 

Just released by Forge World today. This unit looked to be one of the coolest when i saw them way back as a Games Day reveal, but open seeing them in their full glory, they look even better. The Grave Wardens have arrived!

Eternal Crusade Planet name revealed

Hey guys, as you frequent readers may know, i have posted a few interesting articles on the upcoming 40k MMO being worked on by Behavior Interactive on my blog. For those who don't know much about it, it is currently in development and is slated tentatively for a beta sometime in late 2014, possibly early 2015. Not much has been shown for it yet but it is beginning to unfold slowly now that all the races and classes have been announced for the playable factions. As a nice holiday gift, Behavior released a short story based on their game, written by none other than Graham McNeill himself, tying in the lore a bit more. It is titled; Descent on Arkhona. Interesting read, and possibly contains some hints into the types of Tyranid units we will likely fight against during NPC encounters. For anyone who wants to read it, here is a link to the short story: http://www.eternalcrusade.com/phase_4_space_marine.

Deathwatch Project

Hey guys, sorry i haven't had much to post this week. There hasn't really been any major news to report so far and i have had a really crazy past few weeks with work also. I figured i would share an update on one of my projects I have in the works right now. A while back i posted about Deathwatch and how i wished they had some rules and things to bring such a neat unit to more peoples tabletops. Anyways I set out to build some Kill Team units and here is where i got so far....

Night Lords Raptors Released

Hey everyone. With the week winding down, and a lot of people preparing to see the new Hobbit film tonight, theres not too much for me to report at this time. There is a few extra Tyranid rumors floating around out there but some seem wildly conflicting with what we have previously heard so i am going to leave them out for the time being. Anyways, Forge World have now released another new legion squad, just a few days after putting up the Medusan Immortals, people who have a soft spot for the stealthy, murderous barbarians of the Night Lords Legion can now buy the Night Lords Raptors.

Tyranid Tidal Wave

 

Yesterday saw a huge amount of information drop regarding Tyranids and their upcoming release. This looks like it is shaping up to be one a solid release to start the new year. Expect this release to be a difficult one when it comes to deciding what to buy first as it seems that there is a number of big new bugs to use on top of the selectiong that were previously available. Rumors and more below....

Medusan Immortals Released

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a nice weekend. Not too much news over the weekend really. Some rumor regarding Tyranids are starting to surface but they are relatively minor and some seem to be a bit conflicting. For anyone interested in that there is a few sites such as BoLS and Natfka's blog where these can be viewed. My little bit of interesting news to me was the release of the Horus Heresy era Iron Hands unit: the Medusan Immortals, which followed on the heels of the new Primarch release of Lorgar.

Stormwing formation info

Hey guys, today the Stormwing formation rules were released. Heres some of the info, courtesy of Natfka's blog. Info follows below:

To Fluff or not to Fluff?

So after a friend of mine sparked a really interesting conversation on facebook regarding powergaming vs fluffier gameplay in 40k, i felt inspired to do a follow up article about it. (Vortaine recently posted an article covering the powergaming thing also, so this is mainly the fluff side of things.) Several interesting points were made during the course of the 60+ comment topic. It all stemmed from the fact that the new Tau formation seems to allow it to be taken by any army in the game, leading to the question, just because you can, does it really mean you should?

Brass Scorpion Conversion

Hey guys, time for another one of the wonderful conversions from the talented mind behind the Iron Warriors Daemon Prince conversion from one of our previous articles. (For those who somehow missed it, he can be found here:http://warpartifacts.blogspot.com/2013/09/iron-warriors-daemon-prince-conversion.html ) Anyways, this new warp-forged abomination is a Brass Scorpion conversion. I had a quick chance to talk with Rick about it while he played in the Underground Assualt Apocalypse scenario from the recently released Warzone: Pandorax book that was held at our local GW store. Heres what it took.....

Be'Lakor! The Newest (Old) Demon Prince for Chaos Impressions!

So I snagged the newest Data Sheet for Chaos because the rumors I saw floating around piqued my interest about the fellow.

I'd previously known a bit about him, and though this tiny release doesn't really do him justice (he is basically the Abaddon...before there was Abaddon, the Imperium...possibly mankind, and maybe even the Eldar). Point is, he is old, and when someone is cunning and badass enough to court the favor all four Chaos Gods and become a chosen champion of them, before anyone else, a paltry two dozen pages hardly does him justice.

That said, he is damn cool. Ruleswise, he is a nasty piece of work, knowing all of the powers in the Telepathy Discipline. He has a few nifty other tricks that I don't necessarily want to spoil, but for the price of a moderately equipped Demon Prince, he easily has a place in my army...if I feel like running a Demon Prince.

I've already begun concocting a double Eternal Warrior demon prince duo (using Be'Lakor and a Black Legion Prince) that might throw some demons in the mix.

Anyways! It IS a cool supplement, and if you are into Chaos Space Marines or Chaos Demons, I recommend you pick it up.

Dawn of the Dataslate

So over the weekend we had some really interesting developments regarding rules/model releases. The black library tease from last week was finally revealed, and what many believed would be a Daemons supplement turned out to be a character rules release. Bel'akor to be specific.

Powergaming: You, Tau, and Everything In-Between

Hey all!

After a long-ish break, I'd figure I'd come back to the blog swingin' with an article Hazon and I discussed awhile back regarding the different mentalities people bring in when they play these sorts of games.

This idea started when I went into our local GW one day where quite the frustrating mismatch had occurred. One player (the Tau Player) was clobbering the other guy, who was running Blood Angels. I know, I know, Tau are seen by many as the unstoppable-blue-bomber-juggernauts of this current edition that crush your spirits and ruin your hobbies! Don't get me wrong, Tau naturally are very good, and they can be pure cheese when the rubber meets the road, but they are by no means unbeatable. In this instance, it wasn't even a particularly nasty Tau list; one Riptide, one unit of XV8s, Longstrike, a few Firewarriors, Pathfinders, a Bomber, and an assortment of XV88s with both loadouts. Yeah, its shooty, but its also Tau: what'd you expect?

An Open Letter to Games Workshop: 10 reasons Specialist Games need to come back.

Been thinking about this for quite some time. Ever since GW decided to give them the axe really. I think GW has already made some great strides in trying to have more open interaction with their community, especially on the digital release front. But i also know there is a large part of the community - those who were very dedicated to the specialist systems - who have been completely shut out in the dark regarding a big part of their hobby. Now obviously specialist games were smaller than the majority in the gaming community, but that is not to say they were unpopular. Take a look around the net and you will see that a lot of people do still play the systems. Not so much the Warmaster line for fantasy, but definitely Mordheim, 40k Epic, Blood Bowl, and the largest, Battlefleet Gothic. For GW - Here is 10 reasons why you have to bring these back. Letter follows below.

40k Expansions confirmed for December

Some pictures of the December White Dwarf are finally hitting the net. Images have confirmed the two new expansions - Escalation and Stronghold Assault - for release next month, but, at least for now, it doesn't look like we will see any new superheavies being added as plastics. For links to the image, follow this to Natfka's blog for more info - http://natfka.blogspot.com/2013/11/pictures-from-december-white-dwarf-are.html#more.

Escalation and Stronghold Assault Teased?

Hey guys, sorry i havent posted much since last week. not much news to report as of late other than a bit of mixed opinions on whether or not Tyranids would actually be coming in December as had previously been mentioned by multiple sources. Well, today we get some nice news from GW in the release of a somewhat cryptic teaser video which can be seen here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=12000002. The video shows a lot of fortifications and a few super heavies, which has most of the community assuming that this is likely finally the release of the recently mentioned Escalation and/or Stronghold Assault 40k expansions.

Eternal Crusade Gameplay Video Teased

Hey guys, if you haven't seen this already or are not signed up for the Eternal Crusade Newsletter, IGN has posted the video for anyone who wants to see the first actual game play of Eternal Crusade. Its clearly based on the Space Marine combat system and, even though this is a very basic look at how the game will be i am very excited for this. A lot of the Development team are active in the 40k hobby also, and seem to care about getting it right a lot more than some other studios would bother to do (looking at you EA).  Here is a link to the video - http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/11/18/warhammer-40k-the-eternal-crusade-meet-the-team-dev-diary The first few minutes are mostly dev diary type stuff, but at 3:17 the game play tease is shown between a chaos squad and a Dark Angels squad.

New Citadel Paints Released

Hey guys, I hope everyone had a great weekend. Not too much to report over the weekend, but Games Workshop did release some great new holiday bundles and the new effect paints also, which i might add, flew off the shelves of my local store, and left my with only Nihilakh Oxide and Agrellan Earth in my pocket by the end of the day, but ah well. The bundles are a great deal for savings for anyone looking to start a new army or add more theme to their existing one. For a link to the new paints check this out; http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod2290012a

Army Personality Projects

Hey guys, i was perusing the pages of BoLS the other day and came across a great article regarding personalization within your army and adding some more character to individual models, etc. Aside from the really nice paint job on the models on the article, i really liked the points that were brought out. Here is the original article for any of those interested - it showcases a beautiful Astral Claws army. ( http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/11/40k-showcase-bringing-little-character.html )

Eternal Crusade Leaks

Hey guys, i hope eveyone had a nice weekend and enjoyed Veterans/rememberance day. :) I'd like to say a quick thankyou to all servicemen and women out there also. Your job is definitely not an easy one and without you all, we would not have the relative safety and freedom in life that we do. Onto some interesting news, for anyone who has heard of the Warhammer 40k MMO being worked on over at Behavior Interactive, some pictures of the basic combat simulation and early develpoment have hit the internet. It looks like they have leaned heavily on the Space Marine video game feel for the development process, and, considering how early these pictures are in the dev cycle, it is definitely shaping into something very exciting. Bare in mind that this is an extremely early glimpse of what is to come, and sometime later this month, it is expected that we will get to be shown actual footage of the simulation running and see how the combat actually plays in-game. The simulation is between Dark Angels and Chaos Space Marines for the demo session. Pics are below. (Picture source originally from paranerds.com and Vigilia Mortis)

A little bit of late breaking news regarding Tyranids. Still, for anyone who may not know, a picture of a box of some of the new Tyranid minis has leaked and is making its rounds on the internet. pretty sweet looking unit i think. The picture can be viewed over at the following blog, along with a few more Tyranid related rumors. Ideally i would post the other things too but i dont have the time right now to do so, but for those interested here is a link to the picture - http://40kwarzone.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/news-tyranid-pictures-emerge.html There is also a large amount of rumors found on BoLS at the following link too - http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?33545-Tyranids-Rumor-Roundup
I hope these are useful to those of you  out there who like to run the bugs :)

Stronghold Assault Expansion rumors

Some new rumors regarding the supposed up and coming expansions for 40k. This particular bit is tied to the Stronghold Assault expansion, which is meant to bring a lot of new rules for existing Imperial defence structures, etc and some new scenarios and datasheets for them also. Curious to know how true this one is but seems like it may be fairly relevant. Itd be nice to finally have some rules for the wall of martyrs, and the smaller bunker and firepoints that can be added to it.

Rumor as follows:

Tyranid Mega-bug rumors

Hey guys, some interesting rumors surfacing regarding a new large creature kit for the Tyranids release. As with all rumors, take it with a pinch of salt, as we have nothing hard or confirmed on it yet - Even Natfka seemed unsure of how true this one may be. If so it sounds like everyones favorite intergalactic bugs may be getting some serious reinforcements, and finally a way to transport some valuable hard hitters into battle safely without them being shot from the table all the time.

Rumor follows:

40k Escalation Expansions

Hey everyone, I hope all had a fun Halloween and a nice weekend. Its been a while since my last post, i apologize i have had a busy week. Thought i would post some recent news regarding rumors with upcoming 40k Expansions, which would supposedly blur the line between apocalypse games and standard 40k games by using expanded fortifications rules and also adding a Lords Of War slot to the FOC (This has been in Forge World IA books for a while now so it should be familiar to some of you.) Interesting news to say the least. I am really curious to see if we will finally see some of the Classic Forge World super heavies ported over to a plastic kit by GW now for this release. Plastic Thunderhawks anyone? :)

Here is the latest rumors on the subject. (Source from Natfka's blog)

Codex: Inquisition cover art revealed.

So it seems that Black Library was able to get their 5000 likes yesterday pretty easily, as today they have revealed the full cover art for the upcoming digital exclusive codex. Overall. a nice piece of cover art I think. Now to desperately try to figure out what units are going to be in it. I really hope there is something for the Deathwatch as i feel they are a really cool fluff unit that is being wasted as nothing more than a space marine conversion pack right now.  I also think that this book will definitely make up for the disappointment that some people have had with the Adepta Sororitas release recently. I definitely know several friends who are going to be picking this one up thats for sure. How about you? Do you think this book will be a good seller this time, or possibly another disappointment? Feel free to share your thoughts, we like to hear from you when possible :)

Codex Inquisition Announced!

Attention all agents of the Inquisition, just revealed on Blacklibrary's blog page, the next Digital Exclusive is..... Codex: Inquisition! The picture above is a tease from the page of the new codex cover art. If they can get 5000 likes, they are going to reveal the full art for it. Head over to the following link if you havent seen it already;
http://www.blacklibrary.com/Blog/Angels-Daemons-and-Mysterious-Individuals.html

Fun with Space Hulk

Hey guys, I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  So this weekend, as Halloween is approaching, our store manager organized a little event called Haunted Hulk. Utilizing the Space Hulk boxed game board and a few of the rules, basically, each person had a 6 man warband comprised of 1 unnamed HQ character, and 5 models from various unit entries in their codex. The idea was for each warband to have a different insertion point on the space hulk, and scavenge lost STC data from different computer terminals on the Hulk.

Forge World Rules updates

Hey guys, looks like Forge World have finally released some updated PDFs for their Space Marine stuff for 6th Edition. I've posted the links below for you to check them out. One is just the chapter tactics for the chapters, and the other is all Badab War Characters updated for 6th edition. Makes me pretty happy as i find myself more and more likely to use my Pellas Mir'san model for my Salamanders now. Definitely like most of these updates, and now with Chapter Tactics being available for some of these Chapters, maybe more people will start to use these armies more. They are all pretty cool thats for sure :) Links are below for anyone interested.

Forgeworld Updated Chapter Tactics (6th Ed)
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/F/FWchaptertactics.pdf

Forgeworld Updated Characters (6th Ed)
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/C/Charcterupdate.pdf

Everything Old is New Again, Pt 2

So it has been a busy two weeks, thanks to work and a move, so I apologize for the delay in part two.

What follows will be a battle report with me using 3.5 edition Chaos Space Marines and my fellow blogger, Hazon, using 6th edition Salamanders Space Marines.

The basic premise behind our game was that I would use the old Chaos codex as-is, with few exceptions. Any Universal Special Rules found in both 3.5 and 6th would used as though they were from 6th.The exceptions to using it directly as is from the book this were:

• Feel No Pain (FNP): Since its nonexistent in this older edition, I kept it as a 4+. 
• Khornate Chainaxes: This was a funny one. For the first few rounds, we used the old rules (no save can be better than a 4+, so a Terminator hit by one gets a 4+ instead of his 2+), but we found that this was a bit insane given how strong Berzerkers are (and given that anything Khorne in 3.5 basically becomes a Berzerker).
• Mastery Levels: We assumed any Sorcerer Lord was mastery level 3, Lieutenants were level 2, and anything else was level 1. I stuck with the normal rules for the codex, however, and I didn't generate any new powers, just bought 'em like the good ole days. 
• Demonic Resilience: Treated exactly as modified toughness is in the 6th edition.
• Chaos 3.5 Restirctions: 0-1 Limit removed from the Lord for better functionality in a larger list, 0-1 demon weapon restrictions for coolness.

With that in mind, here are the 5000 point lists:

Eternal Crusade Forums are now Live

For those of you who perhaps haven't been following this future MMO endeavor by the team at Behavior Interactive, their forum servers are now up. :) There is already a lot of people active there, and the Developers at Behavior Interactive are pretty good about checking in and having communication with their future players also. Here's a quick link to the site if anyone is interested: http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/

New Horus Heresy Units

 

With the release of Book 2 of the Horus Heresy, some of the Gamesday release models are surfacing for sale in full release now on Forge World. The Emperors Children Kakophoni and the Word Bearers Ashen Circle units are both now available. These two units happen to be two of my favorite releases of the Heresy models so far as regular units go. the level of detail and character in each model is amazing, and i could easily see plenty of justification of these being fielded in regular 40k games as Noise marines and Raptors respectively.

Fire Raptor Rules Revealed

Looks like Forge World has released the first rule-set for the newly released Fire Raptor gunship. I for one am definitely picking one of these up. Even more exciting is the applications for a chaos player. This flyer, along with the Storm Eagle is a great addition to any Chaos army, particularly for players who are not fans of the Heldrake models. I will be very curious to see how many of these we start seeing on tables in the near future. Link to the rules is below.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/F/fire-raptor.pdf

Ultramarines Supplement Rumor

Hey everyone, I hope all had a nice weekend. first new rumor of the week. Apparently theres a chance that the next supplement after the Iron Hands: Clan Raukaan book is potentially set to be an Ultramarines one. Rumor follows below.

Some upcoming Hobby articles.

Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know about some articles that are in the works for the not-to-distant future. As well as having some articles about rumors and gaming, we also wanted to give the blog some interesting hobbying articles along the way for people to check out and maybe get some ideas from. (The Daemon Prince conversion was one such article) While I personally have a very large collection of Salamanders Space Marines, Vortaine has a large horde of Chaos Space Marines, along with a Tau army, and Scott has a big WAAAGGHH of Orks, we will do our best to highlight some of the interesting parts of them, and any interesting conversions or ideas we have for things in our collections.

November Release: Clan Raukaan Supplement.

Some interesting news surfacing regarding the next supplement for release following the Sentinels of Terra Supplement coming later this month. The new November White Dwarf shows an Iron Hands supplement being up for release soon. It also seems that GW may be sticking with the new trend of releasing Company-specific supplements for Space Marines for the time being, as this supplement is set to cover one specific company of the Iron Hands also; Clan Raukaan. Heres what we have hear so far regarding the supplement.

Amazing Fear to Tread Conversion Diorama

For anyone who hasnt yet seen this over on Bell of Lost Souls, i felt compelled to post about it. This thing is amazing. Inspired by the artwork found on the Horus Heresy novel, Fear to Tread, this diorama shows the epic struggle on Signus Prime between the Blood Angels Primarch Sanguinius and the Daemon Prince Ka'Bandha. For anyone who hasnt read it i will not spoil it, but it is a good read. The full article which showcases all the smaller details and the work that went into this amazing model can be found below.

Weekend Wrap-up and a new project.

Hey everyone, apologies on not getting a post out this weekend. My computer was having some technical issues, but all is well again :) So this past weekend saw the release of the new Dark Elves rulebook and 1st wave of minis. I have to say, after talking to a friend who plays the army, it seems like it is still going to be a really fun book to play. On top of that, the models released so far look really good, the Hydra/ Kharybdis is a particular favorite of mine. A good suggestion one friend made for those who are a bit sad about the price of the Sisters of Slaughter combo box, was to use Dark Eldar Wytches as the models instead, having a cheaper price tag, and requiring only minimal conversion. In other news, after finishing reading the Black Library book, Deathwatch by Steve Parker, it inspired me to start a new project. Deathwatch Marines.......

Horus Heresy Book 2 rules flood the web.

So not more than a few days after release at UK Gamesday, a flood of rules from the new Horus Heresy book: Massacre, have flooded the internet. While i won't be posting them here as i do not want to draw the ire of Games Workshop's Holy Inquisition, here is the link to them to see for yourself : -

Imperial Fists Supplement update

In an interesting turn of events, it appears as though the previously reported on supplement release for space marines is focused on a specific company of the Imperial Fists rather than the overall chapter.To be more specific it will cover the 3rd Company. Article to follow below.

New Primarch Rules Revealed!

News regarding the new Horus heresy primarchs rules broke today with the limited release of Book 2: Massacre now available to those who attended at UK Gamesday. Boy am i excited, these Primarchs all sound like a lot of fun to field on the table. Rules are posted over on Bell of Lost Souls here; http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/10/40k-primarch-rules.html. What do you guys think? Personally i can't wait to see the model for Vulkan whenever they finally get around to doing him :D

Everything Old is New Again, pt 1

Ever had a book that weighs heavy in your hands, though it isn't the physical weight of the pages that makes it feel that way. Opening the well worn softcover to pages greyscale, stories and images that are both familiar and forgotten return in a flood of nostalgia. Poignant memories of specific events are triggered as each page is flipped, each contained in a moment of near-perfect clarity as a smile comes to your face.

Yeah, I remember that time I turned the Nightbringer into a my pesonal Chaos Spawn, and it was awesome.

Forge World: Massive releases ahead

After being subjected to a few teaser releases for Forge World's Horus Heresy lineup, there was a massive release of new pictures and news regarding the 30K game system and a few Warhammer Forge items from Gamesday. A ton of pictures on most of these amazing models can be found over at Natfka's blog here: http://natfka.blogspot.com/2013/09/games-day-information-is-flowing.html. While i am a little sad at not seeing any new Salamanders units yet for Horus Heresy, i am still very impressed with all of these models. the details are great, and there's something for everyone in this future release line-up. I particularly like the Space Marine Basilisk, and Sicaran Venator battle tank, but even the infantry releases look beautifully detailed. Also as a side note, the Horus Primarch model looks set to possibly be the best yet. :)

Supplement Release News

Recently, alot of rumors were pointing to a White Scars supplement as being the first release for the Space Marine supplements line, but with the reveal of this picture taken from Gamesday, it appears that White Scars may be coming later. The curious thing about this release to me is that it is not specifically called Imperial Fists, as one may expect of a supplement, but is instead called Sentinels of Terra. This makes me wonder what other things may be included in this book, as i doubt it is only going to cover the Sons of Dorn. New Inquisition units maybe? (crosses fingers and hopes for an actual deathwatch unit) Needless to say this release has me excited to see what things are to come with the rules.

Forgeworld Gamesday Reveal Wrap-up

Hey all, for any of those who missed any of the new releases by Forge World that have been shown at Gamesday 2013 the past few days, here's a quick link to see the new models if you missed them. Can't wait to get my hands on Book 2 of the Horus Heresy Ruleset and finally get some pretty new rules for my XVIII Legion :)

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/News/Games_Day_UK_2013_Pre-Releases.html

Building a Theme vs Making a Theme

Hey all,

After spending bits and pieces of my day-to-day routine pondering the state of Chaos in 6th edition and listcrafting Vampire Counts armies from memory, I am naturally brought into contact with a variety of different gamers over the internet, one of which spurred me to write this article.

This player proposed a list that was clearly designed to be abusive and hyper-competitive by throwing in five Riptide Battle suits from Tau Empire and the Farsight Enclaves into a 1500 point list. Just writing that made me shudder for more than one reason. I get that we all participate in the hobby for different reasons, but the vast majority of the gamers that I interact with on a regular basis aim to play, have fun, and if the dice favor them, win. That is not to say that certain people put more effort into their lists, giving them more teeth in the process, but its no more so than the people who put a more effort into their conversions and modeling, or those that put more effort into their painting (and if you are one of the lucky ones that does all of these, well, hats-off to you!).

Thing is, most of the people I interact with in the hobby care too much about theme to run a list like that, and I don't think its off-base to say that probably is the case for most players.

But what exactly is theme in how it relates to our hobby?

Iron Warriors Daemon prince Conversion

So during a campaign that I have been running at my local store recently, a guy named Rick brought this in with his Iron Warriors army. This hulking monstrosity is known as Forge Lord Baldomar Fabron. Needless to say the coolness factor of this model is through the roof, and the model looks even better in person. I wasn't able to get all of the more minor details with my phones camera, but this thing is covered with details. From the chaos symbols on its hull, to the trophy heads hanging from its chains, this Daemon Prince radiates intimidation on the table. I managed to get some information about what it took to build and also a few shots of the model from various angles. Rick also brought along some of his newly built Chosen conversions, which are apparently to function as the Daemon Prince's elite bodyguard unit.

Gamesday Reveal: The Fire Raptor

Another new model has been revealed by Forge World for Gamesday. The Fire Raptor gunship looks set to make more of our wallets sad in the near future. First off, what a beautiful model. I will definitely be adding one of these to my Salamanders' arsenal at some point. Not many details as far as rules and points yet, but i would expect these to be released in the upcoming Horus Heresy book; Massacre. From what we can see though, looks like the side guns are 2 twin linked heavy bolters, with the possibility to upgrade them to a twin linked auto-cannon instead. Then there's the chin-mounted weapon, which to me, looks alot like its a twin linked Punisher Cannon. (Here's to  hoping.) More pictures below :)

Iron Hands Supplement Rumors

Some interesting rumors surfaced recently regarding the sons of Ferrus Manus. This may likely be quite a ways off of release yet, so these rumors may end up being false, but one can hope. I really hope that this is true as it would definitely be fitting fluff wise for them.  Rumor quoted below from Natfka:

"via an anonymous source on Faeit 212 (please extra salt on this one)
I've been given a slight nudge towards the Iron Hands Supp, might be nothing, there was a hint towards the special issue wargear that they would have access too, 

A Servo-Harness for Captain/CM, also gaining the rules of Blessing of the Omnissiah, though not gaining the chapter trait for the 1+, letting techmarines and MoF still have that little niche. Weither it can be used with Terminator Armour is still up in the air.

A standard upgrade is also being added to the choices for characters, which is a 1+ to FnP, something about robotic limbs.

Also Techmarine's may be an upgrade to Tactical Squads/Purchased per Tactical Squad, not sure which the hint was very very held-back."

Horus Heresy Gamesday reveals

Some newly revealed Horus Heresy miniatures are beginning to surface with Gamesday approaching. Not a huge Wordbearers Legion fan but these models look fantastic. The somewhat hybrid looking chainsword/axes look particularly mean, and each having a flamer unit under-slung on their wrist seems to lend to the idea of some fun in-game template hilarity. More pictures can be found at the link below.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/News/Games_Day_Preview_Three.html

Painting things

Projects up and coming:

Butcher Unleashed

This is the reference picture I will be using to paint these minis. These minis are from the Warmachine 10 Year Anniversary Collector's Set. I am going to do my best to match the picture here, and hopefully log my progress in such a way that new painters can get some ideas on how they can handle their own paint jobs.