End of the Year

 

Happy New Year! And all that goes with it. Good old end of the year reflecting. I've spent the last few months thinking about the Hobby and what I want to do with it. I'm working very hard on a career change, so I haven't had much energy for hobbying, and this blog has not gotten a whole lot of attention (the Blogger issues a few months ago didn't help) but I have decided to resume posting on a regular schedule for 2024. 

I have a few ideas that I want to do and see how they come out. It should be a fun ride, and having a new project and some self-imposed deadlines will help me get things done. 

For all of you still following along, thank you, and please stick around. I shall kick off the year with a Inquisition vs. Necron narrative campaign. Next week we will talk about finding the right game system for it.   

 

The Emperor Protects

You Still Have to do The Work Though

Heroes Assembled

 

Easily assembled during the course of a movie (Deep Rising) the seven figures of Strike Force Justian are a great looking set. (Looking at at this pic I just noticed I haven't drilled out the sniper rifle barrel. D'oh. I'll fix that forthwith!) 

Here we have Flavian the Phobos Sniper, Combat Monster Captain Justian, and Gravis Heavy Gunner, Acules.

Smoke grenade aficionado Brother Thysor, Veteran Sergeant Marius, Auto boltrifle gunner Vignius, and extra stabby Decian round out the team. 

They came in a lovely dark blue plastic, which I will prime grey and then paint blue once more. Such is The Way. I can't wait to paint them and get them on the field.

Go Build Something

Nothing Wrong With Easy Assembly

Space Marine Heroes Found

Hello? It this thing on? Hopefully we will now resume normal posting. 

The Space Marine/Warhammer Heroes line is a Japanese product made under license from GW.  It is what is known as a Gashapon, a blind buy line of toys. Hugely popular in Japan, they come in a all types and sizes. Being made and distributed by a Japanese company, Games Workshop themselves cannot sell them directly. 

The previous series of figures, (Space Marines, Blood Angels, and Plague Marines) were kind of hit and miss to find without spending big bucks on Ebay. They would show up in games stores, comic book shops and even general hobby stores. 

This newest line of minis are structured to be a Kill Team for GW's Kill Team skirmish game and each figure comes with its own stat card. Thankfully in English as well as Japanese. Thoughtfully setup so if you bought a full case of eight figures you would get one each of the seven unique minis, plus one duplicate. 

I really wanted to find a full set for less than the currently crazy eBay prices, but I had no luck.  I needed to go out and find some paint for all my new Tyranids, so I ventured a bit up north to a decent gaming shop. As I was checking out, they had a sealed case of the new Warhammer Heroes just sitting on next to the Pokemon cards next to the register. I tried not to squeal like a fanboy, and cooly picked it up and sat it next to my paints. The cashier told me he had no idea what it was or why they have got it, but sold it to me anyway.

As expected I got one of each of the figs and a spare boltgun dude. The models are push fit with a nicely detailed base. I am well pleased, and will assemble them forthwith!

Go Out Questing

Bring Back a Prize. Hopefully a Good One

 

 

Troubles Upon the Noospheres

 

A rousing battle between the Orks and my newly painted AdMech. It was initially part of an experiment, to compare 9th edition 40K to One Page Rules Grimdark Future using the (mostly) same lists.

Well, due to me being locked out of my blog for five weeks, and the bad timing of 10th edition coming out...we will try this again soon. 

Oh, and of course, Amazon has dropped me as an associate, which is fine, because their new model is really poor for low traffic people like me.

Yes, for five frakking weeks I could not access my blog. Many nearly helpful emails back and forth, until two days ago I was able to rest the password, and all was fine. No explanation offered. I wonder how hard it is to migrate over to my own website?

Expect slightly more content to come!

The Emperor Protects

But Has a Wicked Sense of Humor

Scale Creep: Leviathan Edition

 

They grow up so fast! The Space Marines have slowly been getting bigger over the past three decades. That's fine. An old metal Mk.7 is absolutely tiny compared to a new Guardsmen let alone a Primaris marine. Many (including me) have voiced the opinion that the Terminators were far too small. 

That has finally been addressed. The newest Tactical Dreadnought Armor suits are of goodly size and fine detail. Of course, now all my old, and really old Termies look a bit "Aren't you a little short for the Emperor's elite?" My first gen metal Termies got sent to be Space Hulk figures full time after the plastic ones came out. Now that I have 36 Deathwing Terminators? Hope that a newer and far more awesome Deathwing set never comes out? I'll just wait and see for a bit.

Shooty McRedemptor.  Really the same size, just legs straightened out and posed on a Tactical Rock. I'm certain this will be sold separately, just not sure it will get a new version with a few more options.

The older Carnifex does really bad posture. The Norn Queen is always telling it to stand up straight.

The new Screamer-Killer has listened to her. A little bulkier overall, the standing tall dramatic pose gives it the intimidation factor it deserves. Going to a 90mm base helps as well. I would love an Old One Eye re-done with this kind of extreme posing.

And finally we have the simplest, but very effective re-do. A little taller, more gangly, and more detail.

I hope the Hormagaunt and Genestealer get similar makeovers.  
  
  

Change Never Stops

Nor Should You

New Pile of Grey

 

I wasn't kidding when I said the new Leviathan box set has a mountain of plastic in it. 72 brand new sculpts. All push fit. 

All have great detail, (mostly) easy to assemble, and a great value if you want all of them in your army.

The only figures I'm not fan of is the Neruogunts, they are an odd unit. Maybe with some play I'll figure out if they are useful. 

I would have also would have like to have 10 Sternguard instead of 5, but I'm sure a full box set will be coming out soon-ish. 

Which brings up a great point Some, if not most of these models will get a "proper" release with more options in the near future, so maybe you didn't "need" the giant box set? I mean, I did, but everyone is different. Now to figure out what chapter the Marines will be painted as.

Go Make Something

And The Pile Grows Bigger. For Now.

Thunder Road: Vendetta

 

Thunder Road: Vendetta is Restoration's games re-do and expansion of Milton Bradley's 1986 Mad Max inspired board game, Thunder Road. It was one of those game I had wanted, but didn't get. 

What's not to love? Quick playing, rules light, post-apocalypse car mayhem. Now many (many) years later this new and improved version is here!

If you passed on the Kickstarter Maximum Chrome version the expansions are being released separately. This will be helpful as you will be able to pick and choose what you want.

That being said...the Maximum Chrome box is one of the best Kickerster boxes ever!

Many Kickstarter games are very good, but the vast majority of them pile on cool stretch goals, which is great...but no thought was given how to store them. I have a number of games that have a plastic bin or box full of the expansion/cool bits that have to somehow stay close to the boxed game and still fit on the shelf. First world gamer problems, I know, but still annoying. 

Restorations Games (second try at the) Kickstarter campaign was well thought out and the finished version is a masterpiece of game storage design. The base game and all the expansions/upgrades fit into its own custom space in a vacuum formed tray. 

The game itself is a lot of fun. Straightforward rules, lots of action, with a quick play time. We have played the base game a few times, now we shall start adding some of the expansions. Higly recommended. 

Go Roll Some Dice

Shiny And Chrome

  

Leviathan Obtained

 

Two weeks ago I took the pilgrimage up north to go to my nearest Games Workshop store to pre-order the 10th edition box because I wanted the free stuff! I got there about forty minutes before the store opened and was about 40th in line, with a whole lot more behind me. The line did move slowly, but everyone got an order in. It was actually pleasant to be surrounded by people who are genuinely excited and positive about 40K. 

This morning I returned to pick up my prize and just breezed in a out. The manager had everybody's stuff put together in a bag and ready to hand off. I was very impressed by his efficiency.

The extra goodies that came with buying direct from the GW store are quite nice. Two Kill Team sized boards, and set of counters.

The counters really surprised me. Double sided, clear acrylic with sharp art in a nice metal tin. Well done for a freebie.

Inside the box is of course a mountain of plastic, the huge book, some decals, and a mission deck. The mission deck is also nicely done, tarot card sized and made of really stiff cardstock. 

  

I shall start assembling the figures, and delve into the hefty tome.

The Emperor Protects

But You Still Have To Read The Rules

Space Wolf Brutalis

 

When I saw this new Dreadnought , I knew it needed to be in my Space Wolves force. It is a nice kit with a couple of claw and torso weapons. Oddly no choices for the top turret. I'm not a huge fan of how the twin heavy stubber looks on it. I think it is a bit unwieldy looking. I would kinda prefer the missile pod from the Redemptor, or a gatling-gun style weapon, but I don't actively hate it.

An imposing model with seriously scary stats. I will try to get in one last battle of Ninth edition just to see what it can do. 

Vlka Fenryka!

Now With Double Claw Fun

Rockets within Rockets

 

I picked up a Strike Force Agastus box, mostly for the new Burtalis Dreadnought, but I did like the other figs as well. 

Okay, the new Primaris heavy weapon dudes, The Desolation Squad, they take a bit getting used to. 

The All-Primaris force did need a real anti-armour unit. I would have thought a Aggressor variant would have been the choice for a heavy weapons troop type,  with a Cyclone-type pod on top of the backpack. Or a Primaris with a nice shoulder mounted missile launcher. What we got is a huge super rocket rifle with missiles strapped on top.

These guys are damn good at killing armor while retaining some solid anti-infantry firepower too. But the sculpts are...a lot. The weapons are very big and boxy, which is kinda fine, but one just feels like it could have been a lot less clumsy looking. They do look better in real life then they photograph, but still just a bit off. 

They are a welcome, if...interesting addition to my Space Wolves. Now I'm painting up the Close Combat Dread.

For Russ and The Allfather!

Via Cawl's Drunk Design Assistant

Kill Team Infiltrators

 

The Phobos Strike Team for Kill Team is a really nice kit. The proper multi-part models are really good figs, and the addition of a Kill Team sprue with more optional parts makes this a fun kit to assemble.

I also went and made the Phobos Lieutenant into a proper Infiltrator with a backpack swap and a modified head. 

The rest of the team builds up quite well with seven specialists and three riflemen. These will be painted up as Space Wolves soon as the weather permits priming! 

Go Build Something

And Ask The Emperor for Sun

Vashtorr and Friends

 

I am enjoying the story of the plucky demi-god, Vashtorr the Arkifane and its trip through 40K . So much so I picked up the model and was thusly inspired to build some other neglected chaos figures. 

I am putting together a Vashtorr-cult themed force. Finally some the odder, more organic chaos models make sense now. In addition to the daemon itself, I have a Venom Crawler, four Obliterators, two Forgefiends, a Heldrake, and a Warpsmith to tend to them. Toss in a squad or two of Legionaries, and that should be a fun battle force.

Go Build Something

And Then Wait for Priming Weather 

House Raven

 

Imperial Knights. I love them. I have a good size House Terryn force, so of course it's time for a Mechanicus battle group.

After much deliberation, I decided that it would be a group that would focus on firepower and maneuver. 

So a Knight Crusader would be the perfect choice to lead it. 

A unit of three Armiger Helverins would be ideal for laying down a torrent of supporting fire.

I went with House Raven for the bold yellow and black stripes, it just kind of feels maximum Mechanicus to me.

I had a plan to paint the stripes using masking tape. It didn't go well. So it ending up being a lot of freehand kinda straight lines, with a huge amount of touch ups between black and yellow and black and yellow... 

I'm always amazed how much the decals really pull the paint scheme together. 

It took a fair amount of time to get done but I am very pleased with them.

Now to see how they perform on the table.

Go Sling Some Paint

And Slide on a Few Nice Decals

Today in Subassemblies

 

There is a whole lot of detail in the Angron kit. There is no way to put this big angry guy all the way together and be able to effectively paint all those glorious bits and skulls. So this is far as I can go before the paint shall flow like rivers of Blood! 

Blood For the Blood God

And a Whole Lot of Khone Red Too

Daemon Lawn Mower and Friends

 

Nurgle Bloat Drone. That just sounds like fun! Some crazy flying thing spewing out bio-weapons. What could make it better? A lawn mower attachment! For people. A Fleshmower, if you will.

I have used these fiends, and the Shooting Drones are effective, but nothing beats the look of horror on Mrs. Blackheart's face when the Fleshmower tore through a squad of Dire Avengers.

Easy to assemble, and fun to paint, these...things are fast, versatile, and a real pain for your opponent. An excellent support choice, plus they look super creepy.

  Ugh, these pictures are bad. And these are the only ones in focus. I need to consult my camera's manual and figure out the correct runes to activate.

Go Sling Some Paint

Reduce The Pile of Shame

Old Pict Capture Time

 

That's too much tongue, I'm calling H.R.!

Before 3D printers, there was foam!

Old Pic of my Steel legion infantry's last game. They were replaced by new plastic Cadians. Well, they were new at the time. Now there are newer (and better in my opinion) plastic Cadians...

Repainted Klingons from Star Trek Attack Wing. Sad that game never quite lived up to its potential, and went the "build a killer combo" way instead of just good tactical combat. I'm looking at new rulesets, as always.

Somedays you just want four K'Tingas.

Go Roll Some Dice

Take Pictures While You Are At It

Plague Brute

Such a happy smiling face! What happens when you find an old mono-pose Hellbrute laying around while you are building up your Death Guard?
 

That is in fact the model from the 2012 6th Edition started box set. Nice enough, but I wasn't really doing Chaos much at the time. So in the dark of the Pile of Shame it waited...

A deep dive into my bits bins and a little bit of green stuff, presto changeo! Parts from the (newest) Beast of Nurgle, Chaos Spawn, for the head and tentacles. Death Guard Marines for Plague sprayer under the power fist. Less a insane, raging, Chaos marine trapped for all time, and more of a insane, happy, daemon, ready to spread the love of Grandfather Nurgle.

Go Build Something

Reduce the Pile

A Rant (Pt. II)

 

>>>Well, this is a little awkward. I really didn't think GW would be announcing 40K Tenth Edition yesterday. I guessed the teaser was for a relaunch of Space Hulk using the fancy Gallowdark terrain. Oh well. Still possible...

I will give some thoughts on 10th as I get more details. On with the Show!<<<

You have 30+ years of 40K minis but the current edition ruleset doesn't tweak your twinkie? What to do?

A: Make your own ruleset! Well, that is an awful lot of work, so no.

B: Play an older edition! Sure, that does work, it's not like the Ordo Praecepta will show up and stop you. Well probably not, it's not like you can expect what they will do.

 

This big disadvantage of this is no official stats for newer units. So more work.

B2: This does include the last version of 40K Apocalypse, which was a very good ruleset. Shame it didn't really gain any traction.

C: Find some new rules that somebody else made! Yes. Let's do that.

There are only a few candidates for full 40K sized games. The market is skewed towards skirmish sized games at the moment, with many good choices. Which I will get into at a later post.

Wiley Games's well done Fistfull of Lead. It did start out as a skirmish sized game, but the Sci-Fi version Galactic Heroes includes vehicles for much larger battles. Wiley has just recently released a 40K conversion, Codex Galactica. I have not played this yet, but I am in the process of reading the rules.

The other popular ruleset I have played (a lot) is of course, Grimdark Future by One Page Rules.

It has grown a bit past one page in the last few years, but is still a very streamlined system with only a handful of special rules. OPR (One Page Rules) has done all the work in making stats for nearly all of the current 40K units, and is updating them. Just don't expect them to behave exactly like they do in 40K. 

If you are a Patron, you get access to the unit builder so you can add new units, or just re-do a unit that is more pleasing to you. A full review of these rules is just around the corner.

Brand new, and just completed their Kickstarter is Warsurge. It is a universal rulebook, letting you generate stats for all the models in your collection. It is supported by an App. I leaned about it after the Kickstarter had closed, so I didn't get in on it. I am very interested and will look into picking up a set of the rules and report back.

And of course, who knows what 40K Tenth Edition will bring later this year? More of the more, more special rules? Or a house cleaning like 8th (mostly) or something else? I guess we will see, and fairly soon too. I would really love it if 40K went a bit back to basics.

The Emperor Protects

But You Still Have to Do Some Research