Weekend Hobby Update

The weekend has come and gone and for me it was one of snatched Hobby time where I could.

On Saturday I picked up a Skaven Blood Bowl team from GW and put them together that afternoon, then primed them.

You get two identical sprues - 3x Lineman, Blitzer, Thrower and Gutter Runner. No Kicker, no Rat Ogre. I suspect these may be released in the future. I've got a second team on the way as I want to have four Gutter Runners and extra fodder - sorry, linesmen.

Going through my bits box I found and old Boneripper model which will do well as my Rat Ogre. I painted him up and he should fit in well.

I need to decide on the basing scheme but I expect I'll go with non-descript sand, grass and tufts.

Looking forward to working on the team over the next few evenings.

 

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Onwards and Upwards - The Rise and Rise of White Dwarf

After the five years of non-descript content followed by two years of the weekly WD advertising pamphlet, White Dwarf is back.

Re-launched in September as a monthly magazine, the "new" White Dwarf is now four issues old. The initial signs were very good but let's say I had a healthy dose of scepticism that the launch level would be maintained.

Happy to report that I haven't been disappointed. Speaking as someone who plays none of GW's three core games, I still see the magazine as great value. There is enough "hobby" in there for me every month that the magazine solidly fills in 2+ hours of reading time with content that both informs and inspires.

The painting articles are very good as are the general hobby technique guides. There is full about games I care about (although I don't play) as well as the work of fellow hobbyists.

The only downside is "Army of the Month". Surely they have run out of Stormcast Eternal armies to show us. There is one positive to that though - no matter how well painted the aesthetics of the Sigmarines (and their silly flightless dragons) confirm to me that Age of Sigmar isn't something that I'm likely to ever investigate. We mis you Old World.

The Malevolent Seven

I've managed to finish my "Gorechosen" models and they are now ready to take to the fighting pits.

As well as the four that come with the game, I've got the White Dwarf giveaway and the two Age of Sigmar characters that have had rules provided for them.

It was quite enjoyable painting the Khorne models. I'm not sure I'd want to do a full army but the seven were varied enough and detailed enough to maintain my interest.

This type of product appeals to me - a standalone game using a limited number of GW figures. I suspect if the number got too big it would be a bit of a chore. For instance the two Horus Heresy games probably have too many figures in them to be painted just as a board game.

GW have informed me that they have dispatched my Skaven Blood Bowl team and I'm hoping that will arrive shortly. Pretty certain that I can get that painted reasonably quickly - I've had a lot of practice painting Rats.

That will get me through to the release of "Traitor Legions" which will let me know if I'm going to give 40K another go or whether I crack into the assembled 30K models.

 

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Fixing "The Great Betrayal"

Games Workshop have one chance to put right the wrongs that have existed for a decade. The period 2002-2006 were glory days for the "Illuminated" as they had, first, the Index Astartes articles that appeared in White Dwarf and then, second, Codex: Chaos Space Marines v3 (four printings over its life).

The author of the Codex, Pete Haines "got" Chaos. Over 3rd and 4th Edition, Codex:CSM rivalled Codex:SM in terms of armies. Sure some people could go over the top with the "Turning to" armies - and to a lesser extent Iron Warriors but the actual Traitor Legions themselves brought variety to the Power Armoured/MEQ game.

In this house we had Death Guard (x2), World Eaters (x2), Word Bearers, Thousand Sons and Emperors Children armies - as well as Iron Warriors that never got finished. I always wanted to do Night Lords but struggled with the bat helms.

When the 4th Edition Codex hit, all those armies were invalidated with whole parts of each unusable.

That largely killed 40k me and I went from Plague Lord/Noise Lord to Seer Lord Morskitta.

So given the door has been opened what do I want to see in "Traitor Legions". It can pretty much be summed up in two words - "Variety" and "Individuality".

If we accept that summoning Daemons won't be there in the form it was, here's what I'd like for each Legion.

THOUSAND SONS

The die is cast but the early signs are good

• Rubric Marines
• Cult Terminators
• Warp inspired weapons
• Slow and Purposeful
• Arhiman

BLACK LEGION

They have their own book and to be honest given Abaddon is 0-13 he doesn't deserve much love from the Chaos Gods.

• Generic List
• Abaddon as a Special Character
• Ability to take a kickass retinue

ALPHA LEGION

• Army wide infiltration for a start
• Previously got cultists but I believe they are more appropriate in Word Bearers. It would be nice if they got some units inspired by Genestealer Cult, more operatives than fodder.

NIGHT LORDS

• Ability to take one Raptor or Bike unit as Troops
• Army wide Stealth
• Negative modifier to enemy morale to reflect their "Terror" rep, perhaps a cumulative Psychic Power

WORD BEARERS

• Dark Apostle restricted to Word Bearers
• Cultists restricted to them as well
• Enhanced access to Possessed, Lesser Daemons and Daemon Engines

IRON WARRIORS

• Warpsmith restricted to IW
• Siege specialist so Tank Hunter
• Daemon Engines
• Basilisk

WORLD EATERS

• Kickass Daemon Prince
• Kharn
• Cult Terminators
• Army wide Mark of Khorne/Frenzy
• No Havoc Squads
• Only long range firepower should be that based on Daemon Engines

DEATH GUARD

• Typhus
• Cult Terminators - MoN, FNP
• Plague Marines
• Blight Grenades/Manreapers
• Restricted access to Transport/Tracked vehicles
• Typhus

EMPEROR'S CHILDREN

• Cult Terminators
• Army wide MoS
• Army wide access to Noise Weapons so that Lords, Terminators, Troop Squads, Bikes and Havocs can all be "Noise Marines"
• No Oblits, Raptors or other cult troops

I think this would achieve the variety and individuality that Legion players crave.

Weekend Hobby Update

Reasonably quiet weekend for me on the hobby front.

Finished cleaning up hobby room - I'm so messy - and painted the sixth "Gorechosen" model. One left and he'll be finished this week.

I also finished listening to "Path of Heaven" audiobook where the motley remains of the White Scars see off the combined Death Guard and Emperor's Children Legions. This is getting to be a theme?

Ordered Blood Bowl minus figures from UK Bits seller and hopefully that will arrive soon. Also ordered new Tabletop World release.

Jacked up a couple of Kings of War games over the coming fortnight. The Herd will Bray!

Curiouser and Curiouser

One thing that is very interesting about the upcoming Traitor Legion supplement is exactly what is it a sopplement to.

The description in the post below says it is a supplement to Codex:CSM but this may not be the case.

The original source description indicates it is a supplement for Codex:Space Marines - note the missing "Chaos". This was assumed by a lot of reposters to be a typo.....but what if it isn't?

Now that would be interesting.

I'm sure we'll get more info but perhaps GW is maintaining the original command structure - using Space Marines as the base - and then providing a fix to reflect the Long War.

Roll on Dec 3!

EDIT:

Definitely a supplement for Codex:Chaos Space Marines so perhaps an opportunity lost

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Gav Thorpe's Bastard Child is Dead

As Maggie Thatcher said all those years ago, "Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice".

After 10 long years, Gav Thorpe's bastard child has been taken out the back and had had a bullet put in its head. Well sort of, maybe......

The new GW Community page has posted the following image (thanks Dan S):

Now you may not be aware but I'm not the greatest fan of Codex:CSM from 4th Ed onwards. I'm not going to say Gav Thorpe ruined my hobby.....well yes, I am.

That 2006 book of his sucked the marrow out of Chaos leaving us with the vanilla, soulless bones of Chaos Allsorts. I'm not gonna lie....thinking of that "codex" makes me feel all "postal", enough to need to have a lie down.

But this.......could there be hope. Is there a Santa after all? Or is it another cruel joke from the guys who blew up the Old World.

It's dangerous to play with people's emotions like this.

EDIT:

Traitor Legions: Nine is the magic number this month, as within this 136-page softback supplement to Codex Chaos Space Marines are army special rules, exclusive Detachments, Warlord Traits, Tactical Objectives and Chaos Artefacts for each of the Traitor Legions - the nine legions who followed their Primarchs into treachery and heresy as they turned from the Emperor's light. (avail 10 Dec)

Nurgle is most pleased!

Now This is Interesting.....

Perhaps the most exciting release in 40K for a decade....

Cult Marines and Cult Terminators!!!!! Not so interested in TS but perhaps it opens the way for future release of Emperor's Children and Death Guard models and rules.

So readers, get out and buy them. Make them successful.

Interest is stirring.

NZ Masters on in a Fortnight

The NZ Masters are on in a fortnight organised by Tim Adams in Christchurch. The top ranked players in Warhammer 40k and Flames of War will do battle to see who is the "Master".

Unfortunately there were insufficient numbers of the top ranked Kings of War players available to allow the Fantasy event to be run. This was primarily a function of most KoW being based in Wellington which meant central players dominated the rankings. From the invites only two accepted - Robert Higgins and myself - which meant that the event was cancelled. This is a shame as it is the first time in nine years we haven't been able to get a field.

I understand people's motivation. The whole field travelling from Wellington to Christchurch to play each other seems silly, however there is a wider aspect to consider. The point of the Masters has been to get players across genres together for a "celebratory" weekend with the crowning of a Master as a by-product.

Hopefully 2017 will see continued growth in the KOW hobby and we'll get a renewed contest for the Fantasy crown. The 2017 Masters are scheduled to be held in Wellington on the first weekend in December.

Forgeworld- The Horus Heresy Model Masterclass

One product produced by Forgeworld that seems to sneak under the radar are their "Model Masterclass" books. I have their two Imperial Armour books and recently purchased their new Horus Heresy publication.

This is serious Warhammer porn. Great models, well painted and technique guides to show you how they achieved their results.

What do you get for your GBP 30? A full colour, hard covered, high quality book that covers 12 topics over 116 pages. The topics are selected to showcase different techniques and different outputs from single models - Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus - armies - Salamanders - through vehicles to Warhammer World FW Battleboards - Istvaan III & V.

There is a beautifully detailed Imperial Fists Falchion, for instance, where the techniques used are covered over 22 pages. This covers the process from the initial basecoating right through to the weathering and battle damage.

To achieve this they use a step by step process with photographs at each stage. It is really easy to follow and the techniques are definitely reproducable.

My favourite topics are the two on the Istvaan battlefields. As regular readers know I love my terrain and here the FW masters go through how they created their evocative battleboards.

This book is a treasure trove for any modeller or wargamer and well worth the cost. Reading through it I'm sure any person couldn't help but be motivated and would definitely gain value. For the price it is an absolute bargain.

The best thing is that it is titled "Volume 1" so I'm expecting further goodness in the future.

 

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