The Wandering Mind

Bloodthirster progress

2012-01-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the Zombie plan didn't quite pay off. As I've said before, I'm moving flat in the next couple of days, so the need to pack kind of overtook me.

However, I did manage to get a little progress done on the Bloodthirster. Not much, admittedly, but at least it's something

Hopefully by the weekend I'll have my new hobby area ready, complete with proper lighting set up, so there'll be both progress on all my projects and proper picture to show you.

Zombies arise!

2012-01-11T04:25:00.000-08:00

With the new Vampire Counts book now up for pre-order, I felt it was time to tackle the Zombie part of my check list.

Over the next couple days I'll be painting up this lot:

I've wanted an all-zombie horde for years and with the new book, what better chance will I have?

I also want to pick up some of the gorgeous new models that are on the way, namely the Mortis Engine/Coven Throne and Vargheists, but I'm staying strong and not buying any more models until my checklist is done.

So this afternoon I will tackle all those Zombies, as well as the Necromancer, as I've been hearing rumours of a Lord-level Necromancer option making a comeback. Hopefully I won't have to buy Kemmler to access that option, but only time and having the book in my hands will tell.

Daemonic Distraction

2012-01-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, I got a little sidetracked from my list, but I've been packing to move flat so I've been finding all sorts of old projects that have piqued my interest again, which I feel gives me a good excuse.

Whilst clearing out one of my many cupboards where i keep all my past projects, I found some old Daemon models that I meant to put up here earlier this year. Well, one thing led to another and I couldn't resist painting up a few that I didn't quite finish

For those of you that don't kmow, the whole idea behind my Deamons army is an Imperial world undergoing mass invasion/ possession, with Zombies and possessed Guardsmen forming the majoirty of the force.

First up I've been doing a bit more work on this guy:

I'll be the first to admit it's one of the stranger ones, intended to become an standard bearer when he's done and I can find a good icon to stick on the pole.

I've also started work on my second Deamon Prince, based off a Chaos Knight's horse and whatever I could find in my bitz box

Also, I unearthed the Dark Angels Veterans kit i bought ages ago and misplaced, so I could work on some more Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons...

I've almost got enough for a full squad now, so I really need to decide which codex I'm going to be using, as well as step up my level of production on them - the army's intended to be my entry for Armies on Parade this year. Only nine months left!

Let me know what you think and I'll post more up soon. Throgg's fully modelled and based now so I'll try and get him photographed for you before he gets packed

The Damnation of Tinus - 1750pt Daemons

2011-12-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm still cut off from my hobby desk, but thank god(s) for having copies of all my 40k books on my laptop, so I can play around with army lists.

This time I'm working on my Daemons, trying to tweak my existing list a little and include my newer purchases in there. This is what I've got so far:

Kharagah the Bloody-Hooved

Bloodthirster, Deathstrike, Blessings of the Blood God, Unholy Might, Instrument

Zombies (Formerly the Nobility of Hive Primus)

14 x Plaguebearers, Noxious Touch, Icon, Instrument

Zombies (Former inhabitants of Hive Primus Mortuary)

14 x Plaguebearers, Noxious Touch, Icon, Instrument

The Twisted

9 x Horrors, Bolt of Tzeentch, Icon, Changeling

The Flames of Change

10 x Horrors, Bolt of Tzeentch, Icon

The Grinder of Souls

Soul Grinder with Phlegm

Gilgmesh the Seeker

Daemon Prince, Tzeentch, Master of Sorcery, Bolt of Tzeentch, Breath of Chaos, Daemonic Gaze

Dark Fires of the Changer

3 x Flamers

It's a nice little list to play. The Plaguebearers take objectives in cover and refuse to die, whilst the rest of the army concentrates on keeping the enemy away from them. Simple, yet effective.

I'm still wondering if Kharagah's worth taking in such a low points level, considering I gave up a squad of Flamers, Epidemus and a Tzeentch Herald to take him. Maybe I should save him for a higher points level. I think the only way to be sure is to play a few games with them when Kharagah's ready and see what works better

What do people think?

1750 Christmas Deathwing

2011-12-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting here at my parents for Christmas and I'm bored witless. No access to my hobby desk, which is well over 100 miles away. To amuse myself, I've been doodling ideas for army lists I'd like to do in the future.

One army that's always interested me are the Deathwing and the Dark Angels in general. I've always wanted to do a pure Deathwing force, but the idea of not being able to use Mortis Dreadnoughts has always bothered me and the purist in me balked at the idea of using the Space Wolves book to represent the Sons of the Lion, so the idea was shelved.

That's until my friend handed me a copy of Imperial Armour Apocalypse Second Edition yesterday as an early Christmas present. One of the (many many) options in the book is to field a Mortis Pattern Contemptor - the godsend I was waiting for and that sparked off a melting pot of ideas in my mind

So here's the 1750 point list I've been working out whilst steadily working my way through a bottle of rum:

Azrael, Supreme Grand Master

Belial, Master of the Deathwing

Deathwing Squad Azrael

Heavy Flamer, 2 x Lightning claws, Apothecary, Standard Bearer with Chapter Banner

Deathwing Squad Retribution

Lightning Claws, TH/SS, Assault Cannon, Chainfist, Power Fist

Deathwing Squad Deliverance

TH/SS, Heavy Flamer, Chainfist, Lightning Claws, Power Fist

Deathwing Squad Heavenfall

Assault Cannon, Chainfist, Lightning Claws, TH/SS, Power Fist

Contemptor Brethren Azakion, Mortis Pattern

2 x Kheres Assault Cannon, Extra Armour, Searchlight, Cyclone Launcher

Revered Brother Raziel

Venerable Dreadnought, Multi-Melta

The aim behind the list was to use Squads Azrael and Deliverance, led by Azrael and Belial respectively to spearhead the charge, while the other two squads and the Dreads give fire support.

I deliberately steered away from the usual Interrogator Chaplain as my second HQ, instead i felt that Azraels combat skills and 4+ blanket save over a squad were a better choice, especially when combined with LC's, FnP and a Chapter Banner in the squad he leads.

What do you think?

Throgg the Troll King WIP

2011-12-22T14:34:00.000-08:00

I said Throgg is on the way and here he is...

So far I've take the Ogre Kingdoms Gorger, added GS scales to his back and extended his fangs.

He's nearly done. The only major bit left to do is I still need to extend his ears to troll proportions or give him horns. Not sure which I'll do yet, but I also need to add his crown and I like the idea of it pushing down on his ears, so I'm leaning in that direction.

All in all it's quite a simple conversion for a Hero choice (and a Special Character at that), but I like the savage cunning that oozes from the Gorger model and it's so beautifully detailed that there's very little I need to do.

Any thoughts or comments on him?

I Need Money! aka: Revised Project List

2011-12-21T16:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, I really am keeping up the post count...

Last post I mentioned my project list has been revised due to money issues, so I thought I'd post up my new list to give you an idea of what I'm working on in the next few weeks

- Build my new hobby area (put on hold while finding a new place to live)

- Finish up my Dark Elf Corsair and Witch Elf units

- Finish painting my Hochland Empire force

- Paint up the bodies to my first five Scarab Occult

- Finish building and painting my first Grey Hunter unit

- Finish painting my Soul Drinker Tactical and Assault Squads

- Finish building Bjorn

- Paint my Rune Priest

- Finish building my Cygor-based Bloodthirster

- Paint at least 50 (out of 350)of my Zombies

- Strip down my previous failed attempt at Deathwing ready to start anew in the new year

- Build my Throgg the Troll King conversion, ready to lead my Ogre Kingdoms/ Warriors of Chaos monster force

As you can see, it's not all that different to my previous project list and still gives me a lot to do. I just really wish I could do the projects that have been 'bumped off' but there's no point starting them if i don't have the cash to finish them.

Sigh...

Still, should be lots of lovely pics of progress for you to see coming soon. Currently on my table are the Bloodthirster and Throgg for their latest round of GS work, so you should be seeing more from them very soon...

Pre-Heresy Thousand Son

2011-12-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know he's got no arms, but i want to make sure i get the colour scheme right before I start messing around with weapons and wargear.

I also know he's not on the list of projects i set myself, but the list's been revised to suit my evolving financial situation (ie. I'm too skint for all the projects I wanted to start). Painting these guys replaces my Necron projects I had planned, seeing as I already have all the parts I need for them and rumours about the chaos legion codex have reignited my passion for the chaotic and misunderstood

So here we go, my first test model for my Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons.

I'm still working on him but you get the general idea for the colour scheme. Hardcore Horus Heresy fans would point out to me at this point that not all the Thousand Sons should have the crested helmets but, I'm planning to base the army around the elite of the legion, the Scarab Occult, so they would all have those crests.

I'm thinking of fielding them as Vanilla marines using this rough list

Tigerius (Senior Librarian, maybe even Ahriman himself)

Librarian

2 x ten man Sternguard Squads (special ammo reflecting their powers)

2 x Scout Squads (representing Prospero Spireguard support)

2 x Bike Squads (representing Legion Jetbikes)

Land Speeder Storm (Anti-grav speeders which the Imperial Army had access to)

On the other hand I may just go with Grey Knights to represent them, but they're a bit cheesy for my tastes atm.

I think I'll get some more painting done before I decide on which list to use. I don't see myself doing much gaming before February anyway.

Cygor Bloodthirster WIP

2011-12-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, plans for new hobby area have been put on hold, due to the need to find a new flat, but in the meantime, I'm still working on clearing my backlog of projects for the new year.

First up is my Bloodthirster, converted from the Cygor/Ghorgon kit. I know I said in my original list that it was going to be made from a Zombie Dragon, but that was before I saw this kit. Right from the moment I saw it i knew I'd found the donor model for my plastic Bloodthrister. The Zombie Dragon pieces (minus the wings) have been put aside for another project.

As you can see it's closer to the original model than much of the rest of my Deamon army and still very WIP, but it's getting there.

So far I've started sculpting on the chest armour (to be finished over Christmas) and started adding the distinctive mane of hair that appears on the metal/finecast version. This is going to take the longest, i think, as i'm modelling each strand of hair individually

I'm also going to be scratch-building an axe and whip for him, as well as obviously adding the other wing.

He's obviously going to be quite a bit bigger than the GW version, but I've always thought that the current Bloodthirster is way too small and goofy looking for a walking demi-god of war anyway.

By the looks of things my one is going to end up sized about halfway between the GW and Forgeworld version, which means I should be able to use it as either.

More on this very soon, as well as the other projects...

Quest for a new Hobby Area

2011-11-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

OK, before my big plans for a fresh start come the new year (see last post) can flourish, I need a new hobby area.

I figure instead of simply carting my woefully inadequate hobby desk into the new space, it's a great opportunity to revamp my working area.

So I've drawn up a list of everything I've ever wanted or needed from my hobby desk, which I'm going to incorporate into my new area.

1. Obviously I need a surface to work on

2. A place to tidy away my paints, brushes, glues, etc, away from marauding kittens and little hands (my first kid is due in march, so this is especially important)

3. Shelves to display finished projects and store current WIP's

4. Storage for my many bitz boxes (I have nearly ten years worth of these, which number in the dozens), or at least a way to categorise the bitz for easy access

5. A decent lighting set up

6. Noticeboard to store ideas, army lists, sketches and painting recipes

7. Space for my laptop (i need music, videos and access to the blogosphere when i work), but far enough from the working area to avoid splashes and spillages

8. (although optional, due to space restraints) A light box for photographing models

9. Storage for all my old projects that I've thought I'd abandoned but could switch back to at a moments notice

It's fairly basic stuff, but every bit of it's important for me, seeing as i only have about half this list in my current kitten-infested set up and if I'm going to make this change, I'm going to do this properly.

While this seems simple enough, I also only have a small space to work in, so all this also needs to be quite compact.

I'm going shopping tomorrow to see what i can pick up and hopefully by the end of the weekend i should have something that's at least starting to resemble the idea I have in my head.

A mighty hobby quest

2011-11-17T12:30:00.000-08:00

I should know better than to venture into GW in the run up to Uni deadlines. I always end up with far too many ideas for projects that i have nowhere near enough time for.

But, in a feat of incredible self-control, I've decided that those can wait until New Year, when i have a six week break and my student loan. In the meantime, I'm going to focus my hobby efforts on getting my current projects done and dusted.

Here's my 'To Do' list to lead me nicely to the 1st of January. You'll notice most of it's stuff that's been featured on The Wandering Mind over the course of 2011 and never seen again.

- Build my new hobby area (more on this next post)

- Finish up my Dark Elf Corsair and Witch Elf units

- Paint my Dark Eldar Kabalite unit that's been sitting on my desk for the last 4 months

- Finish painting my Hochland Empire force

- Finish building and painting my first Grey Hunter unit

- Finish painting my Soul Drinker Tactical and Assault Squads

- Finish my Thunderwolves, including my Lord

- Finish Bjorn

- Paint my Rune Priest

- Paint Trazyn the Infinite

- Finish building and painting my Zombie Dragon Bloodthirster/ Shard of the Void Dragon

- Paint at least 50 (out of 350)of my Zombies

- Strip down my previous failed attempt at Deathwing ready to start anew in the new year

- Build my Throgg the Troll King conversion, ready to lead my Ogre Kingdoms/ Warriors of Chaos monster force

As you can see, it's a fairly substantial list, but one I feel i can manage. The theory is, if i get all this done, I can start the new year without an huge backlog of stuff, allowing me to focus on my new projects.

I'll post the stuff up here as I do them, so you can see how I get on and I'll do a follow-up post in the New Year, where hopefully I can congratulate myself on a job well done. Hopefully.

Here we go then...

Cats and Corsairs

2011-11-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, my hobby time has been serious cramped by these cute little gits being born underneath my painting desk

However, I am in the process of setting up a temporary paint station in another room, so I can get my army plans back on track very soon, once my uni deadlines are out the way.

I did manage to paint up a test model for my latest unit of Corsairs though

There'll be about 30 of these when I'm done, forming the perfect bunker unit for Master Hyron, who's next on my painting list. He should be done in a very similar scheme to these guys, although minus a Sea Dragon Cloak.

What do people think?

The myth that is Finecast

2011-11-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so about 6 months ago, Finecast hit the shelves and the internet was instantly awash with complaints about the quality, with air bubbles apparently all over the place and even whole pieces of missing or unsalvagable, to the point where many people are put off buying Finecast because of worries over quality control

Of course, unless you've been a hermit these last 6 months, you probably already know all about this

I would like to make quite a sweeping statement:

The internet has blown this problem out of all proportion.

To date I have bought 4 Finecast models, a female Vampire Lord, two Ogre Kingdoms Gorgers and this guy:

Not one of these models has had so much as a single blemish (the nick in the shoulder pad you can see is down to me not being careful enough with the clippers) and I can honestly say these have been some of the best quality GW models I have ever bought, in terms of quality of sculpts, crispness of detail and ease to paint and build

Also, none of my gaming friends have ever had a problem with a Finecast model either, sharing my views on the quality.

Of course, these ravings on the internet have to come from somewhere, so I've been thinking and all I can suggest is this:

Any model manufacturer, no matter how big or small will occasionally make mistakes, whether it be a missing sprue in a boxed set, or bubbles in the casting, etc. For example, the very first box of GW product I bought, way back when I was eleven, was a box of Chaos Space Marines. They'd been mispacked so I only got half the marines i paid for. The manager of my local GW was quite happy to exchange them for a full box and let me keep the mispackaged box, as they couldn't sell them on for obvious reasons, but not before noting down the details he needed to warn head office of the problem.

The point i'm making is that there will ALWAYS be mistakes that slip through quality control. It's an inevitability. problem is, with the internet being a vital tool in spreading the word about Finecast, the most vocal group will always be the ones who are complaining. Always. It's human nature. People are more inclined to say 'this was terrible!' than 'actually, this model was brilliant, no problems with it at all', so we only end up hearing one side of the story.

As a little final point, I've had more problems with Forge World casts since the release of Finecast (a grand total of one problem, with some armour kits i got) than any GW product.

I suppose what this post is really saying is, don't believe the internet doomsayers and give Finecast a chance.

Allas Hyron

2011-11-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

In the flesh at last.

I've finally got round to building a model for my Dark Elf character who I've been using in games and writing stories about for the last two years.

Unfortunately he's also the same model who took a Asur longbow to the chest in my last Mordheim game and died outright

May his WFB career be longer than his Mordheim one.

Too many distractions!

2011-11-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well it's not called the Wandering Mind for nothing...

So I picked up my copy of the new Necron codex yesterday, along with a plastic Zombie Dragon kit and Trazyn the Infinite.

My hobby time over the next couple of weeks will probably be taken up with crafting a Necron test list based around Trazyn and a Shard of the Void Dragon (the Zombie Dragon).

I'm also in the process of painting up a few test models for my Space Wolves, using a recipe recommended to me by Odinsport and re-booting my Dark Elf Corsair army, so I should hopefully show those soon, however my painting and modelling time has been cut down drastically by uni deadlines and the fact that my cat decided to give birth to a litter of kittens under my hobby desk.

Gaming-wise I actually managed to get a game of Mordheim in the other day. It was good fun. I was up against a High Elf warband, 3 Empire ones and Witch Hunters, with me playing Dark Elves.

My secret mission was to put five of the High Elves out of action, which I failed at spectacularly. My Corsair henchmen got slaughtered as we poured out of a building, hoping to catch the Asur in a pincer movement, then before my heroes could pile in, the High Elf leader raised his longbow and took out my Highborn with a single shot! To add insult to injury, it was the same character my Highborn had been taking pot-shots at all game with his crossbow pistol and the Highborn died outright after the game. Curses!

All in all not the greatest of results, but at least i got a game in and after the post-battle looting I could afford to hire myself a new hero, a Beastmaster this time, with a whip to put the fear into those damnable hounds the Witch Hunter play insists on bringing. Come here little doggies, i want you to meet my Cold One Beast Hound...

Everything must go! (again)

2011-10-20T12:47:00.001-07:00

That's right, Khorneguy's having another sale.

As a student, I'm far too skint for hobby stuff and looking over my finances, i've found that my little splurge at Games Day cleared out my hobby fund completely, severely hampering my progress on my Space Wolves.

I've figured my best way forward is to sort through and sell the mountain of old and half finished projects I have in a bid to raise money for my newer projects.

So here we go...

Obviously I'm looking for cash for these, but I would be open to trades for Space Wolf items too.

Email me at: rickyjoy9@yahoo.co.uk, if you're interested in anything.

The painted stuff can be easily stripped before sending if you're after unpainted.

Here's a list of what I have so far. I'll add (a lot) more as I sort through what I've got over the next few days.

10 Zombies, built but unpainted £7
4 Assault Marines, painted £5
30 Ork Slugga Boyz, painted £20
1 classic Iron Hand Straken, painted - £4
1 Ork Weirdboy - painted and converted (head swap) - £5
1 Ork Stompa - built, converted and painted - £45
3 Space Hulk Genestealers - unpainted

Current Edition Codices/Army Books - £10 each

CSM Codex
Ork Codex
Tyranid Codex
Eldar Codex
Space Marine Codex
Planetstrike
Skaven Army Book
Empire Army Book

Out of print Army Books £5 each

7th ed Orcs & Goblins book
6th ed Dark Elf Army Book
6th Ed Hordes of Chaos Army Book
6th Ed Lizardmen Army Book

Warhammer 7th Ed Rulebook - near Mint condition - £20
Warhammer 8th Edition Rulebook £30
40k Mini Rulebook - £7
Chapter Approved 2003 - £10

The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill - £4
Heroes of the Space Marines - £4
Eisenhorn Omnibus by Dan Abnett- £6
Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium omnibus by Sandy Mitchell- £6
Signed hardback copy of Blood Pact by Dan Abnett - £15

Various back issues of WD dating back to 2003 - pm me for issue numbers - 75p an issue or 3 for £2

Postage will be worked out per item

There you go guys, go nuts, it's going to be helping me out a lot

Bjorn the Contemptor WIP

2011-10-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a little preview WIP of my Bjorn the Fell-handed based on the Contemptor chassis.

The way I see it, Bjorn really should be in one of these anyway, seeing as he dates from the time of the Heresy, plus it looks really powerful and imposing - just the way Bjorn should be.

I need to sculpt some details to make him more 'wolfy' (the string of Green Stuff round his neck is going to be his Wolf Tooth Necklace), but on the whole I'm pleased with how he's shaping up so far. By the way, in case you're wondering his claws were made from DE Corsair blades and smoothed out with liquid Green Stuff (an awesome product).

Let me know what you guys think

A new saga begins...

2011-10-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

So begins the tale of Wolf Lord Rylak Foestrider and the Great Company of Tra...

After months of proxying lists and fine-tuning my army composition, i have finally started building my Space Wolves force properly, seeing as it's been in the works ever since the latest codex came out.

Each and every model will have its own name and backstory, which I'll present to you when I post them up, along with their ongoing sagas (to be added to after particularly spectacular feats in-game)

I'm really excited about this project and I aim to have it finished by about June-July time next year, just in time to enter them into next years Armies on Parade at GD UK 2012.

So here's what I've been building so far...

Olyek Dragonfoe, my Rune Priest, based off the Forge World Boarding Marine and various SW bits, with the spear shaft coming from a chaos knight

Baldric Greymane, slayer of the Bloodtithe and member of the Grey Hunter pack 'The White Wolves'.

I painted guy this a while back as a tester model, but I'm not really happy with the way his armour turned out. I've still yet to find a nice grey recipe that works for my wolves. If anyone's got a good one, let me know.

And finally, we have Alrik Thunderslayer, a member of another of my Grey Hunter packs.

I love the old mk's of power armour and will be using them in combination with the SW bitz pack throughout my force, not quite making them pre-heresy, but having that sort of vibe.

So what do you guys think so far?

Next time I should have some pics of my Bjorn and Thunderwolves ready to show you

Broadening the Mind

2011-10-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in the process of launching the Khorneguy's Commissions page and generally overhauling the blog in generally, so there may be a few issues in layout or even accessing The Wandering Mind next couple days.

Just bear with me and I should have all of it sorted by the end of the week at the very latest

Is anyone else sick of Dreadfleet?

2011-09-30T09:21:00.001-07:00

It's nearly a week since Games Day and I, like I'm sure many others have, logged on to the GW website to get a look at the pics from Games Day and all the lovely hobby goodness and craziness that I might have missed on sunday featured in 'What's New Today', as they do every year.

But no, instead I'm confronted with some coverage of it in mondays post, then tuesday they were back to their constant coverage of Dreadfleet, with no mention of Games Day what so ever.

Thanks GW

Ok, Sarcasm doesn't translate well to blog posts

Anyway...

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice enough game and I get that they've got to get people interested in it, but only having a passing coverage of their premier event on their own website?

Really not good GW. At least chuck us a couple of photos of interesting thing or models from GD a day, at the end of the post after the Dreadfleet stuff.

But no, nothing.

Personally I think it's because of the organisational hell they had and they don't want people to see how ridiculously overcrowded it was.

Either that or the GD stuff will come flooding out on monday after Dreadfleet's out there. Or maybe not, they'll just start showing people playing Dreadfleet or people's painted ships, etc, trying to milk the should've-been-Man O' War cash cow for everything it's worth, having already milked our GD money out of us.

*I* probably have more coverage of GD on my blog than GW has - and i broke my camera 9am Sunday!

Grrr...

Ok rant over. Normal service will be resumed shortly

Post Games Day Recovery

2011-09-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Games Day made me ill.

It always does. I don't know what it is about it, whether it's the 10,000 geeks packed into the same space, the constant noise or my usual all-nighter the day before, but it does. My voice went round about 11am Sunday and still hasn't returned and i've got the flue from hell.

I lost yesterday completely, falling asleep as soon as I got back 10pm Sunday night and waking up 11am this morning. Not good, especially as I was due in Uni yesterday.

But all in all it was worth it. Yeah, i know people complained about the queues, but as long as you weren't fussy what time of day you got your stuff, it wasn't so bad.

I managed to bag the following

- Forgeworld Boarding Marine

- Contemptor Dreadnought with Kheres-Pattern Assault Cannon and Power Fist

- Salvations Reach, unsigned unfortunately, due to the queues, but a damn good read nonetheless. I've been forcing myself to keep putting it down to get some uni work done.

- The Outcast Dead, again unsigned.

- and finally, a single Scout Marine from the Rites of Initiation. Rather handy, as I've been trying to work out the best way to make my Wolf Scout with Mark of the Wulfen without having to buy an entire Scouts box

I also struck up a few interesting conversations. I went to the Warseer meet-up, saw Harry and co. They seem nice sorts, but i mainly ended up talking to the guy who goes by the name ChaosAstartes about the nature of Khorne and martial honour.

I also went out to smoke and got chatting to a fellow Space Wolves player about Thunderwolves conversions (Bloodcrushers are the way to go!) and the Sons of Russ in general.

Plus I got to be sarcastic to Matt Ward and STILL get his autograph

So all in all I'd rate this Games Day 7/10. Next time GW, sort the queues!

Right now GD's out the way, back to my projects. My question to you is, where next? Thousand Sons or Space Wolves?

2011-09-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Ok on the coach on the way back from GD UK. So the plan for pics completely backfired. The camera packed up the moment I went to take a picture of that gorgeous drop pod outside. Instead i will try and put together my recollections.

- First of all I spoke to Jervis Johnson. We had a talk about the lack of army-specific magic items in 8th ed fantasy and he said it was to make it easier to control balance between army books. I tactfully 'forgot' to mention the Ogre Kingdoms Hellheart

- Next was Matt Ward. I tried subtle sarcasm by say 'I really like how you've made the most elite army in 40k even more powerful and elite'. Either he's used to this kind of thing or it went way over his head. I would've spoke to more of the team but a crowd was building by then and i wanted to beat the scrum to Forge World.

- Both new Forgeworld and Warhammer Forge books were on display, with IA11 featuring guard and Space Wolves fighting Eldar. there's a range of Eldar Corsair army lists to draw your army list from, including the Shadow Spectres.

Bram Redmaw is being released. A rather taSty model i must say, but they kept pretty tight lipped about the possiblity of further releases, namely Thunderwolves. They claimed anything from maybe to not even in the distant pipeline, depending on the designer I spoek to. The GW design team kept mysteriously quiet about this too, almost like they weren't allowed to say anything...

- Warhammer Forge was interesting. Apparently they're going to focus on the 'tech and cogs' side of things, being more interested in magic and beasts.

- There will be Elementals for all main BRB lores. For now they're keeping them as bound monsters for Storm of Magic, mainly because of worries of balance and points-cost issues if they had wizards being able to summon them in normal games.

The Fire one will be a pillar of flame with dragons coming out the top and the Metal one will be an orb of metal with carvinal mask-esque faces coming out of it

- No Dark Elf stuff is planned at Warhammer Forge, as they've yet to have an inspiring-enough idea for them

- Warlord Titans are a definate possibility, with the new Phantom Titan being about as tall as a Warlord would be

- The queue for sales was ridiculously long, with Forgeworld, Black Library and mainstream GW sales being crammed into a tiny area, resulting in extreme congetsion, with people queuing through the gaming area and waits of over two hours to buy anything. GW, if you're reading, bad call...

- No mention of future releases from GW, nothing was even forthcoming about next months releases

- There was however a massive WoTR display board witht he Battle of Five Armies. Interestingly, there was an unfamiliar Bear model on one corner of the board (future Beorn release anyone?)

- Specialist Games models and Rulebooks were on sale for the first time at GW that i can remember in my three years of attending Games Day

Right, I'm going to get some sleep. I'll post more as it occurs to me

Madness I tell you!

2011-09-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well it's 3am here and we've been up all night painting.

That's right, we left our Golden Demon entries till the night before.

We aren't expecting to get far, using them as more of a reason to get into Games Day at nine rather than ten (thus ensuring we can grab our seminar tickets), but it'll nice to get through to the second round.

Mine is the Psyker, my friend Johnny's is Harker. Not bad considering the short time available to us. You'll be seeing more of Johnny's army in the near future as he has graciously let me photograph his fledgling Catachan force as it takes shape.

More updates later, i'm taking an internet dongle with me so hopefully i'll be able to post updates as the day goes along

Games Day Weekender

2011-09-24T02:36:00.000-07:00

Well with less than 24 hours to go, the excitement is palpable. Me and my friend have decided to stretch the excitement out even further and make a weekend of it.

Ignoring these "Mini Games Days" happening up and down the country at GW stores, we're celebrating in our own way. We're not sleeping tonight due to the fact that we have to up at 3am, so instead we're grabbing a few beers, few mates and playing an all-night 40k game.

If we've got time after that, we're having a painting session, before walking down to catch the coach for the big day itself

Once we're actually there, i've got a list of things i want to check out, also I'm picking up my Forge World order of some pre-heresy marines plus weapons and a Contemptor Dreadnought to kick off my planned Pre-Heresy army properly. I'm still teetering between doing Thousand Sons or Space Wolves, but I may see what Forgeworld are bringing out Space Wolves-wise with the next AI book before deciding. Or else do both, given my love of both Legions

For the most part though, big thing at Games Day this year is going to be Black Library. A must for me is picking up Salvations Reach, the new Gaunts Ghost book, as well as getting it signed by Mr Abnett himself, as well as getting in the "Writing for Black Library" seminar

I'll post what i can up tomorrow, but you might have to wait until early next week before i can.

Anyway, off i go, wish me luck. I'm off to game, drink, be merry in the highlight of my gaming year

Project X at GD UK?

2011-09-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

I just picked up my survival guide to games day uk from my local GW and in there it says an area of the Design Studio section is set aside this year to "Project X"

They won't say what it is for obvious reasons, but anyone heard any rumours about what this might be?

It seems to be something major, seeing as according to the map, nearly a quarter of the design studio area is given over to it

My gut instinct is one of three things:

1. The Hobbit. With the film due next year, then it would make sense to announce it now. That said, i doubt that GW would be allowed to show likenesses of characters, etc. so far in advance of the release date and it seems like an awfully big area just for an announcement with no figures

2. Dreadfleet. Yes i know it's not a mystery any more, but we don't know when this guide was published/ sent out to stores. I know GW has had a huge crack down on leaks and rumours this year, so it could just be them covering their tracks in case one got out before last weeks announcement

3. Something completely new that's slipped under the rumour/leak radar, in which case i say well done GW...

Whatever it is, I'm going down there on Sunday, so i'll be able to tell you first hand what it is, hopefully with pics too.

Armies on Parade: Twelve Hour Mark

2011-09-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

After a long hard slog, i'm finally there. The mind has been focussed for once!

While i don't have any images of the finished army right now, what with them laid out on my desk for final detailing, i can assure you i am bang on schedule to have them on display for 12 Noon today. Here's a shot of the board from earlier today.

I think i need to make the earth mounds look more scorched and war-torn, but that might just be the camera flash.

More images, including the whole finished product are coming in the next few hours, just before i pack them away for transport.

Armies on Parade: 8 Days to go

2011-09-01T03:11:00.000-07:00

It's 8 days to go until the UK Armies on Parade and all the materials i need for my entry have finally arrived.

The plan is have my Blood Pact overrunning an imperial defence line, with all sorts of gribbly chaotic support.

So now with the board, aegis line, a bag of filler and a box of guardsmen for desecration/ fallen victims, i'm finally entering the last leg of this. If i stick to the schedule i've made for myself i should get it done in time. Wish me luck

Here's how it looks at the moment, but obviously the finished thing should be far more impressive

I'll keep you updated on my progress

Stumble Gun

2011-08-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

This is the start of a Stumble Gun for my Blood Pact.

For those of you who don't know, it's a terror weapon unleashed by the Archenemy in the Gaunts Ghost book His Last Command.
Essentially they're spheres of metal and guns that are literally rolled at the enemy, bouncing around randomly, crushing and killing all in their path with both their weight and energy weapons studded across its surface.

I loved the idea of these balls of destruction the moment i saw them and i've wanted to build one for ages. I'm still not sure what i'm going to use it as yet, but i'll work that out later.

Hopefully i'll be able to show you more in the next couple of days

Plans for Rebirth

2011-08-20T04:11:00.000-07:00

Ok I'm back. I've been away for a while, due to the need to move flat and lack of internet, but i'm back and i've got big plans.

1. First of all, I'm going to start doing reviews and maybe even articles on The Wandering Mind, instead of just my few-and-far-between painting and modelling updates. The reasons are twofold really:

- I'm very opinionated when it comes to GW and gaming in general and this blog is going to be my outlet for it all.

- I'm doing a writing degree at the moment, with a view to go into journalism at the end of it, part of which is writing reviews, so it'll be good practice for me as well

I picked up the Sabbat Worlds Anthology yesterday, so i think this'll probably be my first review.

2. Next up I've taken it upon myself to get most, if not all my armies done by the end of the year, (mainly due to the lack of funds to start new ones),so you should be seeing a lot more progress on projects that you've seen me start but never finish.
My first point of call will probably be my Blood Pact. I want to add some of Heritor Asphodels 'Woe Engines' to the mix, including a Stumble Gun and a unique take on a Deathstrike Missile Launcher. I might even get these done in time for Armies on Parade.

3. Finally (and i may regret saying this), I'm going to try and post on here at least once a week. The blog's been a bit neglected recently and in serious need of reinvigoration, so this is hopefully what it needs.

So watch this space i will be back very soon.

Welcome to a World of Pain

2011-06-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

While I'm waiting for the weather to improve so I can fully photograph my Deamons, i've decided to work through my backlog of pictures i've taken of my many, many works in progress.

First up are my Grotesques and Talos Pain Engine for my new DE force. I really wasn't all that impressed with the official GW offerings so I've decided to make my own.

Don't ask what the Grotesques were built from, as I really can't remember. I know there's some Orks in there, Bloodletter parts and a BfSP Troll (a highlty underrated model), as well as a ton of Green Stuff

The Talos is far easier to identify, being built from a Wraithlord, a Manitcore's tail and Tyranid bits (including the carapace from the classic Zoanthrope i picked up in Holland last year). The idea behind this was that a Haemonculus would consider it the sweetest irony to capture one of the machines of his craftworld cousins, rip out the soul and replace it with something far more terrible, before turning it back on them.

I'll post more up soon, but for now, let me know what you think

Deamon Challenge

2011-06-25T04:29:00.000-07:00

I've decided to set myself a challenge, seeing as I'm bored and
I've got a few days to kill.

I will turn this...

and this...

And the contents of my half-finished figure case...

... into a fully finished 1750-2000pt 40K Deamon army by 5pm Monday. Seems a tall order i know, but i have twenty Plaguebearer-Zombies to finish basing, 10 Possessed-Guardsmen-Horrors to paint and my Soul Grinder (the 'ruined' Land Raider in the pics above) to finish up and I'm done, so i'm confident of my chances.

So, donning my paint brush, I'll check in on monday to let you know how it goes and post pictures. I've promised myself lots of shiny Storm of Magic stuff if i manage it

Rebirth

2011-06-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

Just a post to check in and let people know that The Wandering Mind is not dead, I've just been unable to access the internet to post. I shall be working my magic with a digital camera tonight to bring you rather a lot of hobby goodness over the next few days, and indeed the next few months, considering that I now have a three month holiday from uni.

In case anyone was wondering, I've been working on the following:

Space Wolves - A heavily Thunderwolf-themed list which hopefully should be ready in time for Armies on Parade at Games Day UK

Hochland Engineer Empire Force - the shift in provinces is mainly down to the fact that someone at my LGS already has a Nuln themed list. Also i feel i can explore the background and mindset of Hochland more in my army than if I'd stuck with the Nuln route. And the airship is still coming. Slowly.

40k Deamons - I'm finishing these up by the end of the month hopefully, considering they've been in the works two years already. The watchword for this army is Zombies. Lots and lots of Zombies.

Dark Eldar Carnivale Macabre - Watch this space for the show of your life. Featuring Wracks, Grotesques and a Harlequin support act, may well steal your very soul away.

Dark Elf Beastmasters - I'm building this force to be ready to use this summer for the Storm of Magic expansion, which i still have mixed feelings about, probably because of the lack of solid information on it. Even if it turns out to be rubbish, I'll still have a fully painted Druchii amry at the end of it, so it won't be a wasted experience.

Orcs and Goblin army - although it's the least of my priorities right now, this force is slowly building up to completion. Just a few tweeks to move it from 7th to 8th edition and it's ready to go.

And finally I want to get Khorneguys Commissions off the ground, because all these projects don't come cheap. A flashy new page for the service should be up within a few days, so if there's anything you want built, large or small, just shoot me an email and I'll see what I can do for you.

So as you can see I will be rather busy over the next few months and I'm planning to document as much of it as possible on here because if I'm quite honest with myself, I've let The Wandering Mind go a bit recently.

So until next time (when I'll have pictures), Happy Gaming!

1000pt Rifleman List

2011-05-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

I've worked out a 1000pt list for my empire force, to get me by until
I can buy the models and bitz to finish up the other 1000 points, which
could take a while as i'm trying to find large quantities of the old-style
Handgunners after quickly getting sick and tired out the hunchbacked
new-style ones.

Anyhoo, here's what I've got for the first half of the list. Hopefully it's fairly
competitive. Perhaps any Empire players out there reading this could let me
know what they think of it

Engineer Markus - Long rifle, pigeon bombs

Golbert Golfunger - battle wizard with power stone, dragon bow

15 handgunners, marksman has repeater handgun

12 handgunners, marksman has hochland long rifle

8 outriders, champion has grenade blunderbuss

'the hellbringer'- helstorm rocket battery

'wrath of karen' - helblaster volley gun

Dwarf allies- 10 handgunners

Engineer-Seargent Lozorro

2011-04-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

I originally bought and painted this guy to be an airship crew member, but after the winged contraption took several nose-dives off its flying standing due to the fact that he's metal, he got reassigned to the role of Marksman for my Nuln Ironsides unit.

The rest of the unit will follow when I get a chance to take pictures. Uni deadlines are closing in, meaning my world is currently a whirl of caffeine, late nights and library sessions.

Normality should hopefully be restored by the tenth of may. Hopefully. Either that or my sanity will finally give out, we shall see...

Engineer Markus and his not-so-Mechanical Steed

2011-04-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

This is going to be my engineer on a mechanical steed, except the twist is that it's not as mechanical as most...

Looking at the rules for the clockwork horse, the only difference between it and a barded steed is the Brass Globe that somehow generates Impact Hits.

Now, seeing as i'm planning on using the official Mechanicl Steed model for a Clockwork Pegasus conversion later on in the project, i don't want to use the same model for two characters, so i figured an engineer who can't afford a mechanical steed would make do with the next best thing - strapping the impact hit-generating brass globe to a horses head!

I'm green-stuffing ballistic armour onto the horses flanks to represent the barding, seeing as having a horse covered in metal around lightning is a really bad idea for the poor horse and the even poorer rider (now i come to think of it, it's a really bad design flaw for the proper mechanical horse too).

Next post I'll hopefully be able to show you the Airship mounted on a base and my take on the new Nuln Ironsides unit from Warhammer Forge

Volley Gun and Dwarfs

2011-04-04T01:56:00.000-07:00

Here's my first war machine for my Nuln army almost finished, complete with Dwarf advisor, who I'm sure will offer much grumbling and cursing about humans and the 'proper' way to operate a war machine (not even a full beard between them...grumble...).

I'm planning on having all my war machines have at least one Dwarf each for two reasons: 1. I have the models knockign around from Battle for Skull Pass, and 2. even the famed marksmen of the famous and celebrated Imperial Gunnery School can always benefit from advice from the race that developed the handguns before the Empire was even born.

I'm also planning to use these guys as a detachment for a much large Handgunner unit...

The weird thing in the musicians trumpets is going to be painted up as an experimental device that's being 'field tested' - counting as just a handgun. I figure dwarfs living away from their holds would be far more open to experimentation than the more old-fashoined Engineers in the mountains (this is probably the reason why they aren't still living in the mountains in the first place)

I'll have pics of my first full handgunner units very soon

Airship Pilot and gubbins

2011-03-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

This is 'Skraggy' Thror (There's Cookies and Nerd points to anyone who can tell me where the name comes from), an Engineer assigned to Von Nearostaffens control, who's been convinced to become the test pilot for the flying machine.

He's been converted from the Helstorm/Helblaster crewmen and the Outrider kit.

The base he's on is a temporary thing. Eventually he's going to be mounted on the prow of the machine, bawling instructions to his subordinates.

Talking of the airship, here's how it's coming along...

As you can see the deck is coming along nicely and I've added a squat dwarfen cannon to the front to represent the steam cannon (I'm going to use the Steam Tank rules for it)

I've also started work on the gas bag, using artists gum tape around a drinks bottle to form the shape of it, then using green stuff to start creating the ropes and rigging that's going to tether it to the hull of the ship

and here's the base i'm creating for it, mid-paint. It's going to bethe job from hell trying to get the ship to stay on the flying stand but it'll be worth it

There'll be more Empire progress shown very soon guys, I just need more pictures

WIP Beastcatchers

2011-03-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Yes that is a Druchii trying to strangle a Cold One.

This is my latest batch of count-as Witches. There's enough there for 15 all told, including unit fillers and they'll be be undercoated and painted as soon as this post goes up

I havn't neglected my other projects though. Progress on my Engineer-based Empire force will be updated soon and my Thousand Sons will get their day in the sun when the Grey Knight codex and the shiny new, kitbash-able to be Pre Heresy GK Terminators arrive.

I'm finally getting through my project mountain

Hellebron, Beastcatchers and a dab of magic

2011-03-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hellebron on Manticore

This is taking far longer than i expected but as my general that's only to be expected really. I'm showing progress here but this is the real reason why I'm posting...

Beastcatchers of Kar Karond aka. Witch Elves, converted from the new Dark Eldar Wych kit. All in all i think it's quite an effective conversion. Simple too. All i had to do is clip off the splinter pistols and attach the tabs to 20mm square slottabases

And finally the dab of magic in the form of my two Lv 2 Sorceresses, Beccar and Luhna.

Beccar, the one in the dress is the physical manifestation of my fiance on the battlefield, after she borrowed the model for an intro game i played against her (my gobbos were massacred mercilessly by her) and since I got it back it's been incredibly lucky, with no miscasts at all and three lucky escapes from death against Ogre hordes. with a bit of luck it might break the dice curse that seems to have fallen over me over the last few years. Maybe

Anyway, comment away guys, let me know what you think (I'm getting paranoid noone's actually looking at this stuff) and I'll be posting progress on the Winged Contraption sometime soon, along with the beginnings of the Empire army to go with it, plus fluff.

ttfn

The Winged Contraption of Hedvig von Nearostaffen

2011-03-02T03:40:00.000-08:00

Has anyone worked it out?

It's the start of a Steam Powered airship that I'm building for my planned Nuln-based Empire force, after being inspired by seeing this on Warseer (scroll down a bit to see it).

It'll be a very slow project due to my lack of funds until May (gods bless student loans), but i have a large supply of plasticard and no less than 12 bitz boxes to draw on, so i'm cobbling together what i can.

Anyway, turning our attention back to the Winged Contraption itself, my aim is to create a set of wings to propel it forward similar to Leonardo De Vinci's flying machine and having it held aloft by a Zeppelin-style gas bag. Hopefully it should turn out looking awesome, but I'll just have wait and see.

What do people think so far?

Mysterious Thing...

2011-03-01T03:06:00.000-08:00

See if you can guess what this is going to become...

Answers and progress coming soon

Magnus the Red WIP

2011-02-28T01:33:00.000-08:00

Carrying on with the showing of progress, here is my WIP of my scratchbuilt Magnus the Red.

I know it doesn't look much right now, but eventually he's going to be used to represent Magnus at the height of his Pre-Heresy/ Pre-Rubic power. Made entirely from scratch,using Milliput, Greenstuff and Plasticarc, at the moment his chest comes to a little higher than a Dreadnought's carapace.

His size I've had a few lively debates over. Every source on Msgnus has him standing at a different height, but seeing as I'm basing him off Graham McNiells description of him, it doesn't really matter what height i make him, seeing as he describes Magnus as being able to morph his size as he saw fit, sometimes appearing a little bigger than a marine, other times a towering monstrosity.
Either way he's taller than other Primarchs and making him about the size of a Dreadnought (5-6 metres tall) seems to work for him, both in terms of looks and possible playability. No idea what to use him as yet but I'm thinking either make my own stats/ datasheet, use either a Tzeentch Deamon Prince or Lord of Change/ Fateweaver or look into Forgeworlds Lord of Change special character. Either way, this guy's taking to the field in one way or another, at the head of these guys...

...I know the pics are a little blurry but here's the first of the Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons to accompany him, along with a Rhino as well. This first squad is going to be Ahrimans personal squad, hence the start of the Corvidae symbol on the side of their transport.

The rest of the squad will go up when I can get pictures.

Hellebron and her Manticore

2011-02-03T03:21:00.000-08:00

As promised this is the start of my showing of progress. This is Hellebron on her Manticore. She’s more or less done apart from obviously adding arms (already done by the time I post), sculpting a cloak to visually link her to the Beastmaster who originally came with the Manticore model and finishing up the paint job. As you can tell she’s based off the Lelith Hesperax model from the new Dark Eldar range and held on by sculpting an extension to the mane around her legs - a long difficult task green stuff, milliput and repostioning the wing, now I see why so many people complain about the metal DE Manticore to be honest

The on foot version will be posted as soon as I work out where the bloody cat’s hidden it

Next from my DE are probably going to be my Wych-based Beast Catchers

I'm not dead!

2011-01-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

Honest. I've just moved flat and been without internet for the last few months, so I've not had a chance to post anything up. I still can't post pictures up though because of my browser acting up but this is really just a post to let you know that I'm still around and doing hobby stuff. I'll have plenty for you to see once I've sorted out this technical issue, including:

- Hellebron on foot, finished, with a WIP of her on a Manticore

I'm finally getting her done, along with finishing up my Dark Elves, who've gone from being Khainites to a Beastmasters expedition (but still with plenty of witches in there in the form of Beast-catchers). The reason behind the change is mainly so i have an excuse to include as many big beasties as I can and keep it fluffy.

- Some of my Commission work

yes, I finally have some commission work coming in. It's not much but it's a start. What i'm working on at the moment is a Steampunk style Techmarine with a top hat. Sounds odd, but who am I to argue with a paying client?

- Magnus the Red WIP

This is something i'm really excited about. I've been reading the Horus Heresy series, in particular A Thousand Sons and I've been really inspired to sculpt my own version of Magnus to go with my pre-heresy Thousand Sons. It's still in the early stages, but I think this will be a worthy test of my sculpting skills.

Also, for those of you who remember last year, when I made a resolution to have a finished army by the 31st December, I've suceeded! I have a finished 1000pt Blood Pact force, sitting in front of me right now, fully painted and ready for war. Photographic proof is coming very very soon.

Right, i'm off to try and sort out the picture issue. Watch this space for plenty of hobby goodness in the very near future.

Selling the lot!

2010-10-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

A while back I launched Operation 8th Edition. I raised a grand total to £20, which then went on non-hobby stuff. Now i'm selling stuff again, but this is far more important.

I recently put a deposit down on a flat with my lovely fiance and we're moving in in a few weeks time. Now the future Mrs Khorneguy has said that she isn't putting up with the obscene amount of hobby stuff I have cluttering up my current place. Therefore 99% of it's got to go.

Here's a list of what I have so far. I'll add (a lot) more as I sort through what I've got over the next few days. Email me if you're interested

rickyjoy9@yahoo.co.uk

2 x SM Scout Bikes - 1 sealed in box, 1 seal broken, but everything is in there - £4 each
1x classic Iron Hand Straken, painted - £4
2 x SM Drop Pods, 1 is slightly damaged - £15 each
3 x Eldar Rangers - painted - £6
1 x AoBR Warboss - painted - £5
1 x AoBR Dreadnought - painted - £5
8 x Assault Marines - mostly painted, 1 converted to hold a meltagun - £10
45+ Ork Boyz of various types - painted - £25
1 x Ork Weirdboy - painted and converted (head swap) - £5
Various converted ork vehicles - £25 for lot or individual offers
6 x Skull Pass Spider Riders - unpainted, slightly damaged - £2
1 Ork Stompa - built, converted and painted - £45
1 x Pair of dragon wings from HE dragon - painted, slightly damaged - £4
1 x SM Tactical Squad - painted - £10
Apocalypse Rulebook - £20

Codices - £10 each

Chaos Daemons Codex
CSM Codex
Ork Codex
Tyranid Codex
Eldar Codex
Space Marine Codex
Space Wolves Codex
Planetstrike
Vampire Counts Army Book
Orcs & Goblins book
Skaven Army Book
Beatsmen Army Book
6th ed Dark Elf Army Book
6th Ed Hordes of Chaos Army Book
6th Ed Lizardmen Army Book

Warhammer 7th Ed Rulebook - near Mint condition - £20
40k Mini Rulebook - £7
Chapter Approved 2003 - £10
2009 Space Hulk Tiles and Doors - £15
2009 Space Hulk Broodlord - £5

The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill - £4
Heroes of the Space Marines - £4
Eisenhorn Omnibus by Dan Abnett- £6
Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium omnibus by Sandy Mitchell- £6
Storm of Iron by Graham Mcneill £5
Signed hardback copy of Blood Pact by Dan Abnett - £15

Various back issues of WD dating back to 2003 - enquire for issue numbers - 75p an issue or 3 for £2

Postage will be worked out per item

There you go guys, go nuts, it's going to be helping me out a lot.

Even more Druchii

2010-10-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. I think I can honestly say at this point that I've never seen this amount of paint on one of my armies.

Some of the first rank of plastic Executioners

Hag BSB. The freehand's still WIP but I think it's going well. I'm going to dedicate a day or two soon to getting it done properly.

Assorted army shots. Nothing's completely done yet, but everything's in the later stages of WIP.

The spots you see on some of those crossbowmen shields are being turned into more freehand designs.

And finally, a WIP of what I'm doing with my Cauldron of Blood. There's going to be slaves and a Death Hag with a whip added

My god, at this rate I'll actually meet my goal of having a fully painted army by January. That's if I ever pull the money together to get my Witch Elves (45 of them don't come cheap)

Anyway enjoy and comment. Any comments or critiques are welcome.

The Shadowblade

2010-10-06T10:20:00.001-07:00

This new Mandrake model by GW is quite frankly amazing and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have to for my Dark Elves. In my mind that thing would make a perfect counts-as Shadowblade.

I've always said that Shadowblade has to have some form of magical abilities, given the fact that he's able to hide effortlessly amongstthe likes of Dwarfs and Undead without detection. Now it's ok for him to hide in the ranks of the likes for High Elves, Empire, Bretonnias, or any basically man-shaped force, but to remain undetected amongst most of the races out there, there has to be some magic at work.

Surely the Vampire controlling hordes of undead would notice there's a still-living mind sneaking about in his army?

Surely the Black Orcs notice that Gabnutz actually looks a bit skinny and pale?

Surely the Lizardmen notice that one of their number doesn't have scales?

Come to think of it, most DE Assassins don't make sense to me. For example, you can hide an Assassin in a Witch Elf unit. But you'd think the Brides of Khaine would notice that one of their sisters was actually a bloke and wore rather a lot of clothes, or at the very least the enemy would be able to see the black hooded and cloaked figure in the sea of pale elf flesh.

All this has always cemented in my mind the idea of magical concealment - it doesn't matter what the Assassin looks like physically, because it's magic that's really concealing them.

Which is why I feel Mandrakes would be perfect for representing them. I'll be watching rather closely to see what other Mandrake models they bring out, I may get a few, one for Shadowblade and a couple for 'mundane' assassins, but at the very least I'm getting this one for the Master Assassin himself. I can just picture how epic it'd look leaping up out of the enemy ranks, throwing off his magical disguise as he plunges his blade into the chest of the enemy general...

Just wish they'd hurry up and put it on pre-order already!

Dark Elf-y stuff

2010-10-06T03:42:00.001-07:00

Here's Hyron, very nearly done. Obviously he still needs his halberd/blade painted, but after a year working on him, three different paint jobs and countless repairs, finally he's at a point where I'd actually be proud to use him in my games. It's mainly just little details to do now, which shouldn't take too long.

Here's everything I've got so far, the majority of it still being WIP's. They've undergone fairly dramatic changes, paint job-wise over the last few weeks as I've been getting advice from the regulars down at my local GW (Cambridge).

The whole lot

Corsairs

Crossbows and Executioners

And finally, what do you guys think of this idea for my Hydra...

I'm going to paint them brightly and vividly, saying that they're a rare breed captured from deep in the blackspine mountains and bought at great price by Hyrons expedition. A unique adaption for this sub species is their ability to spew magical flame - a by-product of the warpstone tainted water they drank (explaining the breath weapon).

Now I'm at uni, I should hopefully get a lot more done and posted up from now on. Hopefully.

I think I'm finally getting somewhere...

2010-09-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

A combination of holidays and isomnia the last few days has meant I actually got some stuff done, I've been cranking out the progress on my Dark Elves at a fair rate.

Sorry for the bad photos - I lent my good camera to the missus for some project she's got in the works, so I'm not going to see it for a few weeks. In the meantime, I'm making do with my crappier one. I'm not letting a bad camera stand in the way of an update

First up is the standard bearer for my plastic Executioners.

The unit is based off the Zealots from the Malus Darkblade books, so I hit a little snag when it came to the standard, as the Zealots had never gathered together on the battlefield, so what should i do for the banner?

My solution: make the standard look like it's made from skin tied to a pole. Brutal!

Next up is my attempt to add a little 'pop' to my manticore and make it stand out on the battlefield (as if a flying mass of claws, teeth and rage doesn't stand out enough!)

I think it was Shadow Grey I added to the mane, before washing it with Baal Red.Don't know what you guys think, but I don't like it so much. I just can't seem to get his mane right

And finally, I'm showing you some of the progress I've made on Lord Malakai and Arkeus. It's not much, but it's slowly getting there.

The wind membrane was done by painting a Bleached Bone basecoat then layering on various shades of black and brown washes.

You can also just about see the start I made on the rider. I'm painting him up and attaching him to his mount one stage at a time, starting with the body, then weapons, then the rest of his cloak (what you see there is just the groundwork). I'm giving myself a time frame of about another month on this, but uni work's going to start piling up soon so who knows.

All in all, i'm doing really well. All i've got left now that's grey plastic is this:

These should be undercoated black in the next few days, which will mean that evey single one of my Druchii are at least partially painted.

Progress is good!

Inspiration - Magnus the Red

2010-09-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

I've been reading A Thousand Sons by Graham Mc Neill and loved it. Both times i've read it it, the urge to create a pre-heresy Thousand Sons army has been almost overwhelming. But not as overwhelming as the urge to create this guy:

Magnus the Red, the Crimson King, Lord of Prospero, Primarch of the Thousand Sons Legion. I get such a vivid picture of him from the novel, even more so than the other Primarchs and I'd love to scratch build a model for him, but while my green stuff skills are ok, they're nowhere near good enough to attempt this.

Another project for the 'maybe one day' pile, along with my Warlord Titan and Dark Mechanicus army...

Bored with 40k

2010-09-13T01:39:00.001-07:00

These last few months, I really havn't got much gaming done. But those few times when i've managaed to get a game in, i've leant instinctively towards fantasy. I'm not sure why.

I've been playing 40k for over 8 years now, having gotten into it, like many of us did when the craze for it swept through the geeky cliques of my high school. Out of the people who got into it then, I think only me and my best friend stayed into into it beyond those initial few months.

Now 8 years is a long time to spend playing any game and I consider myself a firm veteran. I remember when Kroot Mercenaries was a legal force. I remember when there were so many varient builds that you didn't know what you were up against, even if you friend told you what army he was bringing (the incident with the shooty-death Blood Angels stands out particularly painfully in my mind).
It's been a rollercoaster ride, but I just feel I need to shelve 40k for a while, get some fresh perspective. The game just doesn't excite me any more and it shows on this blog. Fantasy has been creeping in more and more and my 40k posts seem to be just one complaint after another.

So where now?

Well I want to get my Dark Elves fully painted and finished. I've signed up for a few online painting challenges in order to motivate me to keep going with them. Only time will tell if it works, but i'm feeling hopeful with it

I also really want to get into 8th Edition in a big way. I've only played a single 8th ed test game, but I loved it, so when uni allows me a chance to get back into gaming, that's the route i'm going to take.

So as one hobby door closes, another opens for me.

Wish me luck.

Oh my good God!

2010-09-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

GW never ceases to amaze me. Not with their models, but their ridiculously high prices.

They've just put the advanced orders up for the High Elf second wave. £25 for either a box of 10 Phoenix Guard. That's £2.50 each for a plastic model! And then they have the cheek in the 'Today' article about them to suggest field White Lions as a 30 stong horde. That's £75 for a single unit. No characters, just 30 plastic (plastic!) models! I remember a few years ago I could get 20 cadians for £18.

Is it just me or is GW trying to price people out of the hobby? First £45 for the fantasy BRB, now £25 for 10 frickin' models?! It's like they don't want any customers.

Now I was considering getting a box or two of both the Phoenix Guard and the White Lions but quite frankly this is going to be way too big a dent in my hobby fund to justify.

Sorry for the rant, but this has gotten me properly worked up, which hasn't happened for a long time.

A whole load of Dark Elves

2010-09-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've shown some progress on my Dark Elves, so I thought I'd show off what I've done.

Before I start, I just want to apologise for the awful pictures. My desk lamp needs a new bulb, so until then, there's huge shadows every time I take pictures. It will be fixed soon, I promise.

Anyway, on to the pictures...

First up is Arkeus, the Black Dragon of Lord Malakai, Vaulkhar of Karond Kar.

I built this guy last year but the wings kept snapping off when I it took it out to play a game with it, so I took the wings that came with the high elf dragon kit and replaced them with a pair of Manticore wings. Much more menacing with the claws, as well as looking a lot sleeker and much more compact, so it actually fits into a carry case now.

Next on the agenda is Malakai himself. I'm not sure what to arm him with. the dude I used to have on there carried a lance, but that kept getting bent out of shape, so I'm thinking maybe giving him a halberd, which would not only look cool, but also give him some close combat oomph if he's left high and dry by the random charging distances in 8th edition. I'd give him a magic weapon, but I want him to fit into 2000 pts, so I need to keep him under 500 pts, which means after buying the Dreadlord and Dragon, I'm left with 40 points left to equip him with. At the moment I'm thinking of fielding him as the following

Lord(140)
Dragon (320)
Halberd (6)
Armour of Darkness (25)
Repeater Handbow(6)

Total - 497

Yes, he's a little light on equipment and doesn't have a ward save, but he's being fielded in games where there won't be too many big things due to points restrictions and I can avoid the ones that do appear. He's there to sweep up the flank and hit big infantry blocks in the side with his breath weapon (which he can now use in combat mwahahaha!) I plan to team him up with a unit of Cold One Knights and see how that works.

Next up is the progress on my Corsairs. I'm testing a Baal Red wash for the armour, tying them in with the Khainite elements of the army. I don't like painting these guys, but they can bulk out my force until I have the money to buy my Witch Elves.

Here's the start of my attempt at a freehand standard for my corsairs. Just in case you can't tell, it's going to be a hand with a glowing sword coming out of a sea of blood. It's still early days and I have no idea how well this will turn out

My Cold One Dread Knight. I'm still pondering on whether or not to paint his mount red, to make it a bit different, as most people have green Cold Ones. Plus I feel that the red would fit the Khainite theme too

And my Sorceress. I've spent the longest time trying to to get a decent blood-like effect on the magic 'swirl' (being in the service of Khaine). There's still a lot of work to go into this and I need to find a replacement staff for her too. She's probably going to go on the back burner though until my Corsairs and Dragon is done

So what do people think? Any and all constructive criticism is welcome

Khorneguys Commissions

2010-09-02T05:33:00.001-07:00

I'm announcing the launch of my commission service.

As many of you are probably aware, I've been extremely short of cash recently to the point where i can't do my hobby. Doing an english degree means i'm likely to be even more permanantly skint this year as well, so i've decided this is a great way to get my hobby 'fix' and still earn money at the same time.

So basically if you want to commission me, shoot me an email at rickyjoy9@yahoo.co.uk and we'll talk.

My prices are on a job-by-job basis, depending on a variety of factors, like complexity of work, etc, but i'm sure you'll find them very competitive.

Back with Gobbos

2010-08-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Back from my holidays at last. We stayed a little longer than planned but it was a fun trip, that's all that mattered.

Anyway, Here's the progress on that Night Goblin unit I started before I went. I havn't done much, but i've been working mainly on their faces and weapons, as that's what people are going to pay attention to in-game

My first rank...

...and with a Shaman - complete with tin foil hat! (in his words - "to stop 'me brains gettin' zogged")

I've decided to used the wooden rabbit as a Snotling Pump Wagon and will be mounting it on a chariot base shortly. I'm also planning on building a larger contraption to use as a Giant.

But more on all that soon, for now, let me know what you think of these guys

Operation 8th Edition: suspension

2010-07-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Operation 8th Edition and The Wandering Mind in general is taking a break for 3 weeks, whilst I have a holiday to norfolk with my Fiance.

You can still email me with offers, but don't expect an answer until at least Friday the 13th of August

See you!

New Night Goblins

2010-07-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Despite the lack of money to buy the 8th edition book, i'm building a force to use in 8th Edition.

An army that's sat unpainted on my shelf for nearly a year now are my Night Goblins, so a long summer holiday before I head to off to uni and the shift of the game to focus on large hordes is the perfect excuse to get them done.

So without further ado, i present...

Slugart, Lord of not-very-much-at-all-but-has-a-troll-so-there.

Bit of a mouthful i know, but it's something me and my friend came up with when i was bouncing ideas off him for this army. He's my 'counts as' Skarsnik and Gobbla, the idea being he's an ambitious Night Goblin who's rise to power has mainly been due to the troll he's managed to train as his bodyguard (would you argue with that thing?). The full background for him and the other heroes of the force is coming in a later post.

He and his big unit of 40 gobbos are still WIP, but when they're done they're gonna form the core of my army, being a bunker for Slugart and a pair of Shamans.
Don't worry about the fact he's missing a hand and his weapon, i've just seperated it for painting purposes, to be reattached at a later date.

I've also built this...

What can i say? I've been watching Monty Python recently and i just got an overwhelming urge to build it. I didn't have a particular unit type in mind when making it, but with a bit of jiggling about, it can fit onto a chariot base, so it's probably going to be used either as a Snotling Pump Wagon or a Chariot of some description.

I'm open to suggestions if people have them.

That's it for now, mainly because I need a new battery for my camera, but there's plenty more where that came from.

Operation 8th Edition: failure

2010-07-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

3 days into my sale and so far the grand total made toards 8th edition is nothing!

That's right, nothing. Not even a single enquiry

I know times are hard financially and i'm only a small blog, but it's still frustrating.

Please help me out :(

here's an updated list, complete with prices

contact email is: rickyjoy9@yahoo.co.uk

Books

Planetkill BL short story collection - £3
Vampire Wars - Steven Saville - £5
Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium - First Omnibus - Sandy Mitchell - £5
Witchhunters Codex (still usable!) - £5
6th Edition Hordes of Chaos Army Book - £3
6th Edition Lizardmen Army Book - £3
Ultramarines Omnibus by Graham McNeill (paperback) - £5
The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill (paperback) - £3

Models (can post pics if you need them)

50+ 40k ork boys
6 AoBR Nobs (unpainted)
1 Painted AoBR Warboss
1 Painted Weirdboy - £45 for the lot of these, make me an offer if you want something individually

Various Converted Ork Vehicles (pm for pics) £35-40 for lot

Carnifex - £15

Roughly 30 Plastic Zombies (built but unpainted) £22

Various White Dwarfs, dating all the way back to EoT campaign (2003), email me to enquire about issue numbers - £1.50 each

I'm also open to trades and i'm looking for the following

DE Witch Elves (any number)
DE Female Dreadlord model from GW collectors range
DE Hag Queen
DE War Hydra
DE Assassin
Night Goblins of any Variety
Skarsnik and Gobbla
Trolls (any kind)

Assault Marines or Jump Packs
Blood Angels Codex
Any BA Bitz with Grail/ Chalice design on them

Everything must go!

2010-07-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well it's taken 3 days but i've finally had my sort out and i've got a lot to sell.
Anyone interested, email me with offers. However, due to shipping costs i'm afraid i'm only selling/trading within the UK

rickyjoy9@yahoo.co.uk

Books

Planetkill BL short story collection
Vampire Wars - Steven Saville
Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium - First Omnibus - Sandy Mitchell
Witchhunters Codex (complete with allies rules and still usable!)
6th Edition Hordes of Chaos Army Book
6th Edition Lizardmen Army Book
Ultramarines Omnibus by Graham McNeill (paperback)
The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill (paperback)

Models (can post/ send you pics if you need them)

50+ 40k ork boys
6 AoBR Nobs (unpainted)
1 Painted AoBR Warboss
1 Painted Weirdboy
Various Converted Ork Vehicles

Roughly 50 Plastic Zombies (built but unpainted)

Various White Dwarfs, dating all the way back to EoT campaign (2003), Email me to enquire about issue numbers

I'm also open to trades and i'm looking for the following

DE Witch Elves (any number)
DE Female Dreadlord model from GW collectors range
DE Hag Queen
DE War Hydra
DE Assassin
Night Goblins of any Variety
Skarsnik and Gobbla
Trolls (any kind)

Assault Marines or Jump Packs
Blood Angels Codex
Any BA Bitz with Grail/ Chalice design on them

So there you go guys, hopefully you'll find a something you want in there, as well as helping me out.

Operation "Afford 8th Edition" begins now!

8th Edition Blues

2010-07-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

8th edition is looming this saturday and I think I might have to sell a kidney to afford it. I've got very little money coming in and even more going out. I thought I'd put some money aside for it, but then another bill came along. *Sigh* Damn £45 price tag

So I've been doing some serious thinking and I might sell some of my many armies. I'm going to sort out what i've got (over 400 models at my last count), then post it up so people can make me some offers.

Watch this space

Some answers at last!

2010-06-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

GW has posted upsome new FAQ's for both the 'Nids and Blood Angels. They clear up some major rules debates which have been raging for months now.

First up, the Doom of Malantia's Soul Leech ability does NOT work on units in transport vehicles.

Mawlocs can deliberately come up underneath units, instead of relying on luck to scatter them onto their target

Descent of Angels CANNOT be used on transport vehicles, so no more DoA-ing Land Raiders

BA Demolisher Cannons are exactly the same as the other marine codexes

Vehicles gain cover saves from Shield of Sanguinius - wow, they must really want us to mech up with BA. I'm tempted to do it myself after hearing this, although i've been against the mechanisation of my armies my whole gaming career (about 7 years)

There's a load more, but not as major as these. Check them out on the GW website if you want to know more.

On the whole, common sense has won out, but there's still some odd ones in there, like the fact that Shadow in the Warp doesn't effect units in transport vehicles, but i can forgive them that one, as the other 'Nid powers don't affect units in vehicles, so top marks for consistency.

It seems like GW's finally starting to address the real issues in its FAQs, which can only a be a good thing.

Only time will tell if they'll keep this up

Stuff I've painted this month

2010-06-29T13:42:00.001-07:00

College has now finally finished, but that means i now have to find a job and start paying my way in life :(

On the other hand, i now have a ton of free time compared to before, so i've been painting. I've decided to work through the huge pile of random models that litter my desk, shelves, cupboard, army cases, etc. But me being me, i'm not working in a logical order, literally painting whatever the hell i feel like at the time. It's had mixed results. I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's good or not.

First up, i'm stripping down a load of (very) old models that have too many layers of paint on to even identify properly, let alone use. I'm using fairy power spray and it's working quite well on metal. Plastic's a slightly different story, as you'll see in a minute

Heres the first batch, freshly stripped. I know the top one (plastic scout in case you're wondering) isn't fully stripped, but as i said before, the power spray didn't work so well on plastic as metal. I think I might need repeated soakings to get it all off.

I've also been starting to work on the batch of scout bikes i got for my birthday back in February. I'm planning to eventually make a Salamanders Biker army. The low model count means i can take my time and paint them up really well (for me at least)

A batch of zombie Plaguebearers for my Deamons force

Possessed Dreadnought. Probably going to be used as a Lord of Change or Bloodthirster. Note that it's a Blood Angels Dread, the only chapter to get Librarian Dreadnoughts (the only thing easy to possess than a psyker is a nearly dead psyker!)

I'd nearly painted this guy when i decided he needed more flames and 'possession-y' stuff, so the final thing will look a lot more elaborate than this, complete with flaming wings coming out his back! I think it'll look awesome and it'll be good for WYSYWIG too.

The first of many Orcs

I also found a buch of random marine models whilst sorting through stuff, so i decided to paint some up, more as test models or experiments than with any consistent colour scheme in mind

I know it's random stuff, but what do people think of it all. Any requests on which stuff to paint up first? I've still got Blood Pact stuff in the works to show off too.

Common sense rules/ models? Pt 1 Vendettas and Orders

2010-05-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

This may turn into a little rant but here it goes.

In recent years I've noticed some really stupid rules and models coming from GW. They've been bugging me for a while but I've kept my doubts to myself. But after an incident involving Orders recently, I've decided enough is enough. In this series of articles I'm going to be covering some of my (huge) bugbears about 40k

First up to face my scrutiny is the Imperial Guard

OK here it goes...

The Vendetta

For those few of you that don't know it, it's a variant of the Valkyrie, filling the role of an anti-tank gunship - something especially important in the mech-heavy environment of 5th edition. The thing mounts 3 twin-linked lascannons, a very heavy weapon outload for something that needs to be able to fly. In my opinion, a little too heavy.

Now remember a few years back when Apocalypse was released? remember the Terminus Ultra pattern Land Raider? The thing mounted 3 twin linked lascannons and two single ones. It also had a tiny chance of blowing itself up if you rolled too many ones.
This is the heaviest tank the Space Marines can bring to bear, sacrificing it's not-insignificant transport capabilities for the space to store the powercells, cooling systems, etc so it can fire its huge arsenal of weapons.

So how in the hell can a light aircraft, which can also carry 12 men in its hold, support three twin-linked lascannons and the appropriate systems to support them?

The idea that the Imperial Guard, which are all about mass production over efficiency, would have sufficiently more advanced technology than marines to mount virtually the same outload of weapons on a vehicle about half the size of the marine one is just ludicrous to me

Now the cynical side of me says it's all to sell the shiny new Valkyrie model, but that doesn't excuse badly thought out rules.
Even three non twin-linked lascannons would have had people snapping them up like hot cakes, but as usual, GW only thinks about how many plastic kits they can sell.

Think about it, 3 lascannons are easy to come by from your average bitz box.
However, 3 twin-linked ones are a whole lot harder, meaning people would be buying the Land Raider Terminus bitz pack (ironic, don't you think?) which was released near the time and had all the lascannons you'd need, or splash out for the Forgeworld conversion kit six months later.

And to top it all off, they could have easily included the parts to make a vendetta in the Valk box, especially considering the Leman Russ Demolisher box released just the next month, with parts for half the Russ variants in. It just bugs me big time. But not as much as this next one...

Orders

The much-praised Orders system came as part of the ruination of the Guard codex that was 5th edition. I could write pages upon pages of my dislikes about the IG codex, but I might come back to them at a later date. For the purposes of this article, i'm focussing on the Orders system.

The idea being that at the start of the shooting phase (the 'Orders Phase' as i quickly came to call it), the Officers in the army shout, curse and generally inspire their men to great deeds. In reality it opens up a whole can of worms both rules and fluff wise, for me at least.

First up is the abilities they grant. These men, for the most part are trained soldiers. They would've at least gone through basic training and learnt to shoot straight, while the vast majority will have survived several war zones. Why is it they need their officers to tell them how to shoot a tank accurately? Is it like they don't try their hardest to deal with the big scary death machine in front of them unless they have a junior officer yelling in their ear? I can understand abilities like rallying and running faster, as the officers are shouting encouragement to their men. I just can't stand the idea of granting re-rolls to shooting or magically giving their lasguns an extra shot.

Then we come to vox. Consider the fluff for them. Fluff-wise they're long-ranged radios designed to let frontline units stay in contact with their superiors. In the Gaunts Ghosts books, the vox casters are shown to work over entire continents (one the scouts specifically states this fact in 'His Last Command') so why is that in game, it doesn't work on anyone further away than their own arse?

Vox should increase the range units can take orders from, not grant re-rolls to failed ones. Better yet, go back to the old system of a vox network keeping the army together, where taking out the master vox could cause huge problems for a guard player

The sheer ridiculousness of the newer rules was highlighted in my latest game.

Picture the scene, bullets are flying, artillery crashing overhead.
I gave the 'run, run, run' order to my company command squad with my count as Iron Hand Straken who was in the unit, aiming to cover ground before the marines shot again. They failed the order check. I shrugged and was about to move on when i remembered his squad had a vox-caster, hence granting me a re-roll. This resulted in the ever-so-slightly stupid situation where he's bawling into his own headset, trying to get his own order through to himself.

I laughed and joked about it at the time,putting it down to the unhinged nature of the Blood Pact, but it highlighted to me just how bad the 5th edition rules are for Guard and the main reason I'm writing these articles. I know it's a science fiction game, but it still needs a grounding in realism - something the GW writers seem to be forgetting recently.

So what do people think? Am I wrong? Am I talking crazy?

I'm also open to suggestions for rules to look in the future at if you want to drop me a line.

New Bases? What the Hell?!

2010-05-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

GW has just announced it's releasing the Screaming Bell and Dreadnought textured bases next month.

Looky here

Now the Dreadnought base i can understand. I've been wanting some of these without having to buy the full Dread to get it. I'll be picking up a few of these for my Bloodcrushers i'm making and if anyone else is like me (a scary thought, i know), they'll sell like hotcakes.

What gets me is the Screaming Bell base. It's not that i can't see why they're selling it. It's a new base size (something i wasn't aware of until today, despite facing one several times since its release - i thought it was a chariot base), so naturally it follows to sell it seperately, like every other sized base they make. I can imagine people building Hellpit Abominations and other big monsters on these things, or even mounting dioramas on one.

What was interesting though was the example they gave of its usage. They mounted twenty Night Goblins on one of them. Now i know some people mount multiple models on bigger bases, especially in horde armies, but twenty on one base? Seriously? I can't imagine a single situation where even twenty Gobbos would be removed from the table at once.

Call me crazy, but is this a sign of things to come in 8th edition? Will there be uber destructive weapons or spells out there that can wipe units out in a blink of an eye?

If so, I fear for our hobby

Also, as a side note, it also talks about mounting a High Elf Chariot on the bigger Screaming Bell base. Does this mean they're getting rid of the strict base size limits?

Discuss. Any and all theories are welcome

New Army for (almost) nothing

2010-05-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

In honour of GW's announcement of a second wave of Daemons in August (only 2 years too late, but never mind), I've decided to finally start the army I've been promising myself since the codex was released.

Now, i have more bitz than I'll ever know what to do with, so i might as well make use of them and convert myself up a batch of daemons, rather than have them cluttering my desks, shelves, cupboard, floor.... you get the idea.

Anyway, onto the models I've made so far, heavily inspired by Dead Emperors project log on Warseer. ( here if you're interested).

Possessed dreadnought. The marine within is channelling the power of A Lord of Change. I'm going to modelling wings on him at some point and the hull's going to be painted up in the colours of one of my regular opponents

My first Horror squad

If the rumoured plastic Horrors come out, I'm going to be mix and matching parts from the Cadian and Horror boxed sets, if not, I'll just get hold of some of the awesome metal ones to mix into the squads, maybe as leaders - I just don't like the idea of an all-metal army.

This old-school rhino has been through many incarnations in its long life. It was the second GW model i ever owned (the first being one of those old snap-fit Khorne Berserkers). It's been a Rhino, a Vindicator, a Rhino again, an Iron Warriors artillery piece, an Ork Looted Wagon, Trukk, had a brief stint as a Battlewagon, before finally being consigned to the cupboard.

Fast forward to yesterday, as i dug it out looking for bitz to scavenge and came up with the idea of turning it into a Soul Grinder - a fitting end to such a long and varied career. A fitting thing is that in it's last game before disappearing into the depths of the cupboard it got zapped by a Tzeentch Sorcerer, so I'll stay it got taken into the warp as an offering for the Forge of Souls, only to reemerge to plague the mortal realm once more.

As you can see, I've cut it up and rebuilt it with the aid of Plasticard. When i get paid I'm going on a bitz website and grabbing the Soul Grinder torso (I'm not paying £30 if I'm not going to be using the legs), then use green stuff to build it up from there

Lunchtime Progress 10th May - Cauldron of Blood

2010-05-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today i've been working on painting up the base and improving the blood in the cauldron. A hairdryer was my best friend here, otherwise all the progress you see would've taken me the better part of a week!

I've been dabbing in more red paint and layers of gloss varnish to try and add some depth to the blood. I'm personally quite pleased with the result and now that's done it means that i can move on to freehanding runes around the rim.

Friday Top Ten #6

2010-05-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

I kinda dropped the ball last week. Sorry about that.

Real life overtook me in a big way and i'm afraid it'll keep getting in the way. My studies and moving half way across the country next month will basically eat up all of my free time, hence why i've been resorting to doing lunchtime painting. Serious kudos to Ryan on FTW for finding the time to post his top ten on the same day every single week, as it's a lot hard than it first seems.

So this is the end of the Friday Top Ten as you know it. There'll still be a weekly Top Ten, just on whatever day i can find the time to post it up on. Some time in the future it will be restored to a set day, but for now, this is the way it has to be.

Here's this weeks list then

1. Big Will over at Heresy Workshop has this very nice pre-heresy veteran

2. These Howling Banshees by Stahly are just all kinds of awesome

3. Magilla Gurilla has this cool but slightly creepy Deamon Prince

4. Rob at Spikey Bitz has some truely epic Ninja Grotz

5. Suicide Badger has some cool Imperial Guard, complete with Xeno-Heretic Col. Straken!

6. Tolcrothlogan has some awesome Danes. I'm not usually one for historical figures, but these are just too good to pass by

7. Ron talks about playing 40k your way

8. John at Santa Cruz Warhammer demonstrates how to make Rhinos that make you go 'ooooh gribbly'

9. I want one of these models for my Khainite Dark Elves army and this one on Bellum Aeternum has brought my urge to impluse buy to the fore again. Truely inspirational paint job

10. And finally, Avertine at Zen 40,000 has this awesome Lamenters Captain

Lunchtime Progress 5th of may

2010-05-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

As promised, better pictures of the Cauldron of Blood, along with the scenic base I made for it at lunchtime today. It's the first layer of a stepped structure I'm creating, sculpted from spare bases and green stuff.

I'm currently in the process of highlighting the blood in the cauldron and adding an extra layer of gloss to make it a bit more realistic, so that will probably be the next update.

Lunchtime Progress 4th of may

2010-05-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

May the fourth be with you

Sorry, it had to be said. Now on to why you're here.

My Manticore is based at last. Now i just have to do the details on him and find a good donor model to use for Hellebron herself.

If anyone knows of a good model, i'm open to suggestions. At the moment, i'm leaning toward this one....

My Cauldron of Blood is nearly done. Not the best of pictures but i was in a rush to snap them before heading back to the studio (hence the food wrappings in the background too)

All i need to do is find and paint the arms of the statue, detail the bottom and make a scenic base for the whole thing.

I'm getting there. Slowly but surely

Any thoughts or critiques are welcome

Not A Top Ten

2010-05-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, just a note to say sorry about the lack of Friday Top Ten last week. Little thing called real life got in the way.

It'll be back to normal on Friday. I promise

Assorted Progress

2010-04-26T02:22:00.000-07:00

This is my hobby space. A complete tip, i know, but I've been a bit busy recently. What you're seeing is the detritus from both my hobby and my college FMP.

This is how what you're seeing breaks down to consume all my free time

Now you might be thinking I'm insane to try and undertake all these projects at once, but really all my armies are constant WIP's. There is no such thing as a finished army in my book.

On that note, here's what I've been doing recently

Cold One Knights

I've decided i really don't like the green, so I'm probably going to repaint them as a deep red, fitting into the Khainite theme I'm trying to get throughout my force.

Sorceress Luhna

I've lost her staff arm, so I'm looking round for something to replace it it at the moment. I might sculpt up more magical energy swirling round her to cover it

A Black Ark Corsair. Again, after painting it, I've decided i really don't like the green, so his cloak is probably going a deep red

And finally Master Allas Hyron, youngest son of the Hyron family and commander of my DE forces. All i did with him is essentially a touch up, flocking the base and neatening up the edge of the robes. At some point i might give him red robes instead, but for now i think the purple makes him look suitably regal, as well as differentiating him from the Khainite forces (he's not religious - the temple is just a tool in his plans to gain power)

What do people think?

Friday Top Ten #5

2010-04-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

This weeks been a long week for me, with final major projects eating up nearly all my time, but i still found time to unearth these gems of our hobby.

1. Right off the bat, Sytus has painted an Imperial Navy pilot. nearly 5 years on and it's still and awesome model.

2. Wallshammer discusses breaking the mold

3. An awesome Ork Humvee from Da Green Skins. hmmmm... i'm getting ideas now

4. Erik A has cool trees. Normally i avoid those GW plastic trees, but he's made them work

5 A Gentlemans Ones documents his epic one man struggle with a Realm of Battle board. Here, Here and Here

6. Bushido Red Panda has an jaw-dropping Sanguinor. I hate the model, but love this paint job

7. ThePete shows us how he makes plastic Stormtroopers

8. This Space Wolves standard bearer is just all kinds of awesome. Kudos to J Croxford.

9. Feeling down? Feel free to have a hug from this beauty by Sam

10. And finally, there's this jawdropping Terminator Assault Squad from Roleplayer

Lunchtime Progress 22nd April - Dark Elves galore!

2010-04-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Cauldron Witch Elf undercoated. This one is going to go with the one i put up a few days ago.

Crossbowmen nearly done

Closer view of the WIP freehand banner for my Crossbowmen

Cauldron of Blood WIP, layering wash after wash of Thraka Green over Shining Gold

Finally, one of my Plastic Executioners converted from the DE spearman box. There will be a tutorial one day. Honest.

Lunchtime Progress, 20th April

2010-04-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so i didn't get round to the Manticore wing today like i said i would, but the prospect of finishing off this Witch Elf was too tempting.

She can either be used as part of the Cauldron of Blood crew or as Death Hag in her own right. The cauldron itself got a round of washes too, but i can't be bothered to get pics of it right now, so i'll do that tomorrow.

It's amazing what you can achieve if you work in little steps

Deathstrike Missile and a lone Gobbo

2010-04-20T03:09:00.000-07:00

Unleash the secret weapon! *cue evil laughter*

You may remember about 8 months ago i put a post up about using a Deathstrike Missile in a game against Deathwing ( if you missed it or forgot, it's here), well i was digging out my old vehicles from a cupboard a few weeks back and realised that i couldn't find my Deathstrike anywhere. I reckon it got lost when i moved house a while back, but it wasn't a great loss, as it gave me the opportunity to create this :

It's built from a cut-down V2 Rocket kit i found in a model shop. It came with everything it needed, including launch pad (although i modified it from the default vertical position). The only problem was that it didn't fit on a Chimera chassis, so i grabbed a spare rhino i had lying around doing nothing - if anyone queries it, i'll just say the Blood Pact aren't fussy who they loot their vehicles from. In fact, i think the Pacters will take great pleasure in corrupting the vehicles of the humanities finest defenders.

For WYSIWYG though, I'm going to have one of the crew carry the 'front mounted' heavy bolter

Although it's not obvious from these pics, I've made the Missile removable for after the launch.

The only thing left to do now is finish painting it, add some cultist crew and unleash it on an unsuspecting foe mwahahahaha!!

Also, this is a Night Goblin that my Girlfriend is in the process of painting and has asked me to put up. I'm so lucky that my girlfriend is as big a geek as me - and even luckier that she's willing to paint up my Gobbos for me!

Painting over Lunch

2010-04-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

Between being an art student going into my final major product, the pressures of home life and having a girlfriend to keep happy, i often find that I've got very little free time to sit down and do hobby stuff.

However I've also said to myself that i won't buy any more models till i paint most of the ones I've already got, in an effort to clear my backlog

Unfortunately, i have all this and more to work through

So after much pondering, I've come up with a novel solution to my problem. It goes something like this:

I'm very lucky to live right next to where i study - five minutes walk each way

I get between 30-60 minutes of lunch break each day.

Take off walking time there and back and i can squeeze in between 20-50 minutes of hobby time into my otherwise jam-packed day, before returning to an afternoon of lectures

Sure, this time restraint means that i can't do anything too ambitious. It forces me to work in little steps. but also i find it's improving my painting skills by forcing me to think about things and plan them more thoroughly before i do them - something I've always had trouble with.

It's helped to set a task for myself for each session, like basecoat all my crossbowmen, or flock 20 bases, ensuring that slowly but surely, my armies are getting painted.

Here are some of my fruits of my labour so far

Dark Elf Crossbowmen

Space Hulk Terminator with Heavy Flamer. The flame was made from Green Stuff

Skull Pass Troll, painted over 2 lunch breaks, starting from a grey undercoat, then just using washes for the colours

A rather gruesome base for my Khaine-themed Dark Elves. This took the better part of a week to complete

WIP DE Manticore to be mounted on the base shown above. The other wing is being finished tomorrow

I'll post more up as they get done, but for now, what do you think?

Friday Top Ten #4

2010-04-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well i'm back from my break. I've been music festival-ing got rained on, soaked, covered in mud and frowned on by relatives upon my return, but it's been a good few weeks.

Anyway, now i'm back with all sorts of ideas for projects, which i'll be posting up over the next few weeks

And without further ado, here's the top ten

1. Drathmere has come up with a novel way of storing your paint pots

2. Zombieburger 40,000 has an awesome Nurgle Rhino

3. A neat objective marker from Heresy Workshop

4 Ron has painted a cool Space Hulk Librarian. There seem to be a lot of Space Hulk models cropping up online recently - 6 months on and it looks like people are finally getting round to it

5. Akenseth is working on a Medusa conversion. I've been considering doing the same thing myself

6. FoxPhoenix is making a Hive Fleet. As an evil genius, i approve of this

6. Some awesome crest helmets from Mister Justin

7. Zen 40,000 has painted a neat Rhino. I don't like them but they eep catching my eye recently

8. Painter with no Name has made the coolest option in the new BA codex.

9. TheMightyFlip has painted a very nice sniper dude

10. Titans are cool. Two are even better, as Siph_Horridus proves

Edit: just realised i accidentally have number 6 twice - looks like it's a Top Eleven this week -consider it a bonus to make up for me being away for two weeks

Friday Top Ten #3

2010-03-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

It was pretty slim pickings this week, but i put that down to a lot of bloggers preparing for Adepticon. What i did find though was excellent stuff.

1. This Bonecrusher by Mike Howell is awesome. I really don't see enough of these about

2. Repentia are such nice models to paint, as BJ at Extremis Diabolus proves here. Shame about the rules though

3. This Witch Hunter, by Andy over at The Lair of the Breviks caught my eye

4. Inq28 has painted this. Not sure if it's a Rogue Trader, Inquistors henchman, or what, but it's seriously cool

5. An excellent Crimson Fist sergeant from Dakka Dakka Daz

6. Ottawa Gamer has a nice analysis of the new BA codex.

7. Col. Corbane posted a great tutorial for trees and foliage

8. These Drop Troopers by Side Streaker are amazing. I'll be watching this army with great interest

9. Atrotos from the Rules Manfactorum discusses the seemingly inevitable return of Herohammer

10. I've had my eye on these Slitherbugs by Rob Baer for a while now, but this Tyrant is particularly awesome

And finally...

Honorary Mention

Incunabulog has posted a review of the best model of all. This made me smile considering what the near future may hold for me

Just an announcement, there won't be Top Ten for the next two weeks, owing to the fact that i'll be at a music festival on Mersea Island on the Easter weekend and at my relatives the week after. Should be back in three weeks time though, so watch this space.

Friday Top Ten #2

2010-03-19T07:26:00.001-07:00

A week rolls round quicker than i thought. Here's this weeks round-up

1. The Shadow Hive has a truely gribbly Great Unclean one that really makes me want to do a Nurgle army

2. Styus' Zoanthrope looks pretty awesome too

3. The heresy has never looked so good with this Warmaster Horus from Dave Taylor

4. More Nurgle Deamons, this time from Pink Tyranids

5. Pick A Damn Army, has been inspiring my Blood Pact for a while, but Rabidchild has painted a awesome looking Night Lord too

6. Seems to be the week for for chaos, as Ninjabread's been painting pre-heresy Thousand Sons

7. This Ork Warboss over at The Tin Paint Bucket caught my eye

8. And some amazing Necrons from Tower of Heroes

9. More orks from Dark Future games, this time a Battlefortress

10. Finally, Sons of Taurus has a new scenario that looks fun to try out

Stormraven Conversion WIP

2010-03-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

The battle report from last weeks campaign game is still on the way but unfortunately it's very time consuming and time is something i really don't have enough of at the moment.

Instead, here's some WIP pics of my Stormraven Gunship i've been meaning to put up for a few weeks now. It's made simply through a rearrangement of parts from one of my Valkyries (it broke after taking a tumble from a high shelf, hence the reason why it seems already painted) and the addition of a little plasticard.

I'm aiming to give it interchangable weapon mounts, so it can be switched between a counts as Valkyrie and Stormraven at will (also the reason why it's crewed by a Scout, who can pass as a Imperial Guardsman too)

What do people think so far?

Friday Top Ten #1

2010-03-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

Ryan from Ftw has said that he wouldn't mind having some rival top tens out in the Blogosphere, so i'm taking him up on that challenge

Hopefully this will become a hopefully weekly, or at least a fortnightly thing. I've wanted to do it for a while, but havn't wanted to tread on Ryans toes.

I'm not trying to compete with or supplant Ryans Tuesday Top Ten, i just want to provide an insight into what inspires me in the hobby world

So without further ado, here's this weeks list

1. Here are some rather nice scratch-built Meganobs by MTD

2. Templar Vanquish has made this Arbites patrol vehicle

3. Bell of Lost Souls has a good tutorial for painting bone, which i'll be using for my Deathwing

4. Bsmoove has done some interesting Terminators

5. Some very nice WIP Dwarfs from The Grumpy Stunty

6. FtW's Ron has written a good article on the power of suggestion

7. I'm not normally a fan of Rhino's, but this one caught my eye

8. Killa Kans are one of my favourite Ork vehicles and this one at Musings of a Smurf made me want to paint some more

9. Some sweet Deathwatch from Jeremy

10. and finally, i love these airships from Musings of a Metal Mind

On the Eve of War

2010-03-10T15:10:00.001-08:00

"Tomorrow the war for Stygias begins in earnest. The foes arrayed against us are many and we are few. I will not deny that the going will be tough and i don't expect many of you to survive. However, those who make it through the tempest will be deemed most worthy in the eyes of the Primordial Annihilator and borne to greatness above all others

Now let us rise and defeat these heathen Astartes who seek to defile the promised land of the the Khorne!

Blood for the Blood God!"

Vash Etogaur at the onset of the Stygias Campaign

Tomorrow sees the first battle of the latest campaign at my local gaming club. It's been pushed back a week due to stuff going on in my life, but in all honesty, the extra week of thinking has done me good and i'm a lot more optimistic about my battle plan than i was before

I'm up against Vanilla Marines in the first round, defending in a Planetfall mission with my Blood Pact, a role which i'm none too happy about, what with my usual force being geared for attack, so i've had to devise some unorthodox tactics, which i will divulge fully tomorrow after the battle, as my opponent reads this blog, so i don't want him learning of my plans quite yet. I'll explain all later when i put up the battle report. I'll say now though that he won't know what hit him!

Instead, i'll outline the fluff i've been developing for my army. I've come up with this to mainly explain why he's fighting all sorts of races, instead of just Guard and Space Marines (the imperial forces in the sabbat worlds) and also how he came to be on Stygia in the first place (which is according to the campaign fluff, near the Ghoul Stars)

Vash Etogaur is a highly respected commander within the Blood Pact, his name associated with the most high risk and dangerous missions, where chances of survival were minimal. Yet the Etogaur has a knack of emerging miraculously unscathed, causing many within the ranks of the Pact to believe he is marked for greatness by the blood god himself

As a Damogaur on Morlond he led in insertion team that led to the destruction of high marshal Iago’s command leviathan. His crack Death Brigade lay low in the engine rooms for three days before striking with a graviton bomb. The resulting concussion wave ripped the heart out of the imperial eastern flank, which chaos forces surged forward to fill . It took 5 days for Crusade forces to re- plug the gap, during which time the Blood Pact reaped a mighty toll on the imperials, offering many thousands of skulls up to Khorne. This victory saw Vash rise to the rank of Etogaur and an entire philia put under his command.

High command seemed to suit Vash, combining cunning with sheer audacity. Even as the Archenemy withdrew from Morland, he commanded a masterful rearguard, coordinating a series of devastating strikes on the victorious imperials, ensuring even in defeat the Blood God would take his toll.

With the favours piled upon him, his career was set to be monumental, with him tipped to become the Anarch's second-in-command after Vayrys was slain on Tarnagua. However, Khorne had different ideas.

Imperial histories record how that ancient edifice of Sparshad Mons was obliterated from orbit after imperial guard scouts discovered a series of warp gates running beneath its surface, through which the Blood Pact were ferrying forces from off-world.

Vash was on the threshhold of one of these gates when the first lance strike hit the gate, severing its connection to the aether in a heartbeat and causing violent feedback through the network, killing thousands of chaos warriors instantly. Vash lost his left arm and suffered burns to most of his body, but he survived. Just.

As he lay in the medicae bay of the 'Hand of Rage', lost in a fever-induced trance, it is said that the Primordial Annihilator himself spoke to him, granting Vash visions of hidden sources of power throughout the galaxy, just waiting to be claimed by those with the strength of will to do so.

It was a sign of Vash's true devotion to his lord and master that when he awoke, he shared these visions of greatness with the Gaur, instead of coverting the power for himself.

The Anarch commanded Vash to take a fleet and travel the galaxy, gathering to him these relics and technological horrors, so they might help bring about greater destruction in Khornes name. Many are the atrocities that Vash has conducted in pursuit of this mission, including the raiding of the inquisitional fortress of Halvas and the scouring of the shrine world of Minan II. Each victory bring many new converts to his cause and when he finally returns to the Sabbat Worlds, along with hellish devices of destruction, he will also bring with him thousands of fresh recruits to be inducted into the pact and ritually scarred upon the ancient power armour of Urlock Gaur.

His most recent mission sees him heading for the far flung world of Stygias, seeking the device known as the Amarth-Thame, or ‘Apocalypse Box’. Sealed beneath the surface, these devices pre-date mankinds ascent into the star and represent power the likes of which most mortals can only dream of. With that at their disposal, the Archenemy could easily seize victory in the Sabbat World Crusade, where they are being ground down by Warmaster Macaroths crusade. However, many other races are drawn to the devices psychic beacon. War on a scale rarely seen before has erupted on Stygias and only time will tell if Vash and his forces will emerge victorious...

The Blood Pact ready for battle in the name of the Anarch

Vash and his command staff

GW has interesting scenarios again!

2010-03-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

GW have just put this up on their site

here it is

it's a new battle mission, apparently the first of many new ones they'll be putting up.

The main thing i find interesting that it's reactive warfare, rather than the 'i go, you go' system. The Attackers and Defenders shooting phases are switched round, making for a nicely flowing battle.

I'd like to see this as the start of a rebirth for GW. I've really missed their scenario archive ever since it was taken down from their site nearly 3 years ago and if they keep putting great stuff like this up, i'd be a very happy chappy

I can't wait to test this out down my local club, if i can find anyone willing to play it with me

Soul Drinkers returning

2010-03-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

Looking at the latest batch of BA rumours,it's sounding more and more like my quest for the perfect codex for fielding my Soul Drinkers with is finally at an end.

I'm aware,this is all working from rumours, so it could be completely different when the book's actually out, but this is what i'm thinking, working from the most recent stuff i've heard

5 Reasons why i'm liking the New BA codex

- Sarpedon

Whether i use Mephiston or a generic Librarian, i feel that Sarpedon will live up to how i imagine him under the BA codex. Blood Stasis looks alot like I imagine The Hell to be, slowing down the enemy and making them hurt themselves in their fear.

Also, using Quickening makes him a Beast! (literally, not the metaphorical combat kind)

One thing's for sure though. I won't miss Sarpedon dying every single game!

-Stormraven Gunship.

A flyer without a model - a converters dream! The Soul Drinkers often used captured fliers in the books, even some of Xenos origin and this is seems the perfect way to bring that element into my Soul Drinkers army

- Chapter Master Seth

aka. Tellos . Current rumours point to him having a Canis Wolfborn-like ability to boost his attacks when there's more models in contact with him, plus additonal hits if the enemy miss him as he takes advantage of their mistake. Perfect for the down and dirty fighting style of Tellos.

Plus, i don't have to put Tellos on a Canis-sized base to field him, woop!

- Chaplain Lemartes

aka. Chaplain Iktinos. The move to from HQ to squad upgrade character makes me very happy, as the mysterious Chaplain can now be fielded alongside Sarpedon and Tellos - together these three characters define the Chapter.
Using up to 4 characters was the main motivation behind me trying to make the force work with the SW codex in the first place. I'll most likely lose Luko with the switch to BA, but it's a price i'm willing to pay if the main three are still there.

Plus, him being a Death Company Squad leader means i can use the DC to represent his 'Flock'

- Troops Choice Assault Marines

These give me a little flexibility in the kind of Soul Drinkers force I can take, theming it towards different Soul Drinkers 'factions'.

I can put Tactical Squads in there to represent the bulk of the chapter, or i can go all-Assault Marines, led by Tellos/Seth to represent Tellos' followers who were left behind on Stratix Luminae (an awesome idea in my opinion!)

what do people think?

Manticore has a bath

2010-02-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

I've attacked my Manticore with several liberal washes with Badab Black and Devlan Mud, as well as filling in many of the fine details, such as the silver metalwork and the rivets. It's getting there. Admittedly, it's slow progress, but i'm proud of what little i'm getting done.

The Storm Eagle Rockets are still on the painting table and I found the last Rocket down the back of my desk last night, although it's too late now to get it primed, painted and done by thursday, so it'll have to wait for now and go with the three-rocket idea.

I've pretty much got everything i need for this campaign at least partially painted now. It's just a matter of knuckling down and getting them done when i get a chance. Easier said than done though, what with exam season approaching fast and two Final Major Projects to do, as well as a missus to keep happy, but i'll get there eventually.

Painted 'Pacters!

2010-02-24T04:26:00.001-08:00

I finally got some painting done!

Like the Manticore yesterday, these still need some fine details and final coats of washes

These ones are Veteran and Death Brigade troopers

Vash Etogaur and the notorious Psyker Milkel Valkronia

Oh and i build a bit of terrain too, ready for the opening mission of the campaign, which will see me defending in a Planetfall mission

I'm so easily distracted aka. Deathwing

2010-02-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

Painted these up today, as Deathwing are my next side-project. Blood Pact are still going to be my main force for the league, i'm just going to be trying these out in friendly games.

I'm aiming to field a 'pure' Deathwing force eventually, if i ever get them all painted. These are still WIP and i have about another 20 Terminators to paint.

I'm also planning to test my freehand skills by painting the Deathwing banner shown in the DA book

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...

2010-02-23T14:18:00.000-08:00

"...Every time you drop the bomb, you kill the god your child has born"

I think of that song every time time I use this thing in game. Kudos to anyone who knows what song it is.

This is the work i've done so far on the Manticore. I'm in the process of painting two more missiles atm. I don't know where the fourth one is, but what i'm going to say is that when they looted it from the Guard, it had already fired a shot and replacements are hard to come by. It never survives beyond turn three anyway, so it doesn't matter too much.

The commanders head is being painted seperately so i can get to the details

Once the Storm Rockets are finshed i'm breaking out the paints for another round of washes to weather it up. Deadline for this is wednesday next week, as i've got my first league game then.

I've also painted up some of my squads, so pics will be up soon

The Sentinel of Vrar

2010-02-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

This is something i've been working on the last few weeks - a 'counts as' Armoured Sentinel

If anyone questions its use in-game, i simply point out the following facts: it's a 'walker', it has a single crewman, it's on the right sized base and it's got the right weapon.
Technically it's wysiwyg!

Tauros Venator

2010-01-19T12:41:00.001-08:00

Forgeworld have just put this baby up for pre-order

In the words of Will Smith: I have gotta get me one of these!

The Stalk Tank ideas are being shelved for while, i want one of these to convert into my Hellhound. I might make some transport varients of it too.

And it happens to be my birthday next month, so guess what i'm asking my family to get me.

Procrastination on the subject of Stalk Tanks

2010-01-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

I've been doing some thinking into how to make a Stalk Tank for my Blood Pact and as far as i see it, the donor model will depend on what i want it to count as:

Option one: Sentinel

I could go the route most people take and have it class as an Armoured Sentinel, in which case it's simply a case of adding more legs to a Sentinel body and shifting them into a Spider-like pattern. However, i think the Sentinel rules make for a vehicle that's a bit 'light' for a Stalk Tank, which is often portrayed as spearheading Archenemy assaults.

Which leads me on to...

Option 2: Leman Russ

This idea would tie in with the assault vehicle aspect of the Stalk Tank, able to mount multiple plasma weaponry (something mentioned in the books)and even represent the command configurations that are out there for it (using 'counts as' Pask)

If i go for this route, it would be an in depth conversion, involving stripping down a CSM Defiler and mounting Leman Russ weapons and mounting it all onto a Valkyrie base (to keep the same basic footprint as a 'Russ).

Only problems with this option is obviously the extra cost of models, as well as the fact that as i'm entering a league soon, if the organiser doesn't approve of the 'counts as', it won't be able to be used.

What do people think?

All thoughts and opinions are welcome

Various Progress

2010-01-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

Work's begun on the body of my Manticore. It's surprisingly simple to build. Considering it's my first ever Forgeworld tank kit, i was expecting it to be more complicated than it is

This is a fallen Inquistor/ Big Bad Chaos Dude, built simply by raiding my bitz box. I'm planning to give him a plastic chaos knight shield in the near future.

In game he's going to be a 'counts as' Daemonhunter Inquisitor, who, along with his Mystics is going to have the job of spotting (and arranging the shooting of) pesky deep strikers. I'm also working on a plasma cannon servitor for him to help out.

Finally for today, this bloke's going to become my 'counts as' Creed or Straken (havn't decided which yet, it still needs playtesting). Either way, it's an old Al-Ulric Model, which i found going cheap in my local independant retailer.

Oh my good god!

2010-01-10T04:21:00.000-08:00

Hear that sound? That's the sound of my Soul Drinkers rejoicing, for in april the Blood Angels get their long-promised new codex.

I woke up about ten minutes ago to an newsletter from GW confirming it. Looks like they get assault marines as troops and lots of deep striking units now.

I've always wanted to use my Soul Drinkers as BA, but the pdf codex and the quite frankly awful librarian rules put me off. But this looks like it could shape up to be truely awesome. I'll be keeping a close eye on this

New Year Hobby Resolutions

2010-01-09T05:07:00.000-08:00

1. Buy less, paint more

I have no less(but probably quite a few more)than 250 unpainted models at the moment, mainly for fantasy, but also a lot of 40k. I seriously need to get some stuff painted.

Plus money’s going to be tighter for me this year, so I’m planning a single big purchase (a realm of battle game board), then only bits and pieces as time goes along. If I limit myself to £20-30 maximum hobby spending on average a month, it should be fine.

2.Complete an army

Tying in with the idea of spending less and painting more, I actually want to get at least one of my armies fully painted and I’m giving myself a deadline of 31st December 2010. This army is most likely going to be my Blood Pact, who are mainly being built out of stuff from my bitz box and models I already own (but not necessarily opened)

3. Keep track of my painting

Using that points system that I’ve seen various bloggers use to keep track of my painting. If someone could direct me to someone who uses it who I can copy it off, I’d be most grateful

Demogaur Vash

2010-01-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here's the Storm Trooper seargent i talked about yesterday.

I replaced his Hell Pistol with a plasma pistol from my space marine bitz box and used the wires left over and a skeleton head to make a servo skull for him.

The plasma pistol arm has been turned into a mutated one due to the fact that the hand holding the pistol was the wrong way round.

I've also been working on another bio-mechanical weapon 'team'

Death Brigade and more...

2010-01-07T18:09:00.001-08:00

Right, here's the pics of my first Death Brigade, based off the Kasrkin Boxed set. I just need to do the seargent now.

And my first completed Blood Pact squad. They all need a once-over with a file to remove/defile imperial insignia, but other than that, they're more or less good to go for painting, just need one more grotesk on the flame troopers

Trooper and Heavy Flamer

Seargent and Vox. The vox bloke doesn't have a grotesk, as i figured he'd need his mouth clear for working the comms, instead he has a cloth over his mouth, so he can still show respect to the Gaur and the Blood God whilst still performing his duty

Troopers

Flamers. the twisty green stuff thing you see on the right is going to become a fleshy mutated arm

Family shot, minus one or two troopers who fell victim to formatting issues with the pic

Oh and i've built this as an unusual weapons 'team'.

And you thought you were having a bad day...

2010-01-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

Right, just a quick update to show the work i've been doing on my Manticore turret.

I've got a Death Brigade fully built now as well, but they can go up later when i have more time, as i'm about to head out for my weekly gaming night.

Progress, of sorts

2009-12-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

After getting feedback from my last post, i've filed down the dark elf helmets in an attempt to make them fit in with the Cadian helmets.

Here is the results

Cadian and Dark Elf head side by side

The 'cloak' is going to be painted up as a bundle of skin/ hides, adding a chaotic twist to the idea of a squad sniper.

I've also started on an Autocannon team, crewed by mutants. I got one mutant done, the other i'm still finding bitz for.

And a Missile Launcher team

A Rough Rider i've also started on. I decided to use scout bikers as a base, as i don't like the idea of rock-hard pacters riding horses into battle. They need iron steeds.
I just need to make a head with a grotesk now

I got myself a box of Stormtroopers and started converting them into my first Death Brigade, filing off or greenstuff-ing over all their imperial icons and symbols. More on these later.

Oh, and managed to dig out my FW Manticore and if i can steal a few moments over the festive period, i'll be scrubbing it and prepping for building.

First of the Pact

2009-12-20T07:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's not 'tomorrow', like i said, but i've finally pulled some stuff together. The main factor that's been stopping me doing much is that this is the view out my window at the moment:

And that shed you see in the corner is my painting shed. With no heating and plummeting temperatures, it's easy to see why i've got very little painting done recently.

However, i have managed to scrape together the following:

This is going to be my company command squad. As you can see, i've only painted a few of them, but i'm getting there. I've begun sculpting Grotesques onto their faces, even with my limited sculpting skills, i think they're ok.

The Servitor's going to be my Master of the fleet, representing Dark Mechanicum support and the big mutated thing is my 'counts as' Nork Deddog. Also, the imperial banner will be suitably defiled during the painting process.

As soon as i can access my painting shed without dying of frostbite, they'll be all be painted.

In the meantime, i've been building the first of my 'Pact rank and file. They aren't Death Brigades, as i see Storm Troopers to be more fitting for those. Instead, these are going to just be a veteran squad with flamers and a heavy flamer (in preparation for the 'Nid codex landing in january). Progress on them is slow, due to the sculpting of the groteques, but i've found that Dark Elf warrior helmets work really well sprinkled about as grotesques, providing a bit of contrast to the IG helmets.

Also, i found some of my old attempts at Blood Pact, which have since been incorperated into my other Chaos IG army. These will be 'repatriated' back into the Blood Pact in due course.

I have a FW Manticore, which i bought at games day that still needs building, so my 'Pact won't be short of fire support.

I've also had a thought for a sweet artillery piece - A Skaven Screaming Bell, crewed by Pact members! It'd certainly be different and could be used as any piece of artillery i liked, using 'counts as'.

It might not fit the idea of the Blood Pact looting IG equipment (as they're most commonly portrayed in the books), but it could be rationalised as being one of the more crazy things 'donated' to the Anarchs elite by the other warlords, as well as providing an interesting and eye-catching piece.

What do you guys think?

Also, constructive criticism of my WIP's would be welcome

Back with a vengence

2009-12-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

Finally got my internet sorted and my life back on track and here's the bumper post as promised.
It’s probably going to be several posts to be honest, as I tend to ramble somewhat

To kick things off I have to say, despite my resolution a month or so ago to finish paint everything I have before buying any more, I've been a bad boy.

Now, for once, it's not my fault (well, maybe a little...). First off, I can blame a certain family member (who shall go unnamed) for clearing out his sizable bitz box and letting me take my pick.
I got a load of Dark Angel parts, some old gobbos with bows and he also gave me two Obliterator models, which I love (used to have 3 of these babies, back in the days when they were still 0-1). For a while I was considering creating a Fallen Angels army, but then looked in Chaos Codex and remembered why I don't like it.

Then I can blame my local club, who’ve just announced an upcoming 40k league, starting in February. Now I always start a new army for new events, such as campaigns or leagues, as it gives me an excellent excuse to get stuff done that I normally find hard to focus on (like painting in general). With this in mind, my thoughts turned to new armies.

Regular readers of this blog will know of my fledgling Eldar Harlequin army from the summer. A big part of me wants to really get that off the ground, but at the same time, painting even a small amount of Harlequins is a time-consuming process and I’ve got my studies to think of in the new year. I'd rather keep the Harley's as a side piece that I can dip into whenever I like, rather than feel the need to finish them quickly.

Then I thought about Deamonhunters, with emphasis on the non-Grey Knights side of things, which seemed like fun to explore, but at the same time, I’ve never collected a proper imperial army in my life. My existing Guard are traitors and my Soul Drinkers are sort of a grey area which I won’t go into here

Then I read Blood Pact by Dan Abnett and hit on the idea of (you guessed it) Blood Pact. I've always liked these guys and used to have a small force of them, but they sort of got left at the wayside when I started Orks. But Mr Abnett has done his magic again and inspired my latest army. His insights into the inner workings of the Pact have sparked all sorts of ideas off in my mind. I particularly like the guy who's devoted his life to saying all the names of death and the 'Sister' in the black dress and will be finding ways to work them into my army.

Codex wise, I’m basing it off the IG codex, but on reflection, I suppose I could use Deamonhunters to portray some of the more crazy stuff that the 'Pact has at its disposal, along with IG allies to represent the bulk of the force/ Death Brigades. At this point in time I want to base the army around the Balhaut insertion team, although that’s liable to change and evolve as I go along.

With all this in mind, I dug out my old Blood Pact models that haven’t been absorbed into other armies and given them a lick of paint. Pictures will be up soon

I've also ordered a box of Cadians and a heavy weapon team to form the first of my squads. I'm also planning on including my new Obliterators, either as weapons teams or Ogryns. I like the idea of using Obliterators as unconventional weapons platforms, as it gives me a chance to use these great models, even though I no longer play Chaos Space Marines.

Well I’m getting tired of writing, so that’s part one of the bumper post. More soon. Hopefully tomorrow if I can steal a break from my studies