Welcome to a World of Pain

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

Stormraven Conversion WIP

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?

Soul Drinkers returning

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?

The Sentinel of Vrar

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

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

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

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.

First of the Pact

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

Degrees of 'counts as' - Being reasonable?

Played two games today. One in the ongoing WHFB league i'm in and the other with the space wolf list today. Lost horribly in both cases, but i didn't mind too much. But the second game threw up issues of 'counts as' and reasonability.

Basically, we both wanted to test the new space wolves codex. Neither of us own the 'official' models, so there was a lot of 'counts as' being used.

First up, he put a Black Reach captain, a Terminator Chaplain and a Dreadnought down and said 'that's A Wolf Lord, A Rune Priest and Bjorn'. Now i'm a reasonable guy (not that i'm saying he's not), so i said, yeah, no Problem.

I then unpacked my stuff and put Sarpedon and Tellos down and said "That's Njal and a Wolf Lord". Instantly, he blurted out, pointing to Sarpedon "but he's on too big a base, you can't use him!", followed by a retort from me. I'd been using this guy for months as Tigerius (who's on a small base), with no problems, yet the moment i wanted to use him as a new character, (who is more or less the equivilant of Tigerius, but sold on a terminator base), it was apparently bang out of order, just because he had some apparently powerful special rules, which had yet to be run through the local gaming mill, so the hype over them was still believed.

However, in his new-codex-oh-my-god-it's-overpowered, he chose to ignore the fact that Tellos, my Wolf Lord, for exactly the same fluff reasons as Sarpedon, had chainblades for hands(count-as wolf claws), no chest armour (but highly mutated, so counting as runic armour and belt of russ) and no representation of the jump pack i gave him (inhuman speed). If i'd wanted to make an overpowered list, i could have classed Tellos as Canis Wolfborn, who is very Tellos-like, in that he's also fast, tough and kick-ass in combat.

It's not like i was wanting to gain an unfair advantage by using Sarpedon on a bigger base, i was merely wanting to represent one of my favourite BL characters in a fluffy manner, as well as make use of the model i'd commissioned off Ron.

If i'd really wanted to be picky, i'd have said in that case, he couldn't use his Chaplain as a Rune Priest, but instead i took the cowards way out and bargained with him. I let him use his missile launchers from his tactical squads (being thrust into the role of grey hunters) as plasma guns in exchange for him 'being reasonable' about Sarpedon. In the end, Sarpedon was vapourised by a lascannon with the opening shot of the game and those extra plasma guns cost me the match, taking out my drop pod troops as they landed. The game was over by turn three.

I wouldn't have even been bothered that much if his force hadn't consisted of a mis-match of several other SM armies, including Dark Angels and Codex Marines, with no consistancy of colouration, whereas, i'd taken the time to paint every model in Soul Drinkers colours and model things like Mark of the Wulfen clearly (mutations). The only reason why Sarpedon isn't on a terminator base is because when building him, Ron suggested that he'd look better on a bigger base, else he'd look ridiculously squashed in on a 40mm one.

Speaking to Colin, the club organiser afterwards, he said it was a little unfair considering it was a friendly game and if he was in that position he would have let me use Sarpedon without forcing concessions upon me. But unfortunately there is a fair sprinkling of competitve players in my local gaming group, whereas me and Colin are more in favour of balanced or fluffy lists, so there's often clahes of 'gaming personalities'

So, who would you favour in this situation. Me or him?

How far should people reasonably take 'counts as'?