Progress, of sorts

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

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

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

Lack of Internet

Just a quick post to say there will be little to no updates over the next two and a half weeks, due to my moving house and time it takes to set up the internet over there. I'll try and get small updates up, but i'm not holding out much hope.

However, i will still be able to access my hobby things and aim to have a bumper post upon my return.

See you then

Khorneguy

Must Have Units

Ron's asked for our 'must have' units and having thought about it, i came up with the following for each of my armies, both fantasy and 40k:


Space Marines - Vanguard Veterans with jump packs

It used to be librarian with Fear of the Darkness and a drop pod, but since the new codex it has to be vanguard veterans. Combined with Shrike's fleet ability and a locator beacon, you can pretty much count on being able to get these guys to where you need them before your opponent can react and do some *serious* damage when you get there. I typically have 7 men, one guy with TH/SS, three with power weapons and one with power fist, with the rest catching bullets. Any more than that and it's typically too high in cost to be worth it.


Guard - Guardsman Marbo

Ninja with explosives. Enough said


Orks - Flash Gitz

Thye may be expensive in points, They may not be the most effective or units, but god damn it, they're fun. Pirates in space never fail to amuse. Stick thme in a battlewagon and have fun with more Dakka than you'll ever need. And plus there's some sweet conversions to be done too, with tricorn hats and peg legs being the order of the day.

And don't get me started on Badrukk. He carries a plasma gun that fires 4 TIMES. Sure, he'll probably miss, but that's what ammo runts are for. He's the only ork model i rushed out and bought on the day of release. He's amazing in so many ways i could go on for hours, but i'll move on...



Eldar - Harlequins

I only play fluffy armies, rather than the latest shiny codex or power codex and the Harly background is the only eldar stuff that has really grabbed my attention for long enough to get me collecting an army of them. So for that reason alone, they're my must have eldar unit.


Chaos - Khorne Beserkers

Frothing chainaxe-wielding nutcases ftw!


Witch Hunters - Inquisitor Lord

I just love the cruel irony of my army being led by the very thing they're meant to hate.

I can imagine the confusion of his over-zealous followers "b-b-ut, who do we burn?!"


Tyranids - Carnifex

Well, one carnifex in particular. My carnifex: Binky.

He's cute, cuddly and just loves being tickled behind the ear after a hard day muching space marines. Game-wise he's a 300pt monstrosity who's only been killed twice in the dozens of games i've used him in, both times to the same librarian.

A fine must have in my opinion, just for the sheer terror he provokes


Dark Elves - Cauldron of Blood

Anything that gives my Cold One Knights a 5+ ward save is a must have in my book


Vampire Counts - Zombies

180 zombies and still growing, haha! Honestly, who could say no to creating your own zombie apocalypse?

New Spin-off blog

I've set up a new blog for the Vampire Counts army i'm starting, more for fun than anything, but thought it was worth having a seperate blog for it as i feel i'm already covering too many on here.


http://theuneasydead.blogspot.com/

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'?

Soul Drinker SW list 1

Here's the first draft of my Soul Drinkers SW list. No idea how it'll play yet, but i'm hoping it's going to be fast and hard hitting, with Tellos and his Assault Marines spearheading the charge. I've deliberately restricted the Mark of the Wulfen to the Skyclaws, to represent the fact that the worst mutated marines would be sent forward in search of a glorious death.


Commander Sarpedon - counts as Njal Stormcaller

Sergeant Tellos
Wolf Lord with Twin Lightning claws, Jump Pack (representing his inhuman speed), Runic Armour, Belt of Russ, Saga of the Warrior Born and Wolf Tooth Necklace.


Chaplain Iktinos

Wolf Priest with Saga of the Beastslayer and Wolf Tooth Necklace


Iktinos 'Flock' - Blood Claw Pack

9 warriors, meltagun, Powerfist, Plasma pistol

Drop Pod with Deathwind


Squad Zeon - Grey Hunters

9 men, plasma gun, power weapon

Drop Pod with Deathwind


Squad Luko - Grey Hunters

10 men, 2x meltagun, Power weapon

Drop Pod with Deathwind


Squad Tellos - Skyclaws

10 men, plasma pistol, power fist, mark of wulfen


Squad Greavus - Skyclaws

10 men, plasma pistol, power weapon, mark of wulfen


Squad Eumenes - Wolf Scouts

5 men, Boltguns, melta bombs, meltagun, 2 x power weapons


Squad Rilke - Wolf Scouts

5 men, sniper rifles


Squad Nisryus - Long Fangs

4 men - 2 x missile launchers, 1 x multi-melta

Note: Pack Leader in the Long Fangs represents the pre-cog psyker, Nisryus who's directing the chapter's few heavy weapons to where he predicts they're needed.

Still trying to work out how to fit Captain Luko and Techmarine Lygris in there, but for now i'm happy with this. All i need to buy are a few more Assault Marines to convert into Iktinos 'Flock'

Space Wolves for the right reasons?

Having bought and looked through the new SW codex, i've decided to collect a small contingent of space wolves to accompany my Soul Drinkers force. It won't be huge force, just enough for me to have fun with it. But i plan to use the SW codex in a few games.

Many may say i'm jumping on the bandwagon here, but i'm no powergamer or army junky, so i don't care.

These are the main 3 reasons behind my decision:

1. Epic models.

I love the new space wolves sprue that's come out. So many modelling possibilities have opened up it's unbeliveable. I plan to get a few of the basic SW boxes to make a few squads Blood Claws and a Wolf Lord at the very least. I'll probably make a lone wolf too, but in general, SW's will feed my love of making character models like no other amry will.

Plus, i reckon a few SW heads scattered through my IG army will look awesome.


2. Fluffy Soul Drinkers.

So many options in the SW book are just perfect for representing many of the unique things in the Soul Drinkers books,something my Raven Guard-based Soul Drinkers have struggled with. eg. Njal and his Lord of Tempests ability is just perfect for representing the effects of Sarpedons 'The Hell' psychic power, whereas before, i've had to make do with a 'count as' Tigerius since the loss of Fear of the Darkness from the SM list

Also, a Wolf lord with twin lightning claws and saga of the warrior born just screams the name Tellos at me. Maybe even the Mark of the Wulfen instead. Eithe rof these two would convey the 'frenzied killing machine with chainsaw hands' thing he's got going on.

Only downside to this idea is that assault squads are only ws and bs 3, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, with their +2 attacks on the charge making up for it.

3. Play style.

I play very gung ho with SM's anyway, often favouring glorious charges and creating epic combats, when i really should be focussing on objectives. With this in mind, the army i envisage me having at the moment is an army based around blood claws, impeteous and foolhardy, out to prove themselves and start their sagas with a bang. I'm aiming to avoid any really cheesy or broken choices/ combinations in my list (so no Wolfwing, Thunderwolf Cavalry, etc), as i know many players who are starting SW's just for the chance to use this stuff, which smacks of powergaming.

So, as you can see. I have very valid reasons for wanting to start SW's, other than just 'because they're new'. I've wanted to do them for years, ever since i saw the 13th company in the EoT campaign, but various other projects kept getting in the way.

What do people think?

Have I chosen SW's for the right reason, or do you think i'm just another army junky latching onto the latest thing.

Dark Elf battle reports and insane chaos warriors

2+ Save on your basic warriors, what the hell?!

For those who were paying attention last week, you'll remember that i built an insane amount of Dark Elves in an afternoon.

Well, i managed it, surprising even myself on that count. I managed to muster all this:



Note the plastic Executioners, converted from spearmen and green stuff. I'll cover these in more detail later.

Anyhoo, moving on. My first game was pitched battle vs dwarves. Unfortunately, i'd brought a fairly static gunline of 45 crossbowmen, with Executioners, Harpies Corsairs and Cold ones for counter-attack. Outclassed didn't even come close. The game consisted of me trying to close with him before his cannons took me apart, without much luck. The game ended in a massacre to him.

This week, my game was against a bloke named colin and his nurgle chaos horde.

My list was roughly the following:

2 lv 2 sorceresses, one with lore of metal and the other with dark magic
45 crossbowmen
15 corsairs
1 death hag with banner of hag graef and witchbrew
12 exectioners with banner of murder
2 units of 5 harpies

Mission was breakthrough - get more units into the opponents deployment zone than your opponent in yours

The plan: pelt his big blocks of chaos warriors with magic and crossbow bolts,using harpies to slow his marches, then counter-attack with my corsairs and executioners, relying on the powerful death hag and executioner combo to break through.

The reality: Now i knew his army was tough, with me often need 6's then 5's to even force armour saves on them, but i knew if i got a few good spells off (i rolled spirit of the forge for one of my lore of metal spells), then i'd stand a chance. Unfortunatly, the winds of magic were blowing fitfully and i rarely managed to cast any spells for the whole game. the few that did make it were swiftly dealt with by his scroll caddy. Even Power of Darkness couldn't help!

A huge mistake i made was getting over confident with my executioners/death hag and charging a block of 18 chaos warriors in the centre of the table. My dice failed me on damage dealing. Then i found out that what's the equivalant of power armour at range turns into a 2+ save in combat!!! Can you say broken?

Well, unsurpisingly, my unit was ground into the dust, then the warriors overan into my corsairs, who at least died slowly enough to give me some thinking time. One of my units of harpies had fled too far (ie. off the table) from a charge from his chaos knights, turn 2, but i still had a unit of the winged vixens flying around just behind his lines, not really doing very much as he was too close to march anyway. I flew these into his back field, far away from any possible retaliation, giving me a victory point.

Then lady luck threw me a bone. The warriors unit had been joined by a marauders unit in destroying my corsairs unit, but once the pirates had been crushed, it turned out that only the marauders were alined in such a way that they'd end up in my deployment zone, leaving the chaos warriors running lengthways across the board, unable to wheel enough in time to make it (it was turn 5 by this point). All i had to do deal with was bringing the maruaders below scoring, so tbhey didn't count as a unit for the victory conditions.
There were 15 or so of them in the unit, so this was a tall order considering my shooting so far, but the fighting had brought them into short range of all my repeater crossbows and sorceresses and they didn't have the advantage of chaos armour, unlike their borderline broken comrades.

Unsurprisingly, my magic did sod all, bar killing one, but then 45 crossbow bolts were loosed. 8 or so hit their mark and 5 killed, forcing a panic check. Unfortunately they passed it, giving me a turn of my own panic as he strolled right into my deployment zone, smug as anything. Then last turn, another 45. this time about 12 or so hit, 7 of which hit his sorceror!! luckily the sorceror went down and there were enough left on the unit to kill 4, ending it's scoring status and pulling out an incredibly narrow draw for me.

It was a great game and it taught me a great deal about my army and how to play WFB

1. My Dark Elves are best at mid to short range shooting

2. Never charge/engage chaos warriors - shoot them or melt them with magic, but facing 18 terminator equivilants in combat is not good

3. Chaos players fear Lore of Metal and will go to great lengths to stop you using it

4. Relying on magic could be good if you have power stone or two - i didn't, hence my trouble with magic

5. Even if you load up on goodies, you still need to support your Executioners - i really should have combined it with a corsair charge

6. Harpies are useful. Very useful.


Where next?

1. I got a manticore through the post today, so i want to play a game or two with that, see if it works for me or not.

2. I also have a Cauldron of blood that might be interesting to try in conjuntion with the Executioners and Death Hag


As usual, thoughts and opinions are welcome, especially on the style of battle report i used

It's a squat!!

The picture pretty much speaks for itself. It's the new White Dwarf subscription model. It's a Squat! Not a dwarf, as most people thought. It's got a boiler suit, servo-arm and space helmet.



Ther big question though, is whether this is a one off model or are they on their way back. I'm guessing, considering the 'squats and space dwarves never happened' stance of GW until now, is that it's unlikely to be a one off.

Games Day Morsels pt2 Squats!!

The WD modelsfor 2010 looks very squat-ish to em. And it's on a round base, so can't be a dwarf. Unfortunately, i didn't get a pic in time, so we got to wait for it to be published. Well they did say they were unveiling something big for games day, and that seems to be the only thing that fits the bill.

Speaking to Graham McNeill, he said that the next Ultramarine book will have the ENTIRE chapter going to war. This will be amazing if done right, even if it is smurfs. I don't think anything like that has been done outside of HH.

Little titbit of info for you. After a chat with the WD team, i found out that majority of the models used in WD battle reports are actually early resin castings, as the restraints of working so ahead of time often means they don't have the plastics yet (they're working on february's issue atm). Also, for the same reason, they often don't have access to final drafts of rules, meaning points costs and some rule wordings are off.
Basically this means that you shouldn't turn to WD battle reports for resolving rules/ wording issues with a new codex or army book.

If you look in the back of the free BL preview booklet, it talks about a Raven Guard HH audio book on the way, called Ravens Flight, detailing the events of/ directly after the Istvaan Drop Site Massarce, as Corax tries to escape the carnage. Should be interesting.

More as i remember it, folks. I forgot to take notes, haha!

GD UK morsels

This is stuff i gleaned from my GD experience

Just got back from UK GD and i don't know what you guys have heard, but i got the following...

Contrary to what people were led to think, and what GW store staff were told, the SW codex was not on sale, although there were plenty of display copies about. I had a look and it looks immense and non-broken

I spoke to Kenton Mills at the Forge World stand about the possible evolution of design for the Ork Mega Dread into Knight class titans and he said they were a possibility, but if that happened, they'd be in a book based around Ad Mech. Same for the Warlord Titan.

Speaking to Jervis Johnson about various things, I found the following:

Dark Eldar are still in works, no definate date for them yet, but he once again mentioned redoing the models from the ground up, interestingly,talking to him about my own Dark Eldar army, he said that he 'hoped' that the models i own would still be usable in the new 'dex. Make of that choice of words what you will.

No more GW design podcasts, instead he said he's 'leaving that up to the community who have the expertise for podcasts'

When asked about any upcoming Dark Elf plastics, he said he couldn't say, but then went on at great length about second wave releases. Hmmm...

Interestingly, there were very few dark elf items at the sales stand, with no chariots, manticores, dragons or harpies etc and not a single blister pack(possibly indictating a withdrawal of products ready for new plastics)I also was informed that manticores had been moved to the collectors range when i asked for one. Since when has that been like that?

There is an Ultramarines CGI movie on the way.

I found an interesting WIP that a forgeworld staff member describes as like a Valkyrie for SM's, sort of like an orbital lander. Apparently, he's waiting for it to be approved by the forge world head honchos.



Tyranid codex is confirmed, but thanks to BOLS, you all know that already. Hope they improve the cover




Oh, and my favouite Golden Deamon entry...



More GD pics to come

Dark Elf insanity!

I woke up this morning/lunchtime to an email from my local gaming club organiser, reminding me that the fantasy battle league starts tonight. It's a 1500 pts league and i have just under 700 points of Dark Elves, as i can't use my black dragon at that level.

Most people would've just given up at this point, citing time restraints on constructing such a force, but note me.

Reading the email, i realised that the models only have to be built, not painted. I also have about £200 spare cash sitting in my bank account, doing nothing at the moment, as i was saving it for Games Day this sunday. Therefore, if i dip into that fund and if I can put up with an infantry-based list for a few weeks, then i reckon with a monumental effort, i'll be able to get a (at least usable) army together in time for 7pm tonight, even if it's not going to win me any games.

With this in mind, i'm off into town to pick up the following

2 boxes of warriors, to be build as crossbowmen
1 box of corsairs
1 box of cold one knights
1 Manticore
Hopefully 10 executioners, or if my FLGS doesn't have them in, i'll go without for this week.

Wish me luck, i'll post up the results

SM Command Squad commission

This command squad is part of an ongoing commission for a gaming buddy of mine, who's just getting into 40k, but only has time to game, rather than build and paint.

So far i've painted up the contents of Black Reach for him and i'm expecting a Land Raider to be handed to me any day now, which should be interesting, as my own land raider ended up as an ork battlewagon.



He wanted to keep the feel of the command squad relatively low key, hence the lack of ornate shoulder pads, etc. He also didn't like the knight-like head for the company champion, so the champion has a normal SM helmet. Unfortunately, my computer ate the close-up pic of the champ, so i can't show you properly.



He requested that the Sergeant had a plasma pistol, so i raided my bitz box for that one, but other than that, it turned out rather nicely straight off the sprue. With no green stuff work involved, this project is a nice shift of focus for me. There's something very satisfying about making great looking models straight off the sprue, with no modding work to 'jazz them up'.

All that remains now is to file off mold lines and paint them up. Then i can move on to Space Hulk, woop!

Out of production, my arse!

Got back from Holland on monday and it's taken me this long to recover. I had an... interesting time

Right off the bat, The Wandering Mind is staying as blog title. I've decided for all the reasons i listed last week, plus the feedback I got, that the name is far cooler than anything else i could come up with, so it stays.

Now on to the reason for my post. One afternoon whilst I was in Wassenar, Holland (about an hour train ride from Amsterdam) I took a wander through town. I spotted a Games Workshop sticker in one window so I decided to look in. Much to my surprise. I found this beauty for sale on their blister pack rack!



For those of you that don't recognise it, it's a classic Zoanthrope that's meant to have been out of production for three or four years now.

Unsurprisingly, I bought it on the spot, as i knew that i'd have Space Hulk waiting for me when i got back to the UK and i'm planning to convert the genestealers so they could be used in 40k too (i'm covering this in a future post). But looking through, it would seem that the place hadn't taken a delivery of blister packs for years. I saw the classic space marine commander blister (the one with axe and combi-weapon) and Killa Kans still being sold as blister packs, instead of boxes. It was like stepping into a 40k time warp. Now, i don't know what the deal is with european countries and supply from GW, but isn't this a little strange. Can anyone shed any light on it for me?

I'll say this though. The older Zoanthrope looks a lot easier to put together than the newer one. i've already got two of the more recent ones and i've found that their huge heads tend to make the model very top heavy, so i have to stick stuff to their bases to keep them upright in a game. The classic one however, has better proportions and can even be put together without the carapace, making for some very cool conversion oppotunities. I'll let you guys know how i get on.

Name Change

From now on, Khorneguy's Lair will be known as The Wandering Mind.

This change is for several reasons:

1. I like this name better
2. Whilst i'm known all over the internet as Khorneguy, my blog's shown no real preference towards khorne stuff, but constantly references my wandering attention span
3. It allows me to experiment with all races/systems without worrying that the blog title is somewhat misleading.

It's probably going to change at some point again in the near future, but i'm going to 'trial run' the new name for now, as well as mull it over on the ferry tommorrow, as i embark on my annual holiday. No doubt i'll return from the continet with a much better name, but for now 'Khorneguy's Lair' is gone for good.

What do you guy's think?

Did you like 'Khorneguy's Lair'?

Any suggestions for a new name?

Deathstrikes are fun!

Sometimes you just have to cackle maniaclly and hope that your doomsday device works!

Played my first game with a deathstrike today and i have to say, it was a blast!(no pun intended)

Deathstrikes pretty much sum up the way i like to play. Fun, quirky and they doesn't always pay off, but it's awesome to play with them anyway.

I reckon i need to convert up a guard officer with a suit and moustache, just for effect. He can be a 'counts' as Creed, with the four orders a turn representing him going nuts and shouting at everyone in the general vicinity!

Essentially, my guard were holed up in the building they'd hidden the deathstrike behind and kept feeding the Deathwing infantry squads until it went off.

Luckily, it went off turn 2 and hit bang on target in the centre of the huge cluster of Deathwing terminators bearing down on my squishy infantry squads with the full blast of 6". I have never seen anyone roll so many fives and sixes as this bloke did, although i did wipe out a good half-dozen or so terminators. The look on his face was worth the points cost of the missile on its own!

Unfortunatley, it didn't slow him down and his army swept up my flank, all the while under fire from guardsmen with Autocannons and Plasma Guns. One plucky Commissar wiuth a power sword even managed to kill one up close and personal before being gutted by Belial. In the end we called it a draw, due to the fact that my opponent had to dash off, but it was a very fun game and i'm looking forward to facing him again in two weeks time.

Would a second Deathsrike be excessive?

Titan Help!

I've recently come into quite a bit of money and as such, have decided to buy a titan.

I'm thinking a Reaver Titan (or even the upcoming chaos one *drool....*). Now i know I said a while back that i was gonna build my own Warlord. That's still in the works/ design process, but i thought getting a Reaver too would
a) be very, very cool, and b) give me something to refer to when i build the big 'un

Huge problem is that i've never worked with resin before. Ever. Never even ordered anything from forgeworld, therefore, i'm asking everyone if they've got any hints or tips to help me out. Is a titan a bit too ambitious to start on resin with?

Also, any reference material anyone could send me regarding Warlord Titans would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Email is rickyjoy9@yahoo.co.uk this will be going on the blog soon enough anyway, but here it is

A Mime is a terrible thing to waste

A nice shiny parcel from GW arrived this morning, containing a Deceiver boxed set and blister pack of three classic eldar rangers.

Naturally, i didn't pass up the chance to crack them open as soon as possible and get going.

Now i have two very-nearly painted mimes(rangers) on my desk and work has begun painting up the avatar of the laughing god.

Pictures once i find my camera

EDIT: Pics are here. The pic of the Deciever/ Avatar aren't the best, but it's all i could do.

A few of the base colours have been applied. I think i need new pot of tentacle pink, as it doesn't seem to look right when applied to any models any more.



The Mime's are going to have slightly more muted colour schemes that the other Harlequins, denoting their role as infiltrators and espionage experts. Also, what's the point of Mimes who don't wear black and white?

Avatar of Cegorach?

I've had an idea for a really cool addition to the Harlequin-themed army i'm planning. An Avatar of the Laughing God!

I got the idea from reading through my back issues of WD and found a Laughing God model, which someone named Bryan Shaw painted for Los Angeles games day in 2003. The model, as far as I can tell is simply a Deceiver model painted up in a Harlequin-style colour scheme with the necrons on the base removed.

This got me thinking that this could be a great alternative model to the Avatar of Khaine, which i've wanted to include in my WIP all-harlequin force for a while now, but never made it in, through dint of being devoted to the wrong god, but this way it can use the same rules, just instead it looks like it belongs in a force devoted to Cegoarch, rather than Khaine

So, what do people think? The pic's on page 142 of UK WD 300 if you're interested

Motivation and where to find it.

Lack of motivation is common factor in many a unpainted or unassembled army, with many gamers unable to bring themselves to devote the time to getting it done

Personally, i have mild Aspergers Syndrome, so once i'm working on something, i'm able to focus on it for hours at a time , only emerging for food and coffee.
However, finding the motivation to get into that 'painting zone' is a huge problem for me.

Luckily, there are two simple tricks i've found that work better than most:

1. Special Events

I find preparing for leagues, campaigns and special games like apocalypse, etc to be the biggest motivator, as I really don't like playing with unpainted forces.

For example, i'm in the process of painting a Dark Elf army that would never have gotten past the grey plastic stage if it wasn't for the fact that my local Gaming Club is starting a WHFB league in a few weeks time.

Like-wise, my Ork pirate army was mostly unpainted and sitting on the shelf until a 40k campaign started up in january. Now, after six months hard campaigning, which unfortunatly cumulated in the defeat of Waargh!!! Igork, I have 4000pts of painted Orks, including a Stompa to show for it, so i don't mind too much that i lost.

I find that in campaigns, because lists evolve as you go along, if you want to include new unit in your force the next week then you should say to yourself that you won't field them unless they're painted. This means that you're far more likely to get it done, as it's beneficial to your gaming, as well as the overall look of your army, rather than 'something i should really do, but can't be bothered'

2. 'What do i need to do?'

This is a technique that many gamers, including GW advise you avoid like Nurgles Rot, but it honestly does work.

Work out everything you want to get built and painted over the next few weeks and lay them out on your hobby desk. Then say to yourself 'I'm not going to paint anything other than what's here'. Then whenever you sit down to paint, whatever you decide to work on, it's progress in some form or another. This is what i'm doing for the huge backlog of stuff i posted up a week or two ago, and i'm halfway done already!

Psyker Squad WIP

These are my first attempt at sculpting more than just details, so i decided to stick to simple shapes, hence the large amount of huge eyes.

Basically, i'm aiming to use these as a Psyker Battle Squad in my traitor guard army. They're at the stage where the basic shaping and 'muscles' are done, but i still need to do the details, which i plan to do tonight.

If you're new to sculting, i'd definately recommend using existing models as the basis for your work, even if it's just to form the shape of the torso. I say this because one of the most difficult things to make is that all-important basic shape that will define the entire model.
Doing this also cuts a stage out from the overall process as it's a pre-made 'skeleton' for the miniature. In the case of my Psyker Squad, the main models i used as a basis were Black Reach Orks with the arms removed, which seem ideal for making hunchbacked and deformed mutants. I also used some old tyranid parts i had knocking about.

Right, that's enough rambling from me, on to the pics. Any thoughts and/or constructive criticism are welcome, as i'm still not 100% sure on them. Soory they're not the best quality photo's, but my camera's on the blink again.

Too many projects!

I have far too many models to paint. This is the view of my hobby table at the moment.





Once i've built my mutant psyker squad, i'm planning on painting my Dark Elf Cold One Knights and Crossbowmen (finally, hurrah!!), then build the Drop Pod. After that, it's a matter of what grabs my attention.

I figure that if i lay everything i need to do out across my workspace, then it will motivate me to get it done. Hopefully.

Marbo and a Warlord

I'm still waiting for parcels to arrive, so i'm posting up a pic of my Guardsman Marbo and announcing my next project: A scratchbuilt Warlord Titan!

Details to follow once i have them locked down, but for now enjoy my Marbo in all his gang-conscript glory.

Grah!!!!!

Frustrated wouldn't even come close to what i'm feeling now

The package was only dispatched today, so it's not going to be here for 3-5 working days, essentially cutting off all painting and modelling until it turns up.


So instead i'm posting up more pics



Genestealer which i painted up in fit of Space Hulk rumour-induced excitement



My Iron Hand Straken, which I started paintig up the the day before the news of the the new model was announced. I might paint up a Chaos Space Marine champion to represent him, as the stats for him are closer to a space marine champion than an imperial guard commander, no matter how good he is. Obviously, i'll still need the official model for stuff like tournaments, etc, but for pick up games i'll be using the champion. Another thing to add to the 'when the paint arrives' list




Binky. Painted up in an experiment to see if the genestealer scheme could be carried over to the rest of the the tyranid army.




WIP Ork Warboss i'm working on. Needs some serious work, but i ran out of Badab Black and the various shades of green i needed at the wrong time. The idea behind him is that he's Igork after the campaign i've been playing recently. In the final battle he got caught in the charge of Chapter Master Shan of the Steel Avengers. He took the Commander down, but got taken down as well in the process, so i'm saying he survived, but was subjected to the attentions of his over-eager Painboyz, hence the bionic elements. I like to remodle my commanders occasionally, so they seem to gain a history and life of their own.

Waiting...

I have a drop pod, paints and glue all somewhere in the depths of the Postal Service at the moment, so i can't do anything hobby wise until they arrive, which is a shame really seeing as all my Soul Drinkers need is another Drop Pod and a paint job on the Vangaurd Veterans and they're at 2000 points AND i've got no more exams so i can settle down and actually get some done. Typical.

Sigh. Maybe tommorrow

Anyway, i see this as an ideal oppotunity to post up a list of my hobby projects over the next few weeks.


Finish my Soul Drinkers, then wait for Sarpedon to arrive

Complete the modelling on 'The Beast'

Turn one of my Chimeras into a Deathstrike launcher (i'll be covering the process on here)

Make a start on the painting of my Malus Darkblade-led Druchii, as they are in this state at the moment, plus twenty corsairs and one painted Cold One Dread Knight:




Of course, this all depends on how quickly the parcel of paint turns up.

Planetstrike and Me

I've been watching the approach of Planetstrike with mixed feelings. Nothing that was published or leaked about it seemed particularly interesting to me. But I got the new White Dwarf yesterday, covering the planetstrike releases and i have to say, i've been converted (what's not to like about flaming spaceship debris falling from the sky!) and i've been feverishly finishing off my drop-pod based Soul Drinkers in time for it.




I wasn't convinced by the Ironclad when i got the GW preview email a month or so ago, with the banner and HK missiles, thinking it looked ugly in a bad way, with the overly bulky missiles, oddly patterned hull and banner. I think GW made a seriously bad decision when they chose which of the studio's models was going be sent out as a sneak preview, as i don't know about anyone else, but it nearly cost them my business in the dreadnought department.

But seeing the one with what looks like smoke launchers attached to its hull in White Dwarf, I'm convinced that the Ironclad kit might actually be worth £25 of my hard-earned money.

What's more, looking at the pictures in WD, it looks like the front can be left open, giving me the idea to model the wounded marine suspended inside, replacing the visor plate with clear plastic.

Dreadnought with fully modelled and painted interior is on the way!




However, looking at the pics of the land speeder storm, i've realised that it doesn't come with a squad of scouts and, to make matters worse, the scout passengers you get seem to come it just one pose, as no matter what chapter they come from, all of them look the same. Damn. Conversion work is going to be needed.
Still looks cool though and i'm currently trying to figure out how to justify three of them in my Soul Drinkers army. Might even kitbash a few as Deffkoptas for my orks.

The terrain's been firing off all sorts of ideas in my mind too. I'm thinking of making a mountain fastness with two Bastions, a set of defence lines and a few bits of foam.

In other news, assault cannon armed razorbacks are going to be easy, what with the land raider accessory sprues being released next month. I picked a bad time to collect a themed army. I'm tempted to start a Salamanders army just to have all this stuff!

Orks of all varieties

Thought i'd post up some pics of my orks. I apologise now for the poor quality camera work, but the flash is stuck on my camera and i can't turn it off, despite my many attempts.

Warboss Igork da Pirate Boss and one of his Nobz. I abandoned the greatcoat idea in the end and subtly converted a Black Reach Warboss. Note the peg leg.




Nob with Big Choppa



A Goff Rocker i found on the GW website a while back and just had to have it. Unfortunately i had no place for it in my army, so i use him as a Nob with Waargh! 'Banner



Nob Biker, converted from SM Attack Bike and official test model for the Bad Moon mercenary contingent of my army.

The Beast

Sorry for the serious lack of posts over the last 6 months, but i've been busy with work and personal issues. With a bit of luck, i'll be able to post something up every few days from now on.

Anyhoo, on to hobby matters.

I got bored yesterday afternoon and decided to make a Battle Fortress for my orks (as you do). Here's a WIP shot taken last thing last night.




It's based off a toy JCB, then bulked up with plasticard and various parts from my bitz box. It's meant to resemble a pirate ship in some odd, round-about sort of way, hence the spiked prow.

I'm hoping to use it as the 'Dethrolla' Battle Fortress from Imperial Armour: Apocalypse, seeing as (ironically) the Deffrolla is an optional upgrade. Not that i'm going to pass up the chance to put one on it, but i'll wait for the Battlewagon upgrade sprue first, as i don't like the forge world one and don't fancy making my own.

Apocalypse Army

This is my apocalyspe list that i'm working towards, hopefully to be finished in time for a game that's arranged for my local gaming club in the next few months.

The general theme of the list is the idea that they are are a band of Outcasts and Pirates who have 'aquired' a fleet of vehicles and have taken to roaming around, raiding, pillaging and generally making a nuicance of themselves.

I've more or less got everything on this done and almost painted, save the Stompa (coming soon on March 7th) and the Skullhamma, which i still need to find a donor model for, seeing as i think the baneblade kit is a) too expensive and b)too nice to cut up for parts

HQ

Pirate Boss, Igork Teefsnaga

Power Klaw, twin linked shoota, attack squig, 'eavy armour, cybork body

Mad Gazza, Warboss

Power Klaw, Slugga, attack squig, 'eavy armour, cybork body

Ordsdakka, Big Mek

Burna, K. Force Field, 'eavy armour

Wurrnaz da Great, Weirdboy

Warphead

Elites

Kankrumpas Tankbustas

6 'bustas, 2 squig bombs

Da fireboyz, Burnas

5 Burnas, 1 mek, kustom mega blasta

Da Skrappaz

4 x Nobz, twin-linked big shootas, painboy, eavy armour

Da Skrap Kart, Battlewagon

Kannon, 2 big shootas, armour plates, red paint, grot riggas

Troops

Igorks Pirate Ladz, Nobz

8 Nobs, 1 power klaw, 'eavy armour

Da pirate wagon, Battlewagon

Kannon, 4 big shootas, armour plates, red paint, wreckin' ball, deff rolla, grot riggas

Rugskuls 'ard boyz

19 'ard boyz, 1 big shoota, 1 nob with power klaw and bosspole

Trukk

Reinforced Ram, red paint, armour plates, wreckin' ball

Hagdakkaz Big Mob

19 boyz, Nob with Power Klaw, 2 x Big Shoota

Gazgag's Uvva Big Mob

19 Boyz, Nob with Big Choppa, 1 x Big Shoota

Fast Attack

Zagdakkas Flyboyz, Deffkoptas

4 'coptas,2x Buzzsaws bigbomms

Heavy Support

Da Fire Boyz Kart, Looted wagon

2 big shootas, skorcha, Red paint, armour plates, wreckin' ball

Looted Rhino/ Wagon

2 Big Shootas, Red paint, armour plates, wreckin' ball

Looted Devilfish/ Wagon

2 Rokkits, Red paint, armour plates, wreckin' ball

Teffsnagas 'eavy ladz

8 Flash Gitz, Shootier, More Dakka, painboy, cybork bodies, Kaptin Badrukk

Da Flash Kart, Battlewagon

Kannon, 4 big shootas, armour plates, red paint, wreckin' ball, deff rolla, grot riggas

Da Crusha, Skullhamma Battle Fortress


Da Big Lad, Stompa