Hail Chaos!!

After a week of frantic moving and shifting of stuff for my new flat, I logged back onto the Blogosphere to find my prayers have been answered. A new chaos codex!

GW have put up their usual trying-to-be-cryptic-but-failing pre-pre-order video that is obviously for the long rumoured Chaos Space Marine codex and Blood of Kittens has emerged with a massive rumour dump on the same subject. Both are easy to find so I won't bother linking to them here, but both have send me into a hobby frenzy as I dust off and reboot my CSM Warband in preparation for this great day, having been relegated to storage since that thrice cursed, god awful excuse for a 4th edition book came out.

By the sounds of the rumours I shall be a very happy cultist. It's not the Legions 'Dex but it's close enough. The only thing I'm not sure about is the 'Dragon' flyer, but I'll wait to see it before passing judgement. Depending on the model I may end up converting a suitable count-as, seeing as anti-flyer stuff is a must under this edition.

Well done GW, you've made me genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. With Dark Angels being the most likely candidate for the next codex after chaos, my wallet isn't likely to thank you though

Massive Sale

Having contemplated the extent of my collection in light of my post on painting earlier on, i feel it's high time for another clearout. It amkes sense to me: new flat, new hobby  start.

Having spent the last few hours documenting everything I don't see myself in the foreseeable future and the price I could bear to part with it for, ready for sale.

Take a look down the list and if you see anything you like, leave a comment, or shoot me an email at rickyjoy9@yahoo.co.uk. If you've got paypal, that'd be ideal

Here's the list, complete with prices. Postage will be worked out per sale, with discounts for bulk sales

Marines


2 x Rhino, built and partially painted - £12 each
Vanguard Veteran with Jump Pack Chainsword and Bolt Pistol, painted - £4
10 x Tactical Terminators, partially painted -£25
Contemptor Dreadnought, painted - £30
3 x Thunderwolf Cavalry, painted - £20

Necrons

Trayzan the Infinite, slightly converted, painted - £8
10 Partially built Necron Warriors - £10

Imperial Guard

FW Manticore, converted for use with my Traitor Guard - £20

Empire

30 x Old style empire handgunners, partially painted - £20
Plastic Helblaster Volley Gun - (No Crew) painted - £8
5 x Outriders, Painted - £10

Orks

2 X Ork Tankbustas, Painted - £8
Ork Goff Rocka, Painted - £5
Ork Bomb Squig, painted - £3
Trukk, Painted - £12

Dark Eldar

5 x DE Kabalites, painted - £10

Malifaux

Collete Box set, partially painted, includes stat cards - £20

Dark Elves

10 x Dark Elf Crossbowmen - £12
5 x Cold One Knights, painted - £10
10 x plastic Corsairs - £10

LOTR

Kingdoms of Men sourcebook - £10
12 x Rangers of Middle Earth, painted - £10

Rulebooks/Codices/Army Books
7th Edition Hardback Warhammer Rulebook - £15
8th Edition Hardback Rulebook - £30
Dark Eldar Codex £10
Ork Codex - £10
Eldar Codex - £10
Planetstrike Book - £10
6th ed Dark Elf Army book - £7
6th Ed Hordes of Chaos Army Book - £7
Black Library

Signed hardback copy of Blood Pact by Dan Abnett - £15
Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium Omnibus - £5
Malekith by Gav Thorpe - £5
Word Bearers Omnibus - £10
Know no Fear by Dan Abnett - £5

Have at it guys, there's some good bargains in there. Hopefully wiith your help I can clear some valuable storage space and buy the 6th ed book at the same time
 

Thinking about my painting life

Ok, so Ron just posted an article on From the Warp that got me thinking about my painting skills, which have been lacking for years. He talks about how it's a great idea to get out of your painting comfort zone and paint something you normally wouldn't paint to imptrove your skills, as you're trying something new.

Reading through it, i had an epithany as to why I never seem to be able to improve my painting skills: I always paint in the same way

To show you what I mean, lets us take a look back on my past few projects. In the last three years most of my painting has been focussed on the following projects

Orks
Vampire Counts
Blood Pact
Dark Elves
Space Wolves
Deathwing

On all of them I applied basecoats, then used liberal amounts of washes to make them grimy and to create the shading (which I fail so much at doing the old fashioned way) and 'grime up' the whole model, then pick out minor details to finish. No wonder my skills havn't improved!

With this in mind I am going to branch out and explore new ways of painting, starting with my Deathwing. Apart from on their guns and armour joints I'm going to avoid washes much as possible through the entire project.

Then I'm going to trawl the internet for as many painting articles as I possibly can and apply them to as many different models as I can, painting up my entire collection and selling those I don't realistically see me ever finishing. The 'Eavy Metal Masterclass book I picked up back in December should help too. I don't ever see myself getting to that kind of standard, but if I study the techniques, it should at least help me improve.

Finally, when I get paid I am going to start buying those models I absolutely love, but would never do a full army of - like Harlequins, for example- and paint up some nice display pieces for my new flat, which will have room for a cabinet to display them in.

Hopefully all this will help me out and improve my overall painting abilities, we will see...

Deathwing Built

Havn't had a chance to play 6th edition yet, but that doesn't mean that I can't prepare for it. With that in mind I've been stripping down and building those terminators I bought back in february, ready to be airbrushed by the friend I mentioned last post.

Here they are, crated up, ready to be taken over to hers tomorrow morning...

Once they've been basecoated, it shouldn't take too long to get them done and ready to field. I'm enforcing a rule on myself that under sixth edition I'm not going to use any models that aren't fully painted on the tabletop, hopefully putting a crimp in my tendency of starting a new army on a whim. Hopefully.

On other fronts, I finished my Tree Kin commission, although unfortunately I forgot to grab some pics to put up. Need to remember to do that when i get commissions, so i can develop my website for them. At the moment I'm relying on word of mouth around my local area to get work, but I want to expand so it's a bit of a more reliable source of income, which means a website's a must.

On a plus note, however. I had a game of Mordheim the other day and got through it without a single hero death, even earning enough gold to buy some more henchmen, so things are looking up. Also managed to get some pics of the game, so i'll put up a battle report very soon.

Until next time guys, Happy Gaming!

10 days till 6th Ed....

.. and the waiting is killing me.

There's so many rumours leaking out now from people claiming to have seen the book, yet contradicting each other that it's doing my head in, so much so that I'm finding it very difficult to find the motivation to build or paint anything at all. I did manage to get all my Deathwing undercoated though and hopefully should get basecoats of Dheneb Stone if i can convince my friend with an airbrush to help me out (I am NOT doing them all by hand)

Instead, I've been toying around with various lists that may or may not work in 6th ed. I've written a foot-based Deathwing list, which is basically 30 Terminators, Belial and a Librarian, supported by two Mortis Contemptors that could work, especially if Librarians get better with the introduction of Psychic Disciplines (pretty much the only thing confirmed, with the release of the psychic cards), but the lack of money to buy the twin Contemptors is depressing. I've already sold 15 of the Termies and the basic Dreadnought i got for me DW project to pay for the new rulebook when pre-orders go up. Still, when I get payed next month Forgeworld can expect a big order from me, including goodies to add to my Pre-heresy Thousand Sons

Another list I've been working on is my Space Wolves list that I posted about yesterday. It's harder than I thought. It's one thing writing an all-comers force with the 'Wolves codex, but tailoring against Grey Knights is another thing altogether. I'm trying to decide whether to do MSU in Razorbacks or a more standard gunline. One Vindicator? Two? Or even none and just rely on Long Fangs for my fire support? It's a very difficult question indeed, this is what I've got so far. I know it needs serious tweaking though:

Rune Priest - Living Lightning, Tempests Wrath

Rune Priest - Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane, Chooser of Slain

Wolf Scouts - 5 men, Meltagun

Wolf Scouts - 5 men, Meltagun

Wolf Guard - 1 Terminator with Cyclone (joins Long Fangs), 2 with Combi-Melta, Power Weapons and Meltabombs (join Wolf Scouts), 2 with Combi-Melta (join Melta Grey Hunters

2 x Grey Hunter packs, 8 men, plasma, wulfen, standard, mounted in Rhinos with Extra Armour

2 x Grey Hunter packs, 5 men, melta, wulfen, mounted in Razorbacks with Twin-Lascannons

Land Speeder with Multi-Melta

Long Fangs, 6 men, 4 x Missiles, Lascannon, mounted in Razorback with Twin-Lascannons

Long Fangs, 6 men, 4 x Missiles, Lascannon


I'm thinking of dropping the Wulfen and Power Weapons, as against Grey Knights I'm going to get smashed by halberds before I get to attack anyway, instead investing in a Vindicator. I might even drop a Wolf Scouts squad in favour of another Land Speeder, but that's opening me up to being screwed over on a bad 'Behind Enemy Lines' roll. I shall have to have a think.
Sure, this list is going to be changed up in a few weeks time by the edition change, but the game against GK shall be the last of 5th Ed and I want to go out with a bang, crushing the Grey Knights beneath the heels of the Vlka Fenryka, defending the honour of Russ against my opponents slanderous insults.

I'm off to ponder my list some more, in a vain attempt to distract myself from the lack of reliable rumours.I'll let you know how it goes

A matter of Wolf's Honour

A challenge has arisen that no player of the Sons of Russ could possibly refuse.


A friend of my flatmate has been slagging off Space Wolves for months now, saying they've never seen a SW army win against his Grey Knights. Therefore, in order to defend the Sons of Russ, I've challenged him to a no holds barred game to prove to him the Sons of Russ are no pushovers.

Problem is, I mainly write casual lists and I know he brings very nasty armies to the table, so over the next three weeks i need to craft the nastiest possible army to face him with

Here's what I know about the battle:

-It's against Grey Knights
-It's going to be 1750 points
- Randomly determined scenario
-It's going to be at a club, so a little less terrain than 25%
- He fields fairly balanced lists, so no Draigo-wing or Henchmen Spam (he has been known to use Coteaz though)
- Without serious help, I'm going to be massacred

So if there's any Space Wolf players out there that can help me out, it'd be greatly appreciated, I'm off to write some (hopefully) cheesy lists

Chaos Exalted Hero

I found this old Games Day model while sorting through my bits box and I decided to paint him up, After giving him new weapons (I pillaged the original ones for other projects)

I painted him up with a Slanneshi sort of feel, as that's the god I'd base my Warriors of Chaos army around if I ever did one. In the meantime, He's going to be a display model when he's done. I just need to finish up his horns, the skulls, his loincloth and his sword. I'm really proud of how he's turned out, as I'm not that great at painting most of the time.

Only downside is, I want to buy an army to go with him now...

Thoughts on 6th Edition

Ok so GW has put a teaser trailer on their website for what is obviously 6th Edition 40k pre-orders, slated for the 23rd of June. Hardly a huge surprise, but pre-orders are a little earlier than i expected, placing its release probably on the 30th, so can't complain there.

So with 19 days until a new era of 40k dawns, a pressing question has arisen in my head: What army do I play in 6th ed?

Obviously I don't know what the rules changes are or how they'll affect my various armies, but i though I'd share my thoughts on each of them with you.

1. Pre- Heresy Thousand Sons

I've been pondering what codex to use for these guys for quite a while and I keep going back and forth between two possibilities, Space Marines or Grey Knights. Both offer some fun possibilities in army building, and each having their merits in representing the Psyker-heavy Thousand Sons.

If i go the Space Marine route, I'd load up on Tigerius, a second Librarian and a load of Sternguard Squads, with their special ammunition representing their powers at work, whereas with Grey Knights I'd have access to an entire army with Psychic powers, plus a load of fancy toys to boot.

Thing is Grey Knights are pure cheese, there's no two ways about it. Mainly it's the way their powers and abilities stack, coupled with the way they can rearrange the FOC, offsetting their expensive elites choices like Purifiers with the dirt-cheap henchmen troops under Coteaz. I feel dirty playing them, so so far I've been playing my Thousand Sons under the SM codex with quite a bit of success. Thing is it doesn't feel like I'm playing with Psykers, just a lot of marines using fancy guns, but then the cheese factor of Grey Knights has kept me playing them as they are.

However, there is a huge chance that GK's will get hit hard with the nerf bat under 6th ed, much like Deamons of Chaos did under 8th Ed Fantasy, so if that happens i'm quite likely to make the switch to the Knights of Titan representing my Sons of Magnus. Codex: Grey Knights has so many fun options that I can work into a pre-heresy list and if they've been thoroughly de-cheesed then I would be quite happy to play as them. I suppose I'll have to wait till the end of the month to get my answer on this one

2. Deathwing

This is a very interesting army to think about in 6th ed, mainly due to the fact that a lot of the rumoured changes benefit them greatly.

 If rumours of power weapons becoming AP 3 are true then my Deathwing will get a massive boost in survivability, which coupled with the reduction in the quality of covers saves in the game and the fact that DA are pretty much confirmed in the starter box, which means they've got a new codex on the way makes them very tempting to use as my main army.

There's also the fact that I already have all the models I need for them, minus Azrael and a Contemptor Dreadnought, making them extremely tempting. I think they may become my secondary 6th editon army, rather than my main one though

3. Chaos Space Marines

This is another army I've played for years, although it's been pretty much shelved since the 4th edition codex. Their latest book, then the 5th edition rulebook, pretty much destroyed the effectiveness of my warband, due to my love of all-infantry builds, which under a mech-based 5th ed enviroment, really didn't fare well.

It's pretty obvious that 6th ed will reduce the need for mech. GW's already got our money out of us for transports, so now they're probably going to re-focus the game so that both an infantry-based and mech build can work equally well, so players start buying up infantry boxes again. This can only be good news for my warband, as it means that my 15-strong squads of CSM, supported by Raptors will see the light of the battlefield again.

 Even if this doesn't happen with the release of 6th ed, there's a new book on the horizon for Chaos too and whether it turns out to be Legions or not (the jury's still out in the rumour mill on this one), it will be written to take full advantage of the changes in 6th Edition, so with that in mind, my beloved Golden Knights are going to be dusted off, given a spruce up and made ready to face the brave new world of 6th Edition gaming as my main army.

4. Space Wolves

These are even more interesting as they play rather well under 5th edition. In fact, they're my main army currently.

 Whilst I avoid Long Fang-spam and Loganwing, my Wolves are fairly mech-based, with a pair of Razorbacks, Dreadnoughts and Vindicators supporting my Grey Hunters and Rune Priests. Whilst 6th ed may well limit the effectiveness of my list, This is nothing but a cause for celebration for me.

As i said earlier I despise mech. The Sons of Russ are not meant to do battle from metal boxes, they are meant to get in the enemy's face and punch it repeatedly before burying a frost axe in their neck. I only play a mech-based list because I'm part of a 40k League at the moment and the only way I can avoid being tabled by turn 3 every game is to mech up in response to my opponent.

I actually have a foot-based list written up for my Space Wolves which I've been building up for casual games which hopefully I'll be able to field in a fairly competitive manner with the edition change.
 I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to finally ditch my Razorbacks and Vindicators and replace them with fun things like Wolf Lords, Thunderwolves, Blood Claws and Swiftclaw Bikers. Also if the rumoured challenge rules come about then my Wolf Lord will be in his element, bellowing challenges to enemy commanders whenever possible and having the guts and abilities to normally come out on top.

I'm not going to retire them completely with the edition change, i think, but they are going to get some well-deserved downtime, becoming my tertiary army, mainly wheeled out for the league or the occassional game, DA and Chaos are going to take priority though.


So there you have it, my thoughts on the new edition. Whilst it's not the most comprehensive and verges on the edge of decipherable ramblings, it does give you an insight into what's going through my head in the countdown to 6th edition's release. 19 days and counting....

Slight Distraction

Don't worry I havn't given up on the challenge already, progress has just been slowed by the arrival of a commission which should top up my Games Day fund for this year quite nicely.

I've got quite a bit done actually:

Mainly I've been focusing on my Dark Elves, as I've had a few games with them recently. I finally got round to building my Master on a Dark Pegasus (above) and my Master on a Manticore too (below). You may recognise the Manitcore as the one i was building a few years ago. Yes, I'm that behind on my projects

Another thing I've been working on is this:

My Armies on Parade board from the Games Day just gone. It's been sitting around gathering dust for the last six months so I've decided to do something with it (it's on the list! check it).

With that in mind, I'm going to build a forest-themed LOTR board to accompany my Dunedain force I'm painting up at the same time. It's a lot of work, but it should be fun to do. As soon as this is posted up I'm removing the 40k barricades to use as separate terrain on other boards, then attack it with filler. Should be good fun.

Until next time, when I should have the first pictures from my commisson too - 6 Scratchbuilt Wood Elf Treekin!

24 Hours in...

Ok, twenty four hours into my challenge and I've made a little, albeit random, progress. This is what i've got so far:

First up, I've built and based my first Thunderwolf Rider. I might even use him as my Wolf Lord with a little conversion work (mainly sculpting a beard on him) - as awesome as the Finecast Lord is, I don't like the idea of using the same model as everyone else.

 

A couple of random members of my CSM Chosen squad, nearly done. Mainly I just need to apply washes, finish the detailing and base them

My Dunedain and Hochland Handgunners. Havn't started these yet, buy they're probably going to be the next chunk of stuff i'm going to try and tackle.

I think I'm off to a cracking start so far. It bodes well for my challenge, if I can only keep the momentum up.

Right, back to my hobby desk!