The Real Housewives of 40K.

I'm not sure if you are all unfortunately familiar with it, but one of the many scourges of piece of garbage television culture here in the US, is a series of programs on the Bravo channel called "the real housewives" of "blank (insert city here). The program concerns itself with a bunch of whining, spoiled, vapid, fake, almost universally moronic and always cruel women, who with their emasculated husbands (or boyfriends) parade around fighting with each other having pissing contests over things like who has the better boob job or who can spend the most money in an afternoon. Its the worst kind of mind rotting trash imaginable, akin to nothing but watching people argue for a hour. Unfortunately, women love it. I know some very Intelligent women who shockingly love it. They say its like watching a trainwreck, they see parts of many of their friends in these shameless shrews, and the weekly trainwreck provides them with endless entertainment. Until today I thought I had grossly overestimated the intelligence of some women I know, but then today I read this article on Bell of Lost Souls.

I've railed against Ard Boyz's before and what worthless pile of dung it is, an antithesis to the wargaming hobby, and something no one I would spend 5 mins talking to would ever play in more than once. (Hey- we all make mistakes right?) This article is about a recent Ard Boyz event, taking place in only what I can assume is Texas, and pretty much says it all,- zero hobby, cheating, physical intimidation, all over toy soldiers. This is what much of the 40k tournament scene has become stereotyped as, a bunch of "real housewives" a bunch of knuckleheads, who ought just go throw dice against the wall for money than bother with the wargaming hobby. While I know not "all" 40K events and players are like this, it is a real subsection of hobby that puts an embarrassing stain over the the rest of it just like steroids in Baseball. My greater point here isnt "how bad Ard Boyz sucks" but how places like Bell of Lost Souls perpetuate this behavior, and are these aggregator type blogs, even good for the hobby?

Let me say now that as much as this looks like one, it is not a shot at the guys who started BoLS, who did so surely with the best intentions, while I know neither personally more than in passing at Adepticon or a few emails. I do know they are passionate hobbyists with love of their game and their gaming community. As we all know sometimes the best intentions go astray, outside themselves and with the exception of a few smarter guys that have moved on, the writers are bloody awful, the articles, overall terrible and immature. Most of the "breaking news" is usually days old, recycled from other blogs. Other games are mentioned in passing, but we all know its primarily a 40k blog and The 40k articles generally promote, ultra competitive, Ard Boyz style play and hence its behavior. The kids are clearly minding the store and the whole thing at least to me looks like one big episode of "Real Housewives", not just the regular Episode but one of the special reunion ones, where people sit across from each and argue and scream at the top of their lungs for two hours.

The problem I have is two fold, One- like the trainwreck of said show, I can't help myself from reading it and now I understand where these women I know that watch this garbage are coming from. Two- on a more personal level is a matter of public perception. I see BoLS lack of self policing really just damaging to the overall perception of hobby because it indirectly hurts noble efforts like Heroes of Armageddon ( in which hobbyist built and donated 4 awesome armies for doctors without borders, raising over $30,000.00) While I am not sure there is even any cross pollination between the HoA team and the BoLS community the association is there, because of the blog and the HoA logo plastered all over it. So when you read some of these insane articles about the 40K hobby like I've mentioned. That is just frankly bad for business. Thankfully HoA has come and gone, but the greater point remains. Whether you like it or not Bell of Lost Souls has become somewhat of gatekeeper to the hobby, and when the gatekeeper, looks like the "crypt keeper", your going to scare away just as many people as you bring in.

I would not presume to tell the guys at BoLS what to do, or how to clean up their act. That simply isnt my place, I am one guy with a blog and an opinion, and these days they need to change the old adage from " opinions are like a-holes" to "blogs and opinions are like a-holes". This is just whats on my mind today. I'm not afraid of self analysis, I know I have easily become one of those old grognards who will inevitably will fit in better at Historicon than Adepticon I am sure sooner than later and thats ok, I am also aware its possible, maybe I just dont get it?.

My only bit of wisdom would be to point out that blogs are different than forums, and the shenanigans that go on at certain forums have there place where the public face of a news aggregator doesn't. Just like certain blogs with a narrower focus, are far less offensive, despite objectionable content, because they are not "gatekeepers" or don't try to put everything in one bucket or be anything more than what they are.

So unlike the "Real Housewives" trainwreck the women in my life just cant stop watching, I can't just drop Bravo from my cable channel, but I certainly can disassociate myself from the BoLS alliance and its place in my blog roll so I dont have to watch the trainwreck. In fact I am retooling the overall coverage of the blog anyway to be non-GW, removing the majority of the GW only and 40K blogs, with exception of "hobby only" powerhouses, like Dave Taylors blog, From the Warp and Santa Cruz Warhammer., because despite the traffic I did get from BolS, I have pretty good idea of who reads this blog and who doesn't.

Space Hulk - Exterminate

Space Hulk mission recap


Blood Angels

Sgt Gideon- Thunderhammer/ Storm Shield
Brother Leon w/ Assault Cannon
Brother Valencio w/Chain Fist
Brother Scipio
Brother Omnio

Genestealers- 35


Mission 2- Exterminate. Once again we rolled off and I got the Marines. The mission features a very large map and all the marines begin dispersed, The Genestealer player alternates with the Marine player in placing the Space Marines down in one of the 6 rooms on the map.
I ended up with the Sgt Gideon, Leon and Valencio at the Southern end of the map with Scipio and Omnio on the northern half. Deployment in this mission is crucial as you can block the Stealers from entering the board by getting within 6 of any deployment area, Do this on both ends of the map and the Marines win.

Since the Blood Angels were dispersed and Gideon was closer to the men on the southern end of the map, I started moving the Sgt that way. I set the Assault Cannon up covering the long Southern hall, and had the Chain Fist marine move position against another approach and hope to get moving south toward the entry area.


Initial Deployment
'
Southern Side of Map, a few turns in

Bill learing his lesson from Mission 1 and knowing he had finite resources start stacking up blips on the north end of the map with only a few to the south, knowing I had less men there. My men to the North start backpedding toward the center. My strategy was to try to block the Southern entry, then link everyone else up and then move north until we could block or kill all the Genestealers.


Omino and Scipio move toward the center


Wasting too much time here


Bill- building up the Blip Horde to the the North.

I had numerous opportunities on the Southern End to move toward the block point however I choose to wait for his initial Stealer to attack and the he just held them back. I should just went for the Southern Block point right off and used the Assault cannon to cover his rear and move forward shooting until either the Chainfist Marine died or I reached the Objective. Instead I wasted time, moving around try to cover various approaches..I was stupidly moving backwards in the hallway at one point on overwatch try to protect the chainfist marine who had Stealers coming at him both ways. The Assault Cannon blazed away and killed many stealers. The Chainfist Marine was insanely lucky fending of three close combat attacks at "6" in a row by rolling 3- "6"'s in a row. at This point I had seen that thing weren't going to happen to the south if they did it be pure dice luck..so I was moving my Sgt toward the Other two marines. The two Standard marines where held up in the very center room positioned on overwatch so both could shoot into the hallway where the 20+ model conga line of Stealers was building. I actually ran out of time in turn couldn't everyone on overwatch and the Marine with the Chainfist..finally fell...the Assualt Cannon blazed away but eventually I had two rounds of not getting a "5" and the Stealers where on him and he died...I used about 6 of my 10 shots with AC.


Leon with the AC is just out of this picture to the left, I actually survived this onslaught
with some Assault Cannon clearing and Valencio rolling three back 2 back "6"s" in assault to survive the turn.


Not so lucky here, Leon is dead, Valencio will soon follow.


Three men left bunkered down at the center of the map, out numbered 20+ "we'll have to kill em all, the Sgt says"

With my Marines bunkered down in the center room and are already shooting at the genestealers and killing ALOT.. Sgt Gideon enters the room and stands next to the door way so he can swing at anyone coming in and I have Scipio and Omnio on overwatch shooting at either hallway as Bugs approach. Bill is moving two Conga lines of Stealers at the Blood Angels, one from the North one from the South..with twice as many models coming North. At this point I am killing a ton of Genestealers and Bill is worried as all the Stealers are on the board..he has around 10 left to my three marines. He rushes both rooms..I kill a few more and Scipio covering the southern approach is killed. Backs to the wall Gideon to taking on every Stealer coming at him, while Omino shoots at everything he can finally the Sgt Gideon Falls. Omino now is alone on he goes off overwatch using his last 2 AP to shoot twice and kills two of the remaining 3 stealers. It is now ONE VS ONE for the game..Bill attacks and rolls a 1,2,3 its 50/50 I can win the game all I need is a 4+, I roll a "1" Omino falls the Genestealers win!

Blood Angels Kills 34, Genestealers 5


The First "Conga Line" moving from the north, despite the Jam you see there
we cleared this one out pretty good.



With Leon and Valencio Dead, Genestealers are now on us from two directions.



Here they come from the North.



Backs to the wall!!



One VS One for all the marbles!!

Bill played this exactly right this time, my errors were clear and some hot dice steaks made it the coin flip it turned out to be. The Assault cannon definitely needs to go on the North Side of the Map in this mission. Bill and Billy played mission 2, twice more after I had played. In Game 2 the Bill played the Marines won in a closer game, and by Game 3 Billy who now had the Marines had broke the curve on how to win this and Blocked both exits early and had an easy win shutting down the Stealer extermination style.

In review, very fun mission although at first glance this seems very difficult for the Marines, once you figure it out the Marines have the advantage.

next up, Mission 3- Rescue

Space Hulk- Suicide Mission

Space Hulk Mission Recap

Blood Angels-

Sgt Lorenzo
Brother Zael
Brother Omino
Brother Noctis
Brother Deino

Genestealers- Hordes

Game 1- I played the BA, while Bill ran the Stealers.
I move cautiously into room 1, Omino opens the Southern Door and stands on Overwatch..Zael is protected from the rear and the Sgt leads the way to the East. Genestealers start pouring into the southern hallway..Omino's stormbolter is on fire and he drops at least a half dozen Genestealers single handedly from the south..the other move eastward while Deino stays back to support the rear should Omino fall. Blips are coming in from the east, both passages. Sgt Lorenzo is rushed but cuts thru three Stealers with his powersword. Zael blocks the northern passage with a blast from the flamer, killing another stealer. Lorenzo and Zael head North as Deino stands on Overwatch guarding the lower east tunnel. More blips are coming, My dice are on fire and the Blood Angels are dropping Stealers left and right almost 2 dozen kills at this point. To the rear Omino is finally overrun in the first room. Noctis and Deino are now back to back guarding the north tunnel with Genestealers coming from the east and west. Lorenzo and Zael are at the quad junction near the launch control room. Lorenzo steps thru the intersection so Zael can head north, moving backward flaming the intersection in retreat, Cannot do it, Lorenzo is still the way .Noctis brings up the rear from the junctions east side. Deino is now dead. Genestealers coming 4 ways now.. Lorenzo only gets 1 command point on the redraw this round!..he's shoots misses and goes on "Guard"...Stealers assault him in a long line..he cuts down, 1,2, the 3rd one kills him, they are on Noctis now...he quickly falls..Zael is alone , the launch room is 3 squares behind him...he won't get another chance to fire out of AP, no Command Points...Genestealers mob the passage...Zael Dies his objective in sight.

(close but no cigar, upward of 30 kills for the Blood Angels the game went at least 12-15 turns)

Game 2- I played the Genestealers, Bill played the Blood Angels.

I had a slightly different approach than Bill, I let my blips build up and didnt strike until he had moved past the 1st room...I had genestealers coming 3 ways..Lorenzo drops a couple but goes on guard and purposely moves into close combat...bad dice kill Lorenzo on the resulting combat (turn 3 or 4) With no command points, my build the horde strategy pays off, I am drawing lots of #3 blips..I know have all the available Genestealers models on the board, the BA are trapped between the two hallways and the 1st room filling up with stealers from the south..the game quickly ends, over by turn 5, maybe 6.

( a true suicide mission, Sgt Lorenzo was drawing big command points early, (5's and 6's)
he then overcommits after a few quick kills and is killed...the dice got the better of Bill on this one, losing your Sgt early is clearly game over. The BA had maybe a 1/2 dozen kills before going down on this one.)

All in all a good 1st delve into Space Hulk, Mission 1 is extremely hard for the Space Marines..you need to fend off stealers as you move and get Zael into the hallway toward the launch control room , while covering all the rear approaches, easier said then done. Uses the flamer to block passage ways you cant cover.

Result- Genestealers 2- Blood Angels-0

Next time Mission 2, "Exterminate" with Photos.

Space Hulk has landed!

My copy of Space Hulk arrived yesterday.. despite my 3 year old literally freaking out at the big colorful box thinking it was something she could play, I had to pre occupy her with something else and then squeak in WFB game with my pal Chris before I could get chance to thru the contents around midnight last night. Everything holds up to what has been stated before, no need to rehash the awesomeness of this box set

Couple quick links

Arcadia Prime going over the box contents- I was going to do the same thing but this fellow here beat me to it and did a fine job.
Akozz with some serious inspiration linkage to lots of 3D terrain for Space Hulk, do some bookmarking here if your getting back into SH you won't regret it.

I started putting together my Terminators last night and here is some good modeling advice be careful..these models are made with a different plastic than the standard 40K models I own. It is much more brittle and you need to be very careful clipping the bits and drilling out gun barrels sprue points are often small attached very detailed bits..while I am being overly anal I am sure you want to take your time assembling these and not accidently damage the models. I am going to be painting my soon, and am waiting on the new Space Hulk issue of White Dwarf due anyday that has ton of SH info, and painting advice. I'll have more to offer on Space Hulk once I get it assembled and a get some games in shooting for this weekend.

Hands On- Space Hulk.

Like lots of folks today, I got my mitts on the new Space Hulk game as it full contents were out for view at the Chicago Battle Bunker.

On the Termies- Some the nicest Space Marine models I've seen for period, In fact when I got home I immediately went and grabbed my Black Reach terminator and my Standard Terminator Sgt (and with FW shoulders pads to boot)and these models are nicet than both!! There is no doubt these will be showing up in BA armies everywhere. These are full sized, two piece models like the ones done for Assault on Black Reach...but the models are even more detailed. If this is the future of GW plastics we are all happy campers. These models are just awesome. Ron over at From the Warp has more.



On the Stealers- Awesome dynamic poses..many can work with exisiting Tyranid armies, The Broodlord is stellar, just as good as the Marines in their own way.

On the Accessories- Lots of cool bits the Dead Commander on the throne a few other things I wasnt quite sure what they are but lots of little widgets.

On the Board and punch out tokens- Very heavy cardstock, super high quality, nothing you are going to easily damage. absolutely top shelf.



On the paperwork- everything is glossly 4 color..with well illustated diagrams. GW is setting the bar for itself extremely high with this package. I hate to sound like drooling fan boy, but this box is one of the sweetest products I've seen from GW period. Let the Design studios run more projects guys please.



On my conversation with GW staff- regarding the controversial Limited Edition status.
My own take after seeing box my conversation and listening to complaints about non supporting the game past this release is this. There is no doubt all these models are going to cannibalize sales of standard boxes and some models for both Nids and Blood Angels. (especially with new codex's for both coming in 2010) I am sure creative converters will figure out a way to change chapter iconography( which wont be easy since they are loaded down). A non limited edition would simply be too much, $100 for the models alone is a steal forget about the rest of the stuff. Currently the original Space Hulk sells for $400 on ebay. Think of this as a collectors item. I seriously doubt you will ever have a problem getting rid of it at more than you paid for it and you can thank it being a limited edition for that. In case you are wondering its flying out the door. Prediction...completely sold out by October 1st. (if not sooner)

(excuse the mediocre photos, I was at the bunker today for another tourney and I snapped these quickly between rounds, I did get to spend about 10 mins going over the box and handling the models)

Space Hulk

So Space Hulk arrives The funny thing is there isn't any mention of the said mystery box and I have not gotten the accompanying newsletter yet. From the content photos It looks like all pieces are plastic, its not existing models, but individual "FFG" game piece style models. there is no 3D terrain..just cardboard punchouts. It still looks very cool but nothing on par with all rumors out there regarding the contents. Also selling via the website doesnt really meet the speculated the limited release rollout (i.e "stores only") For whatever reason I am thinking there still might be a surprise to come, as in this might be the standard "new' edition and there is a fancy limited edition with all the bells and whistle waiting to be announced..It does say "while stocks last" on the splash photo so..maybe not..I will update this later today should details change. Make to check out the Space Hulk, First Contact page as well. I am going to pre order this as I only ever played the old Space Hulk PC game and it looks like a great 2 person board game.

Edit 11:30am CST-: Looks like this is all she wrote folks, disappointing there isnt more to rumors about the 3D plastic terrain would have been sweet but honestly that doesnt really hold up with $100 price tag, I am digging the new miniatures and am glad its not recycled sprues of other stuff.

BoLS posted a kick ass You Tube intro video as well.

Blastscape Firestorm inbound

And not in a good way. It seems GW's last of year of "reorganization" is biting them in the arse full throttle. The new Blastscape terrain pieces are showing up to pre-orderers and the people are none too happy. The previews look great and I love my moon craters from a few years back. Apparently the Blastscape stuff was produced in a similar fashion but by a different manufacturer. The quality is flat out horrible, in fact from the photo's I am seeing- its a joke. Where is the quality control GW?, someone should be losing their job over this one..letting bad product like this go to market is a brand killer. Time for me to wait until I see that new ChaosTemple piece before I order it. IF GW is known for anything its the highest quality in plastics, letting that one slip away is a big no-no. Potentially killing pre orders for all kinds of product. I have to predict they're going to be recalling these as the quality is so poor compared to stock photos, its just not cool. I thought only Hasbro pulled this kind of BS. I first got wind of this earlier today buts its been going for few days and is getting picked by several blogs and now TGN.

Read the original thread here at Dakka Dakka, while the peanut gallery over at Dakka is definitely known for its hyperbole, this ones dead on.

New Imperial Guard Valkyrie- Photo!

Ok, not sure if this is the 1st sighting of the actual new Imperial Guard Valkyrie, but it is for me. This is straight out of the new White Dwarf..which seems to go from the printers, to my house, then to everyone else. Anyway I saw the chance to post something relevant about 40K that I like and I jumped at it. so enjoy...this baby could get me to get back into the game..you just never know as I know I am getting one of these. FYI White Dwarf 350 is Apocalypse overload..Super Heavies everywhere with the biggest freaking battle reports I have ever seen. Go and get it!


Edit: -Numerous people want to claim that this is the Forge World model, maybe so and if so then GW is purposely misrepresenting this. (for what reason I'd have no idea) Beneath this photo is a blue box of text with a bunch of info about the new Imperial Guard codex that last line of which is. "To whet your appetites until then, here is exclusive look at the brand new plastic Valkyrie, in the Codex for the 1st time"- why the hell would they say that if this is the FW model? , case closed -this is the new model.



Text of the article for the naysayer's out there..




Edit II: And finally here's the full page, for all the imbeciles, morons and fucktards out there in the void that think I "made this all up" this as a 'stunt' to get more hits on my hobby site that I sell ZERO ad space on ( and won't ever).

FYI- I am often privy to alot of GW information early, and I shared this thinking people would be psyched. What I got in return was a bunch of jackass's critizing my motives, and insisting its the Forge World model. (maybe it is, i don't know, or care- all I know is what the ad claims before you., That it's the new plastic model)

Certainly makes me reconsider what I share with the general public. I have to look into finding a way to privately share information with people that follow the blog and have a genuine interest in the hobby, instead of those whose genuine interest is acting like a fucking moron on the internet.

Edit III- 2/15/09


Here's another pic GW just sent me via the newsletter, I believe this is the same aircraft in the above WD photo (if not they are painted identically) again the new Plastic Valkyrie.

Leaving Macragge

As I briefly mentioned yesterday I have made the decision to divest myself completely of my Ultramarine force for 40K. It's tough decision but the reality is there aren't enough hours in the day to play every game and I am fooling myself in to thinking I'll make the time as it just isnt a priority given all the other stuff I am more interested in. I put alot of work into these guys ( lots of painstakingly done freehand icons, with still more to do.) What I want to do is finish the up the army and sell it to someone who can appreciate it. I still need to finish painting the Assault squad and build the Devastator Squad, and touch up a few guys.

The final army for sale will be:
1 Commander - Iron Halo, Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol
28 Marines (3 Sgts, 2 Missile Launchers, 2 Plasma Guns, 2 Flamers)
-10 of these guys are Macragge (the rest tact squad box)
6 Assault Marines- (Sgt with Bolt Pistol, Shield and Power Fist, , 1 with Plasma Pistol and Chainsword, 3 with BP and CS, and one with a Flamer)
5 Devastator Marines (1 Sgt, 4 guys with??? these are unbuilt, what do you guys with the new Codex think?, I was thinking 2 Plasma Cannon. 2 Heavy Bolters?
1 Rhino is included with these guys

Anyway 40 Marines total, everyone is painted as 3rd Company (red trim), as you can see from the photos there are lots of custom details. I am not going to model my extra vehicles as they are too time consuming, so I will be selling 2 rhinos, each with a set of Forge World extra armor..and a Razorback separately. Scott from Citizen Nick Hobby Center called dibs on the 2 Rhinos...so unless he passes its really just the Razorback. my other question is whats a fair price? the infantry models themselves cost well over $100.00, as far as painting goes I am thinking $5 a piece. I am thinking $300.00 sounds like a fair price in order to move it quick. I'll even throw in some of extras like a bag of bits. What do you guys think?

As far the rest of 4oK stuff goes I am keeping my terrain, new rule book and templates...in case I do eventually end up playing. If I do I wouldn't play marines so I would be starting a new force from scratch and that would probably be Tau or Imperial Guard. Time will tell. Anyway I am looking forward to finishing these guys up right and finding them a good home!!!












Obviously this is not everything, there are a few unpainted guys and the Dev squad is still sprued. the missing assault guy is still in pieces awaiting paint, this is just where I am currently at.

Warhammer 40K- Confessions of serial gamer

About time I say something about the new edition of 40K, since it's all everyone seems to be talking about it. I picked up the Gamers Edition on its release day as I wanted the Ammo Crate and the token and template set. I really like the new books presentation and its a nice overall package, however it hasn't done a hell of alot to motivate me to dust off my Space Marines and get them on the table. All I need to do is finally build 2 more Rhinos and a Razorback and I'll have decent 1250 sized force of Ultramarines..problem is I can't get motivated to build those last three vehicles. Why?, - It's a couple things. If you've followed all the talk for the last months about the new editon you're aware that one of the big selling points about the new ruleset was "True Line of Sight" and an effort to make the game "less abstract" This was one of the things I really disliked about 4th edition (other that getting blown off the table 1st turn) was the "invisible pillar" terrain as well as the carrying over of wounds into the squad when only one model could be seen, unfortunately they fixed the former but specifically excluded the latter, which completely negates the entire principle of "true line of sight" as far as I can tell. This will have all kinds of ramifications to many of the other cool things they added like the new only "troops" can score..(not only can only troops score but even ONE troop can score if he can hold his position). The problem with stupid abstractions like wound carry over is it allows your opponent to shoot his entire squad (or squads!) at just "ONE" exposed model and carry over enough wounds to wipe out other nine guys that are totally concealed..That just sticks in my craw..If GW had just stuck to their guns and given us "true line of sight" across the board for all the rules. I feel I would like the new rules much better and it would be a much better game.

I played a brief skirmish with the new rules as test game for a pal whose putting a scenario together for a table at the upcoming Games Day Chicago. It was IG vs Tau...I was playing the Tau just using squads of Fire Warriors to blast out bunkered down IG with a Leman Russ squatting on an objective. I had unlimited troops, the IG had a set number of guys so the scenario was basically a last stand for the IG, how long can he survive type thing..they were still working the bugs out, (where is all that cool Tau tech when I need it, I asked?) but regardless the new rules weren't really doing anything for me- granted I was using just Tau Fire Warriors, so I was just shooting away while the Russ blasted entire squads aways with the new blast weapon rules. (which make blast weapons about 10 times better, I never even bothered to shoot a frag missile before as the Krak was so much better) Anyway, no fault of the scenario...it was a work in progress, it just wasn't motivating me to run and go get a 5th ed game in.

I won't be at Games Day this saturday as my second daughter is coming sometime this week, so I'll home either waiting for/ or greeting my new girl or be at the Hospital waiting. All the great tables and games at Games Day last year got me pretty psyched to get my Marines on the table and I had good time in the Combat Patrol tourney. No such luck this year (as if I was there I'd be playing in the Fantasy GT anyway) but I'm not getting any extra motivation from the event.

I've been pretty mired down in a variety of other games and projects at the moment, including both my Legends of the High Seas Pirates and my pirate ship, as well my new LotR Mordor force. as well as new gaming table comprised of mostly Hirst Arts buildings. I am really liking both those games quite a alot as they have low model counts and a good rulesets with lots of campaign detail. I also have Celts on the back burner for Ancient Battles (if my models ever get released from Wargames Factory) and of course Warhammer Fantasy Vampire Counts and I am even thinking of trying a all Goblin Army just for laughs as I have 1000+ points alreadly built and they would be very easy to fill out ( I think I mentioned in a previous post my VC are going to be a very tedious build) So you might actually see Goblins before VC, we will see. Point is- all of this is keeping 40K and my Ultramarines from getting any love, I like the models, I like the game- I just can seem to wrap my head around liking the rules. Hell if they release a $200 Thunderhawk Gunship, I'll be the first guy at our shop to pre order it- the question is will I ever game with it or will stare back at me from the shelf collecting dust like my Marines?...I am really hoping the new SM codex in September lights a fire under my ass or I'll be the guy that says..yeah I play all GW's games- except it's most popular one. I know I need to play more the problem is with all I have going on 40K games need to rock me from the get go and they just are not.

New Stuff.

The holiday in the middle of the week gave me some extra time off and led to getting a bunch of stuff finished. Here is my Assault Marine Sergeant sitting a top one of the new Citadel Hills. Which I finished up as the 1st piece of terrain for my 4 X 8 Fantasy Table.

HQ

Here is one of my two Captains for the 3rd Company Ultramarines, still have plenty of touch ups and need to dull cote him but he is almost there. Parts used are Space Marine Commander box, and weapons and legs from Space Marine Assault Squad box.

Tact Squad #2 , in progress

Here's a bunch of Space Marines assembled and ready to be primed. Here is my commander in Terminator Armor with Storm Bolter and Power Sword. He deep strikes with Assault Marines in my 1000 point army,





Regular Commander w/Power Weapon and Plasma Pistol
from Commander Box set.




Front Row: Marine Vet, Plasma Gunner, Sarge,
Back Row: Marine w/Bolter X 2, Commander w/ Plasma Pistol, Power Axe
Marines from Tactical Squad Box.

Marines with Bolters and Bayonettes

Another shot of Commander, 3 Marines with Bolter and Bayonette and a Standard Bearer with a Bolter and Banner- note, the shaft of the banner ends in a knife so its also his close combat weapon. The banner also is removable so I can switch it out...I have 3 or so I want to make before I glue on the one that comes out best.





Here is another shot Tact Squad 2's Sarge, Plasma Gunner, and Beak Helmet with Bolter and Knife, I am really liking these three models.



These guys are about ready to be primed, the commanders need a primer touch up. everybody still needs Backpacks..those go on last after I get the models primed and base coated. I still have to add things like purity seals, ammo pouches, grenades, etc to many models..and I still need to build the Marine with the Missile Launcher. Should get into priming over the next couple days.
then I will probably bang out the rest of the paint on "test rhino", before I start base coating these guys.

Works in Progress

Wow, havent gotten a ton of late due to life getting in the way. Working on my *test* Rhino APC which was bought prebuilt and primed on ebay. After not liking my first drybrushing paint attempt. I decided to strip it. Turns out it was primed with several coats of laquer spray that won't come off but flaked off in chunks. One top of the tap the 1st coat was dayglow orange. The result is that this thing is getting the heavy battlescarred treatment due to what I am working with, a extremely rough and pitted finish. It's coming along pretty well just slow. I also was experimenting with making extra armor out of plasticard using the photo of the Forge World reiforced armor as a guide as well a template someone from AWC sent me.
Somehow there is disconnect for me, as I cant get it to look right using the template it's a bit different than what I see in the FW photo. I'll have suck it up and buy some pricey Forge World armor to use as a guide. frustrating I spent two nights working on this.

Finished up a few other of my space marines and have been digging into my second tactical squad box. They are coming along real well. Not to mention I have been fooling with my WFB Empire General Boxes to..need to get my 1000pts of 40k done 1st...getting there. will post pics later.

3rd Company, 3rd Squad

Here is the full tactical squad from the "Battle of Macragge " starter set. I built a quicky light box out of a cardboard box and some white posterboard. I need to work on the physical lighting but thanks to Photoshop and Lightroom it pretty much does the trick. I feel the overall quality of these guys is table top. no one unit particulary stands out and they have various blemishes given practicing various techniques along the way. My 1000 point army contains 3 tactical squads, a fast attack group and a devastator heavy support squad with three APC's. I will continue to work on them as time permits. I also have about dozen Tyranids from the Macragge box and various terrain in the works,more soon.

Ultramarines, 3rd Company

Above are the Sergeant, Flamer and Missile Launcher marines from the Warhammer 40k- "Battle for Macragge" starter set. The units from the set are premolded making them cheaper, not as detailed and a bit trickier to paint than the standard models that you assemble. These guys are done to the point I am going to dullcote them, they wont win any awards, but they are surely table top quality for gaming.

Note in the left photo my 1st attempt at blended highlighting on the armor edges, basically I used a thinned out lighter color made the lines, then came back with an even thinner mix of the original color and covered the highlighted line edge. This makes a smooth looking blended transition, I dont think it came out bad for my first real shot at.





To the right you can see my homing becon and some hand painted tactical insignias. Working with the decals, despite reading several tutorials on it and buying some pricey decal solvent, turned out to be a nightmare. The number "3" on the flamethrower marine's leg is a decal despite using all the proper steps you can still see the decal edge. For me, free hand painting is the way to go. I spent about 4 hours practicing doing the Ultramarines symbol on a piece of wood. Once I got it down, the next problem was working on making them all the same size. Again I think they came out pretty decent a few look better than any of the test decals I tried. example the Missile Launcher Marine below is probably my best one, while on the Bolter Marine to the right you can see another one with a blemish I somehow didn't notice until this pic. I'll need to fix that, thanks to the pro's and con's of your digital camera's super macro function. The background terrain is made from pink stuff foam and some broken clay tiles left over from remodeling my bathroom, Its primed with flat black krylon, then drybrushed with a reaper paint called "woodland brown', then I dust spray it with some auto motive gray Krylon. *Presto* quicky paint job equals dusty rocky alien planet. I have four nice pieces of terrain done. I will get around to detailing them some more eventually, but right now they are ready for play as is. With all the terrain from the crashed spaceship in the Macragge set, I could set up a 6x4, or 8 x4 table easily.
Next up- the rest of the Macragge tactical squad and my first Rhino armored personal carrier. I will also try to post some of my reaper fantasy mini's as soon as I get some decent pics.