40K... How Do You Play Yours?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all from The Folly of War. As we mark the end of a overall good year in wargaming, I feel its time for some reflection and changes with my view of the world of 40K.



This is not my 40K

What a jam packed (strawberry flavoured) year it has been for 40K with the new rule book, chaos 30K and loadsa new shiny toys. Has it been good or has it been bad? Constant moans of "allies is stupid" are being cried up and down the country in tournament games everywhere. The hardcore majority of my friends are of that breed and will stop at nothing to create the most "broken list". I myself have even fallen into the seductive arms of tournament gaming with promises of glory and silverware this year (yeah right I can dream). Many an evening was spent in heated discussion about what should go into an army and what shouldn't due to its viability in tournaments. I remember one afternoon after just purchasing Lucius the Eternal a complete stranger told me that I shouldn't have bought him and that he was a waist of money for a "decent" Chaos army. That kind of conversation really knocks the hobby stuffing out of you and low and behold no Chaos army 3 months later. This type of thing happens to me quite a lot and can be a massive blow to any new army I want to collect.

My Dead Pile

However, after a very one sided game between me and my ever so delightful brother (Space Wolves are his friend) I realised something. Who the hell is anyone to tell me how to play MY damn hobby! I have, quite frankly, had it with tournament players and their "ooooh I don't think you should do that..." attitude. My brother has taught me a vital lesson this year, which is I just don't want to be "that guy". He is a very competent 40k player but his love for his hobby is very different from mine and thats fine. His point was this "I don't like painting but I like to win and at the end of the day I don't care if my army is painted or not". Now, at first I thought my brother was just being a win at all cost kinda guy but actually he has a point. Its his game as much as mine and if he wants to build an army that kicks out enough firpower the British armed forces blush then fair play.

His Dead Pile (the 3 Marines on their own Killed themselves)



My point is I want the same entitlement in reverse.



This is my 40K!!!!!

I want to take certain lists because they're in the background. I want to use models because they look good and I have spent vast numbers of hours painting them. I want to buy a model without being put off by someone elses perspective of the game bluring my own. So, I have decided I am going to go back to how I used to collect when I was a teenager. My Blood Angels are staying with me but I am going to paint the entire 3rd company. If i decide to go to a tournament I'll take a list from what I have and not go out and specifically buy units that will "compliment" each other on the table. I am also looking at going to more themed events (Campaign weekends and Apocolypse games). Hopefully with this in mind I will keep my love of 40K fresh and hopefully not end up (like a lot of people I know) falling out of love with 6th. My wish for 2013 is that people begin to understand that not everyone plays the game like them and thats okay.



You might have a different oppinion or might agree. Am I talking nonsense or the truth? Should we tell people how to play their game? Whats your take? Leave a comment below.

Always Brush After Painting.



"The enemy will never see us coming. Now where
should I put this flag!"



Wow being stuck in the warp you never know when (or where) you might materialise. Welcome back to another heart stopping post coming straight to you from the very depths of the void. This week I talk a bit about weathering techniques, namely toothpaste. I was talking to some friends of mine about their favourite ways of creating chipped and weathered paint on armoured vehicles. They mention using salt, hairspray and other weird and wonderful methods. Now, listening to these methods I thought I'd pipe in and give my own technique that I found whilst scrolling through forbidden tomes and manuscripts. It involves using that very well known modelling supply...toothpaste. After much ridicule, pointing and taking of the mike I was given time to explain. So I thought I'd explain to you...

It began on a wintry day in 1943 Soviet Russia. The cold winter was creeping over the vast barren wasteland. Realising that green tanks tend to stick out in the snow like the time Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker took part in the bring your son to work day (sorry no clip). To overcome this both the German's and Russian's used white wash to paint their tanks to match the bleak winter season. As this was in short supply it was often thinned down hence the reason why the tanks quickly became mottled with green. I wanted to achieve this look for a possible future winter themed army in flames or 40k. So I got to work.

P.S. these are not my pictures as my ones got lost.

Firstly, take your tank model and give it a undercoat in whatever colour you wish the armour to be. I used  an old rhino model but I discovered this works on any tank especially Flames of War models. I found a good dark green or grey works best for this technique.

Next when the basecoat is dry you can apply the toothpaste. The toothpaste acts as a liquid mask. I have found that using a stippling brush or in fact a tooth brush is good for adding the paste for a more natural chipping effect.

After the paste has been applied spray the model with a white spray. You can airbrush for greater detail but as this is for those of us who can't fork out 80-100 pounds on equipment, I'll leave it up to you to make decisions on how much detail you go to. Once the paint is thoroughly dry (if your not patient there will be a very sticky, minty, mess) wash the model with water. Not only will the toothpaste wash off so will any spray that has stuck to the paste. This will reveal the undercoat and give you an interesting effect. Try it and see what you think.

Well with another post over I am back to hard core painting of Blood Angels. I have less than 6 weeks to go and have changed my list for the 7th time. I only have 5 terminators and 5 very nearly finished devastators to go (more on those next week). Right, back to the warp I go. At least this time I'll face the perils of the warp with minty fresh breath. Toodles.

Where have you been?

Good day readers I have emerged from the darkest depths of the materium to bring you at last another article for your enjoyment. I have been unable to post for some time due to work commitments and other more personal events in my life but I'm back.

So here's a run down of what you have missed over the last few months:

Mephiston hates plasma guns!

1. My dabbling with 6th edition 40K army lists ended in disaster after some appalling luck, draws and generalship on my part. I finished very low down in the Octoberfest leader board and with my Blood Angel's wings clipped repeatedly by Space Wolves I have decided to give competitive 40K playing a rest. This is not to say my Angels won't see the light of day, it just means I am going to look at other ways of playing my favourite wargame

Nom, Nom, Nom! Mephiston loves power armour.

2. 30K for the win. Having just had my 26th birthday I received a very eagerly awaited prezzie from my ever so understanding partner. Betrayal, the Forge World Horus Heresy Book is quite frankly a masterpiece of fiction and table top rules. It covers the events leading up to Istavaan 3 and lots of interesting information about the legions before the met their beloved Primarchs. My personal favourites are the Primarch rules and the additional legion rules. I can't wait for the next book!

3. Dropzone Commander. I have just recently started a new game called dropzone commander. This game is a 10mm wargame based in the year 2670. Humanity has been scattered by a parasitic race called the Scourge and must stand against them and other alien threats such as the mysterious Shaltari and the augmented Post Human Republic. What drew me to this game is the sublimely sculpted models. They are a wonder to paint and the game is relatively easy to learn. I have chosen the Scourge and have begun painting in earnest. I have played 2 games and I am picking up the rules quickly. The game has drawn alot of support from fans and I have even managed to download a free army builder built by a very enthusiastic supporter of the game. More on this game soon.

I hope to be back soon with more tips, treats, reviews and other stuff. In the mean time keep painting!!!

Welcome to the (Allies) Matrix

Remnants of SMS. Poor Dark Eldar
have never seen the light of day.

Welcome back to the bridge of the Folly of War. Its been a long time posting as I have been very busy with generally getting on with my life. Anyway thought it was about time for an update on how my Blood Angels are getting on and to talk about the new Allies rule. The problem I have is a very well known one in the wargaming world, "shiney model syndrome". SMS is a massive problem for me as a tournement gamer and one of the main reasons I started this blog. What it means is that I can never finish an army due to the attention span of a knat. As soon as I see a kit I want to build or paint, I drop all and go and start working on that. Why is that a problem I hear you cry! Well, let me explain. I start off very well when it comes to painting a new army. I end up getting the troops, HQ and maybe a couple of other choices done and then... it all goes wrong. I get twitches. I start thumbing through other codexes. Aggertation sets in as I scroll through countless different models on the Internet. Then it happens I start painting a new squad for a different army. Tragedy!!! time passes in an instant and before I know it another Mayhem passes by. "Looks like I'll have to use my Templars again", I declaire to the rest of my friends trying to brush aside moans of "When, are you going to get a new army!

Hopefully no one will stoop this low with their alliances...

SMS has begun... but this time I was ready for it. The best thing about 6th edition for me is the Allies Matrix. For those of you who thing I am talking about the 4th Matrix film let me explain. The Allies Matrix allows you to play with to different armies in one game, depending how well the two forces get along. For me this is the answer to all my problems. My Blood Angels have reached the dizzy heights of about 1500 points and is lacking one squad of terminators. Usually, this is about the time I get board and wonder off but now my wondering has paid off. I have decided to ally a small contigent of Eldar (space elves). The story behind this fragile alliance is that the Eldar are keeping a close eye on Mephiston as they believe he could be key player in the future of the Eldar's existance. I love the idea of an outnumbered Blood Angel force fighting off countless hoardes to be mysteriously saved by an unknown Eldar force hiding in the shadows. The potential for allies is massive and I have been thinking of doing a combined themed force for ages. There are so many different stories of it happening in the background, such as humans allying with orks, Tau with tricked into fighting Dark Eldar and Marines fighting with Guard.

Now I am still under the clock. There is not long till Octoberfest and I have these units to paint:

5 Terminators

5 Pathfinders

5 Dark Reapers

1 Farseer.

 

In addition to this I have been painting 10 Dire Avengers and finishing Brother Corbulo. The army is shaping up and I really hope that I can get these finished and ready for Octoberfest but time is ticking. I really don't want to have to use my templars again. However, this all depends on the points limit of Octoberfest. If it is 1750 I will be fine but 2000 will be a stretch. I hope to post more regularly as I am off holiday next week and back to the everyday trudgery of life. See ya.

Finecast, Greenstuff and Mephiston

Welcome back citizens, this week aboard the Folly of War I take a look at Finecast and turn my hands to developing my sculpting skills. I finally took the plunge and invested in my fist Finecast miniature. For those of you who have been living in the eye of terror for the last year, Finecast is GW's all singing all dancing resin cast miniatures. There has been a lot (understatement of the year) of complaints about this new substance but I was willing to decide for myself about whether or not I liked it.


This is what my Mephiston would be based
on.

Firstly, the cost of Finecast is high. Compared to other miniature companies that use resin to cast their models (Privateer Press etc...) the cost of Finecast is huge. Now the model I wished to use was Astorath the Grim and he cost me £15. Even if I was using the whole of the miniature (I only needed the body for a Mephiston conversion) it is still steep. So far not impressed. Next up, Quality. GW prides itself on the on the quality of their products. Unfortunately, this particular model must have tip-toed by the quality control monkeys as the Jet Pack for the model had been obliterated by an air bubble. This was hugely disapointing as I expected the model to be fully formed (and gold plated at that price). There were also several other parts where the model had smaller bubbles and to top it off, the axe had snapped into. Things were not looking up and if it wasn't for the fact I did not need the pack I would have returned said model post haste. I am glad I didn't because something amazing happened...



His Jet Pack obviously over heated!



Having worked with metal miniatures for a long time conversion work with this material was (lets be honest) as painful as sawing your own leg off with a spoon. For my Mephiston conversion to work I had to made several modifications to Astoraths legs and feet. If I had been working with a metal mini I would be still sawing and pinning and not writing this. Finecast was a delight to work with and allowed me to repostion with the bare minimum of effort. On top of this when it came to painting the model I was amazed at the detail that could be seen on the model. Each muscular grove in the armour can be picked out with a brush meaning that washes and inks sit better on the model.

My final verdict... 5/10. If work shop can sort out the casting issues I don't mind paying for excellent quality models but I want excellent quality and air bubbles will not do. If you have had any problems or indeed successes comment below.

Disco Meph is in the house.

So on to Mephiston himself. I love Mephiston. He is possibly one of my favourite characters in 40k. The Vampire/Space Marine has got awesome rules and a fantastic back story. Nothing, not a thing could keep me from having him in the army...except when someone pointed out his current model looks like a 70's disco dance. I was not going to tolerate such a smear on Mephiston's honour. I would re-Vamp him (see what I did there... cause he is a Vampire and.. erhem). I knew that Astorath was the perfect stand in as he has the same armour but there was one tiny snag. Meph has a cloak and I have never sculpted anything larger than a playing card on a hat. So off I went into the warp (Internet) to find tips on how to make cloaks.

So here are some top tips on how to make a greenstuff cloak.

Tip one: Use vegetable oil! This kitchen cooking staple is great for working with the very sticky green stuff. I used to use water but found that it dried to quickly and I ended up with green stuff mess. I also lay the green stuff on cling film this allowed my to shape sheets of green stuff without leaving finger prints.

I first, needed to create a thin (2mm) sheet of green stuff, large enough, so that it is the same size as the model that will be having the cloak. I Smothered the green stuff in vegetable oil and pressed it flat between to sheets of plasticard. When I was happy with the shape I laid it flat on the cling film. Once the greenstuff had cured a little I chopped it into a triangle shape using an oil covered knife. Finally, to create the effect of flapping in the wind I used paint brushes.

Tip Two: If you over lay the paint brushes in an over and under pattern you can create a smooth finish.

Once the whole thing was dry I then attatched it to my newly converted Meph and Ta Dah...

And give us a twirl Meph...

 

Overall I am very happy with the out come. I feel that I have kept the style of the original model but updated him to match the current range of GW's Blood Angels. Well of I go into the warp, Mephiston leading the way. I can't wait to see him on the battlefield. Thats all from me this week so I'll see you soon.

Mmmm Waffles (oh and painting research)

Right, you lot time for another forced history lesson (this may hurt). Over the last two weeks the Folly of War has been in dry dock in Belgium. Why? Well, if you were not aware a rather large war happened there from 1914-1918. I have spent the last week in a small, trench ridden part of Brugge (or Bruges if your from the French bit). What a fantastic opportunity to do some research for some new painting projects (and eat waffles). My first stop was the Tynecot Commonwealth cemetery. This really put into perspective how many men (just on the Allied side) lost their lives in a very pointless way. The stones seemed to stretch into the distance with name after name of the men who had fallen during the "Great War". The really sad thing was the many graves with the words "Soldier of the Great War" engraved upon them. This meant that when the body was found it was too damaged to identify.

This was found in a field!!
German Officer Armour. 

With the sombre part of the visit finished on I travelled to the town of Ypres. This town had suffered Greatly during WW1 and was ultimately levelled by constant bombardment by both sides. The Germans captured the town early in the war but the constant back and forth nature of trench warfare meant that town suffered constantly. What was remarkable about this little town (except for the waffles) was a tiny backwater pub called "The First World War Curiosity Museum". Outside, it looked like a standard Belgium bar. However, inside the walls were covered with a variety of artefacts found by the landlord around the surrounding countryside. As I went into the garden the bar turned into a trench works museum (very strange). It was easy to find inspiration for new projects here. I especially enjoyed looking at the German heavy armour worn to protect officers. You can see where forge world got their ideas from for their designs for the Death Korps Grenadiers (I can't believe the guy just found this).

Can you see the similarities?

Looking at this exhibition has really made me consider buying a very small 500 points Death Korps force (it will have to be small considering it is £36 pounds a unit). The problem is that this particular army screams to be a massed infantry army but I would only be able to buy one squad a month. Meaning that even a 500 point force would take approximately 6 months to finish due to monetary constraints (damn you forge world).

Finally, leaving 1914 Belgium (and the waffles) I went to Dunkirk. I haven't touched Flames of War for a while due to 6th edition coming out but this gave me some more ideas for further Flames projects. Dunkirk was a very hard fought battle by both the French and the British during early stages of the WW2. The Germans had the Allies surrounded with evacuation the only option. Hundreds of ships and boats (some of which came from my local area) sailed under constant fire to rescue thousands of British and French soldiers. The Early war game has never really interested me but Dunkirk may have sparked my interest. I really recommend that if you are stuck for painting projects... go on holiday. Simple as it may sound these little trips can inspire you to make and create some wonderful things.

Some inspirational dioramas to help think about future projects.

In other news, I have been beavering away with the Angels and I will have some more pics of them next time. Till next time, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and its a long way to Tipperary. Now where did I put my last waffle?

6th Edition First Impressions

Welcome, welcome, as we set sail into the heart of the unknown, aboard the Folly of War. These last couple of weeks have been busy ones both with work and with painting. My Blood Angels army is steadily growing (I'm verging on 1500 painted!) and I have been feverishly playing games of 6th edition to try and smooth over any rules issues. So far I have played a total of 4 games and have won a grand total of... 0. However, this has not in anyway been a bad thing. Each game has given me a new aspect to learn or changed the way I have interpreted the rules. For example, I found out that jump packs must decide which phase they will jump in (movement or assault). If they jump 12" in the movement they do not get the hammer of wrath rule or re-roll to charge.

Another area where the game has changed dramatically is aircrft (I am trying to stop calling them Flyers as it makes me sound like I have the vocab of a 10 year old child). Now, I have a bit of a soft spot for aircraft, as my dad used to work at Heathrow and my girlfriend's dad works at Duxford. So, when an opportunity to include models that add an extra dimension to the gaming table I flew (pun intended) at the chance to make plane noises during the movement phase (they should've added something along the lines of this in the new book. "You must make a neeewooaaaah noise every time you move an aircraft else the engine stalls and it crashes").  Using aircraft is so much fun and can really freak out your opponent if they have no AA. Watching the desperation of an army unload the entire contents of their guns just to bring down a single plane is very entertaining... right up until the point that your opponent does hit your Stormbrick and it comes crashing down, killing the majority of passengers insides (damn you Jamie!!!).

I leave you with pictures of my Librarian dread. I have used the same chipping technique as before but I wanted to go another step forward with painting the Force Weapon. Using blending and washes I gradually built up a crystalline looking blade. Using 1:1:1 mix of Hawk Turquoise, Bleached Bone and Regal Blue (or equivalents if you cant get them any more) I gave the blade a solid coat then added more Bleached Bone to highlight and used Regal blue wash for low lighting. Lastly, streaks of white were added to create a reflective shimmer. Next, on the to do list of the angels is 5 scouts, another dread, a drop pod and the one I am putting off the most 7 Sternguard. Right, those marines won't paint themselves. Navigator set course to the Baal System we need reinforcements!!

Storm Brick Part 2

The dust has settled and the fog of war has lifted and I have finally played some games of 6th edition. Although there seems to be a lot of nay sayers out there I for one am a happy customer and it has given me a boost towards finishing my Blood Angels. This last week I have concentrated on finishing my Storm Raven and apart from the odd detail I am done. This was an interesting project from the start as my feelings towards the Storm Brick... er Raven were very negative. However, a bit of plasticard here and a hobby saw there I had something that looked plausibly flyable. Now for the paint. I have never been very keen to take a risk with battle damage. Many of my models have always had a "fresh from the factory look", but I was desperate to try out some new techniques.

Firstly, I wanted to try paint chipping. This was hard for me to start because it became one of those moments where I didn't want to ruin all the perfect highlighting I had achieved. Bravely I bit the bullet and started the chipping process. Using Wild Rider Red I stated to pick out chip points on the hull. Next I used Scorched brown over the top to indicate rust or older paint. Finally I used Boltgun metal for the exposed metal armour. The result was pretty good and I may go on to use this on my normal marines too.

Next was the soot from the engines. Not having any weathering powders was a downer so I resorted to that old reliable dry brush technique. It has worked a treat. I am really happy with the model I can't wait to use it on the battlefield.

Over the next week I am going to paint the Librarian Dread. I used a spare Dread Knight Force sword to make the dreadnought's force weapon. It looks way, way, way cooler than the silly force weapon. I hope to produce some of the same paint chipping techniques on the main body of the model. Also I want to use the crystallised blade effect on the sword which I did on the Sanguinary Guard. I have also taken a keen interest into the world of 40k Flying Machines and I am uuuming and ahhhing about whether I should by a Storm Talon to ally with my main force (Blood Angels can't take them but I would make a small space marine force with scouts and a Master of the Forge and paint them Blood Angel Colours). This by far is my favourite new addition to 40k. Ok, Ok I know it is a sneaky way of GW saying come and buy more toys but I honestly don't care!!! I love the 40k background and the idea that I can now take some steal legion to team up with my 3rd Company Armageddon Strike Force is amazing. With the holiday coming up I plan to be posting more and more so stay tuned....

6th Edition 40K



Eager to get to grips with the new book!



In the grim darkness of the far future there is only.... a brand spanking new book with lots of pretty stuff in it (woo). 6th edition 40K is here and on Saturday I was one of many people to purchaise a copy of the new rules.

I awoke bleary eyed and was out of the door in 5 minutes flat. The feeling you get when you're a kid at Christmas rushed over me. I talked to animatronica about the book all the way to the Heroes and Legends store. For those of you who arn't in the know Heroes and Legends is my semi local gaming store. Only just over a year old it has allowed me to experience games and products that I would have never heard of let alone seen in a GW.


Guy's excitement knows no bounds...



I arrived at H&L and to my suprise I wasn't the only one a que had formed already. The atmosphere was buzzing and you could have cut the excitment with a chainsword. Onlookers stared at the group in bewielderment (You'd think standing outside a gaming shop at 9 am was normal?). The shutters shuddered to life and the doors opened. The shop was rammed with people all with one quest, 40K. I asked Guy (one of the staff members) what his impressions were of the new rules. He was pleased that he now had even more psychic powers he could use in his Grey Knight force. After this brief discussion he then proceeded to show me how the new powers can effect a game. One power made my terminators re-roll successful armour saves!

Finally it was mine (at a discount too SCORE!), as well as many, many, many more things for my Blood Angels (looks like 2K points is going to be the new black). The staff were great and were happy to talk about the new rules, possible lists and play games. I myself played 3 games over the Saturday and lost all 3 (nothing new). However, it didn't matter, as it gave me a chance to learn new rules and discuss possible problems with slight inconsistancies with the codexes.

I also managed to be one of the first to aquired one of only 25 purity seals made by Hammer and Forge. The quality and craftmanship is outstanding right down to the scrollwork. Now I've just got to find somewhere to put the thing. If your interested check them out as they can made all manner of bespoked items for certain Sci fi games (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, you know what I mean).

A Purity Seal. Now where to put the thing?

So what does this mean for my armies. Well out of the ashes have arrisen the Templars. The have been given a significant boost by new F&Q (rage anyone?) but for the time being I will be beavering away at trying to get a 2K Blood Angel list with all manner of thinngs: Dreads, Stormravens, Tycho and possibly some Allies?

So thats it till next time. The Folly of War is setting off into the unknown. If you had a great 40K release tell me about it. What was your favourite bit? What do you think of the new rules? What was your 40K release like? Until next time. Navigator set co-ordinates Octoberfest!!!!!

Can I Have A Free Hand?

With added free hand company shoulder pad.

Welcome back to the Folly of War, this week I want to talk about free hand painting on models. There was once a time when I used to love transfers. Back when I was a lad (before I had even glued my first space marine), I used to make airfix models. I can remember the constant battle with my parents to find somewhere to paint as airfix used oil based paints and God help me if I got any on the carpet. Once the plane was assembled and painted, I would go through the process of cutting the tiny transfers from the sheet and placing them in a bowl of water. Then repeating this step again and again because the transfer would split, folded or more commonly stick to (my mum often wondered why I was suddenly tattooed with RAF and German Iron Cross symbols). As soon as I hit making Space Marines my use of transfers stopped dead. I will always remember the frustration of trying to apply the Blood Angels symbol to a curved shoulder pad, followed by the inevitable teenage tantrum and finally ritual using of the transfer sheet as a paint pallet just so I felt better. Now what has this got to do with free hand painting I hear your cry....

Well let me tell you. I have always loved the iconography of 40k and squad markations of battle groups in WW2 so leaving models without squad numbers and symbols is just a no go for me. It wasn't until, I started working with Animatronica that I became interested at adding free hand detailed on my miniatures. He had painted a fantastic Baneblade Tank to go with his Chaos Alpha Legion just around the time when the Apocalypse rules came out. He named the Tank The Tower of Snakes (if you wish to see some of his work click on the blog of the same name) and had painted an amazing hydra down the side of the of the armoured tracks. It was stunning and I asked him how he achieved such an amazing results. He explained that you must always draw out your design, this gives you a base to work from and then build up the colours as you would for normal highlighting.

Devastator Sgt with Tycho's personal banner.

So starting small I started on some campaign badges for my Black Templars. This was easy enough, a simple shield shape with a red stripe. From then on nothing could stop me I moved on to chapter badges and then finally banners. I can have the most fun with the banners because you record your own victories and also historical battles. One of my Marshals has a banner of Helsreach Spire. Free hand painting takes time but with practise the results can be superb. I began to develop my own styles and techniques which suited my designs. One such technique I use now is to block out the design in silhouette with black and then build up block colours. I have had a lot of fun with painting my Blood Angels and I have increased the amount of free hand work on the marines. I hope that some where out there in Internet land you have a go too. Before I go I will leave you with some more Blood Angels goodness. Captain Tycho is almost finished with non traditional colour scheme. I'm leaving the gold armour behind for red. Personally I feel that the gold armour is far to garish and I want to tone him down.  Next week I plan to cover the 6th edition release so stay tuned.

Devastators with added light effect on the plasma cannons.

Captain Erasmus Tycho of the 3rd Company (work in progress).

Nurgle's Rot




Assault Marines as promised.

 

A very short post this week, due to an unfortunate case of Nurgle's Rot (stomach virus probably picked up from work). This has given me another opportunity to think about new projects and  existing projects. The Blood Angels are coming on and I have now moved on to painting a unit of devastators and the army is filling out nicely. Why the sudden interest in 40K? Well a certain 6th edition of a certain round based game is (rumour has it) only two weeks away. There is a lot of murmurs all over the Internet and all I can say I just can't wait. It got me thinking how my armies are going to be effected by rules changes. In the last edition my Templars changed radically and I feel this is going to happen again. Whether this is for better or worse only time will tell? Illness leaves you with a lot of thinking time. Is starting a new army now a good idea? Should I have waited...Nah even with drastic sweeping changes armies can be built, modified, tested and modified again. An army is a living thing and it should be allowed to grow and change.  If you have opinions about this please feel free to leave a comment.




My painting table in all its glory.

 

Finally before I go to pass another nurgling here is something that has keep me sane during the low points of my illness. So in the light of all this euro 2012...

 



Storm Ravens (It doesn't matter how hard that pilot flaps his arms it ain't taking off!)

The Storm Brick!

Power down the warp drives, seal those bulkheads damn it! Welcome aboard The Folly of War having only just made it out of Warp Space in one piece (Derbyshire). With no communication relay or astropathic choir I have been a drift in that god forsaken place known as the Eye of Terror AKA The Peak District. As we all know time flows mysteriously in the north and my painting hands have not been idle. My Blood Angel Army is taking shape and after calming down about not being able to take a storm talon I took the plunge and brought its bigger cousin the storm raven. Its a good job I got one too, as the price increased by a whopping 25% last week and only I missed the price hike by a matter of days. 

Que Damnbusters Music!!

Love it or loath it the storm raven is a huge kit but to me has the aerodynamic finesse of brick with go faster stripes painted on it. It was time for a quick refit. Now I'm not saying that my conversion work has turned this model into something as sophisticated as a euro fighter but it is a damn sight more believable than what it was like. First thing to go was the tail and with the help of Jose' in Heroes and Legends I extended it to give it a more helicopter look. Secondly, I added stabiliser fins to the nose so that it would give the front more lift therefore not ploughing into the ground as soon as it took off. These were made from the unused tail wing. Finally, I removed that awful turret from the top and placed the las cannons under the wings. Now I know that in game I should have the turret but the aesthetics of the model needed addressing (in games I will just measure from where the turret used to be). I mean, why can't you save the galaxy from the alien and the heretic and look good at the same time?

Note the tail has been completely
reworked using plasticard.

I have also built and painted a assault squad. Pictures next week as I want to base them before I unleash them on the world. Whilst up north I also managed to make a quick visit to Warhammer World and pick up some MK 5 Heresy Armour. I am a MASSIVE fan of forge world and the new (old) armour that they are producing. Mixing these with the MK 3 Iron Armour I have I'm going to use them as Sternguard. I especially love the alternate pattern bolters I got as the have chain bayonets Wooo!

Right then, off to make repairs to the ship and hopefully I'll have her up and running by next week. Till then May the Emperor Protect.

The Death of an Army

The Storm Talon

And so it came to be... Silence in the 40k Universe. The death of my Black Templars. Now is the winter of my discontent (and other Shakespearian melodramatic prose). My hopes for the 40K flyers were simple.

1. Could the Black Templars use the Storm Raven?

2. Surely they could use the brand spanking new Strom Talon... surely?

Tragedy. This months White Dwarf did not deliver either of my dreams and therefore have condemned the Templars to a life of "friendly games" and being stuck in their case for an eternity of penance (or until they get a codex update). Surely all White Dwarf had to do was print a little sentence saying "Can be used by Codex marines, Space Wolves, Dark Angels and Black Templars may use this." Not hard. It did even take me very long to type.

However I am not keen on GW bashing so what I will say is can we give them a round of applause for the Dakka Jet. The sculpting is superb and I feel of all the new flyers it really captures the background of the Ork army. This all points to the release of 6th Edition 40k. Are flyers going to be a new class? Are we going to see more anti aircraft. Are Skimmers going to be harder to hit? Has anyone noticed the fighter ace rules? Why the need to separate skimmers? The way this is written makes me feel that skimmers are going to become 6's to hit across the board unless they have some additional rules in a models codex. Who knows except for the creators, not long now though!

!st Squad of the 3rd Company

So what to do? Well on the up side I have continued to paint more Blood Angels and have now finished my first tactical squad of the army. I have found that all of the free hand work that I did on my Templars has given my marines more of an individual style. After some practice I have started to free hand a modified chapter symbol. This has been fun to paint and I hope to finish my next assault squad soon. Well I'm of to give my figure case a space funeral (like Spock). See ya next week.