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....

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.