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.

Mayhem Part 2

Welcome back to the Folly of War Mayhem special. We last left the intrepid Black Templars fending off a nasty case of Grey Knight-itis. Day two kicked off with a bang and I played a dreaded Ork Nob biker list. These terrors on two wheels can cause a vast amount of damage unless dealt with properly. Here is my 3 step plan to dealing with this alien filth.

Step 1: Don't let them charge. Difficult I know but not impossible, especially if you can stay in your transports.

Ork Bikers. With added VROOOM!

Step 2: Kill the Warboss!!! Again not easy to accomplish. Walkers are the bane of Nob bikers and dreadnought close combat attacks can make swift work of the big bad.

Step 3: Finally make them take as many leadership tests as you can. Tank shock, Psychic Powers and good old fashioned morale checks are your friend. Follow this strict plan one a week for 6 weeks and you'll just be amazed at the difference (or your money back).

These steps made me pull off a mighty....draw.

My next game was an assassination mission against a Blood Angel Mephiston Army. This was a bit of luck for me as my opponent had one of the most expensive characters in the game and was worth a massive 6 kill points. Death came swiftly to Mephiston as my terminators tore into him ripping him apart like... (insert appropriate gory simile here). A win for me but only just.

QPR Stayed in the Premiership!
(Oh yeah, this is some game of 40K...)

On to the next game. For those of you who do not like sport may wish to skip ahead as this next game turned into the most unusual game of 40K that I have ever played. It just so happened that my football team the Mighty QPR was fighting their own war on the pitch to stay out of the relegation spot. My opponent also happened to be a fan of the club. In a standard game of 40K it is customary to roll dice and use something called "tactics" to win the game. Both my opponent and I found this concept very difficult having to stop mid game to listen to the match results each time they came through on the sound system. (At one point we paused the game entirely when the match went into the final minutes). The game finished with QPR stayed up... Oh yeah and er.. my army beat the Vulkan Heston army it was up against. My opponent was a delight to play and it was a fantastic way to end the weekend.



The Black Templars





Crusade Squads





Terminators

So the end of another Mayhem and happily placed in mid table obscurity (a glorious 28th)! My Templars started slow but warmed up over the weekend and in some instances performed spectacularly. Would I have done anything differently? No. As much as I moan about how they suffer from being an older army I love the imagery they inspire in me. Will I take them to the next Mayhem? Possibly. I am working on another army but who knows, could there be a new Codex on the Horizon? Only time will tell. I would like to thank the Tolworth First Founding on running another spectacular event and also Failhammer for letting be on their show. Right I'm off to work on my next army. Weigh anchor and set sail for Octoberfest and PAW!!!!

Venerable Dreadnought

Mayhem part 1

First Founding Mayhem

Its that time of year again. Mayhem. My local club the Tolworth First Founding runs a fantastic two day tournament every year. I have been going to this event ever since I was 16 years old and each year my dreams of bringing home silverware are dashed. This year saw a marked increase in Necron and Grey Knights and a sharp decrease in Tyranids and Tau (there were none). To me this is a great sadness because visually the tournament was very repetitive (Blood Angels, Necrons, Guard, Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Necrons...etc). I had decided to take my old faithfuls the Black Templars. This army has been a favourite of mine for years and I have added, changed and converted this army over and over again. The Templars do struggle now days due to their Codex being soooooooo old but they still are great fun to use.

Grey Knights Army Game 1

My first game was against a Grey Knight Army (an experience I wish to forget). Many people moan and moan about how powerful they are and how they are a broken army and after my 20 nil drubbing I am inclined to agree. My opponent knew exactly what he was doing though so I cannot complain too much. At the end of the day it doesn't matter how good an army is, it will still flop and die if allowed to fall into the hands of a moron. My opponent was no moron.

Look Brothers A Shiny Metal Box! Charge!

"No Brother, let us meander slowly towards that big shiny box that has mysteriously appeared from orbit and stare at it longingly as we forgot to bring any grenades" (I'm not bitter about having no grenades... honest). Anyhoo, my marines did me proud pulling off a spectacular draw. Destroying a variety of elite troops along the way.

Nasty Necrons!

Moving on to the last game of the Saturday my mind was filled with dark thoughts; should I use my Templars as Blood Angels? I'm sure no one would mind? Would they? Just once? It can be a lonely place being one of a very few number of Black Templar players. Your mind can become clouded with heretical thoughts of the dreaded "counts as rule" (dark days). Back to the game, which was against Necrons. They are new kids in town and they have brought their big brothers along to play. Having played against my team mates army for practise I was not looking forward to having my army systematically wiped of the board like a bug on a windscreen. Necrons are the ultimate in shooty armies. The amount of fire power that they can kick out is astronomical. Again my Templars charged into the fires of xenos filth and even though my thoughts turned to despair a couple of lucky dice rolls in the last turn allowed me to scrape a draw. All of my opponents were great fun to play and were keen to share tactics and advice. What happened on the Sunday... stay tuned for part two.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

When it rains it pours... Why should rain bother a run of the mill wargamer/painter? This weekend gave me an opportunity to start work on my Panther Company (my girl friend buggered off shopping with her friend, her words). However, like the Germans advancing through Russia in 1943 the weather has slowed down my progress to a grinding crawl. The rain has an effect on just about every aspect of painting and can ruin plans for getting things done. How so I hear you cry? Let me Explain:

• Spraying in damp conditions is a nightmare. The spray can clump, dry misty and ruin the look of the models. Luckily I have a spray shed but I can assure you that running between my house and my shed in the pouring rain is not fun. It was also a huge de-motivator.
• Secondly, drying times. I don't know if any of you have this issue but in the cold and damp paint, inks and sprays seem to take decades to dry. This meant I have been jumping from project to project. In the long term this will be great as it means that I have continued with a lot of different projects but it does feel like I haven't done anything.
• Finally, light. The clouds have shaded my house all weekend and the gloom has distorted the colours. (I really need a daylight lamp).

Even through these difficult times (hose pipe bans are very traumatic). I did manage to finish one platoon of Panthers and a small farm cottage. Other projects I have flitered to were... Blood Angel Tactical squad, British Para Mortar Platoon and a Fortified Manor 15mm Pics soon!

Before I leave to set sail to hopefully sunnier climates a product review. I have brought some of the new GW paints to test them out. They are great! The new bases and layers work well together and GW has produced some wonderful painting guides to show which paints layer well to create blends. The coverage is good and if you select the correct colours the highlights can be made to look very subtle. The texture paints for basing are good quality but to me are not going to be a replacement for good old sand and flock. The do come in a variety of colours but I think they would be better for using as mud on tank treads.

Right I'm off brolly in hand into the deluge of  painting seeya.

SALUTE 2012

This is the voice of the Mysterons

Ahoy there. Welcome to another post aboard the Folly of War. This week I set sail for SALUTE 2012 for the first time ever. All I can say is wargame heaven. There was an astounding amount of different companies, games and miniatures out there. Highlights of this year was the giant game of Captain Scarlet which, brought me back to the days of youth watching the program with my dad on a Friday evening. I couldn't believe the detail of the scenery!

  

Dystopian Wars was also present and again the tables that Spartan games has were really inspirational. One table used all three elements of the game (Land, sea and air). It displayed a battle involving a beach landing on a central island.

Here comes the clowns. (EDEN)

New games that caught my eye were EDEN and Dropzone. EDEN (a french game) is another post apocalyptic skirmish game. The reason I took this game was the miniatures in particular the gang of psychopathic clowns and circus freaks (watch this space I may be getting some soon). The other game of note was Dropzone (released later this year). Now, I came to SALUTE having just completed Mass Effect 3 then I saw the miniatures of the ships for one of the alien races and my jaw dropped. I am not saying that Hawk Miniatures have ripped of EA but make your decision here (naughty). However I will be ordering as many of those minis as I can.

Knees not included

Finally a product review. Many readers will know I am a HUGE fan of Flames of War and SALUTE gave me the chance of buying a new Axis army as I only have Allies. Blood, Guts, and Glory has just hit the shelves and I really wanted to paint some tanks. Scouring the trade stands I came across the Plastic Toy Soldier Company (check them out here). An issue that many wargamers have is budget and Flames can be a little pricey when it comes to buying tanks. The Plastic Toy Soldier Company solves this problem. Money in hand I purchased two boxes of plastic Panther Gs for the same price as one of battlefront's resin boxes. The quality of these models is very good to high but as they are plastic lack certain details, such as anti mine paste and stowage. The sprue gives you options to make three variants of panther and crew. I have started to work on them using liquid green stuff for the anti mine paste and adding twigs and sponge for added camouflage. Overall, I feel that this company have got it spot on with the cost to detail ratio. These are perfect for any Flames game and with a growing product list (the Panthers have only just come out), this company will be making more of an appearance in my Flames purchases.

My Panther G with added camo.

There were so many wonderful things at SALUTE this year and I could have spent all weekend at the EXCEL centre. I recommend anyone to go as I will definitely be going next year. I leave you with a picture of one other small purchase all fear the mighty knitted Cthulu!

Fear his mighty button eyes!!!



Arnhem September 17th-25th 1944



The John Frost Bridge Arnhem



Back in Blighty and time for another inspiration post. My time in the Netherlands was short but I learnt so much. The main point of this trip was to see Arnhem and tour the Airborne Museum around Oosterbeck. For those of who are not familiar with this part of Dutch history it was the stage for one of the greatest military disasters in British history. During 1944 the 1st British Airborne were dropped 8 miles from what is now the John Frost Bridge. A brave few managed to avoid the German lines and work their way towards the bridge. These men (John Frost included) held the bridge for 3 days and 9 hours, only surrendering due to lack of ammunition. Meanwhile, back in Oosterbeck the remainder of the 1st Battalion became pinned down in an ever decreasing pocket of resistance. Finally, the paras were given the order to pull out. Battered and bruised the British (with the help of the Polish) retreated back across the river Rhine. Many soldiers were captured and hundreds more were killed.

British 1st Airborne Paras



Now, some of you maybe thinking what has this got to do with painting. Well those of you who have read early posts will know that I am collecting the 1st British Airborne. This trip for me was a fantastic opportunity to research the history behind the force that I am collecting. The museum had a fascinating collection of weapons and uniforms which, has given me a better understanding of what the uniforms should look like when it comes to painting them. Seeing the equipment has made me want to expand my 1500 point Flames Army to 1750 points (possibly 2000). Its amazing how an experience, picture or place can motivate you to start or continue a project. I've just ordered some 17 pdr guns to give me a bit more anti-tank power and also some mortars to lay smoke screens for my infantry advances. I have also managed to make a full Royal Engineers Platoon from a couple of mispacked Vickers blisters (they contained 2 pioneer carts!?!) and some spare paras.



17 Pdr gun



Arnhem itself was also an eye opener as it allowed me to see the lay of the land from a 1st person perspective and not just a table top view. It really makes you think about how those bog down tests and lines of sight come into play in the game and how they compare to the real place. Unfortunately most of the old Arnhem was destroyed during the war including the bridge (it was rebuilt and renamed much later). Now Arnhem is very modern but I still recommend a visit.

For me, hearing the first hand experiences of the soldiers during my museum trip really hit home and made me realise why I love Flames so much. It's not the game, the social aspect or the miniatures I enjoy the most even tough they are a big part of it. What makes Flames so special is that it gives me a chance to remember those brave few who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we take for granted today. Lest we forget.