Untitled

From the infirmary bay

It’s amazing how little time anyone truly has in a day. I have been meaning to write for months now. So today, I’m being a bit reflective. I’m home from work, sick, and no, it’s not Covid, so, I find myself with a little extra time in between stomach jettisoning.

We find ourselves (still) in unprecedented times. The country is on the verge of an economic collapse, we have a global pandemic,…

Tactician’s Table – Custodian Guard

Welcome to the Tactician’s Table, where I take one unit in the game and review its purpose. As with all of these entries, this is how I interpret their usefulness. I don’t go to GTs, and I just play casually. I just also happen to enjoy the meta. That being said, if you see something I’ve missed, or think that I’m completely off-base, feel free to comment, but, be tactful about it. I like to…

Slaanesh returning? The Community Site appears to claw to that conclusion

I’m just going to post an image here. You tell me if this looks awfully Slaaneshi to you.

So, it’s been rumored we’d be seeing Slaanesh again, really soon, from the lore in the Daughters of Khaine rule books. While we haven’t seen any direct notification that Fulgrim would be making a comeback, it wouldn’t be all that surprising.

My question is though, if Slaanesh is released from it’s capture…

Many people were hoping for a huge 40k announcement, such as the preview of the Ghazghkull Thraka Prime Ork Model, a new Primarch, or even a new box set. Those hopes and dreams were dashed to bits. However, there were some interesting things that came out of there.

Titanicus

Titanicus appears to be a whole new specialist game system (much like Necromunda or Bloodbowl) that they will be releasing in 2018. Titanicus is an epic scale game, that is being resurrected from the olden days of GW. Here, you will be able to command an army of titans to purge the heretical followers of Chaos. I’m unfamiliar with the game play of the system when it used to be a thing, but, they noted that the new rules will inspired by this original rule set.

There will be some individual box kits available, however, there will also be a ‘Grand Master Edition’ that will feature all the rules, scenery, two warlord titans, and two knights. Each titan will be ‘highly posable’, however, the images we’ve seen have seemed fairly static. So, I’m curious as to either how posable they actually will be, or, why did they make some static battle poses for their sample pieces.

They mentioned that this ‘initially’ takes place during the Horus Heresy, which infers that we may see some 40k option at some point.

For pictures of the actual release seminar, head on over to Spikeybits.

Age of Sigmar 2.0

This was, to me, the most surprising thing to come out of Warhammer Fest. I guess I was maybe eventually expecting a new starter set, but, the announcement of a whole new edition was very unpredictable.

That being said, we’re slowly getting news on how the new edition will be changing, and it seems that it will be more of a find tuning of the current rule set. They will be taking things out like shooting out of melee combat, and slightly changing the rules to turn initiative.

Along side this though, is a whole new starter set, which means, new models. While, it was expected that the next starter kit would feature Stormcast, they’re at least creating a slightly more interesting Stormcast sub-faction with with Sacrosanct Chamber. They deal more with magic and arcane energies than their melee focused brethren.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As for their opponents, we will be seeing Death in a starter kit, which, to my knowledge, is the first time GW has ever featured this army in any starter. The Nighthaunts are already pretty tough in combat, so, I can only imagine how these new units will be on the board.

Glaivewraith Stalkers

Guardian of Souls

Lord Executioner

Chainrasp Hordes

Grimghast Reapers

Mounted Knight of Shrouds

Along side the new models, starter kit, and edition, we will be getting a new feature, Malign Sorcery. These allow your wizards to cast persistent spells onto the battlefield. Think of the Purple Sun of Xersus (or whatever it was called) in eight edition. I suspect them being very similar to those, but, I would expect you would have some control over how they act. I’m going to predict that these will all come in one box set that will contain all of the different spells.

I’m particularly fond of the giant spiked purple skull ball of death that is with the necromancer. I feel that these will be very interesting, to say the least.

Lastly, in the Age of Sigmar front (holy shit they did a lot for AoS), Forgeworld announced a new Khorne model, and bless the 8 pointed star, it looks amazing! It’ll be costly for sure, but, painted up right, it’s going to be an amazing centerpiece on the board.

They also announced some minor news regarding new Community content, such as a ‘Regimental Standard’ for AoS called the Hammerhal Herald, an Age of Sigmar podcast called ‘Stormcast’ and a webcomic called Roll Models.

All I know is, they seem to really be double downing with Age of Sigmar. I want to check out the figures, but, perhaps it’s overtaking 40k as their primary cash cow.

Other News

There was some other news as well, such as the release of some new scenery pieces for 40k and AoS, some new technical paints (which look like they’ll be AWESOME for painting spirits) and some Lord of the Rings releases, which, I’m sorry, but, I won’t be talking about those.

I do want to note that they announced a new Necron construct from Forgeworld. He looks pretty damn awesome, and quite sizable. Finally, Necron’s have their own titan.

There was also the announcement of complete rules for the Sisters of Silence, which will make them a completely field-able army in 40k, Custodes getting the last of their Dreadnought rules created, and many other Horus Heresy and Specialist Games related items. If those interest you, I would recommend you go over to the community website and check those out.

Overall, it seemed to be a really good weekend for us Age of Sigmar folks, and slightly disappointing for the 40k players. Hopefully though, they will be getting the release they deserve soon.

Well, this post is getting WAY too long for my taste, so I’m gonna wrap this up.

Until next time…Happy Painting!

Tactician’s Table – Primaris Hellblasters

So, I want to try something new. I want to begin taking units in game, and discussing their uses and functions on the table top. I haven’t done unit reviews in quite literally, years, and I used to really enjoy it over at my old blog. Let me know if you like it, your opinions on my suggestions, and any other uses you may have found for these guys.

Today, I want to look at the Primaris…

The New Direction of 40k

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine over the Facebook, and made me realize just how excited I was about this. 40k has always been a huge love of mine, just as fantasy/Age of Sigmar. When AoS came out… I was, initially, skeptical. I mean, they took Oldhammer, and killed it. No more rank and file, no more winds of magic. They stream lined it into a little streamlined package that was,…

Finally had a chance to sit down and write a little bit. A lot of huge changes the past month or so…some good, some bad…but, all in all, life is life.

But, you didn’t click on this to hear about personal stuff. You came for the good stuff, the hammers of war!

I’ve been slowly making progress on my Dark Eldar Commission. I’ve now got a ton of troops on the queue, but, I’ve been able to get the paint scheme and overall color design finally figured out. I’m pretty happy about it personally. The ‘smoothness’ of the space elves really were kind of a challenge to initially overcome. I’m used to more bumps and spikes (chaos player, so, you know…pointy bits). But, I feel a ton better about how it’s turning out.

  Next up, getting about 20 or so Kabalites squared away along with some Medusae (sp?) and some Incubi.

In some other projects I finally finished, I got my Sylvaneth Treelords finished. I have two more to paint up, but, those are going to wait.

I forgot how much I love painting Sylvaneth. I love the natural earthy colors. I’m going to go for more of a fall theme for the majority of the army. Druthu, well, I painted him to a pretty standard scheme, just cause, well, I wanted to. But, when I get to the rest, I think they’ll all be following the same green bark and red/orange leaves.

Lastly, I’m running a few test models for a custom Space Marine chapter I’m going to be using for 40k, not certain on the name, but, I think I’m going to go with something along the lines of “Predators of Titan”. I’m using a color scheme inspired by the German flag, because, well, I’m German.

These guys have been the most fun to paint, especially the Redemptor, and I’m not sure why. I just love the paint scheme so much. Simple, yet effective, with plenty to keep your eyes drawn to it. Now, if I could only play them effectively…

Anyways, I think that’s it for now. Hopefully I’ll remember I have this a little more often.

Until next time…keep those brushes clean and…

Happy Painting!

However, the winter is lifting, I’m getting into a better grove of fatherhood, and after a year hiatus, I’ve decided to start doing commissions again. Honestly, it’s gotten me really excited to be back, knee-deep in the hobby.

An old friend of mine, who was going to be getting out of 40k, decided to stay involved in it, and thankfully did not get rid of his Dark Eldar. So, over the next few months, his Coven will be getting the daemon edge treatment.

I’ve decided to start with his venoms. I’ve always liked the models, and the flat space will let me really start playing with the coloration that he wants. He’s after a color scheme that is similar to a warrior wasp:

So, we’re going with a dark Cantor blue primary, with a turquoise secondary color. I think we’re going to go with Khorne red as a base for the accent color as well.

Anyways, I’ll be updating this project periodically, along with some personal projects I’m starting.

So, until next time, happy painting!

And I have to say, I’m glad I did.

Like all Citadel spray paint, there really is some quality in there, $28 worth..I’m not so sure, but there is definitely quality. The spray goes on so evenly and smoothly. It’s not too thick, so you don’t lose any real details (like all spray paint though, you WILL lose some detail). But, for using on vehicles, I think it works great.

I can reiterate just how even of a coat it gave. It’s going to allow me to really churn out these vehicles once I get a chance to start painting them. The coverage on this is also really great. I know I’ll be able to get my other Talons of the Emperor box completely sprayed without any problem. I do think that I will be hand painting the gold on my other Custodians and Sisters of Silence though, just to save the spray paint for things that need the large blocks of cover.

However, I did notice something from the paint, which, I’m unsure if it is user error or something in the mix.

It may be hard to see, but, there is some discoloration on a few portions of the models. As I said though, it very well could have been user error, however, I’ve used spray paint for years, and I’ve never really seen discoloration like that. But, I’ve also never used a metallic spray paint before…

I guess, all in all, even though it was an expensive can of paint, I would do it again if I need to paint additional Talons, or anything else that needs to be pure gold. I just remember when these ‘premium’ spray paints came out and I laughed at the price tag…now, I’m sold on them…amazing what actually using them does.

If anyone knows how that discoloration happened as well, please comment and let me know. I’m curious to whether it was me or the paint…or maybe a combination.

Until next time…Happy Painting!

Some of you may ask, “why the hell do you have so many boxes of plastic?”

Simple, I used to run a game store, and a lot of these things are minis that I either wanted to paint later on, or, didn’t sell online, and I just decided to keep and paint.

In the woodwork, I now have the following armies started: Adeptus Custodes, Black Templar, Fyreslayers, Iceclaws, Slaves to Darkness, Blades of Khorne, Genestealer Cults, Ynnari, Orks (which I may actually get rid of), Chaos Space Marines, Blood Angels, Death Watch, Dark Angels, Chaos Daemons, and finally, Space Wolves. I’m actually hoping to get a lot of these finished, and use them as other armies my gaming club can use if they want to try something new out. We’re just getting off the ground on the internet, and if you want to check them out, and are in the South East Michigan area, head on over: Basement Fanatics

We’ve got some good plans for the club, and are currently figuring out how we want to expand our membership. We just want some good guys to game with. We’re not super competitive, just like to roll dice and smack talk each other.

Anyways, I don’t really know why I wanted to post this, but, I did…so, until next time, happy painting!

I got to try out my 10 man blob of sword and board custodes, which, are completely brutal. They were able to withstand a ton of punishment (I only lost 1), as well as completely wipe out 2 units of Plague Marines as well as a Lord of Contagion.

I was also fairly impressed with my Witchseekers as well. They pumped out somewhere around 40 flamer attacks when they disembarked, which, if it was against something a bit less tough (the T5 Marines really cut down the effectiveness), it would have resulted in a LOT more casualties. Definitely running these as anti-horde.

Anyways, to the battle. For my Talons, I ran:

10 man squad of Custodians w/ Sentinel Blades, Power Knife, and that really awesome banner

5 man squad of Custodians w/ Guardian Spears embarked in a Venerable Land Raider, which was armed with Lascannons, Heavy Bolter, and Stormbolter

2 Venerable Contemptor Dreadnaughts, one with a multi-melta, and another with an assault cannon

10 woman squad of Witchseekers armed with Flamers embarked in a Null Maiden Rhino

Inquisitor Greyfax

For the Death Guard, Keith ran (if memory serves me correct that is):

3 7 man squads of Plague Marines (2 units with 2 Plasma Rifles, 1 unit with a Melta Gun and a Blight Launcher. All had a champ with a Powerfist)

Blightcaster

Lord of Contagion

2 Helbrutes, both with CCW and Multi-Melta

Noxious Blightbringer

1 unit of 3 Plaguecrawlers

1 Blight Drone

1 Blightlauncher mortar thing

We ended up playing Big Guns Never Tire, and for deployment, we divided the table into quarters (can’t remember that deployment name). I had first turn.

Turn 1 for me was basically advancing, and firing off whatever I had range on. My landraider scored 2 hits on one of his Plaguecrawlers that went through and caused a total of 9 damage, wiping one off the field. Everything else tried firing, but it only dinged off of the armor. When the close combat phase came into play though, my multi-melta dreadnought was within charge range of one of his helbrutes. He made his charge, hit with all 4 attacks, wounded with everything, and poor Keith rolled ones and twos for his saves. He ended up with 12 wounds, which completely melted the helbrute.

His turn one was somewhat the same, he focus fired my dreadnoughts, scoring a fair handful of wounds on them. He tried to launch a mortar on my foot slogging custodians, however, he was completely unprepared for the stupid invulnerability save they had. And that’s when he realized just how elite these guys were.

In his close combat phase, he charged one helbrute into combat with my assault cannon dreadnought, and two units of Plague Marines into combat with the other dreadnought. At that time, my assault dreadnought had 2 wounds on him, and my multi-melta had 6 wounds. His Helbrute completely choked in close combat, and I was able to score a total of 9 wounds on him with my CCW, taking another one out. However, he was able to widdle down the last couple of wounds on my multi-melta dread, ended that one’s poor existence.

Turn two was where his game completely fell apart, and actually conceded. I disembarked my 5 custodians and my witchseekers and moved them close to their targets. My 10 man custodians moved into charge range of several of his units. Greyfax cast terrify on my target plague marine unit, lowering their leadership and not allowing overwatch. Shooting phase resulted one vaporized Blightcaster and another few wounds on a Plaguecrawler. However, my witchseekers scored a total of 41 shots (18 or 19 of which wounded), but in total only caused 3 casualties against one of his Plague Marine squads (but it was enough to cause a breaktest and make another run away).

Close combat was incredibly messy. The end result was a wiped out unit of Plague Marines, and a Lord of Contagion with only 2 wounds left. I failed a few needed charges, but, with a hurt troop choice, HQ choice, and a completely wiped out unit, he was against the ropes. I just had to put the finishing blow on him. That came on his combat phase.

His turn two resulted in some fun rolls. He was slowly picking apart my witchseekers a lot of fire, however, my save rolls were stupidly good. Out of a ton of shots on that unit, I lost 4, and rolled 3 6s when needed to save the effectiveness of that unit. When he charged into them, it ended up with 18 overwatch shots against his plaguecrawlers, and scored a few wounds. I had wrote that unit completely off though, as I knew they were toast. That was fine though, because my Spear Custodians were foaming at the mouth to get to those crawlers.

The finishing touch though was me using the counter attack stratagem on my 10 man unit. He had charged in with his Noxious Blightcaller, which, did nothing in CC, but allowed that custodian unit to completely wipe out his Lord of Contagion and other Plague Marine unit, leaving his Blightcaller all alone against his golden demise.

It was here he called it. He had more than half (more like 75%) of his army, and I had only lost 5 or 6 models. It really was just beating a dead horse at that time. We shook hands, and then talked counter tactics and brainstormed how to make his army a bit more effective against such an elite force.

All in all, it was a really great learning experience for both of us, and we got to roll dice, which is always fun.

Until next time, happy painting!

Two Plague Marine starter sets later, I’ve found myself knee deep in Nurgle filth and paint again.

I have to say, these new models are amazing. They’re masterfully designed, dynamic, and just so much fun to paint. I’m currently planning on making a small loyalist force in the Primaris Marines (most likely Salamanders), but, until then, I’ve been doing nothing but painting Nurgle.

Here’s the current painted army so far:

What we’ve got here is currently 10 Plague Mairnes, a Lord of Contagion, 2 Blight Drones, a Blightcaster, a Nurgle infested Rhino, and a Helbrute.

I’m currently painting 23 Pox Walkers, 2 Blightcallers (the Nurgle guy with a bell, I can’t remember the name), and an additional Blightcaster. I have another 17 Pox walkers, 10 more Plague Marines, and a Defiler in my production queue.

I’ve been able to play a few games with these guys, and I’m just loving them. Their durability is beyond what it was in 7th edition. I have a feeling I’m going to be playing these guys for quite some time.

Until next time all, happy painting!

Now…onto the things that I normally post about. This is a miniatures blog after all! So, there has been a lot of projects coming through my hobby table lately, mostly personal, but projects none-the-less. I’ve been getting more than knee deep in elves for my order army…and while I’ve got a ton of things to still build, I’ve been slowly chipping away at some older projects. Basically, for Age of Sigmar, I’m collecting Order and Destruction, which allows me for a bunch of flexibility with my army. While I’m not competitive in the least for AoS, it still does allow for a fun, unique army. With that being said, I will be having Elves from all sides teaming up together with my Free People and my Stormcast, as well as whatever else I decide to pick up.

First up, I have my Tree Lord Ancient. I was originally going to make him as a Spirit of Durthu, but I really wanted the option of running the formation.

Then, a more recent project that I finished was some Ellyrian Reavers from the old Island of Blood box set (Spire of Dawn for you newer players). For my High Elves (sorry GW, they will always be High Elves) I wanted to go with a more warm color, where as my Wood Elves and Sylvaneth will have more earthy tones. I feel that will be a good contrast (especially since my Dark Elves will have the standard darker feel to them). I actually used the color pallet of the Blood Elves from Warcraft to help flesh out their color scheme, and overall, I’m really happy about it.

Lastly, I have some older models that I was working on awhile ago, while I’m unsure if I’ve uploaded them before, I figure, might as well put them with these guys since that’s where they belong.

That’s it for right now, so until next time…Happy Painting!

I studied history in college, and was always interested in the Roman controlled England area. I used that as inspiration for her trolls and went with a slightly more ‘imperial’ looking Trollblood force.

But, a critique is not the point of this post. I recently finished up a few Reaper models to throw in with my AoS minis. I just really enjoy how quick and easy they are to do.

One of my favorite things with her is just how strong they made her look. Yeah, she’s an Elven queen, but, she looks like she would kick just about anyone’s butt who decides to try to defile her realm.

Overall, one of my most favorite models GW has made in a very, very long time. I can’t wait to field her!

So, recently, my wife and I went up to my local GW store. We were in the area, and well, I’ve been wanting a kit to put together. I was planning on MAYBE walking away with a Start Collecting box, but most likely a Gyrocopter or something. Instead, when my wife saw me drooling over these beauties, she said we could make room in our budget, and blammo, now I’ve got some really awesome heroes to work on!

I started working on Alarielle, the assembly was long, but, fairly easy. There’s a lot of tiny runes and branches that are draped off of her & her beetle that are easy to break. I had to re-glue several of them due to where I was holding the model from while I was painting it.

For the paint scheme, I decided I try a more fall theme. While it’s still a ways away from being finished, I’m digging how it’s shaping up.

  Hopefully I will be able to finish her in the next few days. I believe I still have miniature fall foliage, which would really add a lot to the model. Well, guess I should get back to work!

Until next time everyone, Happy Painting!