Weekend Hobby Update

The weekend has come and gone and for me it was one of snatched Hobby time where I could.

On Saturday I picked up a Skaven Blood Bowl team from GW and put them together that afternoon, then primed them.

You get two identical sprues - 3x Lineman, Blitzer, Thrower and Gutter Runner. No Kicker, no Rat Ogre. I suspect these may be released in the future. I've got a second team on the way as I want to have four Gutter Runners and extra fodder - sorry, linesmen.

Going through my bits box I found and old Boneripper model which will do well as my Rat Ogre. I painted him up and he should fit in well.

I need to decide on the basing scheme but I expect I'll go with non-descript sand, grass and tufts.

Looking forward to working on the team over the next few evenings.

 

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Onwards and Upwards - The Rise and Rise of White Dwarf

After the five years of non-descript content followed by two years of the weekly WD advertising pamphlet, White Dwarf is back.

Re-launched in September as a monthly magazine, the "new" White Dwarf is now four issues old. The initial signs were very good but let's say I had a healthy dose of scepticism that the launch level would be maintained.

Happy to report that I haven't been disappointed. Speaking as someone who plays none of GW's three core games, I still see the magazine as great value. There is enough "hobby" in there for me every month that the magazine solidly fills in 2+ hours of reading time with content that both informs and inspires.

The painting articles are very good as are the general hobby technique guides. There is full about games I care about (although I don't play) as well as the work of fellow hobbyists.

The only downside is "Army of the Month". Surely they have run out of Stormcast Eternal armies to show us. There is one positive to that though - no matter how well painted the aesthetics of the Sigmarines (and their silly flightless dragons) confirm to me that Age of Sigmar isn't something that I'm likely to ever investigate. We mis you Old World.

The Malevolent Seven

I've managed to finish my "Gorechosen" models and they are now ready to take to the fighting pits.

As well as the four that come with the game, I've got the White Dwarf giveaway and the two Age of Sigmar characters that have had rules provided for them.

It was quite enjoyable painting the Khorne models. I'm not sure I'd want to do a full army but the seven were varied enough and detailed enough to maintain my interest.

This type of product appeals to me - a standalone game using a limited number of GW figures. I suspect if the number got too big it would be a bit of a chore. For instance the two Horus Heresy games probably have too many figures in them to be painted just as a board game.

GW have informed me that they have dispatched my Skaven Blood Bowl team and I'm hoping that will arrive shortly. Pretty certain that I can get that painted reasonably quickly - I've had a lot of practice painting Rats.

That will get me through to the release of "Traitor Legions" which will let me know if I'm going to give 40K another go or whether I crack into the assembled 30K models.

 

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Fixing "The Great Betrayal"

Games Workshop have one chance to put right the wrongs that have existed for a decade. The period 2002-2006 were glory days for the "Illuminated" as they had, first, the Index Astartes articles that appeared in White Dwarf and then, second, Codex: Chaos Space Marines v3 (four printings over its life).

The author of the Codex, Pete Haines "got" Chaos. Over 3rd and 4th Edition, Codex:CSM rivalled Codex:SM in terms of armies. Sure some people could go over the top with the "Turning to" armies - and to a lesser extent Iron Warriors but the actual Traitor Legions themselves brought variety to the Power Armoured/MEQ game.

In this house we had Death Guard (x2), World Eaters (x2), Word Bearers, Thousand Sons and Emperors Children armies - as well as Iron Warriors that never got finished. I always wanted to do Night Lords but struggled with the bat helms.

When the 4th Edition Codex hit, all those armies were invalidated with whole parts of each unusable.

That largely killed 40k me and I went from Plague Lord/Noise Lord to Seer Lord Morskitta.

So given the door has been opened what do I want to see in "Traitor Legions". It can pretty much be summed up in two words - "Variety" and "Individuality".

If we accept that summoning Daemons won't be there in the form it was, here's what I'd like for each Legion.

THOUSAND SONS

The die is cast but the early signs are good

• Rubric Marines
• Cult Terminators
• Warp inspired weapons
• Slow and Purposeful
• Arhiman

BLACK LEGION

They have their own book and to be honest given Abaddon is 0-13 he doesn't deserve much love from the Chaos Gods.

• Generic List
• Abaddon as a Special Character
• Ability to take a kickass retinue

ALPHA LEGION

• Army wide infiltration for a start
• Previously got cultists but I believe they are more appropriate in Word Bearers. It would be nice if they got some units inspired by Genestealer Cult, more operatives than fodder.

NIGHT LORDS

• Ability to take one Raptor or Bike unit as Troops
• Army wide Stealth
• Negative modifier to enemy morale to reflect their "Terror" rep, perhaps a cumulative Psychic Power

WORD BEARERS

• Dark Apostle restricted to Word Bearers
• Cultists restricted to them as well
• Enhanced access to Possessed, Lesser Daemons and Daemon Engines

IRON WARRIORS

• Warpsmith restricted to IW
• Siege specialist so Tank Hunter
• Daemon Engines
• Basilisk

WORLD EATERS

• Kickass Daemon Prince
• Kharn
• Cult Terminators
• Army wide Mark of Khorne/Frenzy
• No Havoc Squads
• Only long range firepower should be that based on Daemon Engines

DEATH GUARD

• Typhus
• Cult Terminators - MoN, FNP
• Plague Marines
• Blight Grenades/Manreapers
• Restricted access to Transport/Tracked vehicles
• Typhus

EMPEROR'S CHILDREN

• Cult Terminators
• Army wide MoS
• Army wide access to Noise Weapons so that Lords, Terminators, Troop Squads, Bikes and Havocs can all be "Noise Marines"
• No Oblits, Raptors or other cult troops

I think this would achieve the variety and individuality that Legion players crave.

Weekend Hobby Update

Reasonably quiet weekend for me on the hobby front.

Finished cleaning up hobby room - I'm so messy - and painted the sixth "Gorechosen" model. One left and he'll be finished this week.

I also finished listening to "Path of Heaven" audiobook where the motley remains of the White Scars see off the combined Death Guard and Emperor's Children Legions. This is getting to be a theme?

Ordered Blood Bowl minus figures from UK Bits seller and hopefully that will arrive soon. Also ordered new Tabletop World release.

Jacked up a couple of Kings of War games over the coming fortnight. The Herd will Bray!

Curiouser and Curiouser

One thing that is very interesting about the upcoming Traitor Legion supplement is exactly what is it a sopplement to.

The description in the post below says it is a supplement to Codex:CSM but this may not be the case.

The original source description indicates it is a supplement for Codex:Space Marines - note the missing "Chaos". This was assumed by a lot of reposters to be a typo.....but what if it isn't?

Now that would be interesting.

I'm sure we'll get more info but perhaps GW is maintaining the original command structure - using Space Marines as the base - and then providing a fix to reflect the Long War.

Roll on Dec 3!

EDIT:

Definitely a supplement for Codex:Chaos Space Marines so perhaps an opportunity lost

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Gav Thorpe's Bastard Child is Dead

As Maggie Thatcher said all those years ago, "Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice".

After 10 long years, Gav Thorpe's bastard child has been taken out the back and had had a bullet put in its head. Well sort of, maybe......

The new GW Community page has posted the following image (thanks Dan S):

Now you may not be aware but I'm not the greatest fan of Codex:CSM from 4th Ed onwards. I'm not going to say Gav Thorpe ruined my hobby.....well yes, I am.

That 2006 book of his sucked the marrow out of Chaos leaving us with the vanilla, soulless bones of Chaos Allsorts. I'm not gonna lie....thinking of that "codex" makes me feel all "postal", enough to need to have a lie down.

But this.......could there be hope. Is there a Santa after all? Or is it another cruel joke from the guys who blew up the Old World.

It's dangerous to play with people's emotions like this.

EDIT:

Traitor Legions: Nine is the magic number this month, as within this 136-page softback supplement to Codex Chaos Space Marines are army special rules, exclusive Detachments, Warlord Traits, Tactical Objectives and Chaos Artefacts for each of the Traitor Legions - the nine legions who followed their Primarchs into treachery and heresy as they turned from the Emperor's light. (avail 10 Dec)

Nurgle is most pleased!

Now This is Interesting.....

Perhaps the most exciting release in 40K for a decade....

Cult Marines and Cult Terminators!!!!! Not so interested in TS but perhaps it opens the way for future release of Emperor's Children and Death Guard models and rules.

So readers, get out and buy them. Make them successful.

Interest is stirring.

NZ Masters on in a Fortnight

The NZ Masters are on in a fortnight organised by Tim Adams in Christchurch. The top ranked players in Warhammer 40k and Flames of War will do battle to see who is the "Master".

Unfortunately there were insufficient numbers of the top ranked Kings of War players available to allow the Fantasy event to be run. This was primarily a function of most KoW being based in Wellington which meant central players dominated the rankings. From the invites only two accepted - Robert Higgins and myself - which meant that the event was cancelled. This is a shame as it is the first time in nine years we haven't been able to get a field.

I understand people's motivation. The whole field travelling from Wellington to Christchurch to play each other seems silly, however there is a wider aspect to consider. The point of the Masters has been to get players across genres together for a "celebratory" weekend with the crowning of a Master as a by-product.

Hopefully 2017 will see continued growth in the KOW hobby and we'll get a renewed contest for the Fantasy crown. The 2017 Masters are scheduled to be held in Wellington on the first weekend in December.

Forgeworld- The Horus Heresy Model Masterclass

One product produced by Forgeworld that seems to sneak under the radar are their "Model Masterclass" books. I have their two Imperial Armour books and recently purchased their new Horus Heresy publication.

This is serious Warhammer porn. Great models, well painted and technique guides to show you how they achieved their results.

What do you get for your GBP 30? A full colour, hard covered, high quality book that covers 12 topics over 116 pages. The topics are selected to showcase different techniques and different outputs from single models - Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus - armies - Salamanders - through vehicles to Warhammer World FW Battleboards - Istvaan III & V.

There is a beautifully detailed Imperial Fists Falchion, for instance, where the techniques used are covered over 22 pages. This covers the process from the initial basecoating right through to the weathering and battle damage.

To achieve this they use a step by step process with photographs at each stage. It is really easy to follow and the techniques are definitely reproducable.

My favourite topics are the two on the Istvaan battlefields. As regular readers know I love my terrain and here the FW masters go through how they created their evocative battleboards.

This book is a treasure trove for any modeller or wargamer and well worth the cost. Reading through it I'm sure any person couldn't help but be motivated and would definitely gain value. For the price it is an absolute bargain.

The best thing is that it is titled "Volume 1" so I'm expecting further goodness in the future.

 

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"Gorechosen" - On the Homeward Stretch

Now completed another two of the Gorechosen pitfighters, giving me a total of five.

The first is the Iconbearer from the AoS box set.

The second is from the game itself.

Now have two more to complete, one from the game the other from AoS starter and then we'll be able to start some Khorne-y goodness.

 

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Terrain - The Blacksmith on the Hill

Wellington has had an eventful few days over the past week. We were woken at 12:02am on Monday with a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and this has been followed with torrential rain over the past 24 hours resulting in flooding through the region. So what do you do? Paint terrain.

This is Tabletop World's Blacksmith's Forge. I've painted it to fit with the rest of my terrain and mounted it on a hill so it will grace my tabletop.

The hill is high density foam with static grass applied using the Grasstech applicator.

The roof comes off and you can see the Blacksmith's living quarters, complete with his lunch.

To finish off the piece I've used the smith/mason from the Mordheim Frenzied Mob.

The hill has had some clump foliage and tufts added to break up the grass.

 

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Vermintide

Vermintide was held over the weekend at Warlords. It was a 1400 point Kings of War event over five rounds.

Unfortunately numbers were down on last year but by all accounts it was a fun event.

The results were as follows:

1. Aaron Hodson (Ogres)
2. Bret Mudgway (Abyss)
3. Peter Williamson (Brotherhood)

This was Aaron's first KoW event and it was his first win in any Fantasy event!

Here are some pics from the day:

Aaron and Bret in their Round 2 clash

Higgins debuted his Orcs

Peter showed Neil how The Brotherhood should be run

Though it didn't always go to plan!

Kudos to Neil for running the event and to all the players that supported it.

Let the Games Begin!!

As a person who loves the console/PC Blood Bowl game, the re-release of the physical game was always going to be attractive to me.

So yesterday when the pre-orders went up I jumped in and purchased the Skaven team, Skaven dice and the Season One book. I'm hoping someone local will grab the boxset. The Human and Orc teams were of no interest to me - I think you'd have to really lack imagination to play football in a Fantasy World and then play humans - but hey my middle name's not Wolfgang.

I'm pretty sure that there will be a number of box sets broken down so I'll be able to pick up a pitch. Failing that there is an opportunity for Battlemat companies to create themed pitches.

Horus Heresy - XIVth Legion Ready to Paint

I've put together my remaining Death Guard models to bulk out the 1850 points I have painted.

• Mortarion
• Vindicator
• Typhon
• 2x Deathshroud
• Recon Squad with Bolters
• Part Breacher Siege Squad - Sergeant with plasma pistol and Power Fist, Lascutter and meltagun. I have five more on way to complete squad.

Hoping to get these finished by Xmas.

 

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ETC 2017 - NZ Team Applications Open

2017 is going to see the return of a New Zealand team to the ETC. Next year the event is being held in Salamanca in Spain in early August.

The Captain of the team is David Meachen. David has represented NZ at multiple ETCs and will bring enormous experience to the role. More than that David is a great team player and was the part of the backbone of the team I captained in 2014. He knows what the ETC is about both from the playing and planning front.

Teams are made up of 8 players plus 1-2 support staff. David is now looking for The Ninth Age players to make up the team. As has been the case with previous teams, there is a preference to include as many NZ-based players who meet the selection criteria. This is seen as an important impetus to the local Fantasy Wargaming scene. Also important is the importance of being a team player and also being able to uphold NZ's reputation as a team that exhibits sportsmanship.

The cost in time and money is not insubstantial. You are unlikely to get much change out of NZ$4000 and you need to be able to commit substantial time both before the event in planning and practice and at least 8-10 days for the event (including travel).

In the first instance you should register your interest at nzetc2017@gmail.com by 15 November.

David will then send you through a short questionnaire seeking some of the information needed to allow him to select the team. In making his decision he will be seeking some advice from community members.

The ETC is a great event. I really enjoyed the whole experience in 2014 and would love to return in future years. If anybody would like a conversation about the experience and expectations please drop me a line and I'll help as much as I can.

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The Heresy is Strong in This One

In the last couple of weeks while working around the house I've managed to start catching up on the Horus Heresy through the Black Library's audiobooks. I have finished "Deathfire" - 3 Salamanders beat 2000 Death Guard - "Pharos" - 1000 Ultramarines beat 20,000 Night Lords - and "Eye of Terra" - a selection of Horus's Legions being beaten by one loyalist and a dog.

That, and the release of the "Burning of Prospero" have inspired me to finish my 30k forces. I have 1800 points of Death Guard painted - 700-800 unpainted - and four unpainted units of Emperor's Children. So of course that means I buy more models.

First of all I picked up 20 Emperor's Children Mk IV Tactical Marines. These are based off the plastic BfC marines with upgrade kits. I ordered an extra 5 torsos - which FW forgot to put in my order.

To complement this I got a set of the EC Legion dice. Unlike GW, FW knows that you put the symbol on the "6".

Finally, I got a great deal on some of the new BoP marines. I managed to grab 20 Mk III Marines for NZ$70. This will let me bulk out my Death Guard with larger squads and also build some Heavy Support infantry.

The sprues for these HH Marines are amazing. Both the Mark III and IV sprues are packed with a huge amount of options for outfitting your Marines. I can see a massive pile of left over bits especially torsos, heads and shoulder pads. The magpies are forming a queue as we speak.

Finally I'm expecting 10 Breacher Squad Marines this week, along with a Recon Squad. Both will slot into the Death Guard to provide some added steel.

 

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"Gorechosen" Models Progressing

The outbreak of late Spring has meant that Hobby has taken a backseat to jobs around the house over the past fortnight. Suffice to say I am rapidly working my way through the list of DIY and landscaping jobs that will leave me with a stress-free Summer.

I did manage to work on the Gorechosen models over the weekend though. The box comes with four, White Dwarf gives you one more and there are rules for two from the AoS Starter Set. I have those seven and have now finished three with work advancing on the other four.

The bases aren't done yet and I need to varnish them but they will work as playing pieces - certainly better than grey plastic.

I tried to make them look battered and bruised as I'm pretty sure pitfighters aren't too worried about their aesthetics.

My aim is to use some weathering powders and some of the technical paints - Blood for the Blood God screams to be used - to finish them off.

 

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