Mustering More Guard

 As promised in my last post, a few more pictures of my Guard. Sadly the images aren't the best, thanks to a still busted camera, but this is what i've gotten painted so far.

Still to go is another couple of squads from first Platoon and the rest of the Aegis defense line. With any luck i'll be picking up some of the new special effects GW paints on Sunday, to add a bit of oomph to the bronze on my Aegis and tanks. Look for a review in the next week or so, touch wood.

Until then i remain,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-pope.

So what replaced the Space Wolves?

Good morning to everyone on this rather dreary day, the weather seems intent on annihilating my garden at the moment - we're talking floods, lawn turned to a quagmire (giggity), trees being blown to 90 degree angles, the works - so what better time to update my blog?

As those who have read past posts, and i'm always amazed by how many people do, will know, i had planned a Space Wolf  force to take part in a campaign at my local GW, only to suffer a wound in their making and pretty much get scared off.

Still wanting to play in the campaign meant that i needed to choose a new army and get a few units ready ASAP. The army i went with is one that's a break from my usual power armoured shenanigans: The Imperial Guard

My usual camera is currently refusing to work, so forgive the photo quality. This is one of my Platoon leaders, Sergeant-at-Arms Troughton. Unfortunately it's hard to pick out some of the details, but half of his face has been painted up as healed scar tissue, this is a leader who fights on the front lines.



At the same time i also picked up one of these beauties, an Aegis defense line. I cannot stress how useful this thing is. A deployable cover save is a big boost to a guard army, and the quad autocannon has already claimed a Hellchicken and Dark Eldar Voidbirdy. £18 well spent.

As soon as i can get my camera working, i'll upload more shots of the army so far - it's definitely more than one guy and his quad.

Until then i remain,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-pope.

So...where's the Space Wolves?: Or Why knife safety is important.

So last post i revealed my intention to convert up some Heresy era Space Wolves, using Chaos Warrior and Space Wolves parts. And i began in earnest after that post, cutting and gluing some more mini's and getting some painting done.

Then i had the idea of using a plastic flying stand stem to make some icicles for the bases, a la an old White Dwarf terrain article.

So i grabbed a spare stem, grabbed my knife and cutting board and got to work. Now the stem i chose was one of the newer ones from the ball and socket connections. So i needed to get rid of the ball.

Off i went, merrily trying to cut it, pushing quite hard. Too hard in fact. The stem broke, the cutting board slipped, and the knife went straight through my jeans and into my right thigh.

Ouch.

After 18 years in the hobby, you'd think i'd know better, but no, i'm still making stupid mistakes. And this one was the worst.

I spent four hours in casualty, bleeding profusely, before being seen and stitched up. Five stitches, several jabs and a load of butterfly stitches later i was sent on my way.

So i'm afraid to say for the time being, Space Wolves have been shelved for a project that involves less knife work. I'll return to them once my leg has healed up and i buy a new, sharper knife that won't need me to apply so much pressure.

I'll be posting about the project that's been swapped in for the GW Liverpool 40k campaign in the Space Wolves stead in the next few days,

So until then i remain,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-pope.

Heresy on a budget.

Ahoy once again.

In the next couple of weeks/months, my local GW is once more embarking on a campaign, this time for 40k. As per the usual drive to bring in money for the store, the requirement is starting a new force and building it up as the campaign progresses.

With this new incentive provided, a lot of the regulars are looking at Heresy era forces, with Heresy era Thousand Sons popping up already. Keen to keep up with the cool kids and stay home with the downies, i've been looking at Heresy stuff, torturing myself browsing Forgeworld and looking at the excellent work of folks like Templarscrusade01 (check out his Youtube channel if you haven't already, it's well worth it).

So what to do when you've got the desire but your wallet is lacking the funds?

Well rather than despair, i dug back through dozens of pages of Warseer painting logs and the interwebs, looking for old school Heresy armies. How did people do it before Forgeworld launched their range?

A lot used third party parts. This isn't an option in my case, because a) i want to use the army in a GW store and events and b) I have issues with some of the companies releasing said parts.

So how else?

My wandering through the interweb eventually found me at this site:
http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/how-to-make-pre-heresy-space-wolves.html

And bam! just like that, i had my army.

This great blog posted a tutorial on making pre-heresy Space Wolves using the Space Wolf squad box and Chaos Warriors from Warhammer Fantasy. Perfect. The tutorial itself goes step by step on how to convert them, which was a massive help. I urge anyone reading this to take a look at his blog and be sure to leave him lots of nice comments, because it really was the inspiration i needed.

So on Sunday i dashed to GW and grabbed the nearest box of puppies and Warriors and got to work with a craft knife.

 These are the first two to be painted up. I followed the aforementioned brilliant tutorial, using the Warriors of Chaos and Space Wolf kits, combined with a couple of heads from my bits box - in this instance a Grey Knight helmetless head and a cut down Berzerker head.

 I've still got to finish off some knotwork patterns on their cloaks, but for the most part they are ready to take the field. They just need a lot of friends to arrive.

The reasoning for the beardless Grey Knight head, is because this is an early Space Wolf force. This is back in the days when Terrans still fought in their ranks, and they went around calling themselves The Rout.

So adding to my massive backlog of things to paint are a squad of ten converted Grey Hunters. I'm planning on another two squads of ten after this, before branching out into some of the other areas of the Space Wolf codex. I'll be using the 40k rules for now, but with luck i'll switch over to the 30k legion list just as soon as i can scrape some pennies together.

Until next time i remain,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Pope.

Personalities of the World Eaters.

 A Lieutenant in the 8th Assault Company of the World Eaters, Adruk distinguished him on the slaughterfields of Istvaan V, showing himself to be willing to go to extremes in the name of blood shedding. 

In the later years of the Heresy, he name became a by-word for carnage.

Sergeant of 9th Companies 12th Assault Squad, Demet showed impressive skill with his chainswords, duel wielding them to terrible effect against the enemies of the Warmaster.

Glory of the Blood

 Originating on the world of McKay's Folly, the Glory of the Blood cult were responsible for multiple killings in the Hives dotting it's surface. When a warband of World Eaters attacked, it was this cult that rose in insurrection, hampering the Planetary Defense forces from mounting a defense.

It is unknown just how many innocents died thanks to their sabotage. When the World Eaters finally tired of their sport and departed, the cult vanished with them.

 Private Riggs is a tragic part of the Cults history. Blinded and deafened in the opening stages of the World Eaters invasion, Riggs opened fire upon his comrades, believing them to be the enemy. Taking advantage of his infirmities, the Cult swept him up. Even now he murders loyal soldiers of the Imperium, all the while believing himself part of a Holy Crusade against the Emperors enemies.

The Stalker in the Dark is known as the most prolific serial killer to ever strike on McKay's Folly. Responsible for hundreds of horrific deaths, none have glimpsed the face beneath his mask, it's glowing red eyes the last sight of his innocent victims.

Blaidd Drwg, Butcher of Fenris, Chosen of the Eightfold Path

Among the warbands of Chaos, few are as infamous as the Chosen of the Eightfold Path. Comprised of Astartes that have betrayed and murdered their kith and kin, this notorious band has carved a path of blood across a Segmentum. 

Perhaps the most infamous of this vile group is the warrior known as Blaidd Drwg. Once a proud Astartes of the Space Wolves chapter, the Butcher of Fenris is said to have killed his packmates before fleeing into the dark.

Each member of the Traitors wears a shoulder pad, bearing three blood drops: One represents the shedding of their own blood,one the shedding of an enemies blood, the third, and largest, the shedding of the blood of an ally.

The Butcher carries the remains of his victims in a sack stitched from their skin upon his back. Throughout the Segmentum, mothers whisper to naughty children that if they do not behave, the Blaidd Drwg will come to claim their bones.

Great Googly Moogly

I must own it.
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/News/Ferrus_Manus.html

Rainbow Warriors: 2nd Company Captain.

Work continues on my Rainbow Warriors. Having re-read 'False Gods' over the last few days, i felt inspired to do some more work on my Astartes. So i grabbed my bits box and got to work on putting together a Captain to lead the 2nd Company.

 I've used the kneeling legs from the Devastator kit, coupled with some left over parts from the Tactical squad kit. The head comes from a Bretonnian Knight Errant, traded with a friend for some leftover Imperial Guard bits.

 I wanted a pious, kneeling look to the Captain, as if he is knelt in prayer before battle begins. So i piled on the purity seals

More purity seals adorn his shoulder pads.

So i present Brother-Captain Kaine 'the Pious'. 

Even amongst the ranks of the Rainbow Warriors, Brother-Captain Kaine's devotion to the Imperial Creed stands out. Before each battle, Kaine can be found alongside the company Chaplain, leading his men in prayer to the God-Emperor.

I'll be breaking out the paintbrushes to put a bit of colour on the Captain in the next couple of days, and will get pictures up as soon as possible.

Until then i remain

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-pope

New Project Part 2: And so it begins...

As noted in my previous post, i've used the release of the new Space Marine Codex this month to begin a new army. After the deliberations noted previously, i can reveal my choice of chapter: 

The Rainbow Warriors.

Now i can practically hear the groans from here. This particular chapter has gotten pretty bad press amongst gamers in the past. This is largely due to misunderstandings over where the name originates, the actual colour scheme of the Chapter and let's face it, the name. 

 So let's address those issues, and why i went with the chapter despite them. First i'll tackle the elephant in the room: Homophobia. 

For a long time now i've seen pretty disgraceful homophobic comments made in relation to the Rainbow Warriors. Regularly they are denounced as "gay" or usually worse. And quite frankly i'm tired of it. For a start, they are Astartes. Gay or straight doesn't come into it when you're an asexual post-human killing machine. Secondly, so what? Even if they were a chapter of lovers, why is that a bad thing? It should be pointed out that multiple renowned fighting forces throughout history have been homosexual, the Spartans being the most famous. It's about time we ditched such ridiculous, offensive concepts and just accepted peoples sexuality for what it is. 

So i will use the Rainbow Warriors and show that bigotry has no place in this hobby.

The second issue that usually crops up is the name. Among the American hobbyists particularly, there seems to be the misconception that it is referring to the use of Rainbows by gay pride groups. This isn't the case. The name is actually a pun, relating to the infamous sinking of the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior by the French. 

During the late eighties, when Rogue Trader was in the works, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was big news in England. The French risked war with their actions, sinking the vessel in a foreign harbour.  Because of this infamy, the folks at GW decided to make a reference to it; first the Chapter name, and then the picture of a Soritas wearing clear French iconography shooting one of its marines.

Looking deeper into the name, and why Greenpeace chose it in the first place, reveals a Hopi legend about a group of multi-race warriors that would bring understanding and unity to the world. This little bit of mythology prompted some ideas about what i could do with the Chapters background, which again influenced my choice to use them.

So enough with the rant, here's some pictures:

 

 First we have Chief Librarian Brectian, escorted by the 7th Squad of 2nd Company, Squad Etienne. Squad Etienne routinely deploys as bodyguard to the Librarius, leading to the honour marking on their left leg denoting a horned skull.

Model wise it's the new Tactical squad kit along with the new plastic Librarian. The new Librarian in particular impressed me in the recent Marines release. It's by far my favourite GW sculpt.

 

 Sergeant Ideaus, leader of 2nd Company's 5th squad. He bears two notable markings: Firstly the red Star on his right kneepad which denotes his service in the Bloodstar Campaign. And the black painted left arm, a far rarer marking, denoting as it does that he was present during the fierce-some battle that led to the death of three Chapter Masters. Ideaus suffered extensive injuries during the campaign, leading to multiple bionic implants.

The army painted so far. 

So there you go, my new Space Marine army, the second company of the Rainbow Warriors. I'll be posting further updates on how the army progresses in the future. 

Until then i remain

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-pope.

New Project Part 1: Making a choice.

As i've mentioned in my previous post, i've begun a new hobby project in conjunction with the Space Marine release this month. I've decided to embark on collecting a Battle Company of Space Marines, inspired by the new Tactical Squad kit.

Now as all lovers of Power Armour know,  starting a Space Marine force involves a few choices.

Which Codex?

So when it comes to Marines, we're really spoilt for choice when deciding which Codex to use. We've got the standard Space Marine codex, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Space Wolves and even Grey Knights if you want to push your luck. So which should i use?

Well i wanted a Codex Astartes adherent force, so that ruled out the Space Wolves. Likewise i wanted to use the new Tactical Squad kit, so thats the Grey Knights out of the picture too.

Determined to collect a Battle Company, that removed Dark Angels from the list. Their particular specialties wouldn't be used in this project. However if i ever decide to go for a 1st Company force, the Dark Angels book will be called upon again.

So that leaves Blood Angels and the regular Space Marine codex. I've actually decided to fudge the issue and use both. Sort of.

One of the big frustrations of starting a new force is the wait to be able to use it on the tabletop. As i already have a Sanguinary Guard army raring to go, i've decided to initially collect my new force using the Blood Angels book and use them in conjunction with my Bling Wing.  Once it's reached a size to take the field of battle alone, i'll switch over to the Space Marine book.

So with that decided, it's time to pick a Chapter.

Which Chapter?

This, for me, was a much harder decision to make. I had several requirements i wanted to be filled.

First, i didn't want to go with one of the big chapters. My reason for this is i am very much a fluffy, narrative player. So collecting a company of a popular chapter would break my sense of immersion when i run into players of the same chapter.

Second, i didn't want a commonly seen chapter. I prefer to be apart from the mainstream. This preference has even seen me sell armies in the past - when Daemonhunters switched to Grey Knights and became hugely popular, my army went onto Ebay. 

These two requirements led to me digging through old White Dwarfs, hunting obscure, hardly seen chapters. Several made my short list - Blood Drinkers, Red Hunters, Storm Lords and a few others - but one in particular caught my eye. This chapter has bugger all fluff, is almost never chosen by other players but has been part of 40k since the very beginning in Rogue Trader.

Some may have guessed the chapter already. But i'll keep you in suspense. Next post will reveal the Chapter, feature my painted New Librarian, and hopefully the first Tactical Squad.

Until then i remain,

Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-pope.

And they shall know no fear.

So the big release in the hobby this month is of course Space Marines. The new Astartes release had a couple of must buys for me - Librarian Anthony Hopkins and the new Tactical squad - and a not so must buy: the Centurians.

Now from the pictures alone the Centurians, or Termitubbies as they have been dubbed locally, look pretty dreadful. I'm pleased to say they look a lot better in person. Not good, but better. They aren't the "poke myself in the eyes instead of looking at them" unit that they appear on the website or White Dwarf.

Anyhow, the two purchases for me were the new Librarian, which i have to say has now replaced Denethor as my favourite GW sculpt of all time. It really is a tiny plastic masterpiece. So much so that i painted it up without taking any "before" pictures. Oops.

But i did grab the old digital camera for the un-boxing of the Tactical squad.

 First up the box itself. I have to say i really like the new style of packaging GW has gone for, it's probably my favourite since the old Aquila box with sleeve packaging. It's nice, clear and simple, with no dodgy Photoshop effects getting in the way.

 The back of the box offers a nice selection of paint schemes for inspiration.

 Always a good sign in any multipart kit...

 ...a nice thick instruction booklet. You can imagine just how much variation is present in the kit when such a tome is required to tell Little Timmy how to glue it together.

 First sprue. Biggest difference is immediately obvious: The sprues are absolutely crammed.

 Gone are the days of wasted space surrounding a few optional grenades, the new Tactical sprues are absolutely packed.

They feature a nice set of upgrades, with a shed load of special weapons to choose from - including the potentially devastating new (well really old actually) Grav family of weapons.

A really impressive update of the perennial Astartes kit. It's been a while since i've bought any bog standard marines, but i am definitely pleased with this purchase and looking forward to gluing it (and my fingers) together.
I have a new project in mind for these Marines, which i will detail in the not too distant future on the Blog, along with a fair few pictures of an excellent Lord of the Rings campaign currently being run at GW Liverpool.

Until next time i remain

Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-pope. 

Attack of the Bots.

Just a quick heads up: If you have found your comment on this blog deleted, don't take it personally. I've been hit by an attack of bots, sadly not Necrons or Daleks, that left 639 comments on subjects as various as Tax evasion and the dangers of online predators. All intended to fool any legitimate reader to click on their spyware filled links.

If anyone out there did go to their sites, i urge you to scan your computer immediately for spyware, adware and viruses, because you've probably picked up something nasty.

Normal (well hopefully better than) blog service will resume this week.

Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-pope.