Two years later....

Wow I can't believe it's been over 2 years since our last blog post here!! To be honest I think that Covid has just removed 18 months without any memory of it so we'll just call it 6 months!!!

Anyway I hope that whoever reads this is well and doing ok after the historical pandemic we have just/are currently living through. Our apologies for not contributing to the Games Workshop universe in any way over the last couple of years but a lot has happened - just not much in the way of Warhammer!

I (James) have just been working solidly. I am a teacher in a special school so we have been in full time all the way through but just much busier as the extra Covid responsibilities and risks have increased our workload.

Steve has also been working solidly in his school as he has had to be bringing the school up to date tech wise for online learning and working from home.

Dave has been involved in his own engineering career and has been doing lots of GW stuff but has focused on his own projects and Instagram page (@dave_the_dr) and getting involved in the community as he lives in Nottingham and we haven't been active at all!

Rich has been an international jetsetter! He now lives and works in Jordan and has a new family home in Orkney!!! This has obviously impacted his hobby time!

Anyway so here we are and I thought I'd try to write down some updates as to what we're up to as and when, to both keep me interested in the hobby and also to hopefully provide some interesting content to read for others. It's been such a long time since I was involved with 40k I thought it might be interesting to share a little of my journey back into it over the coming months.

I have to say that it's a scary prospect to reintegrate back into 40k as things have changed so much since I last played and it's a quite intimidating prospect to get updated and get back into the game. I wonder if many people feel this way and if GW lose any custom because it's a difficult game to get back into once you're out?

There's no doubt that the volume and speed of releases are incredible but just how alienating is it to those, like me, who haven't properly played since 5th, 6th or 7th edition? I did get the 8th rulebook but only played a couple of games. On the plus side I have been playing Necromunda with Steve which is absolutely brilliant and I'll also be bringing our progress on that side of things too.

If anyone wants to chip in and help or offer their experiences please comment below and I'll gladly bet a conversation going.

I look forward to posting again soon,

Adios!

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Dealing with Slow Playing at Tournaments and Dice Rolling Apps

As you’ll have seen on our previous post HERE, Dad’s James and Rich visited the Warhammer World 40k Doubles tournament in early February. We went with the focus on having fun but winning and so did a lot of prep beforehand, not much gaming as we were struggling for time, but a lot of other prep including getting solid strategies for each of the missions, planning out all the stuff we needed to remember in sequence for a turn (See below for our own cheat sheet for our army) and even pre-deployment. But in all this prep time, in the few practice games I did get, I noticed that neither myself or my opponent were getting through the turns quickly enough - one game didn’t get past turn 2 as my opponent spent 75mins on his first turn! This could totally ruin our chances as we have found throughout all of the editions in 40k that the Astra Militarum (our army) always get stronger the longer the game goes on. The amount of units available and the options that the army has means that turn 5 has always proven to be crucial to the Astra Militarum for securing a victory.

Now our tournament was at 2,000 points with a strict 2.5hrs on the clock. This would mean an average of 15 min turns per team and that excludes set up time. We knew from experience that if you spent 30 - 45 mins each on turn 1, you were unlikely to ever get to that magic turn 5 (even if there were fewer models to deal with for the remainder of the game).

To tackle this, we did a number of things, including seeking advice on the Competitive 40k Facebook Group and Reddit. We have collated these thoughts and our own experiences and have listed some of the processes we put in place during the tournament and our opinions on some other time saving ideas below:

Shadow War Armegeddon - Prelude to 8th Edition 40k?

The release of Shadow War Armegeddon has certainly piqued interest in the Warhammer 40k community. The box looks amazing with some amazing terrain and 3 kill teams (2 x scout marine squads and 1 Ork squad) included.

Star Dads Interview - Gav Thorpe

Recently Dave met up with the mighty Gav Thorpe at Warhammer World to get an insight into Gav's gaming, designing and writing world and how that fits in with being a father.

You can catch up with Gav on his website at http://gavthorpe.co.uk/ or on twitter: @DennisHampster

We hope that you enjoy the interview as much as Dave did.

If you have any questions that you might want to ask Gav then let us know in the comments and we'll try to oblige.

Hi Gav, thanks again for letting us interview you. It’s a real honour to meet one of the legends of Games Workshop.

So, what sort of games are you playing with your kids at the moment?

“We’re playing kids games at the moment really, memory games. Games like ‘Pizza Pizza’, where you’re trying to match bits of pizza. He got that for his birthday, it’s quite good. He likes games, and we’ve got a lot of them in the house so he’ll quite often just get the pieces out and look at them or be making up his own games with them and ask us to join in. There’s a few components that get found later under the sofa but we never want to tell him not to play with them, we don’t want any negative association with doing that. It’s the same with books really.

I recently dug out some older games, like ‘Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs’, which I played when I was younger, so hopefully when he’s older he might like them. Basically we’re throwing everything at him! Sometimes we’ll take him to The Dice Cup in town too where there’s lots of games for him to take a look at.”

Games Workshop - Great Value!!!

I have been browsing the Games Workshop webstore of recent times and have been particularly interested in the pre-order section.

Most people have been very down on Games Workshop in the past with a lot of moaning about prices and poor value for money. Now we all know that they are the best and most detailed model makers in the Imperium but the hobby is expensive. It seems now that times are changing though. A change of management at the top over the last year has seen a change in direction for the company (for the better in my opinion), a change in the company's social relationship with the masses (again for the better in my opinion) and also and very surprisingly in their prices!

My attention in particular peaked upon seeing their Skyhammer tactical insertion force.

Death Company Chaplain - Based & Finished!

My favourite model to date is finally finished!!

Stage 7
After completing the highlights it actually took me ages to do the easy bit - the base.

Sector Imperialis Large Basing Kit - Review

Regular readers will know that I've been on a bit of a mission to re-base my army. Last week I finished some terminators and realised that, man, the bases just look a bit empty. Things like that bug me.

So I headed off to Warhammer World to get some grassy tufty bits. I thought these might fill some space. But after chatting to the guy in the store he suggested getting the Sector Imperialis basing kit. I took a look and thought "why not", looks better than grass...

Then I remembered there was some bad reviews about these kits, the details not being very crisp and quality poor. I picked them up any way, what have I got to loose?

Death Company Chaplain Progress Update 2

The second stage of my painting ended like this in my first update post here:

At this point the chaplain is red and black so next up is adding some of the other base colours.

Stage 3

All metallic at this stage. I used shining gold (Gehenna's Gold) as the base layer for the metallic gold parts of the model. I HATE painting gold so much. It never spreads properly and I just generally don't like the look hence there is none on any of my models! However I thought I'd give it a go seeing as he's a great model and a character and all. I thinned it right down and painted lots of coats to build it up which tok a while I have to say.
Secondly I used boltgun metal (Leadbelcher) for the metallic silver parts such as the Inferno pistol, jump pack etc.











Stage 4
For the last of the base colours for now I painted the scrolls and skull. For the scrolls I used bleached bone (Ushabti bone). Again I had to thin this right down and paint various layers to get the black undercoat covered properly. Then I looked at the pics of Games Workshop's model and the stamp is purple? I did wonder about this as I really didn't think that purple would go with red and black but I had some random alien purple from army painter and thought I'd give it a go. As you can see it came out rather bright but it will get washed down and highlighted. If it doesn't work I can always paint over it.
Then I painted the skull. Quite simple really just lots of thin layers of skull white (white scar) until I got an even colour. I know I haven't got a pic - sorry I forgot!!



So the model is coming together slowly but surely and it is looking better with each stage. Let me know what you think as I keep going.....

All the best

James


fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Warhammer 40k FAQ

For any of you that didn't notice, Games Workshop released a Warhammer 40k FAQ last night, and man has it caused a bit of a stir on the web... well, a little bit of one.

The biggest talking point that I have seen is the clarification of the grenade rule. I say clarification, they haven't actually changed anything, just brought the actual rule to people's attention:

Q: Using grenades in the Assault phase. Can every model replace their close combat attacks with a single grenade attack or just one model in the unit? Like in the Shooting phase e.g. a unit of 5 Tau Pathfinders charge a Knight. Do 5 Pathfinders make close combat haywire grenade attacks?
A: Only one model from the unit can attack with a grenade in the Assault phase. Per Warhammer 40,000: The Rules, ‘Only one grenade (of any type) can be thrown by a unit per phase’.
 Personally, I'm a fluffy player who has little knowledge of the rules, so in our last game, when Dad Rich equipped an entire unit with melta-bombs and then proceeded to lob 8 at my Spartan every turn, neither of us thought anything of it. He'd paid the points, so fair is fair. But for any other tank I

imagine this combination would be a right nightmare, so I'm glad GW have simply pointed out that the rules already say you can't do that.

I can also see why some people who frequently run this set up might be miffed. Personally I've never been willing to drop 50pts on grenades in the hope that a squad might be able to use them. My squads rarely get that close to the enemy!

Everything else in there really seems like common sense to me, and pretty much reinforces the way I and the other Dads tend to play games.


However, there were two stand out questions for me:

Q: Can a Fortification Scout?
A: No.

Q: Can I have an Unbound army comprising nothing but buildings?
A: No.

Who asked these? and have they actually tried it? What do you do, wait until the enemy blows themselves up with plasma weapons?! I imagine it would be like the 40k equivalent of Ents going to war!!!

What's your opinions?

Dave
fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Why do I love 40k?

If you follow us on Twitter (@4dadsapocalypse) then you would know that I play quite a lot of different games as well as 40k. This is because I have, over the last couple of years, become friends with 2 or 3 guys that are into board and card games. I am converting them to 40k slowly but I have had the pleasure of playing quite a few different types of games because of them. A few examples are:

Ticket to ride

Pandemic

Magic the gathering

Forbidden Island

Forbidden Desert

Warhammer Quest

Runebound

Battle Lore

Space Hulk

Killer Bunnies

Gubs

Carcassonne

Settlers of Catan

Most of these other games I have really enjoyed and I have found that it's great to play different games as it's a break from 40k and I find it really interesting to play games with different rules mechanics.

So then why do I always come back to 40k and love it even more than any other game I have ever played?

I think to answer this question I have to run through (some of) the negatives of 40k first because despite these issues I just love the game.

Negatives

- Cost - this game is expensive!

- Time - It eats your life away painting, gaming etc. (Check out my post on how I fit 40k into my life here)

- Relaxed rule set

- Unclear, ill-defined rules

- Lots of rules

- A million different rule books

- Space - requires a hobby area and quite large playing table

- Need terrain as well as models to play with

- Hobby tools - brushes, glue, paints, airbrushes etc.

- Solitary hobby - Generally you paint and model on your own

- Skill level - A certain skill level is required to build and paint models

- Space - Apparently my wife says that all my stuff (terrain, models etc.) takes up too much room.

I'm sure that there are more negatives to this game but I think I'll stop there because even looking at this list I do wonder why the hell I still carry on playing!

Following the negatives then, why am I so in love with this game as opposed to any other that has nowhere near the number of negatives I have listed here? 

In no particular order here are a few of my reasons:

1. Backstory

Background, fluff, history, call it what you will but the back story to this universe is just breathtaking! Hundreds of books, rule books, characters and a timeline have been developed over the last 25 years to provide a rich history not seen in any other game. I believe that this is the single reason that Games Workshop has been such a success over such a long time with gamers like me. The story behind the game is so interesting and eventful that you can be involved in the game without even playing it at all! I think that reading about the game probably accounts for about 90% of my reading time which is incredible for being just a tabletop war game.

2. Models

Another reason why the company has lasted so long. Games Workshop and especially Forgeworld make the most beautiful miniatures in the world at the moment. The detail and character of the models is amazing and the kits now provide endless opportunities to customise them to be completely unique to your own army. Even if you don't like certain sculpts (Wulfen) you are able to make your own from bits of other kits. Yes I know that there are some issues such as fine cast and miscasts but mistakes will always be made and thankfully they are few and far between.

3. Hobby

In this game I find I spend far more time building, converting and painting models to use than actually using them to play games with! When I think about it that seems completely crazy for a game but this aspect fills my creative drive. I'm no good at drawing, not interesting in painting and definitely not into carpentry but give me an inch high model or some terrain and suddenly my hobby brain kicks in and I can spend hours on a single miniature. I also find that this is a great way to switch off from the pressures of life and relax which benefits my mental health too.

4. Specialist spin off games and different ways to play

I love some of the other games I have played, however play a few times and they do get boring. Games Workshop have done a great job at opening the universe up to produce different games to play to keep us all interested (and take our money of course!). Such games include Deathwatch overkill, Assassinorum: Execution Force, Battle at Calth, Space Hulk, Kill team, Battle Missions, Epic, Necromunda, Cities of Death, Apocalypse, Inquisitor, Battlefleet Gothic, Planetstrike, Spearhead, Death From The Skies etc. With all of the different ways to play I have never been bored playing 40k as there is always a new way to play.

5. Rules

The rules are so complicated there are far too many and they're not even written very well. However I personally enjoy the current rule set and think it works really well as part of a 3D tabletop game. Having played other rule sets I think that the mechanics of 40k work for me and provide a really cinematic way to play the game - It really does feel like I am on the battlefield controlling the army and I can feel the stress levels rising when it comes down to the crunch.

Yes I think some rules should be ditched (challenges I'm staring at you) but there are rules in every game that don't quite work and you can always agree house rules with your friends. Yes I ALWAYS forget a bunch of rules during a game and remember them afterwards but so do my friends and no-one minds a genuine mistake as we always have fun during the games anyway. Despite these issues this rule set works for me personally and no other game has quite beaten 40k in this area.....yet!

6. Dice

As a person I am a doer and a kinaesthetic learner and so the one thing that does it for me in a game is dice - lots of them. Somehow for me the tactile nature of picking up a handful of dice and hearing the clatter of them on the table massively enhances the game that I play. Couple this up with the movement of all of the miniatures on the table and another box is ticked in what I want from a game.

As you know I enjoy playing card and board games and I quite enjoy throwing runes in Runebound. However, it just isn't the same experience as picking up 29 dice for my punisher tank and figuring out whether it was a good roll or not, then rolling them again only to curse the Astra Militarum for being so rubbish at shooting.

Physically rolling dice and adding up results adds something to the whole experience that works for me when playing a game.

7. Narrative

The combination of the history of the Warhammer universe and the many different ways to play the game means that 40k has an infinite number of options to encourage narrative gaming, that is gaming with a story. From making up your own army or chapter to playing a campaign or mission you just made up, your imagination can go wild which provides brilliant opportunities to be creative either on your own or with friends.

When playing other games it is common to only have one scenario or you may get 2 or three missions in a box set like Runebound or Battle Lore. Literally with 40k you could never play the same game twice. For me this eliminates boredom and creates a huge amount of fun when other games begin to get tired.

So there are my reasons, I sound like a complete 40k fanboy I know but at a personal level these factors are important for me in my gaming experience and 40k generally satisfies them. I also know that this will not be the perfect game for everyone so would love to hear why you either play or don't play the game.

Please feel free to comment below.

All the best,

James

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Angels Blade 13th Black Crusade Campaign Supplement Review

I play Flesh Tearers and Astra Militarum and so after a conversation with a Chaos friend when the Angel's Blade/Traitors Hate supplements were released we both purchased the respective supplements. With the excitement of new rules and a plan to both expand our forces by playing out a narrative campaign we got to work and I thought i'd write a review of the Angel's Blade book...

This is what the Games Workshop website says:

"A campaign supplement for Warhammer 40,000, containing a story from the beginning of the 13th Black Crusade from the perspective of the Blood Angels, featuring new rules content for that Chapter.
The Story
The shadow of a huge fleet of Crimson Slaughter and Black Legion forces falls across the Diamor System, as Abaddon the Despoiler’s 13th Black Crusade is launched. This shadow is met by the righteous fury of the Blood Angels; leading a mighty coalition of Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Knights, the Sons of Sanguinius fight bitterly against the servants of Chaos.
Yet the fires of war that consume the worlds of the Diamor System are revealing dark secrets, harbingers of a terrible doom that even the Blood Angels will be hard-pressed to prevent coming to fruition…
The Rules
The 136-page hardback Black Crusade: Angel’s Blade features a host of new rules content for Warhammer 40,000, to be used alongside Codex: Blood Angels:
- Updated datasheets for Blood Angels, including Terminator Captains, Death Company Chaplains, Assault Squads and Devastator Squads;- Relics of the Lost; incredibly rare and powerful Death Company relics once borne by a Chapter member who succumbed to the Black Rage;- Revised and updated Wargear of Baal;- Death Company Tactical Objectives;- 9 new Blood Angels Formations, an Angel’s Blade Strike Force and a Lost Brotherhood Strike Force;- 3 new Altar of War missions: Death on the Wing, Honour of the Angels and No Matter the Odds."

Story

The story is interesting and consists of a historical account of the war in the Diamor system. It is told in two ways; one from an in battle perspective told through the characters in the story arc in a fiction novel format and; one from a more historical non-fiction format summing up exactly what happened throughout the war.

The combination of story telling and factual information is good and works well allowing the reader to understand the conflict and be immersed in the action at the same time. I also liked the way in which the different parts of the conflict were split into 4 different chapters which gave the feeling that there were 4 specific 'moments' that were important in the whole campaign.

The only disappointment (dad Steve actually brought this point up) was the way in which the Death Company were created in the story. It does seem that GW always seem to squeeze in a spectacular single event that happens to turn the Blood Angels to the black rage in a flash! It would be nice to see the story arc differ one time and go a little bit more in depth as to why and how a marine loses himself to the black rage.

Artwork

The artwork is great! As we have come to expect, the quality of the art, the layout of the pages and the use of graphics and text is excellent in Games Workshop products. Not quite as awesome as Forgeworld but a good second best!

There is a mixture of old and new art in the book which I think works well and all the art complements the story.

There is also a good amount of miniature pictures mixed in with the artwork which is nice to see. It always inspires me to see beautifully painted models set up in battle and all pictures are good to look at and have been photoshopped well.

There are a few maps to support the action which are appropriate and help the reader to understand the story but I would have liked to see more to really get my imagination in the right place. I would like to have some large overall maps and then some more detailed close ups of the action to fully understand the battles being fought.

Rules and formations

There are updated rules for some of the Blood Angel units such as a Terminator Captain, Chaplain, Assault Squads etc. These updates are not game changing and are generally just adding extra wargear options such as the assault squad being able to take an eviscerator etc. etc.

The formations are much better and link in with the story nicely. There are quite a few and add some nice special rules to flavour your army. I like them because they are not game breaking (some formations for other armies are ridiculously over-powered!) and they are not out of reach (You don't have to remortgage your house to buy all of the models you need).

Also included are more "Wargear of Baal" and 4 more psychic discliplines to choose from which are pretty cool and useful (or useless) depending on your army build. For example the "Technomancy" discipline would be useless in a game of 2 footslogging armies!

I like all of the new rules and formations as I think that they can really expand and theme your army without making the army massively over-powered.

Missions

There are 3 missions included in the book. Only 3? Really? Seriously GW! There are 4 chapters in the book, why only 3 missions? The missions do complement the story but they are not written specifically for it and they all use deployments that are in the main rulebook so nothing new there.

The only thing that makes them interesting is the inclusion of some special rules which gives them specific flavour and can theme a game. Other than this I feel that GW have been very lazy here. There could have been more missions written for the story with some more interesting deployments. Still there are no missions at all in the Traitors Hate book...

Campaign

Campaign? What campaign? I got this book because it was a "campaign supplement" and wanted to play a series of themed games between Chaos and Blood Angels. It was really disappointing to find that there was no campaign system or linked games in the book. Effectively what we get are some new rules and a story that is not to Black Library standards. I think that GW have missed a big trick here as I know quite a few players who would love to pit Chaos and Blood Angels against each other in a narrative set of games.

Cost

For both of the physical books the cost is £30 each. Buy Angel's Blade and Traitors Hate together (as suggested by my friend initially) and the price is... oh £60!! Really?! Come on at least give us a fiver off for buying both!!!!

The alternative is to go digital rather than get the physical books. The enhanced edition's are the same price or slightly cheaper on Android or Apple and you can also get the Blood Angels Red Thirst Codex which for slightly more will get you the Codex plus the extra rules in Angel's Blade. Although you don't get the "Campaign" story or missions.

I guess there is something to meet everyone's needs in each format but as for the price? Read on...

Overall
In conclusion I like the expansions that are being released, I like the idea of the 13th black crusade and the narrative ideas that are being released to fuel the imagination for playing and modelling. Do I like this expansion? It's decidedly average in my opinion.

The story is average, there is no campaign system, there are only 3 missions and the artwork and design is what you should expect from GW's high standards. The main saving part of this release for me is the addition of the new rules, formations and psychic powers. Without these there really would be no point in getting the book.

For £30 I think that it is overpriced and should be somewhere around the £15-20 mark with a discount for buying both supplements!!!

In conclusion i'm glad I have it but disappointed I bought it!!

Let me know what you think in the comments.

James

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Planning to challenge the demon...

So, you've probably seen the hobby challenges we've been setting ourselves this year? Well, Christmas is not too far away (trust us, as a parent you need to start planning early! Or at least being a  supportive husband when your wife starts planning in July...), and we're entering the busy period, so it's unlikely we're going to get another hobby challenge in.

However, I do like a painting challenge, and I do love the Horus Heresy, so I'm going to target the Horus Heresy Golden Demon at the weekender in February as my next challenge.



There's five categories and it's one entry per person, so I'm going to have a crack at them all:

1. Horus Heresy Single Model Any single miniature, either on foot or bike. Models may be mounted either on a standard base no bigger than 50mm wide or (in the case of the Character Series), the display base provided with the model.*
2. Horus Heresy Squad Any collection of 3-10 miniatures on foot or 3-5 miniatures on bikes. Squad may be mounted on singular display base of appropriate size.**
3. Horus Heresy Vehicle Any single vehicle. This category includes dreadnoughts of all kinds, and Titans.
4. Duel This category comprises two single models mounted on a base no more than 50mm in width. The judges will be looking for a dynamic pairing of two well-matched opponents in some kind of combat or other dramatic situation.
5. Unbound For dioramas, battle scenes, larger scale miniatures and all other models not covered by the categories above.

I may not get entries for the Duel or Vehicle categories ready in time, but if I aim for them all and get three out of five, I'll be chuffed. I have started a 'duel' but there's more than 2 characters on the base, so will have to go in to the 'unbound' category instead I think.

For the Squad, I'm aiming for a three-man squad. I've got three awesome kit bashes in my legion tactical support squad which I've been dying to paint.

I am currently working on my Legion Fellblade, but I don't use an airbrush and my style of painting vehicles isn't in fashion at the moment so I don't think it stands a chance.

They are my thoughts for now. Let me know if you plan on entering, or if you have any tips?

Dave

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.com – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Getting my game on

Hello,

Today I want to share some woe with you: I can't seem to find a game outside of the 4 Dads circle.

My trouble is probably similar to many other peoples' these days. I moved away for uni and then again for work after graduation, and when I finally move back to my home town after 8 years away, I find that all my old gaming buddies have also now moved away for work or they just don't play any more. And much as I love the other Dads, they live a fair distance away from me, so we don't get to meet up as much as we'd like.

A couple of months back I tried looking online for a local gaming group. I found one. It's 5 minutes walk from my house. Win! Or so I thought. I popped along on the allotted evening to find everyone there playing X-Wing. "No one plays 40k anymore" was the response I got to my question. Sure they offered to play Space Hulk with me, and I love Space Hulk, but it's not 40k.

I found another gaming club, it's a drive to get to, so I emailed in advance after being burned on my first endeavour. They don't play 40k either!

I live in Nottingham, home of 40k, I honestly didn't think it would be this hard to find a game. Sure I could go along to my local GW store, or even Warhammer World which is nearby, with my army and hope there's someone who fancies a game, but a) I'm a busy working dad, I could be hanging out for weeks and find that no one wants a game, my hobby time is precious so I can't afford to do that and b) lets be honest, usually people arrange to meet up for a game before hand, so the likelihood of there being a spare person who wants a game could be pretty slim.

I tried getting the guys at work into 40k. But these are grown men who have other hobbies already. If they weren't in to 40k as a kid or at uni, they sure aren't in to 40k now. They do like the food in Bugman's though...

My wife says I should start my own club, and maybe I will, but that's a lot of effort just to get a game!

So, what do I do? What do you guys do when you want a game?

Also, let us know if you have a games club you want to advertise on the site. Maybe we can set up a page of listings or something?

Dave

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.com – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Space Wolves Transfer Sheets Review

Hello!

As you may know, I have been waiting for the Space Wolves Legion transfers to be released for about... 2 years! And now they're finally here I thought I better let you know what I think (whether you actually want to know or not...).
 
I love the Viking-style unit markings. I'm not 100% convinced by the choice of colours. Space Wolves are grey so having red icons is great, but here are many on there that are almost a grey-black so they don't show up that well, if I'm honest. The banner decals look great and I'm looking forward to using those.

I saw how they were used on the army on display at the FW open day this year, so have some good ideas. In particular the way they were applied to the Leviathan dreadnought instantly made me want to buy a Leviathan so I can do something similar!

One of the observations made online has been that the majority of the power armour Legion icons are geared towards being applied to the right hand shoulder pad, not the left. I hadn't noticed this initially, and am not that fussed because if I run out of lefties, I'll just flip the righties, like I do with other transfers. However, I thought I'd ask FW for the 'official' view, and this is what I got back:

"Knowing the space wolves they tend to put effort into being different, During the heresy the chapters were not found and units were not really marked as they are in 40k, as a mass production line marine were churned out as quickly as they could be made to bolster the ever dwindling number through casualties. Legion Icons were seen in a number of positions around the legions but again not many unit markings unless they were a specific unit with honours"

As I say, I'm not that fussed, and I have a lot of Mk5 and 6 armour in my force. I just love me a studded left shoulder pad!

Using them, they are great. The latest FW transfers off the line are fantastic with nice, thin backing material, and not too much excess beyond the actual icon (similar to the latest GW Space Wolves transfer sheet, which are equally as good). I've used a few of these transfers to date but am keeping that under wraps for now.

Let me know what you think!

Dave

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.com – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

September Hobby Challenge - Update

This week us Dad's have been making headway in to the September hobby challenge, and thought we'd better provide you an update of our progress

 

 

Dad Dave's interpretation of Alexis Polux is coming along nicely, although he isn't sure about the crimson-painted fist on the shield. What do you think?

 

Dad Steve is putting us all to shame with the progress on his Angron. He's almost done but has promised to drag it out for a few more days... 

 

Dad James has gone LARGE and is making slow but steady progress on his Baneblade 

 

Dad Rich has... well, I think this photo speaks for itself... come on Rich, pull your finger out!

 

How are you doing with your challenge project? Let us know on Twitter

#4dhobby

Will it Never End!? - Hobby Challenge Update

Dad Dave here with a bit of an update on my hobby challenge.

My original goals included completing one of my heavy weapons squads. After my initial fury of completing several of my challenge goals for the Forge World open day painting comp, I must admit that it's been slow going with these guys. A combination of a busy period at work, much summer time DIY doings and Logan's 'Terrible Twos' well and truly kicking have left me little hobby time the last couple of weeks.

But it's getting there so I thought I'd share some pictures with you guys, more to motivate me than anything else!

 

I much prefer the 'new' missile launchers to the 30k ones, so have I have 5 of each in my squad.

 

You'll notice that I've taken the opportunity to re-base some of my HQ minis too. This is my sole surviving Rune Priest, Henry.

 

My 30k Space Wolves heavy weapons dudes are the equivalent of 40k Long Fangs, so I have been sure to make sure they have some white on some part of their armour. White helmets always look good.

 

And the 'Bearer of the Torch', an alternative standard bearer. I had this idea for a while before I found the pieces to do it. The torch is from the GW scary tree scenery set (that's not it's real name I know, but I'm sure you can find it)

 

Comments welcome!

 

Dave

Kit Bashing Fun - Wolf Lord

So...

I'm not that skilled at sculpting green stuff or 'proper' converting (whatever that may be), but kit bashing is something I thoroughly enjoy and can achieve some pretty decent results from. Now that GW are releasing more and more better quality plastic kits, kit bashing is even easier than it ever has been (anyone else old enough to remember trying to whittle the head from a metal miniature?!). The removal of superglue from the hobby equation can only be a good thing (never stuck my finger to my tongue with plastic glue...).

What I wanted to do was share my latest kit bash with you, along with some tips, to show you just how easy it is to do.

First, take a bunch of bits. Start with a big bunch of bits, play around with them and try and imagine the look of the miniature you are going for. The pose, the bits you want to use. Sometimes I get an idea in my head based on just a single bit that I have seen and want to use. And sometimes you'll have a solid idea only for the end result to look completely different, because once you start assembling the pieces they might not quite go together the way you wanted them to. This isn't Lego after all...

 

Choose the bits you think you want to use.

 

Then start assembling. Start with the base and other big bits. Remember that plastic glue takes a while, probably 20 minutes, before the pieces are solidly stuck together (do you want me to start talking about the chemical reaction that welds the plastic together? Thought not...).

 

For this guy I wanted to use a destroyed tank door as my base. I got some wire cutters and started 'destroying' the door from a Storm Raven. Then used a scalpel to add chips

 

A quick head swap to make my unit unique

 

Some bits I didn't get to use, such as the wolf cloak (because this guy already has a cloak... and double cloaking, that's madness I tell you!)

 

And there you go, one kit bashed Wolf Lord in under 1 hour!

 

This is my favourite kit bash of all time (to date). Made especially difficult as it's based on the metal Gabriel Seth (he's resin these days, which would have made this so much easier!)

 

 

Some tips (in no particular order)

• Don't forget to drill those gun barrels. GW's hobby drill has never let me down.
• Two points of contact. Always aim for two points of contact with fiddly or delicate pieces. Especially with gaming miniatures (as opposed to display-only miniatures). They'll snap off real quickly, sometimes before you even finish painting, which just leads to unnecessary anguish.
• Don't try and do too much too quickly. You'll get frustrated as one piece you thought was stuck falls off just as you are holding another piece in position. Take your time, leave it over night if you have to, it's not going anywhere!
• Don't use too much plastic glue, it can and will melt the plastic, ruining some of that lovely moulded detail
• Don't be afraid to use 'green stuff'. Even for kit bashes it's good for smoothing areas, filling joints and even bonding pieces together.
• Clean every part before you start sticking. You might find it very difficult to reach some mould lines once the miniature is stuck together.
• Dry fit before sticking. Sometimes you'll find things don't quite fit and need filing or cutting to fit snugly. Once that glue is applied you have to wait for it to dry before you can continue progress. 

 

Happy hobbying!

 

Dave

How to Apply Transfers - a Tutorial

Transfers or decals, call them what you will. We hobbyists either love them or hate them. But what I've found is that the hate typically comes from a lack of understanding...

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, and I have definitely written a similar post a couple of years back, back in the days when I 'met' Dads James and Rich on Heresy Online, about how to apply transfers to miniatures. This post is also aimed at Dad Steve who has never yet used a transfer and is a bit reluctant to do so...

I'll split this in to two:

• Why use transfers?
• How to apply transfers

Why use transfers?

Back in 1992 I tried using a transfer. It looked rubbish. I vowed never to use another transfer again.

Fast forward to 2006 and not only have my hobby skills improved somewhat, but the tools and products available are vastly improved. Also, the internet is in much wider use and there are tutorials available. So I decided that I should give transfers another go. I did, and they looked much, much, much better. I cursed my 14 year old self for not discovering this technique 14 years previously!

It's 2016 now, the hobby technology has improved even more whilst my free-hand skills are still about as good as my toddlers, so adding transfers (and using moulded shoulder pads) is the only way I can apply legion/chapter iconography to my miniatures. And since I discovered a technique that actually makes the transfers look good, I apply as many as I can. Especially to my 30k wolves. It adds a real sense of individuality to each miniature whilst also making the style of the iconography uniform across the army.

How to Apply Transfers

The meat and bones of this post is this step by step guide on how to apply transfers. I'll share my technique, there are many others like it, but this one is mine...

All I use is some gloss varnish, GW's 'Ard Coat is perfectly fine. Some people use Microsol and Microset, but they didn't really work for me. And as we Dads have stressed before, making progress is about maximising your hobby time. For me that's about achieving a pleasing result with the minimum number of steps, so using gloss varnish rather than two other products to achieve the same result fits within that philosophy.

Tools: Gloss varnish, scalpel (for cutting out transfers), tweezers (for manipulating transfers), water (to soak transfers), kitchen roll (to dab away excess water), transfers, a miniature...

Step 1: finish painting the miniature. This is important. Once you have applied the gloss varnish things like washes will act differently on the surfaces, so I complete every step on my miniature apart from weathering, before I apply transfers.

Step 2: Apply a layer of gloss to the area you want your transfer and leave to dry

Step 3: Prepare your transfer. Try and cut as much of the clear film off so that just the image/icon is left. Removing this spare material will allow more flexibility in the transfer and allow you more freedom to position it correctly.

Step 4: Soak the transfer. Warm water is best as it softens the film and makes the transfer more pliant. But cold water works fine, it can sometimes just result in a bit of extra work later on. Soak it until the transfer comes off the backing paper. If you leave it too long in the warm water, the water goes cold (obvious I know, but it goes cold quick so you need to remember this when soaking multiple transfers), and you loose any benefit of having boiled the kettle in the first place.

Step 5: Apply the transfer to the desired area, dab away excess water, position it, then apply a layer of gloss varnish. That's a lot of things to do in a short space of time, but getting that first layer of varnish on when the transfer is still wet is quite important. It'll flow in to the spaces where there is initially water, helping to avoid air bubbles and hide creases. Leave this to dry.

Step 6: At this point, if there are any creases, take a sharp scalpel and remove them. In the case of  air bubbles, use the scalpel to cut a line in the middle. Then apply another layer of varnish, using your brush to smooth over these areas. You may also notice a visible line around the edge of the transfer, where the film sits slightly proud of the surrounding non-transfer area. Concentrate on applying the varnish on these areas. Leave to dry. This will fix your transfer in place.

Step 6a: If you want to combine several transfers, you can apply the second transfer once the gloss on the first has dried and fixed in position.

Step 7: Apply another layer of varnish. Leave to dry. Repeat until you can no longer see the edge of the decal or those bubbles and creases. You can repeat this as many times as you like. What you are essentially doing is encasing the transfer in a transparent layer, where the film becomes indistinguishable from the varnish.

Step 8: Weathering. Applying your weathering to the entire miniature at this point 'buries' the transfer and makes it seem like has always been a part of the armour. I use a couple of weathering techniques, first applying brown/black/silver to represent chips and battle damage, using a sponge. This is great for hiding any issues. Is that bubble or crease still slightly visible? Sponge some paint on that area. Then I use Forge Worlds weathering powder around the lower portion of the model to represent battle dust.

Step 9: Seal. Use a matte varnish to seal your miniature. The glossy transfer is now as matte as the rest of the model.

I hope that has been useful. Let me know if you have any tips of your own, or any questions.

Dave

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.com – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Lost Patrol - Games Workshop board game preview

As you will know if you follow Twitter (@4dadsapocalypse) or have read any of my posts, I play a lot of games other than 40k.

Now that GW is releasing lines of board games that link to 40k or the heresy my juices are really flowing. Battle at Calth, Execution Force and Deathwatch have all been recent hits with the added bonus of being able to use the miniatures in games of normal 30/40k. Absolute genius from a marketing perspective and even better as the individual board games play great too. My only big problem with these 'board' games is that they are expensive coming in at around the £80-100 mark which is still very prohibitive to entice newer players into the hobby. Also they are fairly complicated and so take quite a while to play. As a dad my time is limited so if I have a couple of hours I'll play 40k but a lot of the time I have an hour tops so I have been gravitating towards something quicker such as Magic or X-Wing.

This is where Lost Patrol caught my eye. A board game of sorts with miniatures that only takes 30mins for only £35!! Now we're talking, so what is it exactly? Here is the write up on the website:

Moraz III – a deadly jungle world filled with danger and fear, populated by ferocious aliens who wait in the undergrowth to pounce on the unwary and mercilessly kill anyone who stumbles across them. Even the plant life itself is malignant here, constantly twisting and growing in unnatural ways to trap its prey.

A dropship containing vitally important surveillance files has crash landed on this hostile planet. It’s up to you and your squad of Space Marine Scouts to retrieve these files, activate the dropship, and hopefully escape with your lives!

Lost Patrol is a two-player boxed game, set on a hostile jungle world on which nowhere is safe! One player controls a squad of plucky Space Marine Scouts, and the other controls a swarm of horrible Genestealers – it’s a fast-paced game of kill-or-be-killed between two iconic sets of warriors! Inside the box, you’ll find five Space Marine Scout, twelve Genestealers, six Infestations: the markers of imminent Genestealer appearance, and thirty hex tiles.

This is actually a re-release of the game from 2000 with rewritten rules and updated miniatures and game board pieces. Looking at it it has some great genestealer mini's (who doesn't like them?), some scout mini's (let's skip them shall we) and some great looking board tiles. The game looks fast and fun with an interesting randomness if the board tiles get pulled out blind which provides some interesting variation to avoid boredom. My only wonder is whether the game has longevity as the description only provides info on a single mission. Is there any more missions? Is there a campaign element? Also as the price mark is only £35 could there be fantasy flight style expansion packs? This would be a first step for GW but is perfectly possible with this type of game. An expansion with more missions, tiles and some 'boss' mini's is perfectly feasible for a £20-25 price mark?

In conclusion I am glad GW is going down this route as well as supporting its core games, it opens up more opportunities for people to play and is exploring an interesting price point. What do you guys think? Have you played the old version of Lost Patrol?

Let me know and happy gaming,

James

Mission Review/Battle Report: Maelstrom of War - Cleanse & Control

So Dad James and I have played three games recently and we are working these up into a bit of a narrative campaign with a thread flowing throughout. Basic storyline is that during the Heresy a force of Blood Angels break away from the Legion naming themselves the Flesh Tearers. They are considered to be traitors by a force of loyalist Imperial Fists and well you can guess the rest!

First a bit of narrative...

Battle of Phater Minor (made up name and made up mission!)


Early on in this expanding campaign a heretical splinter group of Flesh Tearers took the opportunity of easy prey and attacked a landing zone where the remains of a downed Imperial Fist starship lay. Their mission was to recover as much information as possible through accessing computer data from working machines that lay strewn across the crash site. The Imperial Fists responded deploying a force into the now wrecked city but the Flesh Tearers beat the VIIth Legion back and drained the recovered hard drives of all data including sensitive information and codes.

Flesh Tearers won this one.

Conclave of the Lost (Legendary Mission HH Book 6)

Using this info the traitors masqueraded as a loyal chapter using official codes and channels and lured two Imperial Fist officers into a temple separating the hierarchy from their support troops. This was an effective ambush as the Flesh Tearers pounced leaving the 2 commanders isolated. Fortunately even though 1 commander died the attempt was ultimately unsuccessful as the assassination of the loyalists officers was thwarted by dogged resistance and the rogue marines were almost wiped out. During this battle a traitor was captured and mind-swept which revealed where the traitors had set up their base. It also turns out that an Astra Militarum (I know we are mixing 40k and 30k a lot here!) regiment had turned with the Tearers calling themselves the Emperors Feth.

Imperial Fists win this one

Battle of the Fort of Nine Towers (Maelstrom of War Cleanse & Control Mission)With the planetary base known to the IF an old fort town was identified as being a suitable place to plant a stronghold in order to mount a suitable invasion to wipe the heresy from the Galaxy. In this town several places were marked for the IF to secure such as an infirmary, communications station etc. Resistance was expected and encountered through the AM splinter group commanded by a Sanguinary Priest and his retinue of terminators. In the end the IF were beaten back and withdrew from the area taking heavy casualties but not before securing vital information regarding further landing areas and another group of astartes who seem to be tangled in this web of heresy....

Mission Review - Cleanse & Control

I have to say this mission is one of the best I have tried. The Primary Objective is to build up your Victory Points by securing objectives each game turn. There is a D100 list of objectives and at the start of the game you roll off with two dice to get yourself 3 of these objectives.

You must always have three objectives and once you have achieved one it is discarded and another drawn at the next turn. You may also discard objectives at the start of you turn and draw new ones if you don't think they are achievable.

 The objectives include some to hold an objective point so we laid out 6 of these at the start of the game, randomly numbered. Other objectives were things like 'wipe out 3 units in one turn for a point', 'take down a flyer for a point' etc in addition to plenty of 'hold objective number 3 this turn for a point'.

This made for a really interesting game and the changing and unpredictable objectives made for a battle that swung in each armies favour until the last turn.

Now some will find this annoying because the randomness of the objectives can negate great generalship. So if you are an uber completive player this probably isn't the game for you. Nevertheless both armies have to cope with the randomness and are faced with the ongoing tactical decisions as to whether or not to blow stuff up or go for objectives.

We had a blast playing this mission and it was enormous fun. I would well recommend trying it out.

Battle Report

So onto the battle itself...

The armies:

Imperial Fists - this force was lead by Sigismund himself. Joining him were ...

- 5 THSS Terminators
- Spartan
- Primus Medicae
- 15 Boarding Marines
- 10 Boarding Marines
 - 7 Lascannon Heavy Squad
 - Sicarian
- Contemptor Mortis
- Leviathan (Storm & Grav)

Flesh Tearers & IG

Commander
5 Termies PF/Bolter
Drop Pod w Tac Squad
Company Com'd Squad (in Chimera)
Platoon Cmd Squad w Plasma (in Chimera)
20man blob w commissar
Lots of Lascannon and auto-cannon squads
 Leman Russ Punisher
Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ Executioner
Manticore
Vendetta
Vendetta

Boarding marines awaiting the onslaught

Set-up
Playing these rules meant we had to remain flexible so we both positioned near to objectives expecting we might capitalise in turn 1. James won the roll-off for first turn. However, the dice gods corrected this anomaly (James never goes first agaisnst me!) by allowing me to seize the initiative - Imperial Fists to attack first!


Turn 1

We both used forward a little, not much happening and I set up my Spartan to charge into the centre of his line. I take out a chimera and claim first blood!
James drops his Drop Pod tight next to my Lascannon team, an act that would see the Lascannons pretty much tied up all game - boo!

Turn 2 
My Spartan unloads its cargo of Sigismund and Terminators and destroys the Leman Russ Executioner. I take a pop at his other units with everything else and manage to immobilise another Leman Russ with the Graviton Pulse.
James manages to knock out my Sicarian and shoots every other gun in his army at my Terminators. One falls down laughing cos it tickles but that is all!
I am holding a couple of scoring Objs and get another couple of points 3-0 at this point to IF!

Turn 3
This turn I knock out another Leman Russ, Knight Commander Pask shows his true colours and hits reverse! James's Imperial Guard shoot everything again at my terminators and I am reduced to 1 Termie, Primus Medicae and Signismund...

I manage to grab another obj, and so does James. 4-1 to the VIIth Legion!


Turn 4
James wipes out my Lascannon Squad with his marines, I foolishly engage them with my Mortis Contemptor and get stuck in combat all game. James also kills my last termie, and Primus Medicae. Sigismund charges into his Blob Squad and starts scything through them. The vendettas take out my Leviathan too.

James is making a comeback and he has the lead 5-4 at this point.

Turn 5
Flesh Tearers Termies plough into the combat with Sigismund and kill him - boo! The Imperial Fists are reduced to just the Boarding Marines now but I am scoring still. 7-6 to James.

Turn 6
No more killing but James takes another couple of Obj's and its game over. 

Flesh Tearers for the win at 9-6!

Post-battle de-briefing

This was a fun game so I wasn't playing too tactical. Nevertheless there were some take-home points for me:

1. Protect the Sicilian - thats two games in a row I have left it exposed and lost it early on, needs careful placement in future.
2. When a challenge is refused, if there is another IC in a squad Sigismund (or any challenger) can choose to fight them instead.


In summary, great game and great mission. I can't recommend the tactical objectives enough.

Happy gaming...