Stepping Between Games - Model size comparison

I just want to redirect anyone who is listening to one of our favourite blogs - Stepping Between Games. The last post was of a size comparison between different models (You can find it here) which I found really interesting.

I am a big fan of the Primaris marines that are going to be released as they look just awesome and I like the idea of more elite marines in 40k that fit in-between terminators and Adeptus Astartes. The picture on Stepping Betwen Games clearly shows the enormous size differences of the new models and shows that they'll look awesome on the tabletop. The two leaders especially - Captain in Gravis armour and Death Guard Lord of Contagion are HUGE!!!

It will certainly be interesting to see how they will play in the game.

What do you guys think?

James



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

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.

What's your Heresy flavour?

So…

What I wanted to discuss this week was more of a question really: what is your vision of the Heresy?

What I mean is, I’ve been interested in 40k since Rogue Trader and started actually collecting and playing 2nd edition. My favourite marines have always been Mk6 beaky helmeted guys, because they were the first type I owned, because Space Wolves seemed to love that armour (remember the metal space miniatures? There were a lot of Mk6 in that set) and just mainly because the aesthetic really appealed to me.

You’ll notice I generally have a lot of beaky marines in my army. Mk6 has always BEEN the heresy for me. Flick through the original Collected Visions of Heresy art book, and the more recently updated version, and you’ll see a lot of Mk6 helmets in there. 

What you’ll also see in those books is a lot of variation. There are marines in there wearing any of the marks of armour now available from Forge World, combinations of these and even some marks of armour you are never likely to see released (because let’s face it, there were a lot of artists involved and these are their varied interpretations of the brief).

The same goes for weapons. I don’t really like the Heresy era plasma gun that FW released, so my tactical support squad has the 40k version, but that’s fine, these were just produced by a different Forge World, they are a different variant. Again, I have never liked that missile launcher, even when they were around in metal the first time round (what, 15 years ago?), so half my squad have the 40k equivalent. 

I’ve been questioned about these choices lately so felt compelled to go back to the source, and low and behold I find Heresy era marines in both Mk7 armour and with the ‘40k’ missile launcher in Collected Visions of Heresy (there is also a dubious looking Alpharius in there which I am hoping they do not use as the base for the FW version…).

So, what I am saying is, based on these books, the various novel covers and lavish FW black books, it’s clear that pretty much anything goes. Mk 6 appeals to me but also creating a cool looking miniature is my main priority. If this guy happens to be wearing mk7 armour, I’m not going to not include him in my army, especially when so much of the art clearly shows what seems to be Mk7 armour. The marines were testing all sorts of armour during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy (many of these being designated Mk5 later on), so you can easily explain this away.

So, what’s your flavour of Heresy?

Dave

To re-base or not to re-base...

So, a small discussion that has been had this week in the Dad camp is: do we re-base our old miniatures?

We're probably behind the times and this discussion is long dead in the community, the 32mm bases having been launched a good 6 months ago now at least, but it's only just hitting us old timers. We didn't rush out to buy 32's like the kids did, but as we buy new kits the bigger bases are slowly coming to us (it really is a story of  'if the mountain will not come to Muhammad...').

So, like many gamers we're left with a dilemma; to re-base or not to re-base. And I don't think we are all taking the same approach.

Dad Rich has a small-ish (but ever growing) 30k Imperial Fists force which he will entirely re-base, where as Dads Steve and James are not intending to re-base existing miniatures, just putting new Space Marines on the 32's they come with.

The problem is, on the whole, we have all been collecting for years and re-basing an entire Space Marine army is going to take money and a lot of time. Us all being busy Dads, time is the key there. There's simply better things to be doing than breaking off old bases (and the odd foot...) and sticking new ones on and then repainting them.

There's no denying that as Space Marines have gradually got larger over the years and their poses more dynamic, they needed a new base size. Back in 1987 you could fit a Space Hulk terminator on a 25mm base, but now even the humble tactical marine overhangs this diameter plinth. So in my mind, 32's are the right way to go and even allow you a bit of extra room to add something from those Citadel basing kits GW keep flogging :-)


So what am I going to do? I have nearly 200 foot-slogging Space Marines in my army already painted and sitting on 25's, and have just stuck together another 60 on 32's, so the squad members are no longer interchangeable. Heresy-era 20 man tactical squads demand a lot of bases be replaced if I am going to go down that route.

Dad James suggested using Third-party bases to help reduce the cost (because lets not forget, 100 GW standard 32mm bases will set you back £27 in cold hard cash, as well as the time it takes to actually replace them), but both myself and Dad Rich intend to enter our armies in GW-run competitions, which require everything on a miniature to be either GW-branded or your own work. So third-party won't cut it.

I've decided that I will base all new squads on 32's, but leave existing squads that are finished on their 25's. What I might do as a compromise is swap the bases on the squad sergeants, which will enable me to add some scenery to make them stand out more. Who knows, maybe one day I'll find a shed load of hours where I have nothing better to do and replace the rest... but I doubt it! Not when I could instead be pretending to be a baby-eating bear or looking for treasure with the Playmobil pirates or creating the worlds longest Brio train or... There really is better things to be doing in my book!

What's your plan of action?

Dave

Games Workshop Freelance Authors - Part 1

Hey there everyone, happy Monday!

Us Dads wanted to share something special with you, so as to ensure our hard work fulfils its destiny. A while back GW were advertising for free lance authors (I'm not sure if they are still advertising, I couldn't find the advert). Us Dads all fancy ourselves as the author-type so had a go at submitting some stories.

All of us eventually got rejected, but we all at least got a response, which is great. Having submitted stories to other publishers and agents in the past myself, I know how heart breaking it is to spend 12 to 18 months pouring your heart and soul in to a novel only to hear absolutely nothing for your trouble. Not even a 'thanks for your submission' letter. But after 5 years of doing that I gave up and concentrated on the day job (which thankfully I also love).

I never thought I'd write fiction again but Dads James and Rich persuaded me to give it a go. And the rules of these submissions mean that the entries take only 7 days to write (which is a challenge in itself), so what did I have to lose? As I say, the fact that GW/BL actually bothered to respond with some feedback is a really refreshing experience, so fair play to them. One thing I have always respected about Black Library is that they support new talent. The internet can bitch about how little GW pay their staff and writers but getting paid at all to do something you love, or even just having the chance to get your work read by the masses, is a dream come true to many.

Dads James and Rich will post theirs up separately at a later date I am sure. The submission test requires two 250 word stories based around stipulated situations. Anyway, without further ado, here are my entries:

Test 1 – Space Marine Vs Ork

It was as big as a bull grox.

A solid wall of taught muscle, feral grin turning to a snarl as it charged, makeshift blade in one hand, crude gun in the other. A head taller, half again as broad.

In the two seconds it took Maun to take in these details the Ork was upon him, his crackling power sword parrying three arm-numbing blows before he ducked the fourth and went in low, his blade taking a chunk out of his opponent’s midriff. The beast roared with rage, momentarily drowning the din of battle, and tried to grab Maun in a bear hug.

Ferrus Manus had preached that the flesh was weak. Ork flesh was proving to be no different.

Maun span out of range, then back again, bringing his blade in high for a decapitating blow. The Ork ducked, snarled and lunged at him once more, clubbing the side of his helm with its gun, swinging its blade wildly.

The Iron Hand kicked out, pushing the Ork back, then stepped in, sinking his own crackling blade into the Ork’s chest. Maun grinned.

The Ork grinned back, pulling the blade in deeper, smashing its skull into Maun’s helm, cracking both lenses. The Ork sank its own blade into Maun’s chest, then pushed him away into the mud.

Rage filled Maun, but the sudden shock to his secondary heart enfeebled him, his life blood turning the parchment of his purity seals crimson as it leaked out of his gashed armour.

Test 2 – Ultramarine Sergeant briefing his squad V02

The Thunderhawk shivered as enemy flak filled the air.

Sergeant Laelius stalked the red-lit crew compartment inspecting the scout squad. Proud Sons of Guilliman every one of them. Legiones Astartes knew no fear but he saw trepidation and nervousness in spades. Square shoulders. Straight backs. Wide eyes.

“Practical,” Laelius growled, “the enemy have overwhelming numbers and are well entrenched. What theoreticals do we have?”

“Our ground forces are fully engaged at the north muster field,” Scout Gaius responded, “we should insert in the southern quarter, furthest from the main front.”

“Any alternatives?”

“The main Word Bearers force may be fully engaged in the north but their cultist whelps will be guarding the flanks and supporting the front. What the cultists lack in arms and armour they make up for in numbers.”
“Good,” they had listened, thought Laelius, “that is highly likely. Cultists will slow us down, give the enemy Legionnaires time to react. Our practical then?”

“Select a non-military insertion point. Sewer outfall, private landing pad…” Scout Nero suggested.

“Or an overtly military target, the enemy may not expect that.” Gaius again.

“Which is it to be?” Laelius asked with a smile. 

Gaius checked the map on his VDU. “There’s a private landing pad 2 kilometers from the target. A Stormbird would be too big, but it might just support a Thunderhawk.”

“Good, we’ll insert there.” The Sergeant blink-clicked, sending the coordinates to the pilot as he took his seat. The squad felt the Thunderhawk roll as it changed course.


My Test 1 piece was accepted without comment (so I guess they must have liked it), but I was asked to re-write the Test 2 piece twice (I've included my final effort here). I don't know why I couldn't seem to meet their requirements. Maybe it's the fact I just don't like scouts in the game? Maybe because to try and create atmosphere, background and write a predominantly speech-driven narrative in only 250 words is extremely hard, and if I was that good an author I would have got myself a writing contract before now!

Now that we have out own blog we can share these stories with you and we'd love to know what you think.

Well done to anyone who did get through, good luck. I'm not jealous... At all... honest!

Dave

Forge World quality improving

Happy Monday everyone!

It's been said elsewhere on the internet that Forge World's quality is improving of late, and this can only be a good thing. Don't get me wrong, FW products are proper adult space toys in my opinion. The crispness and level of detail is so far beyond standard GW fare that the higher cost is justifiable in my opinion. I don't get much painting time these days so I'd rather spend the same amount of money on fewer, better quality products.

However, grown up toys need grown up prep before you can start painting. In the past it's not just been a case of removing a few mould lines and a bit of flashing with these bad boys. More often than not you are greeted with warped resin that needs heating and bending, mould release agent that needs soaking and scrubbing, and only then can you start removing the flashing, green-stuffing the bubble holes and straightening misaligned details.

As a busy Dad, that's quite a number of my hobby time slots taken up before I actually get to stick my toys together and paint them.

The results are, more often than not, worth the effort, but 'effort' is the optimum word there.

But alas, there appears to be light at the end of this long tunnel. It seems, with the Horus Heresy increasing in popularity and more and more customers of all skill levels buying the big boy toys (they should have an age appropriate rating on the packet perhaps... 25yrs+ haha), FW needed to improve the user-friendliness of their products.

So, myself (Dave) and Dad Rich have recently brought items to see what has changed with our own eyes.

I got some new Mk2 tactical marines (My purchases of late have been frugal, I am saving my money for new Space Wolves when they finally arrive...) and was pleasantly surprised. I've taken some comparison pictures below:

 

 

The details are crisper, there's no, or at least minimal mould lines and most of all, the thickness of the shoulder pad rims is much better. This last issue has been a large issue on Mk2 and Mk3 marines in my experience. There never seems to be enough resin material in the rims and a good number of shoulder pads end up unusable because blow holes are prevalent. Another area where this happens is the collars on the torsos, another thin section that doesn't have enough material injected in the mould some times.

 

So, certainly in this latest batch of minis, it seems the quality has indeed improved. I would have brought them anyway but at least there's not one less thing for me to moan about. Thanks Forge World!

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Inner Golden Demons...

Last year, myself and Dad Rich had arranged to meet up for a game. He was coming to Nottingham and when he comes to Nottingham we always go to Warhammer World.

What we hadn't realised was that the Golden Demon: Tanks event was on at the same time. I think we realised about a week before the event and quickly decided that we should definitely enter.

For me, I've wanted to enter the Golden Demon since I was a kid. To win it would be a dream come true, but to even enter was a realistic ambition that I had up until that point never fulfilled.

But what to take, was my first thought. We have a week (and in Dad World, a week isn't actually that long, as you can see from Dad James' post last week), so there was no way I'd be buying a new tank just for the slim chance of picking up a trophy.

So I scoured my Space Wolves and picked my favourite tank, just adding some bits to try and improve it, and took it along on the day.

This was painted for my 40k Space Wolves, before I decided to ditch the snow and go 30k!
I've always used red as my spot colour, and always liked my marines dark and dirty, in the heat of battle. I also added a couple of shields. In my head I see Space Wolves tanks as 41st Millennium long boats, ferrying the space Vikings in to battle. Let me know what you think.

I must admit that I was pretty excited and also pretty nervous as I handed over my entry. Although my heart did sink quite a bit when I saw the level of skill else where on display. There were some amazing entries, which proved I needed to raise my game in the future.

In the end, I got a competitor's badge for entering, which is good enough for me after 15 years of wanting to enter. I am also determined that I will enter again at some point in the future! I certainly didn't think I'd get my miniature in the magazine, but thanks to Dad Steve for spotting that I had. In fact, both mine and Rich's tanks are in there this month.

Dad Rich's Tank Entry
As Dave said, we only realised by accident that the Golden Daemon was on at the last minute. I had my trusty Shadowsword handy which was my entry. This was my first attempt at using a 'military modelling' style approach in full and they captured this perfectly in Warhammer Visions saying the tank is a 'masterclass in weathering techniques' - essentially I just tried them all at once!!

I can't point to a single place for my inspiration but the tank was a combination of lovely work I had seen on the 'OrcPainterNerd' You Tube channel, the Forgeworld Modelling Masterclass and any number of random blog posts and military modelling tutorials.

I learnt a lot in doing this tank and in many ways it was just a big fun experiment.

Like Dave says, the quality of the entries (Andy Wardle is someone I am now following with interest) was daunting and as the cabinets filled up I was more and more certain there would be no lucky trophy to come out of this one.

Here she is, hope you like her and feel inspired to try out some crazy weathering techniques yourselves....

Forge World Friday - 12/02/16 - Shattered Legions Arrive

Oh my, I have been waiting for this for a while now. Not as much as I have been waiting for the Vlka Fenryka to arrive, but this is a good conciliation prize until that day comes...

Horus Heresy Book 6 - Retribution is finally with us.

 

The things we heard about this book from the HH weekender last week were all good in my opinion:
loyal traitors - check,
traitor loyalists - check,
Dark Angels, Blood Angels, White Scars - check

The bundles that FW have put together are pretty cool too, and not all loyalist either, demonstrating that 'Shattered' forces can be traitor too: Example bundle


Note, this image also confirms that Mk7 jump packs are acceptable in the 31st Millennium :-)

Us Dads are thinking of putting together a team Shattered Legion army. That way we all get to paint something individually that we can then play together. We all have our favourite armies and weapons so I imagine the force will be pretty eclectic. But that's allowed with this book. It's a truly liberating way to collect.

Personally I'm using it as an excuse to paint things I wouldn't usually paint, like Salamanders, World Eaters and Emperor's Children I have never painted green, white or purple marines before!

I'm just annoyed it's not out until the 19th February, means I can't pick it up next week during my visit to Warhammer World :-(

We'll be sure to keep you posted with what we're doing, but in the mean time, please let us know your plans for a Shattered Legions force.

Dave

Part 3 - The Spartan Challenge - James enters the arena!

So after seeing Rich and Dave duel it out with their Spartans 40k was feeling a little left out. Therefore my Flesh Tearers have stepped in as , let's face it, they're always up for a rumble!

Now I haven't got a Spartan tank seeing as I am way out into the future and so the dads have let me join in with my own assault delivery system - my Stormraven!

It has been built for a while but I haven't yet got around to painting it as I have been really focusing on infantry to have a legal painted army. I am now at the point where I have finished 3 assault squads, 2 tactical squads, some terminators and a land raider and a baal predator. More about these in a future post! I just have highlights to do on a librarian and I am at a legal force so I figured I have earned my right for the flyer!

The first step was to spray the stormraven with Dragon Red Army Painter primer which I have used for all of my models. It comes out with a very smooth finish and is extremely durable which means you don't have to bother with a black primer underneath.

Secondly I drybrushed all over with bleached bone (still old school with that paint) to lighten up the edges.

At this point the red is far too bright for mine, and the flesh tearers, liking. So at this point the whole thing gets a wash of Nuln Oil. The pic below is what it comes out like.

Following these first stages the flyer is still too bright but we'll wait for a while first as I need to get some black on it to mark it out in Flesh Tearer colours. This has been a challenge as I couldn't decide exactly where to do the black. The marines have black weapons, shoulder pads and helmets and so I will try to keep to this style and break up the red on the flyer.

As you can see from the pictures below I have boltgun metalled the engines and so far brushed on black underneath, on the landing pads and the tips of the wings. I think that I need to add black tips to the tail and maybe the top exhaust port and cockpit (not on yet) too.

 

I always find that models look rubbish at this stage as the colours are blocky and not highlighted or weathered but it is definitely starting to take shape.

What do you think about adding more black?
Where should I put it?

I'd love to hear any comments.

All the best,

James

This week in Dad Dave's World

So,

I wanted to add an update as to what I have been up to this week. Apart from the Spartan Challenge (which has been really inspiring, motivating and exciting) I have also been working on my new Contemptor Dreadnought and some Mk2/Mk5 jump packs.

The jump packs are for my first 20-man 30k assault squad. When I starting re-branding my army I already had 15 Skyclaws. They were all Mk6 armour so really almost ready for 30k action, but I wanted to replace the Mk7 jump packs. I have already added some Mk4 but then brought another 5 Mk2/Mk5 jump packs and I want to try some open source lighting on the jets. More on this in the future, I just wanted to let you know what was coming!

On to the Contemptor. I posted about the conversion I did on the plastic BaC dread. I was pretty pleased with that so couldn't wait to start painting (even though I have the Spartan on the table!).

So far I've base coated and highlighted the grey (Mechanicus Standard grey followed by Administratum grey and then Ulthuan Grey (or Space Wolves grey as it was)), added the Boltgun Metal to the metal bits, added some markings using black with the pack markings masked out and red sponged on, and then finally this week I have sponged on battle damage using watered down black paint. I always find watering the paint down before sponging it on in several layers gives a more pleasing and controlled effect.






Also this week I finished reading Deathfire, Book 32 of the Horus Heresy series. If there's anything other than painting and playing that us Dads like it's reading, and I for one am enjoying the HH series. It's had it's ups and downs in terms of quality but Deathfire is definitely up there, in terms of good writing, pushing the story on and twists. Particularly when a bonus Primarch turns up! (i.e. he wasn't listed at the front as featuring and actually plays quite a big role).

It's a good read (I don't want to give anything away), and I'm really looking forward to the third instalment of this trilogy. The afterword is also really interesting as it gives an insight into the HH series an the way it is progressing.

That's it from me this weekend. Comments and thoughts welcome!

Dave

GW's 40th Birthday Party - Bitz box challenge

Just a quick post here folks, you still have until the 24th January to vote for the best diorama from the GW 40th Birthday Bash.

As us dads have 4 entries in total we'd really urge you to take a look and vote for your favourite.

Plus, there are some awesome ideas for dioramas there, whether they are ours or not!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1134470153239130.1073741984.212614545424700&type=3

Some of these are really dynamic.



At the time, we were at the table with the Tactical Squad space marines I didn't realise there were terminators and scouts about also!

The Spartan Challenge - for Sparta!!!

Dave and I have challenged ourselves to complete one new unit for our next game set for 19th March.
Looking through our workbenches we both had a Spartan that needed to be brought into battle readiness so the game is afoot!

The challenge is to complete a Spartan tank each in the next 61 days - easy eh? Well these things are never easy when kids and work are involved and in my case a house move in February! Nevertheless the challenge is set, keep checking back on our progress. We will post up our work with a description of the techniques or approaches we are using.

We have both already built our tanks and primed them. Dave's has started with a chaos black base and mine is airbrushed with Vallejo Primer and based with Vallejo Yellow Gold. Our first posts will include some thoughts on the build job for a spartan and why we chose our respective primers as a base.

The clock is ticking...61 days to see who is Leonidis and who is swimming at the bottom of a well!

Plastic Contemptor Dreadnought Conversion

Hey there,

I just wanted to share this with you guys. It's my plastic contemptor dreadnought conversion for my Vlka Fenryka.

I have one contemptor in my army already but have always had a hankering to do one with a siege drill. I don't know why, they just look pretty brutal and that's what the Wolves of Fenris are all about I guess. So how did this conversion finally come about?

Well I recently brought the Betrayal at Calth box set. I wasn't that bothered about the dreadnought to be honest. As I say, I already had one in my army and like everyone else on the internet, I thought it looked a bit static. I wasn't in love with it. But then the guys over at Battle Bunnies posted up a conversion walk-through and I thought, you're right, it's plastic, it'd be simple to convert. And as I already had one... Then FW released the leviathan Siege Drill, and I just thought what have I got to loose!

Firstly I stuck the main body together. Then I cut it at the waist and took the left leg off, gluing them back on in a slightly more dynamic pose. Battle Bunnies took the head off too but at the time I was doing this I didn't have a lot of time, so I left it.

I then stuck the fist arm together before cutting the fist off at the shoulder.

Then I glued my leviathan arm together and then stuck that on. The power cable housing fits quite nicely too. To get it snug I filed the ornamental trim around the bottom of the shoulder down flat. A bit of green-stuff to fill gaps, some wolfy totems, and you're done!

 

I'm really pleased with it. The pose looks ok, and that siege drill is mahoosive! I went with the multi-melta rather than the assault cannon because I figured with the siege drill he's going to be going after tanks rather than infantry. My other contemptor has a heavy bolter so he can deal with the traitors on foot.

 

Let me know what you think, or even better, share your own conversions with us!

Dave

Dad no 4

So Finally I find the time to post my intro and my very first ever blog!

I've been in the hobby for nearly 20 years with my first ever purchase being the 3rd edition starter box. In fact my 2 main armies are still Blood Angels and Orks and both armies still include my very first painted models. Since that small start both have grown in size to create two decent sized armies with the Blood Angels being the bigger at about 8000 points.

Not bad for a 12 year old with no

guidance what so ever!

Since then I've gone on to collect many different armies and of the four dads I'm the only one to have a non imperial army and, I think, I'm the only one to have more than a couple of armies ( I have 8 in total, 9 if you include 30k in that). However painting isn't really my favourite part of the hobby so I am guilty of having many unpainted or just base coated models. There is always more to collect though so I doubt that will ever change!

My foray into 30k has thus far been quite limited with only a small XIII Legion force currently occupying a space on my shelf along with Angron and Horus. I just couldn't say no to them when they came out, Angron is an epic miniature and Horus is, well, Horus... I do have plans to expand it and an unopened Mark of Calth box sat on my floor will certainly help with that.

Recently my hobby time has been severely curtailed with the birth of my son and daughter in 2014. Who knew little people could take up so much of your time! Unlike Dave I couldn't talk my wife into 40k related names for them. I thought Lemartes and Mephiston were perfectly reasonable names as well.

The fluff is very much my favourite part of the hobby so any army lists I do or models I build must be believable fluff wise, so much so in fact that I still use tactical squads in my Blood Angel army (shock horror!).

Thanks for reading.

Sepp Company, Vlka Fenryka

So, as we're purportedly a blog written by dads dedicated to the hobby, I thought I better introduce my army.

I've always collected Space Wolves, amidst trying other armies, over the years and this is the fourth incarnation. However, since becoming a dad I have limited time and limited funds so set a few ground rules this time round:

1. I wouldn't just scrap my previous army - usually when I start a wolves army I have got rid of / sold / given away the previous army to make way for the new. This time round I wanted to move firmly into 30k. I've always love Mk6 armour so much of my army was already 'Heresy compliant', I kept those miniatures, whilst getting rid of any 40k-only units such as Thunderwolves, etc.
2. I would only paint what I can play - again, my previous mantra has been to collect as much a possible and at least one of everything in the codex. This time round I didn't want my funds or hobbytime to get distracted by units that I was never ever going to get out of the box. At least to begin with anyway. This meant getting rid of Rune Priests, multiple wolf lords, etc.

Weighing in at 7,198pts, this is where I am at with my 30k army:

There is still quite a bit to do. I also wanted to change the bases from snow to mud/dust, and continue down the dark and dirty route, using weathering powder and open source lighting to add that bit extra to my units. My painting ability has also improved a lot over the 5 years of collecting this army, so now was the time to update the army as a whole with everything I have learned.

 

Where I have kept tactical marines from the previous army I have combined them with new FW armour marks to add more 30k flavour. This is pretty easy as 30k squads are 20 men in size compared to the 10-man squads in 40k, so I could simply add 10 new miniatures to an existing unit, with the weathering powder, blood splatter and new base style tying the old and new together.

This was my test miniature, an objective marker.

So what have I completed so far? Well my challenge for 2015 was to stick the army together and undercoat it so that I could concentrate on painting it in 2016 whilst still having stuck-together miniatures to play with when us 4 Dads meet up (we like our games big so having 5000pts + was a must).

In terms of painting, when I took out the miniatures I realised I'd actually completed more than I thought.

• Fully painted: Storm Eagle, jet bike squad, bike squad, destroyer squad, 20 man assault squad,
• Just bases to do: contemptor dreadnought, rune priest, legion champion, wolf guard battle leader (legion centurion?), Iron Priest
• Half finished: 3No. Tactical support squads, 3No. heavy weapon support squads, 3No. tactical squads, Legion Praetor, Moritat, Standard Bearer, Master of Signal (he's pretty useful)
• Base coated: 2No. Spartan Assault Tanks, 6No. Rhinos, 1No. Breacher Shield Squad (looking forward to painting these!!), 20 man assault squad, and the mighty Fellblade (wanted one of those since I was a kid, glad FW made one!)

I really want to get stuck in, and am working on the Praetor and Moritat at the moment, but am waiting for the FW transfers before I get cracking on the vehicles. My aim is to complete as many units as possible, so I'm likely to concentrate on the 'half finished' and 'just bases to do' units first.

Four things not mentioned above but will distract me from the main part of the army in 2016 are likely (hopefully) going to be:

1. Leman Russ - when the Wolf King drops I will be buying him immediately and dedicating my time to getting him painted up
2. Armies on Parade - I'd like to put together a 2x2 board and enter AoP this year. Hopefully I will have enough army to enter!!
3. A diorama - The Emperor's Champion mentioned doing one which reminded me that I have a cool little base I made about 2 years ago with the intention of making a Wolves/Dark Angels duel scene on. I think I'll revive that this year and have a Wolves / Thousand Sons scene, tied in to the AoP board maybe?
4. Shattered Legions - I wanted an excuse to paint something other than grey so have decided upon a Veteran Tactical Squad of Shattered Legionnaires. This may grow in future. I think the 4 Dads may each paint something up also so we have a Blog Army built by the four of us. Who knows!

Anyway, that's where I am at to date. Once I've finished the edge highlighting on the bedroom coving and ceiling rose I should have some more Wolves updates!

Comments welcome!

Dave

And then the Emperor's Champion strode through the door...

Hi folks, an introduction to me and my life in the world of 40k and now the Heresy era.

Here's me...



My first memories of GW are buying copies of White Dwarf off others kids at school in the early 90s and looking longingly at the awesome lead models in the back of the magazine. At high school I managed to get a small Ultramarine army together. I have hazy memories of great games at the school club and vague recollections of Eldar ruling the day - damn those pointy eared fiends! My brother and I got Epic also which I have always had great memories of.

I was big into the painting side and with limited funds I dreamed of a time when I might be able to afford the paints to field a fully painted awesome looking army. Well by the time I reached uni I was still skint and had discovered other things to blow money on and that's the way it stayed for a long time with my models in boxes in my parents attic.



Fast forward 15 years and my best mate is visiting us and our new baby with his family. "Look what I have been working on" he says and pulls out a nicely painted Ogryn. An hour later and we are still talking excitedly about painting and planning what he should get next. 72hours later I am clipping space marines off an Assault on Black Reach sprue!

Since then I have built three armies; Ultramarines 1,500 points (sold them all after 9months), Imperial Guard 5,000 points all painted and now 30k Imperial Fists 3,000 (Work In Progress). I have got through to a Golden Daemon final and had three best painted army nominations at Warhammer World. I have even played pretty well in GW tournaments and have plenty of memorable battles in the Gaming Hall. So in the past 7 years of being back in the hobby I have achieved loads and made some great friends and with the way FW and GW are releasing new awesome stuff all the time I expect to be continuing that way!

My army at WHWorld waiting for the Space Wolf assault!



My current love is the VIIth Legion, here are some WIP terminators:



I will be posting about new stuff that interests me, mostly Horus Heresy related and sharing my experiences with painting and gaming.

The Emperor's Champion.

Games Workshops 40th Birthday Party

The internet is already full of photos from the 40th Birthday Party event at GW HQ but I just wanted to share what we got up to there.

The Emperor's Champion and I went along on the Sunday (so too late for any exclusives) but had a really good time. Compared to the Golden Daemon Tanks event in the first part of this year it was a huge improvement, with an actual queue! Still not like the good old days of Games Day (no queuing an hour before the event, no buzz whilst waiting in line, no home made banners made by enthusiastic gamers from around the world), but an improvement on recent events none the less.

So what did we get up to? Well the Emperor's Champion will also elaborate but I'll share my experience. I got there at 10am (living only 15 minutes away this was no big issue), nipped in to the FW store to collect some goodies, then the BL store to pick up Deathfire so I can catch up on the Heresy series, then took a look at the event exclusives once the queue had died down.

The FW Horus Heresy masterclass painting book looks cool. I didn't pick it up as a) there were no Space Wolves in it and b) many of the techniques involve airbrushes (which I don't have) or complicated weathering techniques (I'm happy with what I'm doing). I did miss out on the Limited Edition Iron Warrior which I thought about picking up *sad face*.

Then we went and had a go at the Scrap Daemon Challenge, which was extremely fun. I made a bas with 5 marines against an Ork. You get to keep them too! (something else for my 2yr old to chew when he found it in my bag later...)

Then we had a look around at the studio area. The Corax mini does look amazing, as does the Mastodon. Spoke to the FW team there who suggested that the Space Wolves legion transfer sheet wasn't far away but that they still hadn't decided on the legion design yet. The Space wolves army in the Horus Heresy display (more on this in another post) had red legion icons though, which looked every bit as cool as I thought it would, so I hope they go down this route.

Then we had a game or two of Space Hulk whilst eating lunch in Bugmans (we were using my 1989 edition, not the fancy pants version Hocky was using on his post...). The food there is always tasty and good value for money!

Then we had another go at the Scrap Daemon Challenge before waving around a giant chopper!

Not sure where the time went but we were there for 6hrs!

Dave

Dave's Primarch Miniature Theory

Firstly, happy Christmas everyone. I hope you all got your hobby-gift wish? (let us know please). My lovely wife (she didn't make me write that, honest... Love you Helen) brought me a copy of Wolf King. I haven't managed to read it yet but the limited edition packaging is awesome. I have never brought a HH limited edition before but I love Wolves and Chris Wraight is a great writer so I thought this would be a good Christmas gift for me.

But, lets get down to the topic of my post... my theory on Forge World's Primarch miniatures and more specifically, why they designers have selected the poses that they have.

When Roboute Guilliman was released there was no doubt it was a fine miniature, but why did they select THAT pose? The one with a single power fist and a sword?! I, like many I am sure based on the comments I have read around the interweb, was so hoping for the twin-power-fist-angry-rage-face pose from the cover of Know No Fear:

Having Guilliman with that pose would have made me buy him, despite my previous lack of love for the boys in blue. That pose and that book made me love the Ultramarines. In fact, every time a new Horus Heresy novel comes along, 9 times out of 10 Neil Roberts' artwork makes me want to start a new army. And I know many in the community feel the same, just read the comments on any blog or forum site.

I didn't buy that miniature in the end. I generally paint the miniatures that inspire me, and that pose didn't get my blood pumping.

So, with Mr Roberts' excellent direction, why has Forge World chosen not to use the Black Library art for inspiration on so many occasions?

Here's my theory: many of the miniatures coming along now represent the two side of the same coin so often thrown up in the literature. We have Guilliman the empire builder, Lord of the Five Hundred Worlds. His miniature pose matches that of Horus, first among equals and builder of the Imperium (whether on behalf of himself or his farther):

Both have a single power first and a power weapon in the opposite hand.
So who else have we got so far? Ferrus and Fulgrim don't really match in terms of pose but they were modelled much earlier, so I'll exclude them.

But we do have Vulkan and Perturabo, arguably two sides of the same coin: both blacksmiths, both artisans, both believers in the strength of Man:

And FW posed them similarly: hammer in one hand, leaning in for the attack.

Then we have the latest addition (which made me think of this whole link in the first place): Corax and Curze. Both from planets enslaved by the dominant elite, both members of the enslaved population. Both could have become bitter and twisted but one chose the dark and the other the light. Look at the way they are posed:

Look at the legs, look at the claws. Both Angels, but one is an Angel of Death and Destruction. Horus and Guilliman aside, these two are definitely, consciously designed as a pair of miniatures I would suggest.

So in summary, the designers haven't gone for the poses depicted by the artwork, they have gone for the poses that reflect that Primarch's character and tied that in with their traitorous (or loyalist, depending on your persuasion) counterpart.

Maybe I'm reading too much in to it.

When I threw this thought out there, Steve (another of the Four Dads group) suggested that the doubling up of poses was inevitable. There are 18 (or 19) Primarch miniatures to design and ensuring that they are all unique whilst remaining dynamic was always going to be difficult. I'd argue that the artwork for the novels is all different and dynamic, so the designers could have easily done this if they had selected images from the novels/novellas/audio dramas/Collected Visions... there are tons of sources.

What do you think?

Dave

Thousand Sons are here!

Hey hey,

So Forge World have today revealed the Thousand Sons upgrade kits:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Thousand-Sons-Upgrade-Set



I'm excited about these for a couple of reasons:

• They look fantastic, and I'm loving the FW paint scheme, that metallic red look is beautiful!
• I can use them to decorate the bases of my VIth Legion
• I can also create a couple of TS for my Shattered Legion force (maybe a Librarian? The Ultramarines have a loyalist Thousand Son in Battle for the Abyss, so why not?)

 AND

• It means the Sons of Fenris are a little step closer (being one of the very few legions left to get some Forge World Horus Heresy love)

What do you guys think? Has anyone been waiting for these upgrades to get their Heresy geek on? Let us know.

Dave