Kill Team Surprise

So I got a surprise package from the mailman yesterday.

I spent some time assembling the small ruins from the 'C' sprues while the video was uploading.

All the "small" ruins from the box.

There were three of these sprues, allowing you to make all of the above. In the box their are five more sprues of three different types allowing you to build higher ruins with full height walls.

Happy gaming!

The Plague Brethren

... or Stink bros?

I couldn't resist this "limited" boxed set with three more plague marines. I love the new plague marines, and despite knowing that a proper plastic boxed set is on the horizon, and despite having about 50 old and semi-old metal plague marines, these were a must buy. Prize-wise they are 25 quid (or 300 Swedish Krona) for three ordinary plastic figures which is a bit steep. But who cares, money will be worthless when the Trumpocalypse comes anyway.

They come in this snazzy box. Can I please have this as a giant poster, pretty please with sugar on top?

The first thing you see when you open the box is a booklet with the same illustration on.

There are actually two booklets. One is the designer's notes and the other is the building instructions.

...underneath the booklets is a flap that lifts up to reveal some art cards.

All feature art by John Blance, but none is actually of any of the models in this box.

Ok, a quick break here, I have to get something off my chest. I'm a big fan of John Blanche's visions and style, but some of his art is actually very bad. I like the plague marine and the pox walker on the art cards above, they are quite evocative and disturbing. If you look closer though, you realise John's method of colouring his art is just drawing some swathes of water colours in the general area he wants colour, hoping most of it will be inside the lines he drew. One is actually of Mortarion, the great Death Guard primarch, but you couldn't tell if the picture didn't have the caption. I stared at the picture for like five minutes without being able to tell where his head is. I suppose it's a case of the Emperor's new clothes syndrome, nobody dares criticise John Blanche at GW and just prints whatever he produces.

Back to the box though, are there actually any minis inside?

Bases and blisters

This blog post feels like it has been a thousand years in the making...

 A couple of days weeks months ago I reviewed the Age of Sigmar Hero Bases, and now the time has come to take a look at the Warhammer 40k Hero Bases. I bought them shortly after the AoS ones, now that the 8th edition of 40k is looming around the corner I was reminded about these bases and dug up the photos I took back then.

The first sprue with some large pieces on it. Is that a Leman Russ turret? (Yes it is...)

The second sprue also has a bunch of large stuff on it, although not as large as the first.

Unlike the AoS set there are no single piece bases in this set. There are also only eight bases compared to the eleven in the AoS set.

October is... where the bleep did October go???

Previous years, October has been Orktober... or Tanktober... and I've seen some people this year that has treated October as Dreadtober. For me October is Gonetober.

Not as in "I'm gone" or "Where have all my hobby time gone?", but as in "Dang October is gone before I figured out what October is this year". You could say that October became Culttober since the Genestealer Cults were released at the end of September and I spent the beginning of October building hybrids...

A couple of old metal Acolytes that have borrowed arms from their DW:OK brethren.

I had aquired an extra set of Deathwatch Overkill genestealers. While gorgeous they have very repetetive poses and equipment. However I bought one of each hybrid box that were released with the codex and all the extra options in them allowed me to convert the extra set of DW:OK figures.

And the heavens will deliver our reward!

So Warhammer TV dropped another trailer...



OMG! OMG! OMG!

Something new, something old, something painted, something bald

Some of you may know that I'm a huge genestealer cult fan. I've been collecting genestealers since first edition Space Hulk 1989, and the cult since the hybrids came out right after that. The plastic hybrids released in a Space Hulk expansion where damn awful, but the original metals were really, really nice.

Ahhh... pure Jes Goodwin purestrain Goodness... (get the pun?)

However, Genestealers have been treated very unfairly. Originally a sort of "Aliens"/"Invasion of the body snatchers" type of adversary it was very fearful in it's own right, but with the introduction of the Tyranids into the 40k Universe Genestealers were relegated to some kind of vanguard/infiltrating unit, and the cult itself vanished into the mists of forgetfullness.

Except for a small bunch of fans that kept the dream true, partly via such groups as the Father's Hall on facebook, to companies as Macrocosm doing their version of the cult, called the Malignancy. Personally I snapped up all the lovely plastic genestealer models that were released, even buying a metal Broodlord (everyone knows it's really a Patriarch), waiting for the glorious return of the cult of the Four-armed Emperor.

Da kunnin' plan

Evening all. I'm a long time Ork player but my mojo hasn't really been in it for a while. Mainly it's because I find the recent codexes a bit bland to say the least. I really miss the different clans so I try to paint and model my units as belonging to different clans. One thing that irks me the most is that Blood Axes can't take imperial vehicles anymore (since they don't really exist now) -- and here I'm the proud owner of two lovingly converted Leman Russes I can't use.

But I have a cunning plan. I will ally in a contingent of Imperial Guard. Using Kromlech Greatcoat orks as the guard. However they are even bigger than GW orks so it will be hard to use the "counts as" rule to represent puny 'oomies. But then Kromlech released gretchin or goblins in the same style and my friend and tank afficinado compatriot Anders pointed me to the obvious solution.

During the weekend they had a 15% off promotion and I couldn't resist anymore. So when life gives you lemons, order more figures.

I ordered a squad of grots, here's the first half. The leader's Mauser has a broken barrel, but it was still in the bag.

Characterful and lovely little models. The sentry (top middle) and radio operator (right bottom) will be replaced...

...by these guys! A panzerschreck team, since an IG squad can have both a special and a heavy weapon.

An eye-level view of three of the figures. The panzerfaust counts as a grenade launcher, of course.

Muddy Waters -- Modelmates Weathering Wash review

Hi gang!

The Model Railroad hobby is a bit strange to be honest (and I've been a part of it so I'm not bashing somebody elses hobby BTW), but we can still learn a lot from them. The thing is that model railroaders spend a lot of time and money on building very realistic backdrops for their trains, yet most want their trains pristine and unweathered. So Model Railroad rolling stock (that's locos, wagons, etc.) are sold prepainted and in perfect shape. This goes for figures too, they are prepainted but not shaded. Again, I'm not bashing someones hobby, Model Railroaders are often collectors too (unlike Wargamers which are hoarders) and display their trains in special cabinets.

Case in point. Lovely scenery, squeeky clean locomotive and lorry.

But not all Model Railroaders are collectors, and there are lots of tips and tricks for weathering locomotives. Usually they are of the DIY kind, but there are also some special products available, like the weathering sprays from Model Mates. Since I live in Sweden I haven't been able to order one of those, but I recently discovered that they are also available in regular paint pots. Instead of trawling Model Railroad shops you can steer your web browser to Great Escape Games that stocks them.

Different cans, but the same product apparently.

Delivery was swift and secure with the jars of weathering liquids in separate ziplock bags inside the package in case of leaks (there were none). The Weathering Liquids functions like a wash, but are water soluble after they have dried. The idea is you take your spanking brand new boxcar, diesel engine or whatever you want to weather, and slather the liquid on it. When it has dried you remove as much or as little you want with a cotton bud, damp cloth or brush. If you remove too much you can always apply some more. I think it will look very nice as grime and dirt on tanks for instance. However, I plan to use it to Nurgle-ise a lot of figures for Warhammer 40k, hence my choice of Moss Green...

My brave volunteer. Hey, the 80's called and wanted their paint job back!

As I didn't have any vehicles ready for weathering, I took a figure to test it on instead. I had this 80's classic Nurgle Chaos Warrior I bought on eBay. While not a bad paint job per se, it was a bit too clean for Nurgle really.

Ugh, that shield has to go...

Ready for action... love that murky greenish colour of the weathering liquid.

Weathering liquid applied and still a bit wet, hence the glossiness. It dries matt.

Most of it wiped off with a damp brush. Notice how it leaves some grime and stain on the original surface.

I tried the Rusty Red on the sword as well, but I didn't like the effect. Probably the sword is too flat and silvery to retain much of the effect. I suspect it will work much better on a tank with all those rivets and panel lines.

At £4.50 it costs about the same as the new big cans of GW washes, although it only contains 18ml. However the effect is not the same as regular washes and I find that they are well worth the price and will definitely order some of the other colours.

Life... and lots of things...

Hi gang.

First I'd like to apologize for my absence, it's been a long while since I wrote anything. This is because my personal life is going through some changes, and therefore my hobby time has been quite limited. When I have had some spare time I have used it for hobbying and to a some extent gaming, not writing on the blog.  Here, have a kitten as compensation.

Anyhoo, I'm still buying stuff in hope of better times to come. Here's what I have been up to, in no particular order.

Big, Bigger, STOMPA!!!

I haven't really started on a good foot with my hobby projects this year. I should be painting and assembling a lot of CoC stuff, but I haven't. And it's all this guy's fault:

When the going get's tough, the tough get stomped!

Yep, that's a Stompa. I bought it right after christmas and have been assembling and modifying it to my heart's desire. I decided to magnetize a lot of parts both to make it easier to store, but also to be able to paint the different parts separately. So I've been a bit busy lately.

October is Orctober!

Wow, a month since the last update. Well, I have been busy, but for some reason I haven't completed anything until now.

Excuse me Sir, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Saviour Gork? Or was it Mork?

This is a trukk mob of Evil sunz made up of mostly Kromlech torsos and heads, as well as a lot of parts from GW Ork Bikerz. More pictures after the break.

 

Something old, something new...

...but nothing borrowed and nothing blue. Instead it's mine and all green. Or it will be.

I'm of course talking about my 40K orks. I have been playing them since the second edition boxed set (you know, the one with the 20 monopose orks and 40 monopose gretchin), but since I suffer from the ever disruptive Oooh Shiney-syndrome and GW release new models faster than I can paint them I have a huge lead mountain to get rid of. Lately the lead mountain's upper portions have been more and more made of resin and plastic, but at it's core there is proper metal. When excavating in search of some WW2 stuff I came upon a suspiscious-looking box.

Note the date: invoiced january 9th 2001, arrived at the post office Mars 5th 2001.

The crucial question is, did the box still contain what was on the invoice?

Spellcrow Ork bits review

Just a quickie today. I recieved a small package of Ork bits from Spellcrow, a resin bits maker in Poland. Instead of taking photos I did a small video. I will definitely buy from them again, nice stuff and the freebies included were a nice bonus.

I bought the bits from their eBay shop, although they have more items on their own web-page. They are also available from Wayland Games, should you wish to buy from a familiar store.

Anyway, if you can stand my mumbling and gibberish, please enjoy the video.

Why I play historical games.

Wow, it's been a month since I last blogged, what's happened?

Well, I sort of ground to a halt on my ork project, not so much for lack of things to paint or inspiration, but simply the realisation that I'm throwing good money after bad product by a company that doesn't love it's customers. (Sort of like an abused spouse staying with the abusing partner.) That put a sour taste in my mouth and I have been playing lots of X-wing (the boardgame) and Castle Wolfenstein (the computer game) instead.

You see, it started with this guy:

A "failcast" ork Big Mek with Kustom Force Field.

Despite being released with the last version of the Codex, he's not in the new one. Or rather, this version is not legal according to the new codex. In order to take a Kustom Force Field, the Big Mek needs to upgrade to a set of Mega Armour.

And will thus look something like this:

The new Big Mek, although with a telly-porta.

Ok, I know I can play with my old model and I intend to, but bare with me and I will make a comparison. 

More orks for da Whaaaaagh!

Hi gang, been painting orks for a while. I got the StormClaw boxed set with more nobs and I used the left over bits and bodies to upgrade the mono-pose Assault on Black Reach nobs. As I normally do not paint anything yellow I decided to paint up the extra nobs as Bad Moons.

The left Nob is from Assault on Black Reach with a leftover Big Choppa, the right one is a regular Nob.

More pictures after the break.

Da Deff Skull Deff Dread Done!

As I said last week I have a bit of an ork craze now, glueing and painting orks like a mad boy. But painting loads of boyz gets dull very soon, even if you vary the paint scheme between the mobs. So I decided to tackle the Deff Dread I bought at the same time as the Codex.

Bought on release day, June 28th.

So that is one built, painted, based and varnished Deff Dread in little over a month, must be some kind of record for me.

Boooh!

 More pictures after the break.

It's not easy being green

Wow, has it been that long since the last post? My apologies, friends and fellow miniature geeks and nerds. I have been playing this fascinating new roleplaying game called life.

• I have visited relatives in Greece, lived through a throng of greek aunts that all wanted to compliment and congratulate me on my two well-behaved and exotic sons, especially the younger who almost looks greek, and experienced my cousin's daughter's orthodox christening, complete with chanting priests and professional serial photographers. (50 XP, tick skill check in Urban Survival and Greek Culture.)

• Been painting the house, yes in 1:1 scale, including riding up 7 meters in a skylift, without dropping any lumber or tools on anyone below, without succumbing to vertigo, and without driving the lift cage through the neighbour's bathroom window. (100 XP, tick skill check in Handicraft (Painting), Driving (heavy machinery) and downgrade Vertigo from Severe to Mild.)

Yeah, that too.

Hobby-wise I have been lying low, secretely amassing a horde of miniatures to be tossed onto the lead/resin/plastic-mountain. The release of Warhammer 40k 7th edition hasn't yet convinced me that I need to get back to that game, but the release of the new Ork Codex with accompanying miniatures did!  Here's some thoughts on the new codex.

Systema Gaming Scenery Power generators assembly and review

I've got the power!

Impressed by the Storage Silo I reviewed previously, I bought a pair of Power Generators from Systema. A sheet of 5mm MDF and a small sheet of orange acrylic is enough to build two of these babies. The assembly was -- as with the Silo -- very straight forward. No instructions are included but it's hardly necessary. It would be nice though for the more inexperienced builder I think.

I used ordinary white wood glue thinned with a little bit water and applied with a brush. It gives you a little wiggle-room and enough time to pull the pieces apart if you make a mistake, but dries fast enough so you do not have to wait long periods. All parts can only fit in one way so if you have to shave or file down a lug to get it to fit, you are trying to assemble it wrong!

I did however hit a couple of snags. The first was that glueing the acrylic pieces was harder than I anticipated. The fit is not as good as with the MDF parts so they move around a bit, and trying to align eight pieces of plastic between to circles of MDF at the same time was quite interesting. I thought of using superglue to first glue them rigid to one MDF pieces, but then I wouldn't have been able to adjust any of them if they weren't glued on 100% straight.

The second problem was that when popping out the parts I ended up with a cog-wheel shape that was left over. It was simply superfluous material used between two other parts on the MDF sheet, but I thought it was used to align the acrylic beams. For half an hour I tried to get it to fit before I realised my mistake.



I did a time-lapse video of the assembly and you can see how I try to fit the part around the acrylic beams, and that I try different ways of holding the acrylic. In the end I just held and pressed them in one hand. The acrylic does not absorb the glue like the MDF, so I had to wait a while for the glue on them to dry before I dared touching them. While waiting I undercoated the base with white primer. The whole process took about two hours, including trying and refitting the acrylics, brewing coffee, talking to my wife on the phone and undercoating the base. Next time I will start with the acrylic beams and then I can do the base while the first parts dry, so it should take less than an hour. The "power" assembly can be removed so you can use the base as it is if you like, which gives you a bit more variety.

At 12 Euros for a pair they are very good value for money. As evidenced by the Plague Marine in the picture above they are quite large as well. While not exactly gothic they could be a piece of Eldar or Tau machinery and would also fit very nicely into a game of Infinity or Star Wars. Systema provides good service and are very nice to deal with.

I give the System Gaming Scenery Power Generators 4 out of 5.
Recommended and good value for your money.

You've got red on you.

I've been busy with all things life (work, kids, non-miniature related fun stuff and just plain boring stuff), but I have plodded along with the Caproni I started earlier. All the major sub-assemblies (wings, interior bits etc.) are done, but I have to paint the interior before assembling them. Curse the designer who put so many windows on the cursed airplane.

So when the Guild of Wargamers announced a Speed build with the theme Red I jumped at the chance of doing something different. I decided to paint up one of the Killa-kans I bought off a friend in a bright red sceheme.

"You've got red on you"

Chosen Champion of Nurgle

As I wrote earlier I couldn't resist buying the Chosen Chaos Marine champion from GW. It's a new plastic model, done in the same style as the ones included in the Dark Vengeance starter box.

I did finish this a while ago but haven't had the time to post photos of him. More after the break.