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Some Chaos at Work
Recently my team moved to a different part of the office, we even got new not in any way hideous carpets. As such, I decided to bring in a few models to sit on my desk to both inspire my creativity and advertise to all and sundry my wargamer credentials.
Here’s my new desk.
Honestly, it’s always this tidy…
And here’s a close-up of my monitor stand.
Work for The Work God!
Veteran readers may remember that these models were my 2013 Warmongers Secret Santa gift. Before I moved jobs I used to have some old Cadians and Eldar Guardians that I’d previously used to test out colour schemes but they were really poorly painted and didn’t really reflect what I’m capable of.
Plus hopefully I can channel some of the, erm, straightforwardness, of Khorne in my daily tasks. Either that or I’ll start reaping skulls in the greater Leith area…
Stuff for Sale: Orcs, Skaven, Goblins, Beasties and a random Eldar
Following on from last week’s sale of Astra Militarum Bitz (which ends on Wednesday, bid now!) I’ve listed twelve more lots. Like before the link above the photo will take you directly to the eBay auction and if you have any queries please contact me here or on eBay. Now, without any further ado, we have:
This model was from around 1990 and served me well when I ran Craftworld Eldar during the heady years of the second edition. No idea why I never painted it.
I’m fairly sure these came with on of the Warhammer Quest expansions although they could be from Battle Masters or Hero Quest. My memory’s not what it was. Anyway, these are snap fit and have not been glued, so that’s something.
These are the three plastic Minotaurs from Warhammer Quest. These could be used in Beastmen or general Chaos armies.
I was half-tempted to hold onto these, but I really can’t justify another army at the moment.
Some more refugees from the Warhammer Quest Box. Great for bulking out existing squads.
I wasn’t even aware that Orcs could shoot in Fantasy, they can barely shoot in 40K!
I don’t believe that this unit exists in the current army book. However I’m sure these gents could find a place in Orc or Black Orc units.
Taken mainly from the 4th ed Warhammer Fantasy box and the Warhammer Quest box, some of these were sort-of painted by my fourteen year old self and, as you can see, some are a wee bit damaged. Also, I couldn’t find enough bases for them all, but that shouldn’t be a problem for even a half-experienced gamer 🙂
Again, these are mainly from old starter boxes and, like the Goblin Spearmen, some of these have had my teenage painting prowess inflicted on them. A couple also have broken bows but a bit of Green Stuff should fix them right up.
A couple of random metal Night Goblins. No idea where or when I bought these.
I love the concept of these guys. Still no idea why I thought it would be right to paint one of their balls gold.
Night Goblin Squig Herders and a Squig Hopper
I love squigs but I’d never have time to paint them. The larger squig came from a Warhammer Quest expansion box.
Games Workshop’s Great Rebranding Experiment
By now, most of you will be aware that GW have launched a trial rebranding of their shops in Bath, Chiswick and Edinburgh. Gone is the venerable Games Workshop logo and in its place we have this.
As I live in Edinburgh and work five minutes’ walk away I decided to pop in and have a wee chat with the staff about the change and some of the reactions they’ve had thus far.
They explained that there were two main reasons as to the change. The first is down, unsurprisingly, to brand recognition. Many people have heard of Warhammer via mediums such as PC/console games, novels as well as other media (don’t mention Ultramarines, don’t mention Ultramarines) but don’t necessarily link this to Games Workshop. It makes sense to capitalise on this, much in the way that the majority of car showrooms place a greater emphasis on the main make they sell rather than the name of the showroom itself.
Secondly there is a reason why these particular three stores were chosen. All three receive a comparatively high number of people through the door and, particularly Bath and Edinburgh, have a high number of tourists popping in, although in Edinburgh’s case it’s probably for directions to “the Harry Potter café” (bad luck, it’s now a Chinese buffet restaurant), the Castle or “The Fringe” (sigh). Anyway, in theory this means that these stores will be best placed to judge the success or failure of this experiment.
When asked how long until a decision is made as to the project’s success it appears that they don’t have a set end date and are happy to see how it goes. While I understand the need to be flexible my inner Project Manager nearly had a heart attack!
According to the chaps on duty today, the feedback thus far has been for the most part encouraging. I can see why, it’s always nice to see some experimentation and quite frankly, I love seeing people encounter and take up the hobby so anything that may be able to do this is to be applauded. There have been a few negative comments, almost exclusively on their Facebook page, but that’s the internet for you.
As for my feelings, I like it. From a design point of view I think it’s has a far more contemporary feel and I do think it has the potential to accomplish its objective. Time of course will tell.
Also, one final thought. If GW does go ahead and rebrand its stores, where does this leave the LOTR/Hobbit game? Could this be the start of a phasing out process? Personally, I would not be surprised.
For The Lady! New Bretonnians this year?
I can barely type I’m so excited but there’s a chance that my beloved Gallic Knights might be getting a new army book and models this year! This evening Bigred posted this on the Bell of Lost Souls forum:
Viewing a retailer order sheet, Bretonnians are no longer able to be ordered from Games Workshop at this present moment. Following the usual cycle , this indicates that there is a new rulebook on the horizon with some new models to come. We assume this would be in the November/December release slot after the Inquisition Skirmish game is announced in October at Gamesday UK.
Distributor sources verify the upcoming WHFB release shipment, described only as “a human race”, with but would not confirm a release dates.
While this in nothing concrete (i.e. take with the implied truck-full of salt), this army is crying out for an update because they just don’t work in the 8th edition.
You can find the whole thread here, I’m keeping my fingers crossed 🙂
Bretonnian Knights of The Realm WIP
I change of pace for me this week as I’m taking part in a six player, two sided Warhammer Fantasy battle next weekend.
Unfortunately I’ll never have all 1,750 points fully painted but provided I can get these knights finished for next Sunday I’ll be a happy man.
Hitting a Brick Wall
That’s it. I knew that this was going to happen eventually but I’m officially stuck. You see, today marks a dubious record for me as it’s been exactly four weeks since I’ve picked up a paintbrush, dice or craft knife and I’m not sure how to start again thanks to all the part-finished projects I’ve temporarily abandoned.
I’ll get my excuses out of the way. This summer has been extraordinarily busy, at work our annual audit took longer than expected not to mention I’m both breaking in new staff and have just finished a massive office relocation at incredibly short notice. At home my wife and I have had to complete her application for permanent settlement in the UK, believe it or not this has taken us over three months to finish, we only just posted it yesterday! There have also been weddings, a funeral, birthdays, the Edinburgh festivals, hospital appointments and this is just what I can remember. In truth I feel that my feet haven’t hit the ground since early June!
On the hobby front I have the following outstanding:
- A half-painted Dark Eldar Venom
- A half-painted Dark Eldar Wych Squad
- An unpainted old metal Dark Eldar Wych Squad
- A half-painted Finecast Commissar Yarrick
- 20 Unassembled Imperial Sector sprues
- An unpainted metal Dark Eldar Incubi Squad
- An unpainted Finecast Dark Eldar Archon
- An unpainted Finecast Dark Eldar Succubus
- An unpainted Finecast Dark Eldar Haemonculus
- An unpainted Finecast Dark Eldar Lhamaean
- An unassembled Dark Eldar Razorwing
- An unassembled Dark Eldar Ravager
- A part-assembled Chaos Space Marine Predator
- An unpainted Chaos Space Marine Terminator Lord
- An unpainted Chaos Space Marine Squad
- An unpainted Chaos Space Marine Terminator Squad
- A half-completed Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought I’m converting for my Chaos Marine army.
- Two sprues of Battletech Battlemechs that I’ve had since 1996
- 14 Inner Sphere Battletech Battlemechs I’d like to repaint
- 18 unpainted Bretonnian Knights of The Realm
- 15 unassembled Bretonnian Men-At-Arms
- 40 unpainted Bretonnian Peasant Bowmen
- 10 unpainted Bretonnian K nights Errant
- 1 unassembled Bretonnian Lord with Great Weapon
- 1 unpainted Bretonnian Paladin with Battle Standard
- 1 unpainted Bretonnian Pegasus Knight
- 1 half-painted Deathknell Watch
So, what do I do? Thus far I have always prided myself on my ability to not jump on the new army / game bandwagon every time something exciting is released, all my 40K armies have been gestating for many years (and I have the out of date Codexes to prove it!) but I think it’s obvious that my enthusiasm and ambition have slowly got the better of me.
I’ve attempted to prioritise my hobby time based on upcoming games but since most of my regular opponents have been similarly busy this really hasn’t been effective. It’s impossible to go with what I like the most since that’s part of what’s got me into this state in the first place!
I think that the best thing for me to do is to bloody finish something as soon as is humanly possible and luckily I have this coming Sunday free to do just that. But what do I attempt to finish?
Watch this space…
Trenchmates – Games Day Germany by Wouter Lute
Welcome to the second Trenchmates article. Here, Wouter Lute reports from last week’s German Games Day. Take it away, Wouter!
As always with a Games Day you have to leave very early! We were on the way at seven am! Sleepy in the car we listened to a 40K audio book, still no clue to which one it was.
I’ve been a couple of time to GDUK and knew these were big events, so my hopes for this one were same! After a two hour drive and some coffee later we arrived at Köln in Germany. The Games Day event was only a five minute walk from the garage and we saw a some geeky people waiting at the event hall (which was some sort of Gothic opera house). We had so called “Mega Tickets” which allowed us to walk straight in without having to wait in a queue. The “Mega Tickets” gave us also access to a GD model and a GD T-shirt.
The entrance hall was filled with dressed-up people that looked like guardsmen and inquisitors, and were doing some kind of role-playing (goofy Germans!). We decided to go directly to the Forge-world stand, because it’s always busy over there! The FW line was big!!!! so we had a changed our mind to have a look around first! Saw great stuff in main lobby, especially the three Ultramarine companies in main entrance hall!
After half an hour we found enough courage to go join FW line behind some very goofy German GW fans. So ninety minutes of slow stumbling we arrived at the FW stand. On the FW website I saw a Aquilla lander for my Inquisitorial allies that I wanted, so after ten minutes of searching by the FW clerk he came with the answer that it’s no longer made! [my theory is that there will be a plastic version soon -John] So I opted to go for my second option a Macharius Fulcan! At the FW stand was a dressed-up ogre! (actually one big dude with not enough clothes on)
After FW it was lunchtime already and we found this nice little Mexican joint. We had a big-ass burito chilli and a beer for lunch.
When lunch was over it was time for Games Day part two. We made our round passing the Golden Daemon entries. There where definitely some nice ones, but also some that my three year old could do better.
The Armies on Parade was an other item that we wanted to see. Some of the army boards were great, but then the armies on weren’t. only a handful were pretty awesome and a combination of board and models on it!
We visited the Black Library stand and had a chat with some of the authors and also with some designers from FW which were present at the GD.
The local German gaming clubs were present with their own gaming tables, some of the were actually top notch . the was a trench table which really liked, gave me some ideas to make one of my own. There was also a strike cruiser table, it was not really in scale, but then again pretty cool.
There were also presentations by GW about the production process and some Black Library lectures. Only the microphone wasn’t working and the BL lectures were in German, so we couldn’t follow it all (of course we were Dutch and it was Games Day Germany for Germans 😉 )
Of course there was a big GW stand with all the usual stuff, but we skipped it and called this Games Day to an end for us!
Not only did Wouter take the time to write this, he also sent in some pretty spectacular pictures from the event, enjoy!
The Imperial Fists First Company displays their subtle approach to warfare that made them so famous.
Smurftastic!
My wallet hurts just looking at that!
Every time I see well done versions of this model I want to start collecting Blood Angels again.
Abandoning his disguise, Sir Bruce Forsyth rides out into the night.
I’m not entirely certain that’s a legal army 😉
I love the effect on the force weapon’s blade
Just a typical night out in Cologne…
Bloody Space Hippies!
Right, where’s Bugman’s?
Taking the concept of the all you can eat buffet to extreme lengths…
Many thanks Wouter for a brilliant report about what sounds like an awesome day. I haven’t been to a Games Day since 1997 and my lasting memory of that was Adrian Wood getting a grilling by a fifteen year old girl about fixed battle reports! Unfortunately I can’t attend this or any other big event this year as Real Life has got in the way but roll on 2013.
If like Wouter you’ve been to an event, operate a gaming club or shop or if you just fancy showing off your painting skills or fancy having a rant about whatever you like please feel free to contribute, click here for more info.
The Paladin Sir Ectorde – WIP
I’ve never shown a work in progress before but given that this is the first model I’ve needed to pin since 19-bleeding-95 I think I’ll go ahead.
If you’ve been following my progress in The Rock in The Badlands campaign then you’ll know that this model will soon represent Sir Ectorde, the youngest son of Sir Redemonde of Parravon.
Hopefully he’ll be fully painted by next week.
Chaos Rising
The tubes have been alive with whisperings from The Warp of late and after much speculation GW has today released this:
Other sites have been somewhat more forthcoming with The One Ring releasing this image apparently showing what shiny whatnots will be released next month.
The general consensus is that a new Chaos Codex is due in August/September with sites like Bell of Lost Souls gleefully disseminating potential details.
I can’t wait, my Chaos Marines force has been slowly stagnating in various to-do piles for the better part of two years. Indeed my only post thus far has been my first ever one where I sketched out some of their basic background, and quite a bit of it has changed since then!
Let’s hope that the first 6th Edition Codex sets a good standard for the rest to follow.
The Rock in The Badlands – Eleonore’s Second Letter
Excerpt from the records of the Dukedom of Parravon. Correspondence dated c1550 (2528 Imperial) to Sir Redemond of Parravon, from Eleonore (a damsel of The Lady, attached to the court of Sir Redemond).
My Noble Lord,
Since our last correspondence our fortunes have been mixed. Sir Ectorde and his retinue arrived safely some four days ago, they are battered and weary from their arduous journey yet their spirits remain high and have uplifted us all.
En route to our camp, Sir Ectorde encountered an insensible man of indeterminate breeding, by your nephew’s account he was on the precipice of death. In his dying moments he told that his settlement was attacked by a horde of rat men who put all they could find to the sword.
As you know all too well, these fell creatures are drawn to sources of Warp Stone so upon hearing Ectorde’s report I immediately assembled a scouting party and sought out this place.
Upon our arrival we found the village in ruins, half-eaten bodies lay everywhere and I pray to The Lady that the poor wretches were dead before the feasting began. Of the Skaven however we saw no sign until it was far too late.
Seemingly from nowhere our foes appeared in numbers far exceeding our own. Almost immediately Sir Michael called a charge and his fellowship sallied into the waiting blades of the enemy’s most capable warriors. I believe Imperial scholars refer to these creatures as ‘Stormvermin’. At the same time, Sir Hugues took his knights round our left flank and overran a wretched unit of sickly looking creatures who did more damage to their benighted kin as they scrambled from the field.
Alas, this early success was not to last and before my eyes our knights were immersed in a seemingly unending tide of greasy fur and sharp claws. From my place within Sir Michael’s Fellowship I saw our indentured bowmen suffer horrendous casualties and while our nobles faired far better I knew it was only a matter of time before the sheer number of these vile creatures would be the end of us.
Knowing this, I ordered the retreat and quit the field. The Lady was kind to us that day and, while many of Bretonnia’s noble sons were injured, all were able to fight again.
That night as I slept I had a vision of a blighted forest which restless dead had claimed as their own. I was certain that somewhere among the trees would be a quantity of the rock we seek and that other forces were marshalling for the same purpose.
At sunrise I reviewed the latest reports from our yeomen scouts and after meditating further I knew where we needed to go. The forest in question was a two day march from the camp so we had no time to loose.
Our journey was for the most part uneventful however as we drew ever closer to our destination I began to sense a malevolent, familiar, presence and I was certain that the necromantic horde we encountered before was intent on claiming the forest’s prize.
As we entered the tree line I observed pockets of etheric vapour drifting throughout the forest, wherever they went any creature caught within exhibited strange and unpredictable behaviour. Some even succumbed to the foulness. This hindered our progress significantly and too soon our scouts sighted elements of the undead force we had encountered before.
Unlike our first encounter I detected a change in the balance of power between myself and the enemy’s foul mage, where before I found his presence near unbearable I felt the power of The Lady swell within me, I felt certain of victory.
Immediately I ordered our battle line to form, my wariness of the prowling mists proved correct as it soon touched a unit of bowmen forcing them to withdraw from their position.
Soon the vile corpse army made themselves known; unlike our previous encounter I ordered our cavalry to hold while our bowmen unleashed torrents of arrows into the enemy’s midst. Before too long I felt the enemy necromancer’s dark magics building and was certain he was about to attempt to augment his forces, I attempted to counter this but was too late and to my despair I saw those we had felled rise and resume their places in the foe’s ranks.
Here The Lady made her presence known. Just as I thought all was lost we saw the deadly mists move towards the enemy’s lines and cause untold damage. After a further volley of arrows I ordered Sir Michael’s men to charge the unit of skeletons approaching our left flank, I joined them as they headed to glory.
The combat was long and arduous, we inflicted heavy losses on them but like all such creatures they did not break. Only my magics kept us from harm but I knew that this was unlikely to last since unlike us they could replenish their number, or so I thought.
As the battle progressed I felt the winds of magic more strongly than I have ever before, whenever my foe attempted to conjure reinforcements I easily blocked his attempts and the times were I was unable to he was unable to complete his incantations. Thanks to this we were able to see off their heavy infantry and, with Sir Hugues and his knights we rounded on the remaining enemy forces and drive them from the woods.
After the last of the creatures had made their escape we uncovered what they coveted, in a clearing was a crater fully ten metres across and in that we found ten sizeable rocks of the purest warpstone I have ever encountered. Returning it to our camp cost the lives of three mules and five peasants, as I’m sure you’ll agree my lord these were nescessary losses.
There is much more of this rock out there my lord and I am more convinced than ever that the situation in the Badlands needs more attention. I petition you to send whatever you can spare from the northern front to aid us for I fear that in spite of this victory far darker times lie ahead.
I am your humble servant,
Eleonore
Highly Recommended!
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Ramblings from The Trenches 