Chaos Heralds End of Year

2013 is coming to a close, and we now beckon in a new year. Theres a lot to look forward too aswell. Tyranids, Imperial Guard, new X-wing releases and a wealth of board/card games for me yet to discover. One thing that will be looked forward too howver, is Kill Team. 

You may remember a Chaos Skaven Marine I built up a few weeks ago, well I've finally done some more using a few Bestmen bits I had lying around too.

As you can see, on two models I've used Skaven torsos, these have mutated and it makes them look a little crooked and not quite right, which for me is Chaos! 

Plasma guns seem to be the weapon of choice in a Chaos Marine list, although I haven't decided whether I'll use the Chaos Codex or Space Marine Codex. 

The cape on the shoulder looks a little odd, but I can see this guy thinking he's quite cavalier and it kind of works. 

Tails/tentacles for legs? Why the hell not, its Chaos! This was a pure experiment that I didn't intend to use but he looked pretty rad so had to get painted up. 

And this is the unit so far! Six strong, I'll perhaps take it up a little and see what else inspires me with the bits I have. I'm really looking forward to using these in Kill Team and there seems to be some interested guys at the Reavers who are up for it too. Small model count means cheaper army, and if you did want to expand its easy enough to add some bits and built it up a little.

I've got a games night to report on where I got to try some awesome games involving City of Horrors, Cube Quest and Pandemic, that'll come soon along with a couple of 40k batreps. I've also got some X-wing to chat about too as I've picked up a starter set, with an extra X-wing and Tie Fighter. Can't wait to build up my Rebels for this! 

For now though have a good safe New Years Eve and an even better 2014!

The Imperator

The Emperor class titan, the Imperator, is a beast of a war machine. Its the largest titan the Imperium can muster, and stands around the 180ft mark. When I first saw this immense beast I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Of course, looking back now having a castle on legs doesn't look quite so appealing anymore. If I were able to get into Epic I'd prefer battle companies, masses of tanks etc instead of the Adeptus Titanicus machines. This is the cover of Titan Legions, from around 1994-95.

Looking back, its bulky caste-like form looks aged, but as always theres still charm. Anyone who knows me knows of my thing for assault cannons, and the Imperator has a similar looking weapon called the Hellstorm cannon. How can that not look good? I was always intrigued by how the Plasma Annihilator worked, with its card sheet and tokens to see how powerful you could make its shot with a roll ever turn.

Why its upper middle cannon is turned sideways a little for, I have no idea. It looks bloody odd though.

And then you see updated artwork of the Imperator and the appeal comes back. The Pax Macharius Walks, by Zach Graves aka columbussage on Deviantart is a stunning representation of an older model whose concept can still stand the test of time. I highly recommend going over to Zachs deviantart as he has some amazing artwork based on the 40k universe. 

If GW ever were to re-release Epic and bring a new updated version of the Imperator out, I can see its castle/cathedral-like features being toned down a lot, in favour of a more stronghold styled base bristling with guns on a pair of heavily armoured legs. I'd love to see a new Epic happening, and with a new found respect for titans a remodelling of these behemoths of war would be right up my alley.

Alien Infiltration: Tyranids

As we near Xmas we all know that the Tyranids are right around the corner with a bunch of new releases coming out for them. Some updates, some new models, its safe to say Nid players are a wee excited  To add to the hunger of the Hive Mind heres some very old school epic models. We could be seeing new reincarnations of the Haruspex and Dactylis, but thankfully the Dominatrix doesn't seem to be making a return. Not that a new version may be cool, but theres only so many big gribblies you want to go up against!

One thing that intrigues me is looking at rumoured release schedules, Nids are followed by Imperial Guard. Might this be a good time to release a Genestealer Cult list in a digital format? 

Stealers with swords! I doubt a release would happen unless some new models are released. I can't see GW releasing a new digital codex if theres no models to support it and its only supported by conversions. It would add an interesting twist to a Nid list, limited but extremely useful firepower would make Tyranids even more dangerous. 

I've got some more posts coming soon, some battle reports, and also some new additions to the hobby... Including two new card games and X-wing! But for now, I have to go as I feel a third arm about to burst through. LIMO!!!!!

Sunday Salvo: White Dwarf, WIPs and Hobbits.

Welcome to another weekend chunk of hobby love on todays Sunday Salvo. White Dwarf was released yesterday, and theres some interesting bits in there I'll be talking about. Can I just start off with these guys though? 

These miniatures are simply awesome. I've not been interested in the LOTR or Hobbit ranges before, but these look so fun and full of character I'd love to play this scenario. I'm gonna keep a look out to see if my local GW puts on the scenario, I'll be there in a shot! 

Next up, a Fantasy Flight release caught my eye. 

This is really different for me and something I'd love to try. Chaos in the Old World was such a great game and if this recreates half of the enjoyment I had in that it'll be a good laugh. 

Ho. Lee. Shhhhh..... Well you get the idea... A graphic novel set in 40k? They haven't done one of these in years as far as I'm aware! The artwork looks absolutely stunning, and is by Neil Roberts, more about him and his highly talented hand later however! The problem I have, is its £75 asking price. Yeah its leatherbound, but damn, I wanna read this so much without having the luxury of leather. The other release is a new version of Visions of Heresy, the first of which I have. This looks great with tonnes more new artwork, more writings from Alan Merrett, but again, the price is rather steep. £150 for this bad boy, its definately making the Horus Heresy range a very costly part of the hobby to get into. Shame really!

In terms of Parade Ground, Blanchitsu and Kitbash theres a lot to take in this month from Wraithknights and Riptides to Space Marine Dreads and some Armies on Parade from the Memphis Games Day, including the Chaos Dwarfs above who are absolutely stunning. Some great conversions in there and the display board is well done, the magma in particular really draws the eye in. I've always been a fan of the Chaos Stunties so this does appeal to me!

Neil Roberts, the artist behind the new Graphic Novel also shows this off in WD. A great follow up to an older Emperor Horus depictions from many years ago this really does a good job of updating the old art, and gives us a good idea of how FW may create the Emperor and Horus in 'miniature'. They're a wee way off yet, especially the Emperor but I will look forward to seeing them. 

So us 40k fans are 'spoilt' with two new expansions this month. Escalation sees us being able to use a 'Lord of War' in our games, so a Nicholas Cage model? No, as in Harridans, Baneblades and some other superheavies. Do I like this? I'm unsure, depends how their rules have been adapted and just how hard they are. I hope people can't just rock up to a tourney using one, and its a bit like 'Oh mind if I take a Lord of War?' thing where players are happy to ask their opponent if they mind them being used just so they have fair warning. 

Stronghold Assault sees expanded use of Fortifications, with rules and missions based on them. This interests me a little more, as something that can encourage people to build, paint and model terrain is a good thing, but again its all about how the rules work. Unfortunately, theres not much in White Dwarf to tell us about these supplements so we'll have to wait and see. I'm interested, but very unsure as to whether I'll get either. 

Onto some WIP goodness, the Bikers, Vindicator and Land Raider have all got some paint on em!

Nothings 100% done but they're all at the point where I can stick em on the battlefield. They look a little patchy and need some tidying, but my army is certainly growing! Grav guns on bikers are great, especially against large beastly things or elite infantry. It'll be great to use them in more games to see how effective they'll be. 

The raider on the left is the new addition, a Redeemer no less. Still holding a capacity of twelve this has a wee edge on the Godhammer pattern, being able to carry 5 termies and a character, and its redeemer cannons are S6ap3, which we all know is awesome against power armour!

I've also got this guy, he's almost done just some tidying up needed. Thats two newer mark Vindicators plus I do have an old one who is in a bit of a bad shape but its a linebreaker squadron if I need it!

This week, while painting I've been listening to Deliverance Lost. Fair dues I've really enjoyed it too, and its mad me absolutely fascinated with the 'Cabal'. This strange collection of Xenos agents have perked up my imagination and I can't wait to find out more about them, hopefully even seeing some miniatures when FW do the Alpha Legion. The Raven Guard are a great read too, Corax having to deal with losing many of his legion and rebuilding only for the Alpha Legion to cock things RIGHT up. I'd always heard a little about them having some mutated members but hearing about them in more detail and how they came to be in existence was really interesting, and a great idea for modelling. I've always had a thing for the Raptors too, sort of being a Toronto Raptors fan so a Space Marine chapter named the same would interest me, even if the subject is slightly different. They also fight to my playing style which was cool. I also liked the small mention of the Golden Throne when Corax questions the Emperor for advice, some nice little teasers there!

So next will be Know No Fear, looking forward to listening to that while doing some more modelling projects I've got in my head. I'm hoping to get to my local GW for a game of 40k too, I've not played for a couple of weeks and thats not good. Do I build a second Thunderfire cannon or not... do I convert a dreadnought... do I hear the pat of paws on the door? Hmm... Rats...

All images copyright of Games Workshop where applicable