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