Forge World and Warhammer 30K...

As many of you already know I'm some-what split with my opinion on Forge World...Of course that's not the only opinion I'm sometimes split on...

No...not 'Blonde or Brunette' but why the hell would a brunette want to be blonde...

Wait...I had a Warhammer related point to make as well....

In general I like their models but their ability to write a balanced set of rules for them borders on the non-existent.

Therefore I'm quite happy for some-one to use a Forge World model in a 'normal' game in order to 'count-as' an existing unit as the models are (9 times out of 10) very nice to look at. If we happen to be playing an Apocalypse game then bring whatever you please as Apocalypse is designed for fun 'use everything you own while eating snacks and drinking beer' games and balance has gone out of the window looooooooooong before some-one puts his Reaver Titan on the table.....

I am therefore quite polite but unswerving in my 'Use the model if you wish but not the rules' policy and I wouldn't consider playing against a Forge World book army list as in my experience people only use them to exploit their lack of balance while simultaneously trying to convince me that that's not the reason at all*

So given the opportunity to make lots of money keep the customers happy it was inevitable (and somewhat obvious given recent releases and the Black Library books popularity) that Forge World would release a book set in the time of the Heresy.....

I therefore brace myself for an incredibly pretty book, full of lovely models and illustrations with a selection of army lists and rules that I'll never voluntarily play against...

*If your the exception to this rule then good for you...I'm still not letting you use that Land Raider Achilles though...



It's also goes down in history as the least information filled 'teaser' of all fucking time...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome**

**It'd be nice if they were about Warhammer 40/30K though ;-)

2nd Company Standard Bearer

I'm working on a Company Standard bearer for my Night Reapers 2nd Company. I've tried to keep the same overall look as my Veterans/Sergeants/Champions.

I'm doing the actual standard separate so it'll be easier to paint ;-)

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Titan Games

So I took a trip to Lichfield today to visit my friends new business enterprise Titan Games which opened today...Amusingly the sign-age isn't done yet so from a distance it still apparently sells shoes...

They're still awaiting a lot of stock so the shelves look a bit minimalist at the moment but they can order pretty much everything and give you a decent delivery time which is cool. Currently they have stock of Malifaux, Infinity, Hordes and Warmachine but the GW stuff is due to arrive imminently I'm informed and I believe their pricing is quite competitive on GW stuff as well.

The nice part was that they had a fair sized area for painting downstairs and a couple of gaming tables...however...I got a sneak peak upstairs and as soon as it's complete (a week or so I believe) there will be more painting space and another four? gaming tables there for people to utilise. Given the fact that most Games Workshop stores now operate a 'buy your stuff then fuck off*' policy it's nice to see people chatting in store without some-one hovering at your shoulder nagging about the newest model release whether you want it or not. Both Adam and Martin have an extensive amount of hobby experience so they should be able to assist with everything from painting advice to list building and pretty much everything in between. 

*I understand that this is more company policy than the staff policy but nonetheless it's still off-putting when your used to GW shops being a bit more sociable than most have become...

Their Facebook page can be found here and has the contact details on it should you be local enough to take advantage. I'm sure your support will be much appreciated...I bought a Malifaux rulebook so my conscience is clear, lol. Once they're fully operational I'll see if I can get some pictures...

Maybe Adam and Martin will make a few comments after they read this ;-)

Some Painting...Not Much Admittedly...

I made the classic mistake of allocating myself too big a task and ended up doing none of it...

....mistake made...and learned from....

So I've just done some bits and pieces as night shifts combined with parenting has left me with very little spare time over the last week or so. I am now off work for a couple of weeks (maybe three depending on which branch I'm moved too) and I can look at putting a major dent in my unpainted Night Reapers. But for now he's a couple of bits.

I made some progress with 'Counts-as' Lysander. He needs a few more finishing touches and possibly another wash and a highlight but he'll do for the table-top. I'm planning on giving him some shooty Terminators to hang with as Assault Terminators don't need his help and his special rule benefits them.

I also painted a couple of Plasma Cannon Marines that will be numbered as belonging to Tactical Squads one and two so I can chop and change unit configuration as I desire. I'm going to add some colour to a few of the wires and cables as even though I'm going for a less than cheerful overall look I think these could do with a bit more.

I'm debating making myself a Company Standard Bearer as a bit of a conversion/modelling project this weekend and then I'll dip into the pile of unpainted stuff prioritised based on what I think will be fun to paint...I am on holiday after all, lol.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Prince of Crows Extracts 2 and 3

Arcane Miniatures - New Releases

Some new bits and pieces via Arcane Miniatures,

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Update for Daemons.

Well this is interesting...

'Counts As' and Allies...

First some background...

I first got into this hobby at the same time as the most recent Chaos Space Marine Codex hit the shelves. It's bias towards renegade Marines (in background if not in actual tabletop units) appealed to me so after some consultation with the store manager I bought 'normal' Space Marines to use as my renegades and a box of Chaos ones to mix in to represent their chaotic nature.

So I basically started off using 'Counts-As' from pretty much day one. Back then they were the retinue of a Daemon Prince who was formally their unit Champion and I didn't foresee them expanding to quite the extent that they did. I kept true to the theme in a number of ways...my Khorne Berzerkers were a mix of Berzerkers and normal marines...my Obliterators were Terminators with Heavy weapons attached etc.

Later I had the bright idea to represent units by using a colour appropriate to them in the paint scheme of the chapter. My Noise Marines became 7th Company (Purple), Plague Marines were 4th (Green), Khorne Berzerkers and (some Blood Angels) were 3rd (red) and so on. This allowed me to keep the 'Chapter' theme without creating too much confusion on the tabletop.

Now we have an issue in the form of allies...

Lets say I decide to have some Grey Knight allies. These can be easily represented by my normal method by the simple use of giving them grey shoulder pads...simple...right?

Of course there's the additional issue that I sometimes use my 2nd Company (gold) to 'Count-As' Blood Angels (which should be red if I'm true to my theme I suppose) so there's a good chance that I'll confuse some-one, lol.

So lets say I turn up to a tournament and cheerfully* put down an army that has an allied contingent that matches the rest of my army in colour scheme but is different in a minor (but obvious) way....

"Those guys are Blood Angels and those other guys with grey shoulder pads are Grey Knights."

So the question is, is that okay or am I going to have to start lining Games Workshops pockets by buying 'official' models?

* Yes...cheerfully...shut-up you bastards...I can be cheerful...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

'Prince of Crows' Extract.

For those of you who don't subscribe to absolutely every hobby newsletter there is.....I thought I'd share this.....

Thinking About Army 'Cores'.

I've been thinking about allies in conjunction with standard Space Marine armies. My recent game against Mike has taught me that vehicles can be killed quite easily and that's something I'm happy to benefit from even though it fucks me over as well. Also there's the whole 'Flyer' issue....

I am therefore considering this as a core from which to expand from,

HQ

Master of the Forge (100) c/w Conversion Beamer (+20)   (120)

ELITE

Dreadnought (105) c/w Twin-Linked Autocannon x2 (+20)   (125)

Dreadnought (105) c/w Twin-Linked Autocannon x2 (+20)   (125)

Dreadnought (105) c/w Twin-Linked Autocannon x2 (+20)   (125)

TROOPS

Tactical Squad (90) +5 Men (+80), Combi-Melta (+10), Meltagun (+5), Multi-Melta (+0)   (185)

Rhino (+35)

Tactical Squad (90) +5 Men (+80), Combi-Melta (+10), Meltagun (+5), Multi-Melta (+0)   (185)

Rhino (+35)

HEAVY SUPPORT

Dreadnought (105) c/w Twin-Linked Autocannon x2 (+20)   (125)

Dreadnought (105) c/w Twin-Linked Autocannon x2 (+20)   (125)

Dreadnought (105) c/w Twin-Linked Autocannon x2 (+20)   (125)

Total Points Cost - 1310

The Dreadnoughts kill Transports and Flyers and now that a unit that has been divided into Combat Squads can share a Transport I can drive a vehicle into midfield and use the old 'Melta-bunker' strategy as well as deploying a dual-Melta 'Tank-Hunter' unit.

It's just a 'core' at the moment. I may go with something completely different as a base when I've got more time to think about it.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.