Back from the Dead! (plus video batrep)

Wow!  Has it really been that long since we've updated?  Can't believe it...

Techpriest 7" Apoc Template, Armorcast Reaver Weapon Upgrades

Made this 7" Apocalypse template the other day at the shop since everyone was having trouble keeping track of theirs at the 1/22 big game. It looks very cool in person when the etching catches the light like a fiber optic.

I'm also working on some more weapons for the Armorcast Reaver Titan. Ever since the guys at Forge World came out with the rules for their Reaver Titans us Armorcast owners have had a bit of weapon envy.

(In case you aren't aware, the Armorcast Reaver Titan's arm weapons are the same as a Warhound Titan's. The Forge World Reaver's arm weapons are slightly down-graded versions of Warlord Titan weapons, but are significantly more powerful than Warhound weapons.)

I've already made versions of the Volcano Cannon and Laser Blaster. Since doing so most of the Apocalypse groups around the country have adopted a house rule that addresses how much more powerful the Destroyer-strength weapons are than any other weapon. The house rule reduces the template size of any Destroyer weapon to the next lower size. (10" becomes 7", 5" becomes 3", etc.) Now that we're playing with this rule, all of a sudden the other weapons become more viable. In the case of the Reaver, this makes the Melta Cannon and Gatling Blaster more useful.

Here is my initial take on the Melta Cannon. You can reference the Forge World version here. The stock (red and black) is from one of my Volcano Cannons and is used for scale because the one for the Melta Cannon will be approximately the same size. It will have the same lines and designs as the Armorcast Inferno Gun but will be bulkier.

The Gatling Blaster is the same deal. It will follow the lines of the Armorcast weapon. In addition to what you see below I will have a method to allow it to rotate.

Enjoy!

Dark Angels (and other marines) Feeling THE LOVE!!!

shamelessly pulled from Necrotales

Let me be the 87th person to tell you this. Most of the Space Marine codexes (codecies? codeces?) got new FAQs today.

Who got a big boost in power today?

That guy (above).

Who else got a big boost in power today?

This guy (below).

another image shamelessly pulled from the interwebs at Prodigal Son Hobby Blog

So just in case you are the one guy out there currently habitating under a large lithic object, let me explain.

The new FAQs from GW, found HERE, not only cleared up some questions that crop up in the game, but actually altered some of the older codexes rules!!!

That's right. Dark Angels and Black Templars, who have been living for years with substandard equipment, had said equipment updated to be in-line with more modern versions.

Storm Shields that give a 3++ save.
Cyclone Missile Launchers that shoot twice.
Updated Power of the Machine Spirits.
Drop Pods with BS 4.
And (probably) a few other tweaks along those lines.


Now, you might be asking yourself, "MJ;-), what does this really mean?"

Good question.

For me, it is not so much the boost in power for those older codexes, to be similar to their other brothers. No. What this is to me is a fairly drastic departure in the FAQ world for GW.

See, up until now, FAQs simply fixed typos ("errata") and cleared up confusing situations ("FAQs").

These new FAQs now add a third category of "update." They add "AMENDMENTS." Amendments being actual changes to the rules, stats, and etc. in a codex.


Personally, I'm most excited about this addition to the FAQ line. As far as I'm concerned, my one comment to Games Workshop right now would be "Its About TIME!!!" This is the kind of thing a FAQ should be used for. Seriously. It alleviates the "issues" that crop up over the course of 6 to 10 years between a single army's codex editions.

KUDOS TO YOU, GAMES WORKSHOP! Kudos!

So to all you Deathwing players (and Black Templar players) out there - Kudos TO YOU ALSO for sticking it out so long. Enjoy these new additions to your games.

Particularly because you all know that when a new Dark Angels codex comes along, terminators will be more expensive, and Belial will probably be in the 250+ point range.

MJ;-) Project Log: New Objective Markers

image from Privateer Press

Having just posted some hopes and dreams for 2011, the first thing I do is something NOT on that list. Go figure. . .

I've been using some relatively flat objective markers during the lifespan of v5 40k. Poker chips, poker chips with some emblems on them, but in the end, flat and kind of boring.

I've wanted to do something more 3-D, just never really got struck fancy by anything in particular. The DEAD MARINES Games Workshop put out are OK looking, but really seem to go with a power armor force of some kind or another.

Finally, while playing some Warmachine/Hordes, I was struck by the models for SHIFTING STONES for the Hordes faction Circle Orboros. The picture at the top of this post is from the Privateer Press website's Circle Orboros gallery.

Very cool looking. The best part was that they aren't thematically pegged to one particular 40k army. They could just as easily be Chaotic, Eldar, Power Armored, or even simple "Imperial."

Perfect.

They are typically $12 for a blister of three, but your standard internet discount brings a package down to the $9 range. So for under $20, I had 6 of these bad boys.

The shifting stones come with 30mm bases. Although not a written rule per se, most of the 40k world seems to agree that 40mm is a good size for an objective marker. So I fished out some spare 40mm Privateer Press bases I had. I like them better than the GW ones simply because of the rounded edge and the indented surface (which makes for better flocking/basing). After mounting them to their bases with some cheap TWO-PART PLUMBING EPOXY PUTTY, I set to work on them.

The stones are not all that large, so I didn't bother with spray priming them. I simply started in with my initial basecoat. I painted them in my typical stone fashion - basecoat dark gray, heavy dry brush of medium gray, and light dry brush of light gray.



I wanted them to have a splash of color to them, but didn't want to replicate the glowing green effect shown on the Privateer Press site (see pic at top). So I simply washed them with six different colors (badab black, gryphone sepia, baal red, thraka green, leviathan purple, and asurmen blue). I didn't worry about being all careful with the wash, I just slapped it into the four sides of the bottom section and top section for the six markers.




Time-wise, all six took me about 2 hours. Although I did have to split it up over two nights because after the three colors and the wash (night 1, 1.5 hrs), I had to let the wash dry before going back with a light dry brush of light gray (night 2, 0.5 hrs).

Not bad IMO. I like them, and can't wait to get them out on the tabletop for some bloody fighting over. Hopefully they'll bring me some good luck!

And if you're wondering, when I was snapping a few pics of the markers, my son and his monster truck wanted in on the action. So here you go. . .

Scratch-Built Thunderhawk Kit for sale

Last year I scratch-built a bunch of kits for Thunderhawks. After all was said and done I have one kit left over. I figured I'd see if anyone was interested here before trying other locations.

The kit will be unassembled. The pictures show an assembled kit. The kit will be a pack of cut and etched acrylic pieces in both 0.08" and 0.22" thicknesses, acrylic tubes to make the turbo laser, and custom resin pieces to make the engines. It does not come with any GW weapons so you'll need to supply the wing weapons, the front sponson weapons, and the upper adjustable wing weapons.

Many more pictures and more details here.

Please send a PM if interested. Thanks!

Matt

Hello, 2011...

Despite my vow to post at least 3 times a week, I intentionally took the holiday season off from posting. Bonus is my birthday is on the 8th of January (R.I.P. Elvis), so the "holiday season" gets an extra week in my world.

But now its time to get back to the grind. Back to my 12-step program.

First up for 2011, lay out some goals. You can call them New Year's Resolutions if you'd like.

When it comes to 40k, I'm a bit of a scatterbrain. I plan one project while working on another while neglecting at least 3 more. So many things to do, so little time to do them. So this year, rather than just letting the Year of 40k "happen," I want to take a more direct and concerted approach. So here's a few of the things I hope to achieve in 2011.


SPACE WOLVES

I've been working on my Logan's Hunters project off-and-on in 2010. For 2011, I have three goals I'd like to achieve with the Warriors of Fenris.

1. Finish the Logan's Hunters Terminator project. 3 Squads, 2 Land Raiders, and 3 Dreadnoughts remaining to complete that task. Its all in hand, all assembled, and all primed. All I need to do is paint them.
2. Expand the Logan's Hunters project beyond this initial stage. Yup, that's right, expand this army. I'm sure such expansion will involve a number of posts here at DFIR. So if you're a Wolf fan, stay tuned.
3. Assemble and Paint my Eclipse-Pattern Thunderhawk. I'll admit, I'm a bit scared by this project. Its a tad overwhelming looking, but I think once I get down to it, it will be much easier than I'm anticipating. Wish me luck with this one!

DEATHGUARD CSM

My Deathguard army has really come together in 2010. LOTS of progress on this army. So there's not all that much left to do. But there are at least a couple things.

1. Plague Tower. With my Plaguereaper completed, its now time to turn my attention to making a Plague Tower for my Deathguard force. Don't ask me why, but I am just not a fan of the existing Plague Tower concepts. I do not like the fantasy-style "wooden wheeled siege tower" nor do I like the leering faces on the front concept. Actually, you can ask me why. Its because I think those look silly for a far futuristic war machine of utter destruction. Hence, my Plague Tower will be more mechanized. The base chassis for the model will be a Baneblade, but from there, I'm still toying with a few other ideas. One is to scratch-build the tower part of the model; the other is to use something existing - maybe a Bastion or some Cities of Death panels. I guess we'll see in good time...
2. Daemon Princes. I've recently picked up an off-brand Daemon Prince from Troll Forged miniatures. Specifically "Demon Lord 2" from THIS LINK. I got him with the wings option, and also with an alternate head. So this bad-boy needs some construction (actually began last night) and painting. Related to this, my Ultraforge Plaguedemon is already painted and has seen some action on the tabletop. But he needs wings. Not sure if I'll pick up some pre-fab wings from somewhere or try to scratch-build my own. We'll see. In both cases, I want to magnetize the wings for easier transportation purposes.

MISCELLANEOUS

This isn't everything I plan to do this year. Partly because of my aforementioned scatterbrain predicament. I'm sure there's projects that will creep up during the year. If I had to guess...

1. Eldar. I don't think I can go the whole year without giving my Eldar some love. I have 3 War Walkers built and primed that need to be painted. I also have 10 Wraithguard in their blister packs that need some attention.
2. Emperor's Children. I'm still contemplating an Emperor's Children project. It is "medium-to-low" on the priority list, though, so there's no guarantee that it'll happen in 2011.
   
3. Warmachine & Hordes. Having spent the Summer of 2010 playing "Warmahordes," I'm feeling the need to get back to that game some (those games, technically). I'm actually in the process of weeding my Legion of Everblight hordes army down a taste, with the intent that what's left will be easier to tackle painting wise. I also have a handful more Bane Thralls to paint for my Cryx army - six got painted for an event this summer, which leaves me with 4 regulars plus a Standard Bearer and Officer to paint.
4. DFIR Resident MikeT. [Yes, Mike, I'm calling you out.] ;-) I hope to get MikeT to post something to this blog. This may prove to be the hardest of my New Year's Resolutions, though... (just kidding, it will only be a tad difficult...).
5. COMPLETE a league. All too often, I join a league, only to be called out into the field for an extended time. To date, I don't think I've ever officially completed a league. My goal is to complete at least one such endeavor this year.
   

So there we have it. Some - maybe even too many - goals for my 40k life in 2011. Much of this will be used as cannon fodder for this blog, so if you're really interested in seeing something from my list in particular, comment below and I'll see if I can make it a tad higher on the priority list.

So until next time, keep the Ni-Cd batteries in your Power Swords fully charged.

Eldar List Build

I'd like to try something different today. Instead of me getting on a soapbox or pulpit, I'd like to hear from the followers and RSS Readers of this blog. Especially you Eldar players.

I Challenge Thee to an Foot-Eldar List Building Exercise!


OK, so here's the deal. Create a 1,000 and/or 1,500 point Eldar List(s) that includes NO tanks. Yes, good ol' fashioned FOOT'DAR (as the interwebs has so graciously deemed to name it). Put a summary of the list below in the Comment Section - don't worry about all the nitty gritty details, just list what the unit is, how many in it, and any paid-for upgrades.

Here's an example

Seer - Spear, RoWard, Doom
Aspect A (10) - Exarch, Exarch Weapon, Exarch Skill
Guardians (16) - Warlock, starcannon
Jetbikes (3) - shucannon
Aspect B (6) - Exarch, Exarch Skill, Exarch Skill


If there are enough responses, then I will compile them in a future post or two and discuss them. I may even be able to create a competition out of it, but we'll see how the response is first... ;-)

There we have it for today. A short one. But hopefully it will be fun for those who post something. TGIF!