Forge World have unveiled several new Ork kits ahead of their next Imperial Armour book which is a fight between Elysian Imperial Guard and Orks. Below is an extract from their latest newsletter.
Our new Ork releases are:
Big Trakk — Designed by Will Hayes (full resin tank model) —This heavy Ork transport can also be used to carry Big Gunz into battle. A brutal-looking machine, the Big Trakk comes with twin-linked big shootas, a massive gas-turbine engine, and ramming tusks. To see images of the Big Trakk click here.
Enclosed Trukk — Designed by Will Hayes and Phil Stutcinskas. (a hybrid resin and plastic model using the Ork Trukk kit). —The model makes for a great alternative for your Trukk fleet as well as an excellent base for your own conversions. Its enclosed cab can also be used to represent the Armour Plates upgrade on a trukk. To see images click here.
Flakk gun — Designed by Phil Stutcinskas (full resin Big Gun with three grot crew and an Ork gunner) —this is a quad-barrelled elevating cannon platform that can give the Orks some much needed air-cover as well as rip apart light vehicle squadrons with ease. To see images click here.
Gretchin Crew — Designed by Mark Bedford (eleven resin grots) —some wonderfully characterful grots to crew your big gunz or use as riggers for your vehicles, and generally make a nuisance of themselves! To see images of the crew on vehicles click here.
Big Zzappa — Designed by Will Hayes (full resin Big Gun with three Grot crew) – this marvellous looking `death ray` is adorned with all manner of strange-looking gubbinz and is as dangerous to the enemy as it is unreliable. To see images click here.
Killkannon — Designed by Will Hayes (full resin Big Gun with three Grot crew) —able to blast apart even heavily armoured troops as the Orks advance, the Killkannon easily lives up to its name and adds heavy firepower to your Waaagh! To see images click here.
Big Lobba — Designed by Will Hayes (full resin Big Gun with three Grot crew) —this somewhat crazed-looking gas-powered bomb launcher is used to lob explosive shells high in the air, and possibly the occasional grot with it! To see images click here.
Supa-Kannon– Designed by Mark Bedford (full resin really Big Gun with three crew, available either on its own or as a compete Battlewagon with Supa Kannon using the plastic Ork Battlewagon kit) —This giant artillery piece looks just as ramshackle and brutal as you might expect from the Orks, and can be used to smash enemy defensives, shatter bastions and fortifications so the boyz can get stuck in. To see images of the Supa-Kannon Battlewagon click here. To see images of the Supa-Kannon click here.
Many of these kits are designed so that in true Orky style you can mix and match between them and particularly in the case of the Big Gunz you can fit them to Trukks, our Half Trakk, Big Trakks, Gun Wagons, Battle Wagons and your own custom models. We also have some great new grots to crew your vehicles and weapons. Each of the new Big Gunz comes with its own crew, and you can also buy the full set of eleven models separately! A quick note on the Supa-Kannon as well, this is a huge gun intended to be mounted on a Battlewagon, Big Trakk or something equally as large! Look out for more Ork releases in the near future.
All of these models are available now for immediate release, and experimental rules for them can be downloaded under the Big Trakk rules Here.
Looks like I picked the right time to collect an Ork army!
Forge World have also updated their rules from IA1 and IA2 to bring them in line with 5th edition 40k. This is the link to the Forge World download page. There are typos of course, but it is better than nothing.
Imperial Armour VII has also just been released, and I'm currently reading it now. It concludes the Siege of Vraks campaign and ups the ante with the Inquisition meeting the Chaos Daemons head on.
Don't tell me how it ends!
Showing posts with label Warhammer 40k. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warhammer 40k. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
PAINTING: Lemartes reporting for duty
Here is the finished Lemartes, Guardian of the Lost.
I picked the model up last year, planning to use him for the Gauntlet tournament but he arrived late from Games Workshop mail order and he has sat languishing in my games room ever since. I had thought about converting him as I don't like the look of the model but I ran out of time for the Tale of 40k Painters so I just glued him together, added a couple of extra purity seals on the jump pack and painted him up.
He was a pretty easy model to paint; I just followed what I did previously when painting Chaplain Diavolo. I did dial the blue armour highlights back a bit though, which shows in the photograph. I'm particularly pleased with the skull helmet which I blended through six stages of highlights.
So with Lemartes done I just have one model left to paint to take me up to 2000 points - the Land Raider Crusader. I plan to have it done by the end of the week.
Wish me luck!
I picked the model up last year, planning to use him for the Gauntlet tournament but he arrived late from Games Workshop mail order and he has sat languishing in my games room ever since. I had thought about converting him as I don't like the look of the model but I ran out of time for the Tale of 40k Painters so I just glued him together, added a couple of extra purity seals on the jump pack and painted him up.He was a pretty easy model to paint; I just followed what I did previously when painting Chaplain Diavolo. I did dial the blue armour highlights back a bit though, which shows in the photograph. I'm particularly pleased with the skull helmet which I blended through six stages of highlights.
So with Lemartes done I just have one model left to paint to take me up to 2000 points - the Land Raider Crusader. I plan to have it done by the end of the week.
Wish me luck!
Monday, July 13, 2009
NEWS AND RUMOURS: Awooooooo!
The big news over the last week is official confirmation from Games Workshop that the Space Wolves will be released this October. I got an e-mail newsletter direct from GW yesterday with the following image:
The additions look characterful and rather nifty to me although I'm not too sure about the haircut!
The e-mail links to a blog entry on the GW website. I have reproduced the brief text below:
The Space Wolves are the most fierce and barbaric of all the Space Marine Chapters. Each Space Wolf is a noble and proud warrior, who has inherited the battle-lust and heroism of their ferocious forebear; yet their actions are tempered by cunning, just as their raw strength is augmented by power armour, boltgun and frost axe. They are the warriors of myth, the Sons of Fenris and of Leman Russ and in their wake legends are born.
This October, the enemies of the Imperium tremble at the coming of the Space Wolves. One of the most iconic and best-loved armies ever to grace the battlefields of Warhammer 40,000, the return of the Space Wolves has been eagerly awaited by hobbyists everywhere.
This stunning Grey Hunter is just one of the incredible new releases that will be arriving in a Hobby Centre near you in October! If you want to learn more about the new Space Wolves releases, check out White Dwarf Magazine for more information.
BDJV is running a rumours thread over on Warseer. The salient points are:
The additions look characterful and rather nifty to me although I'm not too sure about the haircut!
The e-mail links to a blog entry on the GW website. I have reproduced the brief text below:
The Space Wolves are the most fierce and barbaric of all the Space Marine Chapters. Each Space Wolf is a noble and proud warrior, who has inherited the battle-lust and heroism of their ferocious forebear; yet their actions are tempered by cunning, just as their raw strength is augmented by power armour, boltgun and frost axe. They are the warriors of myth, the Sons of Fenris and of Leman Russ and in their wake legends are born.
This October, the enemies of the Imperium tremble at the coming of the Space Wolves. One of the most iconic and best-loved armies ever to grace the battlefields of Warhammer 40,000, the return of the Space Wolves has been eagerly awaited by hobbyists everywhere.
This stunning Grey Hunter is just one of the incredible new releases that will be arriving in a Hobby Centre near you in October! If you want to learn more about the new Space Wolves releases, check out White Dwarf Magazine for more information.
BDJV is running a rumours thread over on Warseer. The salient points are:
- The Space Wolf codex has been written by Phil Kelly.
- Lightning Claws are called Wolf Claws in the new codex, you can choose to either re-roll to hit or to wound.
- Canis Wolfborn is the new SW SC; He's riding a very big wolf in a not so weird way as that sounds. Let just say those bloodcrushers look like grots!!! Also Canis is power armoured and has 2 wolf claws. The wolf has some cybernetic bits on it. IIRC taking Canis also allows you to take two cav choices, 1 can be SW mounted on wolves, the other is just wolves.
- Njal Stormcaller returns to the Codex with a new model, holding a gnarled staff out before him.
- Bjorn the Fellhanded returns to the codex.
- All special characters have been resculpted.
- Wolf Scouts will remain the same and they also have the option be mounted in a Land Speeder Storm.
- There will be 2 main plastic kits, however 1 of them can be used to make pretty much every SW troop choice by combining the oooodles of spares on the sprues with normal vanilla marines kits (e.g. a box of devastators plus the extra from the sprues will make your Longfangs. IIRC there are around 30+ heads on the sprue!!! there may also be a special vehicle, but I'm not sure if it's a complete kit or if there will be an upgrade sprue to add to the existing kit.
- There's also a funky new way of kitting out your characters called Sagas, it is similar to the Vampiric Powers used by WFB Vampire Counts, but IMO much more fitting for SW, and very fluffy, in fact it is IMO one of the best ideas GW have had in ages. You choose "sagas" for your characters, perhaps someone with Saga of the monster killer (I made that name up by the way) may be better at killing monsters (high strength things) in some way, although there could be drawbacks to this as he may need to kill so many of such things per game to continue his saga......
- Space Wolves gain access to an Assault Cannon Land Raider variant.
- The current options for jump packs are going to change. BTW Jump Pack marines are called "Skyriders" in SW Codex.
- Plastic Wolfguard Terminators; they are ambidextrous, ie they will have right and left handed weapons options like Stormbolters.
- When asked about Pack/squad size, Brimstone says that Space Wolves will be even less Codex Astartes than they were before.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
MODELLING AND PAINTING: Orks
With the end of my Blood Angels army painting in sight I've begun to think more and more about painting my Ork army.
I plan to paint 1500 points by August 2010 and I want to use my existing models as my core. In fact I may even be able to complete the whole army without buying a single extra model. Of course it will probably be pants on the tabletop but hey, even I can't complain about getting a whole army on the battlefield for no additional expense!
The army will be built around Ghazghkull as I already own his model. Naturally he will be accompanied by a horde of Boyz on foot. This is for three reasons; first I already own the models, second it's fluffy and third they work well with Ghaz's special rules. I own a mix of slugga boyz, shoota boyz and 'ard boyz.
I have three Mega armoured Nobz who will act as Ghaz's personal body guard.
I plan to have a second HQ choice of the Warboss from the Black Reach set. He will take to the battlefield with 6 Nobz also from Black Reach, with one free with White Dwarf. I think I have a Painboy model kicking around somewhere so I may add him to this unit.
The three Deff Koptas round out the selections from Black Reach. My second Fast Attack slot will be filled by a unit of Stormboyz I have had kicking around for an age. I believe I have eight of them.
Heavy Support will come in the shape of three Killa Kans which I'll have to dredge out of my bits box.
I plan to paint 1500 points by August 2010 and I want to use my existing models as my core. In fact I may even be able to complete the whole army without buying a single extra model. Of course it will probably be pants on the tabletop but hey, even I can't complain about getting a whole army on the battlefield for no additional expense!
The army will be built around Ghazghkull as I already own his model. Naturally he will be accompanied by a horde of Boyz on foot. This is for three reasons; first I already own the models, second it's fluffy and third they work well with Ghaz's special rules. I own a mix of slugga boyz, shoota boyz and 'ard boyz.
I have three Mega armoured Nobz who will act as Ghaz's personal body guard.
I plan to have a second HQ choice of the Warboss from the Black Reach set. He will take to the battlefield with 6 Nobz also from Black Reach, with one free with White Dwarf. I think I have a Painboy model kicking around somewhere so I may add him to this unit.
The three Deff Koptas round out the selections from Black Reach. My second Fast Attack slot will be filled by a unit of Stormboyz I have had kicking around for an age. I believe I have eight of them.
Heavy Support will come in the shape of three Killa Kans which I'll have to dredge out of my bits box.
That should make quite a formidable horde on the tabletop. The tactics would be to advance the boyz behind the Killa Kanz and maybe the 'ard boyz for a turn or two then get Ghaz to unleash his souped up Waaagh so everyone achieves combat. The Deff Koptas and Stormboyz have the speed to act as mobile reserves plugging whatever gaps appear. Ghaz and the Warboss with their retinues would be tasked with taking down the toughest parts of the enemy army.
If I was to buy models to add to the army they would be Trukks and Battlewaggons because mechanised is the way to go in 5th edition, and Kommandos, Gretchin and Warbikes just because I like the models. I'd also like to add a Stompa right at the end for Apocalypse games.
None of those are essential by any means, though, so I may go all the way through 2010 without buying a new model as I did in 2009!
If I was to buy models to add to the army they would be Trukks and Battlewaggons because mechanised is the way to go in 5th edition, and Kommandos, Gretchin and Warbikes just because I like the models. I'd also like to add a Stompa right at the end for Apocalypse games.
None of those are essential by any means, though, so I may go all the way through 2010 without buying a new model as I did in 2009!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
ARMY BUILDING: The Masterplan revisited
Lots to talk about in this blog entry. Before I get on to the main event, revisiting my gaming masterplan, I want to talk about two things.
The first is Twitter. I've just signed up to this today so expect the odd gaming related twitter message appearing on the side of my blog from time to time. I hope to be able to use it to talk about games I'm playing and events I attend in real time via my iPhone. Fingers crossed I can get the technology working. While I'm on the subject - does anyone know of any Games Workshop related Twitterers out there that I can follow?
Second thing is yet another battle report. Again this is an Imperial Guard offering and sees me take on Steve's Death Guard down at the local GW store. Scope it out here.
Righto, on to the main event.
Almost two years ago I blogged about my gaming masterplan. One of the core ideas was that I would paint a 1500 point 40k army every year until I had each of the main factions represented. I thought it would be fun to revisit the masterplan and update it.
Since 2007 the Chaos Daemon codex has been released, adding another faction. I've added them to the list of main protagonists, as I imagine they would be heavily involved in the major Chaos invasions of the Skolarii sector.
The primary protagonists are:
Secondary armies are:
And tertiary armies are:
Looking at my model collection now I have the Imperial Guard covered (although I'd love to add new models from the new codex), the Chaos Space Marines are completed and I'm happy with the Daemonhunters for the moment. I'm painting my Blood Angels now and I just need to add about 500 points to my Chaos Daemons to be able to field them. That just leaves the Orks from my primary armies and I plan to start on them once I've finished the Blood Angels.
Hopefully I'll have the Orks finished by the middle of next year and that means I can start work on the secondary armies. I have some models for all four already, especially the Tau - in fact I could probably rustle up about 2000 points without buying a single extra model. I'll probably choose the order based on when they get updated 5th edition codexes.
The tertiary armies both need big 5th edition overhauls so I'll definitely wait until they have new rules and models before I even think about them.
Since 2007 Games Workshop have also released Apocalypse, and although I haven't actually played a game of it yet I am a big fan of the books, models and rules. I've put together two super heavies, one for the Imperial Guard and one for the Chaos Space Marines, and I plan to add a super heavy to every faction to 'finish the army off.' I did this with the Brass Scorpion for my Chaos Space Marines and it felt great to be able to symbolically say that the entire army was done and dusted.
Since then GW have released the Stompa so I am sure to add one to my Ork army. As time passes I'm sure that GW will release super heavies for other armies too and I'll be sure to pick them up.
One more hazy idea I have is to paint my armies in matching pairs. I plan to do this with my Blood Angels and Orks first and see how it goes. The bases on my Blood Angels are a dusty brown and are littered with broken rubble, razorwire and other detritus of war. I'll do the Orks the same and can then say they are fighting on the ash wastes of the hive world of Armageddon.
Possibilities for other armies are urban rubble, jungle/deathworlds and ice worlds. Ideally, and this is pushing the idea right out there, I'd build a matching gaming table with terrain too.
So if my masterplan works, and I keep painting at the rate of one army per year, I'll be done in 2016!
Of course, you can never really say that any army is completely finished and as new editions of codexes roll by there will always be new things to add. In fact, one of the things I'm already considering now is to mechanise all of my existing armies.
I always used to prefer infantry models to vehicles because I thought they had more character but the GW kits have improved over the years and my interest in modelling and painting vehicles has increased. Vehicles also eat up lots of points in army lists for relatively little painting time and effort so there is a practical value in adding them to my armies.
Take my Chaos Space Marines as an example. I could easily improve it with six rhinos, a predator, vindicator, defiler and land raider thus making the army more visually interesting, more diverse, more effective and bigger in points values for Apocalypse games. I could even try to buy some Apocalypse vehicle formations such as the linebreaker squadron. I could batch paint all the vehicles at once and get a hell of a lot done in a short space of time.
Anyway, I've rambled on for quite long enough now so I'll draw to a close. I hope this post has given you a little insight into my tortured plans for the future.
The first is Twitter. I've just signed up to this today so expect the odd gaming related twitter message appearing on the side of my blog from time to time. I hope to be able to use it to talk about games I'm playing and events I attend in real time via my iPhone. Fingers crossed I can get the technology working. While I'm on the subject - does anyone know of any Games Workshop related Twitterers out there that I can follow?
Second thing is yet another battle report. Again this is an Imperial Guard offering and sees me take on Steve's Death Guard down at the local GW store. Scope it out here.
Righto, on to the main event.
Almost two years ago I blogged about my gaming masterplan. One of the core ideas was that I would paint a 1500 point 40k army every year until I had each of the main factions represented. I thought it would be fun to revisit the masterplan and update it.
Since 2007 the Chaos Daemon codex has been released, adding another faction. I've added them to the list of main protagonists, as I imagine they would be heavily involved in the major Chaos invasions of the Skolarii sector.
The primary protagonists are:
- Imperial Guard (Cadian 271st and many other regiments)
- Orks (common right across the sector)
- Chaos Space Marines (Black Legion, Exigators and The Hooded renegades)
- Chaos Daemons
- Space Marines (Blood Angels)
- Daemonhunters (fighting the Chaos invasions)
Secondary armies are:
- Tau (Third Sphere expansionists)
- Tyranids (splinter fleet has devoured Dyram)
- Witch Hunters (small commandery)
- Eldar (small craftworld, Harlequins fighting Chaos)
And tertiary armies are:
- Dark Eldar (scattered pirate raids)
- Necrons (single tomb world)
Looking at my model collection now I have the Imperial Guard covered (although I'd love to add new models from the new codex), the Chaos Space Marines are completed and I'm happy with the Daemonhunters for the moment. I'm painting my Blood Angels now and I just need to add about 500 points to my Chaos Daemons to be able to field them. That just leaves the Orks from my primary armies and I plan to start on them once I've finished the Blood Angels.
Hopefully I'll have the Orks finished by the middle of next year and that means I can start work on the secondary armies. I have some models for all four already, especially the Tau - in fact I could probably rustle up about 2000 points without buying a single extra model. I'll probably choose the order based on when they get updated 5th edition codexes.
The tertiary armies both need big 5th edition overhauls so I'll definitely wait until they have new rules and models before I even think about them.
Since 2007 Games Workshop have also released Apocalypse, and although I haven't actually played a game of it yet I am a big fan of the books, models and rules. I've put together two super heavies, one for the Imperial Guard and one for the Chaos Space Marines, and I plan to add a super heavy to every faction to 'finish the army off.' I did this with the Brass Scorpion for my Chaos Space Marines and it felt great to be able to symbolically say that the entire army was done and dusted.
Since then GW have released the Stompa so I am sure to add one to my Ork army. As time passes I'm sure that GW will release super heavies for other armies too and I'll be sure to pick them up.
One more hazy idea I have is to paint my armies in matching pairs. I plan to do this with my Blood Angels and Orks first and see how it goes. The bases on my Blood Angels are a dusty brown and are littered with broken rubble, razorwire and other detritus of war. I'll do the Orks the same and can then say they are fighting on the ash wastes of the hive world of Armageddon.
Possibilities for other armies are urban rubble, jungle/deathworlds and ice worlds. Ideally, and this is pushing the idea right out there, I'd build a matching gaming table with terrain too.
So if my masterplan works, and I keep painting at the rate of one army per year, I'll be done in 2016!
Of course, you can never really say that any army is completely finished and as new editions of codexes roll by there will always be new things to add. In fact, one of the things I'm already considering now is to mechanise all of my existing armies.
I always used to prefer infantry models to vehicles because I thought they had more character but the GW kits have improved over the years and my interest in modelling and painting vehicles has increased. Vehicles also eat up lots of points in army lists for relatively little painting time and effort so there is a practical value in adding them to my armies.
Take my Chaos Space Marines as an example. I could easily improve it with six rhinos, a predator, vindicator, defiler and land raider thus making the army more visually interesting, more diverse, more effective and bigger in points values for Apocalypse games. I could even try to buy some Apocalypse vehicle formations such as the linebreaker squadron. I could batch paint all the vehicles at once and get a hell of a lot done in a short space of time.
Anyway, I've rambled on for quite long enough now so I'll draw to a close. I hope this post has given you a little insight into my tortured plans for the future.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
GENERAL: 40k 5th edition, the Royal Navy, a dodgy McMuffin and the iPhone
What a week I've had!
On Friday I got up early and got in line to pick up the new 3G iPhone. The sheer number of customers in the store and across the country crashed the activation computers, so they just handed over the phone and told me to do it at home. Fast forward one week and I have only just got a functioning phone. It's great though, and I'm playing with all the options at the moment to work out what I can incorporate into my gaming life. With the internet being so easy to use on the iPhone I can access any forums at any time, as well as the Games Workshop PDF's (including their errata) so rules disputes should be a thing of the past.
Potentially the thing with the most impact, though, will be the ability to update my blogs from the phone. That hopefully means more updates and maybe live updates from tournaments, Games Days, etc. Watch this space.
I was so ill on Friday night that I had to go to bed at 4.00pm and didn't get up until 7.00pm, and I NEVER sleep during the day, especially when I have a new toy to play with. I only pulled myself together by Monday night. Maybe it had something to do with the McDonalds breakfast I ate while standing in line?
On Saturday I got my reserved copy of the Gamer's pack for 40k 5th edition. I had a quick flick through the book and was immediately impressed by the layout, art and amount of background information. It'll take a good few weeks to read through this heavyweight book in detail.
The metal ammo crate was heavier than I expected but smaller. It looks cool but I'm not sure what I could actually use it for. Maybe a large, flat tank? On Saturday morning I had a walk around HMS Tyne. I had planned to pick up my 40k stuff beforehand and I'm glad I didn't. The ammo crate looks like a real-life military artefact, with additional Imperial Eagles of course, and bears the legend 'Hazard: Danger of pre-detonation if used unblessed.' I wonder how the Royal Navy would have reacted if I'd tried to take it onboard?
The Line of Sight laser is fun and projects a target over quite a distance. A bit gimmicky, and I'd probably be a bit self concious to pull it out during a game but hey, it was cheap.
The counters are more practical and there are loads of them on the two sprues. Just be careful when you clip them off the sprue. The plastic is brittle and a couple of my counters splintered as I removed them. I found the best way to do it was to slowly apply pressure as I twisted the clippers. I filed off any rough edges and they were good to go. One thing that was missing, though, was a box to put them in.
Overall I was a little dissappointed with the extras and would probably have been just as happy if I'd bought the book on it's own, especially as I'm broke. Ho Hum.
On Tuesday Gary and I abandoned our Blood Bowl league in favour of a couple of games of 40k 5th edition. I took my Blood Angels, which will be my new army over the next year and Gary took his Daemons. We played a 500 point game then a 1200 point game. I'll write up proper reports for my battle reports blog shortly. The missions, set-up and rules felt very different and it is obvious we need to do some reading up before we play any more games. Also, Gary needs to buy a copy of the rules - 'I had no idea the new book was out yet!'
Last but not least, yesterday the last of my Forge World goodies arrrived in the post. I've hinted at these in the past but never really revealed what they are. I'll do that in my next blog when I revisit my New Model Fund.
Finally, I have posted the second battle report from my Daemonhunters Vogen campaign. This game was against a Black Templar army.
On Friday I got up early and got in line to pick up the new 3G iPhone. The sheer number of customers in the store and across the country crashed the activation computers, so they just handed over the phone and told me to do it at home. Fast forward one week and I have only just got a functioning phone. It's great though, and I'm playing with all the options at the moment to work out what I can incorporate into my gaming life. With the internet being so easy to use on the iPhone I can access any forums at any time, as well as the Games Workshop PDF's (including their errata) so rules disputes should be a thing of the past.
Potentially the thing with the most impact, though, will be the ability to update my blogs from the phone. That hopefully means more updates and maybe live updates from tournaments, Games Days, etc. Watch this space.
I was so ill on Friday night that I had to go to bed at 4.00pm and didn't get up until 7.00pm, and I NEVER sleep during the day, especially when I have a new toy to play with. I only pulled myself together by Monday night. Maybe it had something to do with the McDonalds breakfast I ate while standing in line?
On Saturday I got my reserved copy of the Gamer's pack for 40k 5th edition. I had a quick flick through the book and was immediately impressed by the layout, art and amount of background information. It'll take a good few weeks to read through this heavyweight book in detail.
The metal ammo crate was heavier than I expected but smaller. It looks cool but I'm not sure what I could actually use it for. Maybe a large, flat tank? On Saturday morning I had a walk around HMS Tyne. I had planned to pick up my 40k stuff beforehand and I'm glad I didn't. The ammo crate looks like a real-life military artefact, with additional Imperial Eagles of course, and bears the legend 'Hazard: Danger of pre-detonation if used unblessed.' I wonder how the Royal Navy would have reacted if I'd tried to take it onboard?
The Line of Sight laser is fun and projects a target over quite a distance. A bit gimmicky, and I'd probably be a bit self concious to pull it out during a game but hey, it was cheap.
The counters are more practical and there are loads of them on the two sprues. Just be careful when you clip them off the sprue. The plastic is brittle and a couple of my counters splintered as I removed them. I found the best way to do it was to slowly apply pressure as I twisted the clippers. I filed off any rough edges and they were good to go. One thing that was missing, though, was a box to put them in.
Overall I was a little dissappointed with the extras and would probably have been just as happy if I'd bought the book on it's own, especially as I'm broke. Ho Hum.
On Tuesday Gary and I abandoned our Blood Bowl league in favour of a couple of games of 40k 5th edition. I took my Blood Angels, which will be my new army over the next year and Gary took his Daemons. We played a 500 point game then a 1200 point game. I'll write up proper reports for my battle reports blog shortly. The missions, set-up and rules felt very different and it is obvious we need to do some reading up before we play any more games. Also, Gary needs to buy a copy of the rules - 'I had no idea the new book was out yet!'
Last but not least, yesterday the last of my Forge World goodies arrrived in the post. I've hinted at these in the past but never really revealed what they are. I'll do that in my next blog when I revisit my New Model Fund.
Finally, I have posted the second battle report from my Daemonhunters Vogen campaign. This game was against a Black Templar army.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
APOCALYPSE: Chaos Daemons reprise
I have decided to take my daemon prince out of this Apocalypse list and put him back into my Chaos Space Marine army. Here's the updated Chaos Daemons list.
HQ
The loss of the daemon prince has reduced the final points total by almost 250 points. I see that GW has already released two data sheets for the daemons. If you haven't seen them yet you can check out the Bloodthirster Bloodbath here and the Daemonic Forge-host here.Unfortunately neither of them are useable by my army (although I could buy three Soulgrinders to bring my army to 1500 points, give me some shooting and use the datasheet...).
HQ
- Great Unclean One, cloud of flies, aura of decay, breath of chaos, unholy might, instrument of chaos
- Herald of Nurgle, palanquin, breath of chaos, chaos icon, aura of decay
- Beast of Nurgle, Noxious Touch
- 9 Bloodletters, Fury of Khorne
- 9 Plaguebearers, Noxious Touch
- 6 Daemonettes, Transfixing gaze
- 8 Furies
- Daemon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, instrument of chaos, unholy might, aura of acquiescence, soporific musk, transfixing gaze, pavane of slaanesh
The loss of the daemon prince has reduced the final points total by almost 250 points. I see that GW has already released two data sheets for the daemons. If you haven't seen them yet you can check out the Bloodthirster Bloodbath here and the Daemonic Forge-host here.Unfortunately neither of them are useable by my army (although I could buy three Soulgrinders to bring my army to 1500 points, give me some shooting and use the datasheet...).
Friday, May 23, 2008
APOCALYPSE: Chaos Space Marines redux
With the release of the new Chaos Space Marines codex and, more recently, the Chaos Daemons Codex, I've have to update my Apocalypse Chaos Space Marines army list yet again. The main thing is that I have stripped out all the daemons as they will all be represented by the Chaos Daemons codex. I chose to do this because I thought the daemons in the new codex had more character than the ones in the Chaos Space Marines codex, had better rules and because they were more expensive.
I also had to ditch the warp rift data sheet. Hopefully Games Workshop will create more data sheets specifically for the Chaos Daemon codex.
HQ
- Daemon Prince
- Chaos Lord, bike, lightning claw
- Chaos Lord, mark of nurgle, daemon weapon
- Chaos Lord, mark of nurgle, palanquin of nurgle, daemon weapon
- Sorceror, mark of nurgle, nurgles rot
- 5 Possessed
- Dreadnought, twin linked lascannon
- 10 Chaos space marines, plasma gun, lascannon, aspiring champion with powerfist, icon of chaos glory
- 10 Chaos space marines, plasma gun, lascannon, aspiring champion with powerfist, icon of chaos glory
- 6 Chaos space marines, plasma gun, aspiring champion with plasma pistol, icon of chaos glory
- 9 Thousand sons, Sorceror with warptime
- 7 Plague marines, melta gun, flamer, aspiring champion with power weapon
- 7 Plague marines, plasma pistol
- 7 Plague marines, 2 plasma guns, aspiring champion with powerfist
- 7 Plague marines, plasma gun, flamer, aspiring champion with power weapon
- 6 Plague marines
- 8 Raptors, 2 flamers, aspiring champion with power weapon
- 1 Spawn
- 3 Obliterators
- Predator, twin linked lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons
- 6 Havocs, 4 heavy bolters, icon of chaos glory
- 6 Havocs, 2 autocannon, missile launcher, icon of chaos glory
- 7 Havocs, 2 melta guns, flamer, aspiring champion with plasma pistol
So I've lost about 500 points from this list but I have the new, more expensive, daemon list to compensate. The only really tough decision I had to make about what to include in what list was the Daemon Prince. In the end I kept him in with this list because the model is more 'space mariney' and painted in Exigator colours. His background fluff is also better suited to the Chaos Space Marines rather than 'pure' Chaos Daemons.
I still have a half finished Brass Scorpion, 8 Khorne Berzerkers and the mighty Abaddon himself to add to this army so I'm not quite done yet.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
APOCALYPSE: Chaos Daemons
Following the release of the Chaos Daemons codex on the 10th May I have stripped all of the Daemonic models out of my Chaos Space Marine army and used them to build a Chaos Daemon army. I expect the army to play terribly on the tabletop because it is essentially just a random collection of models buy hey, it's a 'free' army for a new codex so I'm not complaining.Here's the list:
HQ
- Great Unclean One, cloud of flies, aura of decay, breath of chaos, unholy might, instrument of chaos
- Herald of Nurgle, palanquin, breath of chaos, chaos icon, aura of decay
- Beast of Nurgle, Noxious Touch
- 9 Bloodletters, Fury of Khorne
- 9 Plaguebearers, Noxious Touch
- 6 Daemonettes, Transfixing gaze
- 8 Furies
- Daemon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, instrument of chaos, unholy might, aura of acquiescence, soporific musk, transfixing gaze, pavane of slaanesh
- Daemon Prince, Mark of Tzeentch, iron hide, instrument of chaos, unholy might, master of sorcery, soul devourer, bolt of Tzeentch, daemonic gaze, boon of mutation
As you can see I've gone a bit bonkers on the gifts and upgrades. That's because I was trying to make a 1500 point army. Even so, I fell about 100 points short. In theory I could add a Soulgrinder or maybe some Tzeentch daemons to cover the shortfall and then cut back on the upgrades but I don't know that I'll ever field my daemons as a proper 1500 point army anyway. In all likelihood I'll just use them as part of an Apocalypse army.
I'll be back shortly with my Apocalypse Chaos Space Marine redux.
Friday, May 9, 2008
PAINTING: Keeper of Secrets
Who'd uv thunk it? I've actually manged to get some painting done and finished a model. Not only that but it is ready before the release of it's codex, not months after.
I posted some in progress pics of my Slaanesh Greater Daemon a while back and, after three hours working on the beast tonight, she is finished.
I went for the Slaanesh scheme printed in the latest White Dwarf; pale purple flesh contrasting with black cloth.
This older model (I think I bought it sometime in the Rogue Trader era) had lots of extra detailing which meant I had to use a larger palette of colours. You can see some gold on there as well as silver armour and some olive green. While I was painting these bits it made me wonder where all these daemons get their clothes, armour and jewellery from. Surely they are from another dimension and these petty things are beyond them?
I'm aware that these pics aren't the best as they were taken with a flash, without a tripod and clearly not with a decent background, but you get the general idea. It's also not the greatest paintjob or model but it is the most detailed painting I've done in an age and I really enjoyed it.
I'll be buying Codex Daemons tomorrow and I'm hoping I'll be able to field a 1500 point army without having to buy a single model. Talking to a GW staffer the other day about this model gave me some food for thought. He suggested that, because this Greater Daemon is much smaller than the current model, I use her as either a Herald or Daemon Prince. I'll certainly bear that in mind when building my army list as it will give me a few more options.
I'm now looking forward to painting my next model which will be either the Baneblade or Abaddon.
I posted some in progress pics of my Slaanesh Greater Daemon a while back and, after three hours working on the beast tonight, she is finished.
I went for the Slaanesh scheme printed in the latest White Dwarf; pale purple flesh contrasting with black cloth.
This older model (I think I bought it sometime in the Rogue Trader era) had lots of extra detailing which meant I had to use a larger palette of colours. You can see some gold on there as well as silver armour and some olive green. While I was painting these bits it made me wonder where all these daemons get their clothes, armour and jewellery from. Surely they are from another dimension and these petty things are beyond them?
I'm aware that these pics aren't the best as they were taken with a flash, without a tripod and clearly not with a decent background, but you get the general idea. It's also not the greatest paintjob or model but it is the most detailed painting I've done in an age and I really enjoyed it.I'll be buying Codex Daemons tomorrow and I'm hoping I'll be able to field a 1500 point army without having to buy a single model. Talking to a GW staffer the other day about this model gave me some food for thought. He suggested that, because this Greater Daemon is much smaller than the current model, I use her as either a Herald or Daemon Prince. I'll certainly bear that in mind when building my army list as it will give me a few more options.
I'm now looking forward to painting my next model which will be either the Baneblade or Abaddon.
Friday, March 7, 2008
PAINTING: Finished Bloodletters
I was doing some more work on my battle reports when I came across this old post which I thought I'd put on the blog. It turns out I didn't so here it is now.
I got some painting in yesterday and managed to finish my Bloodletters. Here's the proof.
The painting is complete, I just need to add some static grass to the bases and then varnish them. It's not a Golden Daemon paintjob but it's certainly tabletop quality and brings me one unit closer to totally finishing my Chaos army. They may also be handy for Codex Daemonica which is due in May.
With the Bloodletters out of the way I just have my Berzerkers and Greater Daemon to finish. I took the opportunity to base them while I was doing the 'letters.
I'll report back when I've made more progress.
I've also posted another old battle report up on my other blog. This was a small game using my Nurgle Chaos Marines.
I got some painting in yesterday and managed to finish my Bloodletters. Here's the proof.
The painting is complete, I just need to add some static grass to the bases and then varnish them. It's not a Golden Daemon paintjob but it's certainly tabletop quality and brings me one unit closer to totally finishing my Chaos army. They may also be handy for Codex Daemonica which is due in May.With the Bloodletters out of the way I just have my Berzerkers and Greater Daemon to finish. I took the opportunity to base them while I was doing the 'letters.
I'll report back when I've made more progress.I've also posted another old battle report up on my other blog. This was a small game using my Nurgle Chaos Marines.
Monday, February 25, 2008
PAINTING: Khorne Berzerker numero uno
I had a nightmare yesterday, otherwise I would have posted this then.
I was volunteered to 'sort out' my girlfriend's parents TV/VCR/DVD/Satellite system, so I trundled over there at ten past two. I wasn't finished by three o'clock so I had to stop for the Carling Cup Final. I sat twiddling my thumbs until it finished. Only it was a draw after ninety minutes and they had to play 30 minutes extra time. Eventually, after a good two and a half hour interruption, I got to finish the job. The problem was that I lost my whole Sunday afternoon and got to do no gaming stuff. Rats.
On Saturday, I had managed to get some paint on a model. I decided to change my tactics in order to get the Berzerkers completed. I think part of my reluctance to start was because I baulked at the thought of production line painting all eight models. Eight lots of Chaos Black on the power armour followed by eight layers of Mechrite Red followed by eight layers of Blood Red, etc.
My new plan was to paint one model at a time until it was done, then move on to the next. I hoped that this would give me some motivation as I would feel like I was getting somewhere.
I chose the worst model of the bunch as a kind of test model to work out the paint scheme. The picture shows him after I had added some Chaos Black after the whole model had been drybrushed with a Brass colour.
Next I painted the other metallics Boltgun Metal.
The next colour changed the look of the model instantly. I painted the power armour Mechrite Red. For some reason in these pics (possibly because of the flash) it looks very pink.
A mix of Mechrite Red and Blood Red deepened the armour colour nicely. I washed it with a mix of Brown Ink and Chestnut Ink. I was going for a far deeper shade of Red than my loyalist Blood Angels, thinking it would contrast well with the Brass.
Lastly I painted some Codex Grey on the weapons. As you can see it's very shaky on the chainsword; I'll go back and paint in some Chaos Black to tidy it up.
There we have it - a virtually finished model in about an hour. The wash has pooled a bit on the armour so I need to work on the consistency but otherwise I'm pretty happy.
One down, seven to go.
Before I go, I'm bringing you a pretty big battle report this time around. It's another game involving my Tau who were pitted against their gaming nemesis the Necrons. Read all about it here.
I was volunteered to 'sort out' my girlfriend's parents TV/VCR/DVD/Satellite system, so I trundled over there at ten past two. I wasn't finished by three o'clock so I had to stop for the Carling Cup Final. I sat twiddling my thumbs until it finished. Only it was a draw after ninety minutes and they had to play 30 minutes extra time. Eventually, after a good two and a half hour interruption, I got to finish the job. The problem was that I lost my whole Sunday afternoon and got to do no gaming stuff. Rats.
On Saturday, I had managed to get some paint on a model. I decided to change my tactics in order to get the Berzerkers completed. I think part of my reluctance to start was because I baulked at the thought of production line painting all eight models. Eight lots of Chaos Black on the power armour followed by eight layers of Mechrite Red followed by eight layers of Blood Red, etc.
My new plan was to paint one model at a time until it was done, then move on to the next. I hoped that this would give me some motivation as I would feel like I was getting somewhere.
I chose the worst model of the bunch as a kind of test model to work out the paint scheme. The picture shows him after I had added some Chaos Black after the whole model had been drybrushed with a Brass colour.
Next I painted the other metallics Boltgun Metal.
The next colour changed the look of the model instantly. I painted the power armour Mechrite Red. For some reason in these pics (possibly because of the flash) it looks very pink.
A mix of Mechrite Red and Blood Red deepened the armour colour nicely. I washed it with a mix of Brown Ink and Chestnut Ink. I was going for a far deeper shade of Red than my loyalist Blood Angels, thinking it would contrast well with the Brass.
Lastly I painted some Codex Grey on the weapons. As you can see it's very shaky on the chainsword; I'll go back and paint in some Chaos Black to tidy it up.
There we have it - a virtually finished model in about an hour. The wash has pooled a bit on the armour so I need to work on the consistency but otherwise I'm pretty happy.One down, seven to go.
Before I go, I'm bringing you a pretty big battle report this time around. It's another game involving my Tau who were pitted against their gaming nemesis the Necrons. Read all about it here.
Monday, February 18, 2008
PAINTING: Old School Bloodletters
Unsurprisingly I have posted a new (old) battle report up on my dedicated blog. I remember this game against Colin well; he modelled his Commander's Crisis suit up with Dark Vader's helmet! Find out if I succumbed to the Dark Side here.
Perhaps surprisingly I have finally taken a photo of my latest painting exploits. Here are my Bloodletters (work in progress).
Over a black undercoat I drybrushed Mechrite Red then mixed in some Blood Red for a lighter drybrush then some Fiery Orange for the lightest drybrush. I then washed the 'letters twice with Magenta Ink. In retrospect I think just the one wash would have done as it left enough of the base coats showing to really define the models. Still, they look pretty cool.
There's not really a lot to do to finish them; just some blacklining around the weapons, paint the horns/claws and some detail work on the faces. I reckon that's about two hours work plus the basing. Then it's on to the Berzerkers.
Perhaps surprisingly I have finally taken a photo of my latest painting exploits. Here are my Bloodletters (work in progress).
Over a black undercoat I drybrushed Mechrite Red then mixed in some Blood Red for a lighter drybrush then some Fiery Orange for the lightest drybrush. I then washed the 'letters twice with Magenta Ink. In retrospect I think just the one wash would have done as it left enough of the base coats showing to really define the models. Still, they look pretty cool.
There's not really a lot to do to finish them; just some blacklining around the weapons, paint the horns/claws and some detail work on the faces. I reckon that's about two hours work plus the basing. Then it's on to the Berzerkers.
Friday, January 25, 2008
APOCALYPSE: Orks redux
With the release of the new Ork codex I needed to update my Ork Apocalypse list.
HQ
Despite only dropping three models from the previous list (rokkit wielding boyz that had to be dropped from their units) the whole army now costs a whopping 273 points less!
The other changes were some wargear on the runtherds (previously slavers) and moving the Painboy into the Nobz mob. Everything else ports over easily. Whether the army would actually achieve anything on the tabletop is another matter.
Unfortunately, none of the Ork datasheets released so far are applicable to my army.
HQ
- Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka
- Warboss, slugga, choppa
- 6 Nobz 1 powerclaw with slugga, 4 choppa with slugga, 1 painboy, wartrukk with big shoota
- Warboss, big choppa
- 14 Shoota boyz, rokkit, nob with powerklaw
- 21 Slugga boyz, nob with powerklaw
- 13 Slugga boyz, nob
- 17 Shoota boyz, big shoota, nob with choppa
- 12 Shoota boyz, rokkit
- 30 Gretchin, runtherd
- 20 Gretchin, runtherd
- 12 Gretchin, runtherd
- 10 Gretchin, runtherd
- 5 Warbikes
- 1 Wartrakk, twin linked big shoota
- Dreadnought, rokkit launcha, big shoota
Despite only dropping three models from the previous list (rokkit wielding boyz that had to be dropped from their units) the whole army now costs a whopping 273 points less!
The other changes were some wargear on the runtherds (previously slavers) and moving the Painboy into the Nobz mob. Everything else ports over easily. Whether the army would actually achieve anything on the tabletop is another matter.
Unfortunately, none of the Ork datasheets released so far are applicable to my army.
APOCALYPSE: Chaos Space Marines revised
I've painted up some new Chaos Space Marine units so my master Apocalypse list needs updating. I also need to add any applicable datasheets. There won't be many of these in any of my armies because I'm just using my existing models and not really adding anything new. I'll just use datasheets I happen to already have the models for.
HQ
A unit of Plague Marines are new, as are the Plague Bearers, and I've added the warp rift data sheet.
So I've increased the total by about 400 points since I last checked. I also have a unit of KhorneBerzerkers, a unit of Blood Letters, another Greater Daemon and a mighty Brass Scorpion to come shortly. Once complete my Chaos Space Marine army will weigh in at well over 5000 points.
HQ
- Daemon Prince
- Chaos Lord, bike, lightning claw
- Chaos Lord, mark of nurgle, daemon weapon
- Chaos Lord, mark of nurgle, palanquin of nurgle, daemon weapon
- Sorceror, mark of nurgle, nurgles rot
- Greater Daemon (Great Unclean One)
- 5 Possessed
- Dreadnought, twin linked lascannon
- 10 Chaos space marines, plasma gun, lascannon, aspiring champion with powerfist, icon of chaos glory
- 10 Chaos space marines, plasma gun, lascannon, aspiring champion with powerfist, icon of chaos glory
- 6 Chaos space marines, plasma gun, aspiring champion with plasma pistol, icon of chaos glory
- 9 Thousand sons, Sorceror with warptime
- 7 Plague marines, melta gun, flamer, aspiring champion with power weapon
- 7 Plague marines, plasma pistol
- 7 Plague marines, 2 plasma guns, aspiring champion with powerfist
- 7 Plague marines, plasma gun, flamer, aspiring champion with power weapon
- 6 Plague marines
- 6 Lesser daemons (daemonettes)
- 8 Lesser daemons (Furies)
- 9 Lesser daemons (plague bearers)
- 8 Raptors, 2 flamers, aspiring champion with power weapon
- 2 Spawn
- 3 Obliterators
- Predator, twin linked lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons
- 6 Havocs, 4 heavy bolters, icon of chaos glory
- 6 Havocs, 2 autocannon, missile launcher, icon of chaos glory
- 7 Havocs, 2 melta guns, flamer, aspiring champion with plasma pistol
- Warp rift
A unit of Plague Marines are new, as are the Plague Bearers, and I've added the warp rift data sheet.
So I've increased the total by about 400 points since I last checked. I also have a unit of KhorneBerzerkers, a unit of Blood Letters, another Greater Daemon and a mighty Brass Scorpion to come shortly. Once complete my Chaos Space Marine army will weigh in at well over 5000 points.
GENERAL: Focus, focus, focus
Withnail: We'll have to work fast.
[to barman]
Withnail: A pair of quadruple whiskies and another pair of pints...
I have about six hours free and I want to make a big dent in my gaming 'to do' list. No messing about on the PSP or surfing random websites, I want to knuckle down and get some things done.
Here's the list:
[to barman]
Withnail: A pair of quadruple whiskies and another pair of pints...
I have about six hours free and I want to make a big dent in my gaming 'to do' list. No messing about on the PSP or surfing random websites, I want to knuckle down and get some things done.
Here's the list:
- Create master campaign rosters for the Phoenix Campaign
- Write up battle report 5 of the Phoenix Campaign
- Add all unit names to Phoenix Campaign battle reports
- Paint Khorne Berzekers
- Paint Khorne Daemons
- Update Chaos Space Marine Apocalypse list with new units
- Update Ork Apocalypse list using new codex
- Add formations using data sheets to all Apocalypse lists
Friday, January 18, 2008
REVIEW: Malleus (book 2 of the Eisenhorn trilogy)
Review This bit doesn't give the plot of the book away
In Malleus, Dan Abnett follows up the accomplished Xenos with a worthy sequel. It expands and deepens the storyline begun in the first book and steers Gregor Eisenhorn away from the alien threat and toward the more insidious enemy which is Chaos. This subject matter allows Abnett to create one of the most complex and interesting Black Library books I have ever read. The thorny issue of Chaos goes right to the heart of the Inquisition and the inner workings of the Imperium itself, and the author guides us along the tricky path with a very sure footing.
Eisenhorn's own moral dilemmas are the main driving force as he tries to comes to terms with his own changing views on where the line is, and which other Inquisitors have crossed that line. Do the ends justify the means, or should you never use Chaos to fight Chaos? In the course of the novel, many complicated loyalties and factions are uncovered within the Inquisition, which often ends up fighting itself as much as its external enemies.
Dan's economy of prose, scene setting and dialogue are once again impeccable. The only complaint I have this time around is the ending. Everything feels a little rushed, as if the author has just realised he is almost out of space and has to tie up all the loose ends in half a dozen pages. Cherubael is used as a Deus ex Machina once too often and Eisenhorn's potential radicalism is explained away far too easily at the close.
These small problems are the only thing preventing me from giving Malleus a perfect ten, however, so don't let them put you off reading this fabulous book.
Summary
Malleus is essential reading for those who have completed Xenos, and anybody else wanting to delve a little more deeply into the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Score 9/10
Scores
All of my reviews end in a score out of ten for the product. The table below explains what that score means.
- 10/10 Perfect, absolutely nothing better
- 9/10 Excellent, highly recommended
- 8/10 Very good, recommended
- 7/10 Good
- 6/10 Above average, some problems
- 5/10 Average, some good points some bad points
- 4/10 Below average, some redeeming features
- 3/10 Poor, major flaws
- 2/10 Very poor, avoid if possible
- 1/10 Absolutely appalling
Thursday, January 17, 2008
REVIEW: Malleus (book 2 of the Eisenhorn trilogy)
Available from The Black Library
Written by Dan Abnett
Synopsis [Spoiler alert] This bit tells you exactly what happens in the book!
338.M41, Lethe Eleven. Gregor Eisenhorn is hunting his poisoner, Beldane Sadia. Gregor is about to kill Sadia but Witchfinder Tantalid kills her first. Tantalid hates Eisenhorn because he is a psyker. Tantalid tries to kill Eisenhorn but he is saved by Meda Betancore, Midas' daughter. Midas has been killed 26 years earlier by Fayde Thuring.
Eisenhorn is summoned to Thracian Primaris to attend the victory parade to mark the end of the century long Ophidian campaign. Inquisitor Titus Endor warns Eisenhorn that Inquisitor Osma is investigating him. Eisenhorn visits Lord Inquisitor Rorken. Rorken tells him that Cherubael spared another Inquisitor's life, mistaking him for Eisenhorn and that is why he is being investigated.
Eisenhorn attends the great processional march. The victory parade is attacked. The Cardinal Palatine is killed. Ten powerful psykers escape. Ravenor, Eisenhorn’s best pupil, is crippled. Lord Commander Helican is killed. Eisenhorn tracks down one of the psykers, Esarhaddon, and Inquisitor Lyko kills him.
Eisenhorn discovers that the man Lyko killed wasn't Esarhaddon. Lyko lures Eisenhorn into a trap on Eechon, where Esarhaddon is being auctioned to the highest bidder. Eisenhorn tries to find out who Lyko is working for, but before the Inquisitor can answer he is killed by Cherubael. The daemonhost kidnaps Esarhaddon.
Eisenhorn meets up with Fischig on Cadia. He has discovered a Chaos cult worshipping Cherubael and measuring the mysterious, pre-Imperial pylons - thought to quiet the warp around Cadia. Eisenhorn discovers that the supposedly dead Inquisitor Quixos has been involved with the cult. Eisenhorn confronts the cult as they try to measure another pylon. He is attacked by another daemonhost called Prophanti. The daemonhost is destroyed but takes over the body of Husmann, one of Eisenhorn's retinue.
Inquisitor Osma arrests Eisenhorn for consorting with daemons. Eisenhorn is interrogated for three months and almost dies. With the help of his retinue, Eisenhorn escapes to Cinchare. Eisenhorn is now hunted as a fugitive by the Inquisition.
Posing as a research team, Eisenhorn and his followers discover that the skeleton crew on Cinchare are Chaos worshippers. Deep under the planet's crust, Eisenhorn hooks up with Magos Bure, an Adeptus Mechanicus Enginseer. Together they destroy the Lith, a sentient mineral suffused with the power of Chaos.
Bure has been looking after Pontius Glaw for a century. Eisenhorn promises to give Glaw a physical body in return for knowledge about daemonhosts. Bure creates unique weapons to help Eisenhorn combat the daemonhost.
Eisenhorn visits the Shrine world of Orbul Infanta to consecrate the weapons. He is attacked by Witchfinder Tantalid and is forced to kill him.
Eisenhorn tells Inquisitor Endor, Commodus Voke, Inquisitor Grumman and Inquisitor Ricci about Quixos. The Inquisitors attack Quixos on Farness Beta, supported by the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Guard. Eisenhorn destroys the body of Cherubael, unwittingly setting it's spirit free, back into the warp.
Prophanti, the second daemonhost, kills Voke. Eisenhorn obliterates Prophanti. Eisenhorn discovers Endor was forced to spy on him by Osma. Quixos kills Ricci and Grumman. Eisenhorn discovers that Quixos was trying to build copies of the Cadian pylons, amplified by powerful psykers. Eisenhorn kills Quixos.
Osma's allegations against Eisenhorn are dropped and he rejoins the Inquisition. Eisenhorn secretly creates a daemonhost to recapture the spirit of Cherubael.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
REVIEW: Xenos (book 1 of the Eisenhorn trilogy)
Review This bit doesn't give the plot of the book away Dan Abnett is the most prolific and popular Black Library author, and the Eisenhorn trilogy (of which Xenos is the first book) is his most highly regarded work. It's not hard to see why. Abnett uses the first person perspective of Inquisitor Eisenhorn to draw the readers into the book, and he is a confident and assured narrator. His authorial tone is consistent, smart and playful and he really makes you feel as if he is in total command of his creation.
The other characters in the book are very well drawn, in a very economic manner, with sharp dialogue, so that they all seem to have very different personalities (something that can't be said for many other Black Library books). He particularly manages to avoid the 'pantomime' stereotypical black and white heroes and villains of similar fiction, instead portraying them in shades of grey. The book gives a satisfying finale, while leaving a few loose ends for the next book.
Xenos is very well plotted, pacy and the book is rich with ideas and conflicts. It doesn't feel thin or stretched, like other 40k fiction I have reviewed. Nor is Xenos simply an extended battle report; it is not just a two hundred and fifty page fight scene. More than any other Warhammer 40,000 (40k) fiction it really gets under the one dimensional military veneer and into the inner workings of the Imperium. Abnett conveys the internal politics of the Inquisition superbly and sets it's personalities against each other in a credible manner, fleshing out the galaxy behind the battlefields described in the 40k rulebooks.
If I have a minor quibble with the book it is in some of the detail of the background and worlds. Although I have described Abnett as a writer in total command of his creation, his vision doesn't always match the one already established for the game setting. Dan jettisons some of the spiritual/fantasy/religious elements of the 40k universe in favour of a more science based approach. Characters don't regard their technology in a mystical way, praying for it's safe function, but have a more pragmatic, late 20th century, practical outlook. Everyone flies around in speeders, when gravitic devices are quite rare in the Imperium. And some of his ideas and descriptions of psykers and untouchables don't stack up over the course of the series.
Nevertheless, Xenos is a very accomplished work and I would have no hesitation as recommending it as an excellent place to begin one's exploration of the 40k galaxy.
Summary
Xenos is a well plotted, pacy read with good characterisations and offers a unique glimpse into the inner workings of the Imperium.
Score 9/10
Scores
All of my reviews end in a score out of ten for the product. The table below explains what that score means.
- 10/10 Perfect, absolutely nothing better
- 9/10 Excellent, highly recommended
- 8/10 Very good, recommended
- 7/10 Good
- 6/10 Above average, some problems
- 5/10 Average, some good points some bad points
- 4/10 Below average, some redeeming features
- 3/10 Poor, major flaws
- 2/10 Very poor, avoid if possible
- 1/10 Absolutely appalling
Saturday, January 12, 2008
GENERAL: Post Christmas round-up
My posting has been a bit erratic during the holiday season but I'm hoping things will start to settle down now. I've been ill, as has my girlfriend's dad, work has been demanding and I'm back on the fitness trail following my Christmas indulgence, so there have been plenty of distractions. While real life will always intrude on my gaming life, I'm still excited to be running this blog and I hope 2008 will be a great gaming year!
Over the next few weeks I'll be porting more stuff over from my static HTML site - like the book reviews - but I'll also be adding lots of new content. Just to prove I have been doing something I thought I'd show you my works in progress. I didn't manage to paint all my Chaos models before the turn of the New Year. I completed the Plague Marines and Plague Bearers but my Khorne contingent are still on the painting table.
So far I have completed the bronze on both sets of models. Next I need to focus on the Khorne Berzerkers and get the red paint on their armour. That's the biggest job left; it'll just be the detailing to get them finished after that. Then I'll concentrate on the Daemons. They're similar to the Plague Bearers in that there are only two real areas to paint on the model; flesh and weapons. I painted the Plague Bearers in just six hours and with the Bloodletters weapons already done the Khorne daemons should be just as quick to do.
While I wasn't finishing off my Chaos models I was putting together this bad boy.
I didn't have the time or inclination to paint for a week or so, so I started to construct my Baneblade. I bought this at Games Day 2007 and it has been whispering to me from it's box ever since. It's a really nice model to put together. I used the guide in White Dwarf and hardly had to refer to the official instructions at all.
There's nothing really special about this Baneblade. I didn't magnetize it or make the weapons switchable, nor did I pick an unusual weapon configuration. I liked the basic weapon loadout anyway and wanted to keep things as easy as possible for myself during the construction and painting. Besides I wanted the tank to have its own history and 'personality' so I felt I had to have the courage of my convictions and simply build it, paint it and play it as is in my games.
The only thing I did was add a mix of sand, PVA glue and flock to the tank tracks to represent churned up mud. This will allow the Baneblade to match my other Cadian Imperial Guard tanks.
And yes, I have decided to build this as an Imperial Baneblade rather than a Chaos one as I had originally intended. That's because I dropped £55 on the Brass Scorpion kit. I felt it would balance things out to have a super heavy on each side rather than two in one force and none in the other. This is especially important because Gary doesn't seem to have gotten excited by Apocalypse at all. I don't even think he has taken the shrink wrap off his book yet! That means it's highly unlikely he will build a super heavy himself. Ho hum.
The rest of my gaming time has been taken up with playing games against Gary in our 40k campaign. I've posted up the latest battle report here if you'd like to check it out.
So that's where I am at the moment. I'll plod on with my Chaos troops and let you know when they're finished then I'll start on the Baneblade.
Over and out.
Over the next few weeks I'll be porting more stuff over from my static HTML site - like the book reviews - but I'll also be adding lots of new content. Just to prove I have been doing something I thought I'd show you my works in progress. I didn't manage to paint all my Chaos models before the turn of the New Year. I completed the Plague Marines and Plague Bearers but my Khorne contingent are still on the painting table.
So far I have completed the bronze on both sets of models. Next I need to focus on the Khorne Berzerkers and get the red paint on their armour. That's the biggest job left; it'll just be the detailing to get them finished after that. Then I'll concentrate on the Daemons. They're similar to the Plague Bearers in that there are only two real areas to paint on the model; flesh and weapons. I painted the Plague Bearers in just six hours and with the Bloodletters weapons already done the Khorne daemons should be just as quick to do.
While I wasn't finishing off my Chaos models I was putting together this bad boy.
I didn't have the time or inclination to paint for a week or so, so I started to construct my Baneblade. I bought this at Games Day 2007 and it has been whispering to me from it's box ever since. It's a really nice model to put together. I used the guide in White Dwarf and hardly had to refer to the official instructions at all.
There's nothing really special about this Baneblade. I didn't magnetize it or make the weapons switchable, nor did I pick an unusual weapon configuration. I liked the basic weapon loadout anyway and wanted to keep things as easy as possible for myself during the construction and painting. Besides I wanted the tank to have its own history and 'personality' so I felt I had to have the courage of my convictions and simply build it, paint it and play it as is in my games.
The only thing I did was add a mix of sand, PVA glue and flock to the tank tracks to represent churned up mud. This will allow the Baneblade to match my other Cadian Imperial Guard tanks.And yes, I have decided to build this as an Imperial Baneblade rather than a Chaos one as I had originally intended. That's because I dropped £55 on the Brass Scorpion kit. I felt it would balance things out to have a super heavy on each side rather than two in one force and none in the other. This is especially important because Gary doesn't seem to have gotten excited by Apocalypse at all. I don't even think he has taken the shrink wrap off his book yet! That means it's highly unlikely he will build a super heavy himself. Ho hum.
The rest of my gaming time has been taken up with playing games against Gary in our 40k campaign. I've posted up the latest battle report here if you'd like to check it out.
So that's where I am at the moment. I'll plod on with my Chaos troops and let you know when they're finished then I'll start on the Baneblade.
Over and out.
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