Sternguard

Just a quick post this week, to show the results of my Blood Angel Sternguard Veterans.

The Sergeant,Chainsward and Bolter, with classic missile launcher behind.

These started off with a black undercoat, then a heavy drybrush/coat of Mechrite Red, the helmets were painted Dwarf Bronze. Then the helmets and shoulder studs recieved a coat of bright gold. Then I inked with Windsor and newton nut brown (my ink of choice!). On looking at the models I thought them to dark at this point and then added the Blood Red, but leaving recessed areas the darker shade, and around the studs on the shoulder pad. Boltgun metal on the weapon details, transfers and varnish, then a simple base job. Et Voila!

A close up on the classic weapons from left, a classic Bolt Gun,note magazine well forward on the weapon, Missile Launcher, and Meltagun.
All very nice, and just in time for the new Stormraven release. I think these boys need some classy transport!

40K All the way!

Like so many gamers I have an interest in 40K, or Warhammer 40,000 to give it it's full title. I was first drawn to this system back in it's first incarnation as Rogue Trader,Warhammer 40,00. in the late 80's. With this game I purchased some Space Marines and Orks. I remember I also used a model of the APC from Aliens 2 ,as at the time there were no AFV's available, I think. I did get bored with it after a while and returned to my first passion, Historical. Indeed I gave away the rules, and all the Orks to my Nephew,but did retain 20 or so of the marines in the 1st edition of their armour, now called Mk VI Corvus armour.
 About 8 or 9 years ago, my interest in warhammer, and 40K was re kindled, and I purchased the 3rd edition rules. By chance, at the Milton Keynes Show, Campaign, there were lots of the old first release model marines for sale on the Bring and Buy. I purchased the lot!

For the un initiated, this is one of the original sprues, yes I still have it! plus some of the others that I have already made up models from, but that have the odd arm or bit of equipment on. Yes even in those early days it payed to keep a bits box!.
 Now fast forward to today, and I have not only my beloved Blood Angels, but Tyranids, Guard, Chaos marines, and Orks. With all the great new stuff coming out for the Blood Angel chapter, I have kept my interest and occasionally adding the odd unit here or vehicle there. Now I was on the Forge World site a few weeks ago, and looking over the classic marine Armour sets that they do. I pondered the idea of a Veteran Squad for my marines using the Mk 6 Corvus armour . Last week, I happened to be in attendance at Warhammer World, for the GCN Annual General Meeting, as the Bedford Gladiators is a member club, and I am an area rep in my own right anyhow. Now as lots of you will no doubt be aware there is a shop at Warhammer World, that can sell, unsurprisingly, pretty much all that GW make, including the Forge World range. So I bit the bullet, and forked out £50 for two packs of 5 Corvus armoured marines, and a classic Heavy Weapon pack,consisting of 2 flamers, 2 plasma guns and 2 missile launchers. On getting home, I hadn't realised that the troops come unarmed, so a quick call to my chum Matt, and 7 Bolters were ready to equip my marines (thanks mate!).
 I decided to add some of the Bolt Guns from my classic sprues, to give the impression that these hardened warriors were indeed veterans, and had the original weapons, no doubt carried over miriad campaigns.

Here we see the squad Sergeant, with Chain Sward and original Bolt gun and Arm, plus an original helmet.
 Behind and right, another marine with an original Bolt gun, just clicking another clip to his weapon, rear left a marine with one of the Plasma Guns from the classic weapon pack.

The first 5 marines await thier Battle Brothers for undercoating!

The completed squad all undercoated.

Whilst busying myself with constructing my Veteran squad, I was finishing off some of the Models recieved at Christmas..my Orks.

Ork Bikers added to my existing unit brings the count to 6 bikes. 3 was just not enough!

Killer kans. well you just have to, don't you! I had always intending getting these when I had built my Deff Dread, but one thing leads to another, and the purchase is superseded by the new hotness... but finally here they are.

a closer look. I did enjoy making these models, there are lots of options and details you can add to give them the look you are after.

And finally a Trukk. This comes in the Ork Battleforce,together with the Bikes, and 20 boyz yet to be built. I was pleased with my first Forgeworld purchase of the marines, and at Matt's advice I may be looking to add a little something from Forgeworld to my Ork army...hmmm Ork Megadread!

Heretical Gaming

Well, I have been very busy since Crimbo,and have managed to get quite abit of gaming in!
 Firstly I had the game of Space Hulk : Death angel, with 5 players. And mighty fun it was too! I hertily endorse this as £20 well spent. The other players quickly got the jist of the rules and all concerned had a great time. Next, more Board Game madness, with a present from her indoors for Xmas...Horus Herecy, by Fantasy flight.

When you open the box, and you can see why they call these sized games coffin boxes..there is a mountain of stuff.

8 decks of cards, a great looking board with 3d plastic terrain, and loads of minis. I would say that the rules are a bit on the complex side, so not for beginners. But Mike and myself worked through it and managed to get a feel for the game. I think after that initial game, we could have another with more enjoyment and use of pure strategy, rather than stopping to read the rules every so often, as you do when learning a new system.

Next my Empire Warhammer army had it's first outing with the new 8th edition rules. I have had one other game with 8th, using my Orks. Not sure I like them. I think that people get to like the way a system plays, then when the next iteration is produced, and one that departs so markedly than the previous edition, there is a good possability of players moving to other systems! If 7th was still here, I would probably be playing more Warhammer, I think. But hey, here it is...

My steam tank puffs towards the enemy....Handgunners and spearmen in support.

Derek, my opponent, muses on where to put the next salvo from his volley gun. Yes this was Empire Vs Empire...and both in red and white uniforms....confusing! I suggested Dereks side play skins,and/or my side use bibs!

My army squares up. Like vs Like battles are interesting, especially when they are Human protagonists. My force was more akin to a 7th ed build, whereas Derek, obviously more proficient with the newer tome, had a big 40 man spear unit, with outriders and knights in support, and lots of guns, Volley gun, Great Cannon, and a Mortar. A fun game was had however, with plenty of help with the rules from the terraces....cheers, Terry and Steve!
 On the painting table we have the remnants of the Christmas offerings. Orks! yes the 40K kind. A Regiment box with 20 boyz, 3 bikerz and a Trukk. I also purchased some Killerkans. These are, with the exception of the boyz, nearly all completed, and I will post the pikkies for your delectation later.
 Off to the GCN AGM on Saturday, at Warhammer world in Nottingham. I do like going to Headquaters, if only to soak up the very aura of gaming, and have a pint and a burger in Bugmans!

Christmas Game 2010

Ah! the Annual game Vs Graham in my Gaming room . This year, Samurai again using Field of Glory Rules. Plus I have added the Warrior monks to the mix.

Graham thinks on the first move. Yes, those are reptile vivaria behind him! Graham had brought his Chinese and Mongol army to take on my Japanese.

My new Warrior Monk Abbot, on a cart, with Skilled Fighting monks in foreground, and Battlegroup of "Other Monks" on the crest of the hill in the background.

Grahams Light cav Xbow Mongols advance over a hill, the massed horde arrayed in the plain to thier rear.

The armies clash, with cavalry slugging it out in the fore ground, and my Bushi whaling on some chinese peasants in the background!

The battle goes well for the japanese on the right flank near the town, as can be seen in the top picture, but the Mounted Bushi with supporting Monks find it harder going against the Mongol cavalry, slowly breaking off and fleeing one battlegroup at a time. soon the Mongols manage to break through and the Monks try to muster a defence on the hill, as seen in the bottom picture.

Grahams Chinese and Mongols soon wrap up the game for him, but it was a close run thing. These are usualy the best kind of game, as both sides can see the possability of victory untill the last move of the game.
 Great fun. We plan to have another game some time before next Xmas, but think that the next Xmas game will involve Vikings, and maybe Saxons..or Normans!

Board Games

Been a bit busy with work again of late...nights now, would you believe, Ye gods! Anyhoo I had time to pop over to Wargames Workshop http://www.wargamesworkshop.com/ in his new Northampton Location on opening day. I met up with some of my mates from Rushden Phoenix club, and we had a great time checking out the wares in the shop. I came away with a card game I heard reviewed on D6G a while ago, and had always meant to get. Space Hulk Death Angel

This was as good a game as I had heard, and as it allows for single player, I gave it a run through. It basicly runs the Space Hulk scenario, squad of Terminator Space marines fighting through a derelict space ship, but using some nice card mechanics to spawn 'nids . There are options for multiple players up to 6 in one game, and I can see this being a great multiplayer game. It certainly works very well solo.

I also recieved my copy of Ultramarines the 40K film.

For 40K fans who are already versed in the fluff, this is a must, I think. I certainly enjoyed it. But when Lyn, my wife was invited to vew it, she didn't enjoy the experience. She said the plot was a bit weak, and she couldn't empathise with the characters,especially as she couldnt make out who was who under the power armour. Also the main plot twist is a little obvious. Maybe. but as the first official 40K movie it is a great beginning and I hope they make lots more.
 Tomorrowv it is back to club, and a game I purchased a couple of years ago but didn't really play much afterwards. Tannhauser, by Fantasy Flight. There has been a revised issue of the rules, incorporating all the expansions to date, with a much clearer explanation of gameplay. I had purchased this V2.0 rules back in June and so we will see how this plays.

ON the painting table at the moment are lots of Samaurai Monks for the traditional Xmas game with my good chum Graham. so Field of Glory action to be reported on in a few weeks.

For the King!

12th December 2010 saw the ECW gmae I have been working towards played out. It certainly was a great site to see so many models on the table, and nearly all my ECW 28mms in all thier glory.

Here we see the commencement of battle, with the phoenix lads (plus one Gladiator) on the right, defending the village, and my army on the left by the river. The basic scenario was that the Royalist forces (my minis) are to press forward an attack on the parliamentary army in the town, and the Northern Army commanded by Prince Rupert ( Barry Warner's minis) are expected to arrive on the main road leading to the bridge in support.

Astleys foot and one of my Cavalry regiments advance on the rebels!

The Gentlemen Pensioners,and in the distance, His Majesty with Sir Edmund Varney,and a man of the cloth. No doubt His majesty is at prayer before giving battle!

Parliamentary Dragoons, from the collection of Carl King, take position in an enclosure.

The Parliament presses forward with it's attack. Prince Rupert was a tad tardy in urging his forces to the King's aid, and parliament makes good use of the delay surging forward to attack the numerically weaker Kings army.

Parliamentary Cavalry emerges from the woods.........

The King's forces advance to meet the challenge.

Prince Rupert's troops of the Royalist Army of the North, finally begin to arrive, but is it too late?

 The bitter contest in the centre, the weight of numbers beginning to tell on the Royalist foot.

Cavalry engage on the Flanks, whilst the Push of pike continues in the Centre. Eventually darkness falls, and the Kings army is Beaten, retreating as best it may across the River.

 A great game, using Black Powder rules, adapted for use with the English Civil War. We must do this again some time!

Achtung Panzer !

Well, you have seen some of my ECW minis, and  Malifaux. As people who know me will know, my interests in wargaming are varied, and the next entry demonstrates this! After purchasing the Tank Suppliment for Rate of Fire, and having a read through, I am keen to have a try out of the rules. The Infantry skirmish rules, as I said are very smooth, and have the feel of a 40K game, or FoW but not using any of the mechanisms. You do throw lots of D6 though!
 Anyway, the recent products of my painting table, have been the StuG 3 and Pz 4 I picked up from the Bring and Buy at Colours.

The StuG 3 with a nice easy paint job, based on the Fallschrimjager platoon I already have.

The Panzer 4 with the same paint job. I feel this gives a uniformity to the army and brings it together.
 The scheme is simply, base coat in Black, then using Vallejo paints I applied German Camo Beige all over, then using foam left over from a pick and pluck army box, apply a stipple effect of German Brown, then the same in Luftwaffe green. Tracks and so on in natural Steele. I then used a GW wash. This one is a must and should be in every ones paint box, Devlin Mud. Finally a look through my bag of transfers found suitable decals that were then applied. It is always a good policy never to discard any decals or transfers you acquire. you never know when they will come in useful!

I also painted my three SdKfz 251 Hanomags made by Bolt Action from Warlord Games.
I like the way these go together, the base has the track and wheel sections on it, and you just glue the hull to them, then the MG42 and gunner, nice and simple.

The interior is nicely detailed too, with all kinds of stowage moulded into the shelves inside.

And next my last FJ squad to add to the platoon. if there is one criticism, it is that there are lots of  StG44's
and not enough rifles. It would have been better to have the blister with Rifles then buy extra StG44 armed figures if you wanted to go down that route.

And lastly the complete FJ platoon,ready for action. The only thing I may get for them now is the PAK 40 from Warlord. Obviously the first game with these will be reported on here!