"I fawt fo da Empawah!" #warhammer40k #paintingwarhammer #spacemarines #new40k

I've been spending more of my time on Instagram lately for my social media needs. I've been fixated on improving my painting skills, rather than writing or playing the game, and I've found that the simple act of taking photos and looking at the model not under my desk lamp has really helped my technique. Also, the feedback from painters of all skill levels has been very helpful and is pushing me to improve my craft. Also, while airbrushing is a great skill, Darren Latham and Duncan Rhodes are my current luminary idols. Latham especially is fantastic at breaking down some steps and his delivery is hypnotic. That being said, here's a recent photo dump of some recent and ancient models in my "portfolio." Is there an app that can cross post directly from Instagram to Blogger? The Captain of my Astral Claws army, the Bastards of Badab, who usually strolls behind my vehicle line. The Lieutenant of my Astral Claws army, the Bastards of Badab. He is moc...

My FLGS got an assortment of the new Games Workshop Warhammer 40k Funko Pop! "inaction" figures. Blood Angels - unofficial guardians of java. There is an Ultramarine, Space Wolf, Dark Angel and a Blood Angel. Since there wasn't a Salamander to be found, I chose the Blood Angel to guard my day job's desk top. The little assault guy comes with a signature yellow helmet and inferno pistol to help keep my steady supply of coffee warm - nay "recaf." His hands will hold steady because there isn't a movable limb on the figure.

The Warhammer 40k update for April 2019 dropped the other day and the commentary is salty! You can find it here:  Link to GW Communnity FAQ I largely like all of the rules changes and clarifications that GW has made, and I still believe that 8th edition is best version of the game. Some folks have quibbled over the Deathwatch special ammo not getting the Beta Bolter rule (or new bolter rule for Astartes.) Personally, I'm OK with Deathwatch not getting the increased number of shots because they already wound on 2+. Getting close and spraying massive amounts of firepower and getting to wound virtually every roll is, frankly, silly. It's too good. Go play Candy Crush if you want to win all of the time. The only rule that really affects me is the Cherub + Hellfire shell strategem clarification. You can't use Hellfire shells or Flack Missiles, then Cherub that weapon to shoot a Hellfire/Flack again for free. The rule specifically says you can use the strategem again, how...

Just like the title says, the Warhammer 40k Big FAQ 2018 2 is out! You can download the FAQ from the Warhammer Community page  HERE! *The first big change is the change to Psychic focus. Except for smite, each psychic power can only be cast once! There goes my Ork "Da Jump" force ... Honestly, in the games I've played, smite is the biggest problem, not the other powers. *Next the big change is to the tactical reserves. "Units that arrive as reinforcements must now wait until the second battle round to do so – they are reserves that arrive to reinforce your army mid-battle, not reinforce it before your opponent has had a chance to move any of their own models." *Also, the amount of reserves is now limited by points, not the number of units. *The advance deployment stratagems took a hit. Armies like Stygies VIII, Raven Guard, Alpha Legion get a pre-game 9" move instead of being able to deploy 9" away from an enemy. Personally, I think it shoul...

This driver gets it. Road rage - Built Ork Tough. I've never wanted a beater car to paint up more than I do now. I'd have to invest in new brushes though. 

I'm busy building out my Salamanders/IG force for some upcoming tournaments and I start second guessing my build and daydream about retooling my Admech. I did a quick Google search for some color schemes for a Mars/Stygies combined force and I found Spikey Bit's photos of my army from the LVO a couple of years ago! Pilgrims of Erudition Spoiler alert: they didn't do well, but I did have fun playing them!

This past weekend, I packed up the new Guilliman model and my Grey Knights and made the trek to Omaha, Nebraska for the Bugeater Warhammer 40k Grand Tournament. I went last year and had a blast and this year was no different. Like last year, the Bugeater gives away some of the best swag, including these objective markers, custom dice, a measuring stick, a custom mission deck of cards, a patch, and lots of door prizes. After seeing Guilliman in action in Kansas City at the Midwest ConQuest, I knew I had to upgrade my army. He's a beast. It doesn't take a lot of skill to play with him and even a guy like me can increase my win count with him on the table. My first game I drew Trent Northington, one of the better players in the country (ranked 11 in the ITC ranking in 2016...) He had a nasty army with all of the 7th edition formation nastiness you'd expect. The Castellion formation with a Tau Riptide Wing. He seized the initiative on ...

There's are a couple of rumors floating around from Games Workshop about new Warhammer 40k rules and models releases; as well as major changes to the fluff. Rumor 1: All of the Primarchs will return, including the dead. Rumor 2: One of the traitor Primarchs will become a loyalist and one of the Imperial loyalists will become a traitor. I got into a discussion with some people on a thread on Spiky Bits' Facebook page about it and here are my theories. The Emperor will briefly return, only to be killed again. Once he finally dies, all of the pysker souls he's been consuming on the golden throne will coalesce and bring all of the dead primarchs back to life. The missing primarachs will rush back to Holy Terra like moths to a flame. Of course, this means both Horus and Sanguinius have returned as well. Horus will see the results of his actions and will repent his wicked ways, blame Ebrus/Logar and the Word Bearers for tricking him into corruption and turn to the sid...

Last weekend I traveled to the glitzy lights of the Las Vegas strip with my Ad Mech army, the Pilgrims of Erudition, to compete in the Warhammer 40k Championships at the Las Vegas Open. It has been said that it was the largest miniature war gaming tournament, ever. I didn't do well. My first night in Vegas, I got sick. Like, really sick. I've had chronic stomach problems most of my life but this was bad - and not like my usual issues. It wasn't pretty. I bought some Pepto from gift shop and soldiered on. I even found a few minutes to slip a few bucks into the one armed bandits and didn't walk away any richer and my luck never got better. The first night I found the main gaming hall. It was huge. I've never seen so many gaming tables since the Texas Wargames Con. Folks were still setting up until the wee hours of the morning but I got see a few Youtube gaming celebrities, like Dave from Miniwargaming.com, Lawrence from Table Top Tactics, and Ace Face f...

Call Mulder and Scully because I want to believe... Did I just see Warhammer 40k 8th Edition spoilers for flyers? Alert! Alert! Where's the salt? A poster from Japan posted this image in the Bell of Lost Souls Lounge (their fun name for forums.) He claimed to be looking for the rules for the Stormhawk but instead found this little gem - which looks like a new rule set for what could be Age of Sigmar-style flyer rules for Warhammer 40k.. There are a few things that are very similar to the current flyer rules and few things very similar to Age of Sigmar. Breaking is something we know about but it looks like Acceleration has been added. Perhaps that an extra move, or switching from Hoover to Zoom mode? There is also a chart for Maneuvers with power settings and Danger rolls. (Danger zone!) If you make a few leaps in deduction, some of these rules could be used in all vehicles, like Toughness, Structure, Damage control. Basically, I read that as Toughness, Hull points, and...

As I've mentioned before, I'm not just a mini wargamer, but I'm an avid comic book fan as well. While I don't write a comic book blog, it feels like I should write a post on miniature-based comic books when I find them. However, I want to stress that I am not just a comic book fan. I'm a comic book fanatic. I've made comic books. I've written comic books. I co-own a comic book store. My 5,000+ book collection takes up a second bedroom in my home. I proposed to wife in a comic book. I'm friends with other comic creators. What I'm trying to say here is that I know comics inside and out and I can be quite a comic book snob.  This is my grain-of-salt warning. London based Titan Comics has been publishing comic books based on licensed properties like television shows (Doctor Who,) video games (Assassin's Creed,) and other comic properties (2000AD) for almost 40 years. In October, they released the first issue of "Warhammer 40,000...

Today I played in a 1,500 point Rogue Trader style tournament and did very well. I brought my "Bastards of Badab" Astral Claws army and came in second by getting the most victory points. I brought a Space Marine biker CAD, a Librarius Conclave all rolling on Telepathy, and a Sky Hammer Annihilation Force with 3 grav and multimeltas in the devastator squads. I switched from White Scars chapter tactics to Ultramarines recently and I'm glad I did. The doctrines, even though I only get to use each one once in this build, have been a big help because I don't need to put librarians with divination nearby. If this had been a larger point game, I would have brought devastator centurions and because of the Ultramarines Chapter Tactics, I don't need to sink a lot of points into Tigurius. The conclave on bikes usually means that I can throw some sort of protection on the CentsDevs. In my first battle, I played Eli and his Khorn Daemonkin. It was Vanguard deployment...

Citadel Hobby Clippers If you're a hobby addict like I am, or if you have army ADHD like I do, you tend to spend a lot of time chopping, clipping, or gnawing bits of toy soldiers off of grey plastic sprues. When I first started playing miniature games, most models came in blister packs and you needed needle-nose pliers to bend foot tabs so they would stay in slotta bases. Sure, plastic models were available but if you bought them, you probably cut them off the sprues with an X-Acto knife. About the mid-90s I picked up my first pair of Citadel clippers and they have been faithfully freeing models from their plastic prisons for many years but they have become so dull that I was no longer getting clean cuts. So, I decided to splurge and buy a new pair of Citadel Fine Detail Clippers - which retail for $33 USD. Holly surgical chainsaw, Batman! Do you remember that first time you held an X-Acto knife in your hands? Do you remember feeling like you could cut through a car door b...

This past weekend I made my way to the Midwest ConQuesT GT in Kansas City.   It was a bit of a last minute decision and I didn’t really have an optimized army built for what you might typically expect at an ITC GT but I had three options. First I considered my White Scars (which I’ve recently re-painted as Astral Claws – more on that in another post) but they failed me at a recent local tournament after facing ‘Nids and a scouting Eldar list and I moth-balled them for the time being. Next I was thinking about bringing my Admech War Host Convocation with two Imperial Knights. To be honest, I haven’t really enjoyed playing the Admech very much but they can be a force to be reckoned with a favorable matchup. Lastly, I considered and ultimately chose my Grey Knights. Here’s roughly what I brought: Grey Knight CAD: Librarian -   Level 3, Cuirass of Sacrifice 10 Termies, Daemon Hammer, Psycannon, Halberd 10 Strike Squad, Daemon Hammer, incinerator, Halberd ...