A few new FAQs are out for Warhammer 40k! Some of these barely have any information in them but it does help settle a few rule disputes. Here are a few links to the Black Library site. *UPDATE* Black Library site with all links I don't know if this is the work of the new GW CEO, but I like what Games Workshop has been up to lately.

Here's a little hobby tip on how to properly cut Forge World Space Marine Shoulder Pads from the sprue. While this may seem like a waste of a blog post, I think it may acutally be helpful because the resin from Forge World isn't as easy to work with as the plastic used in regular Citadel miniatures from Games Workshop. While watching football today, I decided to clip and sand some pre Heresy Forge World MKII space marines. I thought it would be simple work and I was in factory (or assembly line) mode and making quick work through the bag of bits. The home team was winning, I was hyped about the game, and waving super sharp tools around while getting my new models ready for primer. After clipping, I used a needle file to sand down the seams, flash and rough edges when I discovered that I cut too deep on the shoulder pads and notched the top of the shoulder pads. Gah! They're ruined! They're expensive! Panic! What I had done wrong is by placing my wire cutte

Now that it's winter, I felt compelled to break out my Valhallan Imperial Guard army and give them some time on the table top. I put out an open challenge on the Gatekeeper 40k League page and Eric answered the call with this Dark Angel Death Wing list. In addition to lots of termies, Eric brought Ezekiel and Belial! My list was a simple, shooty-blob army with a Company command squad, two veteran squads in Chimeras, an infantry blob behind a defense line, 2 independent basilisks, a hydra (didn't need the air defense), a Vendetta and few other odds and ends. Neither of had very good dice during the game. Both my psykers periled themselves to death, but Eric lost a unit of terminators to deepstrike mishap on turn 2. After seven turns of Crusade Maelstrom missions, all Eric had left was Ezekiel.  The Crusade deployment put us basically playing the long way, which was in my favor. Also, when Belial and his terminators deepstruck behind my lines, I got Prescience of

This holiday weekend, I managed to wrap up a couple of minis from a new army - and a repainted army. First, here are my Destroyers for my Cult Mechanicus. I've armed them with grave canons and cognis flamers. Next is their boss, a Tech Priest Domnius. I really love both of these models, as-well-as the entire Mechcanius line. I may pick up a second Dominus so I can feature both of their heads. I call this one, "Space Pope 13." My buddy Kraig and I have been talking a lot about the Horus Heresy line. We've never actually played a game from 30k, we just use our models in regular 40k. I've got about $600 worth of heresy marines primed light blue and ready to be finished as Alpha Legion, but as Kraig and I chatted, we both solidified our love for a few other legions. With the Heresy board game being released, it gave Kraig a chance to pick up a Legion army on the cheap (I bought a few of his extras from him) and we decided to start working on a

The Tanks-Giving tournament went fairly well and I went 2-1 placing 4th-ish. Marshall went 3-0 winning the tourney's top prize. I won my first game against Danny and his Tau in a close and nasty slobber-knocker. We played a modified Crusade scenario with 4 objectives in the center of the table and Vanguard deployment. I don't remember the final score, but neither of us had many models left on the table. Danny brought the Tau Ta'unar Supremacy armor super heavy. I was able to tie it up with a librarian and managed to put 5 wounds on it before it finally stomped my model to death. My second game was a solid loss to Chris and his Tau in a modified Contact Lost scenario. He brought a list that had a Stormsurge and a Ghostkeel unit. He was pretty much in control the whole game and frustrated me with the amount of move, shoot, ignore the rules, and move again shenanigans for which the Tau are known. In the third match I faced Braden and his Ork and Necron team up in a Tacti

I'm playing in my LCS's annual "Tanks-Giving" Warhammer 40k tournament this weekend. It's a 2,500 point tournament with bonuses for bringing as many vehicles and monstrous creatures as possible. I'm not sure how it will do, but I have 21 "vehicles." I could probably builder a nastier list but I enjoy the fun my drop pod army combined with some regular marines. I've never fielded the Storm Wing before, so we'll see if gaining strafing run is worth 460 points of flyers that I might not normally field. Also, with the release of the new formations from the Damocles Kauyon book, my White Scars may be taking the field again (luckily on I only repainted one unit as Alpha Legion.) My "40k" marines will be Scars and my 30k list will likely change to Salamanders because it really fits my playstyle better and the Alpha Legion rules require smaller units and a lot more rhinos. Here's my list: Space Marines (Combined arms detachment)

When I grow up, I want to make battle reports like Winters SEO. Seriously, this is my favorite bat-rep channel and I really look forward to each of his videos.

Since I went to Austin and played in the 2013 WargamesCon Fantasy tournament, I haven't played a game of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It used to be my favorite game. I had plans to finally paint up my Night Goblin army. Then, I couldn't find anyone to play. 7th Edition wasn't the most popular edition of Warhammer but it became increasingly hard to find gamers in my area to play and it was even harder to argue that it was a balanced game, or even a good game. The flavor of Warhammer was still at it's core but there were so many rules hangups that favored too few armies that it became a game of asterisks. Oh, we'll you're playing Wood Elves,* you weren't going to win so good job with your loss. Then came Age of Sigmar. I want to play a fantasy game but AoS isn't the game. It has a tiny bit of the familiarity of Warhammer Fantasy, but it's a different beast and that's not the kind of beast I want to hitch my wagon. I've purchased the f

I've grown a little bored with my White Scars. They're hard to paint and I get a little anxiety when I think about how many bikes I have left to paint. Plus, they've lost a little of their punch in the new Space Marine codex because they don't receive the extra bonus to their jink save. But you know who does get that extra bit of cover save? Raven Guard. At least in the first turn... One of the radio plays I'm in this year is "Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. Last year's radio play featured three Poe stories, "Cask of Amontillado," "Tell-tale Heart," and "The Black Cat" so I have had a steady diet of gothic imagery from Poe that obviously inspired the Raven Guard. In fact, I have named my Blood Angel dreads after a few Poe characters and I've thought of painting a standard after the Montresor family crest from "Cask." While at rehearsal (and when my roles are not being rehearsed) I've dayd

After giving up on my idea of an Imperial Knight army, I'm not sure if I'll sell off my current models or just hang onto them and use them for allies in large point games. I always regret selling most of the models I do get rid of and end up buying more models back. I've started rehearsal on a new set of radio plays that will be recorded in a September so I haven't had much time this week or last to work on minis or play any games. However, today rehearsal was canceled so I had a little time to work on my loyalist Alpha Legion. Half the army will be for 30k and I'm also making a significantly sized 40k army out of the unpainted marines I had laying around. Here are some of my Centurion Devastators I've started working on, maybe 50% completed. I've seen Mark Raley's per-heresy Alpha Legion and I fell in love with the lighter blue/azure color scheme. You can find more of his awesome work at:  Marc Raley's Blog The Europeans seem to dominate th

When you look at the recent moves by GW with Age of Sigmar and the alterations to 40k with additions like formations, allies changes, rules appearing in White Dwarf or if you make a purchase on the GW website, and a lack of FAQs, it appears that there seems to be an effort to make the game a "forged narrative" and not a game for hard-core tournament players. Heck, even GW canceled the 'ard Boyz tournaments a couple years back. I can only assume that this is an effort to make the game more accessible to new players and the "beer and pretzel" gamers whom can be easily turned off by the "Win At All Costs" or WAC players. The Black Library, and specifically the Horus Heresy series, have fueled a lot of sales minis from Forgeworld and sparked a 30k scene. Personally, I know that I've started armies and purchased more minis because I read a cool story and felt compelled to play that army. The Horus Heresy series from Forgeworld are not only gorgeous

Here's a WIP shot of my Imperial Knights; Errant, Paladin, and Crusader. I have most of the colors blocked out and I'll move on to weathering, shading and dirt after I finish the last of the leg grieves and pads. However, it turns out, I don't really like playing Imperial Knights. I've been running just three with a librarian coven on bikes to give them invisibility and any other support telepathy can offer. It's a gross combo, but it's just not fun to play. In maelstrom missions, I actually do ok, or at least I've been pretty lucky with my draws. Obviously, the librarians are the first to bite the dust. I did have a single psyker jink his way past 14-15 wounds in a row in a game last night. He finally fell after the third round of shooting attacks, but I wouldn't say that three lords of war and an overpowered formation fit my play style. I like troops. I like lots of troops. I think if I field these again, I'll just use them as suppor

As I have mentioned before, I have army ADD. I see new and shiny things and I run to the ATM and place orders at my local comic and game shop. My next obsession is AdMech with the Adeptus Mechanicus and their very powerful War Convocation formation. For the current Warhammer 40k league I’m playing in, I painted up my three Imperial Knights from AdMech loyalist houses (pics coming soon.) I picked up the Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus codexes so that I could fill out my remaining points with some more troops from Mars. At first, I was going to just add some inexpensive Skitarii Vanguard to help hold some objectives. However, after reading some more from the Cult Mechanicus list, I fell in love with the Kataphron Destroyers with their relentless grav-cannons. They lack the nifty model design of the Skitarii, but their firepower is so over-the-top that they make a very attractive option. After a little more research, I found the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation formation i

Here are a couple of shots from my painting desk. First up is my Japanese Bolt Action army. I'm almost up to 1,000 points based and ready for the spray can. Since these fellows won't be my primary Bolt Action army, I'm just going to use the Army Painter spray cans, pick out skin and few weapons by brush, then brush on inks for a quick and simple paint job. This is a Relic objective marker I made for Warhammer 40k. It's an icon bit from the Imperial bastion with a Dark Angel icon glued to the top. I'll touch up the paint a little more before giving it a coat of matte sealer. Also, I recently picked up a proper air brush, the Badger 105 Patriot. I've started doing a few test models and I think I've got my technique down for painting power swords/force weapons; I'll post some pics soon. Also, I've got shading white down for my White Scar bikes. Again, I'll post some pics soon but I'm pleased with how the shading on the bikes has worke

In my last three 40k games, I played some of the best players in our area and I went 2-1; almost 3 for 3 with my Grey Knights. In a game against Marshall - who may be one of the best 40k players I know, I nearly tabled him on Thursday in a Maelstrom mission. I had a few units left, and he was down to a Space Wolf drop pod and an Iron Hands captain with one wound. The final score was 8-7 in Marshall's favor and one more turn might have won me the game. In my first game this afternoon, Jim and his Eldar conceded the game at the top of turn 4. I was picking up an average amount of Maelstrom points but I was rolling well to wound. Jim's dice were very unkind and he was getting rightfully frustrated. He doesn't seem to like it, but his deepstriking falcons with Dire Avenger passengers is a nasty, nasty unit. I played Jesse and his Harlequins in my third game and tabled him in turn 6 or 7. I was rolling hot on my Maelstrom mission points, but he hung in there with a solitai

Later this summer I'll be traveling to Austin, Texas for the 2015 Wargames Con. This event is now going to be run by the fine folks at  Front Line Gaming  and is now part of the ITC circuit. While I would love to travel to more 40k tourney's, it can be a bit pricey. I'm able to go to Texas because I can stay with my sister and cash in my airline mileage point to score free plane tickets for my wife and myself. However, I'm trying to find a way to make it LVO this November, and perhaps the BAO. For my army, I think I'll bring my Grey Knights as my primary army. I'm a bit stuck on what I should bring for my allies - because you're not cool if you don't bring a second formation anymore. The list I've been toying around with in the local 40k League looks something like this: Librarian 10 Strike Squad - Halberd, Thunder Hammer, Psycannon (usually combat squaded) 10 Strike Squad - Halberd, Thunder Hammer, Psycannon (usually combat squaded

One of the cool things that Games Workshop has been doing lately is producing lots more armies/rules for armies and pumping them out like a machine. Rumors say Ad Mech is next on the tech thralls agenda and I've found a few teaser items from GW and White Dwarfs. I think all of these look insanely cool. I've never been a fan of the cult of Mars fluff, but I may change my tune after these things are released. I love the gear/Roman helmet plume!

The Winter Warhammer 40k League at my local game shop just wrapped up today and I walked away co-champion! The league counted painting scores as well as win/loss record into the final tally and my painting and generalship was good enough to tie for first place! It was an escalation league starting at 750 points and ending at 1,500. You could play two games a week and the missions, deployment type and other special rules varied each week. You could also earn points for painting models over the league so I thought it would be a good time to buy and paint some Grey Knights. Unfortunately, painting the Knights is a lot easier than playing them.  The weeks where we played Maelstrom missions were a struggle for my GKs. I just didn't have enough boots on the ground to hold objectives and earn the precious points. A couple of times I was tabled by the hoard armies - namely Orks and 'Nids. However, I did like the GKs domination of the "magic"/psychic phase but it wa

I just found the FAQs on Games Workshop's site, instead of the Black Library site. I'm not sure when this changed, but here's a link for speedy reference: Frequently Asked Questions Or you can search for FAQ in the "Product Search" window.'' Orks, Dark Eldar and Space Wolves got a couple little updates. I like the 'Download All' button but it would be nice if there was a single PDF document that contains everything.

I finished a quick couple of buildings for 40k and other mini games this evening. These two pieces are mostly for 40k. The green building was made from the box I received an award in and some balsa wood, a wooden plaque and some bits from a Games Workshop building. The water tank is a coffee can covered in bass or balsa wood strips (lots of them) and the metal rings were made from comic book backing boards. These two house are usually help make up the battle field for my Bolt Action battles. They are house kits from Plasticville and make great generic cottages/houses for European theater battles. They aren't my best work but I plan on donating them to the store so they are likely to get abused or stolen anyway. I was in a painting frenzy tonight and I knocked out the first base coat of English Uniform and mud on the bases on 25 British Tommies. Next I plan on assembly painting the green helmets and khaki bits, then each troop will get personal attention when I

Last weekend I played in a small, 1,500 point tourney and went 2-1 with my White Scars. I tabled my buddy Chris' Wolves in round one (I got the jump on him early and it was just too much for him to come back from - not to mention that he couldn't make a 3+ armor or 4+ cover save to save his model's lives.) My Khans' unit of regular bikers managed to surround his wolf lord in a true "bikestar" formation and take him out as the last model to be removed from the game. Who ever said the Scars were envious of the Wolf? The second round I was tabled in turn 3 by an Eldar/Dark Eldar player I never played before. He had classic vehicle spam and got the jump on me early. There wasn't much terrain to hide behind and his flyers move to fast anyway. With his high volume of shots, I couldn't make enough saves and he made pretty short work of army. My Khan in that game whiffed twice on two separate charges against wave serpents/falcons with his thunder hamme

Here are a few recent things from my painting desk. This White Scar biker is almost done. I just need to paint the backpack and glue it on and he's ready to ride for the Emperor and the Khan. I really, really like my cruddy, battle damaged armor. I didn't think I would, and most of my models have nice, clean parade uniforms, but I enjoy the soot, dirt, and chipped paint look on my Scars. This hut/shanty house was built from an old Christmas gift box. I glued some bass and balsa wood, along with some wood shingles (to act as wood shingles) and I've got a quick little building that might work in just about any futuristic game or dystopian setting. It'll probably be in my WWII tables as well. Speaking of WWII, I will never play a FOO in Bolt Action again. In two games today, the artillery barrage drifted back into my opponent's control and destroyed another one of my units or was delayed and then shifted away from my troops three times before crashing harmle