A freebie - Victory Point markers

A quick freebie seeing as how happy I am thanks to Team GB doing so well in the Olympathon. A set of counters [above] to print and stick to card, perhaps with some sellotape laminate before you slice and dice them out.

Of course you can always do a little tally chart to see who's got what but I think this is nicer. As for individual VPs for killing units - you can always use the free wound markers...

Usual step-by-step:

1. Print
2. Apply double sided tape to back
3. Stick to mounting card
4. Carefully apply sellotape to top if you want them pseudo-laminated
5. Cut out with craft knife/scalpel
6. Amaze your friends and enemies with these cards
7. Tell them to visit 40kaddict.blogspot.com for their own free markers.

Enjoy.

+++ Data Blurt - The Free Radical Collective bring Protection to the People! +++

+++ The Free Radical Collective continue to bring about Progress for Progress! We bring protection and safety to the people of Ferron Proxima! No more do we rely on others to defend us from the ravening hordes! We bring you progress! We bring you safety! We bring you the Targus Assault Blockade! +++

+++ Easily erected using a variety of materials from rockcrete to foamcard! Protect your home! Protect your loved ones! Protect your Promethean Refining Concern! +++

+++ Uploaded and ready, admech unapproved! Progress is Progress! Protection for the people! Point your cogitators here and support the Free Radical Collective! To hell with the Omnissiah! +++

Other STCs are available

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B97Rk-BalgZbRWZQQmc5c1NkdTA

'nids part 38 - The ebay goodness just keeps on giving

With the Warrior/Hive Guard conversion frenzy and the five new Termagants I forgot to show off the second reason I bought my bitz pack [after the Hive Node objective markers] Ymgarl Genestealers. OK there's none of the Tendril faces but the extra carapace armour and Scything Talons should differentiate them or at least when the armour is blue you'll definitely see a difference.

Of course one issue is I only have 4, but perhaps another bitz purchase should solve that issue and who knows what else I'll benefit from because of it?

Don't forget my  Ymgarl Genestealers. Mutation counters

+++ Data Blurt - The Free Radical Collective bring Power to the People! +++

+++ The Free Radical Collective have succeeded where others have failed! We bring the power to the people of Ferron Proxima! No more do we rely on the Energy Cartels or the Adeptus Mechanicus! We bring you progress! We bring you power! We bring you the Plasma Generator! +++

+++ Uploaded and ready, admech unapproved! Progress is power! Power to the people! Point your cogitators here and support the Free Radical Collective! To hell with the Omnissiah! +++

Other STCs are available

'nids part 28 - Ymgarls and a FREEBIE [free STUFF!]

With my local friendly neighborhood gaming clubs tournament I needed to maximise the figures I've got to make the 2,000 pts I was going to fight with, so out come the Ymgarl stealers to bulk out my force. Having that assault from 'dormancy' is really useful and their turn-by-turn mutation makes up for lack of adrenals or toxin sacs, not to mention everyone seems to think their SO much better than their standard bretheren.

But what to do to remind you which mutation they're experiencing this turn? How's about some handy Ymgarl genestealer mutation markers?

And if you need more than three here's six handy cut out and keep ones here. I just print them out [click for full size, they should be 2cm tall], add double sided tape on the back and Sellotape on the front. Attach to mounting card and cut up. If the mounting card has a white core then I use a black marker to make them look cool.

Here's what they look like when they're done

Having used them on the day I may make an amend to add the stat bonuses [somewhere] as it's more helpful to know slashing claws are S+1 than have to keep referring back to the book but please use them now if you can't wait.

Usual step-by-step:

1. Print
2. Apply double sided tape to back
3. Stick to mounting card
4. Carefully apply sellotape to top if you want them pseudo-laminated
5. Cut out with craft knife/scalpel
6. Amaze your friends and enemies with these cards
7. Tell them to visit 40kaddict.blogspot.com for their own free markers.

 And of course while you are at it you can do the same for my free Wound Markers

Due to popular demand [as well as my own playtesting] now with 'buff' notation:

John Carter (of Mars) FREEBIE, FREE STUFF

I had the absolute pleasure to go and see John Carter at the cinema this weekend. The wife let me and the eldest go see it together and even paid and provided nibbles. It was also the full 3D version, how cool is that? If you don't know what John Carter is about then I wouldn't be surprised. It would seem Disney invested massive amounts in a story everyone could relate to and identify with and then promptly forgot how to get that across.

John Carter is based on a series of books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the guy who wrote Tarzan, The People that Time Forgot and At The Earth's Core, amongst others. Amazingly you can get all the books, and the others mentioned electronically, for FREE at Project Guttenberg

A Princess of Mars
Gods of Mars
Thuvia, Maid of Mars
Warlord of Mars
Chessmen of Mars

I downloaded these books years ago onto my Palm Tungsten T PDA. I can't remember why but I was impressed they were for free and I enjoyed them for the 'pulp' sci-fi they were.

At it's core the story is about a civil war veteran who gets transported to Mars and there becomes a hero in the war between the people and aliens living on that planet. It helps that on Mars Carter's Earth-born bone density and muscle mass allows him to 'leap tall buildings'[yes he inspired the Man of Steel] and have superhuman strength. Of course there's a love interest, the Princess of Mars and if you do an image search of her name NOT AT WORK then you will discover this buxom wench has a slight aversion to clothes but otherwise in the film she's slightly more attired, though no less captivating

John Carter is based on a book nearly 100 years old that brings about the Sci-Fi concepts of flying craft, teleportation, alien creatures, energy weapons and so much more. Concepts that have been borrowed by Star Wars, Aliens, Flash Gordon and Avatar to name but a few, but this was the originator. I can't recall a film recently I've enjoyed so much. Indeed you will see those elements that are from Attack of the Clones and feel a little frustrated because you've seen it before but this is handled so much better and you will wish you'd not seen the poorer version. Ultimately though I felt John Carter had more in common with Flash Gordon than Star Wars and actually the premise is even a little bit like Shrek, a Princess destined to be married to someone else, an anti-hero who wants to cut himself off from the rest of humanity, desperate to get back to his home [swamp]. There's even a donkey...

I loved this film, of course I had pre-conceptions about things because I'd read the books. Dejah Thoris wasn't red, just tattoed, Mars isn't red enough, although tthere are some stubby yellow bushes that look suspiciously like Ferron Bindweed. But overall these are minor annoyances compared with Disney's lack of faith in their film. John Carter deserves a massive audience, it's comparable to any of the big sci-fi epics we've had in years and the only way that can happen is for people to go see it, then perhaps we may get the sequels. At this stage I think that's doubtful but maybe there will be a surge of people discovering this film and it may slowly grow momentum, I hope so. If I've not encouraged you enough try the trailer on for size:

Old stuff day 2012

It's old stuff day 2012. Last year warhammer39999 wanted to join a movement to rediscover lost gems from the world of hobby blogs. To choose one of your own blogposts that your most proud of, or may not have got the attention it deserved or any thing that may warrant some necromantic blogpost bothering. On top of that you were to share blogposts from other bloggers which you thought deserved the same spotlight of attention before they were returned to their dark nightmare infested slumbers.

So I showed a little love for one of my old posts but then again I link to loads of my old stuff anyway so maybe I'm guilty of doing this all the time. Anyway it's time to choose this years blogpost and like the Highlander there can be only one and this time lets show a little love (♥) to my most popular of old posts:

Standard Template Construct (STC) systems were advanced computers created during the Dark Age of Technology, which are said to have contained the sum total of human technological knowledge. An STC system was possessed by every group of human colonists before the Age of Strife, allowing them to build all of the equipment necessary for survival on an untamed colony planet. It enabled the colonists to build efficient shelters, generators and transports without any technical knowledge and using almost any locally available materials. The user simply asked how to build a house or a tractor and the computer supplied all the necessary plans.

My STC page has been accessed over 4,000 times and I've seen versions of my models recreated and remixed. This hobby we do costs money but with a bit of effort, some skill and a few bits and bobs we can all have some terrain that we can be proud of, it's all I wanted to do and I hope there is value to the community and that even if folk find no use for it themselves they pass the link on to their friends and share their results with me. I've still got STC's to come so this thread will hopefully never die, just be reanimated on a regular basis ;)

OK so what's floated my boat from other bloggers. I made this easy on myself and went back through all my 'starred' stories in Google Reader and this is what I found.

Recipe for Bronze by Brian @ A Gentleman's Ones

Brian does an awesome job here and if you root around he goes verdi-gris crazy

Sandwyrm's guide to painting black @ The Back 40k

It's not so much the guide as the awesome 'emo-guard' end result

Sandwyrm's Adepticon Siege of Terra Diorama @ The Back 40k

I've no idea why I starred this, I don't even remember doing so but the diorama is awesome and it's just a feat for the eyes which I suppose is a good enough reason.

Loler's guide to painting yellow and grey marines @ The Brush Brothers

This isn't just a guide to painting yellow and grey marines, there's all sorts of tips from battler damage to weathering powders, a tour de-force of painting techniques.

synaps3 guide to Terrain at synaps3

I was going to do a post about terrain and 'tournament terrain' but after reading this I think synaps3 pretty much said it all.

To all those I may have missed mayhap I will reference you throughout the year anyway, enjoy the old stuff, wake the dead!

Terrain is everything - Hail the Omnissiah a new STC is found!

Techno-archaeologist Avro Vulcan continues to catalogue the many man-made hills that dot the Ferron Proxima badlands. It has been months since he unearthed the Standard Template Construct (STC) systems for what has been classified as the Vulcan Plateau. In this time he has discovered numerous other man-made hills buried under the distinctive steep sided flat topped hills that can be found all over Ferron Proxima. Excavating these sites has revealed one man-made hill in particular that has shown many sub-categories of construction. Vulcan has designated this hill the 'Mercury Plateau'.

The purpose of some of these structures are still a mystery but it has been noted that some of them have a slightly different composition of rockcrete than standard Ferron Proxima fare. Whether the richer iron content is due to the value or protection of the many storage facilities built into these mounds is unknown, Vulcan has theories but so far has kept them closely guarded. What is known is that these iron-rich mounds are particularly well suited to accept the STC for Plasma Generators., was this their primary function? Indeed even the current generator model  has adapted well to the Mercury Plateau and it is believed very little retro-fitting was required to the connection manifold.

However, the details of this coupling was another secret kept by Vulcan that has attracted a great deal of interest from data-hackers who have sort to gain control of this valuable information to share outside Adeptus Mechanicus control. Once private enterprise can access this information they will utilise it to gain control of all Mercury Plateaus suitable for Plasma Generators, thus reducing their need to pay tithes to the Ad-Mech administration.

To access the full STC please point your Cogitators here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B97Rk-BalgZbd2NTd3JpUGpSbm1ldTRhUzFwd2NOdw/edit?resourcekey=0-Uo2SSY82guWZ3FrOehSQ7g

This STC will be uploaded to the full Ferron Proxima STC library shortly. You can access the database here:

http://40kaddict.blogspot.com/2011/02/terrain-is-everything-standard-template.html

Happy Birthday to me, this is my gift to you!

Terrain is everything - modular plug gets painted

How much fun was this? There's nothing like doing that Ferron Proxima red planet basing. For something that was so painful to do and a permanent issue I love doing this now. Sure I've come across a few other red-planet bases that look really cool and there's still the issue that my Vermillion art paint is in fact a closer match to the 'Battlefield Mars' as I originally titled it but it makes me smile every time I finish one of these.

Of note is my use of Iyanden Darksun for the yellow. My son bought me it, he'd originally wanted to get me a Space Marine Librarian but I bargained him down, as I don't need it and they are expensive. Also, I tried to get a standard acrylic craft paint to reduce my reliance on Bronzed Flesh to lighten the Vermillion for highlights. The best I could find was a 'pumpkin' colour, which is indeed a light orange. Still, mix in some brown and we were nearly there.

Lastly a close-up of the Stargate-esque iris hatch. Successive coats of Stonewall Grey but thinned to allow some of the Red Oxisde undercoat to show through. This gives a nice weathered effect. Some slight highlights on the chevrons with the yellow stippled on to give that mottled weathered effect, love it. Now what else can i build to go in the socket?

Terrain is everything - modular plug

Here's a quick update on something of nothing. Originally my modular plug and socket was developed for the Vent Tower, allowing me to swap the roof section for an extra storey with the roof slotting into another socket. The socket concept was further expanded in the man-made hill [or this one] and now with my my DoW Plasma Generator I'm looking to fill that socket so you can make modular terrain pieces that you can fit together to allow for a dynamic and versatile collection of terrain pieces.

However, you may be a budding terrain hobbyist who does not wish to create a man-made hill or a Vent Tower to take advantage of a modular socket so I put together a simple base. Of course you need not make the DoW Plasma Generator with a plug on the base but I think it's nice to have the options.

So I give you a standard CD, with a sheet of foam card cut to fit and bevelled at a 45° angle. A standard Imperial socket is 47mm square, which as we know is down to the fact the Emperor's favorite number was 47. This square is removed and sheets of mounting card are used to edge the hole. In this instance I have a camera shutter/stargate-esque hatchway to the bowels of Ferron Proxima but you could use the alternative zig-zag hatch on the man-made hill. You must ensure the card isn't too thick or the plug will not align perfectly and the Plasma Generator will stand proud of the socket. As you can see I made this mistake, just a bit on mine. Enjoy the sneak peak of the Plasma Generator in it's undercoat finery, more info to follow on it's progress.

New Ferron Proxima

As promised I finally got around to producing a larger print out of my Ferron Proxima Battle mat. Thankfully scaling the image to the new table size of 150 x 90cm [a 5' x 3' table!] which translates to 127% more width and 118% more length didn't degrade the image. However, I did find the output varied from our plotter. Now I think I recall something similar happening first time around but as you can see below I ended up with two versions, one that has significantly more darker detail and thother which is equally vibrant but without all the lowlights. This time around I think we will be suing the high contrast version for gaiming but I did print and laminate both.

Here's another shot so you can see how much detail has suddenly been picked out.

And again, by laying them on top of eath other you can get a decent comparrison, particualarly in the large crack in ground and the shadowy area below the pale triangular shape.

And a nice shot to end on

A dreadful idea?

It's been a long while but I popped into  a GW the other day. Not that I particularly care about the new game we've all heard about - Dreadfleet, there was however one aspect I was keen to see first hand. I'm talking about the printed fabric play-mat that comes with it. I had in my head an idea of the material I thought it would be but because I can't actually describe what that was lets just say I was surprised at the actual finished product. At this point I must apologise for not actually taking any pictures at the time, one of the staffers was keen to get me playing the game and I really only had enough time to look at it and all the cabinets and high-tail it back to work, so all the pics below are from the GW website.

 

Anyway back to my opinion of the mat. Well it actually looks like a big thick silk scarf. The pattern is vibrant and really detailed and I'm sure the weight of it is sufficient to keep it in place while gaming. It's even got a stitched edge to it to ensure it doesn't fray. My whole reason for checking it out is to raise the questions "What if this mat wasn't 5' x 3.5' and 6' x 4' instead? And what if it wasn't a sea-scape but a battlefield?" Is this something GW should be looking at? What would it be like for the next iteration of 40k to come with it's own battlefield included?

Granted GW might fear the cannibalization of it's Realm of Battle Game Boards but lets be realistic £155 is a lot of cash for a table-top, which you still have to paint yourself.

In actual fact GW is already aware of this which is why it already has a gaming mat for £18.50. Now I did have to do a bit of searching to rediscover this little gem but I think that's a decent price for what could be a new sideline in the GW market. Coincidentally it also seems to be roughly the price the Dreadfleet mats are selling for on ebay. I'm pretty sure these things would make quite a profit, even compared to the current play mat. I'm sure there are far more companies who can produce printed fabric sheets than sheets with flock glued on them. Having a multitude of fabric companies to secure a cheapest deal is more likely than couple of specialist model suppliers.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod2060001

But the concept doesn't end there because if you can do one type of printed battlefield, 'Cityscape' for instance, you can probably do half a dozen -

• Chaos Waste
• Ice planet
• Desert
• Jungle
• Alien infestation
• Oh, and Red Planet!

Because, as we all know when given the choice GW often tries to sell us six products when one will do (£15 for 6 Vortex templates?!):  

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=&prodId=prod1250222a

I'm sure you actually need all 6 of those templates but it's sets a precedent that there could be half a dozen different battlefields on offer for those that just want to play, not interested in the hobby aspect and what better way than to include one in the next starter set? They could even add another £10-£20 to the base price and you'd probably find people amenable to the concept.

Of course I'm not going to hold my breath for such a thing, and you don't have to, you can always print out my FREE Ferron Proxima battlemat, either at a local high street printers or in tiled A4 sheets and piece it altogether on one big piece of MDF...

http://40kaddict.blogspot.com/2010/10/battlefield-mars.html

Terrain is everything - Hail the Omnissiah another ruined STC is found!

Caffeine shops, plazas and markets are a massive part of Ferron life, including Ferron Proxima, Ferron Ultima and Ferron Minima. The massive competition for the highly sort after local caffeine came to a head in the 'Caffeine Wars' 4541942.M40. Details of the Caffeine Wars are still be declassified for public consumption but common knowledge is that 'competition' grew to the point where open warfare in the 'caffeine plazas' between franchises took place.

Much like gang warfare in many of the Hive's worldwide the 'caffeine loyalists' would band together to assault rival franchises. Some franchises would begin to step up their protection by employing mercenaries and off-world gangers, regardless the battlefields were the caffeine plazas, the terraces awash with blood, spilled beans and latte foam. Many of these ruined plazas have long been abandoned, as it's not good for business to associate with the lowest point in 'barrista history'. Since then Starforts Caffeine has remained dominant in the Ferron market but Codex Coffee waits in the wings, plotting and vying for another chance to take control...

The Ferron AdMech library has revealed STC files to construct your own Caffeine Plaza/Market. To access the full STC please point your Cogitators here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B97Rk-BalgZbNTcwOGZkNzMtMGI0Yi00Nzc1LWExMjUtYzYyMTUxY2RiYzU3/view?resourcekey=0-GjiGlbjp643pOQD_WM14Nw

This STC will be uploaded to the full Ferron Proxima STC library shortly. You can access the database here:

http://40kaddict.blogspot.com/2011/02/terrain-is-everything-standard-template.html

Terrain is everything - Hail the Omnissiah an old STC is found!

Further discoveries on Ferron Proxima have revealed another STC. Originally construction of  Hex Tower 2 were halted by the AdMech Servitor Team Epsilon as there were incomplete and contained corrupt sections of the STC. Using the latest quantum codifiers of Mathematorium Secundus, Team Epsilon were able to substitute pre-existing 'InGen pattern' code into the program matrix to complete the full STC.

These Hex Tower's are now being positioned at strategic locations throughout the Ferron Proxima heartlands. The raised observation position and defensive properties make them ideal lookout posts in the outland regions known for it's regular Xenos sightings. Given the discovery that Ferron Proxima was originally devoid of many hills and high ground, these lookout posts were another option instead of  Vulcan Plateaus due to their ease of construction. Quite often these towers are pre-fabricated and bolted onto a laid rockcrete foundation by bulk lifters. This has meant a rapid deployment of outposts across the Xenos hot spots in the outlands since it's rediscovery.

To access the full STC please point your Cogitators here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B97Rk-BalgZbYWQzNjIwZTMtODdjNC00OWNjLTk1OWQtYWVmZjRjMzgyOTI5/view?resourcekey=0-hYhgbTNXrzJnrVTjqPcpMw

This STC will be uploaded to the full Ferron Proxima STC library shortly. You can access the database here:

http://40kaddict.blogspot.com/2011/02/terrain-is-everything-standard-template.html

A weekend of progress [with a 'Terrain is everything' thrown in for free]

Following on from my feeling of lethargy on Wednesday I feel like I've started to break free from that 'swamp'. Admittedly the progress isn't massive, under close scrutiny, but somehow I feel like I'm getting somewhere. As I commented in that thread I actually went on to listen to Helion Rain and did the 50:50 Bonewhite/white highlight on the Terminators. Drilled out the storm bolters and added Mechrite red to all the bits that needed it. I haven't yet taken pictures, not sure if the level of highlights will even show up, which doesn't sound like progress but I assure you it is.

Anyway, on Friday night the wife had another night shift so I decided to crack on with a number of other things. I'd prepped a new 'man-made hill' and decided you all needed to share in it's inception. This hill is obviously a lot simpler than the previous Vulcan Plateau - a simple square, but the final STC will in fact have extra bits that will allow you to construct your hill in a number of patterns. Sharp eyed amongst you will notice that the cladding pieces on the side don't go as close to the corners as usual. This is so you can add corner bulkheads similar to those used on the 40k Outpost that got bigger. Alternatively you can leave them off.

A third option will involve steps. As it is, these are hills and unless you run the rules that hills are difficult terrain there shouldn't be any reason to sculpt steps onto them, to allow figures to get topside. I don't make them in my foam hills so there's really no need, but with these they sometimes make sense. This particular version will just have one set for reasons that will become clear but equally you could do a set of steps on each side which I think would look quite cool. Of course you could mix and match any of these options for a multitude of hill types but the three options described seems like a nice starting point.

And obviously the modular plug aspect allows you to add in the Vent Tower components. Don't worry I have realised I will have to expand the number of models featuring the modular socket. I have one immediate plan to 'fill that slot'. It's a new addition to my 'to do list' that will remain a secret for the time being but I will be prepping some CD bases with modular sockets so the items can be used on the current man made hills or just as normal terrain.

Here's why I needed the stairs, the Vent Tower just wouldn't have sat right with no immediate access to lead you in to those big old doors. So I've managed to add even more height to the tower which is fun, G.O.D. help anyone with a 12" range, you can shoot anyone assaulting the base, that's it. It's a total real-estate thief but it's looking awesome.

More progress to follow...