Terrain is everything - 40k Ruins.

I've already shown a ruin off in a previous post. I didn't really need a sketch for these, I'd already got the Illustrator files to retain consistency in the shapes used. As I was hoping to use bits cut out from the extra cereal box reinforcement this would speed things up and keep the aesthetic going, oh it was recycling too, it's nice to be green!

However, my plan did involve creating two panels, joining them in a corner, then 'ruining' it so that I could create another corner piece with the bits cut off. That way doubling up on my terrain and allowing the corner pieces to be stretched to create as large or small a ruins as I wished.

These were my first attempts at battle damage which initially is heartbraking but then quite rewarding, didn't know if I could bring myself to do the same on the hex platforms... but I managed it.

Here's the two corner pieces, so you can see how the ruin could be expannded. no floors as yet

Here's the painted version with floors and base. An undercoat of black household and craft paint mixed with PVA glue and a small amount of plaster is an ideal base for the Red Oxide spray paint. Further shading and highlights still to go.

I've prepared a .pdf template for this in case you want to try one. I've another template to prep for a smaller ruin, I'll get onto that as soon as I can.

Carsharing in a Mycetic Spore, NOT!

I recently read a comment on one of the blogs I frequent [I'm not sure which] where someone said that since the Tyranid FAQ came out it had 'nerfed' the use of Tyranid Prime's with a Warrior Brood in a Mycetic Spore. I read this and moved on but it kept niggling away at me and so I checked out the Tyranid FAQ.

And here's the FAQ in particular

Q: If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can an Independent Character join the brood before deployment (and hence deep strike in with the brood)?
A: No.

I mean REALLY?! What is that? There's just one Tyranid Independent Character - the Tyranid Prime and he's got special rules regarding how he interacts with his standard Warrior bretheren he adds +1 to WS and BS. As an IC the Prime can join this unit and according to the 5th Edition rules an 'IC may begin the game already with a unit, by being deployed in coherency with them' [p48]. So a Prime begins the game with his unit in their pod and it's not like there isn't room, nine Warriors can fit in one pod so if you only take a brood of three there's room for the kids and a couple of DVD players for the trip!

Additionally the rule book covers Dedicated Transports and states 'The only limitation of a dedicated transport is that when it is deployed it can only carry the unit it was selected with (plus any ICs).' So an exception for Independent characters that start attached to a unit, and specifically mentioning that an IC can start with a unit inside a dedicated transport (just not Tyranids).

So why specifically do the Tyranids not like to share their Spore Pods? I even asked the manger at my local GW and he said he'd been shocked when it came out. Lets be realistic though, this isn't the fault of the rules, the Prime or the Warriors this was an FAQ that seemed to answer a question that really didn't need asking with an answer that most would have thought the opposite of all existing rules. I'm sitting here now, wondering who were all these people asking this rule? I mean all the exisiting rules state this wasn't an issue so which idiots went and made the rule Tzars at GW shine a light on something that didn't need fixing only for them to fix it with a bolter round to the cortex!

I can understand the furore over the Doom of Malantai leeching wounds from mounted troops. That's a rule that conflicts with the core rule set to the advantage of the Tyranid player, but this is a rule that is amended to be different to the core rule set to the disadvantage of the Tyranid player. It might have been nice to have had a little clarification for this answer, a simple 'No' just doesn't cut it in my book.

Dark Angels genesis vol 4 (and a bit)

Sadly, my photography isn't too hot on these but I thought I should at least point out my oft mentioned Dark Angels are being attempted, if not with any worthy results.

First up is a plastic Missile Launcher Marine, I think he was free on a White Dwarf years ago. This was my first attempt to get the really dark green I was after and it's nearly there but a bit neon on the edges because it's nearly black everywhere else.

I went to the GW and asked about how to paint Dark Angels and let him show me on one of my Advanced Space Crusade Scout Sergeants [with a back pack he could even be an Assault Marine! I've five of these guys]. His is a bit greener but this was a really quick job and I was quite pleased with the results, the extra green makes him stand out a little more so I'll try to get some more done so I can finally get a feel for how to paint them.

White Dwarf

Just bought White Dwarf. Not a regular subscriber or purchaser but I do like the Stormraven and if they do open it up to all chapters and I'm in the market to dish out £40+ for a baby drop-ship then it's nice to have the rules. GW take note, new rules made a purchase. Of course recent discussions on BoLS indicated that White Dwarf rules often fall by the wayside which I don't gather because back in the days of Rogue Trader they collected all the White Dwarf rules in the Warhammer 40,000 Compendium, which I still have. Sure it's not as neat as having all your races rules collected together in a single codex but this was an additional sale on top of the White Dwarf you originally got the rules in. Not to mention there was Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Squats, Harlequins, Robots, Dreadnoughts and all manner of other rules so this was a purchase that every 40k player needed not just those sticking to one race.

On a different point I noticed the Battle Report is Blood Angels V's Dark Eldar. Now if you haven't read it and don't want to know the result don't carry on but it's an easy guess. Latest Codex darlings V's latest big buy model. Is there ever a Battle Report where the latest army loses? Do they think we're that fickle we won't go for a new force if they lose in the magazine? How many games must they play to engineer the result they wish to $ell? Of course this battle required them to be both appealing so you can work out the outcome easily...

Heroquest

Don't be frightened, you are still at Confessions of a 40k addict [I still can't believe I got 40kaddict.blogspot.com] but things are going to get slightly more fantasy around here as I showcase some of my old Warhammer Fantasy Battle figures. To ease you in gently [as a lot of people were to Games Workshop] here's the Heroes from Heroquest the much loved, by some, boardgame GW did with MB Games. 

I don't know how I ended up with them but I did paint them up to be used with my Empire army [I forget which city state this Conan Wannabe with a floppy sword is from - ahh Nordland, just found my Empire book] but I also painted a few of the baddies so I know we were actually playing the game at the time, although not quite as seriously as when it first came out.

BTW that flesh colour is a Matt Humbrol Acrylic, another super opaque colour I loved. Sure it looks straight out of a cartoon but flesh paints had always been a nightmare for me right back to the Humbrol Enamel Flesh colour tin that opened while I shook it covering a brand new black jumper which never saw the light of day again for fear my mother hit the roof!

Next up an Ice Wizard! Ice magic was cool, I'll scan the magic card from my Empire book and revisit this guy and his Kislevite comrades. I still like this guy, there's some subtle techniques [I think] that still work. Epic IG decals on the legs and cloak, lightning bolts but they look sufficiently frost like. Some light frosting on his fingers, an attempt to make his Wizards staff like an icicle and semi-transparent [I think I nearly pull it off too] and some 5 o'clock shadow! Sure the cloaks highlights are too extreme but I love this guy. 

The Dwarf, not much to say about this fella but these highlighting techniques, exaggerated though they are were all preparing me for the Empire Army to come, something I was happy with, garish and cartoony but painted and tabletop ready. You'll also note the model railway ballast I've been harping on about. Sure it's not awesome but it isn't bad either, it's quick and it's natural and if you can't base figures I think it's a solution.

Here's the elf but I went another way with him. I'm not sure but I think in Dungeons and Dragons this would be a Drow, their equivalent of a Dark Elf. To be honest, despite it's prevalence I never played D&D, watched the cartoon series of course but the first time I ever saw a Drow it was at the Gathering, the largest live role-playing event in the UK and that was well into, if not coming to the end of my gaming history [until last year]. Anyway, it was a fun bit of painting and even though wildly different to the other three fits in well.

Yes, it does fit in well doesn't it as you can see below - The Heroes of Heroquest.

Terrain is everything - Vent Tower pt 1.

Back when I was having  a number of doubts about keeping up with this blog, they're still there by the way and my Son's ambivalence isn't easing this but you guys are, I previewed what I initially refered to as my 'Vent Tower'. This structure looks like some kind of power station vent and it's original idea came from this sketch:

As you can see above the tower came together quite well I managed to get the door arch done through four layers of foam card but the reinforced detailing at the base was problematic. At this stage I was reluctant to put it on as I knew the joins at the corners need to be neat and to achieve this the templates all had a 2mm overlap that I could trim down as needed to join up after dry-fitting. The biggest problem however is the roof. I really like the Gothic spires in the sketch but somewhere my measurments went askew and the roof is only just big enough for four miniatures. This means if I put any elements onto the current profile I won't be able to fit figures on the roof.

Also I really like the lines of the building as they are, so finding a way to add height but retain the roofspace is becoming a real challenge. I have looked at adding the spires to the corners, asymmetrically. It also makes a bit of sense as the spiral staircase in one corner would have some cover as people exited. On top of that I was looking at putting a Heavy Bolter into the protruding corners. Unfortunately though these additions screw up the lines of the main structure. Having asymetrical spires just don't work with the front arched doorway. So I've been looking at abutments on each side, this would require three heavy bolters for all round fire [I only want to spare two] or corner abutments on the back wall which would look a little odd.

Anyway, here's where I'm at so far, it doesn't look like there's been a huge amount of progress but the structure has been glued and the arch has been covered for a cleaner finish. All the reinforced detailing has been added and now I just have to deal with the roof...

As you can see below the corner spires just seem a bit odd. The first one is not too bad but it just doesn't work when you view it from the side and even worse when it's twin is sat above the arched doorway.. I'm thinking just a flat roof will be the solution, which is a shame as the sketch really works. Lots to think about, any suggestions, it may help or I may solve this regardless. For instance if I bite the bullet and install 3 Heavy Bolters then I only need the two spaces on the roof to account for a 5 man squad, which means I can install the assymetric spires following the same line as the tower...

P.S. don't worry about the alien planet terrain mat... it's not real

Drop poding

I write this blog in a weird way [I think], prepping many stories in advance because I had a years worth of experiences to get off my chest and a shedload of old miniatures to photograph. I hope the shattering of any illusions hasn't put anyone off the blog, it still leaves me with opportunities to move stories up or down the running order and interrupt my 'one day on one day off schedule' when there's big news. It doesn't really matter anyway because if I was writing articles on a bi-daily basis there'd be no stories at all, so that's the way it is, anyway...

However some stories do get missed or outdated, in particular I forgot to mention my good friend Pete got me a Drop Pod for Christmas. Now, bizarrely I didn't take any photographs of the construction process, it's almost as if I forgot I wrote a 40k blog. I'd read one decent review of the model and assembly and kind of felt another would be unnecessary. What I didn't do was try and find that review because I know it highlighted a number of issues with the model and perhaps a bit of understanding beforehand would have saved some frustration!

Anyway the Drop Pod currently is in bits. I have the passenger area and the five ramps in place with the 5 fins and the turbine separate. I think it'd be really difficulty to paint this fully constructed, this way may be easier but it's also a bit fiddly. Everything has been undercoated and boltgun metal applied where appropriate. I need to get some other metallic colours, copper, bronze etc. to make it suitably archaic inside.  There isn't much to see because the undercoat removes a lot of detail but here ya go.

Overall though it's a nice model and although some bits fit nicely together the center console that the harnesses attach to tilts at a funny angle. There's a special harness with a skull on and that's supposed to fit at a specific point on the console. Of course when you realise that you've already glued the plain one in that spot! I think there was reference to that in the review I read but, as I say, I forgot where that was. It doesn't seem to have done any harm which begs the question why have it?

Pete was extremely kind to get it for me, he wasn't sure if I wanted one but pointed out that it could be scenery as well, a really decent objective to capture so I think it'll be a valuable edition. Of course drop pods are 15pts more for Dark Angels and only have the option of a storm bolter but there's definitely going to be something satisfying about putting one on the battlefield and unfurl the ramps after making 'explosive bolt' noises and having a squad of marines barrel out.

Here we go - here's the tutorial I should have re-read by teamsnakeeyes. For instance getting the boltgun metal onto the centre console before I glued the harnesses on would have been 'advantageous', shall we say.