And now a word from our sponsor

You may have noticed among the additions of extra pages tab at the top of the blog I've now become a Wayland Games affiliate, well why not? When I started the blog I casually decided to include a Google advert widget. I'm not a big fan of web-adverts but if it's innocuous enough I don't see too much harm and who knew if there would be anything my few followers would find interesting enough to click on.

For a while I hadn't even completed all the details to claim any earnings even if the ads were clicked on and as time went by, more posts were added to the blog archive, a search function, links through to From the Warp and the list of followers pushed the ads lower and lower down the page. So I'm really not in this for the money. If I was I wouldn't be giving away the foamboard STCs and freebies. However, it is nice to suddenly find folk have clicked on stuff and clicked enough to get you a couple of pots of Mechrite Red, or it's nu equivalent.

Amazingly when I did finally manage to get all my payment details sorted with Google I actually found out my earnings had practically doubled in a month. Which sounds cool but I think in total I've only made about £13 in nearly two years of blogging. Still that's £13 I wouldn't have, although I don't actually get paid by Google until it reaches £60, and I'm extremely grateful for those folk who clicked thru to some offer. I've tried to filter the ads a little bit so there should be some things of interest but thinking about it I realised the best option would be to join up to Wayland Games affiliate scheme. They seem to be one of the cheaper third party operators and I've had decent service from them in the past, my Tervigon being my most recent purchase.

Feel free to use the banner or not. Personally, if there is ever any adverts I want to check out from other folks blogs I enjoy, the simplicity of clicking thru to put pence in their pocket has meant I do so. Meanwhile I only found out in the morning of the Dark Vengeance release, after I'd ordered my Limited Edition set, that I'd been accepted, so I'd already clicked through Lancashire Wargaming Forum's affiliate scheme link. Which is funny because it's Lancashire USA, not the Lancashire UK where I live. Still, like I say, it's no skin off my nose to help a fellow community-er out and I hope they enjoy their commission.

So I heartily recommend adding a Google advert to your blog and/or clicking on links when you visit someone else's. We're not going to get rich off it but it's kind of nice to know folks are doing something. Of course if you're reading this through an RSS reader you won't see anything of the ads but no bother and there's only a point to clicking if you're actually interested in the offers available, otherwise just enjoy the content and stuff freely given.

Just to reiterate I'm not soliciting extra clicks, I'm just thanking those that have clicked, observing the limited success the webadverts have had and how other bloggers may use them and to point out I've tried to tailor what limited advertising there is to things you may be interested in, hope it's not an inconvenience.

'nids part 59 / Terrain is everything - Tyranid Quad Gun pt6.

On goes the Turquoise. For some reason this was quite tedious. Having lumped this in with the defence line which was hard work every time I came to paint this I did it in bits. 

The head, the muzzle, two base Chitinous plates, the plates on the side of the gun.

It took quite a while. I also thinned some Mechrite Red and added it in places.

And I did the base with my usual Red Planet Basing formula but additionally painted the Adrenal Glands looking for a symbiote. See what I mean about the problem with red ones blending in. they'll look better on the back of a beasty but hopefully they're just noticeable enough.

And this is the view I want your flyer to have just before it ploughs into the ground thanks to its four shots :)

Next set of highlights to come but before that the same set on the defence line, keep watching!

'nids part 58 / Terrain is everything - Tyranid Aegis Defence Line Pt6

The Tyranid Aegis Defence Line has been washed. Once again, Gryphone Sepia and Devlan Mud or it's nu-GW paint range or my Warpianter Strong Tone equivalent.

What concerns me is that the sheer scaled of these chitinous plates looks like there won't be the depth to the colours as on your standard Tyranid. these are looking more denim than deep sea ocean effect. And also whatever the washes do they somehow manage to slightly thin the base colour as significantly more undercoat seems to be visible than I would normally expect. You can see the Red Oxide colouring just a tad in the blue areas below.

And the back areas for a bit of contrast and all the alien vine tentacles are slightly more purple, just because.

Makes a nice difference to see them blue one side and then as you pan round you get a whole different perspective - the best of both worlds.

And here's the quad gun in situ, poking out form behind the wall.

Fits right in don't you think?

More coming as soon as I can fit it in, your patience is appreciated.

A Thousand Sons - a review

June last year we went to Llandudno and I came back with the two books above. I read A Thousand Sons quite a while back so my recollections of it will be hazy at best but it's been sat in my 'drafts' as something to do for ages and I really need to knuckle down and say something about this book because it's one of the best Horus Heresy books I've read so far. I heartily recommend getting it and if you're lucky, like me, you'll be able to pick it up still in a local discount store - they all seem to have the same stock!

Obviously this is about the Thousand Sons and it's a real tipping point in the Heresy. If you don't know your 30k history then the Thousand Sons were pretty loyal to the Emperor, they just had a penchant for psychic abilities that the Emperor didn't want them to delve too much into given the dangers in the warp and the tragedies that had befallen man in the past through dabbling in the occult and the wyrd.

Unfortunately the Primarch of the Thousand Sons - Magnus happens to be the greatest psyker so far and as with most children seem to know better than their parents. So he defies the Emperor and continues to practice magyk but only to try to uncover the conspiracies that are about to erupt across the galaxy. Unfortunately 'the ends does not justify the means' and the attempt to warn the Emperor goes horribly wrong and he's forced to punish them for doing what they promised not to do.

There's quite a few interesting lines of thought going through this book. There's the contradiction of employing psykers, something the Emperor decides to clamp down on, but continues to use Astropaths and their psyker abilities to fly around the warp, something that at least was brought up by a White Scars psyker in the gathering that eventually outlaws the Librarian order. There's the conflicting beliefs between Space Wolf Rune Priests and the various psychic orders of the Thousand Sons. There's quite a lot of fleshing out of the Primarchs and it soon becomes apparent that much like a photocopy and a photocopy of a photocopy the sons of the Emperor are slightly flawed reproductions of himself as are the astartes who are more flawed copies of their own sires. It's in these pages that you begin to realise the scope GW has to play with. There's 20 Primarchs each with a back story and a legion to tend and each has his flaws and aspirations, it amazes me how many balls they've actually got to juggle!

My one annoyance though is that with this book there's a very strong similarity to Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith. Magnus, much like Anakin seeks advice and answers from the Emperor and instead of getting them he goes off and finds a solution through dubious enterprises much as Anakin gets nothing from Yoda and the Dark Side of the Force from Darth Sidious. You can't help getting frustrated that these 'masters' just seem to be a bit too cryptic for their own good. Perhaps if they'd made a little more effort to understand their wayward sons/pupils there wouldn't have been quite the mess that ended up happening. Unfortunately this feeling manifests itself across the entire pantheon of Primarchs, not helped by their poor imitations of the Emperor 'hisself'. You can't help wondering if they'd had a mother to bang some sense into them things would have been a little less catastrophic.

Ultimately though this is an awesome book, well worth getting and I really began to sympathise with the Thousand Sons predicament. I know the other side of the story - Prospero Burns, is supposed to be good too but I don't know if I can put aside my Space Wolf prejudices to enjoy that as much. Anyway reading it certainly made me think about Heresy Era Thousand Sons and if you really want a good feel of what they're like you can't go wrong by checking out isotope99's Heresy Era Thousand Sons over on BoLS, here's some pics.

'nids part 57 / Terrain is everything - Tyranid Quad Gun pt5.

All the washes have been done now. I had to get a Seraphim Sepia just in case I ran out of Gryphonne Sepia. I also needed the new Agrax Earth Shade - Devlan Mud but the Manchester GW was out of stock. Luckily on my way back to work within a five minute walking distance are two independent games stores.

The nearest one Fanboy3 had a stock of Army Painters Dark Tone and Strong Tone inks which Ron at From the Warp reliably proved are the exact same results as the old GW washes. So £2.25 for 33% more paint than a standard pot, I was sold.

I struggled to make choices about which colour was to go where but I think I got it in the end. I'm still a bit dubious about the lightness of the blue, can't imagine it looking like my usual finish. Somehow I think it needs to be darker but perhaps it'll look different after the turquoise...

And the Vermilion base just so I can get that started too, great way to distract from the endless Turquoise striations I'm going to be doing.

1500pts Lists some help please.

So I've got four 1500pt lists here with the major differences highlighted in yellow. I'd originally thought to take a Hive Tyrant but felt two Tervigons are more durable. I also feel I should definitely have the Defence Line because it looks cool as opposed to necessarily being a winning tool. I want to include the WQuad gun but given the FAQ feel it would be pointless. I've ended up with only one list with it in because most armies I've played have only had one flyer but if I face more without it I'll definitely be dead in the water with only cover saves to try and keep me alive. Anyway here are the four and my individual thoughts.

 

 

This is probably my most standard force and one I'm most familiar with. Ymgarls for deployment zone shenanigans. Hormagaunts as my meat shield but only 5 stealers which is a bit weak.

HQ

  Tyranid Prime with Lashwhip and Bonesword, Deathspitter, Synapse Creature,

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

Elites

  2x Hive Guard(s)

  5x Ymgarl Genestealer(s)

  1x Zoanthrope(s)

Troops

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

  10x Termagaunts with Devourer

  Mycetic Spore with Hardened Carapace, Lash Whip, Ripper tentacles,

  12x Hormagaunts

  3x Tyranid Warriors with Barbed Strangler, Deathspitter, Scything Talons,

  Broodlord with Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons ,

  5x Genestealers with Adrenal Glands,

Heavy Support

  Trygon

Fortifications

  Aegis Defence Line

 



Swapping out the Ymgarls for more durable brood of stealers, but losing on the in your face dangers. Only 11 Hormagaunts this time but I get the Quad Gun, if I can use it and alternatively I could add a 3rd Hive Guard to instantly fix the list if it wasn't acceptable.

HQ

  Tyranid Prime with Lashwhip and Bonesword, Deathspitter, Synapse Creature,

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

Elites

  2x Hive Guard(s)

  1x Zoanthrope(s)

Troops

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

  10x Termagaunts with Devourer

  Mycetic Spore with Hardened Carapace, Lash Whip, Ripper tentacles,

  11x Hormagaunts

  3x Tyranid Warriors with Barbed Strangler, Deathspitter, Scything Talons,

  Broodlord with Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons ,

  8x Genestealers with Adrenal Glands,

Heavy Support

  Trygon with

Fortifications

  Aegis Defence Line

  Quad gun

 

Given the success of the Doom in a recent match he still has the ability to inflict carnage but is he too much and suicidal? Back with the Ymgarls but Hormies and Stealers are as small a unit as they can be and possibly First Blood fodder!

HQ

  Tyranid Prime with Lashwhip and Bonesword, Deathspitter, Synapse Creature,

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

Elites

  2x Hive Guard(s)

  5x Ymgarl Genestealer(s)

  The Doom of Malan’tai with Mycetic Spore with Hardened Carapace, Lash Whip, Ripper tentacles,

Troops

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

  10x Termagaunts with Devourer

  10x Hormagaunts

  3x Tyranid Warriors with Barbed Strangler, Deathspitter, Scything Talons,

  Broodlord with Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons ,

  4x Genestealers with Adrenal Glands,

Heavy Support

  Trygon

Fortifications

  Aegis Defence Line

 

Just a list thrown in, reduced Stealers but with added Broodlord make them a little more durable and more Psychic powers to throw around.

HQ

  Tyranid Prime with Lashwhip and Bonesword, Deathspitter, Synapse Creature,

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

Elites

2x Hive Guard(s)

1x Zoanthrope(s)

Troops

  Tervigon with Catalyst, Dominion, Synapse Creature, Stinger Salvo, Crushing Claws

  10x Termagaunts with Devourer

  Mycetic Spore with Hardened Carapace, Lash Whip, Ripper tentacles,

  12x Hormagaunts

  3x Tyranid Warriors with Barbed Strangler, Deathspitter, Scything Talons,

  Broodlord with Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons ,

  4x Genestealers with Adrenal Glands,

  Broodlord with Toxin Sacs,

  4x Genestealers with Toxin Sacs,

Heavy Support

  Trygon

Fortifications

  Aegis Defence Line

 

So there we go, your help is appreciated. I could always bin off the Hormagaunts altogether, they're never as effective as I wish them to be but they're useful in going forwards through cover and backed up by the Stealers could be effective in flanking. Ultimately It will have Hive Guard, Warriors, Tervigons and Trygons with Devgaunts and a pod but if anyone can play around with the remainder please do. I had thought about Regeneration on a Tervigon also or perhaps save a couple of points by switching to Scything Talons on one, given as that's how it's modelled. The Defence Line would be nice but I'm wondering if 50 point elsewhere may be better, I can still put it on my trays for the army and people can "aahh!" But I'm not sure if using it may risk whatever chances I have thanks to weak units. Thoughts appreciated.

Warhammer World - My son gaming

These are the last pics of my Warhammer World visit, not long now until Throne of Skulls with the guys. Anyway, as these pictures were mainly of my son and his games and he's spending most of the summer holidays just playing on his DS and computer I thought I'd get him to write down his thoughts of the weekend and the games he played. Well it's good for him, when I was on holidays and used to spend a few weeks at my Grandparents my Grandad used to give us sums and spelling tests on a daily basis. It may sound awful but I feel a better person because of it. So here it is my first guest post from my son, who's 10 so enjoy his efforts...

Me setting up my figures for the first game!

Dark Angels - game 1

(I don't remember a lot of this, seeing as though it was the first battle)

One of the things, which was hard was finding one of the objectives, he'd hidden it behind some trees with some marines all around it. He won, 2-3 to him.

Tyranids - Game 2 

(Unfortunately my Dad didn't take any pictures of this battle as he was on another table.)

This battle I remember the most, seeing as though it was Tyranids V Tyranids, I reckoned he would know about synapse. I had only 2 synapse creatures a Hive Tyrant and a Tyranid Prime, he had 3, two Zoanthropes and one Hive Tyrant with wings. I had the prime with the hourmgaunts, my genestealers infiltrated towards one Zoanthrope, which blasted them to pieces when it had the chance and the Hive Tyrant swooped over to help. The only survivor was the broodlord, who miraculously survived the whole game. Most of my hourmgaunts got wiped out leaving the Prime and two gaunts left, and they started to fall back to the table edge. I forgot that when tyranids are in synapse range, they're fearless, but the gaunts and prime reqrouped 2" from the board edge. I didn't win, but apparently the Imperial Guards tricked the Tyranids into thinking that one fleet insulted the Hive mind, and then the IG nuked them.

Chaos Marines - Game 3

This game was quite hard, the Thousands Sons were shooting lightning, as was the Chaos Sorcerer. So I decided to get my troops in cover. The Tyrant didn't do much, it just shot whatever shot it.  

My reinforcements have just come in but my Genestealers with broodlord have had casualties. The tyranid prime comes on with the hourmogaunts, and has his eyes on the Chaos Sorcerer.

The Prime makes it into charging range of the Sorcerer and charges, the Prime had twin boneswords meaning that if the defender has an unsaved wound, he must take a leadership test, if he fails, then it is instant death! So the Prime charges, attacks, and the sorcerer gets an unsaved wound! He fails his leadership and it is goodbye sorcerer. The broodlord is the only survivor again. Eventually, I get wiped out, leaving only the Biovore, and then the game finished.

Awards

We had the awards ceremony last, and the winner of the Single best painted miniature was my contestant on battle 2 with a commissar. The seasiders won! (Blackpool and Southport) And I got some Dire Avengers for my Eldar which were £21, whereas my Dad spent £5 on a bunch of heavy weapons for his heavy weapons squad.