A day of and models before chores.

A trio of Chooser of the Slain counters for a Space Wolf player. It is a donation to the cause. I had these Warmaster Carrion models lying around (used them for D&D stuff years ago). Figure they would make acceptable Chooser markers. He gets them and I get them out of the Drawer of Forgotten Models. A simple prime, pin and away they go for painting.

I love the smell of promethium in the morning!

After watching most of Apocalypse Now, I started thinking about the Imperial Guard.  I’m not thinking the typical Chimera Veterans, I’m thinking Air Calvary! The scenes in that movie with Robert Duvall are great and that is the inspiration for this list.

"We use Wagner. It scares the shit out of the orcs. My boys love it!"

I’ll build to my typical 1500 point limit as that is what we like to play at. I’ll need an HQ and a one that is befitting Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall’s character). A Lord Commissar should fit the role, it is also a nice cheap HQ, and this gives me more points for the meat of the list.



"THRAKA DON'T SURF!"

Vendettas will be the helicopters for this force. I’ll take four, two squads of two each. Who doesn’t love the three twin-linked lascannons on a fast skimmer? It might be over kill, but for the same points I could have Valkyries with rocket pods and multi-laser, but I’ll take the S9 and twin-linked over S4 large blasts. If only these had a viable napalm option.

Grey Knight review Paladins

The first Grey Knight elite I’ll cover is chock full of badass! Well at least that is what we have been lead to believe. They are the best Terminator (well I still think the troop version is the best but….) in the game, forget everything else you have been told. Well what and who are they? They are the Paladins.

These are the super elite Terminators of the Grey Knights. They must partake and pass in eight quests to become one of these most awesome of awesome Terminators. They have to slay a herald of each Chaos pantheon, they have to slay the dragon of Angnor, they must cross the Bridge of Death, they have to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring, they must stand up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol, and…well you get it. They have to do a bunch of insanity to fight Chaos insanity as a Paladin.

Khorne's puppies

Well it doesn't say Khorne army without some of his lovable hounds. I decided to add a squad of these to my force. I'm not sure they are a great unit, but they fit the theme.

I really hate the Flesh Hounds that G.W. has so I went for an alternative model. These are the previous Dark Elf Cold Ones. I was originally using them for Dark Eldar Warp Beasts. Well, since I shelved that force, I thought these would serve a better purpose under the guise of Flesh Hounds.

More for the Blood God

My small squad of Bloodletters. It is only a 5 man and not my preferred 8 man, per Khorne's scared number.

Grey Knight review, the last heavy

The final heavy support choice for the Grey Knights is the Purgation Squad. These are the Devastators/ Havocs for this army. If you have been following along you can already guess what they can and how they will be armed. 

This guy and three more just like him!

These guys are no different than there Grey Knight brethren when it comes to wargear, rules, stats and number per squad. They have Hammerhand and also the psy power Astral Aim. Heck they even cost the same amount of points as a Strike Squad and can grab up to five extra guys exactly like Strike Squads. They also have the same options for transport (Rhino/Razorback). They have one main difference though, and we can all guess it….they can take up to four special weapons (but let’s face it there is only one real choice).

Real World Interlude

Friday nite was the first of two trips to see Blink 182 on tour this year. They are currently touring with Manchester Orchestra and My Chemical Romance. It was in St. Louis at the Verizon Amphitheater. We, Manders and me, saw them at this same venue last year.

Assault troop fill-ins

Well these are the final assaulters, they are the fill-ins for the squads. It is a pair of plasma pistols, a potential power weapon and a flamer.

Have you seen this unit? Part 15

Conscripts represent hastily conscripted men, raised from the local population, new recruits, or from the surrounding planets in time of war (usually when it is going badly). These are usually ill-trained and often too old or young to join the regular rank and file soldiery.  If that wasn’t good enough, they are usually given only the most basic of equipment. It is hoped that the weight of numbers and massed fire will balance out the lack of combat training and discipline.

They are very similar to the typical Imperial Guardsmen; they have the same stats except for a WS 2, BS 2 and a hefty leadership 5. They are only 1 point less than their better trained Guardsmen brethren, which I find a bit strange. They come armed with a lasgun, close combat weapon and flack armor. They start in a squad of twenty and can have up to thirty more in the squad. They can also only be fielded if an Infantry Platoon is chosen, much like heavy weapon squads and special weapon squads. Last they are a troop option and that is handy for 2/3 of the regular rulebook missions.

Bit by the painting bug

On the heels of last weeks melta gunner I decided to finish off my remaining jump packers. I had four regulars to use as another squad (with soon to be finished add-in Sarge) or as extra bodies for my existing three squads. 

Grey Knight review, Dreadnoughts both types

All the Marine chapters have these, even the eeevil chapters, Dreadnoughts. They are the sort-of and close to dead warriors thrown in a robot body to continue the fight. Sure it sounds great, but sometimes dead is better.

What Dreadnoughts should look like

Bored today, so heres a melta gun

So a  I finished building my new Khorne Demon Prince, from a Mordor troll, I got the itch to paint again. I remembered I had re-tasked a ground pounding melta gunner to the airborne division. I needed to get the walking assault squads another tank slagging specialist.

Since I still have a few melta guns left and marine parts to attach it to, I built  and painted this guy today.

Grey Knight heavy review, Dread Knight

How do you fight a big gribbly demon when you are a suped-up but still tiny human? Simple, throw on an tricked out exo-suit to help you beat face!

  



"If at first you odn't succeed, get a bigger hammer." Alan Lewis

The Dread Knight is this amalgam of man and machine. It is basically a bigger tougher Grey Knight Terminator. These are the super elite Grey Knights who like to fight big'o demons face-to-face, and with their stats and abilities they look to be quite good at it.
The Dread Knight has a WS 5, BS 4, strength and toughness 6, wounds and initiative 4, 3 attacks, leadership 10 and a 2+/5++ save. They have the Grey Knight standard flair, abilities and the additional power, Dark Excommunication (nullifies demon upgrades and such if psy test passes). The come armed with two nemesis doom fists and Dread Knight armor. This guy is a Monstrous Creature and follow all their rules. These guys run CXXX (in Roman numeral) points.

Gen Con 2011 a photo journey

A selection of pics from Gen Con Saturday 2011

Please to enjoy! 

Privateer Press gets a new display piece and it didn't disappoint



Gen Con after action report

Another Gen Con has come and gone. It was a rather productive and enjoyable day. I was wondering how the Con would be this year, with the economy in the toilet and all that. I have pics but need to download and futz with them a bit. They will be in a later post. Here is a quick rundown of happenings and experiences.........

Gen Con 2011 what is on the list?

For the last 6 years I have skipped over to Indy for this little convention, Gen Con. I have gone with the guys, I have gone with my kid, and I've even turned Manders into a fan the last two years. It is a good time and I always return home with treasures.

Every year I usually go with a short list of "needed" items. The last few years they have been models to build or finish 40K armies. This year though I have no real 40K army needs. I do not want to start a new force. I have pretty much all I need for Chaos, Necrons, and Night Lords. I even have a Dark Eldar force that is 3rd ed. models and could flesh them out, but they are very close to becoming an E-bay auction. My Demons could use a bump to 1500, but the Blood God just isn't calling to me now. So where does this leave me? What bargains and treasures am I going to return with?

I have no damn idea!

There are always a few descent shirt vendors that call to me. The Dr. Who people have gotten a bigger following and always have some good kitchy stuff. Flying Frog is pimping a new game and I have had good dealings with them in the past. Privateer is usually too cramped with people to hang around, but another demo of Warmachine or Hordes would be helpful. I'm still on the fence with that game system.

Outside of this I'm lost for what I want this year. This could be good as I'll spend less money. It could also be bad since I'll have more money to spend on shineys, penny whistles and Moon Pies!

Summer two months in.......

It is now August and summer is all but over.

Strange how this was supposed to be a summer of winged death. It hasn't. Whomever brought that G.W. rumor out was sadly mistaken. Yes I know that there are "technically" two months of summer left. However, I think this rumor is dead. I am surprised how everyone was all geeked -out for these cool planes and such we all were getting. Then all of a sudden silence. Nobody seems to remember the madness this rumor instilled in people. There was that 6th ed. thing flying around to distract everyone, and then the Sisters of battle showed up too. The flying stuff was forgotten and possibly never spoken about. Weird how that happens. A super cool awesome heard it from a good source rumor...that doesn't pan out or is forgotten due to shiny new distractions.

Although, I'll happily eat crow if a bunch of plane pics show up from G.W.

The Sisters of Battle, the nuns with guns are soon to be a White Dwarf codex over the next two issues. This was how the Blood Angels started to get them into 5th, and the Sisters are getting a similar treatment. Will it be a good intro for them into 5th? Who knows. I kind f don't care. If this was an official codex with model support I'd at least grab the codex for a read and to know my enemy. However, as a White Dwarf only, I'll just wait until they PDF it on their website. I imagine it will make them playable, but not super awesome like the seven people who still run Sisters want.

GEN CON WEEK! (a retospective)

It is one of my favorite weeks of the year, the week building up to gen Con Indy. Being a regular attendee since 2004, I get a bit jazzed as the week progresses. It also helps that it is only a two hour drive from here in Illiniois. I figured I'd share some of the photos I've nabbed from the last three years. I am still old school and perfer actualy film to digital. I know that is completley archaic. I have had a digital camera with me, via Manders, the last three years, and it does make it easier to share these photos with the interweb.


The costumes......


Not a true Con without Strom Troopers working the door security.



A look into the future?

Not sure I'll jump into this game, as I know of zero people who play. However, I see the Wyrd people, they make this game, at Gen Con every year. Hell I remember when they were starting out and pimping their models and upcoming game, Malifaux. Mayhaps they can get me interested (well if they want monies they will) or uninterested in this game. A silly rules set or an overly complicated one will easily drive me away. I'm looking for a Goldilocks rules set here, and we know those are hard to come by.

Well there is a lot for me to like in this game: undead, steampunk, horror, and other assorted oddities. Hopefully I can get a demo, or watch a game or two. Then I might make a decision. The real problem is lack of players near me, well at least those I know. I would have to get the gang interested and we would have to learn it together. It always seems to help learning the game from an experienced player as to a bunch of newbies figuring it out together.

After some light reading and model perusing, I really like the look of some Arcanisits and Outcasts. Yes I know the Ressurectionists should just scream at me for use (zombies be here), but I want to break the cycle just a little bit. I know if I/we take to this game, I'll have a Ressurectionists group eventually.

So look out Wyrd Miniatures, I'm coming to Gen Con this weekend and you better dazzle my pants off if you want my cash!