Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Blog Direction

So I've been running this blog for a while now and it's occurred to me that it doesn't really have a direction. I just post what I want when I want and that seems to be that. I do enjoy writing and reviewing but I find it hard to get motivated unless something really strikes me. So for the time being I think a lot of this blog is going to focus on my Warhammer stuff as I am really enjoying painting, modelling and the few short games Suzanne and I have played so far.

Hopefully you guys find some of the stuff I write interesting. Stay tuned, there will be other stuff posted on here too. I still have a few game reviews in the works that I hope you'll all enjoy.

If any of you have comments or suggestions on my writing style or the things that I write about, drop me a comment below. Constructive criticism is  something I am always looking for. 

Monday, January 28, 2013

Warhammer Obsession




Greetings Brothers and Sisters. May the guiding light of the Emperor illuminate your lives on this day. I thought that it might be fun to throw together a post detailing some of my current Warhammer obsession.

I have been into Warhammer as a hobby since I was about 13. I started collecting a Tyranid army back then and still have a soft spot for the gribbly little guys, however the Emperor's Finest have always been my inspiration. I enjoy the Super Solider and Trancended Humanity/Loss of Humanity themes that always run through Space Marine narratives and plus... Bolters. So, after much cajoling (I asked nicely) Suzanne Rogers bought me a Dark Vengeance box set and a Citadel Starter Paint kit for my birthday last year. She also went as far as to buy me a huge desk on which to model too!  



Dark Vengeance, Paint kit and some old Space Marine sprues from years ago.

Da big desk!
 Gleefully I started to practice on a few old Space Marine models that I still had.  Since I wasn't planning on actually playing these models, I posed them with whatever weapons I felt like. 



I think I did a pretty good job on these guys, considering that I didn't have the right paints, brushes or any real idea of a colour scheme other than 'Dark Angels'.
My first attempt at a 'tricky' base.
 These initial models were painted using the colour Waagh! Flesh which I darkened with Imperial Primer. I think the colour is quite good and is really close to the Caliban Green I use on all my models now. For my first painting attempt in 10 years I was really happy with how these guys turned out. 

My first attempt at drybrushing an entire model. I don't use this technique on my good models, but I thought it looked cool here.


Once I was reasonably happy with how my practice models were coming along I switched over to the new Dark Vengeance models. For anyone considering Dark Vengeance, I would highly recommend it. The models are top quality, full of detail and while the new Snap Fit design does mean you lose all the posability, it didn't bother me. By now I had hit up my local game store and picked up a bunch of new brushes and paints, including all the ones I'd be using for my colour scheme: Caliban Green for the base. Beil-Tan Green and Nuln Oil for the washes. Warpstone Glow for the highlights and Moot Green for the extreme highlights. Mephiston Red for the weapon covers (although I need a different red for highlights which I still haven't gotten yet).   Leadbelcher and Ironbreaker for the metalics like the Bolter and Balthazar Gold and Griffon Gold for the... gold bitz.

|




The Eldar in the background are Suzanne's. For her first ever painted models I think they look epic!

Plain Vs. Highlighted
After a week of painting nothing but tactical models I got a bit bored of highlighting and decided to start on my Bikers:





So that is where I currently am with my obsession. All of my models have been cleaned up (mold lines, contact points etc) and snapped together in the last few days and Suzanne and I have had our first few Skirmishes with the DV models (Dark Angels Vs Chaos) with the Dark Angels winning both matches easily so far. The armies do seem to be a bit weighted in the Angels favour though as they have 3 HQ choices to Chaos's 1 and their Infantry choice is a 10 Man Tac squad with a Plasma Gun and Plasma Cannon vs Chaos' 2x 10 man Cultist Squads with Autoguns who basically just get chewed up in the first few turns. Even the addition of the Hellbrute Dreadnaught can't seem to turn the battle in Chaos' favour.

And finally here is my to-do list:
Dark Angels:
Finish 10 man Tactical Squad
Finish Ravenwing Bikers
4x Deathwing Terminators and Seargent
Librarian Turmiel
Interregator-Chaplain Seraphicus
Company Master Balthazar 

Chaos:
20x Cultists and Cultist Champions
5x Draznicht's Chosen Chaos Space Marines and Draznicht
1x Hellbrute Dreadnaught
1x Chaos Lord