Dj Batman

Temporary Hiatius

2011-05-25T16:34:00.000+10:00

Hey bloggers,

I'm currently sitting in a transit lounge up in Darwin waiting on word of what is happening with our flight. We've already been held over 24 hours and are waiting to see if it'll be another 24 hours... The reason I'm heading overseas is for work which will see me away for around a month to two. During this time it is doubtful I will have much Internet access so unfortunately the posts will be fairly light.

But instead of wasting this time I'm using my new hp mini to read up on the Rogue Trader Roleplay rules and adventures because when I'm back I will be kicking off an adventure. It will be my first time GMing so fingers crossed for me and the lads.

When I'm back I will definitely be checking out everyone's blogs to see what they have been up to.

As I'm writing this a RAAF C130 has just landed about 60 metres from us with a bunch of Navy personnel. Cool.

WAAAGH!

2011-05-17T23:22:00.001+10:00

Hey bloggers,

No that isn't a reference to our favourite greenskins heading off to conquer a new galaxy, it's the noise I'm currently making with all that's been going on lately! I went to put a post up the other day but blogger was down so apologies for that missed post but wow what a week its been.

On the home front I've been tidying/organising my hobby lair/study which has made my girlfriend somewhat happier. I don't have any images for you yet as it's still a work in progress but after quite a few trips to IKEA I have pretty much all the shelving I could need (well fit into the room to be precise). Once I have the desk cleared I will have to start looking for some paint storage/display options. Does anyone have a system they like or can recommend? I don't want them in a case as I think that will be harder whilst I'm in the middle of a painting frenzy to stop and swap colours, esp with the addition of non Gw paints with which I'm not fully used to yet. Please comment away!

I actually put some paint to model the Friday before last! I'll tell you it's been a while but man was it good to get back on that bike, shaky as I was. As such I worked on painting up my Tandarians as there are plenty of guardsmen who need some love but don't require the level I will put into my marines or other more elite armies, well elite compared to guard infantry.

We have Forgeworld Chaos Dwarfs coming our way and damn do they look nice. Some really great ideas and models there. I love the inscriptions on the inside of their shoulder pads and the totem on top of their standard bearer. New Dark Eldar were released but without the uber fliers we were expecting. That's cool, just another nice mini to await release. Damn it's looking more and more like I'll need to collect Dark Eldar. That's something I might do when I'm sent North for six months at the end of the year and beginning of next (don't worry, it's for work not an exile imposed by my missus). Since I will be away from all my hobby mates and hobby supplies and minis I figured I might start a totally new army which I don't need anything else for. So pretty much nothing Imperial really, or in power armour. Not that I'm not looking for some new Northern Hobby mates when that time comes!

Maelstrom Games has their new sales restraints imposed in a few short weeks which I will be away for whilst it happens. Not that I won't still support them through their other systems but after losing Flames of War and Gw it's really limiting what I can get from them.

Finally Finecast has come. This will be a talking point for sometime I'm sure especially since the speed between the announcement of such a major change in such a casual manner hasn't given everyone enough time to digest how this will affect things. Most people are probably just looking at what they buy as now being resin rather than metal. sure it'll be lighter and easier to cut but will it be brittle? If I drop my Wood Elf Dragon is it more likely to shatter or to loose the tips of its horns than the metal one? How are Gw staff going to teach Timmy Ten-year-old hold to build his new character when he hasn't built any himself? Is it safe to? So can we work on Forgeworld and other resin pieces in-store now? Do we all need to wear dust masks when in store working on our new models?

I'm sure you can see some of the implications of these sorts of questions and the big shift in how the stores are currently run to allow for this new material. And if it is a wonder hybrid of plastic and resin how do we work with it? Glue it? Will it melt whilst filing? Will it jump down our lungs and murder us as soon as look at it? (I'm sure it won't but that's how some stores treated Forgeworld when it was starting to appear at their hobby tables) And I'm sure for many others this won't spell the end of metal models. I have a back log of Gw metal models like you wouldn't believe, not just a whole host of characters and elite units but Vostroyans, Steel Legion, Praetorians and Sisters of Battle. Then there are the other companies that make pretty toys which I collect, more casually sure but there isn't a model made for Incursion that I won't buy at least twice (and have already done so or plan to do)!

Alot of stuff going on and still mulling over what has just happened, but the first thing I'll be doing is thinking if there is anything I need from Maelstrom.

Charities and layout

2011-05-11T21:17:00.000+10:00

Hey bloggers,

I've been out at a RAAF base today re-qualifying for the Austeyr and have had a pretty good day. I just wanted to bring your attention to some of the changes to the blog's layout. I'm still tinkering away with it and any feedback is more than welcome, just leave it in the comments. But I ask that you check out two charity projects LiveStrong Wargaming Project run through Miniature Wargame Conversions who are also running Pay it Forward where there is a Forgeworld Mars Pattern Warhound Titan to be won!

This is the same LiveStrong endorsed by Lance Armstrong and looks at helping those affected by cancer. One of the great things about this project is that anyone can get involved! Big or small, everything helps and it's simple to get involved. Just sell any unwanted hobby or make a special piece and sell it through eBay's Giving Works with the proceeds of those sales going to LiveStrong. There's already the first piece going up on eBay over at Red Corps Red Scorpions page. Check out the links and you'll quickly get how it works and how this can be really easy to join in. Heck just bid on and buy an item and you're helping out!

And The Heroes of Armageddon Collaborative Army Build brought to you by the guys who were responsible for the Storm Wardens Collaborative Army Build. The Storm Warden Army Project produced an amazing looking army with a whole host of customised accessories and giveaways along the way including the art for the project. It had an amazing level of support from some of our favourite online hobby stores and raised an astounding $16,107 for Doctors without Borders. This time is no different except that they have four armies underway for the project! The earlier you get involved the more draws and chances to win you have. Definitely something to keep an eye on with that much hobby happening, especially considering the number and type of accessories. They had stuff I didn't even know I wanted until I saw it! They already have custom dice made up.

These charity projects show just how amazing our community can be and by giving you end up with awesome hobby. Check out those links and have a think if you've got something to give or if there's a model or army out there that you want.

Black Crusade

2011-05-02T23:55:00.001+10:00

Hi bloggers,

Just a quick one here, I don't know if you had all seen this already but it was news to me when I found it and a pleasant surprise at that! Fantasy Flight Games is releasing the fourth of their 40k roleplay games Black Crusade.

As you can probably guess from it's name it's all about taking on the role of the minions of chaos with images showing corrupted guardswomen, an assassin about to take out some Sisters of Battle with a melta-bomb, a corrupted priest and a dark mechanicum techpriest.

This looks to be really kick arse and will probably fill that niche our gaming group has of killing everything that breathes whilst sending ourselves insane and corrupt.

TROLL!

2011-05-01T21:59:00.002+10:00

Hi bloggers,

I don't know how many of you have seen Troll Hunter yet but it is an awesome movie set in modern day Norway about a group of film makers following around an old bear poacher when they discover something more....

It goes back to the origins of trolls and they look and feel authentic. They are legitimate Norwegian Trolls and look just like those books everyone grew up with such as Brian Froud and Wil Huygen's works. I can't recommend seeing this movie enough! Now that I am on the look out for all things troll I have just come across some amazing troll miniatures over at Warploque Miniatures. These guys hark back to those Norwegian style trolls, nothing chaotic or warped about them just honest to goodness trolls. I really think I will need to pick up a set.

He also has a dragon he is trying to get cast up over here with two different head variants and has just finished up a Death Kiwi. Definitely someone to keep an eye on.

Has anyone gotten any models from Warploque? Thoughts?

Entertaining Discerning Guests

2011-05-01T17:01:00.000+10:00

Heya bloggers,

Well I've gotten my camera back so hopefully over this week I'll be able to take some photos of what I've been working on lately to catch you all up to date. In other news it looks like I might be starting to host more mini evenings. Not 40k events but hobby sessions and just hanging out as I've been away from Sydney for a while for work and now I'm back we are making it more hobby friendly. It's not by any means fully ready to go but we've had a few games of incursion and the like.

As it looks like I may be playing host a bit more I decided to invest in a few other games that can be played with limited space when we get sick of hobby (not that that happens too often). So today I picked up Munchkin Zombie and Munchkin Booty to do just that. I had picked up the expansions to Munchkin Booty earlier in the year when Tin Soldier in the city closed down and had been meaning to pick it up for some time now. We were in Chatswood today and so I went to look at Games Chain who stock a great range of boardgames, card games and roleplay games. I wasn't really going there to buy anything but I saw it and thought I may as well as I have just been paid and then I saw the gem next to it. Sold!

One of the cool things about the Munchkin series is you can mix the series together. Zombie Pirates anyone?? I'm looking to get the Munchkin Cthulhu series next... *evil grin*

Anyone else a Munchkin fan? I've only played it the once before at a friend's place and loved it. Which is your favourite series? Leave a comment and let me know.

Hobby Tools and Fighting Gum Disease

2011-04-29T21:00:00.000+10:00

Hey bloggers,

Just a quick one here. Whenever I am hobbying with someone new I always get the same question with the same incredulous tone and look. Have a look at my photo and have a guess what it is...

Why do you have a toothbrush? Every time without fail bar none. I'll be asked the question back to back by two different people. I think I've had it four or five times in one hour at it's worse. Accordingly my answer has become fairly express and economic. It's something along the lines of...

You know how when you clean a model how there's always little bits of plastic stuck on the model? Well I use the toothbrush to get rid of them. Plus I don't risk spitting all over my model (by blowing them away).

I find the toothbrush to be really good at removing those bits of plastic that blowing them off wouldn't get that are still slightly attached to the model. Also you're not blowing around all the bits of plastic already on the desk and avoid the chance of it being blown back into your eyes (I've seen this happen and experienced it). And like I said no saliva.

The pleasant part of this exchange is that the majority of people then say after something along the lines of...

Wow! That's a really good idea.

Followed by some of them then saying...

I'm going to get one too now.

As such, a number of my friends carry or use a toothbrush since I started doing this and it's proven usefully for random jobs such as cleaning up resin pieces and even for terrain building. I've always found it a handy thing to have with me when I'm hobbying. Just don't get one with the rubber bits in it. All bristles is the way to go and is cheaper and easier to clean.

Do you carry a toothbrush with your hobby gear? Or some other tool or item that's somewhat different to the norm? Let me know via comments.

Incursion on a Saturday Afternoon

2011-04-29T18:36:00.001+10:00

Hi bloggers,

So Saturday Max came over and we had another game of Incursion. We played the third mission and I decided to take an APE Blazer for the first time to try them out (a flame-thrower). Now unlike Space Hulk he's not limited in his fuel, this bad boy came to fight. With enough Action Points (AP) and Command Points (CP) you fill the board around you with flames and help to halt the advance of zombies.

So for those of you unfamiliar with Incursion it works quite similarly to Space Hulk. Each action a model takes costs a certain number of points; moving forward is 1 AP, throwing a grenade is 2 AP and so on.

Each model has an AP value determining how many actions they can take normally, now this can be altered by the cards you draw each turn or added to by CP. CP is a pool of points, determined by how large the mission is, which you can allocate to your models to take them far beyond what they can normally do. At the beginning of a turn you can secretly bid your CP to allow you to take your turn first but obviously this leaves you without them during that turn win or lose. CP can additionally be used to "kill" cards that are played either as events or on characters (both yours and your opponents).

Everything started off fine with the flamer effectively shutting down Max's ability to bring on zombies as they would be melted down into Tyler Durden's favourite source material as soon as they stepped into the flames. But since my APEs are so slow compared to Ilsa and the Blitzhund they were able to get moving away from the flamer. Since you can control the shape of the flame within line of sight you can ensure you are able to block off a room's entrances.

The Blazer slowly advancing forward managed to take down the Blitzhund (who had been shot previously by the APE by himself) and wound Ilsa. Unfortunately for me Max had a hidden tunnel card and set one up right behind me and ran zombies at all my APE suits managing to take a wound off the APE supporting the Blazer. I then beat them back in my next turn expending my CP to ensure I would be safe during his turn only to have a Booby Trap card played against the same APE and with Max only rolling sixes whenever he tried to wound me he pulled down my APE suit.

After Ilsa grabbing the Pinger (the Mission's objective is to get it off the board) more zombies raced towards the isolated APE from the Trap Door and without the fire support from the now extinct APE they managed to pull him down under the weight of their attacks. So down to just the Blazer I had to knock out the Trap Door and focus on pulling down the much more nimble and deadly Ilsa.

After doing so with a possible victory in my grasp Max played a brilliant series of cards meaning I just couldn't bring Ilsa down before she could win the game for Max. As a Cave In occurred blocking the Blazer's line of sight Ilsa also had Blaze of Glory played on her meaning if I or the flames I had lit were to kill her she would instantly activate and have a full turn of AP to spend on her before she died meaning she could sprint off the board no matter what happened.

After bidding everything I had to take first turn I killed her Blaze of Glory with a SNAFU but Max drew and was able to play it again thanks to Ilsa's ability to draw an extra card every turn. This was the final nail in my coffin as Ilsa was able to stroll off the table to victory.

Max's final hand of cards.

With Ilsa stacked with 3 wound counters a Blaze of Glory ensured her victory unless I could strip it before her death. Alas it was not to be.

Again this was another great game and just cemented with Max and I how good this game is. I will have to get a start on assembling my models once the expansion SNAFU gets here with all of its other goodies!

Tandarian Army, 1750pts List

2011-04-26T07:00:00.000+10:00

Hi there bloggers,

On Saturday I went back to my parents' house for a visit and found my Imperial Guard List for my Tandaris force. I still haven't fully filled out their back story but they are a light armoured/semi mechanised force that escaped the destruction of their home planet by the forces of Nurgle and the Plague Virus. They were withdrawn along with the Vostroyan regiments sent in and since their home planet has been lost they now operate with and administratively come under the command of those Vostroyans. In many ways they mimic the Vostroyans in terms of structure and tactics, this is through necessity as much as choice since any resupply of equipment and arms now comes from the Vostroyans. Where as the Vostroyan's equipment are heirlooms of magnificent craftsmanship the Tandarian equipment are those produced by the Vostroyan forges to some of the highest standards in the Imperium. Both armies boast such wonders as the Leman Russ Battle Tank as no Son of Vostroya would leave such a valuable new found ally without the best equipment, but compared to the ancient Machine Spirits of the Vostroyan tanks there can be no compare.

HQ - Company Command Squad with Regimental Standard, Power Weapon and 3 Flamers - 90

Elite - Storm Trooper Squad with 2 Meltaguns - 105

Elite - Psyker Battle Squad with Overseer and 6 Psykers and Chimera - 135

Troops - Platoon Command Squad with 4 Flamers - 50

Troops - Infantry Squad with Autocannon and Grenade Launcher - 65

Troops - Infantry Squad with Autocannon and Grenade Launcher - 65

Troops - Infantry Squad with Lascannon and Sniper Rifle - 75

Troops - Special Weapon Squad with 3 Flamers - 50

Troops - Veteran Squad with 3 Meltaguns and Chimera - 155

Troops - Veteran Squad with 3 Meltaguns and Chimera - 155

Fast Attack - Valkyrie with Multi Rocket Pods and Heavy Bolters - 140

Fast Attack - Vendetta with Heavy Bolters - 140

Fast Attack - 2 Armoured Sentinels with Autocannons - 120

Heavy Support - Leman Russ with Lascannon and Heavy Bolters - 185

Heavy Support - Leman Russ Demolisher with Lascannon and Plasma Cannons - 220

By dropping the Armoured Sentinels and the Psyker Battle Squad and Chimera I get a tidy 1495pt army so I'm pretty happy with this list. Any ideas or comments?

Ultramarines 4th Company, 1500pts List

2011-04-26T04:00:00.000+10:00

Hi again bloggers,

I thought I'd post up my 1500pt army list for my 4th Company Ultramarines which are currently in progress (along with a number of other projects, the curse of a hobbyist with SOS - Shiny Object Syndrome)

HQ - Librarian in Terminator Armour with Storm Shield - 140

Elite - Terminator Assault Squad with Thunderhammers and Storm Shields - 200

Troops - 10 man Tactical Squad with Missile Launcher, Meltagun, Combi-melta and Powerfist - 210

Transport - Razorback with Assault Cannons - 75

Troops - 10 man Tactical Squad with Multi-melta, Meltagun, Combi-melta and Melta Bombs - 190

Transport - Razorback with Assault Cannons - 75

Troops - 5 man Sniper Scout Squad with Missile Launcher, Combi-melta and Melta Bombs - 100

Fast Attack - Land Speeder Storm with Multi-melta - 65

Heavy Support - Land Raider Crusader with Multi-melta and Extra Armour - 275

Heavy Support - Whirlwind - 85

So any thoughts or suggestions? I'm not entirely sure about the Missile Launcher in the Scout squad. I feel the 10 points might be better spent elsewhere. Also does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions for an Army List program? At the moment I'm just usuing Excel and want to hear of people's experiences as I'm sure there are better programs for it.

Around the World in 91 Blogs

2011-04-26T00:03:00.000+10:00

Hey guys,

I've found another link to my Fenrisian Wolf Blogs. True Mini Wargamer has really taken the conversion up another level and I'm pretty keen to give this a try myself. They look really dynamic and are unmistakably wolfy. His greenstuff skills really make these models work even including the line around the mouth of the wolf, great stuff. Check out the final product on his blog.

Happy Easter Weekend and ANZAC Day

2011-04-25T22:41:00.001+10:00

Heya bloggers,

So I don't know about you but I've had a pretty busy Easter Weekend. I hope yours has been a good one. With the ANZAC Day march this morning I wasn't able to get any hobby done today but for the past few days I have gotten a bit done. I will hopefully have my camera back in the next few days but until then I have been using my iPhone camera so I'm sorry about the poor quality of some of them.

On Friday I played Cliff in a game of Incursion. We played the second mission with Cliff playing the Allies APE suits and I took the Germans with Isla Von X once again playing a starring role and providing herself to be invaluable. My first blitzhound was taken out early moments after Isla blew apart two APE suits! it looked to be going my way but holding my second Blitzhound back too long and playing Isla too timidly as well as Cliff's great gaming meant it was a really close game but a victory to him in the end, just closing the last airlock and winning the mission.

Previous to this game Cliff had just finished played Little Max and after these two games decided he's getting Incursion for himself. So tonight the three of us ordered the new SNAFU Pre-order deal. I can't wait to get my hands on all the new minis as well as an expasion book double the size of the current rulebook. We're getting it from the Australian distributor at the same price as we would from the American store, so hopefully we'll save a bit on the shipping.

Speak to you soon!

Out with the Old...

2011-04-19T23:05:00.000+10:00

As you can see I'm in the process of updating the blog. I'm looking to make a fresh start to the blog and will be posting up a few pictures and events from last year which I didn't get a chance to put up due to all the crazyness that happened. I will be going away for around a month towards May/June but if I'm organised enough I'll preload some blogs and set them to auto-upload.

So what do you think of the new blog layout? Any more tweeks you can suggest?

Around the World in 90 Blogs

2011-04-19T22:30:00.000+10:00

I just found this link to my blog. Wow! I didn't know I sounded so good in Spanish!

This is really awesome to find your stuff out there and definitely makes it all worthwhile, hopefully it gives people a few ideas or some inspiration. That and getting to share my hobby with mates and hopefully make a few more along the way definitely make this a lot of fun.

Archiving Polls

2011-04-19T21:49:00.002+10:00

Which Army Should I Do in Preperation for 8th Ed??
Skaven - Winner
Empire
Vampire Counts

What Colour Scheme Should I Paint my BFG Fleet?
Space Wolves - Winner
Salamanders
Ultramarines 4th Company

Teamwork: I Like to Hobby
In a Big Group
With a Best Mate or Two - Winner
By myself

Which Colour Scheme should I use??
Dave Taylor
Simon Brown - Winner
Luther Blisset
Cadian VIII

Cliff's Necrons

2011-04-02T19:20:00.000+11:00

In other related hobby news my mate Cliff had his necrons featured on the Games Workshop Blog... Not too shabby mate!

I've always been quite impressed with his necrons and their non metallic colour scheme. One of his monoliths is all rigged up with programmable led's and a data port to do so. That's a bit beyond my abilities and patience but it's a pretty awesome army all round.

New Grey Knight Sprues!!

2011-04-01T00:22:00.000+11:00

Hi there bloggers,

We have a lot of catching up to do but in the mean time look what arrived today! The start of my new and shiny Grey Knight army!

There's plenty of shots of the Terminator sprues floating about so I thought the power armoured marines might be of more interest to most people. It's what I opened up first.

There's a great level of detail on the minis just like the terminator sprues but I would have liked all the shoulder pads to have the carved script details like the terminators as opposed to the only one for the justicar. The plague bearer head looks awesome. Hopefully it's a prelude to plastic plague bearers as it looks like the current metal ones but is quite a bit nicer. All the parts are numbered on the sprue and the instructions are quite detailed as to how to assemble using the numbers. I usually clip out my marines into sorted bitz boxes but not for these guys as there are so many parts and the numbering would make a fair bit of difference during assembly with such detailed instructions.

Other than that I'll let the photos speak for themselves. So any questions or comments??

Richard Winters Passes Away

2011-01-12T00:18:00.004+11:00

I'm saddened to hear that Major Richard Winters has died. I'm sure most of you know of him and the courageous deeds he and his men carried out.

He is someone who I look to as an inspiration and I had always hoped to meet him one day. An outstanding man and amazing officer who served in a company of heroes.

He will be missed.

Stormraven

2010-12-20T02:34:00.004+11:00

So what are our thoughts? I've seen some pretty amazing conversions out there and am wondering if I'll go the same route or not when it comes time for it.

Wow, Also I'm Back.

2010-12-14T22:53:00.007+11:00

Check out the Dream Forge Games' Leviathan Mortis here!

Quick Update

2010-06-02T00:56:00.004+10:00

Hey guys,

Just a quick update here as there hasn't been much hobby happening the last few days (mainly through work, fitness and everyone having their birthday, except for me!) Just thought I would post up two things of note I found.

Firstly an Awesome Custom Space Hulk Board. Max and I have been discussing doing one of these but I don't see it happening anytime soon but this one is pretty inspiring!

Secondly I've come across Tasty Brains Gaming as being a good Oz based hobby supplier for such things as Battlefoam which otherwise are pretty pricey for the shipping when you live down this part of the world.

They are currently running a painting competition for some free booty for those hobbyists living in Oz and Nz so give them a look. I know I'll be giving them a try after a few paycheques come in!

Which Army Should I Do in Preperation for 8th Ed??

2010-05-22T23:59:00.007+10:00

Hey there Bloggers,

Sorry for the distinct lack of posts at the moment but I've been fairly busy as the house is being painted, I'm going to the gym and for runs trying to get myself fit again, I've just graduated and the job I'm currently applying to has a pretty involved application process. I have been squeezing in some hobby and the Tandarian Army is starting to progress as I have been working on around 26 Guardsmen through their first few stages of painting. Once I have finished a few I'll make sure to post some pictures. And Fleet in a Week is just waiting for Max to jump on board (no pun there I promise)

Meanwhile I'm torn....
8th Edition is only a few short weeks away and I'm always missing out on games at the start of new Editions and Codex launches. I've heard a bunch of the rumours just like everyone else and it's kinda pointless speculating too much until we get the book in our hands and play that sucker through. But to do so you need an army and although Skaven started me off in the hobby I've only ever played with a small Wood Elf Army which isn't finished and that was some time ago.

So the Question is... What army should I get ready for 8th??
Sure it WON'T be finished (I'm not deluded) but at least I'll have a decent start to the army and if I focus on building then maybe I can get some smaller games happening to begin with.

Skaven

Empire

Vampire Counts

All three have strong reasons and I'm pretty excited by all three at the moment and can give you big background stories to each of the armies (which I will do over the next few weeks) But the question is which one?? Poll in the usual position to be open until one month before the launch of 8th. I may break and start doing a bit of hobby in each until the poll closes but if one is clearly winning from early on I may just get a start on it!

Thanks Bloggers and I will document the process of this army much more closely as your reward for helping me to decide!!

My First Tournament! Day One, Part One

2010-04-29T01:24:00.015+10:00

Hey there guys,

I found a few blog entries unpublished and half finished as I was having computer troubles at the time and was unable to upload images so I'll finish them off and put them up. Apologies for the lateness.

Well I survived my first official tournament, Clash of the Titans run by the Cherrybrook Tech Adepts! I entered in Blood Bowl taking a Human Team with my only practise being a few games on the xbox. Although they were unpainted I had stayed up all night writing lists, printing off rules and filing and gluing models as to not miss the getting to bed at 3am before a 7am wake up experience. Max came along with me for the fun of it and to act as a chauffeur to my sleep deprived body for the Saturday.

I played three games on the Saturday and two on the Sunday. I had a heap of fun and met some really great guys there who were all really accepting of me as a new player and gave me a bunch of hints and tips along the way which was really awesome of them!

On to the match ups!!

First off my Middenheim Marauders!! and my freshly bought Blood Bowl dice kindly supplied by my local NAF representative!! (who happened to be my second opponent?)

As you can see I have gone for a sleek pewter just out of the box look but I labelled them as to make it easier for everyone as to who is who. It was a 1.1 million resurrection league so I played with:

1: Lineman with Strip Ball

2: Lineman with Strip Ball

3: Lineman with Block

4: Lineman with Block

5: Lineman

6: Blitzer with Block and Tackle

7: Blitzer with Block and Tackle

8: Blitzer with Block and Strip Ball

9: Catcher with Catch, Dodge and Block

10: Catcher with Catch and Dodge

11: Thrower with Sure Hands, Pass and Accurate

12: Thrower with Sure Hands, Pass and Leader

with two extra Re-Rolls (three all up including the Leader skill)

Game One: Dwarves

This was actually Mike the Tourney Organiser playing as a bye-buster and he wrote this list up right before we kicked off. Considering it wasn't his team he did well to get them up and running so quickly.

His list was 2 Troll Slayers both with Mighty Blow

2 Blitzers with Guard

A Thrower with Leader

6 Blockers (1 with Kick and 1 with Guard)

and 3 Re-rolls

I grabbed a few photos as the games went along but didn't want to slow things down too much so there isn't a complete coverage unfortunately.

First Turn, First Half, First Game: Injury....

As you can see things can change very quickly on the Blood Bowl Pitch in one turn. This wasn't going to be an easy game. Unsurprisingly Mike's Team raked up the highest number of casualties. He managed to put down 18 players and suffer only 6 in response which was quite impressive!

You can see here an attempted 1 turn touchdown as I finally forced Mike to score to give myself a chance but the Kick Off table wasn't kind to me this time. (there's a chance for an extra turn!)

I'm actually pretty happy with the ball turnaround and getting men into the spaces they needed to be but the buzzer went right after this play so no chance for the TD. (Touchdown)

Second Half: After a quick snap and push back by my front row I had the ball in my end zone and a catcher in his.

After a bit of running and some nice long passing I had the ball here about 6 squares from a nice TD!!

Not too shabby for a newbie if I do say so. Unfortunately I'm not yet a staller and able to hold out the defence like the other guys and so put the ball down over the line (rather than loose it) and try for a quick turn around but against Dwarves, that wasn't happening. Pretty sure he put another one down against me here.

Result: Loss 2:1

Fantasy Game Changer and Update

2010-04-19T15:11:00.007+10:00

Well Bloggers,

It looks like we'll be seeing a new edition of Fantasy this July!

So the real question is which army to work on!

A bit of house keeping....
Little Max and were planning on doing Fleet in a Week were we build and paint up the beginnings of our Battlefleet Gothic armies but unfortunately the Forge World order has been held up so we won't be starting it until Max receives his fleet from forgies.

Looking at the poll the Space Wolves and Salamanders have come in pretty close to each other with the Ultramarines loosing their early lead. As such I think I will paint my fleet in Space Wolves colours and probably add in a few Salamander Battle Barges for fun!

In other news hobby has been fairly slow the last few weeks due to hectic work and finishing up uni requirements but I am hoping to get some done in the coming weeks. Until then some games of Incursion should keep Max and I going.

Incursion Order Arrives!

2010-03-19T23:57:00.006+11:00

Hey guys,

Just a quick one here. Yesterday Cliff and I were working on magnetising our Valkyries so that not only did it have interchangeable weapon options but a removable roof (so I can paint the interior) and magnetised doors. We've got a few cool ideas but need to get a hold of some smaller magnets to continue.

So the other day I went down to the Post Office to pick up my Pre-Ordered copy of Incursion!! Well both copies of them :D

I got the resin doors and bases with them and Max has just ordered some as well so there's some creepy WWZ action headed our way soon. In other news they've just posted pictures of the greens of the new MI-13. I'm looking forward to these guys and will be keepoing a closer eye on the Incursion Blog.

After taking the photo it did seem to be a bit of a product shot but honestly that's my cutting mat!!

In other news Jason seems to be talking about my Armoured Sentinels we were discussing last Saturday and he gave me a hand to further tweak my list so I'm pretty happy with it!

Yet More New Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard!

2010-03-13T23:25:00.005+11:00

Hey there Bloggers,

Well I made it into the City Store again today wrote up a 1750pt list for my Tandarian Imperial Guard army with some help from Jason and got to work on a few more Sanguinary Guard. I'll post up my 1750pt Guard list in the next few days as I'm sure this is of more importance to many of you!

So I've now gotten four Sanguinary Guard built!

The Banner Bearer under construction. When building this one the left arm actually uses a "standard" shoulder pad rather than the angelic one as otherwise the shoulder pad clashes with the wing. This one almost caused me some strife but I was able to fix it before it had dried.

He didn't turn out to bad I think. The banner itself has a great amount of detail and would work well with minor adjustments for Successor Chapters or Dark Angels.

This guy had a few of his pieces already chosen so I had to use some of the pieces already clipped and cleaned but I think it's a great model with a pretty rad pose.

I'm just wondering what I can use these guys for in the armies I'm working on as I'm sure I'll end up getting a box or two of them.

New Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard Models!

2010-03-12T00:39:00.007+11:00

Well this afternoon the order came into the City Store so I asked the manager of the store "Is there any combination of words which would convince you to let me build some of the new Blood Angels?" His response was that as long as I made them look cool and checked out the codex to make sure they were a field-able unit. I said I would make them cool to which he added one last proviso: I had to remove every mould line.

Since he is a huge Blood Angels fan I could understand his thinking and so I went to work. I'm pleased to say like the Space Wolves sprues I have been working with lately these models have much reduced mould lines compared to other similar models and in some places I couldn't even find where the mould line was. As such it didn't take me as long as it may have but these models are intense!! A "standard" Sanguinary Guard model consists of 14 pieces with the new jump pack and wings being the most difficult/fiddle-some pieces. But they are well worth the effort!

When you're assembling some of these guys attach the hand into the Angelus Boltgun arm before attaching the arm to the body as it will make life a fair bit simpler. Also attach the large winged shoulder pad to the left arm before attaching the right arm as certain Close Combat weapon arms get in the way of this if it hasn't been attached already. The left shoulder pads have an amazing amount of detail on them and look great but make sure to dry fit first as it can be a bit fiddle-some especially if you have already attached the Jump Pack (Do this last!!)

Finally the Awesome Wings have a relatively small connection point so when you first attach them make sure to hold it for longer than you normally would as otherwise they can sag slightly or can be easily knocked out of position (especially by all those eager fans clamouring to have a look at the models. Ben was picking the model up and looking at it after I attached every piece. Talk about pressure!)

So I built the Power Fisted Sanguinary Guard and a "standard" one (like anything about them is standard or average). I really like the single (bloodied I'm sure) tear drop coming from the Death Mask of the Power Fist Marine. Those Death Masks are certainly cool in my opinion and make the squad a little eerie.

I feel pretty luck to have gotten a chance to build some of these Awesome models before the release so if you have any questions about them leave me a comment or give me a bell and I'll do my best to answer them. I had been hoping to resist the new Blood Angels as I want to finish at least some of my current projects/armies but it looks like that's a slim hope of happening.

But one of my friends put it well since: "technically they are space marines so it's not a NEW army just a different colour." I wonder if I can get away with that. Oh well, enjoy!

Mr Smiggle's Very Busy Day

2010-03-12T00:06:00.004+11:00

After a ridiculously early start after a late night I headed into the City Store for some Hobby goodness and actually had quite a productive day! I have a bit of a back log of posts that I need to put up but this one was a bit more urgent and I've decided to intersperse the older posts with the current stuff so I'm not forever catching up!

So Firstly I painted a test mini for my Space Wolves army! It only took me about an hour and a half with chatting and stuff so that's fairly quick for me (batch painting is quicker obviously). I'm looking to do Engir Krakendoom's Great Company first and wanted his shoulder pad background to be an oceanish colour without being too blue or clashing with the colour scheme. Again it's a pretty quick job for me so I'm not entirely happy with it but it's decent enough.

I tried the same glaze trick with him as I use on my Ultramarines but the paint had separated before it had finished drying whilst on the model!! It's funny how it separates out so quick so I abandoned that idea and tried it with the wash but again.... fail. So I touched up the legs in a bit of a rush so they might not look as smooth as the rest of the mini.

I think he's identifiable as a Grey Hunter of the Space Wolves right??
Comments? Criticism? Improvements?
Anyone actually know how to paint power armour as I can't seem to get the hang of it?

In other news I finished assembling four more Ultramarines. Again not a huge accomplishment for most people but since I agonise over my models so much more than a sane person would it takes me much longer. All I have to do on these guys is to do some green stuff work for the tactical arrows and sand the base and they are ready for an undercoat.

As if this wasn't enough check out my last post for what I got done in the arvo!! (other than have a chat to my mates and help out with a game or two)

1750 Logan Grimnar vs Iron Hand Straken Battle Report - part 2

2010-03-08T23:19:00.019+11:00

Ok, so when we last left off Tim had just finished his first turn and had only been able to slow my Land Raider down a bit. The two drop pods containing Wolf Guard Terminators with Frost Axes and Storm Shields thundered through the atmosphere and slammed into the battlefield landing around the main building containing Tim's army but both drop pods suffered from a major scatter. The first almost pinned the Land Raider between the edge of the table and terrain and the second one almost ended up off the table! The Space Wolves were out of range to flame anyone and I obviously couldn't charge, but I forgot that I could move them as normal gaining some valuable cover!!

Turn two came and Tim opened fire upon my Terminator units using his orders to good effect he decimated them! No where had I rolled so many 1's before in a cluster resulting in a drop pod exploding and having one Terminator from that unit survive the hail of fire directed at him. The other unit weren't so lucky and were wiped from the table with it's drop pod remaining in play. (at least for now...)

The one remaining Space Wolf was facing some pretty heavy odds. He conducted himself well but was swiftly dealt with by the guard platoon command and commisar in close combat. After slaying every man around the Commissar he was felled in combat by the Commissar.

The rest of the turn Tim just focussed his fire upon the Land Raider (with an assist from Jason) again failing to do it any harm....

Logan and the Devastators finally decided it was time to jump into the fray and Logan gave the devastators relentless as they focussed the fire from four multimeltas upon the nearest tank failing to do it any harm..... Meanwhile the attached Wolf Guard had fired his Plasma Pistol at a nearby guard unit using the Long Fang Leader's ability allowing them to be charged by the Long Fangs.

After Logan single handedly wiped out the squad he and the Long fangs followed up near the building hoping to avoid the worst of the tank fire. Meanwhile in the background the Wolf Scouts had snuck on behind the khaki building and fired at the side armour of a Leman Russ with a meltagun from mere inches away failing to penetrate the heavy armour of such an austere machine. They paid for such folly with their lives as the Storm Troopers occupying a nearby building (the tall central ruin) slayed all bar two Wolves.

After a fierce bombardment by heavy shells and plasma blasts (5 infact!) Logan's survivors headed into the ruin to take the guard on face to face. Hearing of the tales of Straken Logan charges the other Command unit hoping to shut down their orders and improve his chances against Straken. Meanwhile the Land Raider makes a run at the Leman Russ Executioner hoping to crack its hull with a ramming action. The two tanks grind to a halt against each others hulls with no damaged sustained by either tanks or crew.

The Firestorm cannons bathed the Lascannon crews in cleansing flame and two teams were immediately burnt to cinders putting the fear of the God-Emperor into Tim over the power of the unstoppable Land Raider and causing him to focus fire upon it only removing one Firestorm cannon. Again Logan quickly felled any resistance and was out of combat faster than he had joined it. Meanwhile the Veterans had disembarked from the Valkyrie conveniently lining up in such a manner as to entice a nice template.....

In the distance the last of the Wolf Scouts are cut down by heavy shelling after finishing off the rest of the guard infantry in the region. Yet still those Storm Troopers were bunkered down in that central ruin avoid my guns to deny me a Kill Point.

The final drop pod finally arrived with a shudder and the Heavy Flamer immediately went to work on the veterans covering all bar one with his promethium blast! The Firestorm cannon added in it's weight and only three veterans stood as the ashes settled.

The guardsmen figured it better to flee than to face the wrath of the Great Wolf and fired upon his companions felling his last two retainers. The full weight of the Tanks of the Imperium were brought to bear upon the newly arrived Space Wolves and their drop pod again wiping them out even with cover saves and the flanking protection of a Tank!

Logan having become bored of his companions strode out to meet the enemy receiving a shot to the face from a Lascannon for his troubles only saved by his grit and eternal warrior skill. The Land Raider was finally showing signs of fatigue as all three primary weapon systems were damaged leaving only a previously forgotten about storm bolter to hold off the enemy with.

After wiping out the guardsmen Logan pulled back to the relative safety of the ruins and as it was the end of turn 5 I rolled to see if the game continued and my luck with the dice continued rolling a "1" and the game ended. Since Tim had already won I wanted Logan to reclaim some of his glory and see just how long the Land Raider would last against such odds.

Logan was felled somewhere in turn 6 from a shot to the back from a sentinel and the Land Raider was finnaly destroyed on the 9th turn of shooting at it!

So a defeat, not a terrible one but a defeat none the less. It was an awesome game to play just before heading off to my first tournament (although for a different games system) and Tim and I had a great deal of fun. Definitely a guy I would play again and we were only prevented from a rematch there and then by his needing to go to work shortly there after. If anything this game taught me the strength of a Land Raider and the power of what I had previously perceived as the "weakest" option thinking the Redeemer was some sort of sickly younger brother rather than the anvil it is simultaneously striking out flaming death to those near it.

Seriously gotta get me one of those.....

p.s. how hot are those new Blood Angels! I was hoping not to fall in love with another new army but it's not looking good.

1750 Logan Grimnar vs Iron Hand Straken Battle Report - part 1

2010-03-05T16:39:00.014+11:00

Hi happy bloggers,

Well the last few weeks have been pretty hectic with my first tournament, job interviews, forgeworld and hobby. But first to my re-entry into 40k.

After talking to my friend Todd about his Space Wolf army he insisted that I play a game with them then and there to check them out and see how they play. Luckily Tim was after a game for his Imperial Guard army lead by none other than Old Iron Hand Straken himself.

Firstly let me apologise for the quality of the images. The bunker doesn't have the best lighting conditions and I had left my camera on the wrong settings, but trust me these are the best from a bad bunch!

So the army I used was based around Logan Grimnar's Great Company. Everything is pretty clear from this photo I think with the only exception being to the scouts who had two meltaguns instead of plasma pistols. This army was also accompanied by three drop pods and a Land Raider Redeemer.

Tim's Army was a fairly balanced build around Old Iron Hand with a few tanks, veterans and storm troopers for good measure.

We rolled up an Annihilation mission which could prove tricky for the pups since there were just so many guardsmen to take down! Deployment saw Tim deploying his forces first and taking first turn. As per the battle plan Todd told me to run with I only deployed the Land Raider denying Tim free shots at my army. Man had we both underestimated the strength of the Land Raider Redeemer!

Tim threw everything he had at that sucker and it kept shrugging everything off! Even with all of his orders going off he still couldn't put down the Land Raider. What a beast!

As I'm late for a hobby appointment and my computer is being a jerk I'll post the next instalment tomorrow.

Also check out my poll for "Fleet in a Week" and let me know what you think about how I should paint my BFG Fleet!

Of Space Wolves and Middenheimers

2010-02-20T01:30:00.007+11:00

Hi there bloggers,

Just a quick one this time as I have to get to bed to prepare for my inaugural Blood Bowl tournament. (the list is printing right now)

My team is mostly filed so I have 13 models all ready for gluing into their bases with minor greenstuff needed at a later date. Hopefully I have all the positionals I need! Unfortunately I will be using them as an unpainted team and so will have no real chance in the competition so my aims are:

1) to have a heap of fun
2) to get as many sportsmanship points as possible
3) to learn how to play Blood Bowl better!

I'll have my team done for the next tournament I use them in as I like to focus upon Sportsmanship and Painting (as these are where I see my strengths lay). Hopefully I won't be smashed too hard but even just playing a few friendlies with my mates they are going to be brutal to play! So far there are only around 9 players signed up but the guys reacon there are often a number of last minute entries for Blood Bowl so we'll see how we go.

Anyway it looks like I might be a contender for the Wooden Spoon!

In other news I played my first 2010 game of 40k! That's right guys and girls my first game since an Apoc game using Dan's Tau around 8 months ago! I'll tell you all about it after getting some sleep and playing some blood bowl but here's a teaser....

The Grand Annulus - Warlords of the Fang

2010-02-18T01:35:00.005+11:00

Hi there Blog followers,

Well I've been busily working away at the Ultramarines with a few Blood Bowl minis in between but I've been doing a bit of thinking about the Wolf Lords of the Space Wolves and since I'm going to do at least three distinct armies/companies of Space Wolves I have been trying to find ways to represent the current Wolf Lords so I can model them/use them in game. Tell me what you think so far and where I can improve or where I have made an oversight. I haven't given them much "extra gear" yet as I haven't yet played with this edition of the codex but suggestions are welcome!

So following the layout in the codex

Edited: Previous edition below new entry
Edited as per Todd's comments 19/02/2010

Bran Redmaw:
Saga of the Warrior Born
Terminator Armour
Twin Wolf Claws
Belt of Russ
Wolf Tooth Necklace

Saga of the Warrior Born
Terminator Armour
Storm Bolter and Close Combat Weapons
Mark of the Wulfen

Engir Krakendoom:
Saga of the Beastslayer
Terminator Armour
Frost Spear and Storm Shield
Landraider

Saga of the Beastslayer or Iron Wolf
Terminator Armour
Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
Landraider

Erik Morkai:
Saga of the Bear
Frost Blade
Pistol (Silenced as per scouts)
Wolftooth Necklace

Saga of the Hunter
Jump Pack
Twin Wolf Claws
Melta Bombs

Gunnar Red Moon:
Saga of Majesty
Terminator Armour
Wolf Claw and Stormbolter

Saga of the Warrior Born
Terminator Armour
Wolf Claw and Storm Shield

Logan Grimnar:
as per codex

Harald Deathwolf:
Saga of Warrior Born or Wolfkin (as Canis Wolfborn already has Wolfkin)
Thunderwolf Mount
Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
Fenris Wolves

Bjorn Stormwolf:
As a Rune Priest
Saga of the Bear
Runic Armour
Bike
Powerfist

Saga of the Bear
Terminator Armour
Twin Thunder Hammers
Belt of Russ

Egil Iron Wolf:
Saga of the Bear or Iron Wolf
Terminator Armour
Twin Thunder Hammers
Belt of Russ
Land Raider

Saga of the Bear or Iron Wolf
Terminator Armour
Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
Land Raider

Krom Dragongaze:
Saga of the Majesty
Terminator Armour
Frost Axe and Storm Shield

Saga of the Beastslayer or Majesty
Terminator Armour
Frost Axe

Ragnar Blackmane:
as per codex

Sven Bloodhowl:
Saga of the Bear
Terminator Armour
Combi Flamer and Frost Axe

Kjarl Grimblood:
As a Rune Priest
Saga of Majesty
Terminator Armour
Combi Flamer and Frost Blade
Landraider Redeemer

Saga of Majesty or Iron Wolf
Terminator Armour
Combi Flamer and Frost Blade
Landraider Redeemer

The 13th Company:
Saga of the Bear, Hunter, Warrior Born or Beastslayer
Blackened Armour
Mark of the Wulfen

So obviously they aren't all there yet but comments and ideas would be greatly appreciated!! Any wargear I missed out? Any weapon combos not quite right? Too much Terminator Armour? I'm hoping the guys over at The Space Wolves Blog have a few ideas to throw in!

Also this weekend I compete in my first tournament with a Human Blood Bowl Team after only playing the video game and getting a half against an Undead team that was wiping the floor with me! I'll try and remember to take some photos and report back all the fun we had. I'll try and post again on Saturady even if it's only a quick one. Wish me luck!

Ultramarine Scout Squad

2010-01-25T23:59:00.000+11:00

Hi there fellow hobbyists!

Today Little Max and myself headed into the City Store to get some hobby done with around 4 other mates who usually hobby with us at Chatswood Gw. We all had a good time seeing guys we hadn't seen in a while and actually got a decent amount of hobby done (well for us anyway!). So the plan is to head into the city again on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as I'm currently doing some conversions for my next Scout Squad and my Terminators. I'll let you guys know a bit more about them once I've made some serious head-way on them as I only really planned them out and started their basing as well as build some heavy weapon marines for my tactical squads today.

Ok here are some picts of my Scouts which I mentioned a little while back which will form my first squad. I still need to a bit of green stuff work on these fellows to give them the Ultramarines symbol on their shoulder pad and to base them but otherwise these babies are done! (Other than some paint maybe)

This is my first Combat Squad in action ready to take on all comers and defend those objectives! Since this photo I have built I think another two Scouts in a similar fashion. Next is to crack out some of the Scouts from the Landspeeder Storm kit to further mix up those units and individualise my marines as well as the conversions I am working on.... As Scouts are a particular love of mine in terms of modelling and background I think I'm willing to sink a bit more time into them than normally. Also I can't seem to stop buying the little blighters, they are in a few of the Battleforce boxes and at only $35/40 a pop whenever I need a hobby fix or have forgotten my models I seem to walk home with a box or two of them and sometimes a scout biker sneaks in there as well.

So first off we have the kick arse Sergeant. As you can see I've done a bit of kit bashing on these guys with parts coming from both scout boxes as well as the scout biker box. The Sergeant also takes his powerfist from the Assault Marines box (of which I have a few for the running legs and previous squad) and it fits in quite well I think. No conversion is needed on it since the shoulder part which would normally supports the shoulder pad once smoothed makes for an excellent scout shoulder pad. His head is from the Scout Biker box but his vox rig didn't seem impressive enough so I replaced it with a brass rod.

My secondary (but really primary) reason and secret shame is I am always worried about these sorts of details being damaged it during gameplay and handling so I replace such parts with brass rods. The model also seems much weightier and sturdy (as absurd as that may sound). Hence why all of my Lord of the Rings models have brass spears.

If you notice carefully the rock he is leaning on is actually a piece of slate from the 40k Basing Kit as I cut out the rock the model was standing on to replace it with a more authentic version which would match those featured on the bases of my other marines. I can not tell you how much bullocking I have gotten over this from a few of my hobby friends pointing out yet again why I am such a slow hobbyist. That's true but to them I say "nuts". I really like how this model turned out and along with the Assault Marine Sergeant he's really a highlight model for me and I think this is how I want all my Sergeants to be, an anchor for the unit both in terms of game play and hobby.

Next are my two shotgun armed Scouts which have been kitted out for action behind enemy lines with the addition of a few cables and body traps. I really like the idea of these guys kicking down doors and clearing rooms in a cityscape and as such gave them some gear so they can do this sort of thing but didn't want to crowd the model with too many extras.

Finally are my two Scouts with bolt pistols and close combat weapons to round out the squad. The second Scout was to actually be a test model but after deciding I was going to give them a chapter symbol I stopped so I could green stuff it on later. Also he didn't get that extra bit of kit so I think I'll need to find something for him.

Although technically not part of this squad I couldn't leave out my heavy bolter Scout! As you can see he has had the same "rock replacement" as my Sergeant has as well as a few casings being ejected from the weapon. Although nervous about the "flying" shell casing I did trim two or three off and so far I haven't had any troubles with him in our travels. Obviously these are taken directly from the Ork Boys box and make the model that bit more dynamic.

Ok so hopefully over the next few days I'll bust out 5 or more converted Scouts and the beginnings of my Assault Terminator squad.

So any comments or thoughts?

2010: Time to Get Things Happening!

2010-01-22T00:58:00.010+11:00

Hi there fellow bloggers and blog followers!

Firstly let me apologise for the extended break between posts. This was obviously not my intention and all the same old excuses get recycled and reused with LifeTM being the main perpetrator. The end of 2009 was crazy for me as it was with many of those in the limbo known as student life and retail work with a few other unexpected issues unfortunately my hobby and blog suffered. For the last almost 2.5 weeks I have been taking a bit of time out of it all in W.A. with my girlfriend and her family for a holiday. Whilst there I was cut off from civilisation in that there was no 3G coverage for my iPhone and so the internet was just a dream for me!

Now I'm back and rearing to go and looking forward to a great year of hobby progress. I'm taking a lighter year at uni with just some casual work in there to keep myself alive and away from the debt collectors and so hope to pump out a fair bit of hobby. Well a fair bit for me at least.

I'm currently not at home so I can't post you any new pictures yet but in the new few days I'll make sure to grab some photos I've tried to post a few times and just force them onto the web.

I need to figure out a visual display for my hobby progress, goals, achievements and future projects so if anyone has any ideas shout out or leave me a comment or link so I can get myself sorted.

Since I'm still on W.A. time I'm having trouble readjusting my sleeping patterns so I'm sure there will be a few extra posts and a fair bit more reading up of all those great blog posts I've missed from those that I follow and come across. Seem familiar?

Anyway to kick off 2010 here are 85 marines built by two of my friends whilst at our local Gw today. I couldn't resist getting a snap of this almost company of marines to show to you guys.

2010 Games Day Miniature

2009-11-22T23:49:00.008+11:00

Wow!! I think this might be my new favourite model!!!
The face is amazing. I need this model!! I'll just have to wait until next October though.....

Finished Skaven Clanrats

2009-11-03T13:10:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posts but due to computer issues and final assessments for university I haven't been able to post for some time. To keep you all interested here are some images of the Skaven Clanrats that myself and some other customers were able to paint for our local Gw.

These models are so easy to put together and almost no consideration needs to be taken about how they will rank up as they do so very easily now they have their tails included and raised upwards. They are so detailed that we only needed to give the models a basecoat with foundation colours and a wash, then we picked out a few details like the teeth and eyes and they were done! The colour of the photos are a bit off as the grasses we used on the bases were dead grass, burnt grass with a little of the standard grass on just the movement tray.

I was really excited to get to paint these models as practise for my own army and for just the fun of making a cool looking unit whilst having a few laughs with mates instore!
When I get a chance to take some individual photos of some of the rats I painted I will put up their colour recipe.

Skaven Screaming Bell and Plague Furnace

2009-10-17T00:39:00.005+11:00

Hey Bloggers,

Check out what the Games Workshop Newsletter just dropped into my email inbox!!
How insanely nice are these models?? I LOVE the characters and crew of these models! It has to be one of the best miniatures Gw has ever made!!

Teamwork: A Hobbyist's Best Friend!

2009-10-14T19:32:00.004+11:00

Hey Guys and Girls,

Since I have been having troubles uploading images these past few days I haven't yet put up my scouts but in the mean time, what do you guys think of teamwork??

Little Max and I are embarking on a joint hobby project: to complete 1000pts of Space Marines and to play a game on the 1st of February.

He is working on his Imperial Fists and I am building my 4th Company Ultramarines and so far I have found myself to be much more motivated hobbying with him (rather than alone/in-store) and really wanting to complete my 1000pts. To most people I'm sure this seems like an easy task but neither Little Max nor I have completed an army to date, being more like magpies in our hobby than good little bower birds (they would play Ultramarines too!).

We both finish uni at the end of October and start jobs which I am sure will become very hectic during the holidays and then I am planning to go away during early January to relax from a very stressful and draining year. Which means we will have November and December in between work and family commitments and then just two weeks of January to finish up my army!! I still have to buy a Razorback and a few other assorted goodies (like Forgeworld items) as well as do the green-stuffing so all my marines have some lovely Ultramarine and Tactical raised icons on their shoulder pads.

The few times I have met up with him in the last few weeks of term we have gotten quite a lot of hobby done in the time available and had a few laughs together.
So my question is this: do you find yourself being more productive in matters of hobby when working with a friend as a team? Or do you like to hobby alone at your place where everything is in easy reach?

Let me know what you think in the new poll or by leaving comments!

Ultramarine 1000pt List Draft

2009-10-12T21:33:00.012+11:00

Hey Guys,

Today Little Max and I did a bit of painting, he on his scouts and me on my tactical marine test mini. We were working out the green shoulder pad edging and how to pick out the other details. He did mention that the miniature in real life seems much lighter than it does in the photos so hopefully when I reshoot him once he's finished the colours will seem better. But I really like the combination of the green with the blue. It looks really cool.

So I had planned to put up some pictures of my Scouties but unfortunately the internet isn't allowing me to upload them but hopefully I can do it at uni in a few days. Little Max and I are building and painting our 1000pt Armies with a deadline of 1st of February. Since I am hopefully going away for half of January and Little Max also has some commitments this should be enough time for us to complete our armies. Since this is the case I plan to build and paint around 500pts extra but if this isn't completed then no big problem.

So in the mean time here is my 1000pt Army List for the Ultramarines.

135pts - Space Marine Chaplain in Terminator Armour and Melta Bombs

200pts - 5 man Terminator Assault Squad with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields

75pts - 5 man Scout Squad: 3 Shotguns and 2 with Pistols and Close Combat Weapons

50pts - Land Speeder Storm

170pts - 10 man Tactical Squad

90pts - 5 man Tactical Squad

150pts - 5 man Devastator Squad with 4 Multi-meltas

40pts - Razorback

40pts - Razorback

So those of you astute enough will notice this list is only 950pts in total and leaves me with 50pts to play with. So any recommendations for what to do with those 50pts?

So far I'm toying with the ideas of:
Another terminator and 10pts on special and heavy weapons in the ten man tactical squad.
Power fist for the scout squad, power weapon for the tactical squad and special and heavy weapons.
An upgrade to 1 of the Razorback weapons and take the cheaper/free special and heavy weapons.

So any other ideas? Any jump out as the best idea?
Once the internet decides to work properly I'll put up my Scouts.

Edit:
Tweaking list as to comments

Ultramarine Assault Squad

2009-10-07T16:19:00.010+11:00

Hey happy bloggers,
Awesome I made the Tuesday Top Ten listing at number 2!!
And just the week after little Max did so also! :D I sense a friendly competition coming on...

So as promised and as a reward here are some shots of my WiP Ultramarine Assault squad!

Firstly my Veteran Sergeant. He is of course my favourite and possibly one of my favourites in the entire army. His storm shield is taken from the Assault Terminators but with an assault marine arm chopped to fit and the lightning claw is taken from the MKII Veterans. The head is taken from the Ravenwing Sprue with the Dark Angels sword symbol filled in with green stuff.

It's a five man squad so far with the Veteran Sergeant equip with a lightning claw, storm shield and melta bombs and the unit contains one plasma pistol. I will fill them out eventually to a ten man squad and include a second plasma pistol. In my other squad (since I'm building a full company eventually) I will include two flamers and I'm not sure yet what to give my Veteran Sergeant...

My plasma pistol marine has obviously had an accident in the past and so his head is half replaced with bionics on his left side (as he's left handed!) and I have improved his armour up to a MK8 variant. Since there are no MK8's with jump pack straps I decided to make my own. I did this with some plastic card piping, chopped it into half and tapered the ends. I smoothed it down a little and all was good! I unfortunately forgot to take a photo before I under coated him so if anyone wants a tutorial let me know and I'll do another one and post him up!

All my marines are going to have their correct shoulder pad markings. The assault marines obviously have the assault and ultramarine shoulder pads. These work really well but I think they may be a bit small for the tactical squads so I think I will force myself to do a bit more green stuff practise and model up their symbols. Also it will be good practise for my Space Wolves and Salamanders. The Veteran Sergeant has the Plastic Veteran Ultramarine symbol from the Space Marine Commander and Space Marine Command Squad boxes and the right shoulder pad was attached to the lightning claw arm so I left it as was.

I have tried to make them all individual to some degree so have added grenades along their harness so it's in easy reach for them.

I tried to ensure all the assault marines were leaping from jutting rock to rock or sprinting into an assaulting position. I like how they seem to hover above their bases and some times they almost appear to be floating as your brain edits out their connection to the base when you see them in person.

This last marine holds a special place in my heart. Not only do I like him as one of the "lefties" and his leaning/running pose but I accidentally spilt some plastic glue on his chest so I covered it up with grenades which save the model in my eyes. To be fair it probably wasn't all that bad but I can be a bit anal with my hobby and like things to be perfect and now I think he looks even better!!

Ok so next for the marines I guess are the scouts. They need some green stuff work but I'll show you where they are so far up to. They are looking pretty good so far though. Nice and characterful!

So what do you all think of them?

New Skaven Character Models!!!

2009-10-06T22:35:00.007+11:00

Warlord Queek Headtaker. He's back, he's bigger and he's badder than ever. This is a truely impressive and dynamic model. I like how they have based the new sculpt on the old one with the inclusion of the trophy rack and what I can only assume was a Rat Ogre! He seems to tower as a Vampire Lord might and means business. All the rats running around him only add to his coolness. A must have for me and will probably be the general of my army just cause of his cool model! Well him or Old Sickpaw the Blind Seer.

Our new character Packmaster Skweel Gnawtooth. I like the buck toothed nature of this master slaver with his cat-o'-nine-warpstone-tails! I wonder if he does something to your Rat Ogres, Giant Rats and Swarms??

Finally and possibly most important of all is the fan favourite Deathmaster Snitch! Again an amazing model! The huge flowing cloak adds so much to this model as does the felled greatswordsman underfoot with a rat crawling through his ribcage.

What is probably the coolest thing about the model is the subtle imagery of the three daggers creating the skaven triad symbol. Probably didn't see that at first glance did you? :D

I really like how these models have been based on their original counterparts and grown from there. The knife in the tail, the dripping poisons, the spiked ball on the back of the hood. Kinda like the evolution (or evilution) of the Headtaker model. I also dig the glowing warpstone charm on him and Queek, got to have a go at painting its lighting effects nice and subtle like they have here.

Any guesses what my next fantasy army might be? What do you think it should be?

New Skaven Models!!!

2009-10-06T21:09:00.010+11:00

Hey guys!

I'm super excited since today Gw released images of the sexy new Skaven models!! They are so seriously awesome that I can't believe it! They are just like how the background and artwork describes them. These are all straight off of the New Releases and the sprues are from their blog.

Assorted Clanrat and Doomwheel sprues!! That's right! It's Back!!! I can't wait to see these guys in the flesh (or fur) and get cracking on them whether they are mine or not! :D I just hope the boys at Gw don't get a jump on them before I get there first!

The new clan rats we saw a peek of earlier in the year. They come 20 in a box rather than the current empire boxes of ten, I assume this is since Skaven armies require a horde army in the truest sense of the word.

The old school shields are back! These models are just wow! It's such a huge step up from the previous Skaven models and to me are what Skaven are all about; filthy, vicious warriors born in legions just to fight and bring down the empires and cities of man.....

New Stormvermin!! Again 20 in a box and they look awesome! I really like the head stretched into a drum skin and the Fangleader detail is really nice! These will really be a must have unit now!

The reinvented Doomwheel!!! You can't keep a good mad rat scientist down! The engineer is now riding the doomwheel from the inside and he has what looks like a technician riding on a rear platform. The banner is a pretty impressive piece of kit also.

The sprues are getting really impressive these days, especially the inner rings. Very steampunk in style.

I'll need one or two of these ramshackle contraptions rumbling along the battlefield blasting anything silly enough to come near it.

Alternative Fenrisian Wolves Conversion

2009-10-05T18:13:00.004+11:00

Hey Guys,

Sorry the posts are a bit low currently but I'm in the last 3 weeks of Uni so as you can imagine it's pretty hectic but it will soon be all over!

In the mean time I present you with an alternative Fenrisian Wolf conversion by Franz! He said that it is a pretty time consuming conversion so he will probably only do two to accompany his wolf lord and any others will be like my ones to save on time and to also make the ones accompanying the Wolf Lord that much greater!

As you can see his conversion has the same basis as mine but he has replaced the head of the Chaos Warhound with that of the wolf from the Goblin wolf riders box. This is one of the best poses I think to show off the intimidating nature of the Fenris Wolves. Check him out about to rip the face off of a plague daemon!

And a size comparison next to a standard cadian guardsman.

I love the way the body of the wolf maintains a twist as he leaps through the air. The model is currently only held down by blue-tac so he can be made to be leaping higher it's just the tac couldn't hold his weight up like that.

Coming next from me: Ultramarine Assault Marines!

Ultramarines Test Model

2009-09-30T23:32:00.006+10:00

Well since my blog has a bit of an Ultramarines theme I though I better put up some photos of my Ultramarines Test mini.

I'm not yet 100% happy with the results as I have never been great at painting power armour. I've always felt more comfortable with flesh, fur and cloth but that's what you get when you choose an army in power armour! But the decision was partly to try and force myself to paint power armour better. I'll slowly get there I guess...

The shoulder pads need to be redone a bit and some of the other highlights lessened but so far I am pretty happy with his outcome. He's going to be a member of the 4th company so his shoulder pad rims will be the colour of my Salamanders, (hence my Salamander test model :D I'll put him up in the next few days)

So any comments or feedback?

Fenrisian Wolves Conversion

2009-09-30T14:44:00.009+10:00

Hi everyone,
Today I thought I would post up my Fenrisian Wolf Conversion!!

As you can probably tell these are based off of a Chaos Warhound with the tail from the Goblin Wolf Rider Box. I chopped the tab off of the wolf tail and then carved down the sides of the tail to get it to fit quite snuggly in the gap in the warhound for the tail. This also gives it more connection for the glue to work and allows you a fair bit of control over its final positioning. I got the idea from Gw Chatswood as the boys there had built some but for the tails they used the wolf tail talisman from the Wolf Pack box. I think they looked pretty good but I wanted a longer tail to be more wolf-esq even those these things are some crazy xenos wolf.

I've used the green stuff to pad out the stomach area to give the animal a bit more bulk and to create fur on the rest of the body. I quite like the bulkiness of the original fur as it looks like a mane to my mind.

This was my first time greenstuffing again for some time and possibly my first ever doing fur so I was quite happy with the results. I laid down a thin sheet of green stuff over the area I wanted to create fur on and went from there. I had to add a bit of extra fur to one of the legs as the green stuff stopped too high and it looked a bit strange and the other leg just looked better. What do you guys think? Any tips or hints I should check out?

So far I only have one completed but I have another two ready for some green stuff action.
I'm not sure yet how I will cover up the scales some of the hounds have far down their legs but I figure I will do the rest of them first then worry about it. I might have a bit more tidying up of the model as I removed the spines but these are hard to remove fully. As you can see below I have used the hobby knife to clean them up a fair bit but after seeing this photo I think I might need to fix him up a little more.

Also do you think I should add green stuff to the tail to make it shaggy like the fur on the body or do you like him as is?
Thanks guys!

Edit:
There's also some great conversion ideas for Wolves of Fenris over at B+C. I really like their current wolfy theme!

New Blogs

2009-09-29T15:47:00.007+10:00

Well Little Max and Josh Davy have both kicked off their blogs!!

Both are great guys who are always up for a hobby and we will hopefully see some of their great stuff!

Little Max - as seen here - is working on his Imperial Fists and Traitor Legion Guardsmen.
Josh Davy is working on his Vampire Counts army.

Congratulations and welcome to the world of blogs!
Check them out as they get their blogs kicked off and up and running!

Also my friend Strider has returned to us from his long holiday so I'm expecting to see plenty of Hobby from him!!

Edit:
Little Max has just been added in spot number two in the FTW Tuesday top ten!!
Nice work man and after only one day of having your blog up and running!!

Also Gw has posted their Space Hulk FAQ here. Unfortunately it doesn't cover a few things that I know have been causing issues amongst some people who have a different take on the rules to everyone else...

Ultramarines Movie

2009-09-29T00:02:00.004+10:00

Wow!

So we are actually getting a Warhammer 40k movie!! That's totally awesome!!

But they will have high exceptions to live up to but I think the Dawn of War series were well done, especially no. 2.

There's not much to go on over at their official website but I've signed up for updates so hopefully I'll hear when things start happening.

The guys making it have only listed the Bionicle movies as their other works. Although they obviously aren't my thing and I haven't actually watched them from what i have seen they are pretty well done. i just hope they will be able to do the gritty, gothic 40k universe justice. Maybe they are working with the guys making the Space Marine game as that looks pretty nice!

Here's hoping to an Awesome movie, lots of Dvd sales which then leads to more Awesome 40k movies!!

Assembling the New Wolf Guard!!

2009-09-25T23:21:00.011+10:00

Hi Happy Bloggers!!

Today I got the esteemed pleasure of building the new plastic Wolf Guards for my local Gw store!! I had to follow their army list but other than that I pretty much got free reign in building them with a few pose tweeks from Deke. I've got to say these are gorgeous models!! Great fun to build with oodles of extra bitz. I really wanted to use the Wolf Pack wolf helmet with the final terminator with Wolf Claws but they were already used so I'll have to keep one spare when I build my guys!

These models were so fun to build I think I will be getting a few more packs than I need, including making some for extra Space Hulk Missions! You really have got to check out the Assault Cannon on these miniatures! He has a chain fed ammo feeder which gives him a huge amount of bulk and makes him look UNSTOPPABLE!! When you see this model in person check out how the belt feeder and ammo box attach to the armour's exhaust and power outlet (the oval containing two circles) on his lower back. It just plugs straight into his grille and power outlet and is super snug and flush. :) It's quite ingenious! Imagine attaching him to your 6 man Long Fang unit.... Ouch!
(When assembling him consider pinning him as he is so heavy its pretty hard to get him to stay in the correct position whilst he is drying even when you lay him down!)

There's a sculpted shoulder pad for Deathwolf's Company!! But it's half covered with fur :(
I put it on the Assault Cannon Wolf Guard since he is my favourite! :D
There's also a sculpted shoulder pad for Logan's Company (pre-wolf lord) and the Space Wolves icon and enough Wolfy Crux Terminatus for all five models.

There's also a drinking horn to match that of Canis Wolfborn's to further the tie in to Deathwolf's Great company. And of course there is always the obligatory Wolf Tails, Wolf Skulls and those other bitz that must come with the Space Wolves! There are even some tiny wolf skulls attached to arms, cabling and shoulder pads that include the detail of cavities left by missing teeth, really have a close look at some of the details on these guys. You won't be disappointed!

The only quibble is I'd like to see a few more head options but when combined with the Space Wolf Pack this isn't so much of an issue. I'd also like to see all of the great companies get a shoulder pad then you could swap with mates to get a full pack with the correct shoulder pads! (I'm probably just being greedy but hey I can dream! It's my wish list!)

Some seriously fun miniatures and conversions to be had!
Any Questions about assembling them or the box's content I'll do my best to answer!!
Thanks Guys!!

Also how did I go on my first real attempt at model photography? I think the store's lighting did most of the work though... Any tips for improvement?

Group Shot

Pack Leader with Thunderhammer, Storm Shield and Bear Cloak (and Bear Loincloth! :D )

Wolf Guard with Assault Cannon and Powerfist (Check out that sweet Belt Feeder)

Wolf Guard with Twin Wolf Claws

Wolf Guard with Frost Axe and Stormbolter

Second Wolf Guard with Twin Wolf Claws

Ps... I saw Canis Wolfborn in person. He looks a lot better than in the photos so I'll have to wait to see him fully painted up before I make up my mind on him but I'll definitely be getting one! One of the guys from our store is getting 11!! He's running the Canis Army with Fenrisian Wolves so no Objective claiming for him!!

Also the Cloak of the Doppelgrangrel from Lukas the Trickster is beautiful!! If you get to see it properly you will notice it actually has six limbs and tyranid-esq spinal scales and tail. Painted up it looks really nice and I think I will be adding one to one of my Rune Priests. I don't think it will be a very hard conversion as long as my Priest has the right pose to begin with.

Kill for the Living, Kill for the Dead, Kill for the Warmaster!!

2009-09-22T22:16:00.003+10:00

These were posted over at Terran Forge, a nice looking blog you should all check out.

Any guesses? :D

399 Visits!!

2009-09-21T23:54:00.002+10:00

Wow!! Thanks guys! In less than a week from adding a hit counter we are already up to 399!! Thanks so much!

I didn't realise there were many people even viewing the blog so thanks a lot for checking me out. As uni gets towards that end date of 31st of October my hobby will continue to increase and you'll start seeing peeks of my actual hobby!! :D

As a reward for our 399 visits I will post up some photos of what I have been working on recently this weekend.

Special thanks goes to my 12 followers and anyone who has left a comment!! Thanks guys and girls!!

Keep those comments coming so I know what you are all thinking, what you want and what you do and don't like!

New Imperial Guard and Treadheads

2009-09-21T00:30:00.012+10:00

Hey guys...

Check out these rad new Imperial Guard models on Gw's website!
I'm pretty impressed so far. I think I'll have to get some for my Tandaris Army....

The Imperial Guard Tank Crew have to be my favourite release of this month I think (as Space Wolves are next month :D ) Those guys are so full of character to my mind.

They are definitely going to be joining the ranks of the Tandaris soon. Not sure thought if I should use them as tank crew or just as extra cool minis....

Imperial Guard Tank Commanders: Well I think I have the right two buried away somewhere but I don't have that Commissar Commander. He's a definite acquisition I'll need to make.

Tank Stowage: I've been searching for some extra baggage to add to my tanks other than the two from the heavy weapons teams (which I need for my veterans) and the one from the Tank Accessory sprue, which I need to get a few more of so I can enclose the tracks of my tanks.

Speaking of tanks I saw a rad tank conversion in the City Store on Saturday which was a Leman Russ featuring the engine/exhaust block off of a Land Raider on the back and used predator side sponsons. This made a really striking looking tank which I think would work well as a Command Tank for a more modern force.

I think I will be sticking to the "older" chassis for the Leman Russes in the Vostroyan Army and the "newer" chassis for the Tandaris Tanks. This means that all the Punishers and such in the Vostroyan Army will be the hull of the current Leman Russ and the Leman Russes in the Tandaris Army will be the new hulls. This is to represent the fact that the Vostroyan Army is much, much older and hence have older (but better maintained and built) tanks where as the newer more modern Tandaris Army will utalise the "fast build" chassis that has just been released with the Punisher et al box.

The only one I'm not so sure of is these guys, labelled Imperial Guard Heads. I'm not even sure what all the heads are meant to be (ie Cadian, Catachan, commanders, vehicle drivers, characters, etc...) Any ideas guys??

These guys are all released here along with Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken and Gunnery Sergeant Harker, the new Warhammer basing kit (which is pretty nice, I saw it instore on Saturday as Ben got one for his "checked" Orc Boys) and the Dead Grass, which is pretty much the colour I was looking for to use with the Salamanders.

Any Ideas on what I've raised??
Thanks guys!

p.s. Tomorrow I start my conversion of Chaos Warhounds into Fenris Wolves....

Army Roster Sheets

2009-09-18T12:57:00.003+10:00

Hey guys,

I just found some great looking army rosters from Oni's blog Pit of the Oni.

Check them out. Some pretty good looking army rosters which the more recent ones you can fill in directly. Good Stuff! I know I'll be printing some off for my next game!

Also whilst you're there check out his great job on magnetising Predators and Rhinos!

Space Hulk Mission 1: Suicide

2009-09-15T22:44:00.008+10:00

Last Monday Night I arrived at Little Max's house to begin our inaugural game of Space Hulk! My valiant opponent Little Max checks over the rules before we kick off our game. As you might be able to tell from our models lack of assembly we pretty much got the game underway as quick as possible!

As it was his kit he took the Space Marines first and I was the Genestealers. After a fairly generic setup with Lorenzo in the lead followed By Scipio and of course the Zael with the Heavy Flamer Little Max makes a run for it turning a marine and setting him to overwatch to guard his rear. Mean while the blips close in......

Sergeant Lorenzo is taken out by a generstealer hidden behind that door! (this is before we knew the Power Sword rules more indepth)

As Aliens plays in the background we get an eerie visitor from the film.....

After the Sergeant is gone the genestealer lunges into the Heavy Flamer specialist Zael.

And deftly takes him out!!!

The other Marines lacking the leadership of Lorenzo and knowing their mission is lost are wiped out to a man! The Hulk still swarms with Genestealers with the danger of them launching infected lifepods across the sector something must be done!

My turn as the Marines to follow! Let's hope I do Better!!

Mr Smiggle's Very Busy Day - Part Deus

2009-09-13T17:22:00.014+10:00

Hi guys,

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few days but it's been kinda hectic and my net went down which has only just been resolved today.

So Monday night Little Max and I rented Aliens, gathered at his house and clipped out the key players for Mission 1: Suicide. First he played through as the Marines and then we swapped roles. Not surprisingly the marines lost both times but I was pretty close to taking it out as I foolishly ran to take out the objective rather than just sitting back and flaming the hallway and whittling down the genestealers numbers as I hadn't yet used my flamethrower! Silly mistake!

Tuesday I found my missing hobby bag with my hobby supplies!!!

Wednesday night we met again to play through Mission 2: Extermination. Again Little Max played Marines first as he had actually read the rules cover to cover in preparation for our game.

Thursday I met with Dan Payne who's currently living in Melbourne but was up for the week to visit friends and family. We met up at Chatswood Gw for some quality hobby but spent most of our time talking, talking about Space Wolves and checking out their shiny new 'dex and catching up and all of our Friday Night Crew met up for dinner and we met Matt's brand new son for the first time! :D

Friday we headed into the Gw City Store and I got my paint on for the first time in ages! (pictures to follow soon, I'm without a camera for a few days) I realised how poorly I am painting at the moment due to the lack of practise! So I'm trying to hold out until the end of October so I can really get stuck into painting but will keep working on a model here or there to try and remember what I'm doing. Then Dan and I played Mission 1 in the Store and I won as Marines! Noctis is really notching up a kill count! Then we went to Will's place for Space Hulk, Videos games, chatting and a nice dinner out! I didn't play any Space Hulk at Will's but acted as an unofficial Space Hulk rulebook as it seemed like I had the most experience as everyone was busily assembling their Space Hulk before we arrived.

Saturday whilst waiting for my girlfriend to finish her new uni course I went to the City store to do some painting. Whilst there I randomly ran into Kyle M and saw some of his amazing entries for the Games Day UK and some of his "crap" stuff that "wasn't good enough for uk" and is so going to be entered into GD Oz. I also met his friend Steve who also had amazing painting skills and has only been painting for about 4 years! You might remember his Golden Daemon entries from last year which now feature on the promotional poster for this year's Golden Daemon Oz. These two guys have some amazing painting skills and it was amazing to get to hold these models I had seen and admired for some time. They are both really great guys and were helping out those of us who ran to them for advice and it was great to pick the minds of such great painters and see their work in progress as they plan out future entries.

Golden Daemon 2008 Australia - Open Category - Silver - Kyle Morgan

Golden Daemon 2008 UK - Diorama - Gold - Kyle Morgan

Golden Daemon 2008 Australia - Warhammer 40,000 Medium Miniature - Silver - Steve Guo

Golden Daemon 2008 Australia - Open Category - Bronze - Steve Guo

As Kyle is going to be starting a Space Wolf army for tabletop use when he returns from the UK and France I am hopefully going to get to paint some Space Wolves along side him to improve my painting and learn some more advanced techniques such as damage to their armour. This is something I'm really looking forward to after uni is over as I hope this will really push my painting to a higher level. In preparation I want to try and get in as much practise as possible to at least get my painting back to where it was or to a reasonable level. I figure I will try and imitate his models to the best of my abilities to make sure I don't try and cut corners and so make sure I really push myself. I'm currently thinking I will make this army with Kyle and then I might make another one based on the 13th Company. This will give me another chance to practise what I have learnt and give me two armies with different playing styles. I also really love the 13th Company but am currently thinking of doing one of the other Wolf Lords to begin with based on their history in the codex.

Best of Luck to Kyle in the UK Golden Daemon and French Ravage Mix Open!

The Next Next Step

2009-09-08T21:45:00.007+10:00

Check out this video from Beasts of War featuring everyone's favourite Popular Corridor Space Game Foam Kit. After our inaugural game of Space Hulk, Little Max and I are gathering some mates to split the postage with so we can keep our hot new Space Hulk's safe.

Space Wolf Sprues!!

2009-09-08T13:43:00.006+10:00

I was going to regale you all with my heroic tales of Space Hulk from last night but instead I'll give you this.
Once I download my Space Hulk Photos I'll put them up.

In the mean time Live From Games Workshop International Its:

An Interior Shot From The Codex!!

With Special Guest Star: The Space Wolf Sprue!!!

The Wolftime Approaches Even Closer!!

2009-09-07T11:58:00.013+10:00

These come from Big Jim's Space Wolf Blog and originally from Rabianegra at Warseer but I couldn't resist having them on my own blog if for no other reason than for me to stare lovingly at them....

Bonus points for naming the characters correctly as well as spotting all the cool bitz and pieces!

The Wolftime Approaches

2009-09-06T16:16:00.002+10:00

The Next Step

2009-09-06T13:54:00.006+10:00

Well the next thing I need to pick up is two of these sets.

I was worried about how I was going to store the Space Hulk minis as they are so dynamic I doubted that I could fit them into a normal case safely. I probably could if I cut out about half the foam but that kinda kills the whole purpose of the foam for protection.

I was thinking that since I would definitely get two of these sets that at the same time I might get some of the foam protection for my Imperial Guard army.
I think the 432 and the 216 look to be the best sizes for me as the 1520 seems crazy huge!! And I can always get one later on... maybe for apoc and baneblade needs as they arise.

I like the idea of using the 216 for transportation of my specialist game armies, like Blood Bowl, Necromunda and hopefully my upcoming Flames of War army. Whilst I will use the 432 for my Imperial Guard and other similar sized armies with unique needs. I still have a number of Gw cases that ill use but i hate the idea of just cutting half the foam out of them to use them as it can really weaken the foam especially when it comes to tanks, etc removing the base layer of foam. I may even get one just to transport my vehicles in as the Space Marines and Guard have some pretty unique shapes that these guys seemed to have catered for fairly well.

Now my biggest problem is waiting for my tax return to come in and deciding what I will need in the case?
I need some Valks, Russes and Chimeras/Trucks along with my troops and heavy weapons....
Ill have to figure it out over the next few days.

Mr Smiggle's Very Busy Day

2009-09-05T18:51:00.007+10:00

I was up late last night doing some work on the computer and getting my blog in order. I'm now a part of both the BoLS blogger Group and the FTW blog group as these have been two of the best ways for me to find blogs myself.

After about 4 and a half hours sleep I had to get up and go to the city with my girlfriend for her new university course (starting on a saturday) and getting a few last minute supplies for her friends wedding (at which she i a bridesmaid and I was "uninvited!"). Then after getting her to the bride's house I got to go on my merry way to Chatswood GW to pick up my two shiny new copies of SPACE HULK....

I got suckered into buying the $8 novel by Gav Thorpe, but it should be a fun if not short read :)

Anyway at the end of the day I had:
Two Copies of Space Hulk
A Space Hulk Novel
A Water Pot
Four paints to start trying out some guard schemes
White Dwarf so I can read all about Space Hulk
And was added to the Two Blog Rolls I wanted to.

so after only 4 and a half hours sleep a pretty good day was had!! :D

Ultramarine 4th Company

2009-09-05T02:03:00.003+10:00

Oh No!!

These 4th Company Ultramarines totally put me to shame!!

Maybe I'll paint one or two of mine in their scheme and see how they look?
But there is no way I can pull off that great looking freehand work and detail!!

Check them out! They're amazing!

Tandarian Imperial Guard

2009-09-05T00:12:00.020+10:00

Hey guys. I need your help!!!

Which colour scheme should I paint my Cadian Imperial Guard?
So far I have asked four guys and gotten four different answers...

So my army is to be a force from Tandaris which was featured in a series of Australian White Dwarf Articles. It was three battle reports set on the planet of Tandaris where the Vostroyans (with later Daemonhunter Forces) take on the local populace who have been turned Traitor by a daemon plague. As I needed a theme for my Cadian based guard models and I love the Vostroyans and wanted an army a little different from the other Cadians, since most regimental numbers seem to be taken :D , this seemed like a logical and fun choice!

My Tandarian Force isn't fully planned out yet but I know that...

They are a mainly urban force (as to fit in with my Cityfight Vostroyans)
The bases will be loose dirt or rubble possibly with snow? (nothing too fancy)
They will be equipt with Trucks and Halftracks to replace Chimeras and Hydras; ala Dave Taylor Miniatures

So the four colour schemes are....

Dave Taylor's 144th Cadians - Found here

Simon Brown's Cerberus VII Regiment - Found Here and Here

Luther Blisset's Heron Hounds - Found Here and Here

King's Standard Bearer's Cadian VIII Veteran Sergeant - Found Here - New Update Here!

So which colour scheme do you think looks best or is best for the army I have described?
We are solely judging on colour schemes not paint jobs or conversions as I'm sure I won't be able to do anywhere near as good a job as these guys have done. I've left the poll open for 100 days to try and get as many responses as possible but I'll probably get going on these a bit earlier as I'm dying to get some painting happening!!

edit: Ok after some input from Dave Taylor I've adjusted the poll to around 50 days, ending on my birthday. Also Uni ends just after that so I should be able to kick them off soon after that. Assuming I don't get taken away by The Beast Within....

As I develop and clarify the fluff for my Tandarian Forces I'll let you guys know as it develops. I'm still not sure whether to make them a PDF or a raised guard unit?? Possibly the last unit raised as the planet was consumed by the plague virus... Thoughts? Comments?

His child-like wonder and enthusiasm

2009-09-01T21:41:00.000+10:00

My friend just wrote this about me in a quiz thing.
Seems quite cool.

→What is the funniest thing you've ever heard/seen 14 do?
Too many things to list. His child-like wonder and enthusiasm is hard to beat though, and should be an inspiration to avoid the grown-up in all of us.

Army Progression Checklist September 2009

2009-09-01T20:57:00.002+10:00

Hi all,

I'm going to post up my current army progression checklist and every six months update it so I can keep track of my progress (or lack there of). Ill try and keep it all the same format for easy updating and ease of reading:

Warhammer 40K
Ultramarines - 4th Company
Built - roughly 800pts built and based with two tactical squads almost built
Painted - test model almost finished, assault squad base colour and wash applied
Painting Scheme - decided: based on Captain Sicarius Masterclass article
Basing Scheme - decided: slate with fine sand (then grass flock or snow)

Imperial Guard - Tandarian
Built - three squads built with heavy weapons, Converted Leman Russ and Chimera almost complete
Painted - None
Painting Scheme - urban colour scheme: not yet decided upon possibly similar to urban tau scheme from eastern empire or dave taylors 144th cadian diorama
Basing Scheme - urban basing scheme: not yet decided upon

Warhammer Fantasy
Empire - Von Schleickenhammer's Vampire Hunters (including Sylvanian and Stirland Forces)
Built - 15 hand gunners, warrior priest
Painted - Just about to start test models

Painting Scheme - Sylvanian colours as seen in heraldry book and WD articles and units of renoun such as the Essen Death Heads
Painting Scheme - Stirland, and Stir River Patrol
Basing Scheme - soil, undead and grasses

Army Progression Checklist September 2009

2009-09-01T18:47:00.002+10:00

Future Armies
Vostroyans - 17th Fighting Dogs, 9th Combat Engineers and 025th Armoured Corps
Built - one squad built
Painting Scheme - decided: one half as standard (bryan cook style) and one half as combat engineers as seen in the tandaris campaign
Basing Scheme - decided: city fight rubble, mostly industrial and city rubble

Salamanders
Built - test model and chaplain
Painted - test model begun
Painting Scheme - in progress
Basing Scheme - orange/brown soil and yellow/burnt tall grass

Space Wolves - awaiting new releases!
Painting Scheme - newer codex grey based scheme
Basing Scheme - winter themed bases

Grey Knights
Painting Scheme - based on minivault scheme with a touch of purple to tie together Inq forces
Basing Scheme - plasticard tiling (Very time consuming) with small amounts of dirt and rubble (possibly with some snow)

Sisters of Battle
Painting Scheme - based on order of the bloody rose but purple tips rather than blue
Basing Scheme - plasticard tiling

Inquisitorial Stormtroopers
Painting Scheme - based on minivault scheme
Basing Scheme - plasticard tiling

Inquisitorial Space Marines - Chapter 616
Painting Scheme - combination of sisters of battle and black templar
Basing Scheme - colour scheme to match other Inq forces but otherwise undecided. possibly rubble.

Blood Pact
Orks
Tau

Future Armies
Middenheim
Painting Scheme - Middenland and Middenheim
Basing Scheme - Winter themes bases from the storm of chaos campaign

Wood Elves
Painting Scheme - Undecided
Basing Scheme - forest floor

Ogres
Painting Scheme - Flesh mix created, clothes codex grey and graveyard earth, purple tattoos
Basing Scheme - general plains and long grasses

Skaven - awaiting new releases!
Lizardmen - Mazdamundi's army

Other
Human Blood Bowl Team - The Cougar-Wolves
Space Hulk - awaiting new releases!

Battle Companies of Rohan and Gondor
Urak-hai of Isenguard

Skaven Clanrat

2009-08-26T23:33:00.001+10:00

A pretty good likeness I think...

Band of Brothers Army Building Challenge

2009-08-23T00:14:00.001+10:00

A nice surprise

2009-08-22T23:48:00.000+10:00

Look what GW just emailed to me...

New Skaven

2009-08-22T19:41:00.000+10:00

Awesome. Images of new Skaven are emerging....

I really like these sculpts! Much more like how I image the Skaven as compared to the current models. The background and artwork of the Skaven to me really make them sound like a dark and mysterious race that most of the world doesn't even believe exists.

These guys are really going to make me get my Skaven hobby on!

Band of Brothers Army Building Challenge

2009-08-20T00:38:00.001+10:00

Under Construction

Frodo and Sam's Adventures in the Shire

2009-08-18T20:28:00.004+10:00

It was just Alec and I instore today when the "mystery box" arrived.
We opened the plain looking box labelled "Frodo and Sam's Adventures in the Shire" and low and behold it was clearly a trick!! It was Space Hulk! (apparently Hurstville got "Squat Army Deal")

So Alec and I spent the afternoon building them all and let me say I'm impressed!!
There is one termie who has just ripped the skull and spine off of a genestealer and is dead hard!!
Some of them are missing the glass in the eye as it has been slashed.
There is an INSANE amount of detail on these model. Seriously. Wow.

Of course the first model I built was Mr Pointy.... !!
I knew I had to after talking with you guys....

Any questions, ask away.

ps... i pre ordered three.

Mystery No More

2009-08-17T23:55:00.000+10:00

Sgt: "Kill those bugs!! Take down the broodlord!!"
Marine: "Where Sgt?"
Sgt: "There beyond the machinery! Quickly they are closing distance fast!!!"
Marine: "Sorry Sgt but i still cant see them!!?"
Sgt: "Specialist!"
Pointy: "There."
Marine: "Targeters locked! Enemies vanquished! Good save there pointy!"
Sgt: "Truly you are the emperors finest!"
Pointy: *Embarrassed* "Thanks guys... all i did was point at them"

Hello 2009!

2009-01-14T22:02:00.002+11:00

Well I havn't yet got an army up and going yet. Drats.

But I have partaken in an Awesome Apocalypse 40k game which saw the combined forces of good win 5-0! yeay!

Which inspired me even more to get myself an army happening.

So to allow me to field a variety of options and use a set colour scheme and theme to my army I am building the 4th company Ultramarines!!

To help me along the way Nick James has started up a Salamander army which is looking amazing!! But unfortunately with the whole world economics collapsing I had not enough work and now too much work! But beggers can't be choosers!

But happily I have almost finished building a 5 man assault squad (I only need to clean 2 sets of grenades and flock the bases!!) and have a 5 man scout squad built and awaiting some green stuff "U"s which I should be able to knock over in a few hours if my green stuff hasn't gone off!

I'm really happy with the models so far and am starting work on a tactical squad next whilst i build up a few more scouts.

I've got the colour scheme sussed and have the all new all flashy all wow spray gun ready to base coat the little suckers!!

I havn't yet written a list as im finding that a bit too hard so I have instead written up the company which will give me more options as I get them all built. Happily I havn't yet lost focus and am planning the next army without it hindering this army which is a first for me! And a happy one at that. (on that note does anyone have any spare marauder horsemen heads I could pilfer?? I gotta get the stock pile started)

So that's my intro to my hobby attempt for this year. Closest thing I have to a New Year's Resolution, but hopfully it will become a reality!

Next post I'll put up my company list and hopefully some photos.

HH5, Dj.

Goodbye 2008

2009-01-14T21:59:00.001+11:00

5th Ed

2008-07-10T16:20:00.000+10:00

I got 5th Ed Gamers edition today!!!
Kick Arse!!!

First Schedule - Update

2008-07-02T09:29:00.001+10:00

So today I'm trying to finish off my uni work as I have (hopefully) the last meeting tomorrow!!

So no hobby done as of yet.... :(

but....

I've picked up a number of paints the other day specifically for the grey knights, which should almost eliminate any need for blending and mixing colours! I'm really quite excited to get into it all! But ill need to wait for Friday to get it happening. Then hopefully I can work on it Sat and Sun also.

So lets have a look at that schedule!
Starting Monday 30th - Sunday 6th - Week 1

I will clean up and assemble 2 Grey Knights, Base them and Undercoat them
Build 3 bases for the Storm Troopers (takes longer than you think!)
Buy Paints for Grey Knights - Done!
Start (and hopefully finish) the test colour marine

So it could be said I'm a quarter done....?
But it looks like there could be a delay in the undercoating of my minis as I have just discovered this http://www.weetoysoldiers.com/wp/?page_id=34

I have to say I am VERY intrigued, So I think I'll try and pick up a bottle of it from Hobbyco on thursday and do a test model or two to see how it turns out but if its all true! Wow!

I have already undercoated 3 Grey Knights, which will need some touch up still so I can at least get moving with the test paint scheme whilst I'm trying to find it/experimenting with it so it hopefully won't put me too far behind the 8-ball.

Next post I'll put up some photos, but I'm not sure how great they'll be...

dj

First Schedule: Monday 30th - Sunday 6th - Week 1

2008-06-22T23:41:00.001+10:00

So its Sunday.
So sue me!

After the weekend from hell Im a little behind what I had planned to get done and this week I will need to finish some uni work.

But.....

I have 3 Grey Knights built, based and undercoated.
I want to do the same for the justicar and one more marine to round out the squad.

Then I'm going to pick up some more paints and get started on working out my painting scheme.
Ill be taking a HEAP of inspiration from http://www.minivault.com/GKGroup1.htm
MiniVault has some of the Best minis I have ever seen and a heap of inspiration for the painting and colour schemes.

The Inquisitorial Strom Troopers are very similar to my colour scheme as are the SoB.
After the Grey Knights I will assemble, base and undercoat 3 Inquisitorial Strom Troopers so I have a unit of 5 (adding to the 2 I have already done) and paint them up.
One is currently half painted as my test model.

Unfortunately this week seems to be a write off so.......

Starting Monday 30th - Sunday 6th - Week 1

I will clean up and assemble 2 Grey Knights, Base them and Undercoat them
Build 3 bases for the Storm Troopers (takes longer than you think!)
Buy Paints for Grey Knights
Start (and hopefully finish) the test colour marine

Draft Monday 7th - Sunday 13th - Week 2

Finish Test color Marine
Clean up and Assemble 3 Storm Troopers, base and Undercoat
Finish Test Colour Storm Trooper
Start (and hopefully finish) painting 1 extra Marine and 1 extra Storm Trooper

Ill try and put up some pictures later on this week of what I am starting with, Otherwise I will definitely take some pictures whilst Im working on them during week 1 and post them up.

If I am unable to get a jump start on Week 1 then I will make a post part way into week 1 to comment on progress, some photos and then a post at the end of week 1/preparing for week 2!

HH5,
dj