020 - 40k into 30k?

With all the excitement about Betrayal At Calth I'm expecting that there will be an explosion of interest and participation in Horus Heresy gaming. Now this has got me thinking. Can I use my 40k force in a 30k game? There are two ways to do this. The first is simply using a straight up 40k force. 30k forces and 40k forces use the same game system so are technically compatible. However it has been recommended by the Forge World team that you should use the Horus Heresy Force Organisation Chart with any 40k force that is being used against a 30k force. Quite a easy solution which works out well for Xenos armies.
However this might not be for some people because 30k and 40k are slightly differently balanced which is not a problem but in my mind it's not utilising the setting as well as it should.
So my second solution is to use a 40k models with a 30k army list. To keep things simple I'm sticking with marines.
You can take a Space Marine army and use the Legion Crusade Army List. Alot of the fancier toys like Centurions and Razorbacks aren't in the list so it will cut down on units you have available. A problem is the fact that Tactical Squads can only take bolters but if you take the rite of war "Pride Of The Legion" you can have Veteran Tactical Squads as troops which luckily have the similar loadouts to the current Tactical Squads. Pretty easy and quite nice if they are already painting in a first founding colour scheme already.
But I have an Iron Warriors army which I wanted to shoehorn in. The Chaos Space Marine list has some similar entries to the Legion Crusade Army List such as 20 man squads. Again the fruitier units are not in the list so the Heldrakes stay at home but I felt I had enough models to get a half decent force together.
So here is my painted 40k Iron Warriors army in all it's glory:

The collection is as follows:
Chaos Lord in Power Armour
Chaos Sorcerer in Terminator Armour
8 Chosen
3 Helbrutes
10 Cultists
10 Cultists
20 Chaos Space Marines
10 Chaos Space Marines
10 Havocs
10 Havocs
1 Rhino
1 Heldrake

So what can I use? Technically the two HQs can be used. I'd rather not use them as they are very Chaos looking but I'll se what options I have at the end before I discount them. The Chosen can used in one form or another. Two of the Helbrutes have compatible load outs so they are potentially in. The majority of the Chaos Space Marine squads can be used apart from the special weapons.This is a problem I have with the Havocs because all heavy and special weapons in the support quads have to be the same so they are out but I can use the non heavy weapon troopers as basic marines. The cultists are out unfortunately as is the Heldrake but the Rhino is in!
So here is the list I have come up with:
Centurion with a power sword and plasma pistol
5 Vets with a power fist for the sergeant and a meltagun
Rhino
5 Terminators with lightning claws
13 Tactical marines with a powerfist for the sergeant
10 Tactical Marines
Dreadnought with an autocannon and a powerfist

The list doesn't have a massive amount of heavy support. I could have scraped together a few support squads if I had spammed a few more heavy and special weapons in my Iron Warriors. There is also a lack of heavy transports especially in the form of something for the Terminators as  they cannot deep strike. However there is alot of boots on the ground and a couple of powerfists floating about. this would work well with an allied detachment with some heavy hitting stuff. This army could work quite fairly against the Betrayl At Calth army as they end up with rouglhy similar points totals. Swapping the Rhino out for a couple of Chaos Space Marines would make this army compatible for a Zone Mortalis force.
So there you go. A fully painted WYSIWYG Iron Warriors army. Maybe not completely Heresy looking but legal all the same. Bear in mind this is a solution to getting models to play and to get the full experience nothing beats an army of authentic Horus Heresy models. This is mainly an academic exercise in how to get a force to play with but hopefully this will give you a little inspiration to start playing Horus Heresy games. Until next time!

019 - Chosen Of Tzeench

I wanted to start a new Chaos army for the Age Of Sigmar. I started a Tzeench Army as I have always like Tzeench because he is a scheming git of a god. It has a little more depth than the other gods whose motivation consists of killing, rotting or sex respectively. I had a box of Chaos Warriors that I was going to use as Space Wolves conversions that never panned out and a Tzeench Sorcerer Lord that was going to be another conversion but was sitting in my bits box. This gave me a great basis for my warband.

The Warriors of Chaos have blue capes which will be a running theme throughout the army. I shaved off the horns of the helmets to make them look a little different to the normal warriors. I have given the hero horns sprouting out of the side to make him stand out.

One of the really liberating things with Age Of Sigmar is the way you can build an army. It seems pretty mind blowing after years of percentages of Core, Special and Rare choices that you can just pick what you want. I could have an army full of Warshrines if I really want or ten Bloodthristers. The only real restrictions is making it fun and fair for your opponent so that you will get a second game!
I have limited myself to Tzeench choices over the Mortal, Daemon and Beast categories and will grab the models that catch my eye rather than the ones that are super effective. I have always loved the Chaos Wastes (which I suppose now is conveniently the Realm of Chaos) and the Warbands that are constantly being tested there. Some of them will fight for years and never see the lands of men due to them trying to get the attention of the Chaos Gods.

I had some of the Famous Familiars which I had for another project (see a theme with models being from another uncompleted project) which I dropped into the army as backup for the Sorcerer Lord. There is some concern from the community that they wont support their current range of models with rules but these models came out in 1988 and have new rules. I think if a model is popular and fits in with the design ethos the studio is going for then I believe they will have some kind of support for them.

With an addition of  a Chaos Spawn that I did in the same kind of colour scheme as the Sorcerer Lord I think I have the start of a really characterful warband.
Now I have a few mortal units I think it's time to add some Beastmen!

018 - Daemons In A Day

I've said it before and I'll say it again I am a really slow painter. I've been getting better and have been cracking though my Space Wolves at a decent pace. However I needed a little pallet cleanser.
I have quite a few metal Nurgle Daemons from the late 80s and early 90s. This was due to a combination of Ebay purchases and old models that I found in a box that I didn't open for a good 15 years. These guys were sitting on a shelf in the hobby room waiting to be painted as a Nurgle allies contingent for my Iron Warriors.
However I kind of knew that I would never get them painted. There was far too much power armour in the painting queue. I needed an easy method to get them done, Luckily I spoke to the manager of the local Games Workshop and he showed me a method of how he painted his Spirit Hosts for his Undead Warhammer army using Nilhiakh Oxide. Thus the idea for my Nurgle Daemons was born!

The method to painting these guys was very simple. Firstly I undercoated them white.

Then gave it a liberal wash of Nilhiakh Oxide.

Then a drybrush of white and based them to match the rest of my armies.

And they are done! 

These models are very different to the look of my other models but the basing is the same as my Iron Warriors and my Age of Sigmar Chaos army so they can slot into either. I like the idea of ghostly Daemons materialising from the warp in the middle of the battlefield.
I was very happy with how they turned out and I was very chuffed with completing a unit of twelve within a day. Normally it takes me a week to do five models!
Now I have had an easy win it's back to painting Space Wolves!

017 - Wolfacary

In the Legion Astartes Crusade Army List the Apothecarion Detachment consist of up to three Apothecaries as a single elites slot. However each Apothecary has to join a squad. The Apothecaries confer the Feel No Pain rule on units that they accompany. This addition to a large infantry squad makes them very durable.This is why I want some for my Space Wolves army. 

However the Apothecaries from Forge World only come with helmets which none of my Space Wolves are going to wear helmets and I am loath to chop up an expensive resin model for a conversion I am not really confident about. Also the Space Wolves Legion may not have Apothecaries in the army list when it comes out so I don't want to spend too much on possibly obsolete models.
So off to Ebay I trotted. After a little digging and alot of patience I got a suitable Apothecary figure for £2.50 including P&P. This is where it's really good to buy off Ebay when a model is slightly older and from a popular range such as Space Marines you can have alot of choice and get some real bargains.
To make this model suitable for my needs I needed to do a little conversion work. I clipped off the head and then ground the area down with an engraving tool. A little green stuff made the addition of one of the heads from the Space Wolves kit fit seamlessly. It had a long beard to cover some of the chest details as the Apothecary is wearing mk7 armour. I can explain this away as the armour looks non standard enough to fit in with the rest of the force.
I painted him up in the standard grey colour scheme and gave him grey hair to make him look old and wisened.
Here is a photo of the finished model next to the original piece.

Hopefully the Space Wolves list in the Prospero book will not get rid of the apothecaries as I am very pleased with this model and it fits in to the army brilliantly. 

016 - The Great Horus Heresy Land Raider Debate

Having really got into the Horus Heresy and started collecting my Space Wolves army I had a good look at what I could and couldn't fit into my army. As the  Horus Heresy is set in the 31st millennium, 10,000 years before the "current" setting of Warhammer 40,000 many of the vehicles and armour marks are very different from the ones we are used to. That said alot of them are in use in both time periods due to the stagnation of technology.
This begs the question what marks are useable in 30k? If you want to use authentic marks of vehicles a good  guide from the Twenty First Legion is here.
During my research online I found alot of conflicting opinions of what should and shouldn't be used. The general consensus is that you shouldn't use the plastic  Land Raider MKIII and you can only use the ForgeWorld MKIIB but I can always point them at page 147 of the Horus Heresy Book One: Betrayal where there is a  MKIII Land Raider and a Mars pattern Rhino being used.

The main reason I want to use the MKIII Phobos Pattern Land Raider is because I really like the model and the way it looks more technologically advanced than the 30k ones. I think this should be the golden rule, if you want to use any model. It might not fly all the time in certain events or tournaments but if you are not seeking to gain an advantage through modelling you should be fine.

Until next time!

015 - The Rout

So after deciding that I wanted to do a 30k force I had a real good think about what army I wanted to do. I am terrible at reading a novel or seeing a cool army and wanting t start that army so I felt with the added cost of Forgeworld models I wanted to be sure of what I wanted to do.
In the end it was a novel that inspired me but it definitely kept my interest for quite a long time. I read Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett which is one of my favourite Horus Heresy novels. It had a different take o the Space Wolves that really appealed to me. The novel showed that the Space Wolves aren't just jokey vikings in space and are one of the most ruthlessly loyal legions in the Great Crusade.
There was one piece of art that really made me go "that's the style for me" which is the cover to Prospero Burns.

.

Its fantastic. From the drop assault in the back ground to massive sea of men on the ground. The Space Wolves are all there with the noble savage Norse stylings we all know and love. I'm a big fan of the juxapation of wooden shields and hyper advanced power armour.

It's also got Russ.

And Wulfen!

I listened to the "Joining The Horus Heresy" episode of the Independent Characters podcast (which is here) and was really inspired with Jason Mullins' description of how he built his Space Wolves 30k force. He described the various kit bashing methods he used and I thought "I could do that".

So I was in a position to buy some Forge World armour and a Space Wolves kit and I was ready to go! I have a a small force at the moment with a good mix of Forgeworld and regular 40k kits.

As you can see from the photo of my army I have made a start. I have used the old Njal Stormcaller model as a librarian and converted an old Apothecary into a Space Wolves style Legion Apothecary. The infantry are a seeker squad on the left all in mk6 armour and tactical squad in a mix of types of armour. Vehicle wise I have gone for a Land Raider which is the start of a squadron and a Dreadnought Talon.

I feel I have a made a good start to the force and I'll keep you updated on my wolfy antics in the future.

014 - I'm excited about Betrayal at Calth

So this Saturday (7th November) the new boxed game from Games Workshop called Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth is up for pre-order before being released proper on the 14th. To put it mildly I am excited. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Horus Heresy in Games Workshop stores!

Games Workshop looks like they are finally starting to get behind the Horus Heresy after the phenomenal success that is had with Forgeworld. Now I hope Forgeworld continue to be the main force behind the Horus Hersey but it will be great to see support from the company at large.

2. Plastic models!

Finally I don't have to buy a truckload of resin! The Forgeworld models are fantastic but it will be nice not to have to spend over £60 on a tactical squad! I also like the fact that the models in the box are an actual kit, not snap fit models like most of the starter boxes.

3. It's a board game.

It's a game I can actually get some of my non-gamer friends to potentially play. A miniatures games has a certain amount of baggage but a board game is a little easier for people to pick up and play and may well bring new people into the hobby.

4. The setting at Calth.

Know No Fear is one of my favourite Horus Heresy novels and I find the whole Calth story in the Heresy to be absolutely fascinating. Its' a great setting and definitely has  room for expansions.

So a few reasons why I am dead excited about Betrayal At Calth. I'll see you in the pre-order queue on the 7th!

013 - Why I Want To 30K

I've been sniffing around the possibility of starting a 30k force for quite a while. I really like the aesthetic of the older marks of armour and equipment. I think I could get a really good looking force which is very different to the hordes of 40k Space Marines that are about.
The fluff is second to none. I keep up to date with the novels and they have really fleshed out a part of the lore which was very important but had very little content. The story is really progressing for what started out as a side project to become the main focus of both the Black Library and the Forgeworld studio.
I also think the cost isn't prohibitive either. This may sound like a bold statement to make but I am not going to be buying a whole army at once. I'll be getting one unit at a time and really focus on that unit until it's finished and then order another. I will also use plastic kits where I feel it's appropriate for example I prefer the plastic Land Raiders to the Forgeworld Land Raiders.
I'm not a very fast painter (or  too good if I'm honest) but I I don't think I'm getting any better dry brushing Iron Warriors.
I recently did a Deamon Prince and it was one of the best painting experiences I have ever had. I got to sit down and get stuck in on making one model look as good as I could make it. So I feel that with the slightly better quality of the Forgeworld models I could have a good go at having a fantastic looking force.
So to conclude I have talked myself into starting 30k and I can't wait.

012 - Age Of Sigmarines

The big talking point of the launch of The Age Of Sigmar (well apart from the round bases and four page rule book) was the introduction of the new faction The Stormcast Eternals.

I am a big fan of the amount of models that you get in the Age Of Sigmar starter set. Just on the Sigmarites side you get a Lord-Celestlan on a Dracoth, a Lord-Relictor, two units of five Liberators, three Retributers and three Proscetuors.  So that is one monster mounted character and seventeen infantry. These are big models, a little bigger than Terminators armoured sized models so I you get quite a good small army. Games Workshop have also released a warscroll to use the force as a detachment.

I like the new models. I get that everybody's first impression are that they are fantasy space amrines but I think that Games Workshop have done really well to get a new faction with a unique design asthetic. However one thing I'm not such a fan of is that the models are very busy with details. Some times I like my models a little simpler to paint but I suppose that extra detail is quite a  nice problem to have! I may just keep the boxed army and paint it and then see where I am. I could expand it with other Stormcast Eternals or just add some other factions such as Elves or Dwarfs in a similar colour scheme to get a nice Grand Alliance army.

I haven't decided what colour scheme to do as I'm not sure about painting gold! The Age Of Sigmar book has a few different colour schemes including a snazzy turqiose one. As I have a pot of Swooping Hawk Tourquize from 1989 that is still viable I might have my scheme right there!

As you can see the I have a little bit of work to be getting on with!

011 - To Forgeworld or not to Forgeworld

Collecting Games Workshop armies and models is a costly affair. Even after the set up of a boxed game, paints glues and equipment, the price of each model is huge.
Then comes the premium brand of Games Workshop which is called Forge World.
Forge World was created in 1998 to mainly create terrain but has since expanded to large  scale resin models and even into new more specialist armies and tanks and in recent years created the Horus Hersey series of rules and models.
Forge World creates model in a  polymer resin. Compared to plastic, resin is brittle and  softer. You have to be aware of this when you use certain modelling techniques. You also have to bathe your kits in warm soapy water to wash off the mould release fluid that clings to the resin.
Also I have found that resin is much like the old metal kits where individual pieces can be warped or bent. This is not too bad with individual single piece sculpts but with complex multi-part kits you have to break out a bowl of warm water to bend it or some green stuff to cover any poor moulding. I have heard that Forge World are very good with replacing any damaged parts and will rush these right out to you.
Unfortunately, Forge World models are the only official way to get into 30k gaming at the moment. When a the minimum ten man tactical squad bundle costs £61 compared to £25 for the equvalent 40k unit it things get real expensive real quick.
However my gaming buddy Adam justifies the Forge World choice by saying that if the regular Games Workshop kits have gotten so expensive then why not go the extra mile and get a much higher quality of kit.
Hope fully the rumours of a plastic Horus Heresy starter set are true. I imagine that the core troops will be in plastic but the  more exotic units stay in resin. This will give players and collectors a relatively cheap way to get into 30k gaming and open it up to a whole new swathe of customers.
Until then I'll  have to put the overtime in so I can afford that Spartan Assault tank.

010 - Space Marine Predictions

A few months ago we all saw the pictures of new mkIV plastic sprue for the rumoured 30k boxed set (the link is here). They were plastic space marines apparently for 30k but seemed to have codex weapon options like the normal tactical squad rather than the more simplistic weapon load-outs of just bolters which would follow the the larger Legion army list. This seemed a little strange until I saw this news report here.
Putting two and two together (and possibly coming up with five) I asked myself what fits in with really old armour marks in a codex formation? Bingo! Mk4 Astartes fighting Orks in the 31st Millennium. This fits in the time line with the Space Marines following the Codex Astartes but having easy access to older marks of amour. Hopefully we do get the rumoured 30k boxed set but I think that that a 31st Millennium (31k?) boxed set might be a real possibility to support the new 2016 campaign.
As a disclaimer this is a super duper shot in the dark!

009 - Ebay Tips

I have been buying alot of models from sellers on Ebay and wanted to share a few of my tips that I have picked up along the way. This is no means an exhaustive list of the best strategies that can be used they are just a few pointers I have picked up along the way.

First and foremost be patient! Unless you have a tournament coming up or another deadline of sorts you don't need that model. So if you don't get the item you want for the price you think is appropriate don't get sucked into a bidding war and if you don't get what you want remember it will always come back around.Even that limited run Skulls Mechanicus model will come back on sooner or later.

Be realistic with what price you can get. Chances are you won't get a Land Raider for £1 but you can get a significant saving. Don't be disappointed that you got out bid on an army when you only bid £5 for eighty models. I find the best way to not overpay is to put down what you think is worth for the model as your first bid and then not check it till the auction is over. This is stop you getting into a bidding war and paying more than you wanted to.

Don't be afraid to get older sculpts. Although they might be metal and a little smaller then current kits some of the older sculpts are perfectly good. Some of the older styles are a little dated but some definitely hold up to today's standard of production.

Instead of going for individual models, job lots are often model for model alot cheaper. You might spend a little more but you can get a whole lot back and if you are clever  selling some of the models you don't want can recoup some of if not all of the initial outlay.

Be clever about when you buy. Get in early for auctions. Use the filters on the searches to narrow down what you want. Put in misspellings on certain models to find cheaper auctions. There are so many different standard tactic to use you can use a little nous and save alot of money on you purchases.
Until next time!

008 - Trying Something New

After being 40k focused for most of my hobby lifetime I decided to try something new.

I said I wouldn't but I got caught up in the hype over Warhammer: The Age Of Sigmar and ended up pre-ordering a copy. I don't know what possessed me to do this. Maybe it was playing in a fantasy setting again, maybe it was getting in at ground level with a new game, it could have even been the fancy new models kicking about or it could be the fact I walked into a Games Workshop store and panicked!
When I got back into the hobby properly in 2014 I never felt inclined to buy a copy of Island of Blood. I think I fell into a category common with alot of Games Workshop fans that I liked Warhammer Fantasy Battle but not enough to want to play it.
Fluffwise I loved the setting. Everyone was living in a magic infused world which I felt still had some real depth to go into with Nippon and Cathay. But sadly with the End Times done we don't have to worry about those places popping up. The ranks and ranks of almost historical looking soldiers appealed to me. The world seemed huge with the massive World's edge Mountains and the Chaos Wastes that had infinite possibilities.                                                              
In the 1990s when I was a young impressionable lad I devoured the background. The dark and barbaric fantasy world really touched something in me. I read quite a few of the novels and when White Dwarf did short fiction I hoovered that up too. The Gotrek and Felix books by Bill King are some of the best fiction Games Workshop ever produced and some of my fondest memories of the Old World.                                            
The Empire was my favourite good guy army. I even had an Empire Army at one point when I flirted with playing in 6th Edition. I think I was always a a bit more casual because my favourite game fantasy wise was always Warhammer Quest. It was very individual and I even got my none gaming friends to have a short campaign with me.
Alot has been said about the over-simplification of the rules for Age Of Sigmar what with them being released as a four page booklet but I think that is misleading as they released hundreds of pages of rules in the form of the warscrolls which is where I think that the meat of the game will lie.
As a new gamer the simple rules and the much lower model count really appeal to me. I have started to plan out a new army from some of the warscrolls which can be as big or as small as I decide. I feel like before you would have to have quite big armies to play but now a couple of boxes and you have the start of an army. Not that the box isn't short of models anyway!

Now I have my grasping little hands on a copy I'm going to have a good look at the rulebook (all four pages of it!) and digest what it has to offer.
Keep on gaming!

007 - Retro Models

I have a confession to make. I'm one of those guys that spends his spare time on his phone, scouring Ebay for models. My search history is filled with terms such as "Metal Space Marine" "Retro Warhammer" and "Rogue Trader Job Lot". I love collecting models from the 1980s and early 90s.
So why collect old bits of lead? If I'm quite honest it's mainly nostalgia. The models may be goofy but have a certain charm. These are the models that I remember seeing in White Dwarf back in the early 90s and wishing I could own. However being twelve I only had a certain amount of funds.
They definitely have a an aesthetic about them. The designers seemed to have a distinct style as well which ran through all their designs. I find them a little easier to paint as they are not at poseable as the current plastic kits and the details are not as minute..
There is a big "Oldhammer" movement at the moment which is mainly about playing the older versions of 40k and Warhammer. I quite like the idea of playing Necromunda again as I have found the rulebook at the back of my cupboard!
I find that collecting the older models is a labour of love which can happily run along side my collections of the current 40k and Horus Hersey models. They do look great as a themed force of older models painted in the current grittier style. Just be patient and grab some Ebay bargains and you can have a decent sized collection in no time!

006 - When is an army completed?

I have been dry brushing Leadbelcher Metal onto Chaos Space Marines for over a year now and it needs to stop. I have about 2000ish points worth of models in my Iron Warriors army and I'm asking myself, when is it competed?
"Never!" I hear you cry.
But bare with me. Some people will only ever collect one force whilst some people will collect army after army. the multiple armies are more of a trend now that allies are firmly entrenched in 40k. Unbound armies have the potential for people to collect more than one army due to buying just one unit for a new force and then another till lo and behold you have the skeleton of new army.
However there are many obstacles to having multiple forces. The main constraints being cost and time.
This is a really expensive hobby and starting a  new army does cost alot. A small legal force can still easily cost the thick end of a £100 for a HQ and a couple of troops. This goes almost double for Forgeworld models! A solution to this are second hand armies that can be a bargain on sites like Ebay and can sometimes be painted and a decent size for a lot less than if you have collected it yourself.
I'm a really, really slow painter. So the issue of time is a big thing for me. I am so jealous of people who can knock out a great army in a few months while it takes me over a year to get a scrappy looking one. The time issue also stops any chance of getting an army which is the hot new thing because by the time it is done a newer shiny army has come out!
People can finish an army for different reasons. It can be the end of the project, for example an army for a tournament or event. Some people have a list and when they have every model in the list the army is done and they only go back when they the codex is changed or refreshed.
Speaking of Codexes if an armies rules are completely out of date and non-competitive such as Sisters of Battle players stopping using their army. This can also happen when a Codex is new but not that good such as the recent Tyranid Codex and the Chaos Space Marine book. There is also the issue of armies being "squatted". This refers to the Squat army that was written out of the universe and hasn't had rules since 1993!
People can get bored with their armies and get their groove back by starting a new one. This can be when they have started with an army that doesn't lend itself to the player's play style. For example someone trying to sit back and shoot with an Ork army when maybe they should have started with Tau.
The reason I want to get another army is that I want my painting to get to the next level so the way I have done my Iron Warriors is very simple and I want to challenge myself.
I can always go back to my Iron Warriors, besides that Khorne Deamonkin Codex is looking quite tempting. Having a few Deamons squirming through Iron Warrior plate is quite appealing!

005 - Dreadnought Bargins

I'm a big fan of 40k Dreadnoughts. I have three painted  Helbrutes for my Iron Warriors and a couple to go. I also have  a standard Dreadnought to go with my Grey Knights contingent.
I have always liked the Rogue Trader Dreadnoughts which seemed mystical and come from a far off time when I started in the hobby. I remember the model in the second edition books being totally different to the standard one which we all know and love.
Hunting around on Ebay for a few months and my patience finally paid off. I got 5 metal beaky marines, a Rogue Trader attack bike, a few Terminators and a complete metal Dreadnought for just over £20. As the Rogue Trader Dreadnoughts go for more than that. I thought I had got a right bargin!
I had a look at some old scanned in White Dwarfs and these guys used to be £3.50 for a complete model when they came out! Not quite the same as £28 for a plastic kit now!
They do need a bloody good scrub but I feel like I did well out of this. Better get the Dettol out!

004 - Space Crusade: A Brief History

A brief history of the 1990 Games Workshop game Space Crusade.

Games Workshop had a joint effort with Milton Bradley to produce Heroquest in the late 80s. This was an adventure game in the vein of Dungeons And Dragons where the players battled against the dungeon master's horde of Orcs, Goblins, Firmir and Chaos Warriors. It was loosely set in the Warhammer universe.  HeroQuest was created by Steven Baker, who worked for the UK division of Milton Bradley (MB). The game was released in Britain, Europe and Australia in 1989 and Canada and the US in the following year.
With the success of Heroquest Steven Bradley followed it up in 1990 with the game Space Crusade. Again it was loosely set in one of Games Workshop's game settings but instead of fantasy it was the universe of 40k. The TV advert is here.
The game used many of the concepts and game play mechanics of Space Hulk and Rogue Trader but had a much simpler level of play.
The games was played on 4 modular boards which represented a space hulk and 3 smaller entry points for the Space Marine player to enter and exit off the board.
It was played between 2-4 players with 1 or more player taking control of a Space Marine squad kitted out with a tonne of special weapons and a dungeon master style player taking control of the aliens. The alien side has Orks, Gretchin, Chaos Marines, Genestealers and a massive Chaos Space Marine Dreadnought. The alien models were fantastic and I still have some of them floating around my bits box. The Space Marine models represented Ultramarines, Imperial Fists and Blood Angels for each of the different teams.
Each game consists of the Space Marine players receiving their mission and entering the space hulk. They have to complete their mission before the other marine players, and return back to their docking claw. Points were scored for units killed and missions completed and they were deducted points for units lost.
There were two expansions Eldar Attack and Mission Dreadnought. I didn't have Eldar Attack but I was lucky enough to own Mission Dreadnought. The Space Marines had new heavy weapons and tarantula turrets, however the alien player got Androids and bigger and tougher Chaos Space Marine Dreadnoughts. The androids were fascinating as they looked very much like proto Necrons.
I wish Games Workshop would do more simpler and mainstream games like Space Crusade and Heroquest as these games got so many people into the hobby.I can see why the collaboration with another company may not happen but Games Workshop is a big enough enterprise that they would be able to finance something along these lines. Hopefully the release of Execution Force is a step in this direction.
Fingers crossed they just re-release Mordhiem!

003 - Beakies!

Like most older players and collectors I have alot of love for the humble mk6 power armour more commonly known as "Beakie" armour due to the pointed nose cone. Before I got my RTB01 models I bought some Forgeworld mk6 armour on a whim at the 2014 Warhammerfest in Coventry.
I wanted some of these models for my Iron warriors. The chaos legions don't have much as its more of a latter-era loyalist Horus Heresy mark of armour. However fluff wise I would say these were looted sets of armour that were taken from dead enemies or even renegade marines recruited by the Iron Warriors.
I used bolters from the Chaos Space Marine kit that i had spare to tie them in with the rest of the force. The rest of the army is more utilitarian looking than the more  flamboyant chaos looking legions (I'm looking at you Emperor's Children) so they fit in quite well.

The resin models had to be washed in soapy water before I used them but were very easy to put together. The models were fantastic and were well worth the extra money over a standard Games Workshop kit.
Putting slightly different marks of armour in an army can really breath life into the look and fluffy background into your force.

002 - Welcome to the Strip Club

Ahh the joys of Dettol.
I have recently bought some RTB01 space marine models off Ebay. They were in a bit of a mess but after seeing a really good guide here I decided to take the plunge and start stripping older models. Using the Dettol technique wasn't too difficult and didn't break the bank either.
There is a massive price difference between unpainted or stripped models and ones that are really bunged up with thick model paint from 1989. They have came out really well and I might just put a quick guide up myself.
Now I have the dilemma of what chapter should they belong to. It's a toss-up between Ultramarines and Imperial Fists. The Ultra Marines may just well win out because of the red bolter retro colour scheme but we will see how long it takes me to do a whole army of Guilliman's finest. I'm quite a lazy painter which is why I got into Iron Warriors but I think I should have a real good go at doing a slightly more complicated army!

001 - Retro Model Rampage

I love the older style of 40k miniatures. Anything from the 1980s madness of Rogue Trader to the mid 90s trend of red weapons on everything!
I've had a good go on Ebay searching out for decent deals for older models. It pays to not "Buy it now" but to take your time and have a go on auctions. After all if you have waited 25 years to buy a model another couple of weeks won't hurt! I have slowly amassed a decent space marine army consisting of two squads of the second edition boxed set tactical marines, a squad of RTB01 style marines, a squad of 1989 Space Hulk terminators, a Rogue Trader metal dreadnought and one of favorite sculpts of all time, the Librarian in terminator armour.
These are the models I fell in love with when I was about 10 reading White Dwarf for the first time.
I saw some really good blogs on collecting retro marines and I am definitely going to get these guys painted up! Thanks to the ongoing popularity of space marines I can field a legal force that is still really characterful. Although I will have to paint them up now!
Stay tuned for updates.

000 - Hello World

Welcome to my blog about all things miniatures and I thought drop a quick post I would tell what the blog is about and also tell you a little about me.
I love Games Workshop games and miniatures. This blog is intended to let me share my projects and collection with the world and maybe even a few of my views and opinions.
I am in my mid-30s and live in the city of Coventry in England. I have been collecting and painting miniatures for nearly twenty five years now on and off. This means I have quite an eclectic collection of models in various states of completion. I love the hobby and I am quite a fan of the direction GW is going lately
So if you are into Games Workshop content stick around. Also if you have any feedback get in contact with me or leave a comment.