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.