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!