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.

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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!