As I've mentioned in prior posts, I love the Black Library audio dramas. I've never been a fan of audio books, as I don't much enjoy being read to. However, audio dramas are not books.
I paid for and downloaded The Glorious Tomb after listening to the preview clip on the Black Library website. I found it intriguing enough to pay for, unlike many of the other audio dramas available. What caught me was the fact that the story is told from the perspective of a Dreadnought, or rather a Marine entombed within a Dreadnought.
Dreads are a Marine unit I've always been fascinated with, both on the table and in the lore. The opportunity to experience a story from the point of view of one was too much to pass up!
The story is that of Black Templars Marshall Adelard, entombed in the Dreadnought chassis Invictus Potens. You get to experience the awakening of a long-sleeping machine and its pilot. This segment is very enlightening, showing that the wakening of a Dread is no small thing (though we've been told that in the lore many times).
Once awake, Adelard/Invictus is dropped via pod onto Armageddon as part of the spearhead of an assault force tasked with destroying an Ork Rok. He, along with an ironclad Dreadnought and a squad of Centurions assault the Rok, blasting the way clear for the follow-on force of Templar infantry.
I can't give away all the plot points without destroying the story for you, but one theme prevalent throughout the story is the struggle between machine and Marine. Adelard wrestles with the idea of separating his own consciousness from that of Invictus' machine spirit. At times he confuses himself with Invictus, and at others purposely distances himself from it. And at yet others, he becomes wrapped up in it, switching freely between narrations.
Another theme is that of time and how a Dreadnought pilot experiences it. We know that Dreads are only woken in times of great need, and that decades or centuries can pass between activations. The idea that a Dreadnought has an incredibly long memory, but one that is riddled with holes is fascinating. Imagine remembering events and people from two hundred years past, but not having the benefit of knowing what happened while you were 'asleep.' The idea feels a lot like discussions on immortality I've read in the past. The idea that you can grow old while those around you age, eventually dying is always present in discussions of immortality. Could people withstand that constant anguish? Dreadnoughts have neither the choice, nor the ability to remember it. For example, while arming for battle, Adelard/Invictus sees Templars that look familiar to him, but finds that some have aged greatly, and others are simply wearing the wargear of their forebears. Could your mind withstand the agelessness of immortality, while decades of blankness prevent you from knowing or witnessing the fate of your comrades?
One of the defining traits of Black Library audio dramas are the sound effects. You can imagine things like bolter rounds, las blasts, and other 40K things when you read about them, but to hear them is completely different. The best effect in this one is the synthesized voices of the Dreadnoughts. To hear the grinding, rumbling voice of Adelard/Invictus say "Praise be!" as he strides into battle is a special thing.
Overall, I'd give this drama five of five stars for being beautifully written, strongly acted, and just a gem in general. I think I've found a new author to follow in Guy Haley.
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
6.02.2014
Review: Space Marines Strike Force Ultra Dataslate
I bought the Space Marines Strike Force Ultra dataslate for my Kindle on Saturday afternoon. Now that formations are an ironclad "official" part of the game, I figured it would be good to own the Marine ones.
The dataslate contains two fluff sections. One is a general description of what a Strike Force Ultra is and does, and the other is a series of descriptions of historical formations in action. Standard fare for a dataslate.
It also contains three formations and all the unit entries you need to make them work. Of course, all the entries are straight out of the Space Marine codex.
The first formation is the Hammerfall Strike Force. To use it, you MUST take a Terminator Captain (or Captain Lysander), one Terminator Squad of 5 Marines, one Assault Terminator Squad of 5 Marines, and either a Land Raider Crusader or Redeemer. You can take upgrades for any of the units as you normally would for a unit from the Marine codex.
The Terminator Captain must begin the game embarked in the formation's Land Raider (it specifically notes this, so you can't get away with taking a second land Raider and putting him in that one) and it an either be deployed normally or in Reserves. The Assault Terminators have no restrictions on deployment (but logic would dictate you'd want to put them in the Land Raider), but the standard Terminators must start in Reserve and arrive by Deep Strike.
The benefits of the formation are that models from the formation get Hammer of Wrath on a turn in which they disembark from the formation's Land Raider. The standard Terminators receive the ability to shoot and run on a turn they arrive by Deep Strike.
Nice, simple benefits for a simple formation. Also, no extra points costs!
The second formation is the Skyspear Strike Force. This one requires you to take a 5-man Assault Terminator Squad, a 5-man Terminator Squad, a Venerable Dreadnought, and a Storm Raven Gunship.
The Assault Terminators and the Venerable must begin embarked on the Storm Raven, and the standard Terminators must arrive by Deep Strike.
You get the exact same benefits as the first formation: standard Terminators can shoot and run when they arrive, and anything disembarking out of the Storm Raven gets Hammer of Wrath (which is a non-factor for the Venerable, as walkers get HoW standard in 7th).
Again. No extra points cost.
The third formation is the Strike Force Ultra, which is basically just taking both of the formations together, and retaining all the benefits of both. In addition, so long as your Terminator Captain is still alive, you can begin rolling for the units from the combined formations to arrive from reserve starting at Turn One. You still have to abide by the other restrictions though, so no shuffling the shooting terminators into or out of the transports, etc.
It's important to note that this is not an Ultramarines specific formation. You can take it using any chapter tactics you like, though if you lead the Hammerfall or Ultra formations with Captain Lysander, you have to use Imperial Fists.
Overall, I think it's a couple of nice, simple formations that a lot of people can find a use for, as Terminators are pretty common in Marine collections, as are Land Raiders and Storm Ravens. In the age of Chapter Masters on a bike with Shields Eternal, regardless of Chapter, rewarding use of a Terminator Captain and some of his associates is nice. All without an added points cost, and without over the top rewards.
Now, if only they'd make that Captain Agemman model available outside of the strike force bundle...
The dataslate contains two fluff sections. One is a general description of what a Strike Force Ultra is and does, and the other is a series of descriptions of historical formations in action. Standard fare for a dataslate.
It also contains three formations and all the unit entries you need to make them work. Of course, all the entries are straight out of the Space Marine codex.
The first formation is the Hammerfall Strike Force. To use it, you MUST take a Terminator Captain (or Captain Lysander), one Terminator Squad of 5 Marines, one Assault Terminator Squad of 5 Marines, and either a Land Raider Crusader or Redeemer. You can take upgrades for any of the units as you normally would for a unit from the Marine codex.
The Terminator Captain must begin the game embarked in the formation's Land Raider (it specifically notes this, so you can't get away with taking a second land Raider and putting him in that one) and it an either be deployed normally or in Reserves. The Assault Terminators have no restrictions on deployment (but logic would dictate you'd want to put them in the Land Raider), but the standard Terminators must start in Reserve and arrive by Deep Strike.
The benefits of the formation are that models from the formation get Hammer of Wrath on a turn in which they disembark from the formation's Land Raider. The standard Terminators receive the ability to shoot and run on a turn they arrive by Deep Strike.
Nice, simple benefits for a simple formation. Also, no extra points costs!
The second formation is the Skyspear Strike Force. This one requires you to take a 5-man Assault Terminator Squad, a 5-man Terminator Squad, a Venerable Dreadnought, and a Storm Raven Gunship.
The Assault Terminators and the Venerable must begin embarked on the Storm Raven, and the standard Terminators must arrive by Deep Strike.
You get the exact same benefits as the first formation: standard Terminators can shoot and run when they arrive, and anything disembarking out of the Storm Raven gets Hammer of Wrath (which is a non-factor for the Venerable, as walkers get HoW standard in 7th).
Again. No extra points cost.
The third formation is the Strike Force Ultra, which is basically just taking both of the formations together, and retaining all the benefits of both. In addition, so long as your Terminator Captain is still alive, you can begin rolling for the units from the combined formations to arrive from reserve starting at Turn One. You still have to abide by the other restrictions though, so no shuffling the shooting terminators into or out of the transports, etc.
It's important to note that this is not an Ultramarines specific formation. You can take it using any chapter tactics you like, though if you lead the Hammerfall or Ultra formations with Captain Lysander, you have to use Imperial Fists.
Overall, I think it's a couple of nice, simple formations that a lot of people can find a use for, as Terminators are pretty common in Marine collections, as are Land Raiders and Storm Ravens. In the age of Chapter Masters on a bike with Shields Eternal, regardless of Chapter, rewarding use of a Terminator Captain and some of his associates is nice. All without an added points cost, and without over the top rewards.
Now, if only they'd make that Captain Agemman model available outside of the strike force bundle...
5.28.2014
Reviews: With Baited Breath, Labyrinth of Sorrows
I was so impressed with the audio drama Helion Rain from Black Library, that I went ahead and bought two more. These things really help get through a long day at work when I'm stuck on lengthy, repetitive processing tasks.
I bought and listened to With Baited Breath and Labyrinth of Sorrows. Both were written by George Mann, the same author as Helion Rain. I wanted to indulge my current obsession with the Raven guard.
I'll talk about With Baited Breath first, as I bought it a couple weeks ago and have listened to it a few times. It is voiced by Toby Longworth (the same main actor from Helion Rain) and Ramon Tikaram.
The story follows a lone Imperial Guardsman, Sergei, who is slowly dying on a battlefield. He encounters Shadow Captain Koryn of the Raven Guard. Koryn is the same captain from Helion Rain. There's some brief interaction between the two, but the bulk of the story is actually told from Sergei's perspective, and is the tale of how Sergei came to be in his situation. While I liked the overall plot and story, the narration style falls a little flat when you shift to Sergei's narration. The problem lies in the fact that the words are written in a very vivid narrative style. Sergei becomes an omniscient narrator, and uses descriptive language that a Guardsman would never use (unless he was an author in his pre-Guard life), and certainly never as he's trying to retell his tale as he's bleeding out from a gut wound.
I was able to forgive the implausible character narration because the story is so good. The background effects (music, sounds) are well done, and really help you visualize the enemies and action. I can't fully describe the sounds of one scene without spoiling the story, but rest assured that the sounds attributed to the Chaos minions are chilling.
Overall, its a solid buy for the price. It's only a half-hour long, but worth a listen. There's not a ton of Raven Guard fluff exposed in the piece, since it's mostly about Sergei, with Koryn serving as a plot device.
Labyrinth of Sorrows is an hour and fifteen minutes long, and is voiced by Rupert Degas and Saul Reichlin.
It is the story of a small squad of Raven Guard, led by the oft-recurring Captain Koryn, and a squad of Brazen Minotaurs led by Captain Daed. Note that these are the Brazen Minotaurs, not the Minotaurs. Big, huge difference in mindset and doctrine. The Brazen Minotaurs land on the planet Kasharat, a mortuary world, in order to retrieve "a weapon" from the clutches of the Empyrion's Blight Chaos Marines and the various forces of Nurgle. The Rave Guard are there to clear a path for the Brazen Minotaurs as repayment of an honour debt incurred when the Brazen Minotaurs sacrificed an entire company so the Raven Guard could destroy an Iron Warriors fortress (this event occurs before the events of the audio drama).
The first thing you learn about the Brazen Minotaurs is that they're based on a Greek or Persian culture. Unfortunately, you learn this from their voices. I say "unfortunately" because the accents given to the characters in the Brazen Minotaurs squad are god-awful. They're almost a caricature. At first, I thought they were trying to pull off a Rasta Jamaican accent! The speech settles down some as the story goes on, almost as if they did they whole drama in one take while ironing out the kinks of the accent as they went along. Sadly, it never reaches "good" quality. Late in the story, one of the characters' accents is butchered so badly that it sounds like he's having an emotional breakdown. He shouts "What has happened here?" in such a poor accent when looking at dead Chaos Cultists that you get the impression that he's anguished over the death of Chaos scum, instead of just confused. At one point, one of the Raven Guard speaks so slowly it takes half a minute for him to finish a sentence.
One thing that is done well on a voice acting level is the narration. When narrating the Raven Guard, the narrator's voice is low and whispery. When narrating fight scenes, it's loud and terse.
The sound effects are well done, as they were in the previous two dramas. My only problem was that weapons sound differently in this story than in the prior two. Bolters in this drama sound like rapid fire submachine guns, whereas in prior dramas they sounded like shotgun blasts. It's a little disconcerting, but not a huge deal.
One confusing point are the recurring Raven Guard characters. Koryn leads the squad, but Grayvus and Argis from Helion Rain also appear, both as Tactical Marines or Command Squad members. It's odd to see characters in different battlefield roles entirely from their previous appearances.
There are also two actions in the narrated fight scenes that don't make much sense from a lor/fluff perspective. During a fight one of the Brazen Minotaurs, Torgas, fires his heavy bolter...but only one shell. He then fumbles to reload another single shell. He's not a scout, and isn't described as using Hellfire rounds, so why is he loading a single shell into his heavy bolter at a time? That's tactically moronic. Also puzzling is when Koryn sneaks up behind a Plague Marine, and instead of chopping him apart with his lightning claws, pulls out a combat blade and slits the Traitor's throat. This obviously fails to kill the Plague Marine, and Koryn is actually surprised by that. A Shadow Captain who's fought Chaos for centuries...doesn't know you can't kill a Plague marine by cutting its throat?
Overall, Labyrinth of Sorrows is an interesting story that falls a little flat in execution of the script. Inconsistencies, terrible voice acting, and some minor missteps in the action mar an otherwise great story. One of the things I really have to be careful about when listening to these dramas is not getting too excited about obscure Chapters. I could totally paint some Brazen Minotaurs after listening to Labyrinth of Shadows!
For those keeping score, I'd give With Baited Breath 4/5 stars, and Labyrinth of Sorrows 3/5 stars.
I bought and listened to With Baited Breath and Labyrinth of Sorrows. Both were written by George Mann, the same author as Helion Rain. I wanted to indulge my current obsession with the Raven guard.
I'll talk about With Baited Breath first, as I bought it a couple weeks ago and have listened to it a few times. It is voiced by Toby Longworth (the same main actor from Helion Rain) and Ramon Tikaram.
The story follows a lone Imperial Guardsman, Sergei, who is slowly dying on a battlefield. He encounters Shadow Captain Koryn of the Raven Guard. Koryn is the same captain from Helion Rain. There's some brief interaction between the two, but the bulk of the story is actually told from Sergei's perspective, and is the tale of how Sergei came to be in his situation. While I liked the overall plot and story, the narration style falls a little flat when you shift to Sergei's narration. The problem lies in the fact that the words are written in a very vivid narrative style. Sergei becomes an omniscient narrator, and uses descriptive language that a Guardsman would never use (unless he was an author in his pre-Guard life), and certainly never as he's trying to retell his tale as he's bleeding out from a gut wound.
I was able to forgive the implausible character narration because the story is so good. The background effects (music, sounds) are well done, and really help you visualize the enemies and action. I can't fully describe the sounds of one scene without spoiling the story, but rest assured that the sounds attributed to the Chaos minions are chilling.
Overall, its a solid buy for the price. It's only a half-hour long, but worth a listen. There's not a ton of Raven Guard fluff exposed in the piece, since it's mostly about Sergei, with Koryn serving as a plot device.
Labyrinth of Sorrows is an hour and fifteen minutes long, and is voiced by Rupert Degas and Saul Reichlin.
It is the story of a small squad of Raven Guard, led by the oft-recurring Captain Koryn, and a squad of Brazen Minotaurs led by Captain Daed. Note that these are the Brazen Minotaurs, not the Minotaurs. Big, huge difference in mindset and doctrine. The Brazen Minotaurs land on the planet Kasharat, a mortuary world, in order to retrieve "a weapon" from the clutches of the Empyrion's Blight Chaos Marines and the various forces of Nurgle. The Rave Guard are there to clear a path for the Brazen Minotaurs as repayment of an honour debt incurred when the Brazen Minotaurs sacrificed an entire company so the Raven Guard could destroy an Iron Warriors fortress (this event occurs before the events of the audio drama).
The first thing you learn about the Brazen Minotaurs is that they're based on a Greek or Persian culture. Unfortunately, you learn this from their voices. I say "unfortunately" because the accents given to the characters in the Brazen Minotaurs squad are god-awful. They're almost a caricature. At first, I thought they were trying to pull off a Rasta Jamaican accent! The speech settles down some as the story goes on, almost as if they did they whole drama in one take while ironing out the kinks of the accent as they went along. Sadly, it never reaches "good" quality. Late in the story, one of the characters' accents is butchered so badly that it sounds like he's having an emotional breakdown. He shouts "What has happened here?" in such a poor accent when looking at dead Chaos Cultists that you get the impression that he's anguished over the death of Chaos scum, instead of just confused. At one point, one of the Raven Guard speaks so slowly it takes half a minute for him to finish a sentence.
One thing that is done well on a voice acting level is the narration. When narrating the Raven Guard, the narrator's voice is low and whispery. When narrating fight scenes, it's loud and terse.
The sound effects are well done, as they were in the previous two dramas. My only problem was that weapons sound differently in this story than in the prior two. Bolters in this drama sound like rapid fire submachine guns, whereas in prior dramas they sounded like shotgun blasts. It's a little disconcerting, but not a huge deal.
One confusing point are the recurring Raven Guard characters. Koryn leads the squad, but Grayvus and Argis from Helion Rain also appear, both as Tactical Marines or Command Squad members. It's odd to see characters in different battlefield roles entirely from their previous appearances.
There are also two actions in the narrated fight scenes that don't make much sense from a lor/fluff perspective. During a fight one of the Brazen Minotaurs, Torgas, fires his heavy bolter...but only one shell. He then fumbles to reload another single shell. He's not a scout, and isn't described as using Hellfire rounds, so why is he loading a single shell into his heavy bolter at a time? That's tactically moronic. Also puzzling is when Koryn sneaks up behind a Plague Marine, and instead of chopping him apart with his lightning claws, pulls out a combat blade and slits the Traitor's throat. This obviously fails to kill the Plague Marine, and Koryn is actually surprised by that. A Shadow Captain who's fought Chaos for centuries...doesn't know you can't kill a Plague marine by cutting its throat?
Overall, Labyrinth of Sorrows is an interesting story that falls a little flat in execution of the script. Inconsistencies, terrible voice acting, and some minor missteps in the action mar an otherwise great story. One of the things I really have to be careful about when listening to these dramas is not getting too excited about obscure Chapters. I could totally paint some Brazen Minotaurs after listening to Labyrinth of Shadows!
For those keeping score, I'd give With Baited Breath 4/5 stars, and Labyrinth of Sorrows 3/5 stars.
4.25.2014
Review: Helion Rain (audio drama)
I've been going a little insane at work the last week or so, as I'm in a maintenance phase of our release cycle. That means reading 500+ pages of inane documents, and replacing small fragments of text and large sections of graphics/images...and then doing it all again for a slightly different version of the product. The life of a technical writer.
When I get into those maintenance ruts, I get distracted easily and end up spending hours surfing instead of working. I'd normally listen to music, but I can't find my old iPod and don't have a PC with iTunes on it anymore. Instead, I decided to try out a Black Library audio drama.
In the past, I thought audio dramas would be an odd thing to listen to, and I H-A-T-E audio books (I can't stand being read to, I prefer to visualize in my own head using my own voice). I did some brief Google searching for reviews, and 95% of the impressions of BL audio dramas were good. I bought Helion Rain because I wanted some more insight into the Raven Guard for my upcoming Shadow Captain project.
I was floored.
Let's start with a description of what an audio drama is in BL terms: it's like the cinematics of a video game, but without the video game. Ever listen to a TV show or movie from the next room, and imagine the scene in our head as you listen along? That's what these audio dramas are for.
Helion Rain (pronounced HEE-lee-on) follows the Raven Guard as they attempt to defend the fleeing remnants of a planetary populace from a Tyranid invasion. There are two main characters: Veteran Scout Sergeant Grayvus and Shadow Captain Koryn. Each has a separate mission in the story. grayvus leads a small Scout squad, and Koryn (his commanding officer) is overall leader of the Raven Guard on the planet. You don't get a real sense of Koryn in the story, as his scenes are largely scene-setting, exposition, and pure action. Grayvus is a little more fleshed out, with some backstory and character traits.
I can't give a ton of plot details without spoilering the whole thing, but rest assured it's a simple story with some nice twists. The action scenes are of believable odds, instead of single Marines striding unscathed through waves of Nids. The scout scenes have some really great tension.
The drama is narrated and voiced entirely by a single person, Toby Longworth. I was skeptical about that when I first stated, but the man is a very talented voice actor. He manages to make all of the characters sound slightly different.
The story also contains sound effects and light background music. You get to hear what a chainsword sounds like (just like the chainsaw in my garage at home), what Tyranids sound like, and the noise of Scout armor as the Marines run. None of the sounds are front and center, but more behind the narration as support. The overall effect is great.
The whole thing runs just over an hour, which is a pretty good value for the $16 I paid for it. I've already started listening to it again this morning! I strongly recommend this to anyone who likes to visualize a story as it's being narrated. I plan to push the mp3 file over to my Kindle as well, so I can listen to it at my painting desk.
When I get into those maintenance ruts, I get distracted easily and end up spending hours surfing instead of working. I'd normally listen to music, but I can't find my old iPod and don't have a PC with iTunes on it anymore. Instead, I decided to try out a Black Library audio drama.
In the past, I thought audio dramas would be an odd thing to listen to, and I H-A-T-E audio books (I can't stand being read to, I prefer to visualize in my own head using my own voice). I did some brief Google searching for reviews, and 95% of the impressions of BL audio dramas were good. I bought Helion Rain because I wanted some more insight into the Raven Guard for my upcoming Shadow Captain project.
I was floored.
Let's start with a description of what an audio drama is in BL terms: it's like the cinematics of a video game, but without the video game. Ever listen to a TV show or movie from the next room, and imagine the scene in our head as you listen along? That's what these audio dramas are for.
Helion Rain (pronounced HEE-lee-on) follows the Raven Guard as they attempt to defend the fleeing remnants of a planetary populace from a Tyranid invasion. There are two main characters: Veteran Scout Sergeant Grayvus and Shadow Captain Koryn. Each has a separate mission in the story. grayvus leads a small Scout squad, and Koryn (his commanding officer) is overall leader of the Raven Guard on the planet. You don't get a real sense of Koryn in the story, as his scenes are largely scene-setting, exposition, and pure action. Grayvus is a little more fleshed out, with some backstory and character traits.
I can't give a ton of plot details without spoilering the whole thing, but rest assured it's a simple story with some nice twists. The action scenes are of believable odds, instead of single Marines striding unscathed through waves of Nids. The scout scenes have some really great tension.
The drama is narrated and voiced entirely by a single person, Toby Longworth. I was skeptical about that when I first stated, but the man is a very talented voice actor. He manages to make all of the characters sound slightly different.
The story also contains sound effects and light background music. You get to hear what a chainsword sounds like (just like the chainsaw in my garage at home), what Tyranids sound like, and the noise of Scout armor as the Marines run. None of the sounds are front and center, but more behind the narration as support. The overall effect is great.
The whole thing runs just over an hour, which is a pretty good value for the $16 I paid for it. I've already started listening to it again this morning! I strongly recommend this to anyone who likes to visualize a story as it's being narrated. I plan to push the mp3 file over to my Kindle as well, so I can listen to it at my painting desk.
1.20.2014
Review: Tyrannic War Veterans Dataslate
I downloaded the Tyrannic War Veterans dataslate last night, as I'm a sucker for anything Ultramarine. This unit used to exist in the 4th Edition codex, and it was one of the main reasons I started playing Ultramarines. Combined with an old article on the GW website about converting TWV models using Tyranid parts, it was the coolest theme I'd ever seen for Marines.
Sadly, the creation of TWVs faded out of my mind when the 4th Edition codex died. I moved on to other things. With the release of this dataslate, I might go back! I have all four of the TWV models in metal, just waiting for paint.
The dataslate consists of three parts: the background material, a new unit entry, and a formation.
The backstory is good stuff. While it contains a pretty standard writeup of the FirstTyrannic War and the Battle for Macragge, it also introduces some small additional details. I won't spoil those for you, as they're a fun read.
The new unit entry is an Elites choice in a Codex: Space Marines army: Tyrannic War Veterans. They are essentially Sternguard with only Hellfire rounds, Preferred Enemy (Tyranids), and a special rule that gives them Zealot (Hatred+Fearless) when facing Tyranids. The unit also starts at 4 models (to coincide with the number of TWV models GW produces), instead of 5, but can still go up to 10 strong. They can select a Drop Pod or a Land Raider (any type) as a dedicated transport, and the only wargear option is to give the sergeant meltabombs.
Nothing earth-shattering, but flavorful and interesting. The ability to run four models as a unit is definitely an incentive to get mine painted up.
The formation is a non-slot detachment, like all other formations. it consists of Chaplain Cassius, 1+ TWV squads, and 0-6 Stormtalons. Yes, you are reading that right, up to SIX Stormtalons. The TWVs are prohibited from taking Drop Pods. However, the formation does have some special rules. I forget the exact name of the first rule, but it states that any enemy unit hit by a Stormtalon in a given Shooting phase to be shot at by TWV squads using the Ignores Cover USR. This isn't limited to Tyranids, either. The second rule gives the Stormtalons Infiltrate and the ability to start on the board in Hover mode.
Overall, I felt the background and TWV unit entry are worth the $7 I spent. I was/am not a fan of formations in any way, shape, or form. I hate the fact that formations don't take any FOC slots or Allied detachment slots. Hate.
One nice thing for those that DO like the formation rules and plan to use them, is that the dataslate contains the complete rules for Cassius, TWVs, and Stormtalon Gunships right in the file. You don't need to run out and buy Codex: Space Marines to add the formation to your army. It even contains all the supporting rules like Chapter Tactics (though only CT: Ultramarines).
On the painting front, I have gotten a tiny bit of work in, and do have pictures to share in my next post. I've been spending all my free time working on building my son's birthday present (a four-unit play kitchen with fridge, stove, sink, and cabinets) so 40Kpainting has taken a backseat until that's done. It's a crazy ambitious project for me, since before this project I wasn't exactly what you'd call a carpenter. I'm doing the bulk of the work on a table saw, alongside my hand tools, power drill, sander, and a jigsaw. The most ambitious part is the lighting. I'm planning to put orange and red LEDs under the stove/over the oven that turn on to make the burners light up and the oven to illuminate. I also have plans to put in a fridge light that turns on when you open the door, and possibly a small fan in the freezer that blows air when you open that door. Things should return to normal in the next week and a half.
Sadly, the creation of TWVs faded out of my mind when the 4th Edition codex died. I moved on to other things. With the release of this dataslate, I might go back! I have all four of the TWV models in metal, just waiting for paint.
The dataslate consists of three parts: the background material, a new unit entry, and a formation.
The backstory is good stuff. While it contains a pretty standard writeup of the FirstTyrannic War and the Battle for Macragge, it also introduces some small additional details. I won't spoil those for you, as they're a fun read.
The new unit entry is an Elites choice in a Codex: Space Marines army: Tyrannic War Veterans. They are essentially Sternguard with only Hellfire rounds, Preferred Enemy (Tyranids), and a special rule that gives them Zealot (Hatred+Fearless) when facing Tyranids. The unit also starts at 4 models (to coincide with the number of TWV models GW produces), instead of 5, but can still go up to 10 strong. They can select a Drop Pod or a Land Raider (any type) as a dedicated transport, and the only wargear option is to give the sergeant meltabombs.
Nothing earth-shattering, but flavorful and interesting. The ability to run four models as a unit is definitely an incentive to get mine painted up.
The formation is a non-slot detachment, like all other formations. it consists of Chaplain Cassius, 1+ TWV squads, and 0-6 Stormtalons. Yes, you are reading that right, up to SIX Stormtalons. The TWVs are prohibited from taking Drop Pods. However, the formation does have some special rules. I forget the exact name of the first rule, but it states that any enemy unit hit by a Stormtalon in a given Shooting phase to be shot at by TWV squads using the Ignores Cover USR. This isn't limited to Tyranids, either. The second rule gives the Stormtalons Infiltrate and the ability to start on the board in Hover mode.
Overall, I felt the background and TWV unit entry are worth the $7 I spent. I was/am not a fan of formations in any way, shape, or form. I hate the fact that formations don't take any FOC slots or Allied detachment slots. Hate.
One nice thing for those that DO like the formation rules and plan to use them, is that the dataslate contains the complete rules for Cassius, TWVs, and Stormtalon Gunships right in the file. You don't need to run out and buy Codex: Space Marines to add the formation to your army. It even contains all the supporting rules like Chapter Tactics (though only CT: Ultramarines).
On the painting front, I have gotten a tiny bit of work in, and do have pictures to share in my next post. I've been spending all my free time working on building my son's birthday present (a four-unit play kitchen with fridge, stove, sink, and cabinets) so 40Kpainting has taken a backseat until that's done. It's a crazy ambitious project for me, since before this project I wasn't exactly what you'd call a carpenter. I'm doing the bulk of the work on a table saw, alongside my hand tools, power drill, sander, and a jigsaw. The most ambitious part is the lighting. I'm planning to put orange and red LEDs under the stove/over the oven that turn on to make the burners light up and the oven to illuminate. I also have plans to put in a fridge light that turns on when you open the door, and possibly a small fan in the freezer that blows air when you open that door. Things should return to normal in the next week and a half.
10.15.2013
Picture Time!
It's time for some photos!
I'd mentioned that I'd bought a couple of Secret Weapon kits. One of the problems I ha when deciding if I should buy them was determining how big everything was. SW isn't legally allowed to show GW models in their product photos, so I'm going to do so for them! First up is the Tree Stumps kit:
They're good sized, but should probably be reserved for 40mm and up sized bases. Most simply won't fit on a 25mm alongside a model.
Then you've got the Broken Doric Column kit:.
Again, too large for a 25mm base, so stick with 40mm and up or terrain.
Both kits are of very high quality, with almost no visible mold lines. Some flash, sure, but it peels away without leaving much behind on the tree stumps. No flash whatsoever on the column pieces.
Now, here's the next Tactical Marine I've been working on:
Basic stuff. I'm trying to make an effort to use more grenades and wargear on my Marines' belts. Basic Marines get one item, Sternguard are getting two. I'm swimming in these little bits, so I should probably use them. They also break up the monotony of blue paint.
Speaking of Sternguard:
These guys were the last two members of the 5-man squad I'd planned out and tried airbrushed helmets for. I departed from the all-Mk8 armor theme, as I was simply having too many problems with fitting heads into necks/collars. The guy on the left is underwhelming because I used that plain skull-adorned torso. It works ok for a basic Marine who'll be all blue and gold, but it doesn't provide the gold areas needed to make a white/blue Marine stand out. Lesson learned.
Now I need to learn how to use these guys, having never run Sternguard before.
I'd mentioned that I'd bought a couple of Secret Weapon kits. One of the problems I ha when deciding if I should buy them was determining how big everything was. SW isn't legally allowed to show GW models in their product photos, so I'm going to do so for them! First up is the Tree Stumps kit:
They're good sized, but should probably be reserved for 40mm and up sized bases. Most simply won't fit on a 25mm alongside a model.
Then you've got the Broken Doric Column kit:.
Again, too large for a 25mm base, so stick with 40mm and up or terrain.
Both kits are of very high quality, with almost no visible mold lines. Some flash, sure, but it peels away without leaving much behind on the tree stumps. No flash whatsoever on the column pieces.
Now, here's the next Tactical Marine I've been working on:
Basic stuff. I'm trying to make an effort to use more grenades and wargear on my Marines' belts. Basic Marines get one item, Sternguard are getting two. I'm swimming in these little bits, so I should probably use them. They also break up the monotony of blue paint.
Speaking of Sternguard:
These guys were the last two members of the 5-man squad I'd planned out and tried airbrushed helmets for. I departed from the all-Mk8 armor theme, as I was simply having too many problems with fitting heads into necks/collars. The guy on the left is underwhelming because I used that plain skull-adorned torso. It works ok for a basic Marine who'll be all blue and gold, but it doesn't provide the gold areas needed to make a white/blue Marine stand out. Lesson learned.
Now I need to learn how to use these guys, having never run Sternguard before.
10.03.2013
Book Review: Wrath of Iron, by Chris Wraight
I finished this one up last night, so here's my review. WARNING: I cannot write a useful review without SPOILERS. Do not read any further unless you want plot details.
The story takes place on Shardenus, a pretty standard Imperial hive world. Shardenus has apparently turned from the light of the Emperor and the Iron Hands, a Titan detachment (2 Warlords, 2 Warhounds), and several Guard regiments show up to burn the place down. As a twist, it's revealed that the lower echelons of the world's population and military don't even realize they've turned traitor. There are Loyalist elements of Shardenus' Guard regiment who are killed by the invading Loyalists simply out of confusion and death-by-association.
The book largely focuses on a Mechanicum Magos, the Guard Supreme Commander of the Loyalist forces (Nethata), two loyalist Shardenus irregulars, a Death Cult Assassin, and an Iron Hands Sergeant, Librarian, Iron Father and Clan Captain.
When the plot begins, the Iron Hands are shown to be callous about the deaths of their "mortal assets," aka Imperial Guardsmen. Rauth, the commander of Clan Raukaan, orders thousands upon thousands of Guardsmen into futile efforts as a diversionary tactic. When the Guard's general complains or hesitates over the losses, he's threatened with execution. The recurring theme of the book is: "The Iron Hands are dicks." Seriously. The squad sergeant, Morvox, you get to learn about starts out with misgivings about such tactics, but he is berated by the Iron Father (the Iron Hands' equivalent to a chaplain) and threatened. See the theme here?
The book is superbly written, with great action scenes, vivid depictions of the scenery and setting, and interesting characters. Chris Wraight is a very talented writer, and I think I'll pick up some more of his work. What gets me is that the Iron Hands aren't really heroes in the story. With Ultramarines, Space Wolves, and even Dark Angels, you get a character you can rally behind and cheer. Uriel Ventris might be a Codex-breaking fool, but he does heroic things and you cheer his victories. Ragnar Blackmane isn't a humanitarian by any means, but he's so badass you can't help but love him. The Iron Hands as depicted in Wrath of Iron are downright despicable. You can't cheer for Rauth as he sends a million Guardsmen into the teeth of the enemy guns simply to draw a percentage of the traitor forces away from points in the wall. There's a scene about 2/3rds of the way through the book where Rauth lines up regiments upon regiments of Guard in an underground access tunnel to the hive. He commandeers both Warhound Titans into this fight as well. When the battle begins, the Iron hands push forward, leaving the Guard regiments in the dust to be butchered by mutants and daemons. You just can't cheer for that.
Much is made in the beginning of the book about how the Iron Hands slowly lose their humanity (or super-humanity, rather) as they replace their body with bionics. They lose all emotion eventually, operating purely on logic, numbers, and a sense of duty. There's a bit of a clash there, as how can you have faith in the Emperor and a commitment to duty when your emotions and sense of sympathy/compassion has been stripped away? It's a fun point to ponder.
Eventually, Nethata has had enough of the wasting of his men and materiels, and he colludes with the Princeps of the Titan group to stand up to Rauth and demand a change in tactics. Unfortunately, the stand falls through. Nethata dies. In fact, anyone in the entire book who shows one shred of humanity...dies.
The irregulars from Shardenus? One dies in a pointless charge against the enemy lines. The other is executed months after the siege is over as part of the Iron Hands' programme of eradication of all residents of Shardenus.
The Librarian who retained his mortal mind in order to be a Librarian? Throws himself into a warp rift to close it and is tortured for eternity by daemons as a result.
Nethata commits suicide after his plan falls through, because the Princeps he colluded with was executed by the Mechanicum for refusing orders (and colluding with Nethata).
The Death Cult Assassin blows himself up with an atomic bomb carried in his chest cavity in an attempt to destroy the daemon prince behind the whole invasion (he fails, by the way).
The moral of the story is that all mortal flesh is temporary, fleeting, and weak. The only thing that survives is iron, and that is all that matters. It's a fitting moral for an Iron Hands story, and the book as a whole is a neat insight into how the Iron Hands work. But you can't read it expecting any sort of final satisfaction. The characters you root for all die, and the characters that are complete dicks win the day. The book is well written, if a bit thin on character development and containing a couple plot holes, but it will leave you depressed and angry at the end.
I was actually dabbling with the idea of starting an Iron Hands allied detachment for my Ultramarines. But after reading this book, that's right out the window. Iron Hands? Those guys are dicks.
The story takes place on Shardenus, a pretty standard Imperial hive world. Shardenus has apparently turned from the light of the Emperor and the Iron Hands, a Titan detachment (2 Warlords, 2 Warhounds), and several Guard regiments show up to burn the place down. As a twist, it's revealed that the lower echelons of the world's population and military don't even realize they've turned traitor. There are Loyalist elements of Shardenus' Guard regiment who are killed by the invading Loyalists simply out of confusion and death-by-association.
The book largely focuses on a Mechanicum Magos, the Guard Supreme Commander of the Loyalist forces (Nethata), two loyalist Shardenus irregulars, a Death Cult Assassin, and an Iron Hands Sergeant, Librarian, Iron Father and Clan Captain.
When the plot begins, the Iron Hands are shown to be callous about the deaths of their "mortal assets," aka Imperial Guardsmen. Rauth, the commander of Clan Raukaan, orders thousands upon thousands of Guardsmen into futile efforts as a diversionary tactic. When the Guard's general complains or hesitates over the losses, he's threatened with execution. The recurring theme of the book is: "The Iron Hands are dicks." Seriously. The squad sergeant, Morvox, you get to learn about starts out with misgivings about such tactics, but he is berated by the Iron Father (the Iron Hands' equivalent to a chaplain) and threatened. See the theme here?
The book is superbly written, with great action scenes, vivid depictions of the scenery and setting, and interesting characters. Chris Wraight is a very talented writer, and I think I'll pick up some more of his work. What gets me is that the Iron Hands aren't really heroes in the story. With Ultramarines, Space Wolves, and even Dark Angels, you get a character you can rally behind and cheer. Uriel Ventris might be a Codex-breaking fool, but he does heroic things and you cheer his victories. Ragnar Blackmane isn't a humanitarian by any means, but he's so badass you can't help but love him. The Iron Hands as depicted in Wrath of Iron are downright despicable. You can't cheer for Rauth as he sends a million Guardsmen into the teeth of the enemy guns simply to draw a percentage of the traitor forces away from points in the wall. There's a scene about 2/3rds of the way through the book where Rauth lines up regiments upon regiments of Guard in an underground access tunnel to the hive. He commandeers both Warhound Titans into this fight as well. When the battle begins, the Iron hands push forward, leaving the Guard regiments in the dust to be butchered by mutants and daemons. You just can't cheer for that.
Much is made in the beginning of the book about how the Iron Hands slowly lose their humanity (or super-humanity, rather) as they replace their body with bionics. They lose all emotion eventually, operating purely on logic, numbers, and a sense of duty. There's a bit of a clash there, as how can you have faith in the Emperor and a commitment to duty when your emotions and sense of sympathy/compassion has been stripped away? It's a fun point to ponder.
Eventually, Nethata has had enough of the wasting of his men and materiels, and he colludes with the Princeps of the Titan group to stand up to Rauth and demand a change in tactics. Unfortunately, the stand falls through. Nethata dies. In fact, anyone in the entire book who shows one shred of humanity...dies.
The irregulars from Shardenus? One dies in a pointless charge against the enemy lines. The other is executed months after the siege is over as part of the Iron Hands' programme of eradication of all residents of Shardenus.
The Librarian who retained his mortal mind in order to be a Librarian? Throws himself into a warp rift to close it and is tortured for eternity by daemons as a result.
Nethata commits suicide after his plan falls through, because the Princeps he colluded with was executed by the Mechanicum for refusing orders (and colluding with Nethata).
The Death Cult Assassin blows himself up with an atomic bomb carried in his chest cavity in an attempt to destroy the daemon prince behind the whole invasion (he fails, by the way).
The moral of the story is that all mortal flesh is temporary, fleeting, and weak. The only thing that survives is iron, and that is all that matters. It's a fitting moral for an Iron Hands story, and the book as a whole is a neat insight into how the Iron Hands work. But you can't read it expecting any sort of final satisfaction. The characters you root for all die, and the characters that are complete dicks win the day. The book is well written, if a bit thin on character development and containing a couple plot holes, but it will leave you depressed and angry at the end.
I was actually dabbling with the idea of starting an Iron Hands allied detachment for my Ultramarines. But after reading this book, that's right out the window. Iron Hands? Those guys are dicks.
9.09.2013
Short Story Review: Bastions, by Rob Sanders
On Friday evening, I wanted to test out the actual reading functions of my Kindle Fire HD. Up until now, it was just a way to surf the web, watch Netflix, and play Plants vs. Zombies while sitting on the couch or in bed.
The Black Library is doing a series of 1000-word short stories via eBook leading up to Games Day. they're covering a lot of obscure Marine Chapters in these, so I decided to spend the $1.99 and buy one. I ended up choosing "Bastions" by Rob Sanders, largely because it was about zombies on an orbital defense station, and also because it was about the Excoriators, a chapter with little background (I think Mr. Sanders created them for his Legion of the Damned novel in the Space Marine Battles series, which I have not read).
You can buy the short story here:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/bastions.html
Without spoiling the plot, here's a general synopsis:
An Excoriators Chaplain and his human retainer are accompanied by a 5-man combat squad onto an orbital defense station that has gone silent. The station was manned by humans and Excoriators Marines, so it's odd that it is non-responsive.
When the unit boards, they discover the reason the station is silent. Zombies! It's not explicitly stated, but it appears to be the Curse of Unbelief.
There isn't a ton of character development, as these are only 1000 words long. However, the story is enjoyable despite its brevity. It's got a good ending and enough action to keep it rolling.
If you have a couple bucks to spare and want a quick read, it's worth it. Also, if you've read Legion of the Damned and are familiar with the Excoriators, you might find it a nice addition to your "collection" of Excoriators fiction.
I may grab some more of these stories in the future, as the price isn't too bad, and the Chapters covered are obscure enough to be interesting.
The Black Library is doing a series of 1000-word short stories via eBook leading up to Games Day. they're covering a lot of obscure Marine Chapters in these, so I decided to spend the $1.99 and buy one. I ended up choosing "Bastions" by Rob Sanders, largely because it was about zombies on an orbital defense station, and also because it was about the Excoriators, a chapter with little background (I think Mr. Sanders created them for his Legion of the Damned novel in the Space Marine Battles series, which I have not read).
You can buy the short story here:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/bastions.html
Without spoiling the plot, here's a general synopsis:
An Excoriators Chaplain and his human retainer are accompanied by a 5-man combat squad onto an orbital defense station that has gone silent. The station was manned by humans and Excoriators Marines, so it's odd that it is non-responsive.
When the unit boards, they discover the reason the station is silent. Zombies! It's not explicitly stated, but it appears to be the Curse of Unbelief.
There isn't a ton of character development, as these are only 1000 words long. However, the story is enjoyable despite its brevity. It's got a good ending and enough action to keep it rolling.
If you have a couple bucks to spare and want a quick read, it's worth it. Also, if you've read Legion of the Damned and are familiar with the Excoriators, you might find it a nice addition to your "collection" of Excoriators fiction.
I may grab some more of these stories in the future, as the price isn't too bad, and the Chapters covered are obscure enough to be interesting.
8.27.2013
Review: 40K BRB for Kindle
I bought myself a Kindle Fire HD a couple weeks ago. I'd gotten one for my wife for Mother's Day this year, and liked the look of it. I mostly got mine for Netflix and web surfing, as I have a ton of paperbacks to read before I could even begin to think about buying eBooks.
However, I wanted to check out the 40K BRB for Kindle, and had just made a tidy profit selling some Battlefleet Gothic Tyranid Cruisers. So, I loosened the purse strings and splurged on the eBook. It was actually cheaper than trying to buy the Dark Vengeance mini rulebook from a bit seller!
Here's a quick, fast, and dirty review of the product.
The navigation is pretty simple. Flick through the pages. You can tap and hold to view the book toolbar. The toolbar allows you to quickly navigate to certain sections of the book. I didn't try to match the sections up to the hardcover, but they seem to be pretty intuitive and help navigation by putting you as close as can be to what you need.
The bookmark feature is great. I've added a bookmark on the Psychic Powers page and the Game Summary page so far. I'll also put one at the beginning of the Universal Special Rules page. From the toolbar, you can quickly hop to a bookmarked section. Great for games where you need to look up the wording of a specific rule or power.
You can also zoom in to the example diagrams and photos in the eBook, though I found that there's not much point in doing so, as they don't tend to get all that much bigger. You cannot zoom in to the data tables, though. For example, the summary tables in the back that outline movement speeds and effects of difficult terrain on units can't be zoomed in, but the to-hit chart can. This is because the to-hit chart is an image, not a table. It's not a big deal, as everything is readable on the Kindle screen.
One thing that took some adjustment was the inability to pinch to zoom in and out. On web pages, you can pinch the screen to zoom on a particular area. The eBook format doesn't allow that. If you need bigger text, you have to change the font size.
You can change the background of the book from black on white to black on sepia or white on black. The sepia background helps tables and example text stand out, as those remain highlighted in white.
There's also a highlighter function, where you can drag over passages and assign a highlight color to them. Those are marked in your Bookmarks list for quick navigation.
It's important to note that the eBook is the rules only. No fluff or painting sections. There are also no interactive popouts or glossary features like the iBook version for iPad. It's a straightforward text conversion only with a few helpful features for marking passages and pages. If you already have the mini rulebook and don't mind carrying that around, I'd skip the Kindle version unless you're also downloading and keeping codexes and supplements with you. If you don't have the mini rulebook, hate lugging the full rulebook, and already have or wanted a Kindle, the eBook BRB is worth the $30+ price. You won't find the mini rulebook online for cheaper than that after shipping, at least not reliably.
3.23.2013
Product Review: IronBow Paint Rack
Last week or the week before, I was cruising 40K blogs. I like to hop from blogroll to blogroll based on folks' post titles. If they interest me, I read them. After several hops, I found a post talking about 40K and wargaming items on Etsy. One example of a good item was a paint rack, laser cut from MDF, and made by TheIronBow. You can find it here.
I'd never ordered from Etsy, but as it's a well-established site now, I figured I'd give it a shot. The price was very reasonable, as was shipping. I was in for $27, which is still only about half of what some other companies charge for comparable racks.
Shipping was prompt, so I had the rack in hand in nine days, including the day I ordered it. Perfectly acceptable. I was pleasantly surprised that it arrived in a cardboard box, instead of the padded flat mailer I was expecting.
I cracked open the box and found all of the parts neatly stacked, with a styrofoam spacer to keep them from rattling around. Nice! Also in the box was a bag containing the hardware (screws and nuts, and some rubber pad feet) and the invoice. The seller added a handwritten note with tips for proper assembly.
One of the neat things about the rack is that when it's filled, you can pick it up and shake it around and the bottles don't move at all. I found that the only way to get bottles to pop out was to give it a little wrist flip, like you were flipping pancakes. Not a motion you'll replicate often.
I sat down and started painting to see how the rack interacted with my workspace. I found that the rack works quite nicely, but that the necks of the bottles kept sticking on the way out. But after about 45 minutes of painting and color switching, I had figured out how to remove the bottles without snagging the necks.
Some folks may not like the fact that you cannot see all of the labels on the bottles when they're stored, and that's a valid concern for many painters. However, I tend to paint using a limited palette of main colors, and a few peripheral colors. You can see in the shot above that I have my Ultramarine armor colors in the upper right, golds under those, then greens, browns, and white/grey/black. I just pull paints from top to bottom as I progress through my routine. If you use the same colors over and over, say for painting an entire army, this rack works just fine. If you're a constant color-switcher or experimenter, you might find the storage orientation frustrating.
Overall, I'd give the rack a solid A, and plan to pick up another one in a few weeks to hold the rest of my paints that didn't fit (I own a ton of paint).
I'd never ordered from Etsy, but as it's a well-established site now, I figured I'd give it a shot. The price was very reasonable, as was shipping. I was in for $27, which is still only about half of what some other companies charge for comparable racks.
Shipping was prompt, so I had the rack in hand in nine days, including the day I ordered it. Perfectly acceptable. I was pleasantly surprised that it arrived in a cardboard box, instead of the padded flat mailer I was expecting.
I cracked open the box and found all of the parts neatly stacked, with a styrofoam spacer to keep them from rattling around. Nice! Also in the box was a bag containing the hardware (screws and nuts, and some rubber pad feet) and the invoice. The seller added a handwritten note with tips for proper assembly.
The pieces are all made nice, sturdy hardboard. None of that plywood or chipboard.
Everything slots together using the tabs. It's pretty idiot-proof, but I do recommend you slot both of the bottle holder sections into one side, then do the other side, then top, then bottom. I tried assembling it all around the back panel, then putting the front in, but it was hard to keep all the tabs in the slots that way.
Once you get it slotted together, you put the bolts through the little holes, and thread them into the provided nuts that sit in a little cross slot. I'd never seen a system like that before, but it works quite well. I would get all the bolts in to finger tight, then use a screwdriver to snug them up.
However, I got a little overzealous with the first bolt, and started cranking down on it with the screwdriver. Metal versus wood means metal wins, and I started pulling the nut straight through the wood. Oops!
I just backed the bolt out a tad, squeezed the wood back flat and all was well. Lesson learned, and the rack was assembled.
I grabbed a bottle of Reaper Master Series and slotted it in. Perfect fit. The bottles sit at a slight upward angle, leading the paint to flow down toward the nozzle. I've read online that this helps keeps dropper bottles from clogging up. We'll see if that's true.
You can see the slight angle here (as well as the proper fit of the bolts):
I filled the rest of the rack with paint bottles. I went from this storage solution (a craft box crammed with paint):
To this one:
One of the neat things about the rack is that when it's filled, you can pick it up and shake it around and the bottles don't move at all. I found that the only way to get bottles to pop out was to give it a little wrist flip, like you were flipping pancakes. Not a motion you'll replicate often.
I sat down and started painting to see how the rack interacted with my workspace. I found that the rack works quite nicely, but that the necks of the bottles kept sticking on the way out. But after about 45 minutes of painting and color switching, I had figured out how to remove the bottles without snagging the necks.
Some folks may not like the fact that you cannot see all of the labels on the bottles when they're stored, and that's a valid concern for many painters. However, I tend to paint using a limited palette of main colors, and a few peripheral colors. You can see in the shot above that I have my Ultramarine armor colors in the upper right, golds under those, then greens, browns, and white/grey/black. I just pull paints from top to bottom as I progress through my routine. If you use the same colors over and over, say for painting an entire army, this rack works just fine. If you're a constant color-switcher or experimenter, you might find the storage orientation frustrating.
Overall, I'd give the rack a solid A, and plan to pick up another one in a few weeks to hold the rest of my paints that didn't fit (I own a ton of paint).
2.28.2013
Tyranids are so much fun to build!
I've finally started piecing together some of my Tyranid models. My main focus is on my Hive Tyrant, but I'm also working on a Genestealer and a scratchbuilt spore mine.
The Hive Tyrant is a very cool kit. I have the upper body together, and it required a minimum of Liquid Greenstuff to look good. I really only used it in the little seams between the back vents. That upper shell is FIVE parts! Two vent outers, two outer arm sections, and the center core section. The mold lines are nicely placed so they don't interfere with assembly and are easily reached with a file and blade to clean them up.
The tail section is ELEVEN parts. The waist ball joint, two tail halves, the tail end, tail stinger plate, two legs, and two toes per leg. The two tail sections went together nicely, with a minimum of seams and mold lines. Since I used the long, curved, "flying" tail, I needed a clamp to hold the midtail section to the elongated tail section. Thankfully, whoever designed the kit had the forethought to place a couple of the spines on the seam line between the two sections, which helped immensely in lining up the sections for gluing. The assembled tail is now sitting on my desk with a bunch of Liquid Greenstuff along the joint lines. I'll file it smooth this evening, I hope.
I have to interject for a moment that my pot of Liquid Greenstuff is starting to dry out. I bought it the first weekend it was released, and haven't used it a ton. But, the center of the pot is becoming granular and semi-cured. I used to be able to use a nylon brush to pull a bit out and use it on a model, but now I have to get a flat toothpick or coffee stirrer and scoop the stuff out of the pot and put it on a piece of plastic. Then add water and it thins back out. Not sure I'll buy another pot when this one is gone. I've heard Privater Press or Vallejo makes an equivalent product in a dropper bottle. Might try that next. I've also heard that a slurry of Milliput also serves the same purpose and is easier to press into the seams. I used to use superglue or plastic glue drawn over the area, but those are messy and leave behind scars if you don't do it right.
As I waited for the tail to cure and set, I cleaned up the legs. The kit only allows you to use the standing legs with the standing tail, and the flying legs with the flying tail. You could do some joint pinning and sculpting to make the legs swappable, but the legs don't really look quite right on the wrong tail anyways. Because I chose the flying tail, I cleaned up the flying legs. Again, mold lines are minimal and the joint has a nice little nub in it to make it perfectly align on the tail. The tail section even has little sculpted in overlays for the joint that make the fit seamless and hide any lines.
Before I put the legs on though, I need some feedback. The flying legs are intended for use on a winged Tyrant. They have scything talons added to the end of the standard hoof-shaped foot. This makes it so a winged Tyrant is always WYSIWYG. The wings take up an arm socket, so no matter what secondary arm set you use, you always have at least one set of scything talons on the model. Because my model is not winged, and instead "leaping," I'm torn over the feet. I can either leave the feet as they are, or cut the talons off and go back to the hoof look.
This won't be a magnetized, optimized game model. It's intended as a fun, artsy project that I can enter into a painting competition (and maybe win). As a result, I'm arming him with two sets of scything talons, and posing him as if he's pouncing forward onto his prey. Picture a velociraptor, or any Wolverine attack pose, or the world's biggest Hormagaunt. Because he's ground-based, I'm thinking the foot talons need to go. He'd never be able to walk around with them, so I should remove them, right? Should I remove them, I'll likely sculpt something on the underside of the hooves. Maybe cut a little bit of thin plasticard and mimic the galaxy's weirdest horse hoof?
The Genestealer I'm working on hasn't made much in the way of progress since I pulled him off the sprue. I'm agonizing over two things: what to do with his slotta base, and if I should leap into the sculpted conversion arena right off the bat.
I have never used a slotta base in my life. On all my Marines, I've snipped off the slotta tab, flied the feet flat, and treated them like non-slotta models. I even did that to my metal models. I do this because I create my bases separately from the model. Gluing a model to a base feels like a major pain when attempting to add sand, paint, flock, etc. Marines have big, fat, chunky feet and legs. Tyranids have thin, whippy feet and legs. I think I can drill a small hole into the Genestealer's foot and lower leg to insert a pin by which to hold him during painting, but am not sure.
I have grand plans for my Genestealers as well, as I intend to hive them all tentacle faces. I've seen a bunch of examples of this done online, and really like the idea. My plan is to cut the lower jaw off of the head, sculpt the tentacles, and attach them to the upper jaw, using more GS to blend the transition so it looks natural. Essentially, they'll all look like Ymgarls from the codex art.
The question is whether I'm biting off more than I can chew. Should I start with a basic set of Stealers to start, just to get the hang of painting, or skip that and go straight to end product? My gut says start with the tentacles, as I have plenty of marine models to build and paint while waiting for tentacles to cure and glue to set.
How do you start off an unfamiliar project? Go for the desired result, or start with small test subjects first?
My spore mine is pretty rough at the moment. All I've done so far is cut a length of sprue, and chop the front off of three Gaunt spinefists. I then glued the spinefist parts to the sprue in a two-horizontal, one-vertical setup. I need to measure how tall I want the mine to be, and then insert a length of wire in the underside of the mine "head" area. I'll use GS to fill in the areas between the spinefists, making the gas sac part of the mine. Add some tentacles and a base, and done. Not at all time efficient, but it allows me to use up some junk bits and make nonstandard models.
I'll get some photos of all this work taken tonight, I hope. I've also got my first Sternguard model about 95% done as well, so you'll see him as well.
The Hive Tyrant is a very cool kit. I have the upper body together, and it required a minimum of Liquid Greenstuff to look good. I really only used it in the little seams between the back vents. That upper shell is FIVE parts! Two vent outers, two outer arm sections, and the center core section. The mold lines are nicely placed so they don't interfere with assembly and are easily reached with a file and blade to clean them up.
The tail section is ELEVEN parts. The waist ball joint, two tail halves, the tail end, tail stinger plate, two legs, and two toes per leg. The two tail sections went together nicely, with a minimum of seams and mold lines. Since I used the long, curved, "flying" tail, I needed a clamp to hold the midtail section to the elongated tail section. Thankfully, whoever designed the kit had the forethought to place a couple of the spines on the seam line between the two sections, which helped immensely in lining up the sections for gluing. The assembled tail is now sitting on my desk with a bunch of Liquid Greenstuff along the joint lines. I'll file it smooth this evening, I hope.
I have to interject for a moment that my pot of Liquid Greenstuff is starting to dry out. I bought it the first weekend it was released, and haven't used it a ton. But, the center of the pot is becoming granular and semi-cured. I used to be able to use a nylon brush to pull a bit out and use it on a model, but now I have to get a flat toothpick or coffee stirrer and scoop the stuff out of the pot and put it on a piece of plastic. Then add water and it thins back out. Not sure I'll buy another pot when this one is gone. I've heard Privater Press or Vallejo makes an equivalent product in a dropper bottle. Might try that next. I've also heard that a slurry of Milliput also serves the same purpose and is easier to press into the seams. I used to use superglue or plastic glue drawn over the area, but those are messy and leave behind scars if you don't do it right.
As I waited for the tail to cure and set, I cleaned up the legs. The kit only allows you to use the standing legs with the standing tail, and the flying legs with the flying tail. You could do some joint pinning and sculpting to make the legs swappable, but the legs don't really look quite right on the wrong tail anyways. Because I chose the flying tail, I cleaned up the flying legs. Again, mold lines are minimal and the joint has a nice little nub in it to make it perfectly align on the tail. The tail section even has little sculpted in overlays for the joint that make the fit seamless and hide any lines.
Before I put the legs on though, I need some feedback. The flying legs are intended for use on a winged Tyrant. They have scything talons added to the end of the standard hoof-shaped foot. This makes it so a winged Tyrant is always WYSIWYG. The wings take up an arm socket, so no matter what secondary arm set you use, you always have at least one set of scything talons on the model. Because my model is not winged, and instead "leaping," I'm torn over the feet. I can either leave the feet as they are, or cut the talons off and go back to the hoof look.
This won't be a magnetized, optimized game model. It's intended as a fun, artsy project that I can enter into a painting competition (and maybe win). As a result, I'm arming him with two sets of scything talons, and posing him as if he's pouncing forward onto his prey. Picture a velociraptor, or any Wolverine attack pose, or the world's biggest Hormagaunt. Because he's ground-based, I'm thinking the foot talons need to go. He'd never be able to walk around with them, so I should remove them, right? Should I remove them, I'll likely sculpt something on the underside of the hooves. Maybe cut a little bit of thin plasticard and mimic the galaxy's weirdest horse hoof?
The Genestealer I'm working on hasn't made much in the way of progress since I pulled him off the sprue. I'm agonizing over two things: what to do with his slotta base, and if I should leap into the sculpted conversion arena right off the bat.
I have never used a slotta base in my life. On all my Marines, I've snipped off the slotta tab, flied the feet flat, and treated them like non-slotta models. I even did that to my metal models. I do this because I create my bases separately from the model. Gluing a model to a base feels like a major pain when attempting to add sand, paint, flock, etc. Marines have big, fat, chunky feet and legs. Tyranids have thin, whippy feet and legs. I think I can drill a small hole into the Genestealer's foot and lower leg to insert a pin by which to hold him during painting, but am not sure.
I have grand plans for my Genestealers as well, as I intend to hive them all tentacle faces. I've seen a bunch of examples of this done online, and really like the idea. My plan is to cut the lower jaw off of the head, sculpt the tentacles, and attach them to the upper jaw, using more GS to blend the transition so it looks natural. Essentially, they'll all look like Ymgarls from the codex art.
The question is whether I'm biting off more than I can chew. Should I start with a basic set of Stealers to start, just to get the hang of painting, or skip that and go straight to end product? My gut says start with the tentacles, as I have plenty of marine models to build and paint while waiting for tentacles to cure and glue to set.
How do you start off an unfamiliar project? Go for the desired result, or start with small test subjects first?
My spore mine is pretty rough at the moment. All I've done so far is cut a length of sprue, and chop the front off of three Gaunt spinefists. I then glued the spinefist parts to the sprue in a two-horizontal, one-vertical setup. I need to measure how tall I want the mine to be, and then insert a length of wire in the underside of the mine "head" area. I'll use GS to fill in the areas between the spinefists, making the gas sac part of the mine. Add some tentacles and a base, and done. Not at all time efficient, but it allows me to use up some junk bits and make nonstandard models.
I'll get some photos of all this work taken tonight, I hope. I've also got my first Sternguard model about 95% done as well, so you'll see him as well.
12.03.2012
Review: Forgeworld Dreadnought Dreadfire Close Combat Arm
I'm constantly scouring eBay for out of production models, cheap lots I can break up to turn a profit, etc. I haven't been wheeling and dealing much of late, but I still keep a weathered eye on the Space marine category. I like to keep current on what parts are popular, what sells well, and the going rate for stuff. Plus, I'm hoping that one day I'll actually win an auction for the UK White Dwarf Subscription Marine model.
Anyhow, I've been seeing a lot of Forgeworld models listed, and many of them are Russian, Greek, or Chinese knockoffs. Someone in those countries buys one copy of a FW set, makes a mold, and uses a terrible quality resin to duplicate the kit and sells them for half the FW price. If you see a listing from Hong Kong, Moscow, or The Tver Region (Russia), skip the listing. It's a knockoff, and the pieces arrive reeking of chemicals and who knows what other toxic substances.
When in doubt, also check the seller's feedback history. You can see a list of every auction they've sold in the last several months. If the person sells the same kit over and over, they're either a recaster or a reseller. Recaster is more likely, as reselling FW stuff on eBay is a losing proposition, monetarily. You can't recoup the investment reliably.
Now that my rant is over...
On an impulse I threw a bid down on an actual FW piece from a US seller. I have a soft spot for Dreads, and have been slowly accumulating my way to a full six in my collection. I have four built an painted, with two more in boxes.
The opening bid was reasonable, so I figured if I won, neat, if not, no big loss.
Turns out, I won the auction for a nice price, and the seller shipped the arm straight away. The only other Dread arm I've ever owned is the Mortis Lascannon, also from an eBay auction (though that one was a bitz lot and I wasn't specifically after the arm). I wasn't overly impressed with the quality of the cast, and it's been rotting in my bitz box for a while now.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when the Dreadfire arm showed up. Here's a shot of all the parts:
I was surprised at how many pieces this thing came in. 9 parts in total, for one Dread arm (though the small canister in the upper left actually goes under the chassis of the MkIV FW Dreads).
The casting quality was good, with lots of sharp detail. It's a simple piece, but the rivets and well-formed flamer nozzles really make the piece.
These arms are designed to go on the Bre'arth Ashmantle Slamanders Venerable Dreadnought, as you can see from the shoulder plate:
I'm not entirely sure how I'll fix that one, since it's recessed inside the plate, and it would be tough to get a file or sand paper in there without obliterating the trim details.
My only other concern is how I'll magnetize this puppy. I magnetize all of the arms for every Dread I own with D52-N52 disc magnets from K&J Magnetics. They're strong enough to hold even the old, metal Dread arms on without drooping.
The concern comes from the thin resin that makes up the back of the shoulder joint:
That hole isn't quite 1/8" diameter, so when I drill for the magnet, I may end up breaking through that small perimeter at the bottom. I'll have to drill slowly, and possibly recreate the bottom of the mount with plasticard and Brown Stuff.
One other issue I've had with Forgeworld parts in the past is scale. Red Scorpions MkIV helmets are pitifully small next to GW plastic helmets, rendering them almost unusable. Thankfully, Dread arms don't seem to be too far off. The arm, loosely fitted together, next to one of the plastic Dread arms:
Pretty close. I can even make it look larger by using the four points of articulation (shoulder, elbow, mid-arm, fist) available. In the end, this will just represent a standard Dread Close Combat Weapon with Heavy Flamer. I don't have Ashmantle's rules, so have no clue what the Dreadfire arm is supposed to do.
All in all, a solid purchase. The detail of the piece is impressive, as is the available articulation. It might be enough to entice me to buy more of the Dread arms from FW to stand in for plastics.
Anyhow, I've been seeing a lot of Forgeworld models listed, and many of them are Russian, Greek, or Chinese knockoffs. Someone in those countries buys one copy of a FW set, makes a mold, and uses a terrible quality resin to duplicate the kit and sells them for half the FW price. If you see a listing from Hong Kong, Moscow, or The Tver Region (Russia), skip the listing. It's a knockoff, and the pieces arrive reeking of chemicals and who knows what other toxic substances.
When in doubt, also check the seller's feedback history. You can see a list of every auction they've sold in the last several months. If the person sells the same kit over and over, they're either a recaster or a reseller. Recaster is more likely, as reselling FW stuff on eBay is a losing proposition, monetarily. You can't recoup the investment reliably.
Now that my rant is over...
On an impulse I threw a bid down on an actual FW piece from a US seller. I have a soft spot for Dreads, and have been slowly accumulating my way to a full six in my collection. I have four built an painted, with two more in boxes.
The opening bid was reasonable, so I figured if I won, neat, if not, no big loss.
Turns out, I won the auction for a nice price, and the seller shipped the arm straight away. The only other Dread arm I've ever owned is the Mortis Lascannon, also from an eBay auction (though that one was a bitz lot and I wasn't specifically after the arm). I wasn't overly impressed with the quality of the cast, and it's been rotting in my bitz box for a while now.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when the Dreadfire arm showed up. Here's a shot of all the parts:
I was surprised at how many pieces this thing came in. 9 parts in total, for one Dread arm (though the small canister in the upper left actually goes under the chassis of the MkIV FW Dreads).
The casting quality was good, with lots of sharp detail. It's a simple piece, but the rivets and well-formed flamer nozzles really make the piece.
These arms are designed to go on the Bre'arth Ashmantle Slamanders Venerable Dreadnought, as you can see from the shoulder plate:
Thankfully, the lettering can be easily filled in with a couple thin applications of Liquid Greenstuff.
There are a few mold lines here and there, but nothing I can't handle. The one exception is the huge fault line in the elbow joint plate:
I'm not entirely sure how I'll fix that one, since it's recessed inside the plate, and it would be tough to get a file or sand paper in there without obliterating the trim details.
My only other concern is how I'll magnetize this puppy. I magnetize all of the arms for every Dread I own with D52-N52 disc magnets from K&J Magnetics. They're strong enough to hold even the old, metal Dread arms on without drooping.
The concern comes from the thin resin that makes up the back of the shoulder joint:
That hole isn't quite 1/8" diameter, so when I drill for the magnet, I may end up breaking through that small perimeter at the bottom. I'll have to drill slowly, and possibly recreate the bottom of the mount with plasticard and Brown Stuff.
One other issue I've had with Forgeworld parts in the past is scale. Red Scorpions MkIV helmets are pitifully small next to GW plastic helmets, rendering them almost unusable. Thankfully, Dread arms don't seem to be too far off. The arm, loosely fitted together, next to one of the plastic Dread arms:
Pretty close. I can even make it look larger by using the four points of articulation (shoulder, elbow, mid-arm, fist) available. In the end, this will just represent a standard Dread Close Combat Weapon with Heavy Flamer. I don't have Ashmantle's rules, so have no clue what the Dreadfire arm is supposed to do.
All in all, a solid purchase. The detail of the piece is impressive, as is the available articulation. It might be enough to entice me to buy more of the Dread arms from FW to stand in for plastics.
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