Blast from the Past: Master of the Forge

Yesterday I was asked how I created my scratch built conversion beamer for my Master of the Forge. This is a model I made when the 5th Edition Space Marine codex dropped. I'd done a ton of research on conversion beamer fluff, and even managed to get a bit from the old Space Marine board game. Problem was, that bit was lacking in detail. I decided to build one myself.

Originally, I'd chronicled the process over at Bolter and Chainsword on the blog I used to run there. When B&C crashed and decided to not revive the blogs, the whole process was lost to the Warp.

This is my "from memory" attempt to describe the process again...

The first thing I did was select all the parts I wanted to use:

Pictured are a Black Templars scabbarded sword (I wanted the option to give him a power weapon, but didn't want it blatantly visible and therefore a must-take), a set of used legs (this was back in my "too poor to buy new stuff" phase, where I was buying cheap lots on eBay and stripping them for parts and to refurbish), a damaged metal multimelta backpack (the previous owner had lopped off the cable feeds and put some sort of pin in the top), a metal Iron Warriors upgrade torso, bolter arms, the Techmarine head from the Ravenwing box set, a Mechanicus pad from the Marine vehicle upgrade sprue, an a Chaos Marine Terminator Reaper Autocannon.

The first thing I'd wanted to do was repose those legs and give him some bionics. I cut a piece of round sprue from a model jeep kit and replaced the thigh with it. I'd intended to add additional cables and coils around it. This shot shows how laughable the attempt was:

I then decided to get rid of the Dark Angels iconography on the Techmarine head. I didn't have any Greenstuff at the time, so I filled the area with plastic glue. I waited for it to dry, and then filed it down smooth. Again, pretty sloppy and laughable looking back:

 

 

I then started working on the beamer. I began by lopping the barrels off the autocannon, because I wanted those recoil compensators to be energy coils. After some misadventures, I ended up drilling three lengths of paper clip into the front, and slipping tubing from Q-Tips over the top and bottom ones. I then found some random flat oval bit, drilled matching holes, and used it as a brace or end cap. I think my intent was to use this assembly as an energy collection point, with the tubing painted like it contained an energy beam inside each one.



 

 

The amount of glue used to make all this stick was appalling, and it really ruined the finish on the parts. Plus, it looked a little too thin to be a big, scary weapon. I decided to wrap the whole thing in wire to remake the coils. Also, I'd replaced the Terminator arm section with the equivalent piece from a regular bolter arm:



I'd used 40-gauge floral wire to wrap the coils, and it was a bitch towards the end to keep together. This resulted in gaps. However, I needed some sort of support structure for the coils anyways, so I covered most of the gaps with pieces of bent 1mm plasticard (actually a 'for sale' sign I'd bought for that purpose). These are superglued to the coils and then plastic glue was used on the backside to blend the joint by the melt-then-sand method I used for the helmet.

 

 

I needed a little more structure, so I added a random piece from the jeep model underneath the assembly, and then added focusing/discharge coils in the form of the shock springs from the same jeep kit.

I then added a final focuser to the front in the form of the upright from a radar dish off of the Marine vehicle sprue. But the gun was now massive, and would require two hands to hold and fire. I added a handle by chopping up some bit from a Baneblade sprue.

Because of the positioning of the handle, a regular bolter support arm wouldn't fit. So, I grbbed a spare biker arm, sliced off the hand (the grip was too small), and attached the hand from the bolter support arm.

By this time, I'd scrapped the idea of making my own bionic legs, and began searching for alternatives. One option was to slice the legs off of one of these old Devastator models:

But I somehow landed a set of bionic legs from the Iron Hands kit instead:

I wanted him to have a fancy shoulder pad with a deflector on it, so I glued plasticard to the back of a metal Ultramarine pad, and then trimmed away the excess. This is what bitz poor people do in place of expensive bitz!

Some posing and assembly of his body:

And then assembly of his gun, arms, and pack, plus the addition of his fuel delivery lines. These are actually wires from a phone cable I tore out of my house while redoing rooms.

Some WIP paint pics:

And finally some completed shots:

And there you have it! I was pretty proud of this model when I finished it. Lately, he's been showing his age. Funnily enough, while my painting skills have improved overall, I no longer make creative, scratch built models like this. Somewhere in the progression, I lost that bit of creativity and boldness that would push me to make a model like this. I've actually been thinking of replacing him with a new version that uses the Forgeworld Valthex model as a base. I don't' think I ever will, though, as this guy has seen the table less than ten times, ever.



 

Hit the Brakes!

Immediately leading up to the release of the new Marine codex, I was planning on switching over to a full Drop Pod-borne force. This was due to the improvements to Tigurius making the force reliable from reserve, my interest in Forgeworld Deathstorm Drop Pods, and a general sense of boredom with my bike force. I was even pondering selling off all my bikers to finance the additional drop pods I'd need.

I've hit the brakes on that plan, and I think I'm going to stick with bikers for a while.

The reasons for this are several. At first, I was adamant that I would only ever use Ultramarines Chapter Tactics, as that is what I have my Marines painted as. I called codex-hoppers cheese dicks, and burned some bridges. Then I realized that my fellow Ultramarine players were taking non-Ultra CTs, and that even in prior editions, I was using non-Ultra characters like Lysander from time to time. I was being a hypocrite! So, instead of being a hypocrite and an elitist, I'm embracing the mechanic and the options it presents. (Part of this was also inspired by reading an article over at House of Paincakes about archetypes at an FLGS, and realizing I was one of those fluff guys who was acting better than others based on army choices).

So, I am going to use White Scars Chapter tactics for my bikers. I've spent YEARS building the force, and now it's finally "good." Why not play it like it's designed to be played? It's all the things I always wanted my bikers to be!

I'll also be using my Khan model, which I've used for ages as my Biker Captain. Khan is cheaper now, and the only major change to his stats is the switch from "everyone can outflank" to "everyone has Scout (which allows outflank).

The change from bikers was also based in part on the frustrations of the Fast Attack slot. ALL of my solid supporting units were crammed into the FA slot. Attack bikes, speeders, Assault Marines, scout bikes, etc. Add in the Stormtalon, and it was one crowded slot.
However, the new book adds some speedy choices to different slots, freeing up some FA roles to be filled by those other units. Vanguard Vets moved to Elites from FA, which is AWESOME. They're still an expensive unit points-wise, but the fact that they use an Elite slot makes them the best and only speedy Elite I can take in my themed forced.
Techmarines moved from Elite to non-slot HQ. I can now take my Techmarine Biker as a non-slot choice. Nice. Of course, he doesn't fill the Elite slot for composition scoring like he used to, but oh well.
The Stormraven is officially added, and it is in the Heavy slot. That slot was always a bitch to fill for my bikes, and I often ended up taking a lone Predator which was promptly blown up by all of the antitank in my opponent's army. I can also use the Stormraven to deliver Vanguard Vets or Assault Marines. Dreads don't fit the theme, so I'll leave the grapple empty.
Command Squads also got cheaper on bikes. They used to cost 90 points for bikes. Now, just 35! Of course, I have to pay for an Apothecary, but bitching about that while still saving 40 points would be foolish.

This decision alters the to-do list quite a bit. It ends up looking like this:
 - 5 Vanguard Vets with jump packs. No upgrades.
 - 1 Jump Pack Librarian. Replaces my current JP Lib who's looking a little underwhelming next to my current models.
 - 1-4 Biker Command Squad veterans armed with power lances. I've had the bits to do this since 6th came out, now I have reason to bother with them.
 - 1 Stormraven Gunship. Fully magnetized and interior painted.

I'll still be working on the Nids and non-bike Marines for variety's sake, but I think I have my immediate queue lined out for a while.

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.

Tyranid Test Bases

Here are the two test bases I did up relatively quickly. The first is Liquitex Resin Sand mixed with an equal amount of craft paint. I then dry brushed it up through different shade of a brownish-grey, and added a bit of GW static grass:

The second is just craft sand painted in the same colors, again with static grass (but under different light):

 

For fairness' sake, here they are side by side under the same light:

I like them both, in their own ways.

The resin sand version comes out lighter due to having less small texture. It also provides a more three-dimensional look, depending on how much of the material you use, and how you pile it up. Little clumps of resin sand in one area make those little peaks and valleys you can see in the pictures. The valleys are where I intend to put static grass and small plants. It seems to be a pretty durable finish as well. I believe I can glue small plants right to the painted base in those low areas and make them look convincing.
However, the resin sand method is imprecise. I had no idea what the base texture would look like when I applied it. The binder in the material evaporates and shrinks as it dries overnight. I'm not sure how this would translate to a 40mm or 60mm base. I can try it out on a 40mm spare, but I don't have any 60mm junk bases to play with.
I'm also not sure how I could sink rocks and other items on these bases. The resin sand medium is sloppy and goopy. If I placed a cork rock in the middle, would I be able to make it look convincing?

The craft sand version is darker because I essentially soak the sand in the darkest color, and then dry brush those tiny grains up to light grey. However, plenty of the dark color still shows through. I can dry brush more of the lighter colors to reduce or eliminate that, but I've found that it tends to look smeared and shitty when you do so.
There is much more control with the craft sand, as I'm painting on white glue, and then covering it with the sand before painting. I can glue rocks and other items right to the base before glue and sand and it looks nice enough. I'm positive that I cannot glue small plants to the sand. I'd have to attach them to the base before applying glue and sand, which would require precision to avoid sanding the leaves of the plants. No one likes sandy leaves. The alternative is drilling holes in the base after sanding, poking the plants through to the underside, and then gluing them in place.

Affixing the models to either base is about the same. Add a small piece of plasticard to the base where the feet go, apply basing, then scrape away the paint and sand from the piece of card. Glue as needed.

What do you folks think? Resin sand or craft sand?
Does the grey color stand out enough from my green/brown Tyranid scheme, or should I consider another color set?
Obviously, these are quick mockups that I threw together. A finished base will have static grass and various scattered small plants to break up the grey. I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to make the plants, but my first though is to grab some cheap silk plants from the craft store, and then cut my leaves and stems from those, using the appropriate scale. Then I'd bind it all together with floral wire (I already have a reel of it from past projects) and glue to the base using that coiled wire. I think I could also break out the airbrush to quickly spray the leading edges of the leaves another color like a light green, teal, or crimson.


In slightly related news, there was a list of interesting rumors online regarding a new hive fleet "Karkinos." That's my fleet name, dammit! The rumors talked about how Karkinos focused on poison and gas. However, the rumor set was debunked this AM as fake, but it did get me thinking.
What if I wanted my entire Hive Fleet to be poisonous? Every Nid kit is packed full of toxin sac bits, and you can buy them by the hundreds from bit sellers for a song. Adding a toxin sac to every melee claw/talon/blade arm would be some work, but it would also give me a chance to break up the monotony of green with more little purple sections as I would paint the sac-looking pieces of those bitz to match the ribbed flesh I already use.
On the table, I'd simply require every model to pay for toxin sac biomorphs, even if it makes little game sense. Toxin on a Carnifex with crushing claws? Go for it!

Speaking of painting, I have gotten all of the base blue colors down on my fourth Sternguard model. I just need to line highlight his armor and I'll be ready to move forward to the details. I'll try to get a WIP shot up early next week. The new book is out tomorrow morning as well. Huzzah!

 



So Excited!

I have to say, I haven't been this excited about 40K in years. Basically since the last Marine Codex was released. Four days and a wake-up til I have the new Marine 'dex in my hands!

I have my preorder in to the shop for the book, a box of Sternguard, and the new Librarian. When I found out that the model's little demon-cherub thing was a separate part and didn't require any removal or alterations, I was sold. I'm not a huge fan of the bearded Merlin-style head, but there should be plenty of others in the Sternguard box to use as a substitute. Hell, I might even use one of the old bare heads I have kicking around or even a helmeted head, if one will fit.

The model in question is here, for those of you who haven't seen it yet:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440160a&prodId=prod2160138a

Pretty snazzy, minus that effing cherub. He'll make a nice Tigurius, a character I'm happy finally has playable rules. I've really enjoyed his appearances in both Fall of Damnos and The Chapter's Due, so it will be fun to actually play him. I'd originally planned to use a modified version of Turmiel from the Dark Vengeance box as my on-foot Librarian/Tiggy, but this one is so much better. I'll save Turmiel for a jump-pack Librarian model and retire my old one. That model is sorely outdated and suffers from a serious case of Wobbly Model Syndrome.

I'm warming more to the idea of having Marines in my collection without helmets on. I was adamant in the past that I'd never have any, considering it tactically moronic. But the new heads in the new kits are really well done, so I might find my way to include some. I also really enjoyed painting skin when I did my sniper scouts.

I held off on buying any other new kits. While the Centurions have grown on me, I don't feel like shelling the cash for them just yet. Same with the Hunter tank. I'd love to start a unit of Vanguard, but it looks like their rules didn't get any better at all, though they're cheaper points-wise. I was sorely disappointed that the new Chaplain model is currently only available as part of a bundle with a Command Squad and a Razorback. I don't need either of those kits, so I'll wait on the Chaplain. I have a metal model sitting in a blister waiting for a jump pack anyways, and I have my counts-as Cassius for a foot version and my TDA version. I just need a biker Chaplain and I'll have one for every situation.

I am doing up a couple test 25mm base schemes for my Nids. I was waiting for paint to dry last night, so pics will come tomorrow or the day after.

I put a couple coats of midtone blue on my next Sternguard model and assembled the fifth squad member. Once those guys are done, I think I'm going to either do a standard bearer for a foot command squad (so I don't have to use my metal Honor Guard model as a lowly Company Banner Bearer) or start work on the two drop pods I have.

At Long Last!

The painting of my Hive Tyrant is complete! Well, except for his base, that is.

Here are some assembled shots under terrible light:

Overall, I think he looks nice. He's not as stunning as I wanted him to be, as I skimped on reposing, resculpting, and conversion. As others have said, I should have started small with troops bugs instead of a showcase model. That would have allowed me to get my paint schemes down before applying them to a centerpiece model. I'd wanted to hack apart his limbs and repose them into a more fluid and dynamic pose, but was simply too logjammed to do so. It was a "if you don't start now, you'll never start at all" situation.

Despite that disappointment, I'm pretty impressed with what I've done, as he's my first fully painted non-Marine model since 2007. I had this crazy idea to start a WHFB Orc and Goblin army a few years ago, and finished the skin tones on ONE Orc before abandoning the idea, hence the "fully painted" qualifier.

The only obstacle left for this guy is a base. Last night I mixed together equal parts craft paint and Liquitex Resin Sand medium and slathered it on a spare 25mm base to see what it would do. This morning, it was dry but very glossy. I didn't get a chance for a picture, but it basically looks like shiny mud. I'm sure Dullcote would bring the shine down, but I'm not sure the effect would carry to a 60mm base, or even a 40mm base. Originally, I'd wanted a loamy, fertile earth base with tufts of grass (easily done with static grass) and some random stumps and plants. I don't want to use resin bases because I don't want to sink the money into them for a Nid force that may end up containing a lot of small models. Plus, I've not found anything so far that I felt really hit the nail on the head for a convincing jungle earth look.

Some Google searching shows some poorly done jungle bases where gamers have simply glued tufts of tall grass, aquarium plants, and vines all over the base with the model planted squarely in the middle. I'm thinking that less is far more in this situation. I'm not sure I can get plants and grass to look right on these muddy bases, but will have to give it a try. If that fails, I will probably have to go back to the basic sand bases I use for my Marines, but with a different color and more liberal use of rocks, grass, and plants.

I put half a second coat on my Sternguard Marine last night as well. The rumors regarding bikes as troops in the new Marine codex are contradictory. Some say you only get one unit, some say you get as many as you like. I'll wait the two weeks to see, and then decide how to proceed. Regardless, I'd like to finish this 5-man Sternguard squad as soon as I can.
The rumors are that Kor'sarro Khan and the White Scars chapter tactics will be spectacular for running a Marine Bike force. On one hand, I'm thrilled that Marine bikers will be getting a small shot in the arm, but I'm also dismayed that it's a chapter tactic. When I first saw the chapter tactic rumors, I swore I'd only every use the Ultramarines tactic while fielding my Ultras, regardless of build. The idea that I can run better bikes by simply selecting a different tactic makes that vow very hard to stick to. I've railed against people cherry-picking chapter tactics in the past, though my beef is/was more with Blood Angel and Space Wolf armies being run under the new Marine book rules. But, the opposite happened when those two books were released (Marines run as BA/SW), so I guess it wouldn't be totally hypocritical of me to use the White Scars tactics when wearing blue paint.
It's a decision I'll make in a couple weeks.

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.