Been working on the Killteam boxset scenery. I de-sprued it all and removed the flash. Just a pic of the metric tonne of the building bits. I have all the smaller bits in a paper cup (not pictured). I will post up some pics of it assembled.
Latest Entries »
So, I have actually been doing a little bit of hobby work here and there. The problem is that it is only a few minutes every now and then and hasn’t amounted to much as of yet.
I purchased this little gem around the same time as I got Killteam.
Now, I have already based my Eldar army up using a green grass and other foliage style. I don’t want to be rebasing the entire army, and I feel that as cool as this is, doing the entire army on a kind of craftworld base will look boring. So, I intend to add bits of broken looking remnants of an ancient Eldar ruin. I may do a few complete wraithbone style bases for models that haven’t been assembled/based yet.
Anyway, I made up some milliput and rolled it out into a layer and rolled the pin over it.
As you can see, there are some lines and other imperfections through it, but that should actually be perfect for using as ruins. I have to wait for this to dry and then I will try it out on a few bases to see how it looks.
I am still kicking, but not hobbying really.
Over the past few months I haven’t really had much time to do much hobby wise. I did get to get a good few games of 40k in, which was great. I also played a game of Necromunda.
I have made a few purchases, including a Van Saar gang for Necromunda.
I also picked up Renegade and some Blood Angels Datacards and Dice.
Given that I also have one knight from the old Renegade box and the Armigers from Forgebane, that gives me a nice little Knight force. I reckon I can field that as an army on its own, or with some Skitarii. Given that I have the Skitarii from Forgebane and the new Killteam box also has Skitarii, that should give a nice backbone for a new army.
I also received my wet palette from the kickstarter.
Now all I need to do is get back to some painting!!
So, I haven’t updated this blog in months now. I didn’t mean to leave it so long, but life has been busy. Currently, I have no hobby area, so getting any painting/modelling done is hard. I have managed to get some games of 40k in recently though.
The release of the new FAQ seems like a good time to get back into to the swing of posting here. View full article »
So, I’ve not been posting lately. Essentially I haven’t made any real progress hobby wise. I have primed models and started painting them, but progress has been slow to non-existent. I’d love to say that I will get lots of painting done over the Christmas holidays, but I probably won’t. Still, I will endeavour to get something painted.
Looking at the Blood Angel codex, I have to say that I am happy with it. Blood Angels finally have access to some more fliers and anti-air tanks. If I am being picky, I would point out that the sons of the winged primarch still don’t have a unique flier, while the sons of Russ and Johnson do. Still, we know that the objective at the moment is to get codices out as quickly as possible.
There have been some nice points tweaks here and there. The new relics, warlord traits and stratagems, also bring Blood Angels up to speed with the other chapters (Space Wolves will get theirs soon enough I am sure).
I am really loving the inclusion of the Red Thirst rule and the fact that it reflects the Horus Heresy version. It isn’t exactly the same, but it is along the same vein. It is also great that Blood Angels can now make use of Cataphractii terminators and other models from the Betrayal at Calth box.
So, the new codex has dropped and I have had a chance to look through it. So, what do I think of it?
Lets start with the negatives.
I said before (with the previews) that I thought the Craftworld traits felt bland. I also can’t help but feel that Battle Focus has been overshadowed by some other codex traits (I am looking at you Death Guard!). Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some advantages. Battle Focus affects everything really, as do the traits. That being said, Battle Focus does very little for Eldar vehicles, due to all their big guns being Heavy (except Shuriken cannons). I just feel this reduces the effect and idea of Eldar fast skimmer vehicles.
The other thing that strikes me is the reduction in options throughout the codex. This is mainly seen with Autarchs and Exarchs. A lot of the weapon and wargear options are gone completely. Spinneret rifles and Sun Rifles for instance. The Autarchs also pretty much have no options available anymore. For instance, an Autarch only gets Mandiblasters if they have Swooping Hawk Wings. On foot, or on a bike and its tough luck. Banshee mask is not an option at all. Granted you can use the index version, but there are rumblings that tournaments won’t allow the index options (I am not a tourney player, but I feel the pain, especially for anyone with conversions or some of the older Autarch models). GW even decided to re-cast and sell some of the Autarch models with options you can’t use in the codex.
Some oldies that seemed to vanish in the index have stayed gone. Eldritch Storm never made it as a psychic power. Holofields are also gone. I figure that they may want to keep them as a more Harelquin thing, but we even had vehicle conversion bits for them.
So, I don’t want to go into an in-depth analysis on units (or my usual rant about shuriken catapults having the same range as a pistol!!!). There are however, two units I would like to reference.
Falcons saw a points reduction, but they still seem to suffer in the trade-off evaluation with the Wave Serpent. They definitely made them a bit more enticing with the points drop, but they still seem to be less attractive as an option to me.
Warlocks versus Spiritseer. A Single model unit Warlock is only ten points cheaper than the Spiritseer. The Spiritseer has superior casting potential, because they can cast Smite at full effect. The Spiritseer has superior stats and has the Spirit Mark ability. A Perils result can kill a Warlock on foot while a Spiritseer has twice as many wounds and therefore will survive.
I feel that Warlocks are missing something. I think that they should have an ability to reflect their martial nature. Perhaps allowing units within a certain range to use their Leadership score. This would help Guardian units. They could probably do with an extra wound too, or at least something like a ghosthelm.
Finally, can someone answer this question for me please. Why would I take an Aeldari blade over a chainsword on a Storm Guardian? Sorry, it just seems like a pointless option and I hate pointless options. (There could be a pun there really, but yeah.. the chainsword seems better, all day, everyday)
So, the positives.
There have been points tweaks all over the codex and a few rules changes here and there for some units (Banshees and Warwalkers get some rules changes). We also get more psychic powers again, relics, Warlord Traits and stratagems.
There are a few new options available in the codex now too. Some new wargear/weapons such as the Star Glaive and the relics. Many units have gone from horribly expensive (over-priced) to something you may want to bring to the tabletop.
The book also have new content and pushed the story-line forward a bit. There is also some lovely new artwork throughout the book.
To sum up.
The Codex is a vast improvement to the index. However, I do feel that some opportunities were missed. A lot of people complained about the lack of new plastic kits to go with it. I understand that GW are trying to get a codex to everyone quickly and this approach speeds things up. That being said, apart from the undeniable age of the models and the sheer quantity of the range that lacks plastic, it now appears that Eldar players have had many options removed as a result.
People complained about Warlocks and Falcons being poor and while GW did reduce their points cost, I don’t think that has resolved the issue. I feel that they need a little extra TLC to make them a more attractive option in the codex (this is not about them being super awesome, but it just seems there are better options there).
So GW dropped the teaser for Ulthwé. In short, everything gets a d6 roll of 6 save against wounds, including mortal wounds. It doesn’t work with or stack with Spirit Stones, The Avatar’s molten body, or Ghost Helms.
……….. It’s bland. I am not saying its bad. But it just feels very dull and bland to me.
Anyway, moving on. They also revealed some Stratagems that make Guardians better. One gives them +1 to hit in either shooting or assault. The other gives them a 4+ invul for an enemy shooting phase. It also says they are better as a result without an increase in points. I am a bit concerned. I really think that Guardians are a terrible unit as it stands. They are too expensive and their weapon is too short range. That being said, there are other factors that may come into play, such as a change to Battle Focus, maybe they did drop the points, but didn’t give that away.
Moving on, they say that Eldrad has actually dropped in points and they show off Mind War. Similar to before. 18″ range and a d6 added to Ld roll off. Every point you win by is a mortal wound for the enemy model.
So, nothing as such to show superior Psykers or Black Guardians, just a bland 6 up save. That and stratagems that only affect Guardians and Ulthwé Farseers can’t even avail of the Craftworld attribute.
I should note that I have almost always included Guardians in my army. But I have been finding it increasingly hard to make any use of them. Sure, you can mount them in a Wave Serpent, but that is an expensive tax on a unit that isn’t the cheapest unit by any stretch. Cheap for Eldar, but not when compared to Orks, gaunts and imperial guard, to name but a few.
So, I managed to find the other three jetbikes. Of course, they weren’t with the rest of my models, but thrown into a box with random things in it. I have assembled the bikes and the Yncarne up to the point where I feel I need to paint the model in separate parts, before final assembly.
I haven’t glued on all the little flaps on the canopies of the jetbikes. I will use a few with the monitor popping out, but I haven’t decided how many yet.
The next thing now is to get some undercoat. I had been using a grey primer with the airbrush, but I can’t use the airbrush at the moment. Therefore, I think I will use a black primer spray-can.
The Wraithguard also have me in a conundrum. I had the idea of doing them in a more wraithbone colour scheme, to offset from the predominantly black Ulthwé scheme. However, now I am thinking that maybe I should just spray them black. They have already been primed though and I had just wanted to spray them with a bone colour.
So, all my hobby stuff had to be packed up and put into storage. Some of it went into the attic and some is in the bedroom. My former hobby room is now the nursery. It will be some time before I can sort out a proper hobby space, but I intend to forge ahead with some hobby work here and there. Perhaps the biggest issue is spraying. While I kept my paint pots handy, my spray cans of primer are in the attic. I reckon is not the best idea to be using the airbrush in the bedroom. View full article »
So, I covered Eldar, time to give Blood Angels the treatment.
So, first up, with the marine and other codices coming out, the Blood Angels, like other index armies feels like its missing things. Like I did with Eldar, I will point these out, but of course I do expect them to be changed with the codex. View full article »
40keldar 