This month doesn’t bring a simple Codex or mere army book release, but rather an expansion for the whole of 40k: Apocalypse returns with a hefty tome as well as some rather imposing kits. As has become a treasured tradition here on Eternal Hunt, let’s take a look at the new release and talk about the new models and think about their possible uses for all kinds of hobby projects as well as their conversion potential.

While I will be focusing on the various models and kits in this post without giving any more consideration to the rulebook, let me just point out that the fact that a Khornate daemon engine prominently features on the expansion’s cover certainly warrants a double thumbs up from me

Another thing that you can say about this release is that it does a nice job in breaking up the well-established and rather formulaic pattern set by the last few releases. This is a welcome change, in my opinion, although it has more to do with the different nature of Apocalypse as an expansion to the whole game. Nevertheless, a little variety never hurt anyone.

Anyway, Apocalypse is all about size, of course: The expansion is designed to allow (if not incite) players to use their whole collection of models and/or assemble enormous armies, far beyond the scope of regular 40k, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at their fellow hobbyists. It also exclusively gives players the opportunity of using all kinds of special formations and enormous models, ranging from scores of infantry models to tank squadrons or superheavies. So it should not come as a big surprise that the models released along with the expansion focus on this aspect.

Khorne Lord of Skulls

People on the forums may think the Necron model is the most spectacular thing to come out of this release, but you will hopefully excuse my fanboyism when I say that this is the real star of the show for me, for fairly obvious reasons.

I’ll be honest with you: This model initially seemed like a dream come true for me! When I saw the first leaked pictures, my lower jaw could actually be heard hitting the tabletop. Since then, lots and lots of derision have been heaped upon the “Skulldozer”, but I’ll go on record stating that I simply love the model’s design, period. Sure, it’s corny. Sure, it’s unrealistic. But come on, people: Since when do we expect realism in 40k? In fact, the cry for realism is one of the biggest non-arguments ever, in my opinion. Plausibility, sure: It’s great if models look even slightly plausible, as in: grounded in the setting. But what we have here is a daemonic fusion of flesh and bone, steel and brass, brought to quasi-life by the powers of the warp. It serves as an engine of destruction as well as a living icon of the Blood God — that’s surely plausible enough for me!

If anything, I have to applaud Dale Stringer, designer of the piece, for finding the perfect middle ground between the old and the new: The Lord of Skulls nicely picks up a lot of design cues of the older epic 40,000 Khornate daemon engines, while also looking very much at home next to the more recent 40k chaos kits.

Are there too many skulls? I’ll let you be the judge of that:

Personally, I think that you can never really have too many skulls on a Khornate model, but that’s just me. And we can certainly all agree that some of the detail on this model is simply nuts. For me, it’s a tossup between the cannon with the skull face (that has yet more skulls in it…) or the choice of two alternate heads, complete with exchangeable Khornate “bunny ears”:

For me as a World Eaters player, the model not only counts as pure fan service, but is also a kit that I would love to own.

Here’s the thing, though: This model is simply too damn big! A scale shot provided by GW in the latest issue of WD shows how the Lord of Skulls is almost twice the heigth of a Defiler (itself quite a beast already, from a size perspective). And here’s where my excitement for the model turns bittersweet: The size puts it out of scale with all other kits in the chaos catalogue: It can really only ever realistically be used in Apocalypse.

Granted, that was probably the whole point of the exercise. But for me, that’s a bit of a tragedy: If the model were half its size, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Heck, I’d probably get two of the things, to be honest: I love the design to bits, and at half the size, it would be an essential purchase in so many ways:

I would make a fantastic replacement defiler out of the box. Or the upper and lower halves of the kit could be separated and made into both a Khornate knight titan and a more interesting World Eaters Land Raider — as a matter of fact, I’ve been waiting for ages for a possibility of making a LR more interesting and rewarding to build: Check out the undercarriage: It would be the perfect vehicle for Lord Captain Lorimar and his retinue of Terminators. Even the treads have icons of Khorne (whereas chaos players have had to use the regular LR threads, complete with Aquila, for ages). Parts of it might even be useable for other Daemon Engines, Helbrute conversions, custom pieces of terrain or what have you.

But as it stands, the model is simply unusable by virtue of its size. Sure, this is supposed to be an exclusive Apocalypse war machine with no use in regular 40k. But I am simply not interested in playing at the scale of Apocalypse, period. So what I am left with here is a kit that I would love to own, yet that I won’t be able to use for anything, by the look of it. I don’t know what to say. Something like that ha never really happened to me before…

Lastly, there’s the price of course: 125 Euros for a single mode, no matter the size, is a pretty penny. We’re no longer approaching FW territory here, we’re well within its borders. And I am not sure I’m happy about that…

Necron Tesseract Vault

The other huge kit of the release gives Necron players a new toy. The Tesseract Vault even offers you the added benefit of being able to assemble it in two different configurations. You can either use the model in a closed configuration as an Obelisk, a bigger Necron monolith variant. This option has a look fitting perfectly within the established Necron aesthetic, while looking somewhere between a Borg Cube and an alien mothership from some Sci-Fi flick like Independence day:

The other option is to use the kit to build the Tesseract Vault, with a captured and tortured C’Tan visible at the center of the consrtuct:

I was a little disappointed at the handling of the C’Tan in the new Necron background, so it’s really nice to see a new C’Tan shard make an appearance, even if it appears to be just a fairly “generic” creature. I also like the look of the star god’s prison being torn apart by the creature’s power while also being repaired by countless little automata at the same time: GW’s designers really managed to pull this off perfectly, and the myriad of small canoptek scarabs are a really nice touch:

What makes me really envious of Necron players is the fact that, where the Lord of Skulls is infuriatingly useless to those of us not interested in Apocalypse, the Tesseract Vault seems like a no-brainer purchase to all Necron Players: Even if you have no intention of ever playing Apocalypse, this kit simply gives you so much Necron-y stuff that you can build lots of brilliant things for your regular 40k army: There’s the vault itself that could work as a bigger monolith as well as a fantastic piece of terrain for your Necron-themed table. The insectile Canoptek-contraption above the C’Tan could easily be used as an alternate Tomb Spider or some similar horror. All those cables and tech bitz are a converter’s and terrain builder’s dream come true. And of course, there’s this guy:

Whether you want to make him into a C’Tan shard, a daemon prince or what have you, this guy has all the makings of a centre piece model. Incidentally, in case any fellow videogame nerds are reading this: Doesn’t this model remind you of the early sketches for possible boss monsters published in the Bioshock artbook “Breaking the Mould”, down to the colour used on the model? The resemblance is rather uncanny…

Oh, and to those playing Inquisitor at the 54mm scale: I guess you’ll never get a better plastic daemonhost than this, people…

So, while this model doesn’t feel as much like a standout piece as the Lord of Skulls to me, it has the immense advantage of being rather useful for hobby activities beyond (or should that be beneath) the scope of Apocalypse.

Space Marine Masters of the Chapter

While the other models in this release rather fit the bill of large kit, the new Masters of the Chapter have the large ham angle perfectly covered. I really liked the first couple of company masters, and now there are even more of them. Let’s take a closer look:

The Lord Executioner

Yeah, names to run away from really fast, and all that…

Seriously, though, this may be my favourite of the new models. He looks huge and imposing – and possibly almost too ostentatious. Still, if you like your Marine commanders blinged-out to the max, you’ll find a lot to like about this model and its fellows. The longer I look at the model, the more it seems to me that the shaft of the axe should be a little longer, but that’s just a small nitpick.

My favourite detail about this guy has to be his face:

It would make for a great World Eaters officer. Or the whole model could be used as a base for a pretty effective Constantin Valdor conversion. Just sayin’…

Master of the Marches

Wait, the Astartes have a guy whose sole responsibility is the deployment of the force? At only 1,000 Marines per chapter? Talk about bloated management…

Anyway, the model once again looks the part of company master! I like how GW are channelling older armour variants for their marine special characters and would love to see more of this with the plastic kits. One can always dream…

I also think that cherub should be a very interesting bit for INQ28 aficionados:

Master of the Rites

This one is probably the weakest of the bunch for me: While the cape draped over the model’s left arm is a nice touch, he just doesn’t look as cool as the other models. And what is it with that huge, floating loudspeaker thing, though? I can certainly appreciate the gothic touches, but if he needed something beyond the communications arrays built into every single Marine’s helmet, maybe a choir servitor would have been an even cooler (and more gothic) option? The good thing is that this guy should be rather easy to convert via a hand swap, if you want him in a more combat-centred role.

Master of Relics

While the overall model is pretty great, I am not sure I am fond of all the clutter, especially the servo-skull and backpack. Sure, this guy is important and equipped with all kinds of snazzy doodads, but I suspect the model might be much cooler with a less cluttered silhouette. In fact, maybe this guy could even make a good base for an Alpharius/Omegon conversion or a “regular” Alpha legionnaire, since he already has that special ops look about him…

Based on his facial expression, he also looks like a really fun guy to be around:

Once again, the obvious problem with these is the price point: Each of the models comes at a whooping 21 Euros, whereas the older Masters of the Chapter can still be had in a box of four for merely 26 Euros. Sure, the new models may be even more imposing and detailed (which does in fact lead to a bit of a continuity problem, seeing how the less detailed models are now representing the first four companies of the chapter…), but considering the price and the fact that the older models are really nice, I know which one I’d choose. And let’s not even get into the fact that kitbashing some unique Masters of the Chapter from all the available bitz would be a really fascinating project for the diligent hobbyist…
The release also brings some brand new terrain that can be combined with the already available (and prohibitively expensive) Wall of Martyrs. So let’s take a closer look at the new terrain pieces:

Vengeance Weapons Battery

Seeing how weapon emplacements have even begun to creep into regular 40k, I can imagine this kit to become very useful both in Apocalypse and in regular games. The design is nice and gothic, and I can’t help but feel that it even looks slightly chaotic as it is — which is great news for a chaos player like myself, of course.

Firestorm Redoubt

Quite a bit larger than the weapons battery, this kit features a rather large bunker and additional huge weapons. Once again, I really like the design, but then I’m a sucker for all those gothic knick knacks and skulls of everything.

Aquila Strongpoint

And finally, where would we be without a piece of terrain using a stylised Imperial aquila with a huge gun? And it seems like the bird is really excited to see us., too..

Like the other two pieces, this one continues the trend of gothic and highly ostentatious design, and all three of the pieces should gel perfectly with the Wall of Martyrs, the Fortress of Redemption or even GW’s cityfight ruins. This is indeed a far cry from the spraypainted cardboard buildings of my youth!

Now, I realise that these are fairly huge pieces of terrain. Plus all of these are certainly expertly designed and look great. They will also, without a doubt, prove rather effective both in Apocalypse and in games of regular 40k. There’s one thing , though, and again, it’s the price point: I really respect the work that must have gone into these, and they will look brilliant on gaming tables around the world. I also immensely dislike all the GW-bashing around the net. All of that notwithstanding, though, the pricing on these terrain pieces just seems out of touch: At between 40 and 90 Euros apiece, the pricing on these models is just off the charts: There’s no way I am blowing hundreds of Euros on terrain when the armies themselves are so expensive already. Sure, it’s fantastic that all this brilliant terrain is available to us. Sure, there has never been so much cool stuff to use for your own terrain conversions. And it’s certainly bad form to hate on GW for giving us more options.

But still: I’ve never been one to shy away from paying a pretty penny to sustain my addiction to cutting up little plastic men, but this is just a bit much. It’s clearly obvious that this release caters to the hardcore fans, above all else: To those who will buy Forgeworld Titans, just because. To those who can afford to spend entire weekends wrapped up in the logistics of a huge Apocalypse battle. Maybe to those who will rent convention centers to play out the battle for a whole planet on the floor of the main conference room. All of this is fascinating to see, and it’s great that the option is there, but for me personally, Apocalypse is simply moving one step too far away from what I find fascinating about wargaming in the first place: the attention to each single soldier in my army.

So, what to make of it all?
It’s a tough call, really. Even more so since I am obviously slightly biased against Apocalypse in the first place. From a visual standpoint, I cannot fault GW’s designers: The release contains lots of cool stuff and, based on its visual merits alone, would have to be called one of my favourite releases for some time. I can easily salivate over all the cool models for hours.

But both the size and the attached price tags render most of this release clearly beyond my reach. To wit, there’s an offer for this terrain set over on the GW-page:

And it comes at almost 1,500 Euros a pop. That’s insane! You could buy a car for that money! A rather crappy car that doesn’t have too much life left in it, to be sure. But the point still stands: This kind of game – even more than regular 40k or WFB – seems to be for those for whom disposable income is simply not an issue. And the rest of us do not seem to be invited to the party.

It would be easy, of course, to wax poetical on the injustice of capitalism, of the sheer evil of corporate entities, among them GW. I won’t do that. I’ll just say, in closing, that looking at the huge kits from this release makes me giddy and excited, and I dream of all the crazy conversions I could make with this stuff. But then I think of the game attached to all of it, and I take a look at the price tag, and I feel that I am standing at a fork in the road. And I guess I’ll pass. For now. So, cheers, GW: See you next month, when you’ll hopefully release someting I can afford again.

So yeah, so much for my thoughts about this particular release. What’s your take on things? Are you delighted by the models? Excited at the prospect of running huge Apocalypse games? Or just as hesitant as I am? Am I maybe just bitter that I don’t get to play with the big boys? Let me know what you think in the comments section!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Today marks a pretty special occasion for me, because my blog has managed to garner its first 100,000 views. Which is rather amazing, seeing how I basically kicked off this small endeavour about one and a half years ago to show you my own, meagre hobby efforts. Back then, I was of course hoping that I would be able to attract some attention to my hobby projects, but never could I have foreseen so many visitors, readers and comments. So thanks a lot to all the people who have shown an interest so far! Getting some kind of feedback is a great motivational factor, even if it’s only seeing that people click on the site, download the odd image or what have you. It’s been a great experience so far, and I promise I’ll try to keep the content coming. Who knows, some of it may even be interesting

So, what better way to celebrate the occasion than to show you some new pictures of where my World Eaters army currently stands? After all, this army was one of my main reasons for starting this blog!

Even though I may have been rather lazy since showing you the last family portrait some time ago, the army still fills me with pride. Take a look:

I only really painted some 15 new models since the last set of photos was taken, but at least some of them were pretty huge. The army also ends up looking rather imposing lined up like that, if I do say so myself!

The biggest addition to the army since we last saw it was of course the Hellrazor, my converted Heldrake:

But I also managed to paint some more lords (a lasting addiction of mine) and fellows in terminator armour. These three gentlemen can already make up a small Termicide unit, if push comes to shove:

And there’s an equally large collection of Chaos Lords in power armour, of course. Among them my converted Dark Apostle (shown on the left):

Then there’s a small collection of champions and models I painted just for fun (among them the starts of a dedicated gladiator squad). While several of those concepts may be spun off into an own squad, all of these “stragglers” together can almost make up another berzerker squad:

And finally, there’s the beginnings of Joras Turnpelt’s small detachment of traitorous Space Wolves, to be used as regular CSM, if the battle plan so requires:

But let’s not just look at already finished stuff! Blogging is all about new content after all, and seeing these guys neatly lined up like that actually gave me a pretty huge appetite for adding more stuff to my World Eaters — but where to start?

I recently discovered Chris’ fantastic kitbashed Decimator over at A Host of Word Bearers and was simply blown away by the model! Using a Dreadknight as the base model for his conversion, Chris managed to truly transform it into an excellent daemon engine for the dark gods. And it took all my strengths to resist picking up a Dreadknight right away to emulate his conversion.

…

Unfortunately, my resolve lasted all of 24 hours, then I hurried to the FLGS and made my move. And I spent the last weekend in a bit of a building spree, trying to convert my own, corrupted Dreadknight/Decimator.

At the beginning, I stuck closely to Chris’ recipe, only replacing a small bit here and there. After a relatively short while, this was what I ended up with:

As you can see, the basic construction is very similar. I was lucky enough to discover that the armour plates from the Maulerfiend’s forearms were a perfect fit for the Dreadknight legs. And as Chris’ conversion amply demonstrated, the  arms from the Forgefiend and Heldrake kits, respectively, make for great improvised Decimator weapons. Luckily enough, I still had both lying around, so the body was finished rather quickly.

Here’s where the problems started, though, since I lacked virtually all the parts used by Chris to make up the head and shoulders of his model. And I didn’t consider the chances of getting my hands on a warsphinx skull head to be all that great. So I realised I would have to improvise and started kitbashing:

My first idea was to use the skull from one of the 40k dice holders. I thought it would look reasonably close to that warsphinx head:

But once I had tried it, I really wasn’t too happy with the result: It just didn’t look as cool as I had hoped.

My next approach was to default back to every Khorne player’s bread and butter choice: A juggernaut head.

But while this would have worked rather nicely, it presented a whole new problem: I had already used a juggernaut head when building Marax the Fallen, and I didn’t really want to replicate a motif I had already used once…

And then I had an idea: I suddenly remembered that head I had originally wanted to use for my second Dreadnought:

Back then, I ultimately had to discard the head because it was simply too big for a dreadnought body. But for obvious reasons, that wouldn’t be a problem this time around! So I made a mockup:

And in a strange way, it worked. I really like the blunt, brutal look of the head! With its cyclopean eyeslit, it really looks like an inhuman killing machine. And while I am normally not a big fan of using old toy parts on 40k models, I felt I could make an exeception here. After all, isn’t this a nice callback to a youth misspent on a different kind of plastic crack?

Anyway, I continued working from there, building up the shoulders with a couple of bitz and bobs. I also started experimenting with a slightly more exciting pose.

I then posted the WIP shots on a couple of forums to confirm whether I was on to something here, and the reactions were largely positive, so I persevered. One criticism, however, turned out to be valid: Some guys over at GW-Fanworld pointed out that the toy head seemed to be far less detailed than the surrounding area. So I used a couple of additional bitz to address this problem:

It might not be perfect, but I am confident I can make it work during the painting stage. In an unexpected twist, I also decided against using the usual Khornate “bunny ears”, because I really liked the head’s blunt silhouette and didn’t want to clutter it with too many different elements.

I kept adding some additional bitz here and there, and a short while later, the model’s construction was basically finished. Take a look:

A few additional chains, skull trophies and chaos icons notwithstanding, I believe the model is close to finished. I have also resisted the urge to glue everything together right off the bat, so the model is currently kept in several larger sub-assemblies (and held together with several gobs of modelling putty and a huge amount of faith). It will probably be far easier to paint that way!

All in all, I am really pleased with this big boy at the moment! Though the original inspiration is still clearly visible, the different head and shoulders keep the model from becoming a mere retread of somebody else’s conversion. And I am also really looking forward to seeing this guy painted. I suspect/hope that painting the model will be slightly similar to painting a bigger dreadnought. I hope I am right in this, because painting my two dreads has been an absolute blast!

As soon as I get my hands on a fresh can of Chaos Black, expect this guy to hit the painting table! Until then, if you have any C&C on him, I’d love to hear it!

So yeah, as you can see, Khorne’s Eternal Hunt is still going strong! A huge thank you must go to Chris for providing the totally awesome inspiration for this conversion! And, of course, thanks to your for looking and stay tuned for more!

Here’s to the next 100,000!

This month brings a new release for the World of Warhammer Fantasy Battles in the form of new Lizardmen models. And even though my WFB days are well behind me, I’ll still happily take a look at the new models, talk about what I like and don’t like and scrutinise any conversion potential this release might have – maybe even for the world of 40k. So, once, let us take a closer look at the new release.

Before we do that, though, it’s time for me to come clean. So let me start with two confessions:

One, I used to be a huge Dinosaur nut for most of my childhood and even quite a ways into my teens. I was very proud of being able to identify and name a huge number of prehistoric lizards big and small in what was an endless stream of garbled (and probably mostly incorrectly pronounced) Greek and Latin. So Lizardmen should be right up my alley, right?

Yes, well. That’s actually confession number two: I’ve always felt the denizens of Lustria to be a rather awkward fit for the world of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Allow me to elaborate:

Regarding most of the WFB armies, their basic design ideas can be summed up in a single sentence for me: The Empire is “Hieronymus Bosch meets Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail“. Bretonnia is “Medieval France plus Arthurian Legend plus the ugliest sides of feudalism, all rolled into one and turned up to eleven”. Warriors of Chaos are “spiky vikings who worship evil gods (and sometimes have tentacles)”, and so on. I think you get the idea…

Lizardmen, then, would be “Fantasy dinosaurs who are also aztec wizards”. And I think we can all agree that this already sounds fairly funky and not all that easy to pull off. The other problem for me is that these guys…well, they’re lizards. And it’s really not that easy to imbue lizards with lots of character. I can imagine most of WFB’s factions off the battlefields: I can imagine the bustling, clockpunk hellholes that are the cities of the Empire. I can imagine the fierce tribal culture of the northern chaos wastes. It’s easy to get an idea of the grim, and probably darkly humurous, interactions of the greenskins.

All of this is much harder for the Lizardmen. They are the servants of the Ancients, yes. But that’s the problem right there: They are tools. They were bred for their tasks. The different breeds are well designed and thought out, make no mistake. But they don’t really offer much by way of character — at least that’s my take. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Oh, and don’t get me started on all those punny names…

At the very least, though, a well-painted Lizardmen army will make quite an impression on the table: Its vibrant colours and mix of lizards and dinosaurs big and small does have a certain je ne sais quoi. So what about the new models then?

Carnosaur / Troglodon / Kroq-Gar on Grymloq

The biggest new kit gives us a huge, reptilian predator that can be assembled in several ways. The first option is to build a Saurus Oldblood riding a Carnosaur, as pictured above. While the Carnosaur’s last incarnation looked a bit too much like an 80s/90s action figure, if you ask me, the new design is really great: Instead of looking like a slightly hokey Tyrannosaur with longer arms, the creature now takes design cues from more evolved, sleek and deadly carnivores like the Allosaur. The sickle claws even make it seem like there’s more than a little Deinonychus in there somewhere…
Meanwhile, the shortened jaws seem almost mammalian, making the Carnosaur look even more dangerous.

The fact that the pose is very dynamic and that the model looks like its anatomy would actually work in real life, helps of course. I also really love that black/white/orange paintjob, by the way!

So the mount is a succes. But what about the rider? In fact, the standard Oldblood head included in the kit is a real favourite of mine: That guy looks like he really means business!

The second possible way of assembling this kit is to build the special character Kroq-Gar (…) on his ride Grymloq (oh boy!). All the necessary parts are included, which is really a brilliant idea that I would like to see far more often (and in 40k as well as WFB)! The resulting model looks like this:

While the Carnosaur remains mostly unchanged, the rider gets a spiffy artifact gauntlet. While this weapon was already present in the charcter’s last incarnation, I really like the rather more statuesque redesign of the weapon: It looks like it really wasn’t necessarily designed to be worn by a Saurus in the first place, which I think is a nice touch, especially with regard to the Lizardmen’s backstory.

The other huge option is to build a Troglodon, an eerie, troglodytic lizard ridden by a skink:

This version of the model throws even more real-life influences into the mix, with the head recalling that of a Baryonyx or a crocodile, if I am not mistaken, and some Spinosaur thrown in as well for good measure. While the change mainly amounts to a headswap (and a tail swap, to boot), the result is quite stunning: The model looks quite distinctive, even more so if painted in the pale, slightly translucent skin tones befitting a cave dweller.

The skink rider, meanwhile, is nothing to write home about — but that’s probably a matter of personal taste: I always tend to think skinks are a little bland, and they don’t really register as characters for me (even though they seem to be far stronger individuals than the rather dense Sauri, in the background at least).

Lastly, this kit offers you an additional Saurus Oldblood on foot under certain conditions,…

…but for some reason, this guy feels like a bit of an afterhought — nothing that canot be fixed with a couple of bitz, though.

All in all, I think this kit is great! Sure, at 65 Euros, it isn’t exactly a steal, but seeing all the extra bitz and options you get out of it, I still consider it a good amount of bang for the buck!

Bastiladon

This big boy is a dead ringer for the good old Styracosaur. A very nice design, if you ask me, and a great and distinctive addition to the Lizardmen’s huge warbeasts.

The kit comes with two different weapons arrays for the Bastiladon’s back: The first one, called the Solar Engine, is pretty much what you would expect from an Aztec inspired precursor culture like the lizardmen. The fact that the crystals are solid plastic is slightly disappointing, but there would really have been no easy way around it, so I’ll let it slide. As it stands, this will be an interesting task for accomplished painters (not unlike the whole Lizardmen catalogue, as  a matter of fact).

The fact that the activation panel on the back of the engine has room for five fingers, but the skink only has four, is a nice touch. It may not really be a poignant embodiment of the Lizardmen’s tragic history, as suggested by the PR-speak in WD, but it’s a neat idea!

There’s also the option of building a Troglodon that carries the Arc of Sotek…

…and it’s a little silly, really. Whoever would think of a warmachine like this? The Ancients? Some skink shamans high on Mezkal? However, it’s so silly that it almost works in a zany, Indiana Jones-esque way. Moving on…

Terradon / Ripperdactyl Riders

The old Terradon models were pretty awkward in many ways, so it’s great to see GW chose to address this. And with a multi-kit, no less! For the Terradons, I love the choice of making them look similar to a Pteranodon, not only differentiating them from the other option in the kit, but channelling what has to be one of my favourite dinosaurs ever. My one gripe with the terradons themselves is that their toes, holding the Drop Rocks are so short as to look almost nonexistent, making it look as though the rocks were bolted directly to the creature’s legs. Apart from that, though, I love the design, and even the skink riders with their dynamic poses and more athletic builds are really nice!  Oh, and in case you were wondering, those little guys attack by hurling “fireleeches” at the enemy:

Because why the hell not? I believe this might actually be due to a translation error in the Ancient’s great plan: The passage in question said something about “hurling balls of flame”, but there was a crack in the tablet or a translation error by some inexperienced skink scribe or something to that effect, and now the poor guys are stuck with hurling burning leeches. Or GW’s design studio just wanted to test the boundaries of what they could get away with. Your choice!

The other kind of unit to be built from the kit is a flock of Ripperdactyl riders:

The piranha-styled underbite on the Ripperdactyls makes them look like really angry, evil birds. I am not 100% sold on this design element, to tell you the truth, but seeing how the kit is all plastic, it should be reasonably easy to get rid of if you wanted to:

And finally, the kit lets you build the special character Tiktaq’to (I swear I am not making this up!), which is a nice additional option, once again!

While I can sympathise with the notion of giving special skink characters huge and ostentatious looking golden ceremonial masks, this has the slightly problematic effect of making them look even more devoid of personality, in my opinion. That sickle blade is looking wicked, though!

And let me just point out that the paintjob on the model is really stellar:

Just check out those wings! Marvelous work!

Tetto’eko

While it’s a refreshing idea to give us a skink priest on a throne instead of yet another Slann, I am not sold on this design. It may have something to do with my general apathy when it comes to skinks, but I suspect the actual problem lies somewhere between the slightly awkward pose (the cross-legged pose really isn’t working out — just check out that right foot), the staff looking completely unlike anything in the Lizardmen army (or, indeed, GW’s entire catalogue) or the slightly hokey feathers adorning the throne. It’s certainly easy enough what they were trying to do here, though, with Tetto’eko supposed to look like an ancient, wizened member of his race, but I actually think that an enterprising Lizarmen player could kitbash/scratchbuild a  suitable model without having to spend 40 Euros on the Finecast version…

This may be purely a matter of personal taste, but Tetto’eko is probably the weakest part of the release for me.

Gor-Rok

I love the idea of fielding what basically amounts to a giant, scarred albino crocodile that JUST WILL NOT DIE. Gor-Rok seems far more imposing than his regular Saurus kin, both due to his huge frame and to the heavy scarring all over his body. I am not perfectly sure about the position of the left arm, and the teeth/horns on that shield do look a little silly, but both elements should be easy enough to change. The question remains, as usual, why this had to be a Finecast model in the first place. In my opinion, Finecast should really be reserved for the remastered older models and for new releases that are really only possible in that particular material. Apart from that, though, I like this big guy!

Skink Priest

As per the usual routine, one of the new characters also gets a  plastic release. Again, this guy is a skink, so don’t expect any hymns of praise from me My problem with the model is that it’s facing some stiff competition from several of the brilliant WFB plastic characters, and this little guy really doesn’t hold up all that well, in my opinion. The model’s position on the remains of a ruin are a nice touch, but there are quite a few much more impressive models in the catalogue. Still, having access to a plastic skink priest is certainly a nice asset for Lizardmen players, so I won’t let my mixed feelings about skinks as characters stand in the way of that.

Conversion potential

Now, all these reptilian additions to the Lizardmen catalogue are certainly great news for the army. But what about the new kits’ conversion potential for other hobby projects? Continuing a trend started by the High Elves and continued by the Tau and Eldar, the Lizardmen are yet another faction with a very unique, somewhat eclectic look. That makes it slightly challenging to just use them in other armies. That said, using elements from the army (and the new kits) to individualise an Empire, Bretonnia, Dwarf or Greenskin army to show how it is currently on a tour exploring (and likely plundering) Lustria could be a pretty cool idea.

When it comes to the world of 40k, the new Lizardmen kits could be used to great effect on highly cutomised Eldar Exodite armies or even particularly colourful regiments of the Imperial Guard. For instance, fellow hobbyist wonkobaggins recently posted a really cool counts as Catachan Sentinel built by using a Tyrannosaur model — something similar could be done using the new Carnosaur! And since quite a few people are already using Cold Ones for their Rough Riders, why not go the whole way and add some Terradons/Ripperdactyls as well?

The Bastiladon could make a nice, smaller Squiggoth-variant for an Orc army, or a similar beast of burden in a Kroot-themed army, with a little conversion work, And the Troglodon head looks sufficiently eerie and otherwordly to be an interesting head choice for a (Tzeentchian) Daemon Prince, Greater Daemon or daemon engine. Several of the new beasts could also be used as enslaved creatures in a heavily converted, beastmaster-themed Dark Eldar army to represent the beasts captured and used in gladiatorial spectacles by the lanistas of Commoragh…

Finally, I could also see some of the kits used involved  in some serious kitbashing with a pile of Tyranid parts, but to be perfectly honest, that could almost be seen as doing a disservice to the beautiful new kits.

When it comes to the wonderful world of INQ28, some parts from the new kits could be used to build members of minor xenos races. like bounty hunters and mercenaries travelling the galaxy in search of employers. Jeff Vader’s excellent Glarrg the Brontoglorrg (well done indeed on the name, mate!) would be a sterling example of this.

So, what to make of it all? Will this release bring me back to WFB or my erstwhile passion for Dinosaurs? No, probably neither. In fact, I may probably completely pass on the new kits. That said, I am prepared to call this a really strong offering! Most of the designs are great, especially the bigger kits. I also love the amount of options present in some of the models, and the opportunities to build special characters from plastic kits, and this is clearly something I would love to see more of. Just imagine a Chaos Lord plastic kit containing the parts to build Abaddon (or a custom general for one of the four chaos gods). Or a Dark Eldar vehicle kit containg the parts to build Asdrubael Vect (like the old model, just all in plastic). Or a Greater Daemon kit allowing us to build characters like Skarbrand or M’Kachen. The options are endless, and one can always dream…

In any case, Lizardmen players receive some standout pieces for their army, and the designs are top notch! And while the prices are, once again, nothing to scoff at, I am tempted to forgive that when looking at the amount of options and customisability in most of these kits.

It also becomes clear, browsing through the new issue of WD, that these kits deserve to be painted with the utmost care: Some of the ‘Eavy Metal paintjobs on these are truly outstanding, and making your own Lizardmen army look as vibrant and characterful is certainly quite a challenge, even for accomplished painters.

So what do you think? Do you like the new models, or do they leave you cold(-blodded, hur hur)? And do they remind you of a childhood spent gazing at extinct lizards as well? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Oh, and just for the records: I still think dinosaurs are pretty cool!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Let me use today’s post for a spell of pointless rambling. Bear with me though, there might be something worthwile hidden along the way

Anyway, last week I bought a huge pile of Ogre Kingdoms bitz from fellow hobbyist Kar Tharog. When I got home from work yesterday, the parcel had arrived, and so I spent most of the evening with my very individual kind of R&R: sorting a huge pile of bitz into many smaller piles

While doing that, I realised that buying “surprise piles” of bitz may be one of the most delicious hobby activities for me, but more on that in a minute. You may ask yourself why I went for Ogre bitz in the first place.

While I am very unlikely to start an Ogre Kingdoms army (or any WFB army, for that matter) anytime soon, I have had my eyes on bitz from the various Ogre Kingdoms kits for quite a while now. Visually speaking, the Ogres are heavily based on a culture of hunters, for one. That means that the kits usually come with lots of trophies like skulls, hides, etc. — a perfect fit for Khorne’s Eternal Hunt.

Then there’s the fact that the recurring symbol of the Great Maw is fairly similar to the World Eaters’ legion badge: For instance, I am already using a certain Ogre Kingdoms gut plate as a legion symbol for my army. The newer bitz continue this trend, featuring stylised jaws and maws — once again, perfect for my World Eaters.

And even beyond the scope of my main army, Ogre Kingdoms models have a darkly funny and eclectic bend, which may not help with my World Eaters, but is sure to yield some really cool and interesting bitz.

So that was basically my reasoning behind this purchase, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed when I opened the parcel yesterday. Here’s a look at what I got out of the deal:

This is what I would call the really interesting part of the bitz haul: All the “regular” Ogre bull parts (heads, arms, weapons, accessories) have already been neatly sorted away. They will come in handy, too, but they are certainly not the meat of the purchase. So what you see above is the part that really sealed the deal for me, because I would have had to pick up some really expensive (and ultimately useless) kits in order to get my hands on some of this stuff.

So let me point out a couple of highlights. First up, I was thrilled to find an entire Stonehorn head among the bitz:

I had originally planned to simply use the skull-like “faceplate” as decoration on one of the army’s vehicles, a daemon engine or something similar. Yet that head is so brilliantly angry and detailed that I will probably hold on to it for a while yet: Maybe it could be used on a kitbashed Greater Daemon or something similar? One can always dream…

As a matter of fact, there was a complete Thundertusk head as well — two bitz I would never have gotten hold of normally.

I also got some really nice Mournfang cavalry weapons:

I imagine these will be really useful if I ever decide to add some more Forsaken to the existing three models. Note how the blades also seem to be emulating the great maw motif (and, once again, the World Eaters’ symbol).

I was also fortunate enough to receive this brilliant head:

Normally a part of a dead Imperial soldier kept as a “snack” by the Ogres, the head is just perfect for a twisted servant of the dark gods, don’t you think? Expect this part to make an appearance in my small Traitor Guard detachment (or my INQ28 collection) at some point…

I have already started playing around with some of the bitz. Here’s an early prototype: A World Eaters Terminator using a particularly cool Ogre gut plate as a pauldron:

So, did I post this just to gloat? No way! What I really want to talk about is that this kind of purchase is usually one of the high points of the hobby for me. Strange, huh?

I guess it’s the fact that there’s a certain thrill of the hunt, if you will: Taking a look at the – often fuzzy – photos online. Deciding if you’ll get enough useful bitz out of the deal, then ultimately taking the plunge. Waiting impatiently for the parcel to arrive, the immediately tearing it open and sifting through the contents and thinking of new conversions — sometimes coming up with ideas you would never have considered when buying your bitz the “conventional” way. Don’t get me wrong: Methodically hunting for a certain bit via ebay or one of the bitz sites can be pretty gratifiying as well. But “buying in bulk” like this just feels great every now and then!

Granted, it’s something we usually cannot indulge in too often: You have to be lucky to find a pile of bitz that warrants the purchase. You have to balance “wild card” purchases like this against more sensible additions to your army. But for a fanatical kitbasher like myself, digging through a huge pile of plastic crack and dreaming up some new conversions is really as good as it gets!

Oh, and by the way, I wasn’t disappointed on the “darkly funny and eclectic” front either: There where lots of grisly (but rather funny) trophies, some Ogre snacks (like steaks and plucked chickens) and lots and lots of very strange stuff — I am very confident that most of this will be useful in the end, though: If not for my World Eaters, then in one of my other hobby projects. The Orkheim Ultraz and my planned Mordheim Orc warband can always use some more silliness

So yeah, taking a plunge and getting a huge pile of random bitz like this was really fun! What about you? Do you agree, or do you prefer your purchase of new bitz to me more restrained and, shall we say, surgical in nature? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

In any case, have a great weekend! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the last fee weeks, the relentless barrage of Space Marine related rumourmongering cannot have escaped your notice. And now, the cat is finally out of the bag: The new Space Marines are here in the kind of ‘no holds barred’ release that I would have loved to see for chaos as well. But let’s not get bitter here: The Space Marines are undoubtedly GW’s most recognisable property as well as a cornerstone of both the 40k universe and, one would imagine, GW’s business. So it’s no surprise that they should give it their all this time around.

With the new models now upon us, it is once again time here at Eternal Hunt to take a closer look at the release, point out the good and the bad and, of course, think about all the delicious conversion opportunities that arise from this release. Let’s go:

The book itself once again features the kind of cover artwork introduced by the last releases. Unfortunately, the art itself isn’t quite as awesome this time around, if you ask me. But that’s not really a problem, because if you’re fast enough, you can order yourself a special edition in almost any colour of the rainbow:

Seriously, though, offering separate covers for some of the more influential first and second founding chapters is certainly a nice touch and a bit of fanservice! Plus it may actually make the Black Templars players around the world a little less grumpy. I mean, yeah, they folded your army back into the Marine Codex, sure, but at least they’re throwing you a bone. I, for one, am still holding out for those rumoured supplements detailing the mono-god traitor legions.
Funnily enough, of all the different variants, the Ultramarines art appeals most to me for some reason, and I am certainly not a huge Ultramarines aficionado. In any case, the price for these editions is just silly, so I think I’ll pass…

It goes without saying that the contents of the book will be passionately discussed for the weeks and months to come: Already, cries of outrage can be heard all over the hobby scene, since it seems like Marines do it all — and better. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how all of this plays out eventually. In any case, we’re not here to talk about the rules, so let’s take a look at the models already:

Space Marine Centurions

Ah, yes: The elephant in the room. The kit everyone already loves to hate. Let me start by saying that having to wedge completely new Space Marine units into an already meticulously defined lore and game system cannot be an enviable task for a designer. Last time around, they took the safe route with the Sternguard and Protector Guard  – basically regular (Assault) Marines in blinged out armour – then they got a little more gutsy with the Stormtalon, and we all know how that went. So this time, the Space Marines get what basically amounts to loyalist Obliterators.

I’ll be honest with you: At first, I was less than impressed with the models. In fact, I was prepared to cry blue murder, along with the best of them. But then something funny happened: The more I saw of these guys, the better I liked them. Oh, make no mistake, the sculpts are not without their problems (the legs still look too clunky for me and will probably take a lot of getting used to, for instance). But for some reason, I find these guys rather fascinating.

Now I don’t have any idea yet how these were retconned into the existing fluff: I guess they’ll either pretend that these existed all along, or have them be based on a rediscovered STC design. But for one crazy moment there, I thought to myself: I get it. The Astartes have seen what the Tau can do with their crazy combat suits and are now saying: We want a part of that.

I have no idea whether that’s actually where the design came from (probably not), but if seen from that perspective, the models suddenly make a lot of sense: They really look like Tau suits reverse engineered by way of the clunky Imperial technology.

I also like them not so much for what they are but for the conversion potential: As somehow who has always disliked the rather unwholesome looking Obliterator models, I cannot help feeling that the Centurions could finally be a perfect way of converting some truly awesome Obliterators for my army. But more on that later…

The one thing I really dislike about the models is the look of the CC option that comes with the kit:

Those siege drills really don’t work for me. Maybe it’s because they look too much like something you would find at the dentist’s. Maybe it’s the fact that these guys seem to fill a slot that didn’t need any filling in the first place. In any case, the artillery option makes more sense and looks better, in my opinion.

Let me just point out a couple of small details that occured to me:

One, Dave Thomas, the designer of the kit, pointed out in WD that the Marine piloting the suit has his arms crossed over his chest. While that sounds like an enormously uncomfortable position to hold for an entire battle, I really like how the Centurions’ dedicated unit badge reflects that small bit of lore.

I am also fascinated with the helmets, halfway between a regular power armoured helm and that of a Terminator. Oh, and it seems like that helmet crest (seen on the right) is an optional bit. Very nice! I also think the bare heads that come with the kit (and that do look slightly silly on the heavily armoured models) could work great for World Eaters with their extremely angry expressions, shouting mouths and head implants that would make for fairly convincing Butcher’s Nails.

I also like the fact that the back of the leg is really similar to the legs of a Dreadknight:

A very nice bit of visual consistency there!

So, all in all, I started out hating these, but now I am beginning to grow rather fond of them. A sign of my rampant fanboyism, perhaps? Maybe. But even though these guys may not be for everyone, at least the designer wasn’t afraid to try something new, and I can always appreciate that!

In closing, let me get one small nerd gripe off my chest: Centurion was an actual commander rank during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, right? Now why would they call a completely unrelated combat suit by the same name 10,000 years later? Couldn’t they have come up with a different name? Couldn’t they have been called Colossus, for crying out loud? Yeah, I know, I need to get a life…

Space Marine Tactical Squad

Well, this one was possibly overdue: Even though the old tactical sprue had been slightly touched up for one of the last Codex releases, the tactical Marines were pretty much the oldest kit still in existence, having originally been introduced at the start of 3rd edition. So now they finally get a true update. And, well, what did you expect? These guys still look like Space Marines, that much is for sure.

Seriously though, instead of just adding some inconsequential decoration, the designers seem to have gone for some serious re-engineering this time around, making sure the tactical sprue – certainly the bread and butter of every Marine army – now boasts lots and lots of options.

For Marine players, the most important ones will possibly be the weapons options, complete with new grav weapons, although the improvements don’t stop there: For one, it seems like some of the models now boast a somewhat more upright pose due to their legs. This is a very welcome change, since the notoriously crouched legs really get old once you have built about a hundred Astartes models.

We also get a bigger variety of parts from armour marks, among them some Mk IV legs and a full suit of Mk VI Corvus armour:

For someone like me, who has been experimenting with kitbashing older armour strictly from GW plastic parts for my Legio Custodes project, this is  a very welcome addition indeed! And call me a little weird, but my favourite parts in any Marine kits are usually the bare heads:

I love building my (traitor) Marines bareheaded, because (while it makes no sense from a combat perspective) it’s a great way of adding individuality and character to the models. And the new heads certainly don’t disappoint: The one on the left with the slightly gladiatorial mohawk would be great for eather a World Eater or a Custodes model, while the rebreather mask is awesome (and would work like a charm on a champion of Nurgle, if you ask me…).

With the old tactical Marines slowly beginning to show their age, It’s also interesting to note how the new kit seems to be all sharp lines and crisp detail:

This is especially evident on the new Corvus helmet that now seems to have some murch sharper lines as well (almost making it look a little duck-like…):

Anyway, having a new version of this kit probably was a sheer necessity, and GW did a nice job of  making it as comprehensive as possible. At 35 Euros for ten Marines, this is also possibly the best bang for the buck out of all the new kits, although the new Marines are still more expensive than their older incarnation. On the other hand, they do come with lots and lots of options. With the new design, these can finally hold their ground against kits like the Space Wolves or Blood Angles Death Company again. Nice job, GW!

Space Marine Sternguard:

Wow, this kit is certainly one of the stars of the show for me! While nice, the old Sternguard models always seemed a little conventional to me. But the new kit not only provides a way of building plastic Sternguard, but should also be a great kit for simply adding a little oomph to your commanders and squad leaders and basically for building badass-looking models.

Once again, the kits comes with lots and lots of options. And once again, it’s the heads that I am drawn to first:

The head on the left has to be one of my favourite Astartes heads ever: It looks just as grizzled and noble as befits an honoured warrior of the Legiones Astartes. That makes it a perfect fit for chaptermaster, a Legio Custodes character or even an Inquisitor. The head on the right is not quite as awesome, but it also gets the grizzled veteran look right, at least.

It seems that providing lots and lots of modelling and equipment options was once again the order of the day. And while Space Marine players will be happy with the many equipment options (especially the combi-weapons, I imagine), it’s bitz like this that make me stupidly happy:

When it comes to the models themselves, the greatest things about them are the highly ostentatious pieces of armour as well as the added bulk when compared to normal Marines:

You instantly know that these guys are bad news. Also, that power fist is looking fantastic…

All in all, I expect this kit to sell like hotcakes: Not only does it offer the option to build plastic Sternguard, but it looks like the new go to kit when it comes to making awesome character kitbashes. Definitely one of the high points of the release for me, and possibly one of the kits I might purchase myself.

Space Marine Protector Guard

You can’t have one without the other, so we get a Protector Guard kit along with the Sternguard. And while it’s great to get yet another unit type in glorious plastic, I somehow think these are less impressive than the Sternguard. Maybe it’s the fact that they look like a similarly impressive unit could be built by simply using some additional bitz on a regular squad of assault marines? Maybe it’s a problem with the picture, though, because the alternate squad of Raven Guard built and painted by the GW studio looks awesome:

I especially love the sergeant’s helmet!

Still, while the last incarnation of both unit types had the Protector Guard looking much cooler, the roles are reversed this time: The Protector Guard looks nice enough, but I feel the Sternguard takes the cake. However, I suppose this kit will be similarly succesful, since the amount of bitz makes it a useful purchase.

Hunter/Stalker

There’s also a new vehicle combi-kit, albeit one based on the trusty old Rhino. The kit may be assembled as one of two tank variants, the Hunter or the Stalker. The design is nice enough and some of the visual touches (like the stabilisers) are nice, but you’ll probably forgive me for being unable to get excited over yet another Rhino variant.

In all fairness, though, the Space Marines have received a couple of rather more interesting vehicle kits out of turn in the past, so it’s really not that much of a problem that this release doesn’t bring us a spectacular new vehcile kit. Moving on.

Characters

The Space Marines also get some new characters, and the most interesting thing to note is that they’re all plastic models. Are we seeing a change of strategy regarding Finecast? In any case, let’s take a closer look at the new models:

Space Marine Commander

This guy certainly looks the part! But is it just me, or does he look like a slightly rejigged version of the Commander from the Assault on Black Reach boxed set? Here’s a comparison photo for you:

Nope, definitely not my imagination: They seem to have used the same base model and then slightly redesigned it. Which, in all fairness, doesn’t have to be a bad thing: I have always liked the Black Reach Commander, and some of the added detail is really cool.  The fact that you get a crested helmet with the kit also means that you can build a plastic version of Captain Sicarius on par with (if not better than) the slightly malproportioned FC version.

The kit also gives you a different head option…

…which is standard, slightly constipated looking Marine fare. Still, it’s good to have the option!

A look at the sprue reveals that not only should the model be easy enough to customise even further, but some of the bitz (like the heads and backpack) can easily be used on different models as well. I like that!

The model is nice enough on its own, and I think it can be made to really shine with a bit of work. Here’s the catch, though: Seeing how this is basically a Black Reach Captain 2.0, the price point of 25 Euros seems particularly egregious in this case. If I wanted to build a new Marine commander similar to this one, I’d simply get a cheap Black Reach mini online and kitbash it into something on par with the new model. And there’s always the multipart Space Marine Commander as a cheaper option (although that one is slightly hampered by the fact that it is based on pretty standard Marine physiology and posing). Anyway, considering the price, there are lots of alternative options that will give you an equally impressive model.

Space Marine Chaplain

Seeing how this is the first vanilla Marine chaplain available in plastic (the Dark Vengeance S.E. chaplain obviously doesn’t count), this is a nice addition to the Space Marine catalogue. However, the chaplain is only available as part of the Reclusiam Command Squad:

While this makes lots of sense from a business perspective, using the new model to give the older kits in the set a bit of a leg up, it also seems like a bit of a dick move on GW’s part.

However, their website has this to say on the matter:

This includes a new plastic Chaplain, armed with a crozius arcanum and bolt pistol, which is currently only available with this box set.

That sounds like a separate release somewhere along the line isn’t totally out of the question, at least. So in case you don’t need that additional command squad and Razorback, I’d probably hold my breath for now, if I were you.

The model itself is pretty nice, but not really all that spectacular. The skull mask even looks silly in a slightly Skeletor-esque way, if you ask me. Fortunately, the kit also comes with an alternate head option that is much cooler (and seems like a shout out to a great 2nd edition metal chaplain):

But a chaplain always looks more like a chaplain with a deathmask. Just sayin’…

A look at the sprue shows that it should once again be easy enough to use the different parts of the model for different projects as well.

Again, considering the price, this is another model where it’s quite possible to kitbash something similarly impressive with existing bitz. But I appreciate the option of fielding yet another HQ option in plastic, even if it’s far too expensive

Space Marine Librarian:

Now we’re talking! This guy is certainly the best of the new characters, and maybe even my favourite part of the entire release. It’s great that Space Marine players now basically have plastic versions for all of their generic HQs, but even beyond that, this guy really shines. I especially love the fact that they have moved beyond the smooth shaven look for the Librarian’s face:

His bearded face has an almost Merlinesque quality to it, and is a great fit for an experienced psyker. The head would also look great on a GK character or an Inquisitor! And in any case, the model is basically worth it for the creepy little cherub alone! One of the best bitz in GW’s entire catalogue!

The sprue picture also reveals that the Librarian should lend himself rather nicely to conversions:

As you can see, it should be easy enough to swap in different legs or arms, which is brilliant. And both the head and cherub are separate pieces! Awesome!

From among the three plastic characters, this is the one I am almost guaranteed to purchase at some point. Sure, the price is just as high as that of the Commander, but the model is by far the most exciting and unique sculpt out of the three plastic characters. Defintely one of my favourite Space Marine models, hands down.

Conversion potential:

Right off the bat, I’ll happily admit that I may be slightly biased this month: With two of my hobby projects (my World Eaters and my Legio Custodes army) partly or mostly based on Marine parts, it goes without saying that the new stuff from this release would be easier to put to good use than, say, a Lizarman or Tau model.

That said, flexibility is one of the greatest strength of GW’s marine based kits: The fact that most bitz can be merrily mixed and matched makes kitbashing (traitor) Astartes models both one of the easiest as well as one of the most satisfying hobby activities for me. It goes without saying that the new kits bring lots and lots of interesting bitz to use for all kinds of conversion projects. Indeed, Marine players will probably have a field day with these, kitbashing and splicing bitz into their existing forces with gusto.

For me personally, I am really interested in some of the bare heads. This seems a silly detail, to be sure, but those faces should be great for adding some character to my armies, and some of the heads would work perfectly for both my World Eaters and Custodes.

The most interesting infantry kit would be the Sternguard, since the partly robed bodies seem perfect to build Custodes Praetorians or veterans of the Legio in older marks of power armour. For the other kits, I will probably try to stick to ebay, bitz sites and bitz swaps for getting my hands on some of the interesting parts.

Regarding the characters, I think I’ll pass on the commander and chaplain: The former is so similar to my already painted Black Reach Captain that I don’t see any room for yet another version of the model. And the latter, apart from being part of a pretty expensive boxed set for now, isn’t all that fantastic — I’d rather kitbash my own model if I ever had to. The Librarian, however, is truly awesome, and I will certainly get one at some point. I expect he will end up as some kind of Inquisitor, though, since neither my World Eaters nor my Custodes seem like ideal employers for a psyker.

And then there’s the one kit that really has me thrilled. The one kit everybody seems to hate: the Centurions. I know they are goofy. I know it will be a lot of work. But I have half a mind to use these as a base for converting some Obliterators for my World Eaters. Already, ideas are beginning to form in the back of my head. And what is there to lose: They probably won’t end up looking as horrible as the existing models, right?

Anything else?

Actually, yes. It may feel like beating a dead horse, but I can’t wind up this review without talking about the price of some of these kits. I realise that GW’s pricing is a highly controversial subject, and I certainly won’t go into economics here. That said, a certain divide is evident with this release’s pricing:

The tactical Marines come at 35 Euros a pop. While that’s more expensive than the older tactical squad, the new kit looks sharper and features lots and lots of bitz. So in the context of GW’s overall catalogue, paying 35 Euros for a highly customisable infantry squad of ten doesn’t really seem so bad.

The Sternguard and Protector Guard are quite a bit more expensive, coming at 40 and 35 Euros for five models, respectively. Once again, I am inclined to let it slide, because the amount of (really useful) leftover bitz you’ll end up with even after completing the squad manages to sugarcoat that particular bitter pill for me.

The Centurions are a problem, though: 62 Euros for a squad of three? Whoa, that is a pretty penny! Sure, these guys may be big, but given the fact that the sculpt doesn’t seem to be all that popular, GW had better hope this works out for them (it probably will, though: I bet these will be super effective on the table, making them an auto-include). Still, even though I am interested in using these for a conversion project, the price tag is giving me pause.

The biggest problem for me, though, are the characters: For WFB, the plastic characters are usually a great – and fairly affordable – purchase. For some reason, however, 40k plastic characters are much more expensive than their WFB counterparts right off the bat. And 25 Euros for a standard size, single pose plastic model does seem pretty egregious — all the more so if it’s simply a touched up starter box model (the original of which can be had for a song on ebay). It’s true, in my opinion, that GW still produce the best 28mm plastic models available, but they also charge us rather outrageous prices for the benefit of using these delicious pieces of plastic, and it’ll be interesting to see how long this will realistically continue. Regarding the Space Marine characters, I’d advise you to check if kitbashing isn’t the more sensible option – apart from that Librarian, of course: That guy is wicked.

In closing…

All in all, this is certainly a rather strong release, but what did you expect? Space Marines continue to be GW’s most successful product, as evidenced by their site crashing under the onslaught auf pre-orders. The release provides Marine players all over the world with some fantastic new toys, and seeing all that beautiful plastic crack turn up in all kinds of different army and conversion projects will be a lot of fun. You’ll have to pay rather handsomely for the benefit of getting to play with the new stuff, though, so even the most diehard Space Marine fans should carefully consider which of the new kits are essential purchases. So, long story short: some fantastic models. Some not so fantastic prices. Business as usual in the 41st millennium.

So, what do you think of the new release? Are you itching for some Astartes goodness? Or are you foaming at the mouth when looking at  the price tags? Or both? And do you love or hate the Centurions? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

I am on vacation to the seaside this week, grabbing some much needed fresh air. So I guess it’s time for a rather contemplative post today. So while I am spending some time doing nothing, let’s check on some hobby proejcts of mine: As you may recall, I built some models that I sent abroad in pursuit of various hobby-related business. So where are they now?

1.) Legion

Ah, who could forget my favourite, insane Mechanicus monstrosity? After his first outing aboard the Myth Shippe in April, Legion could last be glimpsed on a tray brought along to 2013′s Inqvitational by John Blanche. There he lingered, towards the back, glad to be in the company of some really phenomenal models both by JB himself as well as some other talented artists:

Image kindly provided by Marco Skoll

Seeing that a model I made has found its way into a collection like that really makes me proud!

I also have a hunch we may not have seen the last of our favourite Tech Wraith, but we’ll have to see about that…

2.) Inquisitor Zuul

After being captured by his puritan pursuers during this year’s Inqvitational, Inquisitor Zuul was unexpectedly observed causing some mischief among the denizens of the Arrke:

Image kindly provided by PDH

I swear Zuul didn’t have anything to do with that car on the right crashing like that. Oh dear, let’s just hope Inquisitor Tybalt doesn’t find out…

I gave Zuul to PDH as a birthday present, both as a thank you for involving me in all kinds of kick ass international hobby projects, and because having to send Zuul back and forth between Germany and Britain for games would have been a bit of a drag. It goes without saying that I am rather happy that Peter’s getting some mileage out of the old rascal until Zuul is finally taken out for good by his puritan enemies. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, though, because I, for one, have grown rather attached to the old boy…

Image kindly provided by PDH

3.) Elias Cobb

And last but definitely not least, Elias Cobb’s identical twin has successfully made his way to his namesake (who, it bears repeating, is really not a mutant sniper, but rather a gentleman and a scholar) in the north of the USA. There he has found both a new home and a place of honour:

Image kindly provided by Elias Cobb

The real Elias kindly sent me the photo above. I am really glad that the model has reached its destination intact, although the twins now have to rely on the power of social media to see each other. How sad:

It’s cool, Elias: You guys can skype, or something…

Anyway, where am I going with this?

Being a bit of a pack rat, I’ll readily admit that I am not especially good at letting things go — least of all things I painstakingly converted and painted myself. But in these three cases, seeing that the models I sent abroad are still around and keep popping up here and there really makes me happy.

Each of those was a labour of love, of course, but building them to eventually give them away was very much a part of the joy: There is a certain satisfaction in the knowledge that these models have found new homes in another country, and that their stories will continue, even if I am no longer the one in charge.

In a way, this hobby is really all about sharing, isn’t it? I cannot count the number of ideas I have borrowed from other talented hobbyists, and I certainly hope that I have, in turn, managed to give some inspiration back to others. And being able to contribute a model to a fantastic narrative event or the collection of one of the biggest hobby legends really is a great feeling! I can’t help remembering my early years in the hobby: Without the internet or an actual hobby scene, the hobby felt like a really isolated activity, with every hobbyist an island, so to speak. GW’s own materials were really all the available input there was, and fruitlessly trying to emulate ‘Eavy Metal paintjobs was a very special kind of self-deprecation. I could never have imagined then that something like this would be in the cards for my hobby life!

Today, there’s a brilliant scene of creative and inspiring hobbyists around, and it’s possible to get in touch with them via the magic of the Interwebz: You can exchange ideas, swap bitz, plan events or even send away models you’ve build and painted, then see them take on a life of their own. And this is great and really makes me happy, in a small and self-centered way…

So yeah, before I get all sappy on you, like an 80s’ Filmation cartoon, let’s wind this up: I am happy that these models are still around, and that they are in good hands. Cheers Peter, John and Elias! Take good care of those little guys for me!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more! Normal service will resume next week

Another month, another new release: This time, it’s the Dark Elves’ turn: The army reveives a complete design overhaul that rivals the redesign of their dark future counterpart, the Dark Eldar. So, once again, let’s take a look at this month’s release in order to figure out the good and the bad and to come up with some conversion ideas.

You might be surprised to learn that I have always had a huge soft spot for the Dark Elves: Back in my WFB days (during the 90s), a box of metal Cold One Knights may actually have been the first GW models I ever purchased, and  I even bought the 4th edition army book and had some grand notion of building a Dark Elf army. Alas, the price of assembling such a force proved to be far too steep for my pocket money as a lad: Most models were also only available in metal. So, apart from a squad of Cold One Knights that I bought and painted piecemeal, and a small unit of plastic Dark Elf warriors, my plans of an army of Druchii never quite got off the ground: Instead, I turned to chaos, my one true tabletop love (and, coincidentally, the army with the most plastic kits available back then). But I still marveled at the background of the Dark Elves. But what did I find so interesting about them?

The Dark Elves are truly an evil race, no surprises there. But where chaos as a faction is evil in an archetypal, almost incomprehensible way, the Dark Elves have this strong leitmotif of fallen glory. Champions of chaos only follow their own ambition and the twisted reasons of their dark gods, but the Dark Elves believe that it is their birthright to rule, a birthright denied them by their High Elf kin. It’s great fun to imagine the courts of Naggaroth, rife with perverted beauty and intrigue, a society turning on itself in the desperate struggle to maintain their power and majesty. And it’s also very interesting to have a force that looks every bit as elegant and disciplined as a High Elf army, only with a more spiky and sinister design and some seriously disturbing, even monstrous additions.

So, how does this translate to the new release? Those familiar with the 4th edition army book will immediately notice that the new models were very much inspired by the Dark Elf designs of the early to mid 90s: They look less like Dark Eldar with medieval equipment and more like sinister reflections of High Elves. I think the overall visual direction for these models is a fantastic blend of nostalgia and modern design trappings. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a look at the different kits:

Cauldron of Blood/Bloodwrack Shrine

Let’s begin with a huge kit, and arguably the visually most impressive addition to the Dark Eldar catalogue: The Cauldron of Blood shares quite a few design cues with the Vampire Counts Coven Throne, if you ask me, so if you didn’t like that one, it seems you’re pretty much out of luck. If, like me, you found the Coven Throne to be a fantastically over the top, beautifully eclectic piece, chancec are you’ll find a lot to like about this model as well!

Of course, you could always argue that there’s a slightly silly concept at the heart of it all, with the basic frame of the cauldron making it look like the Witch Elves are bringing along their own set of stairs for their special show act. But even a cynic interpretation like that would be strangely fitting for the Dark Elves for whom evil and style always go hand in hand, don’t you think?

My favourite part of the model has got to be the imposing and immensely spiky statue of Khaine towering above the cauldron. This statue turns the model into a great centre piece for any Dark Elf army, plus it should make for a brilliantly sinister (plastic!!!) Avatar of Khaine for all you (Dark) Eldar players out there. Some work on the pose would probably be required, but that’s half the fun, isn’t it?

Whether you intend to use the statue as a standalone model in your 40k force or in its original function, though, it’s a brilliant element.

I also quite like both the actual cauldron and the statue bearing it on its back:

The kit comes with several Witch Elves, all of them in suitably theatrical poses:

The Death Hag would also make a great character model (both for WFB and for 40k…):

And finally, the model for Crone Hellebron is another high point. This bonny lass really exemplifies what Dark Elves have always been about for me: spiky bitz, theatrical poses and extremely huge hair:

I do of course realise that this may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but I love the design. Again, used on her own, she could make a great character for a Dark Elf army, a great Dracon for Dark Eldar Kabal or even a Slaaneshi cult leader for INQ28.

In addition to all of this, there’s also the option of assembling the kit as a Bloodwrack Shrine, which gets rid of the Khaine statue and replaces it with a mirror, used to keep a particularly pissed off Bloodwrack Medusa in check:

Some may feel that the inclusion of a Medusa comes a bit out of the left field, but strange, serpent-bodied creatures have been a part of Dark Elf iconograpgy at least since the 4th edition army book, so it all works out.

While the basic construction remains the same between both variants, some of the additional bitz are really cool. Granted, that mirror will be a hell of a chore to paint if you want to pull of a convincing effect and don’t work for the ‘Eavy Metal team

But from the beautifully decorated back of the mirror to the alternate face masks for the witch elves, there’s a lot of variety if you assemble the kit this way. The ornaments on the back of the mirror are also an excellent example of the Dark Elves sinister but stylish culture.

The star of the show should be the Bloodwrack Medusa, of course, so let’s take a closer look at her:

I love the pose! And this girl should be a real looker on the table, both if you use it as part of the shrine or as a standalone model. My favourite part has to be the clawed gauntlet:

The face is a bit of a letdown, though: I would have loved the snake hair to billow around the face more, for one, and that facial expression makes her look like a dumbstruck idiot. I know GW can pull of much better female faces (as is evident with several models in this very release), so this one is a bit of a bummer. On a more positive notice, for all those who have been lamenting the decrease in bare breasts over the last years: Seems like you at least get one uncovered boob out of this kit. Yay!

One last though: Wouldn’t the Bloodwrack Medusa be an interesting option for a plastic Fulgrim conversion? Just sayin’…

War Hydra/Kharybdiss

Okay, I’ll be honest with you: The War Hydra is the absolute low point of this release for me: The pose seems slightly awkward (what on earth is happening with those hind legs?) and the heads are just plain terrible. It boggles the mind how GW’s designers have gone through three different versions of this creature without ever coming up with a cool looking model. And seeing the awesome monsters Trish Camden is designing for Forgeworld, it’s hard to come to grips with the silliness of this model.

In all fairness, one of the different paintjobs showcased in this month’s WD has the model look slightly less horrible, but there’s really no way of seeing beyond those silly snake heads… Anyway, I just want to put you through anymore of my ranting: The Hydra is my least favourite model coming from this month’s release, period.

That being said, the kit has another option, however: It can also be used to build the sea-dwelling Kharybdiss:

Let’s just ignore the fact that the whole sea-dwelling thing doesn’t seem to make too much sense, given the fact that this monster will only ever be used on land in Dark Elf armies. And, to get this out of the way as well:  I may not be huge on classical education, but that particular spelling of Charybdis made me die a little inside. Plus did you guys do realise that the original Charybdis wasn’t a monster but a whirlpool, right? Scylla’s the one you want for the monster, people.

That aside, the Kharybdiss variant of assembling the kit does, strangely enough, solve much of what seems wrong about the hydra: The different heads make the creature look completely alien. And since you’re hard pressed to tell what this thing is supposed to be in the first place, the pose doesn’t really matter that much. Strange, I know, but for the, those heads make the model much better, precisely because they are so strange. The one thing I’m not keen on is that growth on the tip of the tail, but that should be easy enough to replace.

So, for me at least, the Kharybdiss is the definite way to go with this kit. It’s just strange enough to work, while the hydra is just silly.

Oh, and let’s not forget the beastmasters: On the one hand, both models are sporting what may be my least favourite elven hairstyle. Still, it’s nice that they got their own, distinct look, with clothes made from tanned monster hide and all.

A final thought: Maybe those Hydra heads could at least be used as Alpha Legion ornaments? I don’t know…

Dreadspears/Darkshards/Bleakswords

Phew, they really know how to motivate the Naggaroth citizens to join the Dark Elf armed forces with those unit names alone, don’t they?
Anyway, these will bascially be the main troops for any Dark Elf army, so it’s clear that this is a pretty important kit.

And GW has really managed to deliver with these: From a visual standpoint, the models  are a definite callback to the older metal warriors, and for me at least, they are everything you could ask of Dark Elf soldiers: They are clearly identifiable as evil, pointy gitz, yet they retain the discipline and sinister elegance that defines the elves.

The one problem I have with these is that, from a converter’s point of view, you lose a lot of flexibility with this kit: All the bodies and heads are single piece, with only the hands and some doodads left as separate bitz. That means they don’t exactly lend themselves all that well to expansive conversions.

In all fairness, though, players will probably need a lot of these guys, so flexibility in posing them is really less important than ease of assembly (and the ability to rank them up without a hitch). And it’s great that they have all the equipment options in the box this time around, giving you three possible regiment types:

And while I certainly don’t hate the older plastic warriors – they were pretty cool for their time – it’s good that the new warriors’ proportions are now finally in tune with the Black Ark Corsairs and Cold One Knights (although those hands still seem to be a bit on the big side, if you ask me…).

One small thing that bugs me, though: Why is it that helmetless Dark Elves always have to default back to one of two pretty horrible hairstyles?

However, all in all, these are just what you would ask of your most important troop choice. Good job all around, GW!

Witch Elves/Sisters of Slaughter

While the Dreadspears were the obligatory part, these girls are the freestyle performance, so to speak. And they are definitely the stars of the show for me for a number of reasons, but we’ll be getting to that in a minute.

First of all , these are also very much a callback to the 90s’ metal Witch Elves — the colour of the hair in the official ‘Eavy Metal paintjobs couldn’t be any more telling… The fact that these are plastic now means we get some much cooler poses, and these ladies really excel at dynamism!

And to address the elephant in the room: Yes, these models are clearly on the more stripperific side, but GW at least clearly resisted the temptation of making them too busty.  And in contrast with some of the recent High Elves (yes, I am looking at you, Sisters of Avelorn!), at least these gals really look feminine enough to actually pass for females!

The alternate option for the kit is to assemble some Sisters of Slaughter, and this is where things really gets interesting:

With their sinister facemasks and whips made from hair, these models are quite different from the Witch Elves while using the same bodies and poses. They would also make for excellent Wyches, Death Cultists or, indeed, Slaaneshi cultists, if you ask me. Or you could even kitbash them with some Daemonettes for very interesting results…

The one little thing I really don’t like about the kit is the awkward pose of the musician:

Seems like she has to coordinate some rather complex actions there…

Apart from this one small gripe, this is clearly my favourite part of this release, and as soon as I had seen this kit, I was pretty sure that I would pick up one just for the heck of it.

And then I saw the price tag.

Wow. Just wow. 45 Euros for ten of those? No matter how many bitz you get, that is a bit of a ripoff. Sure, I can see how one of the big kits would cost that much. But ten – rather small – infantry models? I don’t want to keep ranting about GW’s prices, believe me, but it’s really a shame they took what is probably the most interesting kit of this whole release and priced it like that. I mean, that’s almost a hundred Euros for a decent sized regiment of these girls. And even for a huge plastic crack enthusiast such as myself, that seems a bit much…

Shadowblade

And finally, the one new character so far — and the model’s plastic — yay! The standout parts of the model are the highly dynamic pose and the impressive cape flowing behind it. This last part is very obviously GD painter bait, if you ask me…
What’s really cool is that the way Shadowblade is posed on his base means that you’ll be able to almost pose him above his designated target — only a fun little detail, of course, but I still like it. My main gripe with the model is that it seems little devoid of personality, although I guess that is pretty much the whole point of the exercise in this case.

Let me also say that Dark Eldar players could be looking at a pretty cool base model for a counts as Kheradruakh here…

Conversion potential

Another thing this release excels at is the amount of conversion potential it brings:

First up, most of the new stuff will prove immensely useful to Dark Eldar players, obviously. The Death Hag or Crone Hellebron would make for awesome female Dark Eldar commanders. The Witch Elves are brilliant alternate Wyches. And the Sisters of Slaughter would be a very interesting and equally sinister way of representing Wyches in a Haemonculi Coven themed army. But all of this seems pretty obvious.

An even more interesting option would be to use parts from the Dreadspears and/or Witch Elves to build more sinister Eldar Guardians, either for use in an Ulthwé army, or in a mixed force of allied Eldar an Dark Eldar. And, like I said earlier, that Khaine statue would make for a fantastic, if sinister, Avatar.

All in all, for fans of the pointy eared armies, the options for creative kitbashing are really endless here.

But worshippers of chaos should also find a lot to like about this release: Many of the models would look great in a WFB or 40k army dedicated to Slaanesh: From the serpentine Bloodwrack Medusa to the daemon masked Sisters of Slaughter, there are all kinds of options (with the one for alternate cultists maybe the most interesting, if also most expensive one).

And finally, INQ28 aficionados should also take a close look at this release: They’ll find ample material for several varieties of cultists and some of the best female GW models to date — always a challenge for every fan of Inquisitor played at the 28mm scale!

As you will have gleaned from my enthusiasm for the models so far, I think that this is a very strong release with only very minor design slipups. My main point of contention isn’t even the horrible War Hydra model, but rather the pricing on the Witch Elves — it doesn’t even seem to fit the rest of the model range at all. Apart from that, though, it’s plain to see that the GW designers have poured lots of attention into this complete redesign.

So, the final question remains: Is this a redesign on par with the fabled 2010 relaunch of the Dark Eldar? It seems official now that the new Dark Elves will be released in two waves, and with leaked pictures of the next slew of kits already making their rounds all over the internet, I think it’s fair to say that, yes, this is a redesign every bit as involved as that of the Dark Eldar. I, for one, am very much looking forward to next month already! Will I begin a Dark Elf army now? No, I do have that much impulse control at least. But my dark and forbidden love for the Druchii will fester, and who can say what will happen?

So much for my take on the new models, but what do you think? Do you like the new designs as much as I do? Are you already contemplating all kinds of crazy conversions? Or do you feel completely differently about this release? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

After spending so much time on my converted Centurions/counts as Obliterators, I wanted to build something smaller and less involved for a change. So today’s post will deal with a model I completed just for fun and on the side. But why is that even interesting?

Well, you see, for this small gaiden project, I returned to an abandoned army project of mine: When I returned to the hobby in late 2010 after a longer hiatus, my original plan had been to use the (then) brand new Dark Eldar models to build some kick ass additions to the Dark Eldar army I built during the 90s. But then I found out that kitbashing Chaos Space Marines was simply more fun (at least for me). So I returned to the clutches of chaos and endeavoured to build a Word Bearers army, the Piercing Gaze Chapter. I had a fairly complete background in place, and so I began the project in the same way I always begin my projects: By building lots and lots of characters.

In this case, I built several Dark Apostles, because I really loved the idea of daemonic preachers leading a force of superhumans into battle. Among the several models I built during this time was also my model for Dark Apostle Gemnon, built, in fact, on Christmas Eve 2010:

One of the first models I built after my hobby hiatus, Gemnon was created by combining some leftover bitz from my first Khorne Berzerkers with some old WFB chaos parts and stuff from the brand new box of Chaos Space Marines cousin Andy had just given me as a christmas present back then. I didn’t even have a suitable head in my bitzbox to represent a Dark Apostle, so I went with a Tzeentchian head, which doesn’t really send the right message, visually. Still, I rather liked the model.

My Word Bearers army, however, didn’t quite get off the ground: Looking back now I can see that this was both due to a lack of suitable bitz (never start a Word Bearers project without lots and lots of books and purity seals) and a lack of vision: I thought the Word Bearers were cool, but I didn’t have an overarching theme in mind for the army, which proved to be my undoing in the end. So, long story short, I ended up playing around with my old World Eaters model which instantly reawakened my love for the followers of the Blood God. And what had originally been planned as a mere sub-faction in my Word Bearers project quickly took over, becoming my main army and the entity you might know as Khorne’s Eternal Hunt. And so on, and so forth — you know the rest…

Dark Apostle Gemnon and his buddies kept mouldering away in my cupboard of shame, and at some point there was even a small accident that broke the model apart at the hip. So he ended up spending his days in a miserable little pile of bitz on my desk.

But even while I am certainly not about to start a Word Bearers army, whenever my gaze returned to that pile of bitz, I felt that I owed this little guy another chance. So when I was looking for a small project to serve as a distraction between building all those lumbering Behemoths, I felt that Gemnon would have his day in the limelight. So I gathered a handful of bitz and got to work.

The Tzeentchian head needed to go, obviously, and I also wanted to reflect the fact that some pretty cool bitz have been released since I built the original model, so I needed to update the model a bit. And finally, I decided that, instead of yet another Dark Apostle, I would rebuild Gemnon as a Coryphaeus, a military commander of the Word Bearers Legion that serves as the Dark Apostle’s right hand man.

So after a bit of work, Gemnon was reborn as Coryphaeus of the Piercing Gaze Chapter:

It only took some additional bitz, really: The bare head from the WFB Warriors of Chaos is one of my favourite sculpts anyway, and it’s certainly perfect for a Word Bearer, bellowing dark catechisms at the top of his voice during battle. I also thought the power sword from the new Raptor kit made a pretty awesome weapon for a war captain, and while I was at it, I also replaced the original left hand and weapon for a plasma pistol from the same kit.

The (Night Goblin) emblem on the chest represents the symbol of the Piercing Gaze chapter, by the way, and would have been a recurring visual motif in my Word Bearers force.

Oh, and the ridiculously over the top backpack is a very conscious callback to the brilliant Wayne England artwork of yore: He would always portray his Chaos Space Marines with extremely ornate backpacks, so I wanted to approximate that look:

All in all, building this model was a fun little project, and it also put my guilty feelings regarding this character to rest. And who knows, maybe the Piercing Gaze Chapter under his Dark Apostle Belzas Azalon will yet make a triumphant return? It’s definitely not a priority at the moment, though.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my rambling! And let me know what you think in the comments section!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

And now, as they say on Monty Python’s Flying Circus, for something completely different…

Today I’d like to talk about Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s novel Betrayer, which I finally managed to read this last weekend. Seeing how I am a really big fan of the World Eaters, you could certainly say that I took my sweet time for getting around to reading the book, right? Well, there’s a reason for that — several reasons in fact. Allow me to elaborate:

For starters, I have to admit that I am not perfectly sure how to feel about the whole Horus Heresy business. And by that I don’t mean the actual (fictional) event, but the business part: It’s easy to see how the HH franchise has turned into a huge business opportunity for GW and its subsidiaries Black Library and Forgeworld: On the modelling and gaming side of the hobby, FW’s release of Horus Heresy themed models and rules has been a dream come true for countless hobbyists. And the accompanying series of tie-in fiction seems to have opened up the 40k (or rather, 30k) universe to a readership beyond the diehard fans, at least if the sales based awards heaped upon the series are to be believed.

Now everyone’s allowed to have their profit, of course, but you may agree with me when I say that the prospects of huge amounts of money to be made are never the best thing to boost narrative integrity: There are countless instances in literature, film and videogames where the monetary success of a franchise served to replace any semblance of telling a great story with what us mere mortals refer to milking the cow (well, I refer to it as that, anyway).  Therefore, I am reasonably sure that I am not going to burst your bubble when I state that a series of tie-in fiction might not be the perfect place to look for literary greatness. But even then, there’s actually decent storytelling and there is money grabbing. I also harbour the subtle fear that there might come a day when every single hour of every single day of the Horus Heresy is firmly documented within its own novel — just like each and every creature in the Mos Eisley cantina now has a rather detailed CV available in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (go ahead, do some research — I dare you!)

And, in all fairness, my first foray into the literary side of the Heresy (the short story collection “Tales of Heresy”) didn’t leave me exactly optimistic, since I found some of the stories to be pretty horrible, some merely tolerable (among them a Dan Abnett story, which was really a disappointment for me) and only two truly good: Graham McNeill’s haunting “The Last Church” and Matthew Farrer’s seminal “After Desh’ea” — the first story to ever make the World Eaters’ Primarch Angron actually read as an interesting character.

So it was with some trepidation that I approached the first real BL book to flesh out my favourite legion: I have gone on record stating that the prospect of new material for “my” legion always fills me with equal amounts of anticipation and dread: While I love to get more input on the World Eaters, the rather hamhanded current background for them leaves me wishing as often as not that GW would just leave them alone. So when I learned that Aaron Dembski-Bowden would be writing the novel, I wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about it: On the one hand, I would have perferred Mathew Farrer, the one guy so far who seemed to have understood the legion’s narrative potential, to get another shot at writing these guys. On the other hand, ADB’s credentials and the quotes he posted on his (higly recommended) blog made me cautiously optimistic. But I was still feeling a little scared — does that make sense? In all fairness, I also didn’t want to read the digital version, since I am a printed on paper kind of guy. Anyway, hence the delay.

Betrayer tells a surprisingly momentous tale (interesting for a series that often seems content to over-embroider minor plot points to the point of ridiculousness) that ends with what may truly be called a bang. Without spoiling the plot for you, let’s just say that the end of the model does have enormous ramifications for the future of the XIIth Astartes Legion. Before that, though, the World Eaters get lots and lots of opportunities of rampaging across Imperial worlds, among them the Ultramarines’ war world of Armatura and Nuceria, the Primarch Angron’s own homeworld.

For a book dealing with a legion that is mostly about frenzy and senseless butchery, the plot is also uncannily character and dialogue driven. It’s all for the best, though, because in my opinion, ADB is just very good at writing Space Marine characters: He manages to combine their supernatural powers and majesty with a believable amount of humanity and of course just the right blend of gravitas and theatrics. The interactions between the different Primarchs are just as good, with the fabled demigods truly feeling like a race apart but remaining relatable nevertheless. The Word Bearers’ primarch Lorgar stands out as a inscrutable character, sincere and utterly manipulative at the same time, impossible as that may seem.

The book’s greatest feat, however, is how it treats Angron. You should think that a guy who is “always angry all the time” and whose name is, for crying out loud, ANGRON would not exactly turn out to be a narrative goldmine, but Matthew Farrer already disproved that notion in “After Desh’ea”. I had hoped that ABD would take the look and feel of that story and run with it, and indeed he did: His Angron is a tragic, damned figure, scarred in body and soul and utterly beyond redemption. So far, nothing new.

But ABD’s characterisation truly excels at making Angron believable and, dare I say it, sympathetic in his background and his pain, while also making it clear that the Primarch is monstrous. It’s a very delicate balance to maintain, but it works: You cannot help feeling sorry for the broken Primarch, but you could also never really like him. He has the best possible reasons to be this way, but he is also irredeemable.

A similar high point, then, is the relationship between the Primarch and his gene-sons: There has been a discussion over at Throne of Skulls whether or not the World Eaters hate their Primarch, and I would argue that the truth of the matter, at least according to Betrayer, is far more ingenious and believable than that: It’s clear that the World Eaters are very aware that the Butcher’s Nails implants that they let themselves be outfitted with in order to feel true kinship with their Primarch have irrevocably damaged the legion: Kharn and several other characters show feelings of resentment and melancholia at the realisation that their legion can never be as inspirational or cultured as most of the other legions due to the bite of the nails. And who would be to blame for that other than Angron, right?

Yet at the same time, it’s obvious that the World Eaters take fierce pride in their brotherhood and martial honour. They have eagerly cobbled together their own warrior culture from the snippets of lore brought back by Angron and those traditions from their legionaries’ myriad homeworlds, and while they clearly acknowledge that it’s not a shining example of human endeavour, it’s the only kind of culture they have, so they cling to it fiercely. And this culture does of course encompasses Angron and his past at Nuceria.

Then there’s the fact that they do, in fact, feel pity for Angron — a notion that would probably send the Primarch flying into a rage, ironically enough. They share his feeling that he never had a chance to begin with, and what little glory was his to claim was taken away during the battle of Desh’ea.

And finally, even though Angron’s condition is perpetually deteriorating, there are moments of brotherhood and kinship between him an his sons: The book describes how he shares in his sons’ rituals and battles, how he drinks and laughs with them like few other Primarchs do, even though there is a gulf of conflicting emotions between them.

So what we have here is this hugely complex (and beautifully written) mix of resentment, love, hatred, disappointment and what have you. I think this is as true to life as fiction dealing with transhuman supersoldiers can possibly be, precisely because it echoes real life: You might feel resentment or embarrassment or even hatred for one of your close relatives, but they will always remain your family, and there’s no escaping that fact.

Below this main storyline, I also loved how ADB managed to partly flesh out the fleet and Titan legions — actually my least favourite parts of the whole background so far: By creating interesting and noble characters (like the Conqueror’s flag-captain Serrin or the Legio Audax personnel) and by injecting both organisations with a healthy dose of WWI air warfare chivalry (with officers complimenting their opponents on shrewd maneuvres and elegant tactics), he succeeds at actually giving the non-Astartes characters a voice of their own, without their parts of the novel ever feeling boring or unnecessary.

And for all those who are understandably sceptical of GW’s focus on Space Marines, feeling they are all just reskins of the same basic design template, it should be interesting to see how the author manages to give a different feel to the Legiones Astartes: From the fierce brotherhood (and battlefield frenzy) of the World Eaters to the priestly nobility (and insane zeal) of the Word Bearers, you get the impression that the Legiones Astartes are very different from each other indeed, if only written well. Even the Ultramarines, serving mainly to be beaten up very badly, get a few moments in the spotlight, and we are afforded glimpses at their warrior culture that make them look more interesting than they have any right to be (their battlefield commanders issuing orders in High Gothic is a great little touch).

In fact, ADB’s writing of characters always seems to be at its best where it deals with duality: Lorgar’s inscrutable motives, Angron’s position between a tragic hero and a monster, the legions’ duality or even the surprising depth of minor characters.

And, beyond all that, the book is of course a goldmine for little bitz and pieces of lore, from the World Eaters’ battle traditions and gladiatorial bouts to their affected bastard language of Nagrakali: These guys may fall to frenzy and bloodlust when on the battlefield, but for what may the first time ever, you can actually imagine them off the battlefield as well — no mean feat!

So, are there any negatives?

For one, this is, after all, only one book in a series. This means that most of the plot will only make sense to you if you do at least have an idea of the overarching narrative: If you’ve never heard about the Word Bearers’ machinations, about what happened on Calth or about the Thousand Sons’ being torn apart by the Space Wolves, you’ll be left scratching your head more than once. And even if you have a relatively good grasp of the bigger events, some references and allusions might still go over your head. That’s not really the author’s fault, though — if anything, I feel dread at the prospect of now having to read other HH novels written by less talented people…

Nevertheless, if you are simply looking for a great SciFi novel to pass the time, this might not be it: Too much stuff will be lost on you, and there are probably enough self-contained storylines of similar quality that are easier to get into. And it goes without saying that the book will prove utterly impenetrable to those without any knowledge of the attached GW universe.
If, however, you have a general idea of the overarching HH storyline – not necessarily from reading other HH novels, but from a mix of reading the different (Chaos) Space Marine codizes over the years and doing a bit of scrounging around for background at places like the Lexicanum or the Warhammer 40k Wiki – you’re good to go: That was my preparation going into this novel, and I belive it was enough.

For every World Eaters player, Betrayer is, of course, a must buy, for the amount of background lore alone. But there’s a great story beyond all that, and the book is truly great as tie-in fiction, and still very good on its own terms: I, for one, will probably pick up more of ABD’s novels (I am told his Night Lords stuff is the shitz) and look forward to his Black Legion series — or maybe some more World Eaters stuff?

But what does it all mean for Khorne’s Eternal Hunt? I’ll be honest with you: I did of course fear that parts (or most) of my own fluff would be ivalidated by this novel. But not only does ABD himself address the fact that several versions of events exist in the background (in a surprisingly clever throwaway scene), but he also succeeds at creating a canvas for your own fluff rather than enforcing his own view of things (as some authors have been known to do…). So while small readjustments to my own background may be in order, I relish the chance to make the 4th assault company even more interesting and colourful. In fact, there might be a separate post in that somewhere

What about you, though: Have you read the book? How do you feel about it? And was this review helpful to you? Please feel free to share whatever thoughts you might have in the comments section!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

P.S. Oh yeah, before I forget; In case you didn’t gather as much from my rambling above, this book is also totally worth it.

Here we are, one month later, with something we haven’t seen in a while: a second release wave for an army! Seems like GW weren’t messing around when they announced they wanted to reinvent the entire Dark Elves’ line of models.

This month’s release brings another slew of combi-kits and a new plastic character. So let’s take it all in stride and, most of all, let’s take a closer look! Here goes:

Dark Riders/Doomfire Warlocks

This – quite moderately priced – kit is truly brimming with options, starting with the fact that you get two unit types out of it. The first of these are the Dark Riders, outriders quickly zooming ahead of the army and causing all kinds of mischief for the enemy. GW’s designers actually underlined their function as a fast and highly mobile selection by having them posed astride their mounts like jockeys at a horse race, which is a pretty nice touch if you ask me.

Overall, I really like the design of these riders as cloaked, shadowy soldiers. And the different bitz you get with the kit let you build fairly different versions of the same models:

My favourite detail has to be that you get three different sets of heads and are free to either have each of your riders follow the same style or happily mix and match. While the helmetless heads suffer from some rather eclectic hairstyles, I really like the heads with helmets and cowls:

The helmets are, once again, a callback to classic Dark Elf design sensibilities, while the cowls may be my favourite option. Great job!

All in all, this is a rock solid representation of the Dark Riders, and it’s quite nice to finally have them available in plastic. I do have one small gripe about the kit, but we’ll be getting to that in a minute.

The other option is to assemble the kit as Doomfire Warlocks…

…and, in all honesty, they should have gone the whole hog here and called these guys Doomfire Warlocks of DOOOM! Just kidding

These guys are male sorcerers damned to a horrible fate by the Witch King: Their souls are forfeit to Slaanesh, should they not find suitable sacrifices to keep the Dark Prince at bay. And once again, the very different nature of the models compared to the Dark Riders clearly comes across, even though they are using the same base models.

Where the latter are shadowy, cowled and cloaked figures, the Doomfire Warlocks very much look like the damned souls that they are: With bare upper bodies and their hair streaming behind them, these have an eerie, spectral quality.

For some reason, the faces on these models are highly reminiscent of Chris Fitzpatrick’s work on the older Dark Elf models, which seems like a bit of an odd choice when most of the release is obviously hell-bent on doing away with this look altogether…

I do like the slightly twisted faces, though, since they make the models look unlike everything else in the army. My one problem with these is that the hair does look a little hokey — and really not all that much like hair to begin with. But this may have been intentional in the first place.

The horses are now far more twisted and demonic looking than before, ostensibly to make them look like the sinister influence of both the Dark Elves’ black magic and Naggaroth itself have influenced their bloodline:

The twisted, lipless heads are quite scary! And while the new look might fit the darker nature of the Dark Elves when compared to their goodie two shoes brethren, herein lies my main gripe with the kit:

Take a look at the horse in the picture above. Now I might be wrong about this, but doesn’t it seem like those legs are far too spindly and sticklike to actually look realistic? And slightly too long as well? Now it is important to notice that we here at Eternal Hunt are certainly not sticklers when it comes to realism, but in this case, the model seems to lack anatomical plausibility, which is a very different problem.

This actually goes for both variants of the kit, since they are using the same horses. Granted, this will probably not be too much of an issue when the regiment is properly lined up, but it is my main point of contention with the kit.

Scourgerunner Chariot / Cold-One Chariot

In an interesting subversion of expectations, the Dark Elf chariot design is quite different from that of the High Elves: With a mono-wheel and the general design supposed to resemble nothing so much as the prow of a ship, the chariot carves out a very distinct design for itself.

My one problem with this decision is that, even though I acknowledge the intended effect, the chariot doesn’t look like it could actually go all that fast:

The chariot itself comes in two possible flavours: The Scourgerunner Chariot is being piloted by a Beastmaster crew, and the design of the models really makes them look the part, with the Beastmasters wearing the hides of wild beasts and resembling the handlers that come with the Hydra kit:

The High Beastmaster is easily identifiable by his ostentatious cloak and and the facial scars that probably come with the territory in his line of work:

This guy is probably my favourite part about the kit, and I could easily imagine him being used as a special character or even a Dark Eldar Archon with an adventurous streak…

The other option is to use the kit to build a Cold-One Chariot:

Now Cold Ones win absolute best everything all the time in my book, simply by virtue of being a more badass version of the already awesome, real-life Velociraptor or Deinonychus. I have always loved the Cold Ones, and their latest incarnation is simply brilliant, so it stands to reason that this chariot would be pretty cool as well, right? Unfortunately, though, beyond the awesome reptilian members of the crew, the warriors steering the chariot are pretty standard fare. And even more of those topknots. Yeesh…

All in all, it’s really a nice enough kit though. I have to admit that I am not perfectly sold on the mono-wheel look, but that’s just me. As with any chariot (combi-)kit, the fact that it comes with many cool bitz should make it useful even beyond its original function.

Executioners/Black Guard

Now here’s a high point about this release! Some of the Dark Elves’ most elite units are finally available as a plastic kit. Even better, you can build both unit types using this combi-kit!

Looking at the Black Guard first, it’s plain to see that these are, once again, a very nice callback to the 4th edition models, although some design cues of the last edition clearly remain. The design actually takes cues from the best elements of both versions, with the Black Guard looking heavily armoured and suitably pointy and spiky. Like more badass versions of last month’s Dark Elf warriors, these have all the discipline and elegance that you would expect from an elven regiment, yet also clearly come agross as evil and sinister — mission accomplished, I guess!

I really love the sinister look created by the helmets, although the champion head is certainly a matter of personal preference:

What is it with all of those topknots? Is there something innately evil about that kind of hairstyle?

Anyway, the Black Guard are looking excellent, period!

Since this is also a combi-kit, it’s possible to build a regiment of Black Guard or Executioners:

While using the same bodies, the Executioners get different weapons, different heads and, in a nice touch of variety, are holding their swords in both hands. The skull masks show a nice, elven take on the recurring WFB motif of skulls (and also double as a stylised symbol of Khaine).

It goes without saying that the kit also comes with some brilliantly morbid details, such as a severed High-Elf head:

My favourite part about the kit has got to be how nothing more than a change of heads and weapons is needed to thoroughly change the silhouette of the same base model:

Definitely one of my favourite kits from the new Dark Elf catalogue!

Black Ark Fleetmaster

And here’s my other favourite: Yet another plastic character (which is always great), and one that truly embodies some archetypal qualities of the Dark Elves: The Fleetmaster looks vicious and arrogant. The trophies of bone and skin and his spiky leg prosthesis give him a slightly feral quality, yet there’s also a sinister kind of elegance. Granted, the hair may be a bit over the top, but there’s nothing stopping you from changing it according to your preferences.

I also love the fact that the naval commanders of the Dark Elves haven’t been explored too thoroughly so far – one special character notwithstanding – so the Fleetmaster gives us an interesting glimpse at this side of Dark Elf culture.

Converting the model will need some thought, as with all the single pose plastic characters, yet I am confident that this model would make a great base for all kinds of Dark Elf, Dark Eldar or even Eldar commanders.

Conversion options

Possibly the most interesting part for me about this whole release: What can the enterprising hobbyist use all these new toys for? And what could be done to transform them into something else?

As with last month’s release, these kits will probably be most useful from a conversion perspective to Eldar and Dark Eldar players: The Black Guard and Executioners could be transformed into very menacing looking Trueborn for a Dark Eldar force (or pretty sinister Guardians for an allied Eldar detachment). The Executioners‘ skull masks would doubtlessly look great on Harlequins and/or Wyches. And if you can find a way of kitbashing Reaper Launchers, those Executioners themselve could become brilliant Dark Reapers, in my opinion.

The Dark Rider/Doomfire Warlock kit could also be used in interesting ways: What about transforming those Dark Riders into slightly sinister Exodites? Their cowled heads could also be really useful for basically any pointy-eared army in both 40k and WFB. And those Doomfire Warlock bodies would be pretty cool as daemonhosts. Or they could be used as a way of kitbashing plastic Mandraks — just sayin’…

The chariot mostly seems interesting for its crew members: Those beastmasters would make great beastmasters (DUH!) in a Dark Eldar army, while the High Beastmaster would be an excellent base for an Archon or special character conversion. Some of the chariot bitz could also be used to decorate Dark Eldar vehicles (or to make Eldar tanks and jetbikes look suitably sinister in an allied detachment…).

And then, there’s the Fleetmaster: With the Dark Eldar styling themselves pirate kinds and sinister freebooters, he would make for a fantastic Archon to lead a pirate force. Or a corsair-styled Eldar army. Or you could use him as a counts as Duke Sliscus — he exudes just the right blend of menace and decadence for that role…

While this month’s part of the Dark Elf release seems slightly less exciting to me than last month’s kits, it’s still an impressive release. Last month, I asked myself whether this redesign was on par with the reinvention of the Dark Eldar in 2010. With two months’ worth of beautiful models now in our hands, I have to say that the completely revamped he Dark Elves are now one of the most stunning armies in WFB from a visual standpoint. If I were to return to WFB (not likely…), they would probably be one of my preferred army choices.

But even beyond the confines of WFB, the new kits should provide converters and kitbashers with some very interesting material. And I, for one, am very much looking forward to seeing all the brilliant Dark Eldar conversions that will come out of this release! Why is it that GW always seem to reserve their best work for evil, pointy elves, I wonder?

On a mostly unrelated note, isn’t it weird how much we’ve grown accustomed to a new army coming out every month? This release gives us a bunch of awesome new toys to play with, yet I cannot help feeling an – admittedly very faint – feeling of disappointment that this is “merely” a second wave of an army that was already released. So while so many hobbyists like to criticise GW for just about everything, the breakneck speed of quality releases is really astounding, and it’s almost shocking to see how quickly we have adapted to it…

But what do you think? Are you happy with the new Dark Elves? Have you already started an army of them, just to get your hands on these beautiful kits? Or do you think that they could have been even better? I’d be happy to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Nothing new to look at this week, since my weekend was spent meeting old friends and visiting my godchild (six months old now). Both activities were really awesome, but neither had anything to do with tabletop wargaming, obviously, so I didn’t get any new content out of the experience

The good news is that you can probably look forward to a more substantial update next week! And just so you don’t feel completely neglected, let me share a piece of fluff I wrote to add some additional texture to my World Eaters army, Khorne’s Eternal Hunt. Enjoy:

Rites of Passage

The cavernous chamber rang with the sound of a thousand hammers striking an anvil. Flames blazed in the furnace at the end of the hall, casting their haphazard light across the countless trophies and weapons arrayed on the monumental walls, creating an ever changing play of jagged shadows.
One by one, the hammers fell silent and the assembled hunters waited.

With the sound of grinding metal, Khoron the Undying, Keeper of Trophies, strode from the shadows to where a bier had been placed. On it lay the dead body of Huntmaster Ferax, his armour torn and broken in a hundred places, his pale flesh still smeared with both his blood and that of his enemies. Ferax had finally collapsed amidst a circle of corpses, with all of his assailants dead around him, before he had allowed himself to die. Now he was cold and dead, his scarred features strangely peaceful.

The ancient Dreadnought addressed the assembled members of the company, his voice impossibly deep and metallic, the flames casting their flickering light on his brazen skull mask:

“We have assembled here to perform the rites of passage for this servant of Khorne. He took the lives of his enemies, and now his life has been taken in turn. He died a warrior in this long war, and I call him worthy of the eternal battles that await him in our lord’s realm. Let he who would say otherwise speak now or forever hold his peace.”

Nothing but silence greeted Khoron’s challenge: Ferax had been a champion of the company, and nobody would have dared to doubt his prowess.

After a moment of silence, Khoron turned away from the hunters “It is time”, he rasped.

From the shadows emerged Huntmaster Torus, the Taker of Skulls. His face was gaunt and entirely without expression, his eyes hooded in deep shadow. With the soft scraping of armour, Torus hefted his enormous axe, and with one swing, ritually severed the corpse`s head. Then the bier holding the now headless body slowly glided towards the furnace.

“This hunter’s passage is paid for”, Khoron intoned, “Lord of battles, take his skull as you have taken the ones that he has offered you before. Lord of hunger, feast him at your table. Lord of thirst, give him drink, that he may endure in your realm. Great Khorne, welcome your servant and know his worth.”

“He broke his chains and knew freedom”, Khoron boomed.

“He died a free man”, came the answer of the hunters.

“His hunt is now over.”

“But he still has his honour.”

As the final words were spoken, the body had been completely engulfed in the flames of the furnace. The flames played in the eyes of the assembled Astartes, and all was silent once more.

***

“Step forward and be counted.”

Lord Lorimar’s abyssal growl matched that of the ancient dreadnought. Five hunters moved into the light, each of them stripped to the waist, their triumph ropes plain for all to see amidst their corded muscle and scarred flesh. They were Ferax’s lieutenants, each of them now a contender for the position of Huntmaster. In the dim firelight, their faces were masklike and unreadable.

“Ferax’s hunting party is in need of a new leader. As was taught to us by our primarch and lord father, his successor will be chosen by a trial of blood and fire. I shall name he who is the last to stand on the Hot Dust Huntmaster, as it has always been.”

“And evermore shall be so” , came the murmured reply of the assembled hunters.

Lorimar nodded solemnly.

“Let the games begin.”

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Right, I promised you a more substantial update for this week, and I fully intend to keep my promise! So what is this about?

World Eaters riding juggernauts of Khorne, often referred to as “Brazen Knights”, are a bit of an ongoing dream for those of us who have pledged themselves both to the Blood God and the XIIth Astartes Legion. Even the fact that no rules for using such a squad on the table are available doesn’t stop hobbyists all over the world from building their own version of this Khornate cavalry. As a matter of fact, I myself also built and painted a test piece some time ago:

My original plan was to add a couple of models to form an entire squad, but for some reason the plan fell by the wayside for a while, and then GW went and released their spectacular Skullcrushers of Khorne for WFB.

And of course, it didn’t take me long to pick up the kit: After all, it’s chock-full of fantastic Khornate bits and bobs to squirrel away for conversion projects: If you want to add some extra flavour to your World Eaters army, that kit is the place to go! Plus you get three juggernauts and their riders on top — what’s not to love?

Well, here’s the problem: So far, I had mainly been using pieces from the kit to spice up some Chosen and Biker models as well as building special characters for my army, such as my custom Warpsmith, Huntmaster Deracin, or even the supreme commander of the fourth assault company, Lord Captain Lorimar. The actual centrepiece of the kit, the juggernauts and riders, sat mostly untouched in my bitzbox while I squandered all the beautiful little bitz on different models

But no more, because this last weekend finally gave me some time to build three Brazen Knights! Of course I do realise that this leaves me with even more unpainted stuff in my backlog, but I simply cannot help it — kitbashing World Eaters is just so much fun!

So what did I want to achieve? The Skullcrushers are fantastic models in their own right, but I did want to make them look a little more 40k: The body and legs of the Skullcrushers are very archaic and medieval looking, but they are also fantastically detailed (and, to make matters worse, a bit bigger than your standard Marine parts). So I wouldn’t cut them up in the attempt to make them look more futuristic, but would rather try to incorporate elements that are fairly representative of Chaos Space Marines, such as chainswords, power weapons, backpacks and CSM shoulderpads.

I also didn’t want to use the – admittedly really cool – lances that came with the kit, because those would make the models look a little too static and encumbered for my taste. I went for less cumbersome weapons, and since there are no official rules for these guys anyway, I was free to do as I pleased, with the Rule of Cool as my only guideline.

And, my last objective: I wanted to make each of these guys look like a true champion: Winning the gift of a daemonic steed from the Blod God is certainly no mean feat! So each of the models would have to look the part, impressive enough to serve as a Chaos Lord in any lesser force.

Now while the models were taking shape, I had yet another idea: Fellow hobbyist Brother Heinrich has been offering people to name models in his (fantastic) Night Lords army for a while now. I myself have been thus immortalised as a heavy weapons specialist in the Night Lords’ 15th company (more on that soon, I guess). And while I was working on my Brazen Knights, or Brazen Hunters, as it were, I realised that I too wanted to take the opportunity to honour some fellow hobbyists who have enormously inspired me in the past.

Now choosing three people to be honoured in this way might seem a tad unfair — after all, there are many more people who have managed to inspire me and influence my hobby life over these last years, and each of them would be worthy of their own model. So for now, in order to keep things fair, I chose the three guys whose work has provided the most inspiration for my actual World Eaters army — after all, it makes sense that they should earn a place in the army they helped to shape, right?

Anyway, before I knew it, my three Brazen Hunters had been assembled. Of course they will need some more work and attention to detail here and there, but I am already pretty pleased with them. Let me introduce you:

Brother Hynnark:

Since I knew that one of the juggernaut bodies would be charging forward aggressively, I wanted a rider to match that look, swinging his sword in a wide arc and aggressively snarling at the oncoming enemy. I think the finished piece captures that look fairly convincingly!

The sword came from the Bloodletters of Khorne, since I think their sinister, serrated Hellblades make for a perfect weapon for any champion of Khorne. The arm holding the blade was slightly tweaked in such a way that it looked like Hynnark was swinging his sword at his opponents while plowing through them on the back of his daemonic mount.

When it came to choosing a face for this guy, the bare head of the GK Nemesis Dreadknight pilot came in handy, since the cabling on the head made for perfect Butcher’s Nails. The rim of the psychic hood was carefully shaved down to make it look like the cables were emerging from the champion’s very head. And finally, a very cool plastic power fist from the mid-90s was used on the model’s other hand. I only ever had one of these in my bitzbox, and I thought this was a worthy occasion to use it!

Brother Hynnark was named for fellow hobbyist Brother Heinrich, whose brilliant Night Lords army is not only a constant source of inspiration, but who has also made me look at the individuals in the army in a new way. Cheers, mate!

Next up, Brother Rask:

I knew I wanted to make use of the fantastic banner that came with the Blood Crushers, so Brother Rask became a favoured banner bearer of his god. To balance out the extra archaic element, I went for a chainsword in his left hand — the essential 40k weapon, if you ask me. The model also received a rebreather head as another piece of visual shorthand for the futuristic setting. I also like this particular head a lot, since it seems grizzled and scarred without being over the top.

The model was named for none other than the ever-inspirational GuitaRasmus, who owns some of the snazziest World Eaters on the interwebz and whose mindblowing kitbashes are a constant motivation for me to push the envelope on my own conversions instead of just settling for “good enough”.

And finally, a champion among champions, I give you Brother Garic the Hound:

I really went all out on this model, making it look like Garic was issuing a challenge to an opponent. A sword from the WFB Chaos Knights made for a suitably impressive weapon, while the left arm came from the Raptor/Warp Talon kit, featuring one of my favourite lightning claws in the entire set.

Maybe you’ll remember that shouting head with the mohawk from my look at the Centurion kit. Even then, I was sure that it was the perfect face for a World Eater, and I believe this model offers pretty good proof of that!

Garic is my favourite model in the squad, and who better to choose as his alter ego than my buddy Biohazard, whose boundless generosity in exchanging bitz as well as ideas have made many of my projects possible in the first place. And his kitbashes, particularly his amazing daemon engines, are truly something to behold as well! Here’s to you, buddy!

So cheers, guys! I hope you like your new function in Khorne’s Eternal Hunt! And I hope you like the models I chose for you! As for the names, I tried to find a middle ground between the design sensibilities of my army and either your true names or forum handles. If any of you should want to come up with a better name for “his” model, though, just shoot me a message! Likewise, if you have any suggestions regarding what to add to the models, let me know as well!

In any case, these guys do need some more detail work as well as a couple of additional bitz. And there will have to be a Chaos Lord on juggernaut to lead the squad, of course…

Oh, and I actually think I may continue to name models in the honour of fellow hobbyists! And with a long list of spectacularly talented and generally awesome people to work through – PDH, TJ Atwell, DexterKong, migusla or Kari, to name just a few – I imagine this army will keep expanding for a looong time

So yeah, here are my three Brazen Hunters together, ready for a new day of hunting:

So what do you think? Was I successful in coming up with some badass models? Are they 40k enough? I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments section!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Today I would like to talk about one of my favourite hobby blogs as well as one of my favourite hobby artists. So what is this about?

It has been almost exactly one year since Ron Saikowski last updated his blog, From the Warp, and told the community he was taking some time off from blogging. And even in a hobby scene as full of amazing hobby blogs as this, the absence of new content on FTW is still very keenly felt — at least by me.

But why? And what was/is so great about FTW in the first place? Allow me to elaborate:

When I got back into the hobby in 2010 after a longer hiatus, I was amazed and cowed in equal parts by the quality of the hobby content that could be found online: While I had been away, it seemed like everyone and their cousin had become expert painters, wielding superior techniques and baffling creativity. The presence of such a treasure trove of hobby related content proved to be equally exciting and intimidating: How was I to get back into all this and hope to build an army that I could truly be proud of? In any case, it seemed like an even more daunting task than it had been during my teens.

And then I discovered FTW, and things started to fall into place.

You see, like many other hobby blogs on the internet, FTW is full of beautifully painted models and valuable hobby advice. But while I love many blogs and read them regularly, no other site has come close to FTW when it comes to actually helping hobbyists, to teach them new stuff and to encourage them to step outside their comfort zone. At the same time, if you are simply in it for the pretty pictures, FTW should be right up your alley: Ron’s style of gritty realism is one of the most effective and elegant approaches I have seen in our hobby. And I’ll just take the liberty to intersperse my ramblings in this post with pictures of some of my favourite models of his — it goes without saying that none of these were built and painted by me. I own none of this stuff. Credit must go to Ron Saikowski.

This Cataphractii Terminator showcases one of Ron’s trademark conversion recipes, using cardboard-turned-into-plasticard to transform standard plastic terminators into Pre-Heresy individuals before FW ever released their own versions and before “Cataphractii” was even a word.
Model built and painted by Ron Saikowski.

It’s hard to pick my favourite part of FTW, as a matter of fact: The stunningly effective, yet surprisingly simple, recipes for achieving certain painting effects? The clean and seamless conversion work? The useful reviews of hobby products (and the mention of possible alternatives) or the insightful commentary about the hobby at large? All of these were reasons for why FTW still seems like such a great blog.

A fantastic converted Astartes chaplain, based on the pose of GW’s Gabriel Seth model.
Model built by Ron Saikowski

But at the heart of it all lies Ron’s own approach to matters: When posting on his blog, he was always, in the truest sense of the word, a scholar and a gentlemen: always helpful and willing to explain every step of his work until everyone was content and carefully addressing comments and suggestions made by the readers. And while Ron’s work taught me countless neat things, his posts never seemed like he was trying to lecture people of convert them to the “right” way of doing things in our hobby.  In fact, there has probably never been a nicer, more pleasant blogger in our particular neck of the woods..uh webz

Ron’s stunningly effective Pre-Heresy jetbike conversion: I have used the same approach to build jetbikes for my small Custodes force.
Model built and painted by Ron Saikowski

Another great thing is that Ron’s recipes and techniques are so great precisely because they can be used by normal people. Now we all enjoy looking at some GD level painting from time to time, but when it comes to getting our armies painted, we are happy enough to find a recipe that works and stick with it. FTW has always been a perfect resource in this respect, featuring countless wonderful painting recipes without the need for twenty extra-thin layers of paint in order to build up a certain hue. No freehanding under a microscope with a paintbrush the width of a horse hair here, but rather a way of doing things that produces awesome results with a modicum of work.

Ron’s Alpha Legion recipe is an example of a fairly simple approach that still yields awesome results.
Model bult and painted by Ron Saikowski

In fact, I’ll go out on a limb here and say that Ron remains one of my favourite painters for the reason that his pieces are perfectly realised: Poe described a thing called “Unity of effect”, arguing that all parts of a literary work should work towards the intended effect in an interlocking pattern. And this is very true of Ron’s paintjobs: While there may be painters who can pull of even more amazing stunts when it comes to blending, glazing, freehands or what have you, Ron’s models always look completely realised: All of the different colours and effects work together to create a model that looks like a perfect little slice of the 40k universe. Nothing detracts from the overall effect. The models seem like they could just step down from their bases and lay waste to your desktop. I cannot, for the life of me, think of a more successful way of painting!

The Novamarines’ colour scheme always seemed pretty gimmicky to me. But given Ron’s “unity of effect” approach, it is transformed into something that seems quite plausible.
Model built and Painted by Ron Saikowski

And while the blog is mostly about Space Marines, not only will non-Astartes players find much to like about the recipes and tutorials featured on FTW, but Ron is also sometimes at his best when he isn’t actually doing Marines. Take a look:

A fantastic DKOK model built using second party bitz.
Model built and painted by Ron Saikowski

A very successful attempt at kitbashing an Eversor Assassin from nothing but plastic parts: This guy inspired me to build my own “Operative Sigma”.
Model built and painted by Ron Saikowski

A very evocative and “Blanchian” Imperial Mystic, unfortunately Ron’s only foray into the wonderful world of INQ28.
Model built and painted by Ron Saikowski

If all of this reads like a gushing love letter to you, that’s because it it: To date, FTW remains one of my favourite hobby resources, and I think it’s a crying shame that it isn’t updated anymore. In fact, I still regularly check whether there are any new updates — just in case…

The good news, though, is that all of the existing amazing content is still there for you to check out and discover. Ron’s tutorials are still every bit as helpful as they were when he first posted them. And the models are still inspiring and beautiful, a testament to effective painting. In fact, I would argue that From the Warp is still one of the most important hobby resources for those active in the hobby or just getting into it, and a priceless treasure trove of hobby knowledge.

Oldies but goldies: Ron’s own “Lustwing”, an army of Emperor’s Children Terminators. Just check out the scratchbuilt Pre-Heresy armour!
Models built and painted by Ron Saikowski

So, Ron, if you’re reading this: Thanks for all the amazing work! We owe you big time! And here’s hoping that you’ll eventually get back to updating your blog! And to you readers: FTW should really be part of your regular hobby diet, if only to check out all of the great ideas and tips. So head on over there right now and bookmark that page! And if you’ve been a regular reader of FTW before, well, you know what I am talking about anyway, right?

In closing, while most of the content on FTW is truly amazing, here are a couple of personal favourites of mine that I think you should check out:

Ron’s Pre-Heresy Jetbike conversion

Converting a skull helmet for chaplains or Dark Apostles

Ron’s very own “Lustwing”, a counts as Deathwing force consisting of Emperor’s Children Terminators.

Truly heartwarming: Ron’s Chaos Daemon based on a sketch by his daughter

How to make your Space Marine Captain stand out

His collection of advice on basing is still essential reading for every hobbyist, if you ask me.

So what’s your opinion on FTW? And has anyone been hearing from Ron, perchance? Let me know what you think in the comments!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

A Dark Vengeance Chaplain painted by Ron: One of his most recent models, and possibly my favourite!
Model painted by Ron Saikowski

Hey everyone, update time

While the first week of my longer vacation was mainly spent sleeping, eating and playing up all the videogames I didn’t have time for during those last  stressful weeks and months, I do of course hope that you all had a very merry Christmas! Now with the end of the year fast approaching, it’s time again for a retrospective on the releases, hobby developments and outstanding hobby achievements of this past year. So I welcome you to the second annual Eternal Hunt Awards!

Let’s kick it off with a look at the industry. Let me tell you what I did and didn’t like this year, and for what reasons:

Best release of 2013:

1st place: Khorne Lord of Skulls

Now I do of course realise that this may be a controversial choice, but the longer I thought about it, the clearer it became to me that this model deserves the top spot in my personal list. Is it because I am a huge Khorne fanboy? That’s certainly a part of it, yes. But there’s more: For one, I can still recall the moment I first laid eyes on this model when pictures were leaked over on Dakka. I actually sat there with my mouth open for a while, and that doesn’t happen all that often. I was stunned — and not the bad kind of stunned where you’re just preparing to emit and earth-shattering groan.

While tons and tons of scorn may have been heaped upon this model online, I love it, pure and simple. It embodies the kind of models we dreamed of during our childhood and teenage years, but that could never have been possibly produced. Heck, GW even had to introduce a dedicated scale – Epic 40,000 – to feature battles between models at that scale. And looking back on those models now, we would never have guessed that it would one day be possible to add huge walkers, tanks and all kinds of superheavies to our forces at 28mm. Then Forgeworld came, and provided you were willing (and able) to sell a kidney, you could use Titans and Greater Daemons that really deserved the name. And then, a relatively short time ago, GW proper actually started to produce plastic kits at that scale. And here we are now, with a kind of model we could only imagine in our wildest dreams when we were children, available in glorious plastic. GW have taken my childish dreams and given them form. Is the resulting model realistic? Certainly not. Is it too OTT and corny? Quite possibly. But face it, guys and girls, this hobby of ours is certainly not the most grown up pasttime in the first place.

So while it may be a corny, ridiculous model in certain respects, and while I am not even sure I like the fact that the game has to get bigger all the time to accomodate stuff like this (more on that below), and while I am pretty sure that I’ll never get one for myself, there was one perfect moment in 2013 when my mouth hung agape in amazement at the coolness of a model. And if that model doesn’t deserve the top spot on this list, then nothing does.

Read my detailed opinion of the model here.

2nd place: Dreamforge Games releases

Mark Mondragon certainly deserves a place high on his list for his amazing models. Be it the amazing Eisenkern Stormtroopers pictured above or the two variants of huge walker, the Leviathan Crusader and Leviathan Mortis, these models are certainly giving GW a run for their money. The Stormtroopers may be slightly more futuristic than 40k players are used to, but they have that retro, faux-WWI/II aesthetic I enjoyed so much about the old Warzone models, and that alone was reason enough to pick them up. The sprues abound with extra bitz and conversion options, and I am more than a little ashamed to say that I have yet to complete my first test models — it’s certainly not due to any lack of quality!

The walkers are equally impressive, with lots and lots of options for customisation, and they even come in “good” and “evil” flavour, for those of us wanting to induct them into their 40k forces:

Leviathan Crusader by Dreamforge Games

Leviathan Mortis by Dreamforge Games

Dreamforge Games‘ releases deserve this spot on the list for another reason, though, even if the quality of the models would normally already be enough: These kits were made possible by a Kickstarter that spectacularly exceeded its original goal. It is only the one Kickstarter I have ever backed so far. And my first experience with this medium could not have any better: Mark Mondragon worked tirelessly to let the backers know which decisions had been taken and why and how far the products were along. He posted regular updates and went out of his way to accomodate backers’ wishes, even squeezing some additional bitz onto the sprues when it turned out there was some capacity left. If GW ever want to improve their communications with their customers, they could certainly do worse than take a look at how Mark approached these things.

So head over to Dreamforge Games’ website and check out their models. Chances are, you’ll be amazed — just as I was.

3rd place: Redesigned Dark Elves

GW’s designers always seem to be at their best when designing spointy, evil, elf people. Another case in point: This year’s complete revamp of the Dark Elves. And they are glorious! The redesign certainly puts them on par with their 40k cousins, the Dark Eldar, and that alone is no mean feat! Will I get a Dark Elf army and return to the Old World? No, certainly not. But just looking at these new kits already provides enough eye candy to tide me over until the next amazing chaos release…

Read my two-part review here and here.

Honorary mention: Betrayer

World Eaters players had precious little to go on when it came to their legion’s background and identity. The Horus Heresy releases from FW and Black Library did alleviate that problem, especially with the excellent short story “After Desh’ea” by Matthew Farrer. But the one book to really flesh out the legion was Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Betrayer, and I cannot recomment it highly enough. Read my review here, in case you are interested.

II. Worst release/biggest disappointment of 2013

Well, good news first: As far as I am concerned, when it comes to the models GW have released this year, there really haven’t been all that many slipups from a design perspective. Sure, a couple of models were hit or miss, like some designs for the new WoC models, while others were just downright awkward (yes, I am looking at you, Loremaster of Hoeth). But all in all, not only did GW manage to keep up a relentless pace with their release schedule, the overall quality of the different releases also ranged from solid (High Elves) to mostly really cool (Space Marines) and even to  outstanding (Dark Elves). So instead of focusing on particularly bad models, of which there were precious few, let me instead address my biggest disappointments:

No Inquisitor-based Skirmish game

Well, it was certainly to good to be true: For quite a while there, the forums and rumour sites were awash with whisperings of an Inquisition-themed skirmish game at the 28mm scale. A codified version of INQ28/Inquisimunda, if you will. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. The good new, obviously, is that we still do have INQ28, Inquisimunda and the original 54mm Inquisitor, so the lack of new rules certainly doesn’t hurt all that much. Still, seeing the Inquisition being given the Dark Vengeance or Space Hulk treatment, complete with a unique collection of delicious plastic models would have been totally awesome – oh well, one can always dream…

Inquisition Codex

Instead of a skirmish game, we did get a digital codex to better use and represent the forces of the Inquisition in games of 40k. While the idea itself is great (and hints at the more obscure factions of the Inquisition in the new codex are a nice bit of fanservice), the overall book seems to be a rather slipshod effort, by the look of it. Which could become a problem if this digital release were to be used by GW to gauge the interest in the Inquisition: This codex could have been a great way of getting people who mainly focus on INQ28 these days “reacquainted” with 40k proper. That doesn’t really seem to have worked all that well, though. And if the codex leaves most of the people interested in the Inquisition cold, what hope is there of future Inquisition releases? Seems like a bit of a vicious cycle…

No love for the sisters

The Sisters of Battle, or Adepta Sororitas of late (can anybody explain to me why it’s not “Adeptus Sororitas”, like in the German version btw? Surely the fact that it’s composed of women doesn’t make the order itself feminine…), also got the short stick — again. Sure, waiting for plastic sisters seems a bit of a running gag at this point, but still…

I realise that all three things on this list effectively tie back into the same problem: GW just cannot seem their act together when it comes to the various factions of the Inquisition, their military arms and supporting organisations. Which is really mind-boggling, if you ask me, because they already really nailed it before. Twice.

The various Ordos of the Inquisition as well as the Adepta Sororitas are easily among the 40k universe’s most iconic and recognisable features, yet they somehow seem to mess up whenever they get near one of these factions. It’s just a crying shame…

Honorary mention: Azhog

On second thought, there was one model that really, really disappointed me:

Azhog was the star of the first Hobbit film for me. His hulking, malicious presence provided an excellent villain, even though he certainly isn’t the most well-rounded of characters. Then GW dropped the ball (or were possibly forced to drop the ball, due to some NDA nonsense) by not releasing an appropriate model for ages. And when the model finally was released, it somehow ended up far less impressive than I would have liked. I couldn’t even tell you precisely what’s wrong with the model, since it seems like a fairly accuate representation of the character design. But it doesn’t feel like that hulking, malicious brute I remember from the film.

III. Still on the fence about…

• Digital supplements and codex releases: Maybe this is just me. Maybe I just like paper too much. But I have yet to decide what I think about all those digital releases. It’s complicated too: On the one hand, releasing digital supplements seems like an awesome way of not only keeping the codices and rulebooks updated but also of introducing new models and squads. And they even bring back some of that “Chapter Approved” flavour, with alternative army lists and scenarios. I am even okay with the fact that they all cost money — I’d rather pay for something than never get it at all. But like I said, I like books on paper. A lot. And it somehow seems wrong that the (more expensive) book becomes the lesser product. And some of those smaller supplements and background pieces do seem a little…unconventionally priced, if you ask me. All in all, it still seems like a bit of a two-edged sword at this point: If GW manage to use this additional channel of publication to release meaningful content and test the waters for future releases, that’s great. If they just wanted to find a way to introduce micropayments into the world of tabletop wargaming, that sucks. Big time. But like I said, maybe it’s just me…
• 40k plastic clamshell characters: Last year, one of my favourite releases were GW’s plastic characters for WFB, released in a clamshell. And I wished for GW to introduce similar models for 40k, which they did. One year later, I have to say that I appreciate the effort! And some of those characters, like the Space Marine Librarian, are really awesome. But I don’t see why all of the 40k characters have to be more expensive than their WFB counterparts. Nice try, GW, but not quite there yet…
• The scale creep: Well, I’ve said it before: The fact that the games (and models) keep getting bigger and bigger all the time seems slightly discouraging to me, because it really runs counter to the idea of customising and individualising each of your models: With infantry squads only cannon fodder and superheavies the true stars of the show, the game somehow becomes less interesting for me. But this is strictly a personal preference, of course…

IV. Also pretty cool:

• The Horus Heresy: I said last year that I am not perfectly sure whether or not to like FW’s focus on the Horus Heresy, and that still holds true — which has nothing to do with the – mostly excellent – models so far, but rather with the fear of a Star Wars-like state of affairs, where every minute of the Heresy will be accounted for at some point. My philosophical musings aside, though, the one thing I love unconditionally about the setting is how it has given rise to a couple of amazing and astonishing hobby projects that take a look at this very different period of Imperial history — just check out projects like Pooms’ Pre Heresy World Eaters , Agnostos Theos’ force from the same Legion or my favourite HH thread at the moment,  and you’ll see that there’s lots and lots of inspiration to be had, even if you have no plans of starting your own HH army.
• The new White Dwarf: I’m going to go out on a limb here and confess I really like the “new” White Dwarf. By now, the novelty has worn off, and the shape of the mag has congealed into something more solid, and I have to tell you I like what I see. Sure, we can always go back and compare today’s WD with the 90s’ version. But if we judge the mag against itself, I think it’s really a good concept: I like the focus on the staff’s and hobbyists’ armies over ‘Eavy Metal pieces (even if the armies of the editorial staff seem to appear a little too often…). I like the look at kitbashes and conversions and the army showcases. I love Blanchitsu, obviously. Is it still a sales brochure? Undoubtedly. Is it more of a coffee-table book and less of a fanzine? Yes, possibly. But looking at it gives me new ideas and inspirations more often than not, and that is certainly nothing to scoff at.

So yeah, all in all, I think we can call this year an overall success. With a constant stream of new releases and some amazing products by different manufacturers, we have lots and lots of new toys to play with. As always, there’s always quite a bit of stuff to bicker about, but I suppose that par for the course at this point

The hobby’s more than just the official releases, though: It’s really about the hobbyists. So in the next installment of the 2013 Eternal Hunt Awards, let’s take a closer look at this year’s oustanding hobby projects and talented artists. Until then, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments section!

And, as always, thansk for looking and stay tuned for more!

Here we are back again with the second part of the 2013 Eternal Hunt Awards. This time, let’s take a look at the hobbyists.

Hobby blog of the year

1st place: Officio Convertorum

Though a fairly recent addition to the blogosphere, Jeff Vader’s Officio Convertorum has nevertheless managed to shoot straight to the top. There’s more than enough reason for that, though, since during his first year of blogging, Jeff has barraged us with a relentless stream of excellent kitbashing, fantastic painting and very interesting background: The guy even managed to create a plausible and interesting fifth Chaos God, for crying out loud!

So a clear winner this year. Check out Jeff’s fantastic blog and prepare to be amazed!

2nd place: Gardens of Hecate

Every once in a while, even in a hobby as multifaceted as ours, we may have the chance of stumbling upon something truly different and original. And the most original blog of 2013, at least in my book, has to be Gardens of Hecate. Strictly speaking, it deals with Malifaux, chronicling Ana Polanscak’s work on a fully customised warband, complete with accompanying scenery, markers, tokens and what have you. While that may seem like a daunting enough job, however, putting things so simply would entirely miss the point of why the blog is so great: Ana not only shows highly inspired kitbashes and conversions, ending up with models that may use GW bitz for ingredients, but end up looking very distinct and original; Gardens of Hecate is also an exploration of medieval imagery with a slightly apocalyptic bend. It’s hard to put into words, although the closest possible description would be that those models look like what Hieronymus Bosch would be up to today, if he were alive and into tabletop gaming.

Trying to describe it doesn’t do it justice, though: You’ll have to take a look for yourself. Like me, you’ll probably come away from it with the impression that this is an extraordinary source of inspiration, and that there’s really nothing quite like it.

3rd place: Opus Maius

Now you see it, now you don’t: As of this writing, Opus Maius is not accessible. This is due to the fact that Neil101 likes to take the blog offline every now and then, presumably to force himself to do more actual hobby work instead of just blogging about it. Whenever Opus Maius does return, though, fading in and out of realspace like a  Space Hulk, the blog manages to find a very distinct voice and never ceases to inspire: You see, Neil is the genius behind hobby projects like the fabled Arrke game board, and while showcases of his work are certainly one great part of the blog, his writeups of the games taking place in this strange and demented world are just as impressive and inspiring. So keep your eyes peeled for whenever Opus Maius returns from the Empyrean, because you can be sure we’ll be in for a treat!

Hobbyist of the year

Like last year, this is a tough call to make. But then, there are those hobbyists who manage to make the hobby into something special not only for themselves, but for others as well. And the three people on my personal awards list this year certainly managed that admirably. Here they are:

1st place: PDH
Those who have had any form of contact with Peter know that he’s not only a highly talented converter and painter in his own right, but also a tremendously nice guy. Both should be enough to win him any price, certainly, but he landed at the top of this list for another reason:

in 2013, Peter was the guy to make wonderful things happen: He came up with the utterly brilliant “Secret Yggdrassillium Pilgrimage”, involving hobbyists from several different countries and making the day truly special for his fellow players, among them John Blanche. He helped Commissar Molotov with this year’s Inqvitational and took a big stake in the INQ28 community. He sent me bitz, got me involved in fantastic hobby projects and offered supremely helpful criticism and feeback whenever I asked him. Here’s to you, Peter! A first place well earned!

2nd place: Jeff Vader (of Officio Convertorum)
Jeff is certainly winning big in this year’s Eternal Hunts Awards, but to be fair, his contribution to the hobby was simply amazing: His Inquisitorial models sent the INQ28 boards abuzz, his blogs is a daily must-read for me, he invented a new chaos god. And he produced pieces that make me want to push the envelope on my own hobby projects. So thanks, Jeff, for the boundless inspiration you provided in 2013! And I really hate you for being such a fantastic painter, you know?

3rd place: Natfka (of Faeit 212)
I suppose you all know Faeit 212 as the go-to site when it comes to tabletop rumours. I also suppose you all go there for your daily hit of rumours and leaks — and if you don’t, well, you definitely should: It’s an enormously helpful and interesting site, but this last year has made me realise it might actually be run by one of the nicest guys imaginable: Even while Blogger took Faeit 212 down due to a copyrights claim on GW’s part, even while having to deal with the fallout from that and trying his best to keep the project alive, Natfka never got angry but always stayed productive, positive and eminently likeable. That mindset also clearly comes across in his posts: Natfka doesn’t like to bicker, he likes to see the positives, the potential. Does that make him a fanboy? No, certainly not. It makes him someone whose site  always like to visit and whose tireless service to the community I find admirable. My hat’s off to you, sir!

Best models of the year:

There were so many amazing models this year that pointing out favourites at all seems pretty unfair. Still, some pieces were so astounding and inspiring that I want to share them with you — in no particular order, mind you, because I really couldn’t be expected to choose any one of these over another. So here are my favourite models of 2013:

Decimator conversion by Chris Harman

While many models I see online make me want to borrow ideas and replicate effects I like, it is not often that a conversion has me run out to grab the models to attempt the same thing near instantly. Chris Harman’s excellent Decimator, kitbashed mainly from a GK Nemesis Dreadknight, was the exception to the rule, though, and possibly the single most inspirational piece I saw this year.

People had attempted making the Dreadknight into a chaos walker before, but Chris’ model was really the first one that really worked for me — which is why I shamelessly pilfered the idea and built my own Wargrinder in a fairly similar pattern: It turns out imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all…

My only gripe with this model is that, unfortunately, so far there are only tantalising glimpses at a partly painted model:

But what we can see so far gives rise to the hope that the finished piece will be just as amazing as the conversion. Fantastic job, Chris!

Bull God by TJ Atwell

TJ Atwell, of Dark Future Games, is certainly no stranger to amazing conversions. And it seems like he’s on a roll with a recent army project of his, the “Army of the Apocalypse”, a combined force of Necrons and Daemons. Sound whacky? Well, trust TJ to prove that the ally rules can be used to come up with fantastic and original army concepts: He’s been cranking out brilliantly disturbing daemon engines like crazy for these last months, one of them cooler than the next!

The one to rule them all, though, is TJ’s fantastic Bull God, to be used as a Daemon Prince, Maulerfiend or Greater Daemon. The whole conversion is so flawless that I wish I had come up with something like that. And the paintjob is equally impressive, combining TJ’s highly effective recipe for distressed flesh with bright yellows and blues (recurring spot colours in this particular army). Simply a marvelous piece!

Questing Knight by Jeff Vader

It seems like all INQ28 aficionados are drawn towards building true scale marines at one point, and Jeff Vader is no exception. While many of those models don’t end up all that impressive, though, Jeff’s Questing Knight is an astonishing model: Like all of Jeff’s models, this is a delicious kitbash (making exceptionally great use of what may just be the coolest Space Marine head ever), and the lush paintjob shows off some of the hallmarks of Jeff’s work: the gritty realism evident in the paintjob itself, the amazing freehand symbols and patterns and the highly expressive face. Job’s a good ‘un, Jeff!

Take a closer look at the model here.

Arco Evisorators by Kari Hernesniemi

Kari’s Stryderre was already my personal star of the show at the “Secret Yggdrassillium Pilgrimage”, so I was really happy to see him build yet more of these disturbing, emaciated killers. He has since spun off the concept into a whole warband of so-called Arco Evisorators, and each of the models is a treat! Case in point, it’s certainly an honour to be commissioned by no other than John Blanche himself to build a warband of these brilliantly horrible guys, but in Kari’s case, the honour is well-deserved! Discover all of the models here.

Another glimpse at the Arco Evisorators in action. The sinister lady in the background is a converted Femme Militant model by John Blanche.

Honorary mention for best effect on a model: Ms. Binky by Rednekkboss

One of the most disappointing moments in our hobby is when a finished model (or an effect we were really trying to get right) doesn’t work out. And one of the things that I’ve witnessed going wrong more often than not over the years was people painting huge eyeballs on some of their models. So for all those who have struggled to get it right, prepare to be amazed by Rednekkboss’s model for Ms. Binky, a daemon engine that is equal parts disgusting and adorable. The huge eyeball which makes up the main point of focus for the model could have gone so very horribly wrong. But Rednekkboss really, really nailed it:

How can something be so cute and so disgusting at the same time, I ask you?
The astonishing step by step documentation to the effect can be found here.

Best armies/warbands of the year

And where there are single models, there are also armies and warbands. Again, I witnessed too many great hobby projects to count this year, but some just take the cake. Let me share my favourites with you:

1st place: Brother Heinrich’s Night Lords

I cannot possibly say enough good things about Brother Heinrich’s Night Lords 15th company: It’s a fantastic hobby project, above all else. The fluff accompanying the models is equally impressive. But maybe my favourite thing about the army is how much thought is given to each and every model, making it seem like these guys are really veterans of the Long War. Brother Heinrich’s work has made me think about building Chaos Space Marine armies in a new way while also featuring some of the snazziest conversions around. It’s a beautiful army, and like I told you recently, I myself make an appearance as well

So if you’re one of the few people reading this blog who have not yet checked out Brother Heinrich’s brilliant NL army, do yourself a favour and go take a look.

2nd place: migsula’s Legion army

A true labour of love, this one: Migs has been hard at work on this army for quite a while now, and it shows: Each model has been expertly customised and converted, the narrative oozes from every pore of this hobby endeavour. Then there’s the fact that the entire army was painted to look like it was operating under a pale moon, which is an astonishing feat in itself. And lastly, you really get three armies for one here: Is it a Grey Knights army? Or an IG army (with some Inquisition sprinkled on top)? Or indeed a Chaos Space Marine army, given the fact that these guys are all Alpha Legion Operatives (and let’s not even get into the AL’s true loyalties…)? As you can see, the narrative comes creeping in, even when you simply want to decide what kind of army this is in the first place. Astounding work, migs!

Discover the army here.

3rd place: Dave Taylor’s Adeptus Mechanicus army

The Adeptus Mechanicus has always been a fascinating, if disturbing, part of 40k lore for me. And rarely has it been captured so well as in Dave Taylor’s AdMech army. We all know that Dave is an expert at building characterful armies, of course, but even so, this one’s special. Words really don’t do it justice…

…so you had best take a look at the project here.

Honorary mention: Inquisitor Klein and retinue by Drone 21c

INQ28 has become really popular during this last year, and rightly so. And while the increase in interest has also lead to an increase in awesome warbands and retinues, every now and then there’s something even cooler than the rest. Drone 21c’s retinue for Inquisitor Klein is such a case: It may just be the perfect blend of modern painting techniques and retro flourishes from the good old days of Rogue Trader and 2nd edition. The retinue also works as a perfect embodiment of the eclectic styles and cultures prevalent in the 40k universe, evident in the uniforms and outfits alone. Plus those models simply look so lush in that photo that you’d like to eat them! Check them out here.

So, with this deluge of fantastic hobby inspiration, I think it’s the perfect moment to wish you all a happy new year! Keep your eyes peeled for the third and final installment of the 2013 Eternal Hunt Awards, where I’ll be speaking about my own hobby year. And, of course, let me hear your feedback in the comments!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

I realise I still owe you part three of my 2013 review. No worries, it’s still coming, but I want to do it justice, event though I may run the risk of it being totally outdated by the time I get around to posting it. But while we are all waiting for my creative juices to get flowing, why not take a look at the new Tyranids in the meantime?

The Tyranids have sometimes been dubbed “Alien Dinosaurs”, and it’s a strangely fitting description. Sure, they are taking design cues left and right from sci-fi staples like Giger’s Xenomorph, the bugs from Starship Troopers and many other slimy and chitinous monstrosities we know and love. But in order to make a range of creatures into an army, there also has to be a pecking order of sorts, an ecology of bigger and smaller creatures that nevertheless need to look like they are part of the same species, at least at the basic level.

Getting this particular element right took GW quite a while: The Tyranids started out as a wildly disparate race, with models that shared very little common ground except for a general “alien-ness”. There were also enslaved races (like the Zoats) and genetic “infection” of other races (the Genestealer cults, only added into the Tyranid background after the fact, IIRC), the latter possibly leading to the general idea that the Tyranids as a race would make use of their prey’s genetic makeup. So a pretty large redesign during the late 90s/early 2000s saw the codifying of some common anatomical traits (the six limbs, the bone protusions on the forehead) as well as the idea of mirroring characteristics of certain races in the different creatures’ design. Since then, this has been the basic design template for the Tyranid race. Tyranid players received a new model here and there, but things had grown rather quiet for the fans of omnivorous alien gribblies. And now, a new release that finally brings the Tyranids up to snuff for the 6th edition. So, what have we got here?

Harpy / Hive Crone

Most Tyranid players were dearly hoping for a big flying creature, I suppose, in order to get their part of this new aircraft fad. The Harpy / Hive Crone neatly fills this role, giving us…well, a huge, flying Tyranid creature.

The model features all the hallmarks of  Tyranid design, while also striking a pretty good balance between a living creature and an attacking aircraft. If anything, I’d say it adheres to the design formula a bit to closely, essentially making the model look quite a bit like a flying Carnifex, but that might just be me:

I’ve always felt slightly ill at ease with the idea of flying Tyranids not having any kind of hind legs (to serve as landing gear, as it were): It just seems biologically dubious to have a flying organism that has no way whatsoever to land and then take off again. But then, this might actually become a bit of fridge brilliance when you imagine that those creatures are either intended to deliver their payload to the battlefield and then get back to the mothership to be reabsorbed, or the Hive Mind doesn’t even expect them to survive their first attack run in gthe first place, in which case any legs would be surplus to requirements anyway. It’s a small detail that actually begins making more sense the longer you think about it

The one thing that doesn’t make sense, however, is the fact that the wing membranes have these open spaces instead of being fused to the creature’s carapace, as can be seen here:

Now I am not a biology major, of course, but it just seems off to me for some reason. Maybe there’s an explanation (apart from the requirements of the model’s production process)?

Anyway, the other option to assemble the kit gives us a slightly different weapons loadout and a bioconstruct that’s named Hive Crone:

This version of the kit definitely gets a thumbs up in the extra grossness department, what with the fleshy ammo feed running directly through the creature’s mouth. Ewww…

And there’s the way those evil little spore mines (or whatever they are) attach to the underside of the wings. You have got to love that attention to detail…

A (smaller gripe) I have with the kit is that, while we do get different head variants for both builds, the heads still end up very similar – not only to each other, but also to the rest of the bigger Tyranid creatures’ heads:

Visual consistency notwithstanding, this seems like a bit of a missed opprtunity.

All in all, Tyranid players get a big flying monster that looks more or less like everyone expected. No more and no less.

Haruspex / Exocrine

It falls to the release’s second big monster to feature some kind of craziness, and boy does it deliver:

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! We’ll take a closer look at that maw in a second. Before that, let me just say that I am certainly not going to lament the fact that neither the Haruspex nor the Endocrine look anything like their Epic 40,000 forefathers, because those models really didn’t look like anything, and they also came from a time where the only unifying characteristic of all Tyranid kits seemed to be that they all looked completely different and highly disparate.

Their updated versions conform to the basic design outline for the Tyranids once more, which is probably for the best.

So, back to the elephant in the room: The Haruspex’s gaping map (that clearly reminds me of a certain scene from Beetlejuice, by the way):

So yeah, this is certainly something different, an element not seen so far in the army. Good job! While the look may be a bit of an acquired taste, I think the mout cavity certainly offers painters around the world a very good chance to really let rip with their colours and gloss varnish, in order to create something truly disturbing. After having the Tervigon model actually give birth to Gaunts, this was probably just the next logical step…

There’s one problem with the model, if you ask me, and that’s the fact that the whole layout of the maw, including the tongue, seems to be perfectly symmetrical. Take a look:

I think some of those “feelers” (for lack of a better word) should have been a little less symmetrical. And the tongue might have looked better if it had been coiled in a more erratic way. Again, this might be due to the production requirements, but an organic horror could have used a little more visual chaos, if you ask me.

Since this is yet another multi-kit, it can also be assembled to make an Exocrine:

There’s not much to be said about this one: It’s basically a giant walking cannon, and the design nicely communicates that. In fact, my one gripe with this guy is the head, once again: It really doesn’t look all that threatening, but rather cartoony, if you ask me.

It feels like this model would really have profited from a more sinister design: What about an eyeless head? Seeing how the Tyranid cannons seem to be covered in eyeballs anyway (which is a bit of a strange concept, come to think of it…), wouldn’t it have been cool for the model to actually feature an eyeless head? It would have been fun to imagine by which senses the creature does its actual targeting. Instead, we get yet another rehash of the Carnifex look, only that this particular head looks far less interesting than all of the heads from the Carnifex kit for some reason.

Again, the kit gives Tyranid players what they were looking for, although it doesn’t seem all that surprising (apart from that Haruspex mouth region, of course) — do we see a theme emerging here?

Hive Guard / Tyrant Guard

The Hive Guard and Tyrant Guard were only available in metal and Finecast so far, so making both unit types into a plastic combi-kit seems like a very sensible choice indeed! But do they hold up to their older incarnations?

The Hive Guard took a hit, if you ask me, but that’s because I really loved the older version:

When seen in silhouette, the model just looks perfectly proportioned to me — well, as perfectly proportioned as is possible for an alien horror, of course, but I think you get my point. Much of the effect relies on the dynamic between the head and the carapace above, that seems to act almost as a cowl of some sort. The new version has a more recessed head and gives the Hive Guard a slightly more hunched pose. Not all that different, to be sure, but it somehow ends up looking more awkward than the older version, at least in my opinion.

And again with the eyes… I mean, I get it: These weapons are symbiotes, creatures of their own. But why would they have eyes? I realise that this is a characteristic that can be found on nearly all the Tyranid kits, but I only realise now that it seems like a strange choice somehow…

Then again, I might have the answer to that one:

Buddy, I realise you are doing your best to hit the opponent, and even though the cocentration is clearly evident in your face, shooting without eyes seems like a pretty bad idea…

Seriously, though, I actually like the eyeless head! It makes the model look more alien — there is a reason why Giger designed the Xenomorph without eyes, I suppose…

So while the Hive Guard gets the short stick in this particular deal, the Tyrant Guard are much improved:

Where the Hive Guard look more awkward, these guys have finally come into their own thanks to the slight overhaul: They seem more massive and threatening. And I like that they now seem able to actually do something with their frontore legs, even if it is only seen on one of the models:

A lovely detail, that

All in all, I am going to call this an improvement. Sure, that subtle bit of extra coolness on the Hive Guard is lost, but considered the improved Tyrant Guard and versatility that comes with a plastic kit, it seems like a fair deal. Definitely one of the high points of this relase for me!
Tyranid Warriors

These one are not exactly a surprise: The design remains the same, but the new kit finally gives us all the weapon options we need — and then some. Yet while the added flexibility when arming them is a big plus, it’s not easy to get all that excited over the models, seeing how these are exactly the same designs as before.

As an extra bonus, the kit also contains the parts needed to build a Tyranid Prime:

It’s a bread and butter kit for any Tyranid player, so the selection of bitz is clearly a step forward. Then again, the kit also seems to have received quite a price hike. The sensible compromise seems to be that the new kit contains far more weapons than you’ll need for three models, so for those of you who still have lots and lots of the older models lying around, getting a box of these for the equipment options should last you a while.

Conversion potential

Hmm, this one’s a toughy… The very firm design guidelines in place for the Tyranids mean that all the parts from the kit will always look like Tyranid parts. That said, I suppose there are some uses for the new bitz if you’re feeling slightly adventurous:

The wings and tentacles as well as some parts of the carapaces might come in handy for your daemon conversion needs, especially for Slaaneshi daemons. There’s a certain combination of elegance and grossness in the Tyranid design that should nicely fit the servants of the Dark Prince. For the same reason, some of the parts would probably work like a charm to convert flesh-constructs for your Dark Eldar army: There are some hobbyists who are using Tyranid appendages to great effect when converting their Grotesques and Taloi (among them Mechanicum Jon with his beautiful Cabal of the Drowned Gardens), so I guess that might be a good use for all those bitz as well.

And it goes without saying that Tyranid players should find it easy to use some of those leftover bitz to make the rest of their army more interesting.
I’ll go out on a limb here, though, and state that this doesn’t seem like a release overflowing with cool new conversion bitz. But if you have fantastic ideas, you’re very welcome to prove me wrong — maybe I’m just lacking the necessary creativity here…

All in all, this release seems like a  solid effort, yet one that is also far from groundbreaking: It’s great that the new release (and the new rules) will bring the ‘Nids up to snuff with the requirements of 6th edition, giving them stuff that seems to be standard nowadays (a flyer, for example). But it feels like this release lacks any real surprises: No bold reinvisioning, no huge kit, no characters (for obvious reasons). It’s a necessary update, but mostly one without any bells and whistles.

Let me also point out that one thing I would love to see for the future is a more fleshed out concept for Genestealer cults: In my opinion, these are one of the most interesting aspects about the Tyranids, and the one area where the Tyranids can actually transcend the – very obvious – source material that went into their creation. There’s also the fact that a Genestealer cult offers all kinds of crazy conversion opportunities (and a lot of potential when it comes to INQ28). Granted, the main codex release might not have been the perfect place to revitalise this rather specific background element. But I think it’s a shame how Genestealer cults have more or less fallen by the wayside, and a dataslate or supplement release would be a fantastic way of reintroducing them into the game, if only for those who like that particular element of 40k lore.

Oh, and one more thing: What I am really looking forward to is to see these kits with a very different paintjob: In my opinion, Tyranids should look more visceral, more disgusting: I want lots of glistening carapaces, distended fleshy parts and huge amounts of gloss and slime. All of this is lacking in the “official” ‘Eavy Metal treatment of the army. They are beautifully painted, make no mistake! But I think a more realistic treatment would go a big ways towards making the new models look slightly less cartoony and far more disturbing!

So, what’s your take on the new models? Were you, like me, ever so slightly underwhelmed? Or am I being unfair here? I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments section!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

While it may already be a little late for the third part of my look back at 2013, bear with me while, having already pointed out my favourite releases as well as the most amazing models and hobbyists of 2013, I wrap this up and tell you about a couple of my personal hobby moments in 2013:

Looking at the bare numbers, 2013 may not have been my most productive year: I only painted around 45 models (compared to 2012′s 90) and converted around 72, further adding to my backlog of unpainted stuff. That said, I feel that at least the first half of 2013 was fairly productive, and some of the 45 models I managed to get finished were complex and/or huge enough to count for several regular models, in any case. At the same time, it’s true that during the second half of the year, hobby time became more sparse as RL issues took over, but I think that every hobbyist is familiar with this: It just happens, from time to time.

Nevertheless, looking back on the stuff I managed to finish, I am reasonably pleased with myself. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Khorne’s Eternal Hunt

Ah, yes, my World Eaters. The one hobby project it always comes back to: Above, you can see the World Eaters’ 4th assault company, more or less as it looks right now: While I only managed to add some 15 models to the collection, the army does look slightly more impressive than its 2012 incarnation. I also tackled some pretty interesting projects, among them a squad of custom Chaos Spawn, some traitorous Space Wolves and my converted Heldrake, the Hellrazor.

And I tried to come up with some additional characters for my army, trying to build suitably World Eater-esque versions of the Dark Apostle and Warpsmith, respectively:

As a matter of fact, my heavily converted Warpsmith, Huntmaster Deracin, is clearly one of the 2013 models I am most proud of:

Assembling this guy from a huge pile of plastic bitz was just as fiddly as it was ultimately rewarding!

By sheer coincidence, one of Deracin’s own engine of destruction is the other World Eaters model I am most proud of: the Wargrinder:

Inspired by Chris Harman’s excellent kitbashed Decimator Daemon Engine, the Wargrinder was quite a bit of work, and also basically the first time I tackled a walker conversion of this scope. To be honest, I am immensely pleased with the result, and the model makes for a pretty cool centre piece of my World Eaters! Although some people really didn’t like the head…

Anyway, check out these posts, in case you’re interested to learn more about this big boy.

A Legion of one…

And while we’re on the subject of models I am really proud of, let’s not forget my favourite AdMech monstrosity:

The creature called Legion is one of my most involved conversions so far, and arguably one of the projects that really made me step outside my comfort zone. The model and the history surrounding it also double as one of my personal crowning hobby moments of awesome in 2013: PDH was cool enough to involve me into an international hobby project featuring lots and lots of supremely talented artists producing excellent models for a very special game of…well, Necromunda, I suppose, if you wanted to be technical about it, set aboard the mysterious Arrke. The models were to be given to none other than John Blanche afterwards, and the moment when JB himself sent me a picture of Legion going about his business on the banks of the underground rivers of the Arrke will remain a moment that’ll be hard to surpass!

Fun fact: While I did myself to make Legion (essentially a devolved amalgamation of several Tech Priests and explorators of the Adeptus Mechanicus) as grotesque and disturbing as possible, the more recent AdMech releases by Forgeworld are even more disturbing. Seems I was overtaken. Oh well, I still love this guy!

In fact, I really loved the whole project, and waxing poetical about it comes naturally to me. Instead of indulging my urges, however, let me just point those of you who want to read the whole story here.

The wonderful world of INQ28…

…is still going strong, and has been for the whole of 2013! While my own output of INQ28 characters may have been a bit lacking, I did at least manage to build a fairly important NPC for last year’s Inqvitational, one Inquisitor Zuul: a radical Xanthian and enemy to Inquisitor Tybalt:

Zuul was built to resemble a particular piece of artwork, which was a novel and interesting challenge. And sending him off to the Inqvitational on his own meant I was once again in the delicious position of receiving pictures of my model doing its thing during a game:

Zuul is now a permanent part of PDH’s collection, and while his prospects may look bleak (being pursued by a fanatic puritan will do that to you), I am looking forward to finding out whether the old rascal still has some surprises up his sleeve…

Learn more about Zuul’s creation and fate here.

In any case, the INQ28 scene with its many talented members remains one of the most inspiring influences in my personal hobby life: From Commissar Molotov’s and PDH’s work on the Inqvitational and Jeff Vader’s constant stream of awesome new minis to the fruitful exchange of background ideas with DexterKong, INQ28 simply rocks — even in those cases where I don’t have anything to show for it…

Da Boyz

Another thing I am quite proud of is how I managed to build and paint a complete Orc Team for Blood Bowl in a pretty short amount of time (and mostly from leftovers, no less) — the Orkheim Ultraz:

Working on those guys was a wonderful change of pace, and an opportunity to build some rather humorous models for once! And the brilliant recipe for painting Orc skin I discovered on A Gentleman’s Ones really made the painting side of things a lot of fun as well!

If you want to learn more about the Ultraz’ antics, take a look here.

The rest…

Of course, there were even more great hobby moments in 2013: Being immortalised as a member of the Night Lords 15th company by Brother Heinrich for example:

Or AgnostosTheos building 30k versions of two of my World Eaters characters:

Click here for the whole story.

When it comes to the blogging side of things, WordPress was nice enough to compile a report on 2013 for me, so in case you’re interested, take a look:

Click here to see the complete report.

All in all, it has certainly been an eventful hobby year! And with the blogosphere currently abuzz with all kinds of crazy news and developments, it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon. So here’s hoping that I’ll be able to keep up and keep going. There’s certainly enough on my plate — now if I only had more time…

In any case, thanks for taking an interest in this blog and my ongoing hobby projects during the last year! Here’s to a new year of hobby-related craziness — in fact, I’ll be seeing you next week with some actual new content! Promise!

Until then, as always, thansk for looking and stay tuned for more!

Having been unbelievably lazy for a couple of weeks, I have recently undertaken a couple of steps to get back into hobby mode. As is so often the case with restarting an engine that has lain dormant for a while, the first moments aren’t pretty, with lots of sputtering and grinding. But it finally feels like I am slowly getting back into the swing of things, so today I would like to show you a number of smaller projects I am currently working on:

1. The Brazen Wall – revisited

First up is an Aegis Defense line for my World Eaters. I started working on this some time last summer, but then it more or less fell by the wayside. So, time to get some more work in! Here’s the aegis as it looks right now:

While I wanted the defense line to look like it clearly belonged to my army, I didn’t want to go overboard with the spiky bitz. I basically used some spikes an armour plates from the chaos vehicle sprue to spruce up the different segments. Nothing amazing, certainly. But the true achievement was to get rid of all those pesky Imperial aquilas.

To be fair, though, after I had found the right approach for doing this, it turned into an almost relaxing task. I was able to shave off all the loyal iconography in a single evening.

And while the defense line will still need some additional bitz, mostly trophies, skulls and impaled Astartes, it’s definitely getting there! Again, not the most creative and groundbreaking endeavour in the world, but just the right project to slowly ease me back into hobby mode!

2. Death from Above

Let’s continue with something slightly more involved: I also finally found a way to make what may be my favourite model from the Dark Vengeance boxed set into a member of my World Eaters:

I always thought that the Chosen wielding lightning claws would make for an excellent jump infantry officer or lord, so I added a raptor jump pack and some clawed toes from the warp talons. It’s a rather simple conversion, of course, but one I am nevertheless rather pleased with. It also resembles GW’s own Chaos lord with jump pack (as a matter of fact, I had originally intended of using that model’s jump pack for this conversion, but abandoned the idea when it turned out to be far too unwieldy).

Oh, and I do of course realise that using a flowing cape like that directly underneath what ultimately amounts to a jet engine may not be the smartest idea in the world, but there’s always the Rule of Cool, isn’t there? Let’s just pretend it’s made from flame-retardant fabric, okay?

3. Hammer Time!

Building chaos lords is one of my favourite hobby activities, of course, and with the Raptor Lord out of the way, another traitor officer was quick to follow. I was beginning to feel more adventurous, too! But we’ll get to that in a minute.

First things first: Does anyone remember these guys?

Long before FW redesigned the whole Pre-Heresy stuff, there were a number of highly interesting older models put out by GW proper. One of them was the Mk I Tactical Dreadnought Armour, indeed going back to one of Jes Goodwin’s concept sketches for the later Terminators, I believe:

Image owned by Games Workshop

There was actually a model for this particular armour design as well! And as luck would have it, I even have a picture of a chaos conversion of an Mk I Termie. Take a look:

This must be one of the first wargaming related pictures I ever downloaded from the internet, back in the early 2000s, when the blogosphere was far less developed than it is today. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you who originally built and painted the model, since the blog seems to have disappeared. If anyone knows the creator, please let me know!

Anyway, these scraps of half-forgotten lore were lying around in my various inspiration folders. And then I came across an illustration by the ever-inspirational Greyall, depicting an Imperial Fists marine wearing an updated form of Mk I TDA.

Seeing that image made me realise that it might be interesting to build a model that took design cues from that rather ancient design, and another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Things really got underway when I started messing around with a couple of leftover armour plates from the Heldrake kit, because they almost look like those Mk I shoulder plates, if you only look at them long enough

So I formulated a plan for yet another chaos lord conversion: I would build a chaos lord wearing custom armour that would take inspiration from both the Mk I and Cataphractii designs. Not a straight recreation of either, but something that incorporated elements from both in order to create an armour that looked archaic and massive. And of course, my beloved plastic Terminator Lord would be at the heart of the conversion once more.

Anyway, after messing around with a pile of bitz for a while, here’s an early mockup of the model:

As you can see, it’s a fairly simple kitbash, any by no means an involved recreation of either armour pattern. But some of the elements are inspired by those seen on the Pre-Heresy armour: The shoulder pads and slightly recessed, helmeted head recall a more ornate Mk I design, while the topknot and pteruges skirt are a clear reference to the Cataphractii armour. And the decorative trim and heretical symbols clearly communicate the fact that we are dealing with a member of a traitor legion, after all.

I wanted to create a hulking character in highy archaic armour, and that much seems to have worked. And while the thunder hammer was only intended as a placeholder, I think that it really nicely complements the overall look of the model — even though it’s not really a weapon associated with followers of Khorne…

Another possibility would be to use one of the mauls from the Deathwing Knights that I have conveniently lying around:

As you can see, the model’s only tacked together for now, held together by lots of modelling putty and my prayers. But I am already rather fond of this guy, even though he’s only a rather simple kitbash and nowhere near as involved as, say, Dark Rage’s faithful – and incredibly cool – recreation of actual Mk I armour.   I can imagine this guy as one of Lorimar’s bodyguards, encased in ancient armour and ruthlessly efficient: a silent and deadly warrior crushing everything in the Lord Captain’s way…

Update: In a rather interesting development, Fellow hobbyist carnosaur93 over on B&C suggested I turn around the shoulder pads in order to make them look even more similar to the Mk 1 design. And while I didn’t believe him at first, I tried it and was amazed:

Consider my mind blown! The model actually looks 100% more like the old Mk I Termies now! It even has that slightly “alien” look to the shoulders, I don’t know how to describe it any better: The curvature of the shoulders is quite unlike anything seen on modern (traitor) Astartes models.

I have yet to decide which version I actually like better, but the changed one really looks more like the older armour pattern. And it also has a certain “je ne sais quoi”…food for thought, definitely!

Anyway, these are my first small hobby projects for this year! And of course, I am always happy to hear any feedback you might have! In any case, it’s  good to be back in the game, especially considering all the crazy rumours about new CSM kits to be released soon-ish.

Now if I can only find my misplaced painting modjo, everything will turn out fine…

Anyway, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Oh boy, what a week!

Even before my own respective copies of White Dwarf Weekly and Warhammer: Visions arrived in the mail last Saturday, I could already learn online that this was supposedly yet another catastrophy of epic proportions: The internet was already awash with reviews by Friday evening, and none of them were positive. And a sinking feeling was slowly growing in the pit of my stomach — was this the truth? Would the new magazines, especially Warhammer: Visions, really be as awful as everyone said?

Now, after spending the last weekend looking through both publications, then taking a few days to collect my thoughts on the matter, I have to say that the answer is not that simple, at least not for me. Allow me to elaborate:

Before we take a look at the magazines proper, let me first say that the decision to split a running publication into two offshoots, if you will, all against the background of an economy where print publications are closed down rather than newly established, is still baffling to me. It would also be interesting to learn whether all of this was really part of a well-considered long term plan, or rather a more or less spontaneous endeavour (although I doubt magazines at that scope can truly be manufactured “spontaneously”). What I do understand, at least, is the fact that the return to a weekly release schedule necessitates an adjustment in the accompanying publications: If you want to be the one showcasing your own releases, you need a weekly publication alongside them, period. But to produce larger editorial content beyond the actual release info for a weekly publication can be a rather daunting task. So you split your existing magazine down the middle, right?

At least, that’s what it seems like at first glance: White Dwarf Weekly is basically a WD with all the fat trimmed off, while Visions is basically the remaining fat, to put it very briefly. But let’s take a closer look and allow me to tell you what I think about the new publications:

White Dwarf Weekly

What I liked:
Well, the mag is bascially identical to the first half of the “regular” White Dwarf we’ve been seeing for a little over two years now, and I have gone on record stating that I rather like the format. You still get a visually fairly comprehensive coverage on the new model releases, along with glimpses at new BL stuff as well. There’s also a stripped-down collection of editorial content, from Jervis Johnson’s usual column to articles on assembling and painting the new models. Nothing new so far, and if you’ve been comfortable with the latest format of WD, you’ll know what to expect.

The inclusion of rules for new models is also a really nice touch, and a return to earlier incarnations of the mag, albeit only a small one: It remains to be seen if this feature will only be used to tide people over until they get the expanded rules for a new character or unit with their army book (released in the same month, no less) or if GW will use this platform to actually release new rules that will not appear anywhere else — at least not for quite a while. For now, this could really go both ways, but it definitely has some potential for the future development of WD Weekly.

What I hated:
Here’s the thing, though: The fact that WD Weekly lacks virtually all the showcase elements of the latest monthly WD issues means that this basically feels like the first 20 pages torn out of a regular WD. And while the section depicting the new releases is thorough enough, this is really content that I can find for free on GW’s own website. The lack of kitbashes and custom armies to go back to and pore over really eats into the mag’s staying power, if you ask me: I read through it in about half an hour and only went back once to take a closer look for this review.

Verdict:
While most bloggers and commenters saw WD Weekly as the winner in this particular race, it was clearly the opposite for me: Dropping many of the showcase features leads to a magazine shorn of everything I personally find interesting. There’s the information on new releases, sure. But, like I said,  I can find plentiful information (and better pictures) of that stuff online, even on GW’s own website. The prospect of having new rules introduced through this publication alongside new kits is possibly the most interesting thing about WD Weekly, and I might get those issues dealing with kits and rules that interest me. But by and large, and especially at 3,20 Euros a pop, I think I’ll pass on this more often than not.

Warhammer: Visions

What I liked:
Warhammer: Visions is definitely a fascinating product because it seems so experimental in many ways: I am not all that sure that there is a noticeable market for a wargaming coffeee table book like that, to be honest, and it remains to be seen whether it will find its feet in the future or just turn out to be a way for GW to fulfill existing subscriptions before being unceremoniously canned.

That said, it really felt like some of the carry-over categories from WD really work much better in the new format:

The “Army of the Month” feature, for one, gets quite an expansion (at 14 pages), which is great: I’ve always loved looking at well-conceived armies, even if I don’t play that particular faction or system, and 14 pages are enough space to really showcase the intricacies and little details. In the latest issues of WD, the Army of the Month feature was always too short for my taste, and the new format really works for me!

And while I can get tired of looking at GD winners for too long, there are some rather nice pieces in this issue’s showcase section, and even quite a bit of stuff I hadn’t seen before, such as Will Hahn’s amazing Nurgle Daemon Prince:

Sure, you can always argue about the choice of content here, but such matters usually come down to personal taste. What I do like is that the section gets enough room to really showcase some of the more interesting detail, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome, either.

It’s also great to see that Blanchitsu and Kitbash make a return, although either of these could (and should) be expanded in the future, especially the former: I do realise that not everyone shares John Blanche’s taste in miniatures and design. Neither is everyone a fan of INQ28. But Blanchitsu represents a wholly unique voice in this hobby of hours, and INQ28 is the embodiment of “anything goes” in design terms: You can play any character you want. The model representing your character can be as restrained or as crazy as you want. You can experiment with kitbashing, painting or what have you. Towards this end, if you’re going for a mag that should showcase the versatility of GW’s models, Blanchitsu is basically your ace in the hole!

Oh, and one last thing: Quite a few people online are arguing that the smaller format is a step back, but I tend to disagree here: I really found it rather pleasant, and it somehow makes the mag feel “special”, less like a catalogue and more like an artbook. Sure, this is really a matter of personal preference, but the argument that the decrease in size allows for less content seems like a bit of a non-issue to me: I don’t believe they would have changed much about the mag’s content had it been any bigger: Like it or not, the layout and content of the mag seem to have been a deliberate choice on GW’s part.

What I hated:
Well, first of all, there are two things that I didn’t actually hate, but that puzzled me nonetheless, the first one being the very small amount of text in the mag. At least for the showcase sections, I would be okay with this, though: I realise the age of finding sprawling fluff and background sections in WD is well behind us, and I realise that, these days, extensive reading is not what I want from GW’s monthly or weekly publications. I come for the eye candy and stay for a couple of insightful comments and snippets of text here and there. Don’t get me wrong,  I love my background as much as the next guy (or, indeed, moreso on most occasions). But there’s so much excellent background fluff available online that GW is no longer my main outlet for that kind of content anyway. So, by and large, I don’t care about the lack of text all that much, except for two cases:

One, I would love to read something about the conception of the new models, even if it’s just some small designer’s notes – I’ll be getting to that in more detail in a minute. Two, I think that, at this point, they should really drop the battle reports altogether: If they are not prepared to give us either background context or rules and tactics discussions, the report is ultimately hollow. To wit, the most interesting thing about this month’s battle report was the opprotunity to get a closer look at Matt Hudson’s CSM army, if you ask me.

Then there’s the one thing that I really hated, and that’s the amount of repetition in the issue: We get 70 or 80+ pages of Tyranid models and colour schemes we have already seen last month (or online). I realise that GW need to feature the “flavor of the month army” prominently, but why use the same models and images over and over? And why compile a sprawling book of excellently painted miniatures and then complement it with painting guides that are really basic and unsophisticated? GW are welcome to feature the army of the month as much as they like, but they should be prepared to make the content dealing with that army as exciting as possible (instead of using twenty closeups from the same sprawling battle scene).

Verdict:
All in all, I am disappointed with Visions, but only midly so: If done right, I believe that this could be the kind of hobby publication I would be really interested in. As it stands, though, the first issue (which should have been a real killer) seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. They should really have let rip with this first installment, in order to win skeptics over. They settled for “kinda okay-ish” though, which is very unfortunate. Still, I believe Visions could become something special if handled right (and I will share some ideas with you in the next paragraph, be prepared). Whether it can be economically successful is a wholly different question, of course. But out of the two mags on offer, Visions is the far more interesting one, at least in my opinion. The mag has been derisively called “Miniature Porn” by many commenters, but you know what: That’s actually its appeal! I don’t know about you, but ogling beautifully converted and painted miniatures has been one of the core features of the hobby for me ever since my childhood friends and me sat hunched around a 40k 2nd edition colour section during our school breaks, marveling at the quality of the miniatures on display.

As it stands, both premieres are slightly underwhelming, which, of course, is hardly ideal when you’re replacing a long running product with two new ones. But I don’t want to be all negative here, so let me share some ideas on how to improve future issues. Some of these may be realistic, some of them may be crazy. But hey, I am just a blogger, so don’t expect any realism from me, okay?

I’ll also be focusing on Visions here, because it simply seems like the more promising format. So here goes:

1. Get rid of the countless rehashes:

Instead of reusing stuff we already know over and over again, why not compile a spotlight article for the faction that gets the most releases of the month? Such an article could feature enough pictures of the studio army, but it could also encompass concept art, short blurbs by the designers or even images of classic models. All of this would show how that particular army has evolved over time, what it means to the designers or what its central characteristics are. I firmly believe this would generate more buzz for any given army than just featuring the same 50 models in ever-changing arrangements. Also, instead of only featuring the studio armies, why not tap into the limitless supply of fantastic images available: The last issues of monthly WD were really good about using hobbyists’ armies over studio armies, so why not continue that trend? Speaking of the Tyranids, for example, Jes Bickham’s own hive fleet has been featured to death, but now it’s missing from the one issue of Visions actually dealing with ‘Nids? What gives? And why do they only show Adrian Komarski’s amazing models – easily some of the best ‘Nids I’ve ever seen – on the homepage but neglect to feature them in the mag? Each of these armies could have replaced four pages of rehashed photography! In short, if you want to show us 80 pages of Tyranid models, go right ahead! Just make sure it’s the most exciting inspiring collection of Tyranids you can come up with! And add some conversions, while you’re at it!

2. There’s so little text that you should make it meaningful — or drop it altogether

Here’s an edgy idea for you: Why not present most of the short blurbs of text as in character flavour pieces and soundbites? For example, a sentence like this

“The Haruspex crushes victims with its claws before dragging them into its maw with its vile grasping tongue.”

could become something like this:

“I swear Commmissar Helsrich was still shouting the Emperor’s catechism while his bones were being crushed by that thing. I still remember his face as that hideous …tongue dragged him into the creature’s maw. And I believe I will until the day I die.”
Trooper Constan Heral, 115th Palthian Grenadiers

Sure, it’s a bit longer, but you know what: Just drop the French and German translations while you’re at it! I daresay I speak for my fellow Europeans when I say that we would be able to cope. When all the text in your publication fits onto an A4 sheet, there’s a fair chance that your audience will manage to understand it, even if it’s only presented in english.

3. More dialogue with the community

This goes for more than the new mags of course, but in a hobby with such an amazingly vibrant hobby scene, why not work with those hobbyists more? We’re not even talking about democracy, here — you still get to call the shots when it comes to the business side of things, GW. But give us some information, for crying out loud! Ask us for our opinion! Will you have to deal with the – sometimes overwhelming – negativity? You bet! But you’ll also find many, many hobbyists that are eager to engage in some kind of honest dialogue with you, and even if nothing else may come of it, your publications would be the better (and more interesting, and possibly commercially viable for it)!

If I am disappointed with the new mags, it’s mainly because they are less than they could have been, but that problem should be fixable. Of coure, I am in the comfortable position to have been given my subscription as a christmas gift, so I can sit here and watch the mag develop without having to burn any money on it. But it goes without saying that I would rather see it flourish than go under. And there may just be a very real danger of that. To quote a remarkable comment by fellow hobbyist Matt Charman I found over on Faeit 212 some time ago:

It vexes me – I’m terribly vexed!

Now I’m usually the first to defend GW (former staff etc) and to slate economically illiterate whining about their policies. One of the things I haven’t bashed people as much about is their curious revisionist history of WD (where they refer to some golden age where its hobby content was much better). Now I have WD going back to the 80s, and the content and quality has gone through waves. For examples, in 1998 it was bloody awful, in 2002 it was amazing, in 2006 it was terrible, in 2013 it was awesome. Different trends and styles have given it a see-sawing history of quality whatever haters say.

But the Visions thing bothers me a lot. Now, my expectation was for a mix of imagery, original stories and hobby articles – leaving the rules, release information and Codex/AB commentary for WD. Maybe I misunderstood, who knows. That’s not what bothers me.

What bothers me is that all of the pages displayed, we’re seeing studio armies or very polished GD winners. Intending no disrespect to the great talents of these painters, I don’t find that hugely inspiring. Technically competent, yes – but we’re seeing things we’re familiar with (for example Empire troops in Talabheim colours, Tyranids in Leviathan/Kraken colours and so on). If I were to to produce a primarily pictorial magazine in this format, I think I’d have got for the diversity angle and compiled images of hobbyist collections. I find that a fresh perspective is more inspiring than a familiar one, even if said fresh perspective isn’t executed to studio quality.

To give an example of what I mean, remember Blood in the Badlands? There was a lovely conversion where one of the chaps had created a Tzeentch lord’s disc out of the vortex fulcrum. That idea had never occurred to me before, and I still want to steal it!

But here we’re being shown things which we’re already familiar with from our Codices/Army Books – albeit photographed at different angles and in different combinations. I’m honestly not sure what they’re trying to achieve here. But sadly, and as much as I’m a supporter of GW, I can’t get to grips with the idea of it being worth £7 per month.

 

So yeah, GW, just make sure it’ll be worth it in the future, alright? We’re all willing to help here, if you only let us

So, what’s your opinion? Did you love or hate the new mags? Do you have any ideas you would like to share? Let me know in the comments section!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

A word in advance: When GW changed their magazine publications, part of the collateral damage also extended to my regular look at the new releases: Until this month, I always wrote up a comprehensive look at the releases for the new “flavour of the month” army at the beginning of that month. With the releases now arriving in weekly spurts, that approach no longer works, obviously. But instead of doing a partial review each week, thereby cluttering up my posting schedule with additional posts, I have decided to stick with my usual approach, only that the comprehensive review will now be posted towards the end of the month. While also less stressful for me, I hope that this works for those of you actually reading my pointless ramblings on the new plastic crack

So, without further ado, let’s cut to the chase: GW’s mags may have changed, but we still get a huge update for one particular army, and this time it’s the Dwarfs’ turn (actually, I was really hesitant to write dwarfs instead of dwarves, until I learned that even Tolkien himself wasn’t all that pleased with the latter way of spelling the plural, so yeah…):

The Dwarfs are one of the archetypal fantasy races, along with Elves and Orcs, so everyone interested in fantasy generally has a picture of them in his mind: heavily armoured, bearded warriors armed with heavy axes or hammers. And, indeed, GW’s own treatment of this particular fantasy race has always been patterned after this archetypal look, broadly speaking. Still, I guess we all know what we expect when we hear the word “Dwarf”. So what do we get? And does it look like we all think dwarfs (or dwarves, or dwarrow) should? Let’s take a closer look:

Belegar Ironhammer

Isn’t this guy actually a bit tall for a dwarf? Anyway, the model has all the hallmarks of both a dwarf and an ostentatious WFB commander model: Beard, check. Hammer, check. Enormous, massively impractical back banner, check. It’s fair to say that Belegar makes for a nice enough centre piece model for any dwarf army!

I do have two minor gripes with the model, though: The first one is the Oathstone, which seems like a slightly dull manner of making the model taller: Personally, I would have preferred a rocky outcrop or something similar. But in all fairness, not only is this purely a matter of personal preference, but the Oathstone is also completely optional, making this a non-issue.

The bigger problem is the model’s face: In my opinion, the face is a point of focus on every model, but especially so for dwarfish characters: Whether you want to go for the “grizzled veteran” look or are trying to take a more humourous approach, the face is a major point in selling a dwarf as a character.
In this case, however, the helmet design actually obsures the face, especially the eyes, leading to a slightly bland look. Now this wouldn’t be all that bad for a rank and file model, but on an army commander, it seems slightly unfortunate. Again, just my personal taste, of course, but I would have liked a more expressive face…

Dragon Slayer

…which really leads us to this guy: You actually couldn’t get much more expressive than the Dragon Slayer model: The pose is amazingly dynamic, and the stylised dragon head seems like a great way to both add to the model’s dynamism and height and make the character interact with his base in a meaningful way: The slayer really looks like he’s in the middle of throwing himself at a huge enemy, which is basically the perfect look for the character!

At first glance, the face seems a little unwholesome…

…but then you remember that this guy has quite likely lost most of his marbles by now, so the pinched, not quite sane expression really works, after all. My one nitpick is that the hair seems a little hokey, because those three-piece hairstyles never ever work. That’s only a fairly minor concern, though: The model looks great and is both iconic and fun — certainly one of the high points of the release for me!

Grimm Burloksson

Ah, yes, now we’re getting to the steampunk part: Master Engineer Grimm Burloksson surely looks tech-savvy enough, with all the crazy steampunk equipment of his! He also seems like a guy who can really hold a grudge, judging by his facial expression — another really characterful sculpt, even though there is so little actual face visible underneath that huge beard.

As for the various equipment options, the Cog Axe is far more interesting from a visual standpoint than the pointy hand:

I also really love the rifle, but the great thing is that you really get to choose which option you prefer with this kit, because Grimm seems quite modular, especially for a one-pose plastic model:

Of course this means that, regardless of which options you choose, you also get some bitz out of the deal, which is always a plus. And even though I think that the back mounted furnace may be a bit much, once again, there’s no one stopping you from leaving it off or converting it into something more suitable. In fact, this kind of modularity is something that also extends to the third plastic character:

Dwarf Runelord

A generic HQ this time, but once again a pretty modular one: The kit gives you enough parts to build your Runelord with several different equipment options and one of two different heads (with the remaining bitz once again a sweet addition to your bitzbox!)

The book and hammer combo has a classic quality, for some reason, while the ornate armour really makes it clear that this guy is not you average rank and file dwarf. Personally, speaking, though, I like the tongs gripping a blazing rune even more, both because it’s such a cool and iconic idea, but also because it could be a really cool element to paint!

It’s a good thing we get two heads to choose from, though, because it seems like the dwarfen [sic!] faces seem to be a bit hit and miss this time around:

The left one seems slightly…strange for some reason, with a fairly angular beard and piggy little eyes. Luckily, the second one is quite a bit better, and once again, it’s easy enough to choose your favourite combination:

This versatility and modularity in plastic characters is certainly something I would love to see much more of! All in all, the Runelord is a pretty competently designed model. Good job!

Gyrobomber/Gyrocopter

Ah, now we are getting to the really quirky stuff! Both the Gyrobomber and Gyrocopter are just unabashedly goofy, and really all the better for it. Of course, a flying machine that seems quite early 20th century-ish may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for me it’s just a part of what makes the WFB universe so eclectic and recognisable!

The bomber is quite a monster, and I am certainly not going to argue for or against its realism. Could it actually stay in the air? Who cares! The bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly either, after all…

In all fairness, the rotor design does take a little getting used to:

The design is quite effective, though, in that it instantly reads as both a bomber and a dwarfish war machine. There are also some really nice touches, such as the pilot looking like a dwarf version of an WWI biplane pilot (only missing the trailing shawl) and the impressive cluster of bombs:

The kit can also be assembled as a Gyrocopter:

This flying machine looks like it uses a shortened version of the bomber’s chasssis, making the whole thing look even quirkier, if you ask me: There’s just something about its bublebee-ish proportions that you simply have to love! Using the kit to build a Gyrocopter should also give you lots and lots of leftover bitz, by the look of it.

While I usually like my wargaming serious, these flying machines are just adorable: Yes, they are quirky and goofy and not at all realistic. But they are also totally awesome, and a perfect embodiment of the inherent eclecticism (and even silliness) of the WFB universe, and you’ve got to love them for that!

When it comes to the new infantry kits, the Dwarfs actually yet more combi-kits, making this whole release quite versatile. Let’s take a closer look at the foot sloggers:

Hammerers/Longbeards

The first combi-kit gives us two varieties of heavily armoured dwards with imposing weapons: The Hammerers really look like they mean business, and I like the correspondence between their two-handed war hammers and the anvil-inspired helmet design! Their armour is also fairly ostentatious and ornate, making them look like the elites they probably are!

The Longbeards manage to look even more blinged-out, probably due to their highly ornate axes and helmets and the odd stylised shield popping up. Again, the detail on these is awesome, and they look like the living legends the fluff makes them out to be.

I will be honest with you, though: While I quite like the design of both kits, I somehow cannot shake off the feeling that they look subtly different from the older dwarf kits. And I don’t just mean different as in newer, more recent: The overall design approach seems to have slightly readjusted, and my first impulse was to think that these, while awesome, don’t look like GW models — is that weird?

Granted, the feeling gradually wore off after some time, and I couldn’t really quite explain to you what gave me the impression. But the new armour design seems quite different in places — which, of course, doesn’t have to be a bad thing!

Ironbreakers / Irondrakes

Another infantry combi-kit, and just like the Hammerers/Longbeards, these guys also seem excellently detailed, with lots and lots of neat little touches. The Ironbreakers also get quite a few equipment options, from hammers and axes to twin pistols:

Yeah, that’s the ticket! The picture above serves to illustrate two things, though (apart from the blue armour looking beautiful): One, the bare head’s pinched features once again seem a bit off, underlining the impression that the designers either really nailed the faces or ended up with some pretty …original material, for lack of a better word. The other thing is that this model once again illustrates how the armour design seems quite different from the older models: Look at the legs and feet, for example.

The alternate assembly will give you a kit of Squat…erm Dwarf Irondrakes, wielding what is, for all intents and purposes, flamethrowers:

These may actually be the most heavily armoured dwarfs so far, with even their beards appearing as stylised, metal parts of their protective helmets. I really like how the dragon motif is repeated across several pieces of their equipment:

And man, those drake guns are awesome: If you’re going to have a steampunk flamethrower, you might as well go the whole hog and make it look like a stylised dragon. And the Trollhammer Torpedo pictured below doesn’t only look awesome, it also wins the award for the best weapon name ever!

The different heads used in the combi-kit are once again very interesting, with the Ironbreakers quite heavily armoured, but their natural beards still visible. The Irondrakes, meanwhile, seem to subscribe to the “safety first!” rule, with their protective gear incorporating stylised, metal beards:

Another expertly designed kit, and the Irondrakes add yet more steampunk-quirkiness to the army, which is a plus in my book!

My main question for all of the new infantry kits is this, however: How will any of these look next to the older models? Compare the new Longbeards…

to this…

Granted, these are different unit types, and the extra detail in the new kits is certainly a result of better technology being available today. But the difference seems more fundamental, somehow, and it’ll be interesting to see whether these will still read as one army on the tabletop — it seems like I’ll have to wait for Warhammer: Visions 80+ pages of dwarf pictures for my answer, though…

Conversion options

When it comes to the question of using the new stuff for non-dwarfish projects, that really seems like a bit of a toughie: The models and bitz are usually very recognisable as dwarfish in origin, from the shape of the blades to the dwarfish runes everywhere. Sure, some of the steampunk-y bitz might be useable in various 40k armies, and the dragon-themed accessories from the Irondrakes kit might be an interesting addition to a Salamanders or Black Dragons Space Marine army. But by and large, all of the new stuff seems very dwarfish and rather difficult to adapt to other armies.

The truly interesting approach, then, might be to use the kits and bitz for dwarf projects with a twist: Could it be possible to use some of the new infantry kits as a base for a Chaos Dwarf army? Sure, none of them look especially chaos-y at first glance, but the Irondrakes could become really sinister with some added spikes and horns. And experimenting with the new plastic kits might be quite a bit cheaper than going for FW Chaos Dwarfs…

The real elephant in the room lies in the options for 40k, though: If you’ve ever wanted to build a Squat army, this release should give you lots of useful toys: The Irondrakes and Ironbreakers would need nothing more than some back packs and slightly modernised weapons to fit the 40k look, and Grimm Burloksson even has what looks like a bionic eye, for crying out loud! I think the new kits would make it really easy to build an all-plastic Squat force used as a counts-as Space Marine army of your choice. Just imagine the Gyrocopter/Gyrobomber kit used in conjunction with Storm Talon parts — wouldn’t that be a kitbashing extravaganza?

Granted, the result would be a blast from the past, but if retro is your thing, and you’ve waited for the Squats to make a reappearance, this might just be your best bet!

All in all, I’m going to call this a pretty strong release for dwarf players! Granted, all the armoured dwarfs can get a bit long in the tooth, and the new design paradigm might need some getting used to, but the versatility and modularity of the new kits is really nice! And the sheer quirkiness of a kit like the Gyrocopter almost tempts me into getting one for fun…

Seriously, though: My WFB days are over, and even if I were to return, I wouldn’t choose dwarfs as my army. But the models are still beautiful and just on the right side of humourous, and the release feels comprehensive and creative enough to be interesting nevertheless. And certainly more inspired than the Tyranids’ bread and butter update last month — but that’s just my opinion.

So, what do you think of the new dwarfs? Were you as charmed by the bumblebee-copter? Did you feel the same about the different design? Do you have any crazy conversion ideas for the new kits? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!