Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons army for sale!

Joel Moon has put together an fantastic Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons army and used it in the Tempus Fugitive events in the UK.  he is now looking to sell it and if you are interested in this amazing force, you should contact Joel at moonlight(at)cold-moon(dot)com.  If he doesn't get a buyer he will put it on eBay, but you could get a good deal if you work it out with him now!

Warhammer Forge releases "K'Daai Fireborn" Monsters

Warhammer Forge is he Fantasy equivalent of Forgeworld and has been on a tear lately as Fantasy finally gets Forgeworld love for players of that system.  Especially with the Storm of Magic supplement making monsters more prevalent.

 From Forgeworld:

The priests of Hashut have long sought to create something more than a mere bound spirit and with the K’daai Fireborn they have succeeded; through their dark arts they have forged a race of powerful warriors, half-daemon and half-raging fire. Drawn from the magma of the deep earth, birthed in the boiling blood sacrifices of Hashut’s altars, and bound and given form within an armoured framework of articulated iron and rune-stamped bronze, the K’daai are devastating shock troops that slumber between battles as cold frameworks of barbed metal. When unleashed upon an enemy force, the fire within them rages into existence and they become mindless, elemental forces of destruction that few mortals can hope to survive.

Designed by Edgar Skomorowski, the K’daai Fireborn are a set of three intricately detailed multi-part resin models, available to pre-order now for despatch from Friday 27th April. This kit contains three different torso designs, three different lower bodies and three different pairs of weapons – each of which are fully interchangeable. Rules for the K’daai Fireborn fielded as part of a Chaos Dwarfs army can be found in Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos, and Binding Scroll rules to align this powerful force of darkness with other Warhammer armies are included in Monstrous Arcanum. Additional ranks and Empire figure shown in some images for illustration purposes only.

I don't play Fantasy, despite the efforts of many of my friends.  I have my hands full with building 100,000+ points of Space Marines and IG for Apocalypse, but I love the fact that Fantasy is getting the Forgeworld treatment finally. 

Alec
 

Dark Angels Rumors - Angels on the Way!

So all rumors seem to be that the Dark Angels are next up for 40K.

The Dark Angels rumor thread on Warseer got some new life with this rumor by Maverick13:

...A mate at work whose brother works over at the printers gw use was back home for easter this past weekend and shared some interesting things. DARK ANGELS are apparently next and set for next couple of months.

Aparrently stuff we have heard re Chaplin Wolfguard style units is not far from the mark. They are to get a new speeder variant.

New elite Ravenwing unit.

I was also told of a new psychic power that works similarly to some sort of shield that a Necron unit gets. Basically it forces a unit targeting librarian to hit an allied unit instead. Not familiar with new Necron book so not sure what that is.

Know it is not much . Second hand info and all but his stuff matched what i had read here so thought i would pass it on. Anyone able to add anything? 

Now this being said.  Chaos is reportedly already back from the printers, so probably the next release.  But all sources point to Chaos and Dark Angels as the next two releases.  One before 6th edition, and one right after.  Either way, this is all good for 40K.

Alec

Raging Heroes Releases Orc Warmaster

Raging Heroes has released their previously announced Orc Warmaster.  A pretty amazing resin model, this comes with both a Power Axe and a Power Claw.

From Raging Heroes:

A massive hero or general for your Orc Army. This is a huge, extremely imposing warmaster. Includes BOTH the axe and the massive hydraulic pincer!  Also exists in Fantasy version.

28mm scale
Fits on a square 25mm base
White metal or resin
31mm from floor to eyes
Total height: 78mm

It costs about $ 24 USA and about $ 7 shipping.

Alec

 

Win The Horus Heresy: Visions of War for free!

This week's give away is Volume One of The Horus Heresy: Visions of War.  So what do you have to do?

1)  Follow our blog.  Over on the right column is a section that is titled "Followers".  Just click on "Join this site" and you will be added to our followers.

2)  Friend Apocalypse40K on Facebook.

We will pick one Follower from our blog this coming Monday and then make sure they are following us on Facebook.  If so, you win.  And the book will be shipped to you for free.

We are doing these give aways each week.  All you have to do is follow the blog!

Alec

Back to Base-is to Release Paint Station That ROCKS!

Back to Base-ix is an Australian company that produces laser cut MDF products for gaming.  They have just previewed an impressive modular paint station hat you can configure in multiple ways.

The basic paint rack with tool drawers

Specialized tool rack able to hold 24 brushes

Either of the above can be used as the centerpiece of a paint station

Totally modular with multiple styles so you can mix and match.

Follow Back 2 Base-ix on their Facebook page.  The products is not out yet, but I assume it will be in the near future.

Alec

Raven Guard Short Story "Prey" released

The Black Library has released "Prey" a short story about a Raven Guard Chaplain fighting a mysterious creature on Deliverance.

From The Black Library's author George Mann:

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently (some would say too much time), thinking about the Raven Guard. In particular, I’m interested in exploring everything that sets the Raven Guard apart from their brother Space Marines. Some of these traits are well established, of course: their ghostly white flesh, their obsidian eyes, their preference for stealth tactics and striking from the darkness. I’ve tried to incorporate all of these things into my Raven Guard stories so far. But one of the things that I’m really keen on delving deeper into is the rituals of the Raven Guard, their symbolism and beliefs.

In Helion Rain and Labyrinth of Sorrows I took inspiration from the recent Forge World models, which depict the Raven Guard as carrying bird skull fetishes on chains about their power armour. I named these tiny bird skulls ‘corvia’ and imagined that the Raven Guard harvested these skulls as part of their initiation as aspirants – that they had to put their stealthy skills to use in capturing these ravens in the forests of Kiavahr and make totems from the creature’s skulls.

However, when it came to describing the armour of a Raven Guard Chaplain for a new, forthcoming project, ++REDACTED BY THE INQUISITION++, I decided it was time to up the ante. If a typical Raven Guard aspirant was expected to capture a tiny Kiavahran raven with his bare hands, what trials must a Chaplain have to face?

Chaplain Cordae’s armour is unlike that of any Raven Guard seen before. His skull mask is formed from the head of a massive Roc – an enormous bird that lives high in the peaks of the Diagothian mountains of Kiavahr. The bird’s wing bones are spread across his jump pack, and its ribs form a brace across his chest. Cordae believes he carries the spirit of this massive, terrifying bird into combat alongside him, and the last thing his enemies see before they die at his feet is the looming, beaked skull of his mask, peering into their soul.

In Prey, a prequel, of sorts, to the campaign in the Sargassion Reach that began in Labyrinth of Sorrows, Cordae is hunting this beast. As the story opens he’s been in the mountains for nineteen days, wearing only a ritual loincloth, and he’s readying himself for his attack. But has he anticipated just how wily this deadly creature can be…?


The shorty Story is available for download on The Black Library site.  It costs a mere $ 1.25.

Alec

 

Book Review - The Gildar Rift

Reviewed by Dave Millest

The Gildar Rift by Sarah Cawkwell

When the ancient warship Wolf of Fenris emerges from the warp, Imperial forces find that it has been overrun by the dreaded Red Corsairs. However, this is no mere raiding party – Huron Blackheart and his entire renegade fleet soon follow, intent on conquering the Gildar Rift and tightening their grip on the sector. Lance batteries and torpedo salvos burn fiery contrails through the void, and only Captain Arrun of the Silver Skulls Space Marine Chapter can halt the renegades’ advance. The fate of the Rift will not be decided in the heavens but on the surface of Gildar Secundus below.

The Gildar Rift is one of the latest novel in the Space Marines Battles series. This novel is written by Sarah Cawkwell and prior to this novel I had not read any other BL works by her, or at least not knowingly, and I as such I went in with an open mind and was far from disappointed by what I found. In the Gildar Rift The Silver Skulls Space Marines have taken it upon themselves to patrol the Gildar Rift to repel the ever present xenos threat. The Silver Skulls differ from the other chapters by being very superstitious. They also have a number of Powerful psykers, Prognosticators, who are consulted before important decisions to try and divine the outcome before the course of action is followed. I liked this as in some cases it seemed that some officers would even ask for their blessing before even reloading their bolter!!

Captain Daerys Arrun is in charge of the fleet assigned to protecting the Gildar Drift, and has moved from his flagship to the Dread Argent to oversee a bold and controversial experiment. The Dread Argent might not be a flagship, but it is still a formidable engine of destruction, which is why when they receive a distress call from The Wolf of Fenris Daerys Arrun feels confident they can assist the Space Wolves. A small team is assembled to board the friendly spaceship to determine what is going on, but it's assumed the situation is hostile. Nothing can prepare them for what they find on board. The arch-enemy have launched an attack on the system with the Wolf of Fenris being the bait which springs the trap. The Silver Skulls find themselves in dire straits both in space and down on the planet. Every move they make has been foreseen by the insane, but brilliant traitor, Huron Blackheart. Fury grips Daerys Arrun as he watches his brothers fall to the traitorous Red Corsairs. The Silver Skulls ranks are thin enough already and they cannot afford to lose more, but more importantly they cannot let the system fall to the arch enemy.

Like with everything before things can get better they have to become worse. In this case Sarah Cawkwell certainly delivers on disasters, and things get so very bad it almost hurts to read. OK so it does feel forced in one or two places, but that’s the nature of compacting major events in to small novels, but when accompanied by explanations of why the space marines are helpless to act it does feel a bit odd, but not out of place.

Sarah Cawkwell does a very good job in raising the stakes and building up suspense and her work with the characters emotions mean that you begin to share captain Daerys Arrun's pain every time one of his men die. The Gildar Rift is, from start to finish, an intense read with a lot of fighting. I also liked the ship to ship battles as their immobility makes those battles a great juxtaposition to the fluid ground fighting. The whole novel and battle pretty much boils down to how much punishment your ship and your men can take! It might sound boring but it's actually pretty exciting, and you can feel the ship tremble from the impact of the enemy's missiles. Down on the planet the fighting is more brutal and personal with The Silver Skulls are facing a horde of cultists and Red Corsairs and I feel that Sarah Cawkwell does a good job describing the mayhem and it feels convincing with a quick pace.

The Gildar Rift was a solid delivery from Sarah Cawkwell and is packed full of the right ingredients to please even me! The underlying plot device (don't want to spoil the whole point of the book) made things interesting and felt like a fresh idea. The only issue I have with it is that when you read the plot device the marine's constantly worry it’s the wrong thing to do and is heresy but for me it just makes me think that actually its already that something that happens in other Adeptus branches within the imperium so it isn’t that wrong - cryptic I know but once you’ve read it you’ll understand - or email me if you don’t know what I mean. If, like me, you expect a grim read, non-stop action, and religious zealots you have found the right book. I think it's fair to say The Gildar Rift was an excellent first outing for the Silver Skulls and Sarah Cawkwell but it is most definitely setting the stage for a second novel. Without about The Silver Skulls suffer from a bloodied nose, and I would like to see them take the war to the Red Corsairs, giving them the initiative and the first strike. The plot and characters as well as the potential for more novels gets a solid 5 stars from me for this newest of 40k writers.

Dave Millest reviews lots of sci fi books and you can find his blog here.

Quantum Gothic - An Interview with Founder Rob Cirillo

Probably my favorite resin accessory and scenery companies is Quantum Gothic. Their scenery is simply amazing and shows real design sense. Well, no wonder, their founder, Roberto Cirillo is a professional artist who has worked extensively in the gaming industry. He is a super guy and he agreed to be interviewed.

So here is a bit about him:

Roberto, who was born in Pompei, Italy, started his carrier in 1992 when joined Core Design Ltd ( UK ), as an in-game lead 2d-3d artist/animator.  In March 2004, Roberto joined Games Workshop Studio Design Team as Conceptual Artist.  He was lead on concept art for Tyranids, Tau, Cities of Death, Space Orks and vehicles, LOTR, and more.  Since leaving GW in January 2007 Roberto has freelanced for various clients including : Privateer Press, GW, FW, Nival Online, Mantic, Studio Mc Vey and as the owner and designer of the Quantum Gothic scenery range resin kits.

''I Live for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy and those projects which will let my skills and imagination do all the talking!''

And now the interview:

1. How long have you been gaming and how did you start?  How did Quantum Gothic start?

It started as hobby and almost a bet.

Before joining Games Workshop I was quite simply a videogame artist/player addict!

Although I had always admired the level of skills gone into creating a physical miniature nothing would ever compete – in my head and heart of course - with the fact that I could create virtual characters, give them life and interact with…on a TV screen!...RELOAD!

It’s only after I started working at Games Workshop that I begun developing a great interest in miniatures and tabletop war-gaming kits. What’s more is that during that time at GW I was also given the chance to make muck-ups of Ork vehicles and what more that sparked a wild fire from within!

On top of all that I was heavily involved with the making of the Cities of Death concept work of building/scenery and so when later I left GW to go freelance I begun thinking to perhaps let all this ‘fire’ out and see what I could really make of all that, and so Quantum Gothic was born!

3. The look of Quantum Gothic terrain is unique and clearly from a more artistic angle. It rivals anything on the market. Is that because of your design background?

I have always been attracted by a more clean and high-end sci-fi style like you often see in Star Wars: beautiful futuristic clean and functional sci-fi structures and vehicles.

However getting to know better Medieval and Gothic architectures gave me the chance and the excitement to mix the ‘new’ and ‘old’ together to really appreciate a new level of sci-fi style generating an almost perfect balance between my clean artistic sci-fi side to my more technical and mechanical down-to-earth school/study backgrounds ( yes I have studied mechanics, technical drawing and Industrial automation back at high school! ).

4. What is the process you use to design and execute your models? Do you start with sketches and then move to 3D design?

It always starts with an idea or more like a flash or a vision which then I try to put it down on paper to see and study the feasibility not only from an artistic point of view but also practical. Usually if the idea stays exciting for longer than a few quick sketches then it’s worth developing it further.

Sketching the ideas on a piece of paper it can quickly show me the possible issues I could incur in to during prototyping and even production of the final kit. Once I’m happy about the overall key design and the virtual number of parts I then proceed in building it into 3D. Here I have to take into consideration the limitations of the tools which will mill the various parts: sometimes a larger part must be made into two or more pieces and then put back together before moulding it.

5. Do you outsource the actually casting of your pieces and if so, where is all the work done?

All the work is done ‘in-house’: from conception-design to casting, it’s really a lot of hard work but worth it when you see it all nicely packed and ready to be shipped to the next customer!

It’s almost like a ‘print on demand’ process but this will also allow us to Quality Check the kits before shipping them out, hence high quality kits: no warped parts, no miscasts and no annoying air-bubbles ( or at least not on visible areas ).

6. What is the process you use to come up with new models? Do you look at the market or is it more what strikes your fancy?

I tend to think on my own: I usually work out on what the Quantum Gothic range really could benefit from and then make it into a profitable/marketable product. I look around at what’s new out there but I only do what I feel is most appropriate for the range.

There are hundreds of ideas lined up ready for consideration and most of them will get made regardless of the game trends or what everybody else will release: the beautiful thing about owning your own business is that you get to make your own mistakes and not someone else’s!

7. What is coming down the pipe for Quantum Gothic?

Well, lots of new stuff, can’t tell more about it also because more often than not various reasons projects will be switched around or held up, so would not be wise to be too specific at this stage. What I would like to say is that now I feel like making something really BIG!

So, it may take a while but it’ll be well worth the wait. Meanwhile there should be some small add-ons for some of the Sentries and the Wall sections,….but it could all change ;)!

Power Generator

Armoured Bunker & Gun

Sentry Gun

Apocalypse Primer - Hosting a Game

Chris Donohue, a regular on the Apocalypse40K forum, put together these thoughts for an aspiring Apocalypse gamer and so I thought them worthy of print.  I agree with most of this and Chris did a good job, so here you go....

THE APOCALYPSE PRIMER

1.  TIMING 

Schedule a time the game will start and tell all the players they absolutely have to be there by that time with their armies on hand or they will not play. Apocalypse games take several hours and just one late player can make the event no fun for everyone else. For example, state "The game begins at 10AM when we divide up players into sides, then you have half an hour to lay out your models and then deployment begins promptly at 10:30AM. Players who are not present at 10AM will not play."

2.  HOUSE RULES

Agree on what house rules are in force beforehand and let everyone know. 

House Rule Suggestions:

I. Flank March asset is outlawed or limited to only 1000 points (Flank March is extremely overwhelming).

II. If any formations or units are banned

III. Whether scoring units will be as per 4th edition (almost anything can hold an objective) or 5th edition (only Troops can hold the objectives). Apocalypse was originally written for 4th, so make it clear to all players which way the scoring will go.

IV. Points limit (or model count limit) per player. Most games work best when folks roughly equal points and no one individual is trying to field several hundred models or over 10,000 points. In the former case, if their is a large points discrepancy, folks with fewer points will get bored real fast. In the latter case, if someone is trying to run tons of stuff, the game turns will take forever. For most games outside special "go-bannanas and bring everthing you got" games (like The Big Game) it's good to keep things within limits.

3.  "D" WEAPONS

 

In general, "D" weapons are much more destructive than any other weapons. They have several advantages over "normal" weapons that you could choose as weapon options (see page 96 in Apocalypse rulebook under "Destroyer"):

1. Don't need to roll to get through armour. For example, hit a Land Raider and its an automatic Penetrating Hit. Important Note: No Glances - in particular as the glance exception (skimmers getting glanced only) is gone with 5th edition.
2. No cover saves against it. Smoke, Kustom Force Fields, lurking in ruins, etc, doesn't help against this.
3. Center hole in template doesn't need to be over vehicle to get full effect - anything touched by template is affected (even the edges).
4. +1 on the Damage Chart
5. Automatically wounds any non-vehicles it hits - no need to roll to wound. Important Point: the 1 in 6 chance of surviving due to a wound roll of 1 that you get with normal weapons doesn't exist with this weapon. No survivors when a group of infantry get hit, whereas a normal weapon will sometimes leave one or two standing when it fails to wound them.
6. Inflicts Instant Death irregardless of targets toughness (better than "doubling out" a target). So if a Wraithlord is hit (toughness 8), it will immediately die from just the one wound.
7. Points costs for D weapons typically are far underpriced compared to other weapon options, or D weapons and normal weapons are offered as equals when outfitting your vehicle.

As just one example, look at the Warlord Titan. Compare the Volcano Cannon and the Melta Cannon. Both are one shot 10" templates. The Melta Cannon looks real cool at first glance. Lots of dice to go through armour. But wait, the D weapon ignores the armour - no need to try to get through it. And it ignores the armour irregardless of whether the center hole of the template is over the target or not - everything the template touches gets hit hard. And it has 240" range vs 72" for the Melta Cannon. Infantry hit by the Melta Cannon would get cover saves, and would survive a wound if toughness 6 or better and had multiple wounds. A D weapon would instead nerf them entirely.

The downside of D weapons in Apocalypse is that suddenly everyone shows up with a max load-out of D weapons and no one plays the other weapons. Consider the cheesy-ness of a Warlord Titan with 2 Turbo Laser Destructors and 2 Laser Blasters. That's 10 5" D shots a turn!

Also, there are some equity issues in that some races have access to few or no D weapons - Tyranids, Dark Eldar, etc.

The most equitable solution seems to be to have a house rule that reduces the template used by one level. So a 5" template uses a 3" instead. A 10" uses a 7" instead. This also provides incentive for players to use the other weapons instead of the D ones, as their larger blast makes them better against infantry. Upping the points cost for D weapons has been discussed, but the conclusion many came to is that people would continue to favor D weapons even at a much higher points cost as in their listed form they are a wonder weapon that basically nukes everything ("It slices, it dices, it smashes tomatoes - the Ginsu D weapon"). 

4.  HAVE FUN!

Probably most important of all - inform all players that the game will be a fun game, not a competitive game. Apocalypse was not written as tightly as regular 40K; there's lots of gray zones and rule conflicts that will come up. Be prepared to do a lot of 4+ rolls to decide things. Make the players aware that their are idiosyncracies compared to regular 40K. Also, warn players that rules lawyers will not be tolerated.

Last Day to Enter to Win a Battlefoam PACK Mini!

Today is the last day to enter to win a Battlefoam PACK Mini!  We are giving one away FREE to one lucky winner.  What do you have to do? 

1)  Follow our blog.  Over on the right column is a section that is titled "Followers".  Just click on "Join this site" and you will be added to our followers.

2)  Friend Apocalypse40K on Facebook.

We will pick one Follower from our blog this evening and then make sure they are following us on Facebook.   The winner will get the Battlefoam PACK Mini shipped to them for free.

Good luck!!

Alec

The Horus Heresy - 2012 Schedule

So what is coming for the Horus Heresy series from The Black Library?  

June 2012   The Primarchs

About the book

Gathered within this anthology are four novellas focusing on some of the mightiest warriors and leaders that mankind has ever known – Fulgrim, Lion El’Jonson, Ferrus Manus and the twin primarchs Alpharius and Omegon – and the roles that they may have yet to play in a war which threatens to change the face of the Imperium forever.

June 2012  The Butcher's Nails - Audiobook

The story

The primarch Angron: gladiator-king and Horus’s lunatic attack dog. Never having hidden his resentment for his brothers, he now carves a bloody swathe through the galaxy in the Warmaster’s name, with the Heresy providing a convenient excuse to indulge his love of brutal warfare. When they are tasked with a secretive mission alongside the Word Bearers Legion, the World Eaters’ violent tendencies soon attract the attention of xenos raiders, troubled by the portents surrounding the primarch’s berserk fury and his ultimate destiny as ‘the Blood God’s son’...

September 2012  Fear to Tread

The story

Since the earliest days of the Great Crusade, Sanguinius – angelic primarch of the IXth Legion – was ever among the closest and most loyal of Horus’s brothers. But the Blood Angels have long kept their true nature hidden from the rest of the Imperium, and when the Warmaster hints that the key to their salvation may lie in the ruins of a conquered world, the sons of Sanguinius race to claim it. Now, as the revelation of their betrayal dawns and the traitors’ hand is revealed, the Blood Angels must face all the warp-spawned armies of Chaos, as well their own personal daemons, upon the blasted plains of Signus Prime...

October 2012  Shadows of Treachery

About the book

This anthology spans the entire Horus Heresy, with short stories from Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill and Gav Thorpe, as well as two brand new novella-length tales. Learn the fate of Rogal Dorn’s fleet originally sent to Isstvan III in ‘The Crimson Fist’ by John French, and descend deeper into the darkness of the Night Lords Legion in ‘Prince of Crows’ by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

There you go!  I am a huge fan of this series and if you don't read them, please do.

Alec

Apocalypse Battle report - Eldar vs. The Imperium Rematch

Last November, the Los Angeles Games Workshop Battle Bunker hosted an epic Apocalypse battle between the forces of the Eldar and the Impeirum.  The Imperium squeaked out a 1 objective victory (scoring objectives only the last turn).  So the forces of the space elves wanted vengeance!  The game happened this past Saturday.  Here are the results:

The Basics

60,000 points per side. The Imperium didn't have some of its regulars, so couldn't muster more. I lead the Imperial team of Hannibel, Andrew, Bill, Travis and Jared.  Wolf lead the team of Ryan, Brian, Dan, David and Anthony.

No limits on Forces, each side gets 6 strategic assets

MAJOR FORCES

Imperium

1 Warlord Titan

3 Reaver Titans

3 Warhound Titans

23 Flyers

Eldar

4 Phantom Titans

6 Revenant Titans

10 Flyers

The Warlord holds the Imperial center.

TURN 1

The Eldar choose to go first (Imperium had the choice last time). They deploy pretty evenly across the board, though they leave some of their objectives in their deployment zone pretty unprotected. The Imperium laucnhes a double blind barrage (one from Strategic Assets, one from Bellerophon formation). The Warhound on the right side gets totally disabled. Warlord loses some shields. A few things blow up.

The Imperium returns fire. Only one player has careful planning, John with the Imperial Air Force. He brings in his lightnings and Thunderbolts. He goes after the Eldar Cloudstrike Formation and it is blown out of the air in front of the Warlord. One survives.

 Ryan, Bill, Wolf and Jared

TURN 2

The Eldar blow up the Warlord and a Warhound of Alec's. Both go Apocalyptic! There are very big craters on the Imperial side and the biggest piece of terrain is gone, taking with it 20 IG and the entire Eldar Striking Scorpion formation that appeared in the building on Turn 1. Dan Foster, who blew up the Warlord, can't roll higher than 4 when penetrating vehicles with the "D" level explosion. Kinda funny. He immobilizes about 8 vehicles (mostly Hydra and Manticores which won't move anyway). The Eldar had a bunch of models in the Imperial lines and they mostly die. The Phantom Titans are brutal. They tear away at the Imperial Titans, though the two with Glaives can't get near Imperial Lines.

The Eldar have about 8 Nightwings which show up.  They are very nasty and take down a Vendetta, and damaged 4 others.  Cover saves keep most of the Vendettas alive.

John's Grey Knights assault the Phantom.  Well, he had to do something!

The right side of the board.  Space Marines take on Ulthwe!

The Imperium returns fire and takes over the right side of the board. Hannibel on the left has his hands full with The Seer Council of Ulthwe, but is threatening the objective in the enemy deployment zone. A lot of this turn is spent going after the Titans and setting up for Turn 3. The Phantom on the right is totally stripped. One goes down. 3 Caestus Assault Rams come in from reserve, one using the Flank March asset. It drops out 10 Terminators with Chain Fists who disassemble a Revenant.

The Eldar center.  Phantoms, Revenants and Scorpions oh my!

TURN 3

The Eldar bring in their Webway portal and drop a HUGE amount of stuff in front of the Imperial front lines. Their Phantom on the right regenerates its weapons.   The Imperium takes a lot of damage on the right and middle, but the remaining Imperial Titans stay alive. 

The Imperial Air Force is on the table in force now and goes after the Phantoms. Two go down. Revenants fall. The tide has turned as the Imperium grabs 3 objectives in the Eldar Deployment Zone.

Game over. No need for Turn 4 (we ran out of time anyway) as the Imperials have a commanding lead that the Eldar won't overcome.

SUMMARY

Eldar had more Titans and more "D" weapons, but the Imperium ruled the skies. I would be in favor of balancing both and limiting the # of each. Good strategy on both sides and great players.  The Eldar were seriously lacking in troops due to one player not showing up, so they were mech heavy and that actually hurt them.  They were unable to hold objectives in their deployment zone. 

One major argument when one player didn't read the rules!  But all was good and even rules arguments result in no hard feelings in our group.

Next up, Imperium vs. the Orks!


Alec

40K Cosplay - Female IG Commisar

Cosplay is getting bigger all the time and Wrahammer is getting plenty of attention.  So I am going to cover some of the better 40K cosplays, showcasing one costume each week.

Cosplay.com is the best place to find good 40K cosplay.  It has some amazing costumes up.  One is an Imperial Guard Female Commisar.  It got Best in Show at the Wellington Armageddon convention in 2010.

The Inspiration:

The Costume:

More next week!

Alec

Forgeworld Open Day, Part 4 - The future of Forgeworld

 

 

So, what's next for Forgeworld?  Well, thanks to Petay1985 on Warseer, we get to hear what the designer's of Forgeworld products are working on and what is coming down the pipe.  These are the "designer notes" from Forgeworld's Open Day.

Mark Bedford:

- Currently working on command squad, (i seem to recall it will be mostly MkIV) with plumed helmets, cloaks, etc... Will include a captain, apthecary, champion, standard bearer as one would expect.
- Apothecarties designed to show the evolution of the apothecary specific kit.

Blake Spence:

- Working on more Zone Mortalis boards, diagonals and other more interesting specific boards.
- 'dressing' kits being worked on; so that'd be like 'engine room' 'medical-bay' 'command and control' etc, etc..
- 3D boards being considered/wanted, logistics still uncerain though. i.e. multiple levels.
- City Fight realm or battle boards being worked on, very nice progress. Will accommodate the GW 40k buildings.

Alan Bligh:

- Imperial Armour 12 to be a 'snap shot' of a day in the Imperium, based around a predefined piece of space, sub-sector/system. It aims to show that the Imperium is torn apart by War, with multiple threats and conflicts in short periods of time. It endeavours to give a feel for how chaotic the universe really is.
- Necrons main protagonist.
- Minatours & Guard main Imperial assets, Minatours logical as fleet based and models/upgrade kits on the horizon.
- Orks likely involved.
- Consideration to other races such as Eldar/Dark Eldar and minor Chaos elements still in progres.
- Alan alson confirmed that the prison planet idea is not lost, and will feature in a future book with a Tzeentch cult (involving multiple warbands).

Simon Egan:

- Literally just finished the Minotaurs characters.
- Wants to do Torso's (terminator), storms shields (round and oval), thunder hammers.
- Wouldn't elaborate on current/next project.

Will Hayes:

- Had a fantastic discussion regard Power Armour; in that a Mark is defined by the chasis and systems, which is then clad in armour plate, so any mark could in theory have different aesthetics of armour plate over the defining systems and chasis. So mark doesn't neccessarily refer to aesthetic, but are characterized by it.
- Mk IV is the ultimate power armour, most advanced systems, etc.. So will be given a full suite of items; most of which we've seen. Infanty, Jump Infantry, Terminators, etc...
- New Boltgun, Bolt Pistol and Storm bolters coming out in the same style as the new termiantor storm bolters. however only the Boltguns will be an individual kit.
- Terminator Character Upgrade kit will feature all items shown, but not the terminators themselves.
- Intends to have a Terminator Assault Kit, which will likely be the Terminators + Lightning Claws + Thunder Hammer & Storm Shields.
- Chapter specific Contemptors on the cards at the moment.

Phil Stutcinskas:

- Land Raider Spartan likely to be capacity 20, Rapier Laser Destroyer Sponsons, assault vehicle, etc...


More to come as I grill the guys at Adepticon!

Alec