Monday, February 25, 2013

Imperial Guard Test 1

Hi guys,

I haven't been posting latelly because of some technical problems, but I hope to catch up during the next couple of weeks.

For today's post, some WIP pics.

I read the book  "Battle of the Fang" last year, and I really liked it. Every space wolves player will enjoy it, and also if you like some epic, desperate defensive battle till the last man. Well, in this book, some of the characters were part of the Kaerls, the Planetary Defense Force of Fenris. They are just normal humans, who are bred to serve the Chapter, and who reverence the Space Wolves as semi-gods. As all the natives of Fenris, they are aggressive, brutal, fearless warriors. I really liked the way they are organized and how they interact with the Space Wolves.

With the coming of 6th edition, the possibility of including allies, and an article in White Dwarf 392 (August 2012) about Battle Brothers, where Phil Kelly shows his army: Imperial Guard with Space Wolves army. I have considered for some adding some imperial guard allies to my  Space Wolves army, to represent the Kaerls. I left that project aside while I keep painting my Ultramarines army, but now I am going to start working on it (slowly).

Because of that, last week I got a cheap box of 5 Cadian troops,  and I started painted them. My idea is making them look as part of the Space Wolves army, and I would convert them to make them look as Fenrisians.

However, I have to choose a paint scheme, so I would use this 5 Cadians as test models, till I choose a paint scheme that fits well with my Space Wolves. Here are some pics for the first model. I used Fenrisian grey in the clothes, and the Fang in the armour and helmet. I thought the red rifle added some needed contrast to the mini.

Let me know what do you think about the mini. Do you have a Space Wolves army with IG allies? How do you use them? Do they share similar schemas? Share your thoughts in the comments ;)

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Best blogs around: The cursed monkeys

I want to tell you about one of my favourite webs around: The Cursed Monkeys


They are a group of spanish painters and sculptors that really enjoy this hobby, and they make amazing painting jobs. They are a real inspiration for me. The web is both in Spanish and English, so anybody can follow them ;-)

If their web you can find links to the blogs of the members of the group (in case you want to order a commission), it also has a gallery with their minis, and they also post regularly about their collaborations together. As I mentioned, some of them are painters, and some are sculptors. Sometimes they create the minis from scratch, and then, they do an amazing painting job.



They have some really good step by step tutorials ( I already mentioned this one about painting Ultramarines with an airbrush), and lately, they have even started to make video tutorials!

This web is a must if you are looking for inspiration or some guides to improve your painting. They definitely helped with mine.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Showcase: Ultramarines Command Squad


Here you can see my command squad. It was fun assembling them, and it was one of the first units I painted for the army. 

They usually do well in the table...everybody wants to kill them asap, so they get a lot of attention, but (not like the Sternguard) they are quite resistant. I usually put the Champion on the front, because his combat shield gives him a better save, and the Apothecary gives them Feel no Pain, so I keep him on the back.  The plasmas add some nice fire power.

As you can notice, I kept my Tyrannic wars Veterans schema: the standard bearer has a termagant head on his base, and the Sargent has his foot on top of a termagant arm. The Champion is raising a genestealer head with is power sword.



It took some time to make the hole in the head of the tyrannid, but the result is worth it. 


















The cape of the Sargent comes from the chace lions unit, and I think it's a very nice add.


If you want to ask anything about how I added the tyranids, of the paint schema, just let me know in the comments :)

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Showcase: Ultramarines Vanguard Squad

This unit was painted with my airbrush, and, being the first one, I have to say I am quite happy about them. 



I like a lot the effect that the airbrush gives to the power sword  of the Sargent.




 




 What do you think about them?




Friday, February 1, 2013

About the "Death from skies" supplement rumors...

Now, I want to share my opinion regarding some information leaked about the new 40k supplement, "death from skies" dedicated to flyers.
For those of you that don’t know yet, get here and check the rumors.

And yes, they are rumors, but usually natfka is right, especially when so close to the release date (two weeks from now), so I will give my opinion about these rumors.

First, about the changes that it brings to the game, and then about the ssupplement itself.

It says that you can use now the Stormraven with the Vanilla space marines and the Back Templars. I am ok with the Vanilla Space Marines having it, I think that they are the core of the Space Marines, so they should have available everything except what defines the core of the non-vanilla space marines. I mean, for me (as a player both of Space Marines and Space Wolves) it doesn't make any sense having thunderwolfs available for Ultramarines: they are originally from Fenris, and they match the character of the space wolves perfectly. A vehicle is something that is much more generic, and if one space marine army can use it, it makes sense some other can use it, unless it's something very specific. So ok with the Space Marines.
And I agree that the Black Templars should a flyer; they have been left aside on the last years, so it's not bad to give them some push; I think they are a cool army.


I also have to say I like the model :)


The fair thing is that every army should have a flyer. (I am considering that the rumors that say that we will get Eldar, Tau, Tyranid, and Dark Eldar flyers with the next White Dwarf are real). Once we have those released, the only armies without a flyer would be the Space Wolves, and the Sisters of Battle. And that I just don't understand. I am very much of the opinion that the armies must be different from each other; we just don't want some minis doing exactly the same in every army. Some flyers are better against other flyers and some are better against tanks, infantry, etc. But the same as every army has tanks, and some kind of bikers, it makes sense as well having flyers, even if their porpoises are very specific (like there are bikes that are good for assault and others that are better at shooting). I have heard that Russ intended us to fight with both feet firmly planted on the ground, and I agree with that: Space Wolves is an assault army, and it is part of their nature the intention of assaulting the enemy as soon as possible. So, what can be better for that than a flyer that transport your troops so you can assault? Also, in the books, Space Wolves love the Thunderhawkes: they are fast, noisy (so they can make their enemy know that they are coming and scare the s***t out of them; Wolves are not subtle), and they love feeling the air in their faces. So, why not?

The same for Sisters of Battle, they should be able to use a flyer as well. And considering they have some tanks of their own, why not a flyer? I remember reading in an interview with one of the guys of the studio that they were leaving the sisters of battle a bit aside by now, but unless they plan to do that quickly, it's not going to work.

About what they bring to the game with this supplement: more units, and more waits to play, which is always good! I like the dog fighting rules presented it "crusade of fire", and makes sense updating the rules of the current flyers (if that's what it is going to do).

So, conclusion: flyers for everyone, now! (And I don't count the FW models: not everyone can expend 120 euros in a StormEagle or a Caestus Assault Ram just to use in a couple of games).
 




Now, about the book itself...I am not so sure. I didn't like the "Crusade of fire" too much. It basically is a "tale of gamers" supplement, when they tell you how some of the GW guys play a campaign. It has cool pictures, and maps, and gives you some hints about playing campaigns, but that's it: hints. About the rules, it only provides you with 3 new scenarios (and at least one of them is quite useless, where you need several big tables and several players to be able to play, something that not everybody can do), the dog fight rules and the Arena rules. These two were cool, but why are you going to include the same rules in two different supplements? Answer: so people can pick which one they want? Stupid; if you want to play with flyers you should want this book anyway. And why should I pay for something that just puts together some rules? It is also mentioned that it is an addendum that is going to update the existing flyers and update them to 6th edition. I think that's good but...do it in the White Dwarf, and that way it may have some interesting articles. Not to mention the rumors that are saying we will have new flyers in the next WD...
And to me, the "English only" doesn't make a lot of sense, but who knows...FW are only in English.
So, I will have a look at this supplement, but unless it brings something more than what the rumors are saying, I won't buy it.