The Warmongers Miniswap part two

Hopefully some of you dear readers will have heard about the #miniswap concept on Twitter. My previous post explains the concept so head over here for the run down.

In that previous post I showed the miniature that I painted for James and now it's finally time to show you what he painted for me in return!

I posted him Chief Librarian Tigurius of the Ultramarines, and James had an exciting idea for a twist on the classic librarian scheme which I was more than happy to let him run with. So here's the figure I got back in the post, needless to say I was chuffed to bits. He did a fantastic job and the colour reversal really paid off.

Ps. Those of you familiar with this mini will notice that the banner is missing! Have no fear it hasn't been lost to the warp like the poor techmarine, it's on it's way!

Miniature Monday - Space Marine Bikes

These are my most recently finished miniatures, a pair of bikes that my brother bought me for my birthday at the start of the year.

These are the first Ultramarines I've painted using the new GW range and also the first time I haven't drybrushed the highlights onto a smurf. I'm pleased with how the two layers of edge highlighting turned out, but what do you think?

They still need squad markings and some snow stuck to the bases but for now I'm calling them done!

Games Day 2012 Part One - Forge World

Because there's so much to cover about what I did and saw yesterday I'm going to split it into 3 parts. This post is going to cover the Forge World seminar and what they had on display in the studio area. The second part will be coverage of the Armies on Parade, and finally part 3 will be a report of the day in general. So lets get started!

I was lucky enough to make it into the seminar at 11 and it was filled with amazing information. I'll break it down into the four sections covered. Don't worry there's tons of photos here!

Warhammer Forge -

The Battle for Black Fire Pass has been pushed back until next year now but progress has been made.

It'll cover Empire, orcs and goblins, dwarfs (yay!) and monsters.

They got some command groups ready for each of the races. The dwarf standard is even smoking a pipe!

The Mourngul monster looks amazing.

Imperial Armour -

They will be releasing Volume one 2nd edition soon, around christmas and it will just cover Imperial Guard.

It will collect together every vehicle they have done for them.

IA12 is called the Fall of Orpheus.

As we know it'll contain Necrons, Minataurs and Death Korp of Kreig. It'll mostly focus on Necrons though.

They've got loads of cool models in the works, a Sentry Pylon which is smaller than the existing version.

A Tesseract Ark Tank which is like the back end of a Ghost Ark.

The Night Shroud Bomber is based on the Doom Scythe kit with a bigger main body.

In the story the Necrons actually turn off a Sun!

A new version of the Lightning fighter is finished and ready to zoom!

Horus Heresy -

Legion heavy support squads with Autocannons and heavy bolters are coming.

Death Guard and World Eater specific Contemptor dreadnoughts are coming out very soon.

There are going to be loads of Legion specific weapon sets coming out.

The Mechanicum Thallax in Betrayal is like a dreadnought only it'll be around the size of an Ogryn.

The Sons of Horus are getting Justaerin Terminators.

Abaddon and Loken will be the next big release instead of a Primarch. Abaddon is almost finished but the Loken in the photos is just a mock up and not done yet.

Book 2 will be called Massacre. It will cover the first part of the Isstvan V campaign.

Night lords, Word Bearers, Salamaders, Iron Hands and Mechanicum will be covered.

The other 3 legions present will be in a future book.

Question & Answer session -

Robots are coming but not for every legion.

They will do all known Primarchs and in multiple versions.

The Battle for Mars can't be avoided. The same goes for Calth and Prospero. They'll be more focused on the battles than the BL novels.

When asked about the Mournival the response was that only Abaddon and Loken are planned as they want to even out the number of characters each legion has.

Epic and BFG are something that they'd love to do but they don't have the time.

The Stormbird might be made but they see it as a class of ship rather than an actual named flier.

They'd love to do titan variants but it's a lot of hard work.

Daemon Primarchs will happen along the way.

Malcador could be a possible event only miniature.

They're going to release terrain for each IA book. The necron realm of battle mock-up looks sweet.

Thunder Warriors aren't from the same time period as the Heresy so it's a no go there, however they might do the Emperor one day.

So there you have it, all of my information and photos from a fantastic day. As always please leave me comments and follow the blog to enter the prize draw! See you in part 2!

White Dwarf 394. October 2012.

Hello and welcome to the new White Dwarf. Before we begin let's get this out of the way, i fucking love it!

Now I've had a moment to compose myself let's start with the changes. Andrew Kenrick is still on board but is now deputy and Jes Bickham is at the helm. From what I gather he used to work on computer games magazines which is funny because this issue really reminds me of Edge. For those not familiar with that publication it is a high quality gaming monthly which takes the high road with it's content. Here's hoping the content of WD live up to it's stunning looks! I suppose there's only one way to find out, lets jump straight in...

Opening Salvo - Jes introduces us to the team with some cheesy photos of them on the rhino at Warhammer World, looks like we're in safe hands! This is followed by the contents which feel roomy and easy to read. The previous contents always felt like an afterthought and weren't always helpful.

New Releases - It kicks off with a double fold out spread of the Forgefiend and the Maulerfiend, the models look sweet and the way that they're photographed adds a lot of life to them. Next is the Helldrake, a flier for chaos. Two different schemes are shown and the write-up feels friendly and not too gushing.
The Raptors and Warp Talons look just as good as the Chosen from Dark Vengeance and the numbered box-outs for the details are great for looking at the specifics.

Onto the characters now with the Warpsmith, Aspiring Champion, Dark Apostle and Sorcerer. These all look super dynamic and beautifully painted. My only negative is that none of them look Nurgley enough! The Mutilators look strange. They come in a box of 3 but only have a choice of 2 heads meaning that there will always be repetition in your squad, so far that's the only dropped ball of this release! Loads of older characters and squads have been given the finecast treatment and they make it clear that they have created new moulds for them, hopefully that will improve the hit rate of quality although it's probably more down to their technique of spinning rather than pouring.

Finally it's the paperwork. They released two options for the codex, the basic £30 hardback and a £50 limited edition which has already sold out! There's also a chaos psychic cards pack just like with fantasy releases. It's also limited edition and I ordered mine this morning!

Digital Products - White Dwarf has gone digital and you can now get it on your Newsstand on ipad/iphone. I'm definitely going to get this issue to give it a try. There's no mention of price or any subscription discount so far but will be worth it just for the ease of doing screen grabs to make a pdf for the laptop too!

Black Library - This is a much expanded section. They used to be lucky if they even made it over a page, now they get 4 whole pages and while they do contain some large pictures it's definitely a step forward in giving the writers their dues.

Forge World - Again, 4 pages for these guys (so there's no jealousy between them!) with a look at the Spartan Assault tank, Cataphractii Terminators and a few other bits. Great to see some proper shots of the FW resin and we've got more coming up in a few pages!

Licensed Games - I suppose this section will mostly cover Fantasy Flight Games but could also cover video games and suchlike. They take a look at the new Relic boardgame and it looks like a lot of fun.

Army of the Month - This is a showcase of Ben Johnson's Skaven army. It's fan generated content which is amazing, and it's given way more space than the old Armies on Parade section was.

Jervis Johnson - He's dropped the Standard Bearer title for a simpler, more honest approach and it pays off. Somehow it feels like it's really him writing, without the use of a prompt (or tazer).

Battle Report - Chaos Marines v regular Marines. Kenrick v Troke. The army lists look pretty reasonable and there's a page of explanation to with each side. As an aside it looks like someone's been painting White Scars as the Attack Bike isn't the same old one that looked like it was caked in shit. While there aren't actual maps there are plenty of small photos showing each stage of the action accompanied by captions and also the two chaps discussing the battle. There's the What we Learned page at the end which shows just that, and the post-battle review where other members of the team have their say on the action. It's a breath of fresh air. The only criticism I have is that the narrative wasn't forged nearly enough.

The Rivals - It's another new article, this time featuring even more non-GW folk. Two people go head-to-head to discuss tactics of their fantasy armies. There's sample lists, diagrams of unit layouts and a small battle, a great idea for an article.

THE HORUS HERESY!!!1!!! - They warm us up first, teasing us with a couple of pages about where the Heresy has been featured before such as the BL novels, the board game and other places. Over the page they launch straight into the new Forge World book, Betrayal with some amazing photos and an interview with Simon Egan about how he sculpted Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters. He looks amazing, although his face reminds me of an angry Michael Stipe!

Blanchitsu - John gives us a brief look at some Inquistitorial warbands, not a huge amount of content but cool anyways.

Hall of Fame - A port from the old WD, this month it's the Nightbringer.

Parade Ground - A look at some themed units, featuring some stunning Necrons and Death Korps of Krieg.

Kit Bash - Fuck yeah, GW recognise that there's more to the hobby than what's in the box. They look at the Ork Fighta Bommer and some little tweaks you can do with it. A promising start.

Battleground - A look at the amazing Urdek Refinery from the 6th edition rulebook. Again, the same as with Kit Bash, there's small hints and tips but it shows that they are acknowledging the more experienced hobbyist.

Paint Splatter - This looks like it's the new 'How to Paint' article with the usual base/layer/wash/layer layout as before.

Jeremy Vetock - That's now 3 vets that have an article in WD and it doesn't feel like they're just humouring any of them. Yes they speak enthusiastically about GW, that's just enthusiasm with no motive in my opinion.

The boring bit - Yes it's still here, every store worldwide listed for our reading pleasure. Yawn.

This Month In - A behind the scenes look at GW HQ. This month we get a look at what the Dwarfers have been up to, a great looking game of Zone Mortalis, Phil Kelly's bit about the writing of the Chaos codex, Jes Goodwin's bit about designing the Chaos miniatures and a Forge World section with a lovely Death Guard army.

At the back there's no clear 'next month' page but there is a picture of Gandalf with an impressive pipe which can only mean one thing, Hobbit time.

So there we have it. I was and still am genuinely excited about this change to White Dwarf. It's a brilliant shake-up of the format and something that I hope they manage to sustain through the upcoming months. Part of my love for it was the way it didn't solely focus on the new releases, they spread the love around to all areas of the hobby (except LotR, sorry guys!) which gave a much more encompassing feel. The free poster was great too, I want more free posters please! A definite 9/10. The only thing missing is a bit more depth here and there but I'm really not complaining.

Finally, here's another plug for my painted special character give away. All you have to do is become a follower of this blog and when it hits 100 I'll randomly select someone to receive a model of their choice painted by me! So what are you waiting for, hit the follow button!

Warllama is 1!

So my humble blog has reached the huge milestone of 365 days! Sometimes it feels like I've been doing this for ages, but at the same time the past year has flown by. I thought I'd take the time to have a look back at everything I'd written about and what has been achieved.

It all started with this unassuming post outlining what I was up to at the time, and my wishful thinking for a new Tau codex. Those that have been paying attention will have realised I failed to complete my Ultramarines and the Tau codex still hasn't arrived!

Since then I put out just shy of 100 posts, most detailing my complete helplessness to stick with any one thing for longer than a few weeks! I managed to start 3 new armies and still have plenty of plastic that has been patiently waiting for some love for ages. You can see the full extent of my madness here.

Also I tried to broaden the horizons of my little patch of cyberspace with such blogs as the Sunday Sound System, an animal Crossing diary and Youtube Tuesdays. I loved putting each of these together but in the end decided that I didn't want to dilute the hobby content.

The main theme of my posts seems to revolve around reviews of GW products, whether it's black library novels or the popular White Dwarf reviews. I really enjoy putting these together and although I attach scores to each issues, some of which seem quite harsh (thanks Drake!) I hope that my enthusiasm hasn't come across as moaning!

Looking at what seems to pull in the most attention there is a definite pattern. People love rumours and rules! The recent issues of White Dwarf with fliers or the daemons have gone through the roof and far surpass any hobby progress updates I make and people really seem to want to know how to scratch build their own thunderhawk gunship!

A huge coincidence is that I've had 90 comments on my 90 posts, which have been fantastic. Lots of support from my friends such as Drake, Jamie and Ian whose blogs are always inspirational and should be followed by all.

So on to the crux of this post. I need you! That's right folks, I'd love to increase the people who follow my blog. Yes it's selfish and a little vain but I get excited every time someone new discovers my posts and follows me. At the moment I have 31 followers, and I'm thankful for each and every one of you. What I'm proposing is a bit of a giveaway if I can hit 100! I don't know if that feels a bit like bribery or if it's a cool thing to do. The plan is that I would pick one person out of the 100 at random and they would receive a painted special character of their choice in the post! There'd probably need to be a limit such as a 10-15 quid model but it's better than a kick in the teeth! Please let me know what you think about this and if you think it's a cool idea start following and spreading the word please.

Looking forward to the year ahead I can't wait for games day in a couple of days, starting a pre-heresy legion, seeing what the new white dwarf is like, going to salute, and hopefully meeting and chatting with more awesome warmongers!

Cheers for reading and I'll catch you soon, Tim.

Forge World Horus Heresy - Book 1 Betrayal.

Leading up to today we'd seen a few snippets and teaser trailers but with just over a week to go until Games Day they hit us with this amazing video featuring Alan Bligh chatting about this incredible work. So here's the video and then all the important stills from it! Enjoy and try not to drool too much!

White Dwarf 393. September 2012.

Right, finally GW launch the 6th edition 40k box set, dubbed Dark Vengeance, so I'm expecting plenty of Marine versus Chaos goodness in this badboy. Let's dive right in and see what Kendrick and co have put together for us this month!

New Releases - As you'd imagine this leads with Dark Vengeance, the replacement for Assault on Black Reach. There's the main feature, the limited edition £65 set which comes with all the usual rulers, templates, dice and mini rulebook. It also has Chaos Marines and Dark Angels. Now for that price you get a huge amount of amazing minis. I have to say I love all of them, possibly the cultists are my favourite just because they remind me of Necromunda and Genestealer Cults. The DA characters look awesome too. I ordered this at midnight and have got an agonising wait till next saturday to go pick it up.
Also for only forty notes you can have a carry case specially designed to carry the starter models. I'm sorry but if you buy this you're crazy. Just get a KR multicase!

In other releases they've put out some cool Sternguard weapon options, BA and Eldar finecast along with some Bretonnians so the square-basers don't feel too left out. Oh and btw there's some LotR if anyone cares.

On the Black Library front Dark Vengeance the novel and audio book are out. This threw me a bit as it's priced at 12 quid when the Black Reach one was under a fiver, that's some major inflation.

Dark Vengeance - An introduction to the starter, with small insights into the war that the starter missions are based around. Chaos is represented by the Crimson Slaughter but I can't see what company the DA belong to. Jervis chips in with how important the forging of the narrative was to the development of the set. There's not a lot of detail in this article, it's mostly a glossy blurb for what's hopefully coming later on.

The Hellfire Stone - This delves into the Dark Vengeance conflict, called the Battle for Bane's Landing, and what the armies are fighting over. Something called the Hellfire Stone. There's an extract from the novel which was really cool, I love extracts and sneak peeks as it really gets the imagination firing.

'Eavy Metal - Just in case you haven't seen enough photos of the same 49 miniatures in the previous 35 pages here's two more pages of them. This time there's a few detail close-ups and some alternate paint schemes of the Chosen. I liked this a lot as I want to do a Nurgle army but wasn't sure how they'd look in anything other than red.

The Battle of Bane's Landing - A look into the mission booklet and a mini one page report on each one. They seem really imaginative, and the first one is even a single player scenario for the chaos player. It's great to see what we're going to be getting ahead of time without giving the whole thing away. I'm looking forward to playing through these, even if it's only the once. This kind of structure really reminds me of the Dreadfleet campaign which reminds me I really should get on with painting that, it's almost been out a year! Again there's way too many photos of the same models, only this time they're battling on the usual WD terrain.

Painting Showcase - A look at what the studio guys have done with their minis. There's a nice blue/green chaos army. A really cool shot of Andrew's Chosen and cultist painted white to fit in with his awesome Death Guard. This bit was way too short, I'd much rather have seen more in this section and just lose the 'eavy metal article all together.

Space Marine Modelling Workshop - Four pages of small marine pics showing what you can do with a bit of kitbashing. Cool but really it's just an advert (which follows and is another damn double-pager).

Armies on Parade - Space Wolves from an obviously talented chap called Joseph Oliver. He used the excellent FW Imperial Strongpoint board, and the only negative I can see from his entire army was that his bases don't match the RoB board! Expecting only the usual 2 pages I flipped over expecting an advert for some wolves but found even more shots of his army, including the lovely Caestus Assault Ram. I wasn't expecting that!

Citadel Hall of Fame - It's the turn of the Slann Mage-Priest which is a cool model but they didn't show the older version to give a look into the history of it. Opportunity missed but you gotta love the lizzy lizards.

Standard Bearer - Jervis returns to tell us that thinking about things is a good thing. That's about it really.

Forge World - Sadly no spoilers for the upcoming necron / minataurs IA book or the pant-wettingly exciting Horus Heresy book. Instead we get a seriously impressive look at Phil Stutcinskas' deceivingly named Red Scorpions. They're grey and yellow and look sweet.

Ancient rivals - So the square-basers get their time right at the end with some shots of Chris Peach's Vampire Counts and duncan rhodes' Bretonnians. Neither have gone for the huge monsters/kits and they both look nice, but what is that adding to my hobby? Please tell me how they painted them and why they did it!

Well there you have it. Plenty of Dark Vengeance, with varying degrees of information/glossing over stuff. Although this issue seems to be packed with 40k awesomeness when you scratch the surface you kind of realise there's nothing underneath to sink your teeth into. At all. There's not a single rule or scenario or stat line but there are 21 photos of the hellbrute. Yes it's cool but it's not that fucking cool. Hmm that sentence fills me with deja-vu. Guess I'll end here and give out the score, a whopping 3/10. Sad Warllama!