Flux Battle Objectives

A long while ago, I posted a series of posts about novel implementations of battle objectives (I: Primary Objectives, II: Secondary Objectives, III: Sub-Plots). Before I left Melbourne for the UK, I said to my gaming group that I was going to write the full suite of them all up in a system-agnostic style (i.e. they're not written explicitly for 40k at all - they're an entirely new system of objectives, but they're certainly easy to use for 40k and other systems without effort) for publication. And now, I've finally got around to doing it!

Here are the "Flux Battle Objectives": http://www.wargamevault.com/product/141874/Flux-Battle-Objectives

And as can be seen in the image (which is the front cover of the publication), I've also been messing around in GIMP (the free analogue of Photoshop). The image was created in multiple layers and the only outside photo I've used for it is the planet's surface which was done by taking an image of some sand!

If you enjoy it, a rating and a comment would be nice to receive on the publishing site. And if you know me personally, I might be able to arrange a complimentary copy for you - write to me.

Wargames Gallery: Space Wolves Wrecking Eldar

Digging through my old photograph collection, I located this little gem featuring paladin84's Space Wolves facing off against Eldar. With a downed transport, the Fire Dragons are facing a grim future from Fenris' best.

Space Marine Legion Tactical Squad Member

This space marine is the first of many (well, 20 to be exact) to join my first Legion Tactical Squad. As with all of my space marines that are going in to my new army, he is a conversion.

The parts for him are sourced from Grey Knights (the head), Forge World armour (arms), Anvil Industry (torso, and drum magazine), space marines (back pack) and chaos space marines (the bolter). The pose extols the virtues of the converted bolter to create a pose that suggests an accurately aimed shot at a mid-ranged target. I particularly like the head here. Although it is from Grey Knights and does feature pipework coming out of his skull, the grimace is a particularly interesting one. Moreover, the arms from Forge World create pose that is not typically found amongst regular space marine parts, which is nice. Although I won't be using too many more of the forge world arms in this manner, since I'm going to aim for more of a "gun kata" pose for most of the miniatures in this particular squad. 

Some final touches can already be seen on this marine, including the drilling out of the barrel of the bolt gun itself. I think this is a nice touch to add to all space marines as it really finishes the miniature's pose nicely. Just the shoulder pad left to add. And some true scale converted legs. 

Arms for more Gun Kata Space Marines

After creating my first batch of "gun kata" styled space marines, I found myself in some real need of extra arms. The reason for this? Well, most of the good left arms, I'd already used up and most of the right arms were too (between bolt pistols, and wanting anything other than a traditional bolter across the waist / hip fire bolter pose). 

To overcome this: Anvil Industry to the rescue!

The image displays a mixture of left hand arms (and hands) from the medieval range of Anvil Industry that I was desperately in need of. The casts of these items are wonderful -- Anvil Industry really has quality control of their resin products at an outstanding level. There are barely any faults. And they few that there are, are so minor as to need a magnifying glass to pick them up (or myopic eyesight, and the piece held very close to the eyeball!). 

In terms of the range of poses available, Anvil Industry has this totally covered as well. Some of these arms are straight out, some angle at the shoulder to point in front of the torso, others at more of an angle. Some are bent at the elbow, others are not. Some have hands attached, others have the hands separate. 

To prepare some more gun kata marines, these are the ideal find, and I can very honestly recommend this company!

Astulae - a new RPG

With equal measures of pride and trepidation, today I've published my first roleplaying game. Its called "Astulae" and I'm selling it via DriveThruRPG at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/141686/Astulae.

The image to the side is the front cover of the book. Clocking in at over 200 pages, this has been a real labour of love that I've undertaken in my (extremely limited) spare time between moving houses, and between when my young children are finally asleep in their beds and me being asleep on the kitchen table through exhaustion! Its taken about a year to write up, polish, source the images, and typeset the whole thing. 

I hope that some of you out there might like it (Christmas time gift or stocking filler perhaps?! lol!), perhaps at least recommend it to your friends who might enjoy it or "like" the Facebook page for it: https://www.facebook.com/sequesteredindustries. I'm also prepared to hand out free copies to reputable reviewers as well!! (just send an email using my warpstoneflux gmail address).

What's it all about then?

In a nutshell: Its a campaign setting in a twisting megadungeon of alternate realities. 

Imagine that your dungeon is not a series of rooms connected together with cobweb-ridden corridors deep underground, but instead, each “room” is a splinter of reality taken from across a grand ensemble of possible parallel realities. 

Every Astula (a room) can have its own laws of physics, its own peculiarities, and sometimes: its own denizens – some benign, some deadly, and some incomprehensible. In some Astula, magic and technology can coexist side-by-side, and in others both are strongly suppressed. 

But many Astula appear to be in a state of decay: slow, or otherwise. In turn, the Astulae are connected to one-another via portals that ultimately creates a large ensemble of realities to explore and navigate between – a mega-dungeon in many respects, but certainly not in a traditional sense. The configuration is not stable. Portals can be re-routed to other Astula. And new Astulae are added to the ensemble over time to create entirely new pathways and loops through. Will you enter and find a way to profit? 

This book itself is the campaign setting for Astulae and features over 100 highly detailed pocket dimensions (Astula or dungeon-like rooms) across 7 genres (High fantasy, Futuristic, Medieval, Nature, Outlandish, Urban and Waterside), 20 factions or persona who run through these Astulae for your PCs to join with or oppose, almost 50 altered laws of physics and reality or oddities to further flavour each Astula, 36 unique dressings per major Astula genre to further dress the contents of each room, 8 large-scale meta-plots to launch at PCs, and a suggested d6 rules system for groups who don't wish to use the contents in a rules-agnostic manner or adapt them to their own favourite rules set. And that's before all the flavour text and over 70 unique pieces of artwork scattered through the book that can be used as plothooks or inspiration! Jump in to Astulae to plough its depths!

Bolters Conversion

Following on from yesterday's review of the drum magazine from Anvil Industry, today are a selection of the bolter conversions that are possible with this accessory.

The image shows bolters from not only the space marine range, but also the chaos space marines and Dark Angels. For the conversions, the normal magazine clips were removed and shaved down flush with the bolter itself with a fine file. The drum magazine from Anvil Industry is a three quarters cylinder, hence it fits very snugly on to the body of the bolter with each. A little bit of glue and its complete. The only thing to do now is to glue them on to the arms of some marines. As can be seen, some of the bolters retain a right hand already, but for the rest, I'll have to source the hands from other bits in the space marine and chaos space marine boxed sets.

I think these bolters look great in comparison to regular ones. I intend to use them in a Legion Tactical Squad to make them really stand out from other "ordinary" marines. One of the main reasons for doing this is the "Fury of the Legion" special rule that is only available to the tactical squads -- they basically use up a whole load of bolter shells to fire twice in one round on their targets. And that is what I think these bolters suggest: a whole load of extra firepower available at whim.

Anvil Industry: Drum Magazines

I've been making a number of purchases lately to make some of my new 30k army look unique and pop a bit more on the table top. One of the ways that I'm doing this for my "regular" space marines is to change the bolter magazine. Anvil Industry (http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk) sells just these parts to help make this idea a solid reality.

The image pictures two sprues of 10 drum magazines each, each displaying opposite sides to the other. Each of these magazines will fit on to the side of a regular bolter (or even bolt pistol) to create a weapon that looks like it has heaps of bullets in its drum ready to expend. This is in keeping with the background material for the Horus Heresy, where it notes that latter Heresy developments included large drum capacities to ensure that marines didn't run out of bolt shells in the middle of protracted planetary assaults - particularly in the wake of the Isstvan incidents. 

The drums themselves are resin, and three-quarters of a cylinder in shape. Bolters that they attach to will require a little bit of work, which I'll detail in a future post. Regardless, these are a terrific little purchase as they certainly help regular marines stand out from the crowd. I'll personally be using them on a gun-kata legion troops style squad. 

Horus Heresy Review: Iron-Father Autek Mor

In many ways, Mor is a souped-up Iron-Father. He comes with cataphractii armour which I contend should be upgraded with a cyber familiar for maximum effect and some standard equipment. Curiously, he is also described as having "no love lost between him and his primarch" and controls a clan that is pretty much where the outcasts of the legion go. If Ferrus Manus is a bit strict, then this guy must almost be a World Eater by rights -- slaying others in his command he felt slighted by in duels. This and other background fluff surrounding the Iron Hands make me wonder just how close they might have been siding with Horus if only they'd be contacted earlier perhaps.

What stands out with him is the cortex controller. This strongly suggests a build involving robots, and the usage of the Legion's rite of war: The Head of the Gorgon, which allows the incorporation of battle-automata maniples as elites. I think in this role, Mor is an unsurpassed HQ choice (that isn't Ferrus Manus) for the Iron Hands, at a points cost that is comparable to a reasonably built Iron-Father. Place him with a command squad, or a squad of terminators inside a land raider and have some happy hunting times! His warlord trait (preferred enemy) will certainly help in this regard and will enable enemy infantry to be brought down quickly.

Overall, a points effective and excellent choice for an Iron Hands HQ, so long as you build an army list around his abilities.

Horus Heresy Review: Spearhead-Centurion Castrmen Orth

Much like Ferrus Manus, Orth is a force multiplier. By granting all tanks in the force +1 to the vehicle damage table we effectively can create a Ferrus Manus free army featuring a plethora of tanks to do the damage. Take plenty of land raiders for transporters where possible, and it should be a bit of a explosion bath / blood bath.

At the start of a game, he is also interred inside a tank that he cannot voluntarily leave. This has advantages of bonus BS and tank hunters. Hence I'd strongly suggest placing him with a high dakka output tank for maximum effect.

Once his tank is destroyed, he isn't too strong a character out on his own (hence his cheap-ish points value). Ideally, he should leg it to the closest transport tank (preferably a land raider) to get the high BS and tank hunting special rules in effect once more. Again: preferably a land raider.

I think his use is going to be within a land raider strong assault force (potentially even starting on board a super heavy tank). Blast away the enemy tanks as quickly as possible and then crush the remaining enemies.

In concert with other Iron Hands characters (like Ferrus Manus), the tanks of the Iron Legion are going to be quite an amazing armoured force to contend with.

Horus Heresy Review: Ferrus Manus

The Gorgon, primarch of the Iron Hands Legion, is as legendary as his background suggests he should be.

He is also one of the best ranged weapon primarchs published to date with his choice of two from: plasma blaster, graviton guns, grenade harness, or heavy flamer every turn. Seriously: these weapons are amazing.

And he has tremendous staying power outside of melee. Not bolter or anything with S4 or below can harm him due to the combination of his high toughness and the reduction in strength of incoming weapons. Forget about torrenting him to death with fury of the legion - it simply will not work. Heck, he can even survive a couple of las cannon blasts to the face and possess a good chance to survive or even not suffer a scratch between a 3+ to wound and an invulnerable save provided by his Medusan Carapace armour (basically 2+/3+).

His close combat weapon is "standard" for a primarch with AP1 and x2 strength. But one can take him for 40 less points if playing the narrative where he loses his hammer.

What really makes him shine are his special rules as sire of the Iron Hands, and the Master of Mechanisms. Both of these are superlative force multipliers. The former grants feel no pain to his sons (6+) whilst the latter will permit him to repair (with a good chance of success) any tank whilst giving It Will Not Die to the heavier tanks in the army.

His use is therefore primarily going to be as a force multiplier and therefore force an Iron Hands army build to rotate around these facets. I can certainly see a tank and dreadnought heavy army doing well with Ferrus Manus as a part of it. But I think if the enemy also has a primarch, like Fulgrim, then we probably want to keep Ferrus Manus away from combat with them. 

Horus Heresy Review: Medusan Immortals Squad

This is where the "failures" of the Iron Hands legion go to reclaim a bit of their honour. Before perishing in ways too grizzly to contemplate.

In short, they are breacher marines with lots of bionic upgrades and no sense of self preservation in the attempt to overcome their Father's bleak code of warfare. One unique rule here is that if they win a close assault, they can opt to gun them down -- by taking snap shots instead of sweeping advances. This ties nicely with the Iron Hands legion rules set.

I think these marines are generally ones that we want to have as front line meat shields, but primarily set up for shooting -- even with the boarding shield and feel no pain rule. That said, we could go close combat orientated here as well, but at the expense of the bolt guns.

Here are a few build ideas to think between.

Medusan Immortal Squad with 20 members, all with volkite chargers, veteran sergeant with melta bombs (475 points)
Purely here for the maximal use of the volkite weapons. Keep out of close combat and deflagrate anything within range.

Medusan Immortal Squad with 20 members, 15 with close combat weapons instead of bolters, 4 with graviton guns, veteran sergeant with thunder hammer, artificer armour, and melta bombs (465 points)
Expense melee unit basically. But can be very effective and hang around a while due to the feel no pain and the Iron Hands legion rules. Place inside a transport that can hold 20 power armoured marines and sally forth to vanquish foes!

Medusan Immortal Squad with 10 members, 2 with lascutters, veteran sergeant with power fist, artificer armour, and single breaching charge (305 points)
Equip with a land raider again, and destroy things that get in the way basically. Buildings and the like that is.

Medusan Immortal Squad with 10 members, veteran sergeant with artificer armour and thunder hammer (280 points)
More of a base line squad. Use in conjunction with a land raider if required. These guys are meat shields on the whole, and should be used to block line of sight and provide cover saves where possible.

Horus Heresy Review: Gorgon Terminator Squad

This is a special squad of terminators only available to the Iron Hands legion (or maybe the Alpha Legion as well?; we're not sure how far they've infiltrated, but we suspect they're everywhere - all the way to the top and bottom). In terms of the background, they are regular marines that have been physically fused with terminator armour that have extra embedded field generators on board. If they make their armour save, then the field generators will flash and potentially (4+) blind any unit within 6" of them.

Naturally, the Iron Hands are used to such things and get a re-roll on the blinding should it hit them. That said, I think this is a unit that should be kept away from other units just in case that occurs. And preferably near the enemy. Hence tactically, I think this is one that should be teleporting in (if the correct rite of war is available), or be placed in a land raider to get up close and personal with the enemy. Lock together with an Iron-Father in terminator armour and you have the makings of a deadly terminator assault team.

But more than that, what really appeals about these guys is the feel no pain special rule at 5+. These are terminators that are going to be hanging around much more than even regular Iron Hands infantry are.

Here are a couple of builds to consider.

Gorgon Terminator Squad with 5 members, 2 chain fists, 1 graviton gun, hammer bearer with a cyber familiar (245 points)
Something of a baseline unit and one that can forego the company of an Iron Father, this is one to place in a land raider or deep strike (if available) to get some early and mid-turn work done.

Gorgon Terminator Squad with 9 members, 4 power fists, hammer bearer with a cyber familiar and grenade harness (380 points)
Team up with a praetor or Iron Father and place in a land raider. This is the tip of your spear - use it wisely and back this team up with formidable fire power from the rest of your army that you're keeping out of melee. 

Horus Heresy Review: Iron-Father

The Iron Father is available to the Iron Hands legion as a special praetor character, much like a centurion can be upgraded to a librarian. Although not a distinct unit in the books, I feel it deserved its own review.

What makes this character unique is the combination of equipment they gain. The servo-arm can be terrific in close combat to say the least. But more than that, the Iron Father gains feel no pain, and the battle smith rules. The latter can clearly help keep engines going, but the former truly makes this character in to a pseudo-plague marine champion on the table -- particularly when combined with a cyber familiar and some great armour and invulnerable saves. All this comes at the "price" of not being able to take jump packs and the like. A veritable small price to pay if I'm honest.

Here is one particular build that I'm fond of.

Iron-Father, cataphractii terminator armour, cyber familiar, chain fist, combi-grav gun (212 points) 
Essentially, this guy is one that will stay alive for a very long time (with a 3+ invulnerable save no less! and feel no pain!) and inflict serious damage on whatever you like. Team up with some terminators (and perhaps some robots as well) and go inflict some damage from the assault ramp of a land raider. Repair the land raider if required before driving to the next target. There's very little not to like here.  

Horus Heresy Review: Iron Hands Legion Rules

The Iron Hands Legion is noted for the extent to which its warriors replace parts of themselves with bionics over time. For some, this might just be the titular hand they give up on becoming full marines, but for others it will go much much further. Combined with this is the "failure is not an option" attitude of their primarch and their grim determination to get the job done. Finally, they are also the masters of mechanised warfare, frequently fielding plenty of tanks that only adds to their perceived brutality.

To be fair, Horus thought the Iron Hands legion must have been close to siding with him given how close Horus kept them and how Fulgrim tried to sway they. Indeed, their brutality and general set-up speaks of a legion that would otherwise be primed for casual violence and a fall to Chaos. But this didn't happen. They remained loyal throughout. And paid a high price for their loyalty at Istvaan V.

Do the rules mesh with this background? Overall, I'm pretty excited by the rules!

The first special rule is inviolate armour, presumably due to all their bionic and fused armour. By reducing the strength of all incoming firepower, this means that the Iron Hands are somewhat akin (in terms of game mechanics) to plague marines!  Seriously: this is such an awesome boon for the Iron Hands. If we keep them out of close combat, but in range for half decent firing from their own side, then they are very unlikely to go down fast. Indeed, the only weakness of this rule is that it doesn't apply in close combat. So this is already a legion that is looking to rely on its ranged weapons to maximise its impact. I think this is one of the strongest legion rules out there so far to be honest. I really cannot underscore enough how great this rule is for Iron Hands players with the right army list.

Secondly, they have stand and fight. This is something of a balance to the huge boon that inviolate armour is. Not only is going to ground never an option for them, but they must also check Ld when they want to do things that other legions take for granted such as running, making sweeping advances and the like. Coupled with the above rule, this means that tactically the Iron Hands really really should keep out of melee and let their ranged weapons and tanks do the talking for them.

Lastly is another balancing rule for inviolate armour which is rigid tactics. Put another way: they must have more infantry than other types combined (jump infantry, and so forth). This effectively means that they really have to rely on troops more than anything to get the job done. And that certain rites of war will not be accessible to them.

Overall, I cannot underscore enough what inviolate armour is doing for this legion, even with the drawbacks of the other rules. If we are able to put together an army list that focuses on raw firepower from tanks and infantry, without splashing too much on fast vehicles or jump infantry, then the Legion will be hanging around on the tabletop for a long time. To counter the lack of jet bikes, I think that the Iron Hands are going to be using plenty of rhinos for personal transports to get where they need to be (or otherwise keep up with the enemy).

As if this is not enough to encourage a certain flavour of army, then the legion can also elect to pay a small price for adding the Blessed Autosimulacra to any vehicle, and characters can also elect to gain a cyber familiar too. Wow. This is a legion that will be tough to remove from the table. But there are counters. World Eaters or Raven Guard in drop pods will certainly do damage to them, as would a Sons of Horus melee army. Hence the Iron Hands player needs to pay attention to his/her strengths whilst manoeuvring their weaknesses beyond the enemy reach.

Which Legions had Warrior Lodges?

The warrior lodges were initially encountered by the Sons of Horus and Word Bearers on the world of Davin, where in the future, the Warmaster would eventually fall to Chaos. This happened some sixty years prior to the events of the Horus Heresy and the legions involved decided to adopt the practises of the lodges wherein the warriors of the legions could freely voice their thoughts without paying attention to rank.

There are suggestions that the Chaplaincy movement allowed Horus and Lorgar to spread the warrior lodges to other legions in time. But which of the legions had such lodges? Below are a few notes that I thought I'd try to assemble from the Black Library publications as well as Forge World books.


Dark Angels: unclear, but doubtful that the lodges truly took hold in the way that Lorgar and Horus wanted. Even if Luther et al. later went down the chaotic route.
Emperor's Children: the Brotherhood of the Phoenix was introduced, but only the most elite of the legion were permitted to join it, rather than it being open to all.
Iron Warriors: The Dodekatheon served as a meeting place between masons and warriors alike to discuss designs, but was perhaps somewhat elitist as only officers tended to have time to attend.
White Scars: Certainly the book "Scars" demonstrates the existence of a warrior lodge element within this legion.
Space Wolves: No true lodges, but certainly the warriors met informally at moots of the Rout (etc.).
Imperial Fists: No lodges that I'm aware of.
Night Lords: Unclear.
Blood Angels: Unclear, but doubtful.
Iron Hands: Although I would have expected them to have one due to being in close orbit of the Sons of Horus, it appears they did not.
World Eaters: Macer Varren of the World Eaters is known to have forbade his company from joining the legion's lodges, so we assume that they had them, even if we don't know their name.
Ultramarines: Unclear, but doubtful.
Death Guard: The Seven Pillared Lodge.
Thousand Sons: Probably none??
Sons of Horus: The Quiet Order.
Word Bearers: Noted as having them invested from the outset along with the Luna Wolves / Sons of Horus.
Salamanders: Unclear, but possible.
Raven Guard: Doubtful that Horus and Lorgar had the time to establish the lodges once Corax took over the legion late in the crusade.
Alpha Legion: Who knows. Highly doubtful though as they kept outside influences minimal and Alpharius didn't take command till late on, but probably more than aware of lodges in other legions.

Therefore at least 7 legions with full blown lodges and perhaps more with lodges in some stage or other of gestation. Please feel free to correct any information above in case I've missed something!

Unboxing Mark III Iron Armour from Forge World

To build some authentic space marines for my growing 30k army, I purchased some Mk III Iron Armour marines from Forge World. Below is a picture of them (minus the bases) as they came directly out of the packaging with. 

As can be seen, they come in the same components as the plastic range does except for the torsos which are a single piece. There are multiple poses, but all come with bolter arms as the default option (unless one specifically orders the rampager squads -- which is chainsword plus bolt pistol). I think its important to note that the bolters do not come with this set. You have to supply your own, or order them separately.

The sculpts are excellent, but there were one or two minor air bubbles here and there as one might expect from resin casting. Nothing that cannot be fixed with some greenstuff. Importantly, working with resin is also quite different to plastics as it is more brittle. Hence slicing these pieces from their sprues (if I can even call them that -- they're large resin blocks that add a lot to the packaging weight if I'm honest!) needs to be done with care so that you don't snap off a critical bit here or there. I'll be mixing these bits in with other regular space marines, chaos space marines as well as bits from other companies to assemble my Alpha Legion army from!

Puppetswar: Destroyer Arms

Puppetswar is an online retailer based in Poland. I recently ordered a number of parts from them, including the Destroyer Arms, pictured below. Puppetswar make a range of resin bits for use with their own gaming systems, but they're very suitable for replacement parts for space marines and imperial guard style miniatures. 

The destroyer arms themselves are great for terminator arm replacements. With a little work, they can also work for regular marines -- but the shoulders will need shaved down to take a normal shoulder pad on top. I think they'd make excellent alternatives to power fists, or even a close combat weapon.

The resin itself is reasonably well cast. There are minor issues, along the same lines as one might expect from certain other companies: minor air bubbles, flashes, and so forth. The poses are good with a variety on offer. And they also come with a small circular indentation on the inside so that you can place magnets in them to attach / detach from a torso. 

My only complaint is the amount of time that they took to arrive: at the upper end of what they claimed on their website to say the least, but otherwise all good and well packed for the post. I'll be using these parts in my upcoming Alpha Legion army...

Truescale Meltagunner

This is the final melta gun toting marine for my (minimum sized) Legion Support Squad. As a true scale analogue, I have extended the marine's legs just above the knee joints by a good 3 to 4mm to build in extra height. Additionally, the waist has been raised by adding in some greenstuff filler to give another 1mm or so of extra height. This subtle addition to the height makes all the difference to the final scale of the model.

The bits for the rest of the miniature consist of a blend of chaos space marine, grey knights, and space marine parts -- all plastic in this case. The final marine is a Corvus mark marine -- but Corvus Alpha, rather than true Mk.VI perhaps(!). Overall, I'm pleased with this conversion and the pose has a quantum of dynamism built in to it with the marine seemingly firing the melta gun whilst taking a stride and lowering the bolt pistol for the moment. 

Games Workshop Leeds

On my travels again - and this time in the city of Leeds in the United Kingdom. As usual, I decided to do my "mystery shopper" thing and look at the local Games Workshop store there and see what I thought of it. I was greeted by a chap called Steve (or it could have been Steven - apologies if I got that wrong). As well as being very enthusiastic, he also was keen to show off what the store was up to. This included an End Times themed fantasy board that looked to be a great work in progress (Nagash orientated it would seem), as well as a grubby Nurgle Daemon Prince that was being worked on! Both looked splendid to say the least and I was very impressed with the staff.

In terms of location, the Leeds store is situated on Briggate (pictured) which is at most a 5 minutes walk from Leeds train station. Leeds train station is a very busy one at most times of the day - serving the main Northern England Trans-Pennine route (connecting Liverpool to Hull and York, plus the North). It couldn't be in a much better location from a gamer's point of view who wanted to catch a bus or train in to the city, but I suspect that driving here would be a bit of a pain in the busy city streets - especially in the weeks before Christmas (like I visited here!). Overall, a nice store to play in and visit, but I personally wouldn't want to drive here.

Meltagunner Lobbing Grenades

Adding to the growing squad of melta gunners for my 30k army is this space marine - toting both a melta-gun and lobbing a grenade with the left hand. Again, this army is going to follow the maxim of mo model unconverted, as well as trying to make as many models true scale (regardless of terminator legs) as possible (before it kills me). 

The head of the marine is taken from the chaos space marines range -- it is the Nurgle head with the chaotic extensions removed and filed down to a smooth finish on the left hand side of the image. Indeed, with the head turned to look at where the grenade is being lobbed, the scrubbing away of the gribbly Nurgle bits can hardly be seen. 

The legs are from the regular space marine range, extended a few mm's to something more resembling true scale, and greenstuff at the hips added to the leg extensions. In hindsight, I think green stuffing the knee regions is easier for this kind of conversion, unless one is really wanting to change the angle the hips make with the thighs.  

The torso and arms are from the chaos space marine range. There are plenty of bits from this range which work very well for 30k armies, but you'll notice here that I've shaved off the belt buckle. I'll paint over this with a legion symbol (or at the very minimum a Greek letter) when I'm at that stage. The back pack is from the grey knights range and to represent a marine that might be able to deep strike in to play.