Sunday, April 28, 2019

New eBay Items from my collection

I have made the tough decision to sell off my award-winning Warhammer 40k Death Guard army. Candidly, the reason for selling is to make room for other, newer armies that I am playing more (i.e. 30k legions). I have now not played with this Death Guard army in over 2 years, and therefore the time has now come to part with it, sadly.



I am selling the army in smaller lots, the core of which I have put on to eBay this afternoon. These consist of three "core" plague marine squads, each of which has 8 miniatures and 1 rhino. I used to use these in squads of 5 or 7 and they have proven very effective during their history.

Here are the links:
Death Guard Squad 1 (pictured)
Death Guard Squad 2 (plasma gunner based)
Death Guard Squad 3 (maw rhino)

Most of the miniatures have undergone my characteristic conversion work, many extensively (such as the maw-mouthed rhino!). Many feature metal parts, Forge World parts, as well as zombie parts from Age of Sigmar / Warhammer Fantasy and other esoteria. They are all well painted, as attested by my winning the best painted army prize at a grand tournament. Plus, they did come in the top 10 in a grand tournament a decade or so ago in Australia when I lived there.

In addition, I'm also selling my Death Guard dreadnought (Helbrute) which is a Forge World original.

Whilst I am sad to part with them, I hope they will bring a new owner a lot of joy.

Finally for 40k, and mostly for fun, I am also parting with Pvt. Smith taking a plasma bolt to the head! I hope to get at least one bid on this one! It is, afterall, a piece of Warpstone Flux history!

In other categories, I have just added the Al-Qadim ADnD campaign Land of Fate and City of Delights as a single bundle. These have hardly been used, but there is some wear and tear on them.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: Sanguinius


Background.
Much can be said about the Primarch's background. He has a fame that is the equal of Horus, and arguably should have been selected as the Warmaster over Horus, not that he actually cared for that role or accolade. He had the gift of foresight, much in the same way as some of his brothers (e.g., Night Haunter), not that that helped him too much.

He also has wings and was not considered a mutant to be destroyed. Enough said.

Strengths. 
Even amongst the Primarchs, Sanguinius is one of the more powerful. Sure, Russ is going to be great in combat against him, and Alpharius is better at boosting the whole army than him, but Sanguinius is still utterly amazing and worth the points.

His personal buffs include bonuses to S and I in the first round of combat, and for his army the ability to use jump packs in both movement and assault phases. This argues for a swift moving, and close combat focussed army, which is aided by unlocked Dawnbreakers as troops. He also boosts units close to him with +d3 wounds for combat resolution purposes. Given that you were probably already playing a jump-pack equipped close combat legion build (you were, right?), Sanguinius positively buffs the army to amazing movement amounts (and if you weren't, then Sanguinius' buffs are not as good as other Primarchs).

His equipment gives him a re-roll on invulnerable saves on any turn that he charges, and his wings function as a jump pack that can be used in movement and assault phases, with a hammer of wrath resolved at S=10 and AP2. He also does not scatter if deployed via deep strike (this is perhaps a recommendation, all things considered). If you remember the old vector strike rules, then Sanguinius can also do something akin to that as well.

Finally, he carries a one-use pistol (assault 2) which will cause a lot of damage, and gets a choice about which blade he will carry in to combat. His spear can be thrown (but is not recommended since he then cannot use it!), but is a great S+3 AP1 weapon when he charges, becoming AP2 on subsequent rounds at normal strength. This comes paired with the Moonsilver blade which gets bonuses against daemons Take it. Otherwise, he can select the Blade Encarmine for rampaging, shredding fun.

Weaknesses.
The price tag (both points cost in game, and money for the model plus base) for Sanguinius makes him the most expensive primarch to date. To be clear, I would contend that the points cost is worth it. You can make your own mind up about the money that his model costs.

However, the biggest draw back is the required build for Sanguinius and his army. They have to be charging in to close combat all the time to make the best of the bonuses supplied by the Primarch. But the Blood Angels player was probably doing that anyway.

Surprisingly to me though, Sanguinius can readily be locked in combat by tarpit units. This is a big negative and even the Khan gets better than Sanguinius in this department (i.e. hit and run).

He can only ever be a loyalist too. Oh well.

Overall.
Great. He's an awesome primarch with an awesome model. He buffs an already close combat and jump pack orientated legion to a good amount. And he is awesome in close combat. Take him with a bodyguard unit and go forth, just don't get locked down to truly amazing tarpit units. 

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: Chapter Master Raldoron


Background.
Calm. Composed. Smart tactician. Very disciplined. It is not hard to see the reasons that Raldoron was the equerry to Sanguinius himself. His own life in the legion followed the calm approach and not the over the top flashiness that some of his brothers (and cousins) may have favoured.

Strengths.
Raldoron is precisely what we might expect of a Praetor of the legion that is tooled up for close combat and short range fire fights.

Beyond the (basic) Praetor mechanics, Raldoron is able to select his warlord trait. This makes him an almost default commander for when points values do not allow Sanguinius to take to the field.

His sword deserves a special mention here. It is a fantastic master crafted style paragon sword that gives shred, but fundamentally is not a specialist weapon either. This is fabulous and not encountered anywhere else in the game.

Weaknesses. 
None really. Perhaps that he can only be taken as a loyalist? I'm struggling to come up with negatives to be honest.

Overall.
He's a praetor with a great weapon and ability to select the warlord trait. He will see a lot of play in Blood Angel armies of the Horus Heresy. 

Monday, April 22, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: Judicar Aster Crohne


Background.
In a nutshell, Crohne is a natural born survivor. Massacres, bloody battlefields, and slaughters untold, this is a marine who just gets through everything and still looks good doing so. He is also an old-timer, and therefore somewhat shunned by the rest of the legion whose methods have changed since Sanguinius took over command. Despite this, he is a loyalist through and through even if in the modern 30k scene the ninth legion seems like the wrong fit for him (it used to be a great fit, but the legion demeanour changed).

Strengths.
He has a 50 per cent possibility of coming back from the dead the first time that he is killed (going back in to reserves with one wound remaining). He is consequentially a tough character to take out.

He is able to grant shred and rend to hand flamers for his attacks (and destroyers, Angel's Tears) against d3 selected units. But this is very circumstantial and requires some fairly specific builds on behalf of the player which I have my doubts will see a lot of play to make the most out of. [It should be noted that the wording on this is dubious. I think its intended that all of these units gain the bonus, but rules as written says on Crohne gains it. Hopefully one for the next FAQ].

He has some nice equipment like a S+1 AP3 rending axe, hand flamers, and rad grenades. Plus gets a 2+ save.

Weaknesses.
Fundamentally, Crohne is not a praetor. He is a moritat. His use is therefore circumstantial and purpose utility only.

Overall.
This is not a character I can see being used frequently, sadly. Although he has a good number of things going for him, I would want a different HQ choice to him in many builds. However, for narrative play, and smaller skirmishes (think: 30k kill team style), he would be perfect.

To be very candid, I find it a pity that Crohne got a description and not Amit. 

Sunday, April 21, 2019

eBay sales of OOP miniatures, including Slaves to Darkness era Bloodletters

Dear Readers,

The time has come to clear out some of my older stock and collection to make way for newer items. Over the course of the coming weeks, I will be selling off a reasonable chunk of my older collections, and armies that I simply no longer play (mainly 40k chaos space marines soon, but some other items as well). Rest assured that I am not exiting the hobby, or anything like that. My growing Alpha Legion armies need room, as do my newer daemons. Hence some older things simply have to go. 

The first three listings that I have on eBay are as follows:

(1) A squad of 8 Bloodletters of Khorne.
I am honestly a bit sad to put this squad up for auction, but I need the room. These daemons (pictured) are very rare these days, and I've never seen another player with a squad of 8 of them in - literally - decades. I have owned them since they came out, and have been forced to re-build them at least once (more in some cases). This means that they're delicate - especially those limbs that are stretched out. The paint job is also very old, and certainly not at my present day professional standards. But they will meet the usual table top three colours minimum standard. The main appeal here is for collectors and gamers who want a piece of history and a full squad of 8 from the Slaves to Darkness and Rogue Trader era. They are priced at a comparable level to other sellers for this reason.

(2) Mint in-box Fiends of Slaanesh.
I have two of these that are still in their blister packs, fresh of the shelved when I bought them. I simply never got around to assembling them as I am (was) very happy with the state of my daemon and chaos marine armies and simply didn't need them. I still don't need them even now. Hence why they're being listed. Again, the minimum bid simply reflects the market value for these items that are now OOP (and being replaced by the plastic wrath and rapture boxed set variants).

(3) AD&D Dragonlance Heroes boxes set, plus Fizban.
A little bit left-field, I have had the AD&D Dragonlance Heroes boxed set in my collection for decades. They have seen a lot of use in roleplaying games (including the titular game). I am also including here the very rare model of Fizban (only one sculpt was ever made of this NPC). All are painted to a reasonable standard for use on the tabletop (this does not mean a golden demon level, of course). Again, this is another OOP item, relatively rare overall in fact, and thus is priced accordingly.
I promise I will put any profit on these sales back in to my hobby and painting, including articles here! Do take a look. 

In the future, I will be selling off my 40k Death Guard army as well, and others, but I just need to decide whether to do this as a bulk lot, or as individual units (comments welcome on that choice!). 

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: The Angel's Tears


Background.
There exist a range of attitudes toward destroyer units amongst the legions. There are those that simply do not use them (Salamanders) to those that regularly use them without remorse (Death Guard), and various shades of shunning, and occasional use in-between. For the Blood Angels, they use them, but only when Sanguinius calls for it. These then are the Angel's Tears: Destroyers for the Blood Angels, also called Erelim, and part of the First Sphere like the Crimson Paladins. They have given up their names and identities whilst they serve in this manner.

Strengths. 
For all intents and purposes, the Angel's Tears are counted as Destroyers. This means that they can fulfil any compulsory role in a roster that destroyers would, and so forth.

The main strength here is that the Elelim are better than regular legion destroyers in many ways.

The sheer customisability is great. Rad grenades abound on every model, coupled with jump packs, and volkite serpentas. There are some crazy upgrades available here like assault cannons with suspensor webs, or maybe you'd prefer grenade launchers on every model. Honestly, this is a really great unit choice. About the only thing they never get access to is phosphex. (They also don't get rad missiles, but the rad grenade launcher partially makes up for this).

Weaknesses.
Can you live without phosphex?

Of course, you can still take Destroyer squads should you want, but that is just not fluffy. The background clearly states that the Erelim replace destroyer squads. So even if you want phosphex (the Erelim don't have access to it), you can, but don't expect to win best army awards.

The bottom line here is that these marines are assault infantry with special gear weapons. Treat them well and they should do the trick for you.

Builds.
Oh my. There are a lot of thoughts I have about the Angel's Tears. I'll try to cover some of my favourite builds here, but since there are so many options, I'm not claiming that this list is exhaustive. Not that we cannot take hand flamers as the legion rules state that the volkite serpent MUST be part of the warmer OPTIONS, and not part of the baseline equipment. However, Inferno Pistols on the squad leader is viable.

5 Erelim, Arch-Erelim with artificer armour and thunder hammer (160 points).
Something of a baseline unit for me personally. I like the quasi-assault squad feel of this that is coupled with rad grenades. Add extra marines to taste.

5 Erelim, Arch-Erelim with inferno pistol, artificer armour, thunder hammer, 2 heavy flamers, 2 assault cannons, melta bombs all round (240 points).
Hunt down and take out troop transports. Mop up the contents.

10 Erelim, Arch-Erelim with artificer armour and power weapon, all with heavy flamers (325 points).
The anti-horde build, and something of a heavy support choice on jump packs. Heavy flamers on every space marine makes for a flying wall of death. Honestly, I'm seeing this build as really good in conjunction with infiltrate (think: Coils of the Hydra / Alpha Legion!). Take melta bombs to taste.

10 Erelim, Arch-Erelim with artificer armour, all with Iliastus pattern assault cannons and suspensor webs (365 points).
Ha ha ha ha ha! The sheer shooting output of this unit is crazy. Forty shots at strength of 6 is amazing. Against other marines, that 27 hits on average (rounded), which in turn cause 22 wounds, of which, 7 get through. That's good enough to make unit of 5 marines dead, and a unit of 10 take a rout test under ordinary circumstances. Probably good against light transport vehicles too.

10 Erelim, Arch-Erelim with artificer armour and power fist, all with Angel's Tears grenade launchers (380 points). 
I really like this build as well. It has the same range as the assault cannon build above (24 inches), but instead it is firing small blast templates which will hopefully hit more targets than the assault cannons. Rad phase and fleshbane will really help here as well.

Friday, April 19, 2019

Base Painting: Scibor Ruins

Getting a bit more hobby mojo, I have recently turned to painting up some Scibor ruins bases that have been lurking in my collection for a while. These will ultimately be used with some 30k Forge World models that I have similarly been ignoring for a while - but more on those another time.


The image above shows the final bases fully painted. For this work, I undercoated them in black. The base coat was Fenrisian Grey, applied liberally all over, combined with forest green on the leafy parts.  I then inked the pieces in a subtle black to ensure that the recesses of the letterings and decorations on the bases looked correct, and to give a worn look to the overall base. Some dry brushing then followed in lighter grey tones, with some hints of a fleshy cream colour mixed in to give a hint of weathering. The leaves also received some green ink, and then a bright green highlighting. The final touches were to add the gold accents on the shield pieces and other embossed areas of the bases as a contrast colour.

Overall, the effect is one of a weathered, old ruin which is now ready for some miniatured to be pinned on to them. Hope you like this latest bit of painting.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: Contemptor-Incaendius Class Dreadnought


Background.
Let me be polite. Some dreadnoughts have jump packs. Get over it. They're only manufactured by the Mechanicum that is stationed on Baal's first satellite, in association with Anvillus.

Strengths.
The careful reader may have already noted that this dreadnought comes with a jump pack. The more careful reader may have already got over this.

Said jump pack allows one of two things to happen. Firstly, the dreadnought can deep strike in to play. I trust this is not a problem for anyone used to dealing with dreadnought drop pods to deal with.

Secondly, and once per game if the above is not selected, the dreadnought can boost 12 inches in the movement phase, or: charge 3d6 inches. None of these three (one use) options is game breaking in itself. I refer the reader back to the statement of getting over it. Sure, it is powerful, but there's a points cost to be paid. But it is also very flavourful. And no one in the Horus Heresy gaming sphere will overlook this facet. Prepare to face three of them, frankly.

Beyond that, they come with talons of perdition. In short, they apply 2 wounds instead of 1 per unsaved strike. This is powerful, and comes teamed with in built heavy flamers.

Weaknesses. 
It is a dreadnought that likes close combat. The Alpha Legion will snipe it off the board with a conversion beamer from the back pocket. Beware. Other than that, there are no serious draw backs here. Treat it as you would an armoured close combat dreadnought, albeit a speedy one (I forgot to mention fleet above as well), and be happy!

Builds. 
There is a temptation here to swap out the talons for a close combat weapon, or the heavy flamer for a bit more dakka. The close combat weapon will get the doubling of the strength value, whereas the perdition blade is just the dreadnoughts base strength. I think because of this one of each might be preferable for maximum utility.

Dreadnought with 1 talon of perdition and 1 dreadnought close combat weapon with in-built assault cannon (210 points).
I think this is the build that most players will be taking. Balanced, with bonus dakka. There are only a few variations to be candid, and although the melta gun might be preferred in some situations, I would still think the temptation to play the assault cannon is high. It synergises well with day of revelation, but I am unconvinced that buying extra armour here is totally worth it. But if you have the points to spare, why not. 

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: Crimson Paladins


Background.
These men are the guardians of the halls of the Primarch, also known as the Keruvin. Like others in the first sphere, they give up their identities and adopt new names. In battle, they are the "anvil" (not my words, I emphasise, but their role is not dissimilar).

Strengths. 
As cataphractii terminators, they are already very strong. However, they really excel in close combat. Their special rules give them feel no pain in close combat when outnumbered which improves by one pip when outnumbered by a factor of two. For the purposes of being outnumbered, each paladin counts as two models. Hence they have some amazing staying power - perhaps some of the best in the game. But this relies on being locked in melee. 

Further, in close combat their power shields reduces the strength of incoming attacks by one as well. This means that they will usually get feel no pain saves against weapons that they ordinarily will not (think here about power fists and similar). Armed with sunset blades and the sergeant taking a perdition blade makes this a formidable unit. 

Combined with the Blood Angels legion rules, they are a force to be reckoned with when played well. Which is to say if they're outside combat, they are not being played well. 

I'm not sure this is a strength, but the models are simply wonderful too. [Well painted, and beautiful models survive longer on the battlefield, do they not???!!!]

Weaknesses.
Fundamentally, the crimson paladins have only one wound each (except for the Exemplar). I had hoped that they would have two each like some of the other legions, but alas they do not. 

They also need to be in combat. All the time. 

Strictly then, terminators from other legions provide a better "anvil" role better to the crimson paladins. That said, I've no problem in thinking of them as escorts, or as bodyguards for Sanguinius himself. It seems like a very reasonable and prudent role for them. Alternatively, fielded in conjunction with other dedicated "hammer" units, they will shine. Finally, the other obvious use for them is as (expensive) tar-pit units to snare up others. 

Builds.
3 Paladins, Exemplar with perdition blade. (170 points).
I regard this as the baseline build. Probably best used with a character or as a sneaky tar-pit.
Feel free to add extra bodies if you're confident of not losing the feel no pain rule. 

5 Paladins, Exemplar with perdition blade, 1 with heavy flamer, 2 with sunset blades, 2 with power fists (295 points).
Getting expensive here, but this is a close combat squad effectively. Take grenade harness to taste, or replace the heavy flamer with a plasma blaster if preferred. 

5 Paladins, Exemplar with perdition blade and assault harness, 1 with assault cannon, 2 with sunset blades, 2 with power fists (310 points).
Slightly shooty with still excellent close combat possibilities here. More expensive than necessary though, as a regular legion terminator squad is arguably better for this role. 

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Horus Heresy Review: Dawnbreaker Cohort


We begin our reviews of Malevolence with the Blood Angels and the Dawnbreaker Cohort. Sine the legion rules have not changed since the last outing, we refer readers back to Retribution for our earlier review.

Background.
The Dawnbreakers are the elites of the assault squads for the Blood Angels. They are known for accompanying Sanguinius himself in dawn raids as they sprinkle down from the skies to liberate long long human colony worlds from xenos and tyrants alike.

Strengths.
In a nut shell, they are beefed-up assault squads. Along with a regular jump pack, they also have artificer armour to make them more survivable. This will work well with both "Days" rites of war for the legion in general.

Their weapons are interesting. Along with the grenade dischargers, they have access to falling-star pattern power spears as standard. These are the same weapons that the Phoenix Terminators of the Emperor's Children have under a different name which gives AP2 and and one extra pip of strength on the first turn of combat which makes them very hard hitting.

Alternatively, they can have Equinox blades: one with shred and keen, the other with rending and sunder. Sunrise blades give a bonus pip to initiative which is truly excellent against other legions and their regular squads.

Weaknesses.
There is a worry about being tar-pitted, particularly against enemy terminators if this squad is not built for taking them out on the first turn. They also lack significant ranged weapons (beyond the grenades). Otherwise this is an excellent unit selection when played to its strengths.

Builds.
I would like to devise a way to give these guys hit and run to take more advantage of the power spears so that they can really devastate terminator enemy squads. But that's a thought for another day. In the mean time, here are some thoughts for builds.

5 Dawnbreakers, champion with perdition blade (230 points)
A basic build to provide a good amount of damage on the first assault turn and pose a continuing threat to infantry.

5 Dawnbreakers, Equinox power blades, champion with perdition blade (250 points)
Another sort of "basic" build to take advantage of the sunrise and sunset blade to give a bit of flexibility, but it gives up the AP2 on the charge which is why I would recommend the blade of perdition.

10 Dawnbreakers, 4 with equinox blades, 5 with falling stars, champion with perdition blade (355 points)
The mixed approach and maximum squad number is a very nice squad indeed, although here the points cost obviously start to stack up making this a choice for a larger points value game. The addition of melta bombs is cost effective for this unit as well as a potential further upgrade.


Monday, April 8, 2019

Horus Heresy: Malevolence -- First Impressions


Traitors and Loyalists, those in-between and those who refuse any such label: I finally have it. My copy of Horus Heresy Book Eight: Malevolence has finally arrived!


This is the first book in the series that does not have Alan Bligh as one of the leads on it. Of course, Alan is sadly no longer with us and we grieve for his loss to the Horus Heresy. As the afterword in the book states, he truly was a driving force behind the series.

The most obvious side effect of this is that the language used in book 8 is slightly different to what Alan used. Sure, on the surface it is very similar, but dig a bit deeper, and the differences start to show. I do not consider this to be a negative. I want to be clear about that. All I am saying is that I miss his nuances and tempo, in the sense that Alan's writing was familiar to me. 

As will be known to fans, Malevolence contains rules for two new Legions to the series: the Blood Angels, and the White Scars. In addition, there are army lists for the Legio Custodes, as well as the Daemons of the Ruinstorm. For me, this is enough for this book to really rank up there very high with some of the previous ones in the series. I'm not going to lie, I am a rather biased reader. When the first book (Betrayal) came out, it was a real revelation to me, and to many other players. It was a shining light. I would also evaluate the third book (Extermination) to be very high on my list as well. After all, it did deal with the Alpha Legion in depth for the first time. But more than that, I have long felt that Extermination had one of the most fascinating campaign ideas the featured the Raven Guard trying to stay alive on Isstvan. I loved that campaign a lot more than many others. I'd even rate it possibly higher than the Conquest rules set for campaigning, and that's saying something. As a result, I want readers to believe me when I say that for me personally, Malevolence ranks close up there with Extermination and Betrayal. Thank you Forge World. Sincerely.

In addition to the army lists, there are two campaigns included in the book: one for Signus (Blood Angels and Daemons in the main part, but also elements of Space Wolves, Legio Custodes, Word Bearers) and one for Chondax (White Scars and Alpha Legion in the main part). Both of these are well thought through, but they don't approach the levels seen in Conquest or Extermination. Of these, I would contend that Signus is the better, as Chondax is more sequential and, arguably, generic. 

As for the background details, I welcome the addition of the Psyarkana, and the extra details gleaned about the internal Alpha Legion civil war that comes along with the description of Chondax. The Blood Angels and White Scars are detailed like never before - leaving only the Dark Angels relatively untouched for now and no rules for the Lion (he has to be next in book 9!). The details of how the legions viewed daemons is also really, genuinely interesting to me. 

In future posts, I will start the more formal review of the units contained within this volume, and get in to more detail about the new daemons from the ruinstorm. But for now, I am a very happy reader. 

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Volkano Game Mat

One of my more recent purchases is a new game mat. This one is the "Volkano" (Volcano), produced by PWork Wargames. 

The company is based in Italy and prices their gaming mats at a comparable level to other companies that I have dealt with before who retail similar mats. As always, I opted for the neoprene version (which is the mouse mat material) since it works a lot better for my needs and preferences. The game bag comes as a separate purchase to the game mat with this company (others sell it alongside as a default), but I was happy to pay a little extra for the portability factor.


What I like about this mat is the near-realism of the detail. Zooming in on the image above, it is obvious that the makers have studied how lava surfaces look. The top level of the detail is a black to grey textured area that is clearly dried or cooled lava rock. This gives way to the runnier mantle material as we look deeper in to the mat. Some other retailers have chaos-like symbols everywhere, or other features that I didn't think contributed to the aesthetic that I was after. With this mat, I am free to interpret it as a chaos terrain board should I desire, as well as a young planet, or one suffering from a post-apocalyptic event. With this flexibility, the use of the mat is wider than ones specifically dedicated to chaos, and I cannot go past the pseudo-realism of the mat either. Top grades from me, but clearly my tastes may differ from yours(!)
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