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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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!). 

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.