Happy Turkey Day!

From RGH

Journal 27- In the News (Codex Inquisition, Star Trek attack wing, and Abaddon)

Hello All,

Just a quick update. 

I bought a copy of the new Codex Inquisition and am now pouring through the rules section. Wow. So far it looks like they are going back to a model that resembles 40K life pre-2011 as Inquisitor warbands are back as an ally choice --- But wait, no--- they are their own NEW type of detachment! Read more on it here.

The Meta is going to take a hit. Again. I honestly think the new Meta is going to be no meta (Not a bad thing really.) So far I am really liking it. If this trend keeps up tournament organizers are going to have some tough decisions to make in 2014. Good Luck

Get the book here  

---------------------------------

I was at Huzzah Hobbies today and got a chance to play a demo of Star Trek Attack Wing. Jay from 24 hour Gamer ran me through a one-on-one encounter between the Enterprise-D and a Romulan Warbird. It was a lot of Fun. I won but I think Jay was taking it easy on me. When the wife showed up I got her to try it out and she took the mighty Klingon Battle cruiser against my Undefeated Enterprise and manager "mop the floor" with the Federation Flagship. :(

We had so much fun we bought a starter set.

----------------------------------

Lastly I wanted to share a new project with you. After reading the Codex: Black legion book I was inspired to get Abaddon for my CSM. I do not like the model so decide dto make my own. I started with the Chaos Lord in Terminator armor kit and raided my bits box. here is what happened.

The Parts

The basics of the Talon of Horus: Lightning claw arm + 2 Old school Bolters cut down to fit

I decided to add an ammo storage bin just for kicks and it turned out pretty good.

A better angle

The Basis of the Demon sword: Power Ax Arm + Blade from a blood letter 

Abaddon's head is from the Chaos Marauders set for Fantasy 

The rest was put together from the lord kit taking parts from the warlord and sorcerer build outs. 

The base was the normal lord base with rocks and stuff added from the death world basing kit

A better look at the gun

Back

The Sword

The eye of Horus

Primed with an up close of the face

Ready to be painted

Well that's all I have time for right now so let me know what you think.

Later

RGH

Journal 26- Wow. another one down. Reaver Titan DONE!

Hello all,

I cannot believe it but the Reaver is finally done! I don't have much to say except it was a labor of love. 25+ hours of prep (Sanding, Dremel, scraping, cutting) just to get it ready to prime. 50+ hours to paint (Air brush and brush.) I do not think I can remember working this hard on a single piece. GW was not kidding when they said a titan is like an army by itself they meant getting it table ready!

Well here is what you came here for:

The Parts

What the troops see

Front

In Action

What Fliers see

What sneaky Gits see

Details of the cover

Profile

For Scale- WH Giant 6' tall

1st attempt at this kind of effect!

Anyway That's it for today...

Later

RGH

Journal 25- Space Wolves Finished Finally

“Behold, as a wild ass in the desert, go I forth to my work.”

― Frank Herbert

Hello All,

It's been a busy month! In October I dealt with many trials including but not limited to: Ants in my Kitchen (Gaaa!), My job changing contracts and me getting farmed out to a small 8A company from Alabama, The wife on vacation for 2 weeks straight (at home), and so much more. On the + side the space wolf army that I started in the summer of 2000 (That's pre 911 for anyone who cares) is finally finished!

For an army project that took 13.5 years to complete it's not that bad. My painting style changed several times as I learned new skills and the model style changed as well. The original force was made up of mostly metal 1st and 2nd ed space marines that were a cast off from a friend that wanted the all new (at the time) plastic 3rd ed Space marine kits. There is even a Grey hunter squad made up of the original 2nd ed Space Marines that came in that box set I bought in 1996 when I wanted to try the game out. Later I added more up to date models and even some real space wolf figures *Grin*. The last thing I actually bought for the army was "Ulrik The Slayer" to complete an apocalypse formation when the 2.0 book came out last summer.

Now that this is "done" I can concentrate on my next big project- The Reaver Titan!

Anyway here are some pictures of the models after I packed them into their personalized figure cases (1 Battle foam "Pack Go" and 1 converted gun case for the tanks.) I plan to do a proper army photo shoot real soon but for right now other things (see above) are still pressing!

Thunder Wolves!

Bikes and wolves

Standard Bearer (Converted dark Angel blasphemy I know!)

Stuff on larger bases

Njal (I have one of each)

Converted from Space Hulk

More Boss Types

I managed to get 70 Marines in a single tray

Close up

The second case is for weird shaped stuff and tanks

Well that's all I have time for today

Later

RGH

Journal 24- What the heck

You listening GW?

Hello all,

Just a couple of things. first do you think GW is going "Over the top"?  Check out their latest pre-order...

most of these sets are over 100 dollars each!

Personally I think they have gone here!

In other news I have started assembling some of my new KOW stuff. Here are some pictures of the partially assembled stuff.

6 partially assembled Elohi

the one assembled Elohi (I know the sword is bent)

Ghouls

That's all I have today

Later

RGH

Journal 23 -Dystopian Wars Troop Transport

Hello all,

Just a quick hobby update today. I recently finished an Olympic class transport for my fleets. It is an interesting ship with some equally interesting rules. I especially like the idea that though it has no big guns don't let it get close as it  is packed full of troops! Good fun all around.

Well anyway here she is- Enjoy

Notice the lights are out in all the windows? Blackout in effect!

I love the classic lines of this ship

Top view

Well I hope you like it. Please let me know.

Thanks,

RGH

Journal 22 KINGS OF WAR

Hello All,

I have recently read the 3rd edition of Mantic’s “Kings of War” (KOW) and all I can say is WOW!
I know I am a little behind the times as most folks who were going to chime in did so over a year ago.
Better late than never. :)

My thoughts: For what it is and what it does it is superior to WHFB in most ways. The system lacks in some important areas but overall is the better game system at its core. I have compiled a list of what brought me to this conclusion with a few details thrown in for fun.

Here we go-

In favor of Kings of War
1. Simple Army building- The KOW system uses a simple Force organization system (FOS) where heroes, monsters, and war machines are available on a one for one basis depending on the number of “Solid” Troop units (generally 10 or more models in the unit) you select.

2. Easy to remember stat line:  Easy to remember and work with (Below is from this review: http://www.talkwargaming.com/2013/08/get-started-kings-of-war-basics.html And here is part 2: http://www.talkwargaming.com/2013/08/get-started-kings-of-war-part-2-rules.html )
Speed (Sp): How far the unit moves, in inches.
Melee (Me): The D6 score needed by the unit to hit in melee combat.
Ranged (Ra): The D6 score needed by the unit to hit in ranged combat.
Defence (De): The D6 score the enemy needs to damage the unit.
Attacks (At): The number of attacks the unit has.
Nerve (Ne): The scores needed by the enemy to make the unit waver or rout.
That’s it!

3. Better movement system- No more Wheeling BS and I can actually back up!

4. NO MORE REMOVING MODELS FROM THE TRAY- With the way modern miniatures are designed  in such dynamic poses it can be difficult to remove even a single model without screwing up the ones around it. With KOW the models stay on the tray till the entire unit is destroyed.

5. A stream lined rule set- KOW does in 33 pages what WHFB could not do with 100+ pages. Have a complete rule set ready to use. And best of all ITS FREE!

6. You are not required to have any characters in your army- That’s right folks no characters required. You can have an entire infantry horde just block after block of troops if that tickles your fancy. If you decide to have a character you can but from everything I have read they do not join units but tend to be butt kickers on their own! (BTW You  can give magic items to most units so I guess unit leaders could be seen as officers or a general if that helps your “fantasy”) 

7. Mutable background- The background Mantic came up with for their game is usable if  generic. It certainly allows itself to be used for just about any setting. (And lets face we KNOW what background it was designed for…)

8. Easy to make variant armies- by changing the “Official” army special rule you can change the entire army. For instance changing the Orc’s army special rule to elite creates a workable warriors of chaos army. There are also tons of “fan lists” for various armies out there including using warmachine or Lord of the rings and of course WHFB. It’s as easy as making it up (which is what most folks did.) Most are a little on the overpriced side as they are mimicking GW versions and tend to have unnecessarily complex special rules to give them flavor. I prefer this last option.- Use the allies rules to grab units that fit the theme- use the models you want and call it “That” army. For instance I made a Cav list that used Both of the Undead Cav choices, the Twilight Elf knights,  Human Knights, and Orc Boar riders to reflect Chaos knights with various marks. It was pretty cool and 100% legal in game terms (as long as allies are allowed.)

Now it would not be fair for me to talk big about this game without going into some of the issues I have with it. As with most things there are down sides. Here are the ones I feel are worth noting.

1. Less options- Personally I feel like this could be a boon as well as an issue but I guess it fits better here. The game is very stripped down and as such units don’t have the flavorful options other game systems have to color them. For instance elves get “Elite” which is a catch all for the cool elf stuff they get in other games. It kind of reminds me of TWERPS. While this helps make the game run smooth it can make units seem generic at times.

2. Character cannot join units. Unless I missed something (and please educate me if so) characters cannot join units. This is a big change from WHFB where many characters MUST join a unit or where joining a unit can be the difference between life and death. From what I have seen it is harder to kill a lone character than it is in other games. The jury is still out on this one.

3. The Default Background- average at best. WHFB and Warmachine have richer backgrounds with more verity. I feel this has more to do with the age of the system than anything else. Let’s give it a few years then look again.

4. Lack of a defined Magic system- Heal, Blast, and ZAP- that is the KOW magic system. Quick and easy but a little boring. Where are the unit buffs and curses that make it feel like “Fantasy.” I see where they are coming from but a little bit more would have been nice.

5. Units- they need more per army. I intend to use this system with my WHFB collection as well as my growing KOW stuff. I would like official units that can simulate more of my collection. (I know it’s a little early on this one but I cannot help myself…)

Well that’s all I have time for this week so till next time.

RGH