Make your way to the Deathwing, sir.

Due to problems with blogger, this post is about a week later than intended, which is actually quite relevant, since talk of 6th Edition is really ramping up now, making 5th Edition based posts even less prevelant, none the less, I'll still put this out there.

Deathwing is still an army near and dear to my heart. Its deeply satisfying to put down 30 models all in 2+/3++ that, barring some oddities, always have an answer for questions asked of them, unlike the world of mech. For much of 2011 I played with a very set and "honed" list, however, revisiting now, the list would look quite different. Today I am going to talk about some of the changes I would make to previous lists that I have run. With the dawn of 6th Edition and the rumours that terminators could well be on the rise again, could it be time to think about re-making the deathwing?

The Wonders of Airbrushing

A quick one from me today.

I bought a GW Airbrush about a year ago, and its just sat in my hobby box since I got it. I think it was both fear of not being good with it and the thought of all the effort it would take to clean the thing that kept me from even trying.

However, the prospect of base coating nine rhino chasis's, twenty marines and three sentinel hulls in a short space of time made me think its worth a pop.

Even for what is essentially the equivalent of a early learning centre toy laptop of an airbrush, for something so simple its brutally effective. For what was about £25's worth of kit after propellant and the entire pot of paint it guzzles, having nine rhino hulls base coated up in less than 30 minutes, and all tidied away, well, its worth it.

I personally will be upgrading very soon, I plan on doing a Dark Eldar army around the winter time, and I imagine that will be done all airbrushed now (already know what colour scheme I want!), but for the time being the cheap-a-matic basecoat machine will do.

BASIC / BUDGET HOBBY TIP:

If you use the same base coat in large quantities on models (marine / non-detailed models) or tanks, and still apply your first basecoat by brush after priming, pick up this bit of kit. Its cheap for what it is, will give you a better base coat (no brush strokes, same consistency throughout the model due to not having to reapply water as the paint dries) and in much quicker time.

As for the consistency of the paint. I basically filled the tub about 55% with paint and 35-40% with water, being mixed with the propellant sticks it to the model very well anyway.

If you serious about getting into airbrushing, and by that I mean doing more than the base coat, I'd probably not use this unless you are on a budget. It is fine, but I could see it quite easily getting clogged up with lots of use (I.E being asked to do 3 or 4 coats per sets of models). 

AIRBRUSH REQUEST:

I am very very late to the airbrushing game, thus have no idea what to purchase.

Having a quick look around there are people recommending airbrushes all over the shop, and basically I have no clue where to start or finish. Budget wise, while I don't have a budget, lets just say around £250 is perfectly fine and I won't think about it, I'd stretch further if it was basically a "this is the best on the market, and will solve problems you will encounter" or whatever.

So any recommendations?

Emperor's Finest - Change of Plans

No drastic change of plans, just a unfortunate scenario has occurred.

No WIP post today, I've been a bit slack this week, I have made some more units but I really want to get some painting done as well rather than just keep posting construction stages 24/7, I wouldn't mind so much if I was on the level of Atreides (look out for his post this week btw), but my strength's certainly come in the painting stages.

However, there has been a pretty huge change to my plans.

I am no longer attending Tolworth - which means I don't have to have the army ready in four more weeks. I unfortunately had a scheduling conflict which means I have to pull out of the event.

I am however, the proud owner of a place at Blog Wars Three on 2nd June up at Maelstrom.

Protecting the Emp - Adpetus Custodes WIP (DCA Edition)

So, as promised, this is the start of a fairly regular update to my work in progress (WIP) with my count as Adeptus Custodes army.

There were some comments in the first WIP post which some people seemed to take to another level. I personally found them hilarious, but at the same time quite helpful. I find fluff inspiring, but I am not a slave to it either, which is probably frustrating for other's, but lets me basically steal someone else's idea and allow me to flex some element of creative muscles. I rarely, actually this is probably the first time, use "cannon" chapters or scheme's, so its not surprising to me that I'll go off beat or not follow it through as hardcore as others.

Though the comments about the list were very funny, I did have to mention to Atreides "when did tournament winning list become bad?".

Anyway, back to the WIP post. I am alway's going to expose my weakness in the hobby at this stage, which is something  I am looking to work on. I'll come back again and again to this theme "the building is not the bit I am good at". But you have to get to the painting stage somehow right?

Beatin' A Dead Horse - GK's

So we all know about this supposedly good book called the Grey Knight Codex. As such,  there is not too much to be said on the armies or units at this stage of the game, so my column on the GK's will be more reserved to results, observations and the hobby side of things. Today I will actually cover a little bit from all three!

Today I will be starting off with my current GK list, as much to give an idea of what I'll be work with and on in the coming weeks. Then I will move on to initial thoughts about the mirror match, and ending with the first pictures of the WIP of the GK's.
 

Femme Fatale's - Sisters at 1750

So my last post on Sisters was talking about 2K, which is not something we see much of in UK, and was really just a game to both test the new codex for myself, and help Atreides get in his only game of practice for the 2K tournament all the Son's went to last weekend.

Looking at 1750 I didn't quite want to just chop bits out of the 2000 point list. At 2K I pretty much could get everything I wanted, while not really compromising or being stingy in certain area's. What's important is it gave me a solid indication of the numbers I wanted going into 1750.

A separate information I did take on board was from a text conversation with Atreides and a team speak chat with Killswitch, was talking about Death Cult's. Atreides played against a SoB list at the weekend, and he saw a more maxed out unit of DCA's being used to brutal effectiveness. Both Killswitch and I were talking about how great they were in Grey Knight lists (especially as troops) and really the only unit I enjoyed using out of what was a very boring codex to play with.

Anyway, lets get into the list and move on from there;

Back Slinging Dice ... with Sisters!

Lets cut a long story short. I'm back bitches. Well sort of! I am still undecided as to  how I will be playing (tournaments, casual etc..). Weekly games against Atreides on his new table could be all the gaming I need, with the occasional flurry to say a Blog Wars or a Son's meet up, but certainly I fancy playing a few games.

I've sold my stuff. Balls.

Well that's a lie. I do have plenty of marines ... and in what is a weird twist of fate, its pretty much worked out to be the exact 1750 list, sans a few bikes, of Kirby's infamous "Blood Rodeo" army. Something I deeply have wanted to play. Funny how that works out eh?

However, something more interesting intrigued me.

Other Peoples Stuff: Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children

My first "lets look at other peoples stuff", saw us take a peak at one of my favourite count as armies I've seen, not because of its unbelievable level of skill, it was actually quite pedestrian in level of painting for example, simply table top, but more because of the thought and execution, making for an army that is great than the sum of its parts. Individually a model was flawed, though cool, as a whole, the scheme and concept was executed so well that I just instantly fell in love with it.

Now, this is on the other end of that spectrum. This army, or models, just inspired me straight away. The painter, elfatto at Bolter and Chainfist, has produced a stunning level of skill army wide, and I am sure everyone will enjoy this one.

I am actually almost tempted not to show you this, as a sort of ode to bisto, save the best 'til last. But really, I just want to share it!

Today, unlike last time, I won't be sharing too much "how to" as his painting level is a couple of notches above me, plus the gentleman has been kind enough to actually give some of his recipes, which does make life a bit easier!

Kris Kross gonna make you jump jump ...

Things were just better back in the day .... well maybe not. But I'd rather have Kris Kross as the random kid gimic of my youth than most of the rubbish we get these days.

It all went down hill when Transformers and He-Man were replaced with nonsense like Tellitubbies or whatever the hell they were called. The days when you could get up at 5:30AM and watch awesome violence until 10:30AM until Gordon the Gopher told you to go outside and play for the rest of the day to burn off the sugar high from your 19th bowl of coco-pops ...

wait, what was I going to talk about?

Oh right yeah, Jumping. Or Blood Angels "Jumper" style armies.

Blood Angels are one of those very fortunate codex's that can actually put forward a few varied and challenging lists. They always seem to be right up there, and within the UK meta, actually do very well. As a codex is has access to a couple of powerful characters (Mephiston namely), one of the better utility HQ's and arguably one of the most broken sets of wargear, for a measly 1 KP you can give a 10" circumference of "yeah try that again" in a FNP priest. Oh and then its pumps your dudes charging into combat. Mephiston with the bubble? Dirty, thats what it is.

Hanging up the dice bag ...

So just a quick one from me.

Having had a few weeks off 40K and GW in general having "hit the wall", it just became clear that it really wasn't the wall but just the end of the hobby for me, the wall was hit around BWL time a little while back.

I was going to go into a bit about it but I'll keep everything nice and simple!

Had a good time meeting people at the tourneys, cant say I've actually enjoyed any of the participation on my end, but only had a couple of poor show opponents or people I've met, so can't moan too much about that.

Star Wars The Old Republic will be the game for me (come pre-release in Dec + any beta I get onto).

As for my collection .... currently getting sold for far less than I bought it for on eBay! For anyone interested there's pretty much the entirity of a Grey Knight army on there, my Deathwing (all painted) and then a separate lot for Razors. I still have a couple of bits held back if anyone is interested. Just pop a message in here (if you want to ask about eBay bits as well go ahead ..)

- 3x IG Sentinals
- 1x Vendetta
- 3x Predator Autocannon Turrets (+ actually some sponsons, sprues etc..)

Really the interaction / community was the only reason I stuck around post BWL, and maybe even before that. I mean I've picked up the paint brush only for 1 commission since Blog Wars - I havent painted my own models in around 6 months! With SWTOR, my old guild and some of the interest I've already sparked around that hub, I just have my attention for that right now!

I'll stick my head around here every so often just to look at hobby updates. who knows, maybe 6tth Edition will perk my interest, or they'll make Warhammer good again like it used to be ....

Shameless Self Promotion?

I promise I'll be getting back into 40K stuff promptly. I am far from burned out on the subject, in fact incredibly busy! Right now I am deep in project planning mode, I finally settled on both a codex and a theme, and right now doing an absolute ton of research and logistical planning for it. Atreides is becoming my on hand consultant as I do plan some small scratch builds and conversions, and actually try and push myself.

In fact, I am only just back from 4D Models in Tower Hill, dropping £50 on some plasti-card sheets for scratch built Razorbacks (or heavily converting my current ones), some tubing (got some awesome bits with this!) for some scratch built cannons for my razorbacks, and some mesh wiring for basing ... and some other bits. I was very close to getting resin, I am on the fence with this stuff. I'd love to cast some of the bits I need for the models, but resin is absolutely shocking stuff, and really I don't think I care to mess around with it. 

All in all though, this does mean my "predicted on the table top" time has been pushed back a bit. I originally wanted this army up and running by end of November with three colour minimum, but that is looking like the new year really. I will be constrained for time soon, but I plan on trying to get this done both well, but quickly.

So, that pretty much means THE WING are on the table for the remainder of the year. 

Restoring Old Models

I've recently been doing what must be my 3rd batch of restoring my old models. Prior to this I stripped some of the 3rd Ed Grey Knight models and some marines for my Blood Angels. But in the past month I've looked to strip my RT Grey Knights, my RT/2nd Ed Terminators, and some MK1 Rhinos.

I think knowing how to do this, and giving it a go is a really handy tool to have in the hobby chest. It really is just a case of a google search, but I figured why search when I can just give everyone the heads up!

WIP: Bjorn the Fel-Handed (Commission)

So here we are with another update on my commission work. Its been a bit slow, I got about another 40 minutes of work in to get the red done, but I've been pottering around with some other bits recently (non-hobby) which has kept me from really working on this. I am generally happy with the model, a couple of bits I will ultimately re-do once I've finished the rest of the model, but right now the main parts I am pretty pleased with.

THE FRONT

So the main part. The banner front has come out really well. I am really pleased with the fur and the wolf head on this. The red has come out pretty well as well. I still need to add the free hand runes, which I am super apprehensive about, since they are going to be NMM gold freehand.

The red on the lightning claw looks very striking against the turquoise - but I'll ultimately re-do the turquoise on both weapons. The shins probably will be touched up as I am not that happy with the blend.

The Hammer Returns: Deathwing HO!!

Well, after what feels like quite a round about trip, I've settled on what I'll be playing for the foreseeable future. As the title suggests I will be returning to my Deathwing. Inevitable? Ok Venerable and Bringer of Death may have called it after Brighton, but it took a lot of games before I just couldn't bare to be away from my 4th Edition boys much longer. It doesn't help that I've just rummaged around my bits boxes and found some fantastic bits to add onto the force, more on this in a second!

With this return to the Deathwing, it has reinvigorated me to pick up my Deathwing Tactic/Deployment series. As much as anything I've found it quite a productive exercise for putting some method to my madness in playing the force - ironing out the exact reasons why I do things, and sometimes (quite often actually) noticing things I can do better, or finding new tricks.

Son's Commission's: Bully underway!

As venerable alluded to in his last post, I am starting to do some commission's. Really it came out of no-where and still feeling it out as a process. Most people do commissions I guess as a form of a side job, but really for me, its just a way for me to improve my painting skills by forcibly diversifying my pallet, and secondly stop my army attention disorder by people letting me paint some fantastic models across many ranges.

The one thing, unfortunately, is that I won't be doing army commissions, and will only accept the odd unit commission. Now while this probably will just bring the bushiness down to "zero", there is no harm in asking. I don't see any point in doing Ultramarines Squad 1 for example, but if someone wanted a unit of Harlequins, Mandrakes or Incubi with Venom for example, I'd certainly be up for that, as it fits both gorgeous model category and also bits I don't paint typically.

So really what am I looking for? Primarily "independent character" fodder. Individual center piece models. So could range from your Trygon to your Space Marine captain from *insert chapter*, Even something like a tank or a landraider would be great as they are brilliant canvasses to work off!

But worst comes to worst, fire an email my way and I can answer questions.

Grey Knights - Evaluating my options

So I guess it wouldn't match the theme of this week if I didn't chip in on Grey Knights. Like Venerable and Killswitch I have also been working on my Grey Knights. First off though, this is not the end of the Deathwing for me. Over my past couple of games I felt myself really wanting to put the terminators back on the table, plus since Brighton I've really been working hard to figure out the mistakes I made and get the balance of aggressiveness and defensive play right. With this it has changed up the way I'll go forward with my armies. Originally planning to do Sisters and Grey Knights side by side, I can't see myself doing Sisters, so simply I will play Deathwing and GK's together, giving me one army I have a ton of experience with and honestly feel I know inside out, and the other army to work with to get that experience.

On the hobby side of things, the Grey Knights look like a "tester" project for me. I decided to stay with the same colour scheme as my deathwing/marines, simply as it saves me buying a ton more vehicles and I can use them for my Blood Angels/Space Wolves/Sisters and so on. But this time around I will be trying air brushing for the models. Hopefully this gives me a consistent look over 30+ models, and maybe gives me another tool in the paint chest. Plus it in theory is a great way to pump out an army to table top quality quickly, though I do plan to take time to use washes, low/high lights and detailing to try and push it above TTQ. More on this later though, I'll be sure to post pictures of the process. Would people be interested in a stage by stage / documentation of its difficulties? Has anyone else had experience airbrushing armies?

Anyway, back to the issue at hand the Grey Knights.

Deathwing Tactics - The Alpha Strike Deployment

Who remembers when DW were black?!

Righto guys, another post in the series of Deathwing Tactics and Deployments. Having drafted out some of the Mission/Deployment posts, I found myself referring to a couple of concepts more than once, and from this, felt really they should get their own article. These two concepts are as follows.

• Alpha Strike Deployment
• Phalanx Deployment

Now both are strikingly different deployment types, and I find generally speaking I do just use what I refer to as the "Phalanx" deployment. While there are various other deployments (and variations upon both), and nothing is set in stone, I do find these are two of the archtypes I look at when looking at the board/mission. From this I can look to my opponents list, how the board is set up, what he might want to do, what side he gets, and potentially how he sets up (if going 2nd). With so many foot models (26 40mm bases, 6 biker bases, 2 60mm bases) there is potential to clog up or be forced into difficult positioning just on pure size of units alone, despite the model count of your army. I mean we can change things up as well, for example, kill point games against say a mech heavy rhino / pred's / vindicators, you can plonk two squads in the corners, couple in middle and just cover the entire board with good fire lanes and essentially out range him / side armour etc.

Blog Wars Game 2: Deathwing vs DE Part2

So guys, we've all read Venerable Game 2 Battle Report vs Deathwing, which is the account of our match up in table one war. We had a chat and felt we felt he could recount the game much better. There is still some "haze" in the later part of the game where a bit of action went on but we can't remember sequences, but the effect and intent of the report is there.

The game was a cracker, but I don't feel I can add much to his report, other than pictures, and me doing my own account will only generate the same content. However, as I say; I do have more pictures than Andy, so today I'll share some of those with a sort of "too long didn't read" report to go with it.

At the end as well I want to examine some of the mistakes and key points in the game as a learning tool. There is some stuff I could have done during the game to win, certainly. But I can only offer Ven the same hindsight chance as well - so it renders the "if I did ..." moot in my opinion. I offer them only as a learning tool, and allows me to see mistakes, that in the future I will hopefully not repeat.

The game was a blinder, and as we know came out 8-8 draw, which was a good result for both of us, between my lack of experience vs a good Dark Eldar army, and the tough match up for him. But any way lets  get to it - my "tag on" to Ven's report:

Blog Wars Game 1: Bully vs Blood Angels

Righto chaps, my first report up from Blog Wars. For those that don't know - it was the event held by From the Fang inviting over pretty much most of the UK's bloggers for a rumble in Mansfield with their pretty Special Characters!

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, and I say weekend as I got to meet Andy from Iron Wolves on the Saturday by happen-stance on the table beside us! I had an awesome doubles game with him vs Atreides and then some dinner and a trip around the Warhammer Hall of Fame. There's been a good bit of banter since the weekend, largely positive, while it is a little disappointing to see a couple of the comments, it can all be taken in good nature. But I think on the whole most people are really geared up for the second one, and really have a good idea of what they want to do (Ezekiel will be trying to Mind Worm Draigo in our rematch on Table 1 next time Marc!!).

Anyway, onto my report. I plan to do a mini-user profile of the guys I faced up against and spread the love a bit, all 3 rank up there with some of the nicer guys I've had the pleasure to play against.

GAME ONE: Capture and Control - Spear Head

I faced up against Andy (Fudal) from Claws and Fists and the first thing that struck me was how much more organised they were than us. With Ven failing to get us our T-Shirts, the C&F guys turned up with both the tee's and dice! 

Bully's Deathwing - List & Discussion

Let's take a ride aboard the Bully Train...with one week to go before Brighton Warlords 1500 singles tournament, where is Bully at? Ed. 

Deathwing - My Tourney List + Option Discussion

So I've done a couple of WIP posts - with another 2 or 3 to come before the army is done (Tourney is at the start of April - my WIP currently is essentially detailing the entire army, with very little "bulk" painting left so to speak, other than the arms/shoulders of the terminators). But since lists and discussions on units seem to always been reader favourites - other than battle reports, I thought I'd chime in with my Deathwing list and discussion points.

So I'll go through the main unit's that you can use / look to see in Deathwing armies. Right off the bat I am going to discount some units - and I'll give the reason why.

This is a Deathwing force - meaning Belial and DW Terms as the core - at 1500 you shouldn't really be seeing any less than 3 units + Belial - which is the better part of 900 points, your using these to replace tactical marines available in the codex (the only troop choice), rather than support.

Additionally the likes of bikes as troops with Samael is something we're not looking at - as thats a different army entirely in my eye's (also if you want a Ravenwing Army, I seriously do suggest the vanilla codex - it represents the force much better with a command squad and better options all round).