I hate GW (they make me buy models).

...... but not for the reasons you think.

Hey folks. 

I am buried knee deep in boxes of models and its because I can't stick with one system. Lots of people I know just play one or two systems and concentrate on those, I just can't seem to be able to do this. 

Our hobby seems to be booming at the moment. If there was ever a "golden age" I think its now. There are some great systems out there right now with Bolt Action, Warmachine, Malifaux etc and I am into them all but GW are just flying right now. Some people might say that their rules systems are not that tight and that their pricing structure is high. But what keeps me coming back to them time and time again is that their models are simply amazing - and no one can argue that. I also love the back ground it is so detailed and it allows so many oppotunities in army design and conversion its untrue. 

Example - I am in the process of finishing my 40K Chaos Army. For Christmas I got the new Imperial Army book that features a Heretic Army list. This has just opened a whole new list of themes and possibilities for my Chaos force its untrue and I suspect that my wallet will feel the pain - who wouldn't want a unit of 40 Plague Zombies with their Chaos Marines? (doesn't help that I am in the middle of watching the Walking Dead either).

Ku'garth the GUO  of Nurgle.

So what has happened this month? Well I finished the Glotkin model, I am going to use this as a Great Unclean one, specifically the character GUO Ku'garth. I rocked him out at the club this week he managed to avoid the new model curse and he didn't die to the first shot of the game. He managed to romp up the pitch and smash up a few Tau.

I have continued to work on my Chaos Space Marines with the target of getting them finished soon, I am focused... honest. I have finished the Predator and the Lord on a bike and the Biker unit. I am still not totally decided on a list wether to go totally Marine or to ally in some Daemons or Renegade Guard Units.

Talking about Renegade units I have been trawling through the Imperial Armour 13 book which is focused on Imperial Renegades. Many years ago GW release a book called "The Eye of Terror" I think which had a Renegade list in and I built an army using Imperial Guard and Zombie plastics. Its been in a box for years but the IA13 book as allowed me to unpack it and see what I have got. I have put together a list using the book and I have all the models apart from a couple of tanks so I suspect its an army that will hit the table soon. As mentioned earlier I can also use them as allies to my new Marines so I suspect this will be a very Nurglely year.

Predator

Predator

Nurgle Chaos Lord on Bike

Burgle Bike Unit

Some.... err.... Zombies.

So before I got focused on finishing the Marines I bought a box of Zombies and stuck a bunch together. There is just something cool about a bunch of Zombies on the table top and being a big fan of the Zombie film genre I can't wait and using the IA13 rules they will have a 4+ FNP save!!! Even I know thats pretty awesome.




Also this month (again before I got focused) I painted a Blood Angel Dreadnaught.... I got a bit distracted in GW when the new Blood Angles codex was released..... maybe a new army project for the future. I also painted Sanguinary Priest... I know... focus (but it is a lovely model).

Blood Angels Librarian Dreadnaught. 

Sanguinary Priest

Back to the Nurgle theme for a moment. One of the questions I am still debating with the Nurgle Daemon army is Daemon Prince/Soul Grinder or two Daemon Princes. Well I have tried the first option for a bit so now I am going to  give the second one a go. This meant painting another Daemon Prince. The model below I have had since it was first released, I can't remember when that was but it was a long time ago, at least ten years. This is the original metal model and it didn't come with wings. When I stuck it together I did it as it came out of the box, so I had to pull off the two parts of the backpack and I can tell you that ten year old superglue is solid. Once off I attached some wings from the LotR Balrog kit and modelled some Green Stuff round the joins. Paint was then applied with the same scheme as I have used for the Daemons, this fella also has some armour so I used the same scheme as I have been doing for my Chaos Marines.

Daemon Prince of Nurgle.

Daemon Prince of Nurgle.

And finally...... Still on a bit of a Lord of the Rings kick I dug out Gwaihir from my model archive. This is again another model I have had since release, this is the original metal, not the new Finecast. I have got a game of LotR lined up at the end of Feb, still not sure what army to take but it might have an Eagle them.

Until Next time... 

Nurgle Completion

Hey Folks...

So after all my moaning about my inability to finish something, I have actually finished something!!!! My Nurgle Daemon 40K army is now finished to 1850 points, now of course no army is ever finished but I have a fully painted 1850 points to start with. I suspect there might be some changes after a few games but the whole purpose of this army was to have something a little different and that looked awesome on the table.

Last week I actually got to put in on the table and general opinions were that it looked awesome, so job done. But was it any good? Well in its first game I played against some Space Wolves, in the early turns I was getting a spanking but then somehow I managed to pull it back to a draw. So what did I learn?

1. Plaguebearers are crap. They are only good at getting in the way of things, although they are surprisingly good at knocking out vehicles with their special Plague Sword rule.

2. Ku'Garth is awesome. I actually started him in reserve but I think next time I will start him on the table. He has one thing that Daemons lack and that is some shooting, an AP3 pie plate with desent range should be on the table turn 1. The risk is that he gets shot up but with decent setup and his stats he should be safe.

3. Plague Flies. Undecided as yet, they got to do one charge, lost and the then double sixed their instability and left the table.

4. Beasts. Very good, they pretty much munch through anything and 4 wounds is very handy.

5. Soulgrinders. Not sure yet, they did ok but nothing special.

6. Helldrake. Amazing, but then what else did you expect?

All-in-all I am happy with it as an army and I think it will take a few more games for me to fully get to grips with it.

Here are a couple of pictures of my finished Helldrake, it uses the Forge World Plague Drone model at either end and the body of a Tyrannid monstrous creature, i really like it and think it fits in with the theme of the army.

So what else has been happening in my hobby time? I have actually decided to go to an event this year in the form of the GW Throne of Skulls Hobbit tourney (used to be LotR). I used to be a regular at GW events but it actually all got a bit too competitive for me. Maybe its an age thing but the armies that started turning up weren't really what I would call a proper army, they were just find the most powerful thing and spam it to death. I don't like to play that way, if thats your bag then fine it just wasn't mine so I stopped going. With the Hobbit game however you can't really do that, you can make powerful lists of course but I think the mechanics of the game allow everyone a fair shot. SO I have delved into the cases that were sitting in the back of the cupboard and dragged out my LotR figures.

What army? I have a ton of models for the game as its actually one of my favourites, this year its 600 points which is a nice level, it allows powerful models but at the cost of numbers so its a risky business. I had several main choices: -

1. Helmsdeep (Rohan Cav with Elves).
2. Goblins and Spiders.
3. Dwarves.

I actually got all the models for these out on the table, I like to look at the physical army once I have done the list, it helps me to see it more rather than just looking at it on paper. I love the Goblins and Spiders but I have taken them to a lot of events before, the Rohan/Elves just didn't look enough models. If you go for low model count then they need to have decent armour.... so Dwarves it is. They are a nice middle ground, although fairly light on numbers they are rock hard and have some great characters for a decent points cost. they also have the added bonus of being all painted. Once I came up with a decent list it turns out I needed a couple more models as some characters have been added since I last played so they have been purchased and are awaiting the application of paint. Five models is all I need to do and then the others need a bit of a tidy up and maybe some rebasing as they are approaching 10 years old.

Gorman De Wulfe

Warmachine has also been getting some love and I have added to a couple of bits to the Convergence of Cyriss army, I had my first game with them recently. I lost due to a pure caster placement on my part allowing the opponent to shoot him, my opponent would have died next turn as his caster was the only model he had left so it was purely bad play from me. I really liked them, you have to think very hard about the order you do things as they are an army that work by utilising all the other parts and not just rushing forward. On their own the models don't seem that great but when you combine them correctly they are awesome. I will defiantly be putting some table time in with them, at first I am just going to pick a couple of casters and try to learn them rather than go with different ones each time. I also painted up Gorman De Wulfe, he is neat little Merc that can help to nullify Jacks.

So whats next? Going to put 40K aside for a while after finishing the Daemons, although I have a couple of FW Mechanicus models I want to paint, just for painting them. If I do another 40K army then they might be a choice. Otherwise I want to get the rest of my Khador models finished so that they are all done, I might need another list for those. Still have some Flames of War to finish to but I have reduced the model pile a bit as I haven't bought anything for a while which is good, although its Salute next month and it would be rude not to make a few purchases right?

Chaos Sorcerer of Nurgle

Here are a couple of extra bits, in order to get the Helldrake into the Daemon army I have had to ally with Chaos Marines so I therefore needed a HQ, I went with a Chaos Sorcerer as I love this model from ForgeWorld.

Chaos Sorcerer of Nurgle and Plague Marines

And finally for you oldies out there.... we played a few games of Necromunda this month. I haven't played it for years but I knew I had got this model in one of my boxes from when the game came out that was still unpainted. I guess this fella must be pushing 20 years old... and I just got round to painting him. I think he must be the oldest model I own that hasn't been painted.

Underhive Scum

Until next time...

Return of the Nurgle

Hey Folks.... Its been a while since the last post, house moving is a pain and seems to take a lot longer than you think it will. I am still in the process of getting everything setup, I have a painting desk finally so have started to paint again after a long break. The man cave has been done, well the basics anyway. Only one casualty - one of my display cases door shattered on the way up the stairs, not sure what happened but it was roughly 5 minutes after I had said "I got these from Argos and they have lasted ages".

What I have done is made a decision - I need to finish off one of my semi completed 40K projects and the most advanced is my Nurgle Daemons. Its so close to completion that it won't take much to get it done. I have been playing with a few list ideas but for this army I am just going to go with what I like the look of, not going to pay too much attention to whats powerful or the latest net list.

Having looked at the net lists they seem to revolve around maxed out flying Daemon Princes with minimal troops and some allied Chaos Space Marines to allow access to a Helldrake. I would love a Helldrake in the army as the one thing my list is going to lack is the ability to deal with flyers but this is just something I am going to have to try and deal with. I will have a couple of Soul Grinders that can shoot flyers but not sure how affective they will be.

The reason I don't like the maxed out DP lists are they just look lope sided, why would an army have all the most power things but minimal troops? It just doesn't look right to me.

So this is the 1850 list I am going to start with, still a few points left as I need to decide on Icons and Gifts.

Ku'gath Plaguefather.
Daemon Prince (Wings).
Soul Grinder.
Soul Grinder.
5 or 6 Plague Drones.
3 Beasts of Nurgle.
10 Plaguebearers.
10 Plaguebearers.
10 Plaguebearers.
10 Plaguebearers.
10 Plaguebearers.
7 Nurglings.

I am going for the Horde approach as thats what I think Daemons would do, open a rift and then pile through. I went for Ku'gath as I want to use the Forge World model and its suitably impressive that it could only be Ku'garth. Plus he also has a useful ranged attack as well as being rock hard.

The flying DP can zip around and take out those hard to reach targets as the rest of the army is slow, he can also help to deal with flyers.

The Soul Grinders also have a Skyfire attack so can help out on the flyer front, the Phlegm Cannon is also good against infantry and they are good at taking out hard targets in close combat.

The Flies can run up the pitch and help to get some accurate deep strikes with icons and are also pretty good in combat.

Then lots of troops in the form of Plaguebearers. These will go for objectives, the only concern is not running Heralds to give them Feel No Pain. As the PB's lack any real damage output and with there being so many I am thinking the points spent on Heralds could be used on other things.

The Nurglings are there because I think they look cool and why not use them.

So thats the list, I don't think its going to be mega competitive in the current game which is dominated by shooting but I think as an army it will look awesome. As I mentioned before I have pretty much got all the models already so there won't be much to buy and with the paint scheme I have it won't take a lot of work to get it to the table. With the other armies I was considering (Deathwing or Eldar) I would basically be starting from scratch.

P.S.

So work has begun, Christmas has just come and gone and Santa was kind. The Forgeworld Greater Daemon model, three Plague Toads and a Plague Drone were deposited in my stocking. Also got some vouchers which meant I could purchase the extra Plague Drones and Nurglings. So I think I have all the models I need.

I managed to finish the Greater Daemon over the Christmas holidays. Plague Toads (which I will be using as Beasts) are next.

Forgeworld Greater Daemon of Nurgle. 

Until next time...

It's not easy being green.

Hey Folks...

So my Daemon exploits continue, with the release of the Daemon codex and preparing for the game we are running at Salute this year, painting Daemons has been a bit of a theme for me over the last couple of weeks.

For my own army I am going to try an all Nurgle force, I think it should do ok although I am a bit concerned at the lack of shooting, to cover this I am thinking about trying to get some Chaos Marine allies in there to add a bit of shooting, namely some Plague Marines. Initially I am going pure Daemon and then I will see how it goes. For the Salute game we also need some Plaguebearers and a couple of Heralds so I have finished painting them up, so thats the Salute game covered plus the bulk of my own force.

For the Salute game the only thing I have left to paint is the Dreadknight for the Grey Knights, he is pretty much done, I just need to finish a couple of details.

Herald and squad of Plaguebearers

This is a shot of the new plastic Herald with his unit, the new Herald is an awesome model, I put him on a bigger base and added some spare Nurglings to make him stand out from the normal Plaguebearers although its sheer size is enough to do that.

Herald of Nurgle

With the new Daemon release we got Nurgle Plague Drones. I bought a box of these on release day with the intention of having a big unit in the army, even though I had models to paint for Salute I couldn't help but paint one of these guys up to see what they looked like. I wasn't sold on these when I first saw the pictures but now I have put one together and painted it I am liking it. It's a really nice size, not too big but big enough to look intimidating on the table, a unit of these swooping across the board should hopefully give my opponent something to worry about whilst the rest of the army turn up. 

Nurgle Plague Drone

As I mentioned earlier I am thinking about adding in some Plague Marine allies to help out on the shooting front so I tried out a test model. I used the same technique as I did with the Daemons basically washes over a White Undercoat. I added a more green tint to separate them out from the Daemons. 

Nurgle Plague Marine

And finally, Slaanesh Daemons actually look pretty tasty in this edition. I had some Daemonettes lying around from the last release so I thought I would try out the same technique on them as I had with the Nurgle stuff. So I undercoated the model White but this time I actually painted the armour Silver and the claws a darker Blue. I then washed the whole model with a couple of different Blue/Purple washes. I really liked the affect this has as even though there are painted colours the application of washes over everything ties in the colour and adds a natural shading to the painted areas. This technique works well on Nurgle stuff as the models are all skin and I wasn't sure if the same technique would work on models with armour and bits that are different colours but I think it works pretty well. I will be interested to see how it works on something like Seekers. So I have added Slaanesh onto the possible additions to my army once the Nurgle stuff is done.

So thats it for this post, hoping to get some Khador stuff painted soon I suspect Daemons are going to take up a lot of my time over the next few weeks. 

Until next time...

Nurgle Dilemma.

Hey Folks.

Following on from my recent Nurgle Inspiration post I have pretty much painted all the Nurgle models I currently have and I think they look awesome. So this brings me to a bit of a dilemma - what to do with them?

There are a few options : -

1. Build a complete 1850 Nurgle Daemon army.
2. Build an 1850 Daemon army with Nurgle stuff mixed in.
3. Build an 1850 Chaos Marine army with some Nurgle Daemon allies.

I would like to do an all Nurgle army as I think they would look really cool and, as we all know, I do like a good theme but from a competitive view point the army would be very limited and maybe a little boring to play. 40K is now very much a shooting game and in that respect Daemons are very limited. However rumour has it that there is going to be a new Daemon Codex out very soon which could change things.

A mixed Daemon army can be competitive and I have most of the models for this kind of build. I have mixed feelings about the mixed Daemons, the original fluff about Daemons that was written into the original "Slaves to Darkness" and the "Lost and the Damned" books explained how Daemons allied to certain gods would not fight in an army with Daemons from other gods, of course in the game that 40K is GW would be limiting people and potentially limiting sales if they kept this in place, but for someone who read those books and knows the background the mixed Daemon list still goes against that subliminal message in the back of the mind that Khorne and Tzeentch would never fight together no matter how good Fateweaver with a unit of Khorne Bloodcrushers sounds.

A Chaos/Daemon allies army could be cool, Plague Marines and PlagueBearers etc. I have knocked up a couple of army lists and I am not keen on the builds, you don't get much once you have factored in the points needed for the allies. There are some great combos, Plague Marines with Epidemius allied in is a great combination, also pile in a massive unit of Cultists and then when the Tally hits 20 those cultists are going to be ripping apart everything they come into contact with.

So..... many options there, I love the way these models look, the painting technique was a real eye opener for me, I tend to paint everything in a particular style and this was very much a different technique for me and I think it looks great and a whole army of Nurgle Daemons would look really cool.

I have other 40K armies, and those are designed to be more competitive, so I think based on this I am going to go down the all Nurgle route, it will be an army based on aesthetics rather than competitiveness and I will probably take my time in anticipation of a new Codex coming out in the near future.

So here are the models. 

Essentially the paint scheme is a White undercoat with various washes applied to the skin areas. After this the details are picked out in appropriate colours. Its really simple and very quick and it looks very striking. 

Until next time...