Black Library Books

Just picked this up today when I went to the bookstore to find the new Ravenor book (which wasn't there).

I have been really impressed with the writers I have been exposed to from the Black Library. Dan Abnett and Graham McNiel are really top rate. I would go as far as to say that Dan Abnett ranks up there with some of the top military Sci-Fi authors that I have ever read. For sure he is comparable to John Scalzi, Orson Scott Card and Heinlein. Graham is no slouch either and with the Fulgrim book he is really top rate.

At first I was really a Sci-Fi snob when it game to the 40k books since I have always considered series books like these that are based on Games, TV shows or whatever to be cheese. But the Eisenhorn book and then the rest I have devoured has really changed my mind. I came to playing 40k pretty late but with the combination of a fun miniature game and a great universe that is being built up constantly by these authors it has me hooked.

Now if only GW would really start driving their mini and codex releases based more around these books that would be awesome. :)

GameNight a Success

Everyone showed up and we had some great games. I was pretty happy because I was able to make room for up to 5 tables but in the end we only needed 3. Thanks to everyone that came and helped pull it all together. Hopefully we can make this more of a common event. Here is a little pic of my poor Daemon Princes getting munched by Ryan's unpainted eldar Seer Council.

Getting ready

Getting last minute stuff together and still agonizing over which army to play. I think I might end up flipping a coin when people arrive.

Teaching my son some 40k

For the first time I ran a little small skirmish game with my 5 year old son tonight. I mostly did it to help him work on counting and a little math. He had a lot of fun and got to whoop on my sisters with a ton of daemons. Don't know how much if any of the rules stuck but it was a cool little counting game for him, taught him how to roll dice and measure with a tape measure.

Getting ready for game night

Looking like we will be having 4 tables in action. Got the plywood boards cut today for 6X4 and started cleaning up my terrain. W00T this should be a good time.

Daemon Prince Wings update

Got the wings on and started painting things up last night. They fit really well and I am pretty happy with em. The only problem I can think of is that now there is no way in hell that I can hide them behind anything :(.

list for this weekend's game

Sorta trying to decide whether to go with a really competitive list with my CSMs or run my Sisters for fun.

For CSM's I am thinking

2 Daemon Princes with Lash/Wings/Mark of Slannesh

2 Plague Marine squads 7 marines/2 meltas/1 AC with Pfist Rhinos

1 Khorne Zerker Squad 7 beserkers/1 Plasma Pistol/1 AC with Power Weapon Rhino

2 CSM Squads 10 marines/2 meltas/Chaos glory banner

3/2 Obliterator Squads

1849 Points

For Sister I am thinking

1 Canoness with Wings/Blessed Weapon/Inferno Pistol/Mantle/Cloak/Book

1 Seraphim Squad 5 Seraphim 2 HFs, 1 Vet Superior with Eviserator/Book

5 Battle Sister Squads 10 Sisters 1 Hvy Flamer, 1 Melta/1 Vet Superior with CombiF/Book all in Rhinos with EA/Smoke

3 Exorcists with Smoke

1849

I really want to field the Marines that I worked on but I also have some new girls that haven't had a chance to play. The problem for me is that I love playing the Sisters it just frustrating that they feel like the board is slanted against them. Maybe it also comes from playing CSMs a bunch and being on the other side of the spectrum.

Beer for a game night

I am thinking about providing beer for the little game night but like everyone these days I am on a tight budget. So the only solution I can think of is PBR. I know it get classified as a "cheap beer" but it is actually pretty good cold and for playing games is nice cause it doesnt knock ya out.

Plague Marines first wave done

Got my first 14 Plague Marines done which sets me up for the little Game night this week. I am pretty happy with how they turned out and cant wait to put them on the table. Now I just need to get the Wings painted and work on my dodgy Land Raider and I will be good to go

Asha Greyjoy

This is a mini from the Dark Sword Minatures Fire & Ice series and is of Asha Greyjoy the Kraken's daughter. She is the one who has some quesionable moments with her brother in the 2nd book and eventually tries to claim the throne. One of my favorite side characters in my favorite Fantasy series. The mini looks pretty awesome and got me thinking that it might be a cool one to convert to a Canoness or something for my girls. I did that for my Flying Nun of Doom and still like it alot and think this one might make a pretty kick ass Living Saint if she had a nice Eviserator or something.

Daemon Prince Wings

I am really happy with the Wings and they almost seem like they are made to fit in. Only problem was that I had to pop off the jet back parts which I am sure will make Ross sad since he put in a ton of time on them. They are the Dragon Wings Part#99120299017 and are $8.25/

Daemon Prince Wings have arrived

Now I can make honest daemons outta them. I am sorta surprised that they just dont come standard with the DP since really why wouldn't you put wings on them. I bet the new DP has wings in it already.

Plague Marine Boltgun Trooper

I am very happy with how the face worked out for this one. Its from an old Grenidier model that was a zombie with a sword. I liked the mini then and I am glad that I could repurpose it for 40k.

Plague Marines second batch

This is my first full conversion batch. They are CSM vanilla marines with the heads from some ancient zombies I had back in college. The one with the horn in the back is a GW head and the fungus/nurgly stuff on them is "green stuff" that I molded into Nurgle symbols and ickky stuff. Also if you look at the guy with the Pfist, I replaced the backpacks jets with horse skulls just to make him stand out as a champ. I am pretty happy with how they turned out and am looking forward to fielding these on a board.

New Meltas

Games Workshop is running a great Bitz deal on Meltas and Plasmas. They are only 6.60 and free shipping for this month. Since Meltas are pretty much a must have in every unit now this is great for getting my CSMs ready. Got a pack coming and some wings to make my Daemon Princes honest.

Foam Found

I have found the FOAM but the cost is making me balk. If you live in the Bay Area; Pacific Supply

has enough 4 inch blue foam to cover a couple city blocks. They told me they are willing to dump it at cost but that cost is $26 a 8'X2' board. What would suck is that you will need 2 to fill out a 6'X4' board but you would have leftovers which is cool. Maybe today I will head over there and grab em just to have something to play with. On the Plague Marine front I got another batch ready for basing and going to start on my last bunch. I am pretty happy with how they are turning out and can wait to convert a couple rhinos to go along with em.

Plague Marines first batch

First 5 done. They are actually the OOP Plague Marines but I really like how they look. They were easy to paint cause the detail was great.

The Quest for FOAM

Still looking. Found a good lead online for Pacific Supply in Downtown San Jose and hoping it works out.

First Plague Marine conversion

This is the first one that has some parts of some ancient metal minis that I had from college. I like how the face looks and used some Green Stuff to get some nice Plague Marine mold on the armor as well.

I am pretty happy with it so far and looking forward to seeing the squad complete.

Plauge Marine Progress

Just feeling fristy with the camera today and wanted to show some progress on the Plague marines today. They are going pretty fast compared to the White armored Sisters. This is the prototype guy and first trooper with the color scheme I am going for. I didn't want to do a traditional Death Guard outfit but wanted to make em fit in with my other Red Corsairs.

PlanetStrike First Impression

Picked up Planetstrike today when I went to see how Ard Boyz was going at Game Kastle. After reading through the rules sections once I have to say that I am pretty dissapointed. I need to play some of the scenarios to really be fair but to me it looks pretty lame. Personally I thought the IG and Space Marine Codex were way better releases with a lot more to add to 40k than this expansion. I seriously regret picking it up and wish I just bought the Ravenor books or the new Gaunt books I haven't read yet. I can't help but think GW wouldnt be better off to invest their time getting another Codex out than this "Expansion".

Missing Ard Boyz

Bummed to be missing Ard Boyz in some ways today but I had to pass on it this year due to too many tourneys and conventions keeping me away. Maybe next year if everything works out. Can't help thinking about the Sisters or CSM list I would of rolled with. I think in the end I would of played Sisters just to be different than the CSM madness.

Getting there

Worked on the LR a bunch last night and started to clean up some more today. Its taking a lot of layers of paint and now I am starting to see some construction flaws that I didnt notice before :(. Also if you look at the Khorne dude thats how asstastic the whole thing looked before I started applying the red coats.

On a mission for FOAM

Trying to figure out where I can get some Blue or Pink foam in the Bay Area. Been looking online and so far its been pretty tough. I guess building supplies companies still haven't really grasped the internet. I have been hoping to find some sorta online store to buy the stuff from but no luck yet. Its too bad that the local game stores just don't sell straight up foam for terrain.

Almost forgot my "FUCK THAT GUY POST" of the week

Vulkan

This guy has caused me some serious angst in tournaments and I really fear him. He is next to impossible to kill, twin links everything which is insane and dishes out tons of damage. He is a Primarch so it makes sense that he is brutal but still he kicks some serious ass. If I ever venture into a SM army it will for sure be Salamanders just cause of him.

Landraider has arrived

Excited to finally have a Land Raider and am looking forward to field it. But I find myself wondering if I will use it much and also the paint job on it is pretty crap. I am gonna have to paint over it since I dont know how well Simple Green will do on a model that large without damaging it.

Dipping

Last night I got intimidated by the idea of doing dipping and backed off it for my Plague Marines. Just started doing some traditional highlights and made a dark green wash. My Guinea pig Marine was finished last night and I think I have the color scheme I want. I am trying to make em fit into the color scheme of all my other Red Corsairs but make them Nurgly.

Plague Marines #2

Still chugging along on them and got 9 all prepped with some nice conversion clay for appropriate Nurgle fungus and such. I am very happy with some of the Zombie heads that I found from my old D&D days. Thinking about trying this technique I checked out at Tabletop-terrain for zombies. I really want the Plague marines to have a nice infected looking look.

Working on Plague Marines

Hopefully I should have some pics soon. I have been working on converting vanilla CSMs that I got into Plague marines and its going pretty well. Luckily I had a bunch of zombies that I used to use for D&D and they are all getting decapitated for conversions. Also trying to custom build some Meltas but I am not sure how well that is going.

Finished the Strain

Took a break from 40k reading mayhem and got a copy of Guillermo Del Toro's new book: The Strain

The book was a great read and I plowed through it in about 4 days. Its sorta the typical vampire hunting book with the old dude that knows it all + Scientist + Hot female Scientist+ Kid/ex-wife=vampire hunting team. It does throw some new curveballs into the mix and also was pretty well writ en. Sorta freaked me out one night reading at my parents in the country, by myself in the dark but other than that it wasn't too scary.

I would recommend the book but the only downside is that you gotta wait a year for the next one and then another year for the one after that.

Rhinos Rhinos Rhinos

Thinking about getting more rhinos so that I can field Plague Marines in them. I am getting really sick of them but I really think that they are the best tank for the points in the game. I know the armor is pretty bogus and it doesn't have any armament but for 35 points its a great cover creator and takes a ton of pounding.

To power list or not

I can't decide whether or not to just roll my CSMs with more ultra-competitive lists or try and add in the fluff. I love the fluff minatures but actually enjoying playing more when I roll the ultra-competitive list. I think it comes from playing WitchHunters for so long and getting curb stomped by Eldar, IG, Orks and Marines over and over again.

Fuck that Guy 2nd Post

Dark Reaper Exarch with Tempest Launcher.

I hate this guy completely. Fuck him and his no cover save, barrage, AP3 template that he can shoot anywhere. He has killed more sisters/CSMs then any other unit that I have ever faced.