Ultramarines: The Movie Review

Right I've jumped on the Movie review band wagon.

But first off I have to explain something about (my) reviewing. Many, many of my fellow bloggers have reviewed this as fans. Hardcore Fans. Fans who will be unforgiving about the smallest of lore mistakes.

I too will review this as Hardcore Fan, but also as a former student of Media and Films. But unlike most as a person who has worked on a major Intellectual Property for a company outside of the IP owner.


This last point is the most important. Regardless of the control the IP owner may or may not have a film or outside project of the IP owner's will always, always be an interpretation of their IP by outsiders - may they be familiar with the IP, fans or the hardcore. No two fans have the exact same view on all things in an IP.

I will try to avoid spoilers, but I can make no guarantees, but with out further ado.........



The Visuals

I know the CGI style has been a massive bone of contention for many people, but it's serviceable and works most of the time. It looked fine up close to the marines but some of the long/far shots did blur a little (like a games console/PC struggling with a high spec game). The Chaplain's armour was awesome, but yet the CSM armour was bland for the most part.

Many people where expecting something akin to any of the Dawn of War Intro's ( One Two ) I wasn't.
Why? Well for starter's its more than common for game's super duper CGI intro's to be done by another company that is not the game makers - even Bungie have done this with Halo. Go and watch the game's credits. Secondly the Budget was tiny without a single penny from Games Workshop, Codex Pictures budget for the whole project (that took 5 years) was probably a lot smaller than the catering budget for 3 months on any major Hollywood film - just think about that before you say you could do better than Codex.

Sound and Music

In my opinion both where spot on.

The voices where spot on for Space Marines, deep but not dumb, while still keeping an edge of restrained arrogance. The Veteran Marines sound spot on as well as the cock sure youngsters. The Bolters sounded... well 'boltery' and the Chainsword sounded like the weaponised garden instrument it should be while being menacing.

Good background music should inspire the desired emotion. Great background music dose that without being noticed.

Plot and Story

Now here's my bone of contention. It's not the story - A simple rescue mission turns to fetch quest goes wrong. Many films have done this perfectly fine. But the plot is just meh. For those who don't know plot is the series of event's that happen in sequence that make the story - plot is what happens, story is what it is all about.

The plot just isn't very inspiring or surprising - opening, basic intro, bit of character building, obvious ambush here, one there, bit of mystery, mistrust, retreat, plot twist, final fight, end.

Maybe the twists and ambushes where obvious as I am a 40k fan, a Sci-Fi fan, and a action movie fan, but they where just lacking. Lacking something beyond anything you can see or hear.

My personal views and musings
Right we all know Dan Abnett wrote the screenplay. But writing a screen play is a diffident kettle of fish than writing a novel. This is one of the many reasons book to film translations have never been purely faithful - even comic book ones.

Abnett's book's and his screenplay are his interpretation of the 40k world, and the film is the director's, the artist's and the actor's interpretation's of Abnett's creation's. It's a series of interpretations of a interpretation of a source which we then interpret - it sounds mad but it's true, but what creates other peoples love or hate of the film is that they also have their interpretations of 40k already in their heads, which explains their love/hate etc.

But what really pee'ved me off was the unnecessary MacGuffins, mainly the Banner - it just wasn't needed, and there was no command squad present - never mind a brave Veteran (without rank) to carry it. While the main body of the banner was pulled taunt as to not flurry around in the wind kind it back fired effect wise because it looked like it was made from cardboard.

Secondary the big plot twist, even a non 40k fan knows what it is because too much time is spent back on the Strike Cruiser at the end before it all kicks off again.

From a fluff/fan point of view the Marines are promoted from Scout to Tactical Squad (in the 2nd Company no less!) in one go, none of the Devastator to Assault to Tactical via the reserve companies nonsense like the 5th edition codex says. Also the Sergeant goes off in the Land Speeder - Say wha-? Background wise Land Speeders and bikes are crewed by Assault Company members or Assault Squad members from the battle company - not the tactical squads.

But yet this un-fluffy series of events is explain in the mini comic that comes with the DVD. If you need a mini comic to explain stuff then don't do that stuff!!

Other niggly stuff included:
Power Armour gave all the Marines "Stormtrooper syndrome"
A Whole Company Dead!!!? (This is a Matt Ward level of stupid!)

Enough of the bad what I really liked was:

The scene where the Sergeant was arming up with the Servitor/Thrall - bloody fantastic and totally in fitting with the background.
The Voice cast where all superb, I quite liked the Apothecary Pythol and he had the funniest line in the film:

Proteus "The Emperor Protects!"
Pythol ".. but having a loaded Bolter never hurt neither"


The delivery and timing was spot on, I've seen it four times now and I always laugh at that bit




Right I'm going to end here now before I just start making lists of low and highlights. There are many things I haven't covered as there is a lot to go though (good and bad). I think it's best to think of this as a "Proof of Concept" or a Pilot episode.


Personally I want to see a "Band of Brothers" style mini series about the Imperial Guard, as when you bring in human characters that people can related to (fans and non fans) that's when things start to click and work.


So a solid 6 out of 10
 Solid, but with plenty of room to make it great.

Merry Christmas!

Well its that time of the year again so here's a Warhammer twist on the 12 Days of Christmas.
Merry Christmas and a Happy Yule time for which ever festival or Holiday you may be celebrating this time of year!


On the first day of Christmas,
Games Workshop gave to me,
A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the second day Christmas Games Workshop gave to me,
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the third day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:
3 Blood Bowl Subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the fourth day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the fifth day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the sixth day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

6 Orks a- WAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!-ing
5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the seventh day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

7 Snotlings sneakin'
6 Orks a- WAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!-ing
5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the eighth day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

8 Sisters repenting
7 Snotlings sneakin'
6 Orks a- WAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!-ing
5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the ninth day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

9 Basilisks booming
8 Sisters repenting
7 Snotlings sneakin'
6 Orks a- WAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!-ing
5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the tenth day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

10 Lootas looting
9 Basilisks booming
8 Sisters repenting
7 Snotlings sneakin'
6 Orks a- WAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!-ing
5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the eleventh day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:

11 Guardsmen Fleeing
10 Lootas looting
9 Basilisks booming
8 Sisters repenting
7 Snotlings sneakin'
6 Orks a- WAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!-ing
5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!


On the twelfth day of Christmas, Games Workshop gave to me:
12 Bolter Rounds
11 Guardsmen Fleeing
10 Lootas looting
9 Basilisks booming
8 Sisters repenting
7 Snotlings sneakin'
6 Orks a- WAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!-ing
5 Impact hits!
4 Miss casts
3 Blood Bowl subs
2 Combat Squads
and A Hive Gang in Necromunda!

Are they in range???

Partly inspired by the Deployment in Action series over at Sons of Sanguinius I got thinking about potential set up for my Space Wolves, and that got me thinking about threat ranges, movement range, and weapon range.

So without further ado here is the product of a few quite hours at work, maths, and my mighty MSpaint skill!


This is a plain 6x4 table set up in Vassal with all 3 Deployment type templates set down on the board.

"Ok John but how does a load of lines and squares help us?"

Well we all normally play on 6 feet by 4 feet tables, so thus we know the outer size of the board. Secondary the deployment variants in the rulebook give us their size and shape too. So a bit a reading and some quick maths can give you a lot of information that applies in every battle.

Lets start with the basics - 6x4 table and what the rulebook gives us:

So the Blue line is 6 feet - or 72 inches
The Red line is 4 feet - 48 inches
The Green line is 3 feet - 36 inches
The White line is 2 feet - 24 inches
The Yellow line is 1 foot - 12 inches
The Brown line is 2 feet - 24 inches

These are all the basic ranges we get from deployment in the rulebook.

But do these numbers look familiar? (12, 24, 36, 48, 72)

They should do as they are all the staple ranges of every main weapon type in the game (except Tau Fire Warrior Pulse Rifles which are 30 inches but they are silly cow people).

Now this may seem like pretty simple stuff to older or veteran players but this kind of information is always good for new players or those looking to step up to the next level or for revision.


Now let use the power of maths - or more specifically the power of the triangle - Pythagorean Theorem!


First off lets look at its possible to pull of a 1st turn assault in Spearhead deployment for beasts, cavalry, open topped transports, assault vehicles or a lucky 6 inch fleet roll:

So we have here is the direct gap between two opposite table quarters labelled C in red.

Now we know from spearhead deployment that each side must be at least 12 inches away from the middle and with the set up shown we know we have a triangle with these two table quarter edges and now we have the third side of the triangle which is our C line in red.

We know now that A and B are both 12 inches so we can find out that distance of C:

a² + b² = c²

12² + 12² = c²

144 + 144 = c²

288 = c²

 

c² =288

c = √288

c = 16.97 inches

So.......

........ this is how a first turn charge is possible for some units, as nipping down the 16.97 inch 'side' of the middle circle is quicker than going straight though the middle of it which is 24 inches!

But it doesn't end there! Using Pythagorean therome again we can get the opposite corner ranges of the table and corner to middle of table range too:

So first corner to corner (red line):

black² + white² = red²

72² + 48² = c²

5184 + 2304 = 7488²

7488 = red²

 

red² = 7488

red²= √7488

red² = 86.53 inches

And the blue line (any corner to middle of board):

green² + yellow² = blue²

36² + 24² = blue²

1296 + 576 = blue²

1872 = blue²

 

blue² =1872

blue² = √1872

blue² = 43.27 inches

Or simply blue is equal to half the red line :p
 
So bring all this maths and MS paint skills together and we get this:

.... pretty much every possible range you could need.

On a side note I have been told by those in the know" that GW want to move towards having every gaming table in all their stores and battle bunkers to be made from the Citadel Realm of Battle Gameboard which is in 2 feet / 24 inch square sections, and these pretty much give you a ruler on the table (without the numbers)!

They say "knowledge if power - guard it well" - so er you didn't read this ok ;p

Till next time!

Playtesting 101

Well after seeking some advice from Kirby and the idea of dropping a couple of Grey Hunters and a Rune priest for 2 Razorbacks with Lascannons and twin linked plasma guns for the Long Fangs seems quite obvious now (Yay for hindsight!)

So this means some play testing. Now play testing should be a piece of piss for me, as those of you who know me should know that I use to be a computer games tester for Free Radical Design before they went bust. I did not work on this. Honest. No sirree George.

 
Anywayyyyyyyyyyy...................... 

while at work today during a quite period I started to write down to pros and cons of each group:

1 Rune Priest + 3 Grey hunters vs 2 Las-plas-backs (Lascannons, TL Plasma gun Razorback).


So the Pros for a Rune Priest and 3 Grey Hunters are:

Pros:

• Psychic Defence
• 2 Psychic Powers (living Lightning + X) 
• Runic Weapon
• +3 Scoring Bodies
•  Need 3/4 Shots/hits to kill off
• Flexible - can shoot stuff and assault stuff

 Cons:

• Vulnerable to small arms (lasguns, bolters etc)
• Can fail important leadership test
• Grey Hunters only have standard kit
• Rune Priest can be shut down by enemy psykers

And for 2 Razorbacks:

Pros:

• Has an armour value so is pretty much immune to small arms fire
• Can move and fire a heavy weapon
• Lascannon and TL Plasma guns gives me much needed Long Range Ap2 fire
• Can't be locked in assault
• Can tank shock and ram
• Is a spare transport for other grey hunter units if their Rhinos get wrecked
• Can get my Long Fangs into good spots in Dawn of War set ups
• Have a 1/3 chance of being destroyed thanks to the damage chart (1/2 vs melta/Ap1)
• Can insta kill MEQ characters.

Cons:

• Can be killed in one lucky shot
• Low armour value
• Hard to give a cover save to
• I have no experience in using them! (note to self: this is what play testing is for dip shit)
• Must be stationary to fire at full effect

At the moment it seems like a decisive victory for the Razorbacks so far, but we have to consider the rest of the army these units are working with:

2 More Rune Priests, 2 Full unit of Grey Hunters with melta and Rhinos, 2 small units of Grey hunters with Rhinos and wolf guard, 2 units of Wolf Scouts with melta guns, and combi melta Wolf Guard, 2 Units of Long Fangs with Missile Launchers, 3 Land Speeders with Multi Meltas and Heavy Flamers.

So 2 Rune Priests offer up a lot of psychic pandemonium already a 3rd is more fun but it would mean 2 in a rhino and reducing that Rhino's Grey Hunters to mere passengers as the Priests "psych out" of the hatch.

I can't see 3 more scoring bodies going that much further, granted I bet there will be times where I rue not having them there but being in the right place at the right time is more important.

2 more vehicles to join a mass of rhinos and land speeders will/should/could help dilute enemy anti-tank fire - this has certainly been the case with my Imperial Guard in the past.

The added Lascannons can take some of the Anti Tank/monstrous creature weight off my poor long fangs and they are mobile too. Then add in the Twin linked plasma guns for when they hit 24" range and rapid fire at 12" then it looks good. Also they add so much needed AP2 fire power out side the 12"/24" my melta weapons.

So I will definitely get 2 Razorbacks and play test around with them and see what works and dose not work, so a slightly reworked list will look something like this:

HQ (210)

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane, Chooser of the Slain = 110

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf = 100

Elites (292)

5 Wolf Scouts, Melta Gun =80

5 Wolf Scouts, Melta Gun =80

4 Wolf Guard (2x Power fist, 4 Combi Meltas) = 132

Troops (655)

10 Grey hunters, 2 Melta Guns, Wolf Banner, Mark of the Wulfen = 180

Rhino = 35

10 Grey hunters, 2 Melta Guns, Wolf Banner, Mark of the Wulfen = 180

Rhino = 35

5 Grey Hunters, 1 Melta Gun, = 80

Rhino = 35

5 Grey Hunters, 1 Flamer = 75

Rhino = 35

Fast Attack (210)

Land Speeder Tornado, Multi Melta, Heavy flamer = 70

Land Speeder Tornado, Multi Melta, Heavy flamer = 70

Land Speeder Tornado, Multi Melta, Heavy flamer = 70

Heavy Support (380)

5 Long Fangs, 4 Missile Launchers = 115

Razorback, Lascannon, Twin Linked Plasma Gun = 75

5 Long Fangs, 4 Missile Launchers = 115

Razorback, Lascannon, Twin Linked Plasma Gun = 75

1747

Till next time folks!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Paladins of Steel: Background for a new chapter

Chapter name:
Paladins of Steel

Founding Chapter: Iron Hands
Founding: Unknown
Chapter Master: Cartecian Valence
Home world: Voldoth Prime
Battle Cry: "Steel your flesh, steel your mind, steel yourselves"

The Paladins of Steel are the only Iron Hands successor chapter who carry on their parent chapter's trait of using bionics extensively (unlike the Red Talons, Brazen Claws, and Sons of Medusa). But they turn their views to their minds and souls too, so unlike the Iron Hands they have Chaplains too. Along with a wealth of bionic upgrades and replacements the Paladins of Steel also use small microchips in the brains of some of their battle brothers, mainly in those who have had their brains to waiver with age, gone made or simply have been partially brain damaged. Sadly the microchips have a high burnout rate as mankind lacks the knowledge for such sophisticated technology.

In addition to their extensive use of bionics, the Paladins of Steel also live long lives (by Astartes standards), nearly as long as the Blood Angels, but sadly many older battle brothers go mad with age, why this is unknown and the chapter's Apothecary's and Chaplains are ferociously looking for a cure. For the time being the use of microchips to try and correct the Battle Brothers behaviour and lessen their senses, but eventually these fail burn out most of the time and all that is left is a crazed Marine who is extremely irrational and is reduced to the level of a instinctual predator. But they are extremely resistant due to their microchips and bionic upgrades regardless of their original mental affliction. Once reduced to this stage the rate of mental decomposition is extremely rapid in many Battle Brothers and many end up either brain dead or totally insane. Over the time the Chapter has learned that extreme coolness can slow the process of brain and microchip burn out, so such deranged Battle Brothers who survive a battle are kept in cryo stasis in between battles till needed.

The deranged battle brothers are rounded up by the Chapters Chaplains and Apothecary's into units commonly known as "Predator Units." Severely effected battle brothers sometimes end up as laughing men who sound like they are speaking, laughing, and roaring in machine code. All effort is made to keep such Predator units away from members of the Ministoium (who think they are possessed) or Adeptus Mechanicus (who want to tinker with them). Such efforts make the Paladins of Steel seem secretive with something to hide - despite having their gene-seed cleared many times by the Inquisition and the High Lords of Terra.

The Paladins of Steel have a very large number of Dreadnoughts in their Chapter along with a wide array of weaponry tp choose from. Even the Techmarines have also came up with many modifications to the power fists, chains fists and combat weapons used by the chapter's Ironclads including variations of Lightning claws, Thunder Hammers and even force weapons for Librarians. It is not uncommon for a Company, even the Chapter it self to be lead by a Dreadnought. But sadly like their more biological Battle Brothers some Dreadnoughts can go mad with old age too. If this happens the luckless Dreadnought is given a pair of power fists or claws and pointed towards the enemy.

Test colour scheme:
(imperial fist symbol is a place holder)

Me! The internet trend setter!

Those of you who know me around on the forums will know that I have been tinkering with a Dreadnought heavy list (once the Space Wolves are done).

Final list will look something like this:

Using the Blood Angels Codex:

HQ (130)

Reclusiarch Chaplain = 130pts

Elites (525)

Furioso Dreadnought; Librarian, Force Weapon, Psychic Hood, Smoke Launchers, Shield of Sanguinius, Wings of Sanguinius = 175pts

Furioso Dreadnought; Librarian, Force Weapon, Psychic Hood, Smoke Launchers, Shield of Sanguinius, Wings of Sanguinius = 175pts

Furioso Dreadnought; Librarian, Force Weapon, Psychic Hood, Smoke Launchers, Shield of Sanguinius, Wings of Sanguinius = 175pts

Troops (985)

20 Death Company, 1 power fist, 2 power weapons, 3 hand flamers = 485

Death Company Dreadnought, Blood Fists, Storm Bolter, Melta gun = 125pts

Death Company Dreadnought, Blood Fists, Storm Bolter, Melta gun = 125pts

Death Company Dreadnought, Blood Talons, Storm Bolter, Melta gun = 125pts

Death Company Dreadnought, Blood Talons, Storm Bolter, Melta gun = 125pts

Heavy Support (360)

Dreadnought, 2x Twin Linked Autocannons = 120pts

Dreadnought, 2x Twin Linked Autocannons = 120pts

Dreadnought, 2x Twin Linked Autocannons = 120pts

Total: 2000pts

You can see the evolution of this crazy list here:
 here,
here,
and here

And looks what pooped up on the big sites in the last 2 days:
Bell of Lost Souls
Stelek's super fun happy place

Look familiar in any way?

It's my blog and I can ego stroke if I want too :p

Till next time!

RRoD is good for the Wolves!

Well my X-box has just suffered from the dreaded Red Ring of Death, meaning no more Black Ops for me :(

But it does mean I have no excuse for getting back to my Space Wolves and painting them! (Perhaps it's a sign from Russ himself :p).

So time to get of my fat ass from fragging random children and dig out my paint brushes again, as it takes around 3-4 weeks form Microsoft to fix it, and add in Christmas shift patterns and postage then make it 2011

So what does War Gaming have in common with Call of Duty???

*Sub-titled I've done nothing but work and play Black Ops*

But on a serious note playing on-line and hearing people bemoan weapon X, perk X, camping, etc dose have some things in common with war gaming - at least in my experience.

So for example:

"The FAMAS is over powered!"
and........
"Space Wolves/Imperial Guard are over powered"

Lazy people will always take to path of least resistance for victory, but will always come unstuck against a better player who has an understanding of the game(s), for example little Johnny net list will copy a list from a website but will never understand how it really works, it's little tricks, how it flows, and it's nuances.

"You only won because you camped"

Well who's the dumb-ass for running into the same meat grinder over and over!! The only Warhammer comparison I can think of is someone who plays a pure assault army and loses cos he got shot up...... or...

"You only won cos you had tanks" (or insert unit X here)

I got this of a fellow IG player who had more tanks than my Space Wolves!!! Leman Russ Punisher, 2 Chimeras and a Hellhound vs a Solo Land Raider and 2 Rhinos - yeah. And I won that game thanks to........... my Wolf Scouts and Wolf Guard Battle Leader with Saga of the hunter who all out flanked.

If you cannot truly understand why you lost, then you will lose time and time again the same way. Personally I would rather win a good, closely fought game over a one sided ass whooping any day of the week. I am always free to discuss a game afterwards with an opponent and how the battle ebbed and flowed - what worked and what didn't (normally my Land Raiders) or who was uber lucky!

Or perhaps it's just over the last few weeks I have had enough of people's whiny crappy "can't do" attitude, or "It's the lag", "He's a noob tubing camper", or "Codex Creep" - personally I think it's a case of adapt or die.

So am I a young grumpy old man or have I grown up and seen the light?

I think it's best to finish this small post (or mini rant if you will) with my favourite quote:

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. 

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.” ~ Bruce Lee

Army building on the cheap and me

For those of you who know me personally will know that I have spent the last 2 years in and out of employment due to the rescission and George Lucas. (I have a job now so no worries any more). So trying to continue gaming and building a army has been hard.


The best sources I have found for building a cheap army are:


E-bay - I got super cheap Space Marine scouts still on the frame, and some bits to repair tanks etc.
(This is quite obvious for most savvy gamers nowadays)

Webstores - Cheaper Space Wolf Pack box sets
(Most have a good 10-15% discount on normal high street prices)

Trading - see examples below (This oddly has been my main source)

Your old armies - see below (If you have been gaming as long as I have then you have some old minis knocking around)


Most folk know of good web stores like Firestorm Games, Wayland Games,and Malestrom Games, as well as e-baying little Timmy's old marine army.


For my Space Wolves I have traded bits for bits. I have gotten a Land Speeder for my old Dark Angels Codex, a Rhino for a truck load of Imperial Guard tank accessories, a few Space Marines bikers for the metal Bjorn the Fell Handed Dreadnought, as well as bits for other bits (arms, weapons etc).


Some popular forums now have trading areas but as with internet activity buyer beware. 40kforoldmen, 40kforums, and Warseer all have trade areas, and I guess many others do too.


My last source for cheap gaming is old models and armies. My Space Wolves are probably 70% recycled from my old Space Marine army - the Sons of Aran, or as they are more commonly know as - The Tic Tacs (hence my username). I did this by stripping down my old Space Marines of paint and where possible break the models up in to sections (arms, legs, torso etc) though to be honest quite a few fel to bits in the stripping process!

So a Space Marine went from this:

8 Year old Metroid fan boy to....

To this: (a very unfinished Space Wolf):

.......... badass Space Viking!

So what has been recycled in the above model?

Legs, Shoulder pads, and the back pack.

I have some models where it's all old Space Marine parts except for the Space Wolf head, or the legs, or just the arms. Some models are purely Space Wolf. It's a credit to the sheer number of bits you get in the Space Wolves pack set that you can kit bash so much.

While mixing the 2 sets of kits I kept to (vaguely) strict system of the more senior the Space Wolf the more "wolfy" bits which kind of fits the background as they acquire talismans, honours and such things over time. So my Blood Claws are quite plain with only a few Space Wolf bits, and my Grey Hunters have a larger selection of Space Wolf bits - mainly weapons, torso, legs.

Using the above guideline I have made 2 Space Wolf pack box sets and my old Space Marines to make over 60 Grey Hunters, 20 Blood Claws and a few Wolf Guard!

I would like to thanks those who I have traded bits with over the last few months:

The Student (40kforoldmen)
TheUnnamableOne (that's really his name) (40kforoldmen)
Kingfig (40kforoldmen)
edmundblack (40kforoldmen, 40kforums.com)

My poor abused fingers for stripping models!


Lasty I would like to thanks those of you who have helped me personally during my unemployment - Suzie W, Suzanne T, Mook, Tom (thanks for asking me to be your best man!) and the rest of "Da Wot Notts", Lucy and Ken, my family, and my girl friend Lucy.

Evolution of the Army List

Well I had my first two games at 1,750pts yesterday. It's a bit of a strange points cost for me as my friends and I tend to play 1,500, 2,000 or Apocalypse.

So I wrote a list with models that I have (bar 2) and this is what I used yesterday:

HQ (315)

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane, Saga of the Beast Slayer = 110

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Storm Caller, Wolf Tail talisman = 105

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf= 100

Elites (204)

5 Wolf Scouts, Melta Gun = 85

3 Wolf Guard, 2x Power fist + Combi Melta, 1 x Wulfen = 119

Troops (820)

10 Grey hunters, 2 Plasma Guns, Wulfen, Wolf Standard = 185

10 Grey hunters, 1 Flamer, 1 Plasma Gun, Wulfen, Wolf Standard = 175

10 Grey Hunters, 2 Melta Guns, Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Power Weapon = 195

Rhino = 35

10 Grey Hunters, 2 Melta Guns, Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Power Weapon = 195

Rhino = 35

Fast Attack (230)

Land Speeder Typhoon, Heavy Bolter = 90

Land Speeder, Multi Melta, Heavy Flamer = 70

Land Speeder, Multi Melta, Heavy Flamer = 70

Heavy Support (180)

4 Long Fangs, 3 Missile Launchers = 90

4 Long Fangs, 3 Missile Launchers = 90

1749

In my first game I played my friend Liam's Eldar. He had:

Eldrad and Seer Council in a Wave Serpent with TL Shuirkan Cannons and hull mounted cannon too.

A Farseer with Guide

2 War Walkers with 2 Missile Launchers each.

11 Storm Guardians, 2 Fusion Guns, Warlock with Enhance and a Wave Serpeant as above.

Guardian Defenders, Bright Lance, Warlock with Conceal.

7/8 Striking Scorpions with Exarch with twin chain sabres.

2 Vibro Cannons

Game was Capture and Control (1 objective each) with Spearhead deployment (Table Quaters).

In other words the classic "draw" scenario that plays in to a fast army's hands (ie Eldar)

Liam reserved his whole army so the first 2 turns nothing really happened. His army turned up on turn 3 (nasty). Short of the story was that Liam hasn't played in a while and was in a "6 turn game" mind set so didn't have my objective contested and just wasn't close enough to hold his, so when he rolled for turn the game ended in 5 and he lost.

So a bit of a hollow victory to be honest but if there was to be another turn he would of lost the last of his scoring units more than likely, and I might have his objective while mine is contested (dice permitting).

2nd Game was against my friend Ben's Imperial Guard. I'm a BIG guard player myself so I know his bag of tricks and what's to come. He had:

Primaris Psyker

2 Squads of Veterans with 3 Plasma Guns, Lascannon, in a Chimera with 2 Heavy Bolters

2 Squads of Veterans with 3 Melta Guns, Lascannon

2 Vendettas, with Heavy Bolter Sponsons (Melta Vets ride in these)

2 Leman Russ Demolishers with 3 Heavy Bolters

2 Banewolves

Mission wise we got a good old fashioned slaughter - Pitched Battle, Annihilation.

All my melta guns did jack shit (3 missed, and one rolled snake eyes for penetration). But Living Lightning 3 times over and the Land Speeder Typhoons missiles did a lot of damage. Ben squeezed out a 7-5 win by getting his last 2 KP in the last turn.

So what have I leanred?

Well vs the Eldar, Rune priests are so damm good. I didn't get many powers off due the Runes of Warding, but when I did stuff died. But on the upside 4+ to stop psychic powers reduced Eldrad's effectiveness massively - he only got off 2 out of 8 attempted powers.

Wolf Banners and Mark of the Wulfen ruin most people's days. In a combat vs the Striking Scorpions the banner reduced my casualties by 50% and when the Wulfen rolls a 1 for his number of attacks *bang* re-roll that, oh look its a good roll (4). And vs Toughness 3 my 5 Marines where wounding on a 3+ re-rolling 1's!

Vs the Imperial Guard:

I need to mech up everyone, or they are going to sit still and do nothing and probably die - even if I'm going to camp on a objective all game.

Again Living Lightning kicks ass, but I could do with some Choosers of the Slain to beef up the Rune Priests roll's to hit as I did roll a lot of 2's.

Take a page for the Guard book, send 2 units to do 1 units job. I sent my melta units in piece meal and they paid the price.

If I'm going to take wolf scouts then I should take 2 units (or 3) or none at all. As in both games the unit rolled poorly for their out flank and either died vs the Eldar or did nothing vs the IG. - Again goes back to 2 units doing 1 units job.

So after some note taking and some tinkering around this is the list I want to try next but I lack the extra 2 Rhinos, a melta gun or 2 and 2 missile launchers, and a Land Speeder:

HQ (315)

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane, Chooser of the Slain = 110

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Storm Caller, Wolf Tail Talisman = 105

Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf = 100 

Elites (292)

5 Wolf Scouts, Melta Gun =80

5 Wolf Scouts, Melta Gun =80

4 Wolf Guard (2x Power fist, 4 Combi Meltas) = 132

Troops (700)

10 Grey hunters, 2 Melta Guns, Wolf Banner, Mark of the Wulfen = 180

Rhino = 35

10 Grey hunters, 2 Melta Guns, Wolf Banner, Mark of the Wulfen = 180

Rhino = 35

6 Grey Hunters, 1 Melta Gun, Mark of the Wulfen =110

Rhino = 35

5 Grey Hunters, 1 Flamer, Mark of the Wulfen =90

Rhino = 35

Fast Attack (210)

Land Speeder Tornado, Multi Melta, Heavy flamer = 70

Land Speeder Tornado, Multi Melta, Heavy flamer = 70

Land Speeder Tornado, Multi Melta, Heavy flamer = 70

Heavy Support (230)

5 Long Fangs, 4 Missile Launchers = 115

5 Long Fangs, 4 Missile Launchers = 115

1747

I feel its better, I've basically dropped a few men and power weapons for transports, scouts, and wolf guard.

On the painting side of things I've 'dipped' 90% of the models now in the Army painter strong tone varnish and they look pretty nice even in a half arsed state. So I just to renovate 2 Land Speeders, buy a 3rd, 2 Rhinos, and some melta guns and I'm good.

Da Plan!

Well Painting is under way for my Space Wolves (well the infantry) and as I have said else where I'm taking my idea of painting my guys up from Rupert at 3++ but naturally I've changed the colours in my steps:

1) Spray the model with Army Painter: Uniform Grey.

2) Paint all the bits which will be black with Chaos Black

3) Paint red parts on the shoulder pads/banners

4) Paint all the bits which will be silver with Boltgun Metal.
5) Paint all the bits which will be gold with Dwarf Bronze.  (I am here)

Paint the model with Army Painter: Dark Tone

You then need to wait overnight for the toner to dry!

6) Line highlight power armour.
7) Line highlight a mid shade of Chaos Black and Codex Grey onto the black power armour/weapon parts.
8) Line highlight the previous step with Codex Grey.
9) Line highlight Mithril Silver onto metal parts.
10) Line Highlight Gold onto any gold parts.

At this stage the majority of the model is done, it's just details to go!

11) Paint all the furs Chaos Black.
12) Wet brush Grey/Brown onto the furs.
13) Dry brush 50:50 Grey/Brown, Skull white onto the furs focussing distally from attachments.
14) Paint small parts of skull white onto the most prominent parts of the furs for definition.
15) Paint the eyes and some of the gems with Red Gore.
16) Highlight the eyes with a dot of Skull white.
17) Paint some of the gems Blue.
18) Paint some of the gems Green.
19) Paint bones areas with Bleached bone leaving the dark tone in recesses as a shade.
20) Highlight these bone areas with Skull white.
21) Paint power weapons.
22) Line in progressive layers of base colour plus ever increasing amounts of Skull white.
23) Paint flesh areas with Dwarf Flesh.
24) Paint the base Chaos Black.

25) Base model

And with that you are done!

Seems like a lot to get through but after stage 5 it's mainly just highlights or detail work.

It has begun!

Painting my Space Wolves that is.

I have till March and the first Independent UK Grand Tournament for 40k.

My source of inspiration is Rupert's Collecting an army in one month articles over at 3++ is the new black. 

When broken down into 30 simple steps (colours changed for my army of course) it seems like a simple walk in the park, even for a painter as erratic as me. As I have tended to need to be in the "right mood" to paint but this helps me come out of that mood and feel good about painting in general as I'm far from a natural artist.

Someone somewhere (40kforums or Beasts of War I think) asked for my review of Mantic's King's of War game system. I have the Beta and an updated Beta from their open day and I will try to get round to it between painting, Halo Reach, starting a new job and a friends wedding.

Till next time!

Mantic Open Day: Cake, BBQ and Bikinis

So some of you may of heard of a small company called Mantic Games based in Nottingham, UK.

Well today was their open day as well as their 1st Birthday so today I popped along to have a peek at what they had to offer and get a feel for the company.

I woke at 8am but laid in till 9am. Just before I went out the weather man on the TV promised the weather would be good for a Barbecue and Bikinis - it's the UK in October it should be Autumn!

So after a 30 minute bus ride in to Nottingham and a 10 minute walk to their address I bumped into a group of gamers from Germany who where looking for the Mantic office too, but after a bit of roaming we did and went on in.

When we got in there we were given a goody bag with 2 sprue's in it. One with 2 Dwarfs (A Champion and a Standard bearer) and a pair of boots with bone legs, and the second with 10 Elven Archers (including a champion and standard), a dead Elf and a small cat. The Army Painter plastic glue, a Kings of War hobby guide/poster and a Mantic reward card for future orders. Overall bloody generous!

Imagine what a unit of 10 Elves and a pot of plastic glue would cost at GW or anywhere else for that matter!

Goody bag contents

They had 2 demo games running of their new Kings of War game (Dwarfs vs Elves and Dwarfs vs Undead). Alessio Cavatore the game's designer was running the Undead game so I watched that and listened in for quite a while.

The game seems to play fairly quickly and like a "best of" Warhammer and War of the Ring - seemingly simple but deceptively tactical. I personally don't know the full rules but it seem quite easy to pick up (speaking as a gamer) and I love the Dwarf Berserker lord, in all 3 games I saw he normally took out a unit or 2 solo like a pint sized Chuck Norris.

Dwarf Berserker Lord: Small and mighty

There was also some painting demonstrations/lessons by the Mantic team as well as a sculpting demo. One special offer was buy a £40/£50 army set and get your own unique sculpted model that you could request on the day!


They also had a collection of models on display as well as their 3-ups that where painted too!

There was also a small display from hassle free miniatures, as well as shop with some really cheap sprue's, some of Mantic's own paint as well as some army painter items too as well as the usual array of miniatures and boxed sets. There was also a cake and sandwich store which the proceeds from go to charity

Sadly the weatherman lied and there was no Barbecue or Bikinis, but there was cake and gaming!


You can see all the pictures I have taken in this photobucket album, but here's a few for you to see now:

Alessio helps out with a demo game

Custom sculpts and 3-ups

CAKE!

Well hi there!

Well I'm MC Tic Tac (or John in real life) and here's a bit about me:



I have been playing 40k for over half my life (I'm 25) and Fantasy for about 8 years. I started out with 2nd Edtion 40k and 2nd Edtion Space Hulk. I went to my first GT at the age of 15, and have generally managed in or around the top third with my IG (before they where cool) and I am a founding memeber of Da Wot Notts club. I also do LARP too as well as play Magic The Gathering for fun. I live in Nottingham UK home of GW, Warlord, and Mantic Games

Armies: Ultramarines 1st Company, Imperial Guard, Space Wolves (currently being converted from my old SM). Orcs and Goblins for Fantasy. Chaos and Humans for Blood Bowl, and a Orlock Gang for Necromunda.

I've started this blog up to help monitor my progress for my Space Wolf army for the all new Independant UK Grand Tournament next year at Maelstrom Games Eye of the Storm venue on the 26th and 27th March 2011. As well as likely anything I wish to comment on in relation to gaming.

So yeah I better get painting..........