We are Legion

We all love a chapter in this hobby whether we are fans of the Space Marines or not. There's just something about the thought of owning a fully painted force of models just screams badass (It could also scream too much money and not enough life but let's focus on the positives). Any of you that have read any of my posts that mention the Space Marines will know my feelings towards them and for those that are new, I hate them. A lot. I want the Imperium to burn.

The Digital Age

So far my experience of Digital GW has been a little... Lacking. I may have downloaded a codex or two so I can see whether it's worth buying at some point but as far as the actual Digital Releases are concerned I haven't had any at all... Until recently.

Base Instincts

I may have forgotten to come back with the results... Oops. Anyway here they are; my 4 god bases.

Now you may notice that only half of the base on the far left is coloured and that's because I was checking to see how opaque Blood for the Blood God dries and it's not red enough to show against black (a shame but not entirely unexpected).

From left to right we have Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaanesh. Obviously they need tidying up for the real thing but for the most part I'm pretty happy with them as the texture of the ground will unify the bases but the different colours underneath will provide diversity. All I have to figure out now is how Undivided Chaos worshippers will affect the ground and the theme will be ready to go.

Ace of Base

Just a quick one tonight although I know it has been a while since I posted anything of substance. Though if anyone wants to know I am sat on one or two projects because they're not quite finished yet but they will be. I've been considering how best to use the new Agrellan Earth paint (if you haven't seen it google it and do it NOW!!!) because the stuff is actually amazing. I want to use it because it creates great bases with very little effort and will create a really strong theme across both of my armies. The problem is that I want to keep something to separate the different factions within the theme. I've been experimenting with base coating the bases and here is the first part of my experiment (one for each God)

What's that? You can't see anything ? Well that's the point, you'll have to stop by tomorrow to see what I did, how I did it and whether my experiments worked...

Sisters are Doing it for Themselves

Since the launch otherAdepta Sounderrateddex I've been thinking about the beloved Sisters and I've also taken tpopular ing them in Dawn of War (not my usual army at all) and while I'm aware that Dawn of War is basically what the tabletop game wishes it could be they've actually been a whole lot of fun. Not quite sure how I feel about the whole Faith system but the Acts of Faith (as they are in the DoW game anyway) were pretty cool. Cool enough that I'd actually consider a Sisters army when they come out in plastic; yes I'm firmly of the belief that they will come out in plastic.

I do like the current models they have but I'm not a fan of metal and also the Living Saint model seems a little lacklustre when compared to the art work and the way she is presented in Dawn of War. Huge wings, towering over the lesser mortals and an obvious beacon of power and piety. The current model doesn't really carry that same awe inspiring look that you'd associate with a Living Saint and to be honest I think the Cherubs holding the cape just kind of cheapen the model

 

The Sisters are an iconic yet very underrated army and the only thing holding them back from being one of the most popular armies is the fact that their models are almost entirely metal and are VERY expensive. There are some excellent alternative models out there and if GW would just totally overhaul the models then the ladies of war would be back on top with popularity to rival the Space Nerds. I'm aware an overhaul like these girls need is a huge undertaking but the rewards would be worth the effort for GW as well as the gamers.

Sisters=awesome and there's no doubt about it but at the moment they just aren't worth the cost to do through GW which is a shame but I will hang on to the hope that the Sisters will get the update they both need and deserve and on this note of hope I say Merry Christmas!!

Sonorous Chanting

I know that a lot of hobbyists are ranting at GW lately but whether you love or hate them, you have to applaud what they've been doing over the last 12 months or so.

When I came back to the hobby about a year and a half ago I was told that things were set to change and boy was that an understatement. For 40k alone there's been a new starter set with absolutely fantastic miniatures, 6 new codices, about the same amount of supplements (give or take, I count 5 but I feel like I'm missing some), a rework of the Sisters of Battle/Adepta Sororitas/whatever they're being called now, the Inquisitors codex that's out today, an entirely rebooted Apocalypse with new super heavies to go with it, 3 or 4 new Warzone supplements as well as all the shiny new models to go with each release. That's not touching on fantasy or the other types of release like the random models, the hobby supplies or the new and awesome looking effects paints (see my previous post for more information). 

I know that not everyone is happy with everything they've done but at the end of the day there are thousands and thousands of us all hoping for something different so it's inevitable that some of us would be disappointed. Having recently had an excellent experience with their customer service department as well I have to say that I'm really glad to have come back when I did and that I'm looking forward to what's coming next.

Colours of the Wind

Games Workshop have announced some very awesome new paints in November's White Dwarf as shown above. They're basically GW's answer to things like Modelmates and Tamiya when it comes to special effects for our models.

War Cry

The Sisters of Battle... In battle. What are the odds?

Since coming back to the hobby I have had a grand total of one game and that wasn't with my models or even an army I'm likely to use but recently I've been looking at list building in preparation for my trip to a local gaming group. I'm very excited about the prospect of hanging out with other hobbyists because I don't get to do that as much as I'd like to. Because of the sudden need to build lists I did some research and noticed that the lists I saw tended to lean towards either long ranged fire fights or (more commonly outside of Tau) assault based armies and I thought to myself that there's no way they can be the only options so I decided to try and create a fully legal, 2000 point army list that focusses on... PSYKERS!! 

All is Dust

It has once again been a while but that's because I've been planning this project for even longer than I was painting it and I was painting it for about four days. Today I present to you an Aspiring Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons!! Now you may have noticed that the main colours are not blue and gold (though they certainly feature) but black and white. Stick around and I'll take you through what I did, how I did it and why.

Dear Diary

Today I've done something that probably would be common sense to most and that is I've started writing down all of my painting techniques in a journal. The idea came to me as I was repairing one of my Plague Drones and I was thinking about how long it took me to remember how I did the boils (ended up searching through my own blog posts) which is no good when I get hit with a sudden flash of inspiration. By the time I've either remembered how I did a technique or found how I did that technique I've lost the will to live never mind the will to paint. This way all of my techniques will be in one place and readily accessible at any time. I had the idea of arranging them by God and by army but that would be insane to even attempt without a ring binder and I'm not going that crazy. Well not yet at least. 

My next job with the journal is to go through each of my blog posts and write down any techniques and colour schemes I've used and write them into the journal to start building it up. It will almost be a painting Grimoire (or Book of Shadows for any wiccans out there) at some point in the future I plan to have pictures attached to the pages so I have a reference for how the finished article is supposed to look. Unlike a Grimoire there won't be any records of experiments gone wrong, information or anything else, just colour schemes and techniques I think have been successful and will most likely want to repeat in the future.

All for one

Today I offer up four Champions to the Chaos altar of t'internet for sacrifice. By which I mean I finally got my act together and painted some more Chaos Space Marines. These were sort of an experiment of combining various styles and techniques while creating a cohesive central theme at the same time and I like to think that it was a success and I hope you agree. In light of the forthcoming hardback version of the Black Legion supplement I'm painting my Chosen Marines (and most of the rest of my CSM) as Black Legion. At least until another supplement comes out and I start painting some stuff for that one. I think I'm going to end up with a set of models worthy of the Index Astartes by the time I'm done. I think we'll need a bigger display cabinet...

The Battle is Over

For those subscribed to Forge World emails this isn't new information but for those that aren't this will be pretty awesome. Remember my post detailing the two Primarchs competing for the Games Day spot? And remember my more recent post about Kor Phaeron and Erebus? Well it turns out that not only will the two Word Bearers be turning up but so will... Ferrus Manus. 

One For The Books

I can honestly say that as far as I know, no one saw this coming. This post is on the back of my previous post about the Horus Heresy character that will be available at Games Day this year and while the community were teaming up behind either Mortarion or Ferrus Manus (myself included for the former) it turns out we were fed false information by the masters of spin; the Word Bearers. Yes you read correctly. Bit out of the blue but there we go. If you haven't already seen then it is Erebus and Kor Phaeron that will be released (unless these guys are a cover for there being a bigger surprise but I wouldn't hold my breath).

Breaking News!

I don't normally deal with news and rumours (much better blogs out there for that) but I have to share this one because it actually affects what I do here. 

The Black Library are apparently releasing unit Tactica!! Well not apparently because here's a screenshot:

This first one is for the Wraithknight (not that much is needed for them apart from point, shoot, kill, avoid high strength/low AP weapons) and obviously there are a lot of units for them to cover. My guess is that the company is taking note of the fact that there are some out there with little tactical ability who look online for tactical analysis, such as the ones I write here, and are catering to it. For a price of course: £1.49 which isn't bad I guess. Of course if they're doing that for each individual unit then it will very quickly add up. 

What this means for us Tactica bloggers is that someone is doing our job for us and charging for the privilege. The obvious advantage of this is that we are getting this advice from the people involved in creating the units and I suspect it will be quite detailed (I'll find out when it comes out). The disadvantage is that we have to buy this advice. Personally I don't mind as long as the advice is good but I guess that's personal choice.

In other news just quickly before I go, the Black Library website says that the Black Legion supplement is due for a hardback release in November while the Farsight supplement is due in October. Also in Hardback.

Also the Enhanced Edition of the Space Marine codex is back online and they're releasing the Force Requisition list builder in stages meaning that only Troops, HQ and Heavy Support is currently available. Now I've seen a lot of people complain about this feature but I think we need to cut GW a bit of slack here; as far as I'm aware (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) this is the first time GW have tried to join the list building game so they are going to get things wrong and they're going to have to update things a lot as they go. Just be patient while they gain their sea legs and before long they'll be sailing right alongside the other ships on the sea.

Battle of Brothers

I'm not usually one to deal in rumours on this site (Daemons aside) but this one has got me thinking so I thought that I'd share my thoughts. The rumour I'm talking about is which of the Primarchs is to be the next model released by Forge World. The current majority are talking about it being between Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands and Mortarion of the Death Guard. I'm going to talk about why each of them is a likely candidate to be the next release and I'm going to start with Mortarion because I just prefer the Traitor Legions to the Loyalists.

Bitter Enmity

There are two things I want to show you in this post and one of them is my brand new models! Now I've only been able to clean the mould lines so far so they look a little plain but trust me they'll be amazing.

Big Wide World

This isn't really a post about anything specific, just a general hobby observation. If you're not wanting a wall of text full of random remarks and thoughts then I have plenty of other posts you may enjoy but if you want to stick around then I'm glad to have you aboard matey.

We Are Returned!

I honestly thought that the Black Legion supplement would create a frenzy of Black Legion armies but I think there's barely been a ripple... Maybe when the printed version is ready? Anyway the release has had an effect on me and inspired me to paint my Black Legion Chosen. My Chosen were always going to be Black Legion but now I've been inspired to re-imagine how I go about it.

Death to the False Emperor!!!

That's right everyone, I'm back and I've been sucked in by the Black Legion hype! Now I know a lot of you aren't happy with the Black Legion supplement but I haven't seen it yet so I don't have an opinion on it and also this isn't about the supplement so let's have a little less hate. Have we set the hate aside? Good, then I'll continue with my first post in forever.

More Blood for the Blood God!

Yes it's true, I'm running low on Daemon puns to put in my titles. I'll work on that later but I know you're not here for witty titles because you're here to see my latest work. As my not so subtle title suggests its a Khorne unit and if you read my Juggernaut sneak peek then you'll probably already know what it is. For those that didn't then here it is: one converted Herald of Khorne!!

Iron and Blood

I was going to wait until I'd finished the riders but I'm actually in love with my latest project and I have to show it off. Introducing my very first Juggernaut of Khorne!!!

Seeking a Lasting Relationship

What you see here is a little preview of my Seekers unit. I changed with these from the crazy colours that I used on the Exalted Seeker Chariot (see here) to flesh tones 

Bombs Away!!!

After reading through this months edition of White Dwarf I got to the Paint Splatter section and a light clicked on in my mind. I wanted a dark colour for the armour but black was just really uninspiring for me however the dark red scheme used on the Lord of Skulls was awesome and I knew it was exactly what I wanted. What I've got below is an almost full step by step guide. It's not complete because I forgot to photograph some stages but I got most of them. Read on to see what I did... Or I guess you could read July's White Dwarf but I'm hoping you'll carry on.

Soulless Machines

Now you may be wondering why I'm posting about Necrons when I've got loads of Daemons and CSMs to do but don't worry I haven't switched sides. If you're sitting comfortably then I'll tell you a little story about how this Necron came to be a part of my blog.

The Life and Times

To anyone that checks my blog with any regularity you may be wondering why I haven't made a post in a while and it's not because I've had nothing to show and tell. Oh no, quite the opposite in fact. Over the last few days I've actually been a very busy beaver in terms of my hobby and that ever annoying hobby buster; real life. So here's a list of what I've been up to and what you're likely to get a post to read over the next few days:

Started my Seekers of Slaanesh unit (one steed is actually finished the rest are at least based as are the riders), rebased, pinned and base coated my Herald of Khorne, painted a Necron Warrior (I'll explain later), started again with my Skull Cannon and then finished the Skull Cannon over the course of the last two days, took delivery of and cleaned up three Bloodcrushers, received and devoured White Dwarf (I don't usually do reviews but this one is worth doing), repainted the spots on my Great Unclean One (but they still need to be varnished) and put every single Chaos related model I own (both painted and unpainted) into my display cabinet to see if it all fits. It does. Barely.

That's just the hobby stuff, there is some real life crap that you're not here to read about and there's actually been some crossover... Firstly in the form of my nephew wanting to start an army (I'm teaching him how to paint and play) and secondly due to the fact that I'm looking into opening my very own hobby centre so my life has been very much Games Workshop oriented of late. Which probably explains the sudden explosion in terms of desire to paint. Lately all I want to do it paint which is lucky because I have a lot to do. The only thing I'm allowing myself to buy now is paints. No more models at all until all of what I have is painted up.

Anyway just thought I'd leave an update so that everyone knows I'm still alive and that I haven't abandoned the paint brushes. In fact it's quite the opposite and I look forward to showing you everything I've done to date.

Terrible Twos

The job today was to finish another Cultist and I'm pretty pleased with the results. In keeping with my new way of painting them this one is inspired by the World Eaters legion. You may be thinking "hold on, that guy isn't red" but alas you either forget or are unaware that I'm painting my World Eaters in their pre-Heresy colours so white and blue are the way to go. The results are below.

Tactical Analysis: Flesh Hounds of Khorne

Flesh Hounds of Khorne

This is the first unit in the Fast Attack section of the Codex and as with all of Khorne's other units they're designed for one thing: smash and kill. The thing that makes these different is their speed which means that in an army designed to hit the enemy head on these will probably hit first. What is a little odd with these units is that they have a couple of little quirks that make them not so straight forward in a tactical sense as the other Khorne units that I've reviewed before.

Only the Initiated

After a fantastic day out with some friends I had a random flash of inspiration on the bus ride home. I'd been mulling over a few options for my Cultists for a while and wondering which Legion I should tie them to and how I should do it but then I came to the conclusion that they can be representative of ALL the legions and as I have 20 of them I'll get some decent coverage of all of the Traitor Legions. My first in inspired by the Emperor's Children and their worship of Slaanesh (I had a lot of fun painting my Sorceress and I guess I rode the Slaanesh wave). Now I'll admit that he took a while (4 hours almost exactly) but as I look at him I think it was worth it and I hope that you'll agree.

Steady as she Goes

Today has been less about new projects and more about making progress on the projects I've got going at the moment and we'll start with the Herald of Nurgle. I've mentioned in a few previous posts that I wasn't sure what to do to make him better for me but I finally worked it out and the result is...

Codex Supplements

Games Workshop have released what looks to me to be an experiment in Codex design; release a generic Codex that covers all bases and then release Legion/Craftworld/whatever supplements that contain specific and fluff-based rules to really theme a force and their acid test is the Iyanden supplement. From what I understand it basically contains a whole bunch of rules to make an Iyanden Eldar army perform much more like they'd be expected to based on their back story and (again I'm not 100% sure but this is what I understand) they alter the Force Organisation Chart or alter how the units fit into it or something like that.

The Centennial Post

The Centennial

Well here we are, happy 100th post to this blog! Now I've been sat on a project for a couple of weeks now which I thought would be great for my 100th post and that's my repainted Daemonettes. Alongside that (first picture is above) is my Sorceress of Slaanesh. Read on for more information...

Tactical Analysis: Fiends of Slaanesh

Fiends of Slaanesh

The final unit in the Elites section is the Fiends of Slaanesh and yes, they are pretty damn freaky which goes to show their level of freak if they stand out in an army of freaky things.They're like crab-scorpion-horse-goat things with boobs and lots of them and I can't emphasise enough that they're freaky though because they're so weird they offer one of the biggest scopes for conversion but that's a post in and of itself. Now as with the other Elite choices they're assault troops (I count the Flamers as assault troops because their weapons are for close quarters fighting). As with the other Elite units they are assault units with a twist. Well, all other units except the Bloodcrushers; they are literally just a smash and kill unit. Once again I'll reveal the twist a little later because you know I love a little suspense.

The Shadow in the Warp

This isn't a Daemon post and it isn't a Chaos Marine post either. This is about the thing that even they fear: the Tyranids. Well, one Tyranid. A Hormagaunt to be exact. I was teaching my nephew and a friend of his to paint and I used an old model to demonstrate and let my nephew practice. I had to do a little cleaning up and it isn't completely the way I'd have done it but it's not bad and when Tyranids do get their update I'm tempted to start a Hive Fleet in these colours. The skin was started with Naggaroth Night and initially layered up with Xerus and Genestealer Purple but after many layering mistakes I decided it would be easier and less frustrating to teach dry brushing so they were drybrushed on instead. A final highlight of Xerus Purple and White Scar was drybrushed to pick out the final raised areas. The carapace was left black and various blues were drybrushed on (I think it started with Kantor Blue but I'm not 100% sure). I do remember that the final colour was Temple Guard Blue though. The tongue and eyes were done with Warpstone and Moot Green so that I could demonstrate a glowing effect with the eyes.

Tactical Analysis: Beasts of Nurgle

Beasts of Nurgle

 Today we will look at the third of the Elites choices which as I'm sure you've noticed by now (and if not then you probably haven't been able to read this intro line) is the Beasts of Nurgle. These are pure and simple assault troops and I say this because they have no ranged attack nor do they have access to one via rewards and the like (so I finally won't have to tell you not to upgrade because you can't!!). I will however say that they're an assault unit with a twist but like all good twists I'm going to tell you that it's coming but not tell you what it is until later... Aren't I just the king of suspense?

Tactical Analysis: Flamers of Tzeentch

Flamers of Tzeentch

Originally the Flamers were considered the ultimate in anti-infantry power; even the might of the Terminators fell before a single unit of Flamers and many competitive lists relied on this purely for their massive amount of power. With the update however the Flamers lost a fair amount of their power and the community was in uproar about the fact that they now cannot win a battle with one unit and personally I think this is a good thing. What is the point of having such a wide and diverse range of miniatures that are the most detailed that GW has ever produced (to date anyway) if we only ever use one or two of them? So that's my rant over and back to tactics. Contrary to widespread belief  the Flamers haven't become useless but have simply become balanced. They can still dish out a world of hurt in the right situation but they now can't own the field by themselves.

Tactical Analysis: Bloodcrushers

Bloodcrushers of Khorne

In the list of Khorne units that really personify what the Blood God is all about, those that are mounted on a Juggernaut come in a very close second in terms of the sheer amount of violence they can do. First things first though, they have a pretty good stat line with a WS, BS and S value of 5, T and I of 4, Ld 7 and W and A of 3. They are also a Cavalry unit which means that they move 12" in the movement phase, aren't slowed down by Difficult Terrain (but still test for Dangerous Terrain), can fall back 3D6" (though I'm not 100% sure if Daemons ever can fall back, maybe someone could comment and let me know?) and have the Fleet and Hammer of Wrath special rules, as well as the Daemon of Khorne rule which grants Furious Charge. Fleet allows for the re-rolling of one or more dice for a Charge or Run and Furious Charge grants +1 Strength when the unit charges but the most interesting extra rule for the Bloodcrushers is that they have Hammer of Wrath attacks which makes them unique amongst the Elite choices. This grants the Bloodcrushers an attack (on top of the extra one for making the charge) that automatically hits, is resolved at Initiative step 10 with the Strength of the unit and no AP value. The Bloodcrushers already gain an extra attack whenever they charge and go up to a Strength value of 6 but with Hammer of Wrath they gain another attack per model which gives a basic 3 Crusher unit 15 s6 attacks and for each additional model added to the unit they gain another 5 s6 attacks. 

Tactical Analysis: Nurglings

Nurglings

Nurglings; teeny tiny bits of grossness that are much beloved by the Greater Daemons that spawn them. Also the only unit in the entire Codex that has the Infiltrate special rule (more on that later). I know I've taken to discussing profiles and costs towards the end of a post but there really isn't much to discuss in terms of equipment and upgrades for these little rotting imps because they have no upgrades apart from being able to add extra bases to the unit. For 45 points you get three swarms of Nurglings which for what you get isn't too bad and to add an additional swarm costs 15 points (you can add 6 additional bases for a total of 9 per unit). Now you might be wondering why you'd want Nurglings considering they have no upgrades, you don't get as many bases to the unit as you do with the other four troop choices and, if I'm totally honest, they're a bit of a bitch to paint up. The reason is that they have pretty decent stats for a troops choice. What we're talking about here is a WS, BS, S, T and I value of 3 each, Ld 7 (pretty standard for the Troops choices) but what really sets them apart is the fact that they have 4 attacks and 4 wounds PER BASE. So for a basic unit of three swarms you've got a cheap unit with 12 attacks and wounds and for each base you just add on another 4 to each so when there's 9 swarms in one unit that's 36 attacks and wounds from a single unit for 180 points. This makes them up to be the same cost as a maxed out but not upgraded unit of either Horrors, Plaguebearers or Daemonettes and cheaper than Bloodletters but with more attacks (apart from the Daemonettes) and wounds. Now the trade off here is that they're not as strong or tough as the other troop choices but I guess if they were then they'd be ridiculously overpowered for what they are.

It Starts With One

After a VERY long time I've finally managed to finish one of my Plague Drones. While a pretty decent achievement it does highlight the fact that I take far too long in painting a single model but in my defence Nurgle models contain an extraordinary amount of detail and I refuse to miss any of it. Plus I have to make up for the terrible job I did of the Herald of Nurgle (I still can't figure out how to fix him though yet). Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I give you the Plaguebringer!!

Tactical Analysis: Daemonettes

Daemonettes of Slaanesh

Daemonettes are the the Blitzkrieg troops; fast and deadly. They are designed to move fast and (in true Slaanesh style) take the enemy by surprise from behind as much as possible. The Daemon of Slaanesh rule achieves this by granting the Rending rule, the Fleet rule and also amends how a Run move is calculated which makes them incredibly fast. Rending makes all the Daemonettes attacks (of which there are many) wound automatically on a roll of 6 and AP rolls of 6 add a further D3 roll to be added to the result which can come in very handy when trying to wipe out a tough vehicle before it destroys anything of value. You might be wondering how a simple troop choice can stand any chance against a vehicle with high armour values and it's a valid thought but I'll address it later when we talk profiles. The next special rule is Fleet which allows for the unit to re-roll one or more of the dice used when calculating Run moves or Charge ranges. This is especially useful when combined with the fact that the Daemon of Slaanesh special rule grants +3" to a Run movement so that the minimum distance a unit of Daemonettes will Run is 4" and the maximum they can run is 9" which, when added to their usual movement of 6", means that the unit can move 10" if it chooses to run. It should be noted however that a unit that Runs in the shooting phase can't then Charge in the assault phase. I guess it's to stop units from running across the board and slaughtering an entire unit in the first turn which the Daemonettes would be quite capable of doing.

Tactical Analysis: Plaguebearers

 Plaguebearers of Nurgle

 Plaguebearers are the foxhole troops of a Daemonic legion, by which I mean their primary role is defensive. The Foxhole is a military tactic where troops dig in and defend an area as opposed to taking an offensive stance and the special rules of the Plaguebearers make them pretty good for this. Their first special rule is that they are Shrouded which grants them a +2 bonus to their cover save so in open ground they have a 5+ cover save which is the same as their invulnerable save. They also have the Slow and Purposeful special rule which means that they can't Run, make Sweeping Advances or fire Overwatch but they count as being stationary even when the unit has moved. The part about no firing Overwatch really doesn't affect them because they don't have any ranged weapons and not being able to make Sweeping Advances is good because it means that they won't move from their position once they're in place but the lack of running could prove to be an issue if they scatter too much when Deep Striking or if deployed normally so they're having to foot slog across terrain. They also count as having Defensive Grenades which has two effects depending on whether the unit is being shot at or assaulted. If the Plaguebearers are being shot at then they gain the Stealth special rule so long as the firing unit is within 8" and the Plaguebearers have not Gone to Ground. Stealth gives a +1 bonus to cover saves and stacks with Shrouded so in that situation the Plaguebearers would gain a 4+ Cover Save in open ground. It's worth noting that these rules can only stack to give a maximum of a 2+ Cover Save which is still pretty handy. When the unit is being assaulted the Defensive Grenade takes away the bonus attacks that a unit gets for charging which doesn't seem like much on the surface but when you think that big units can effectively double their attacks (see my post on the Bloodletters who do exactly that) it really takes away a lot of attacks and therefore reduces their chances of wiping out the unit.

Tactical Analysis: Pink Horrors

Pink Horrors

The Pink Horrors of Tzeentch fill the role of long ranged attackers of the Daemon army. It is very important to note that they are physically the weakest of the troop choices; even the Nurglings are tougher than these guys in a fight but all this means is that they're not meant to be in a fight. They have a WS, BS, S, T and I of 3, 1 wound, 1 attack and Ld 7 so they really don't have a great stat line for a basic cost of 90 points and at first glance they're not even that well suited to being a psychic shooting unit as they're meant to be. Looking at those stats you'd be forgiven for thinking that they're just generally a rubbish unit but the Changer of Ways is not known for deception for nothing and it's their combination of special rules that take them from lame to pretty good at what they do. The first of these rules is the rule that really defines them and that's the Daemon of Tzeentch rule which grants two effects; firstly that the Horrors are able to re-roll any saving throws of 1 and the second is that for the purposes of Psychic tests all Daemons of Tzeentch gain +3 to their Leadership value so they effectively have Ld 10. Again this is only for psychic tests but if all goes to plan that should be the only reason they roll for Leadership anyway.

Lightning Round

Just a quick update to say that I've taken inspiration from the Faeit212 blog and decided to include a Blogroll on my site. I'm hoping that I can use it to increase my online presence and get myself more involved in the community so if you have a blog and you want me to add it to my blog roll (which in the spirit of my blog I've named The Dishonour Roll) then drop me a message. If my email address isn't on here then just leave a comment and I'll get back to you. Of course my blog isn't as big as Bell of Lost Souls, Faeit212 or the other big names in the GW world but I'm hoping that I can get there and I'm hoping to generate some traffic for everyone else on the way.

Tactical Analysis: Bloodletters

Bloodletters

The Daemonic legions of the Blood God are traditionally shock and awe troops; drop them in and decimate the enemy to either reduce their effectiveness as to render them non-threatening or to completely eliminate them before they are able to do any damage. Shock and awe as a military tactic can be dated as far back as Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and it's possible that it goes back further than that. This is the basis of all of Khorne's units and in this area they do a pretty damn good job. 

... To Your Ear

The Dark Apostle is almost finished! In fact the man himself is done I just need to paint the books at his belt and feet and then his base.

From His Mouth...

Inspiration finally hit! After having them sat on my shelf since just after the Dark Vengeance release I actually had an idea for a Word Bearers Dark Apostle (it seemed the most appropriate Legion from a fluff perspective).

Dance of the Devil

I've done exactly what I said I'd do today and I've not only started but also finished my Herald of Slaanesh and she's looking rather lovely. My favourite part is her face purely because I had a small stroke of inspiration and decided to make more of a feature of it. I saw a picture in an issue of White Dwarf where someone had painted make up onto an Elf and I decided to adapt the idea to my Herald except I only used a deep red and I intentionally smudged it a little so that it could simply be that her make up is stretching as her form is returning to that of a Daemon or it could be blood from her latest victim and what it is will be decided by the person that sees it. Of course a lot of people will just think its a bad paint job but I'm prepared for that.

Pestilent Harbinger

I actually intended to post this last week but I've been so busy that I didn't get chance to do more than the first paragraph which was very date specific so I have to start again.

Happy Approximate Anniversary

As the new paints turn one so too does my reintroduction to the hobby. I know this because the paints hadn't long been introduced when I got my first paint set which wasn't actually Daemons, it was the High Elf starter set and the paint job I was able to do was so basic it was almost laughable. I really didn't enjoy that but when I got some Daemonettes (courtesy of a friend) and the paints I needed for them I experimented with the last of my Lothern Sea Guard with the Slaaneshi colour scheme I was using at the time (for more information see my post on my Daemonettes and my first Herald of Slaanesh) and it actually looks pretty cool, if still a little basic.

Desperate Alliances

Today I've so far only managed to assemble the crew for my Skull Cannon of Khorne but since the Tau release I've been doing some serious thinking about the short comings of a Daemon army and how to get around them. The main issue with the Daemons is that they lack decent range. Sure there's the Soul Grinder and the Skull Cannon but almost every other army has access to a hell of a lot more destructive fire power and enemy armies will be trying to kill your close combat monsters as quickly as possible using that fire power. Because of this I've been looking into allies for the Daemons that would make up for this deficiency (which I assume was the point of the Allies rule) and today I plan to look at an alliance that may have been overlooked until recently; the Tau. Now as a tactical analysis it's long and not ridiculously detailed because I've only looked over the Tau Codex for a short time to get a feel for the army so if you want in depth analysis of how each unit can interact with every other unit in both armies then this isn't the place to go. I say again this is a long article so if you're not in the mood to read a lot then I'd probably move onto one of my shorter articles.

Fire and Blood

Today I've been a busy bee and not only completed my Burning Chariot of Tzeentch but I've also finished my Bloodletters of Khorne.

Learning to Drive: Burning Chariot of Tzeentch 40K Tactica

I've been studying the various rules of the Burning Chariot to try and get a feel for how it would operate in battle and how best to use it and what I've come up with so far is pretty strange which is no less than I'd expect from a Tzeentch unit. Since my chariot has an Exalted Flamer I'm centring this around that type of chariot but I'm sure that when I eventually get around to doing a tactical analysis of a Herald of Tzeentch then that will apply to the chariot as well. Just as a warning this is a long one so if you're not in a reading mood you may want to skip this one.

Raising a Whole Lot of Hell

After a slightly larger than recommended dose of pain killers I felt ok to paint for the first time in a few days (though on a side note they're wearing off as I type and I get the feeling I'll be paying for what I've done pretty soon) but enough about my drug requirements, you're here to see what I've done.

To Do List: The Sequel

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Feast your eyes on the wondrous, the spectacular, the amazing... Unfinished Daemons list. It's not really that big but at the same time it's not a simple list so without further ado, here we go.

1) Herald of Khorne
2) Herald of Nurgle
3) Herald of Slaanesh
4) Herald of Tzeentch
5) Burning Chariot of Tzeentch, Exalted Flamer & Blue Horror crew
6) Skull Cannon of Khorne & crew
7) 3x Plague Drones of Nurgle
8) 7x Bloodletters of Khorne
9) Rebase (and possibly strip and repaint but I don't know yet) 10x Daemonettes of Slaanesh

If only there was a Nurgle chariot, then I'd have one from each God but alas Grandfather Nurgle eschews the fast, speedy and hard hitting in favour of slow and ridiculously tough. And also somewhat hard hitting. Anyway I think that's all of my Daemon models that need doing. I think over the next few months (if I earn enough) I want to get a Keeper of Secrets and a Bloodthirster to add to my collection so that I have a greater Daemon from each God but my priority now that I'm on injury time will be to finish my foot troops. If I decide to strip the Daemonettes then they will be done once I've ticked off this entire list so they need to be rebased before I even think about stripping them.

Rumour Mills and Brain Cogs

This isn't strictly a Daemons post but I want to post this and I thought this would be the best place for it.

Ready the Cannons!

If you read my previous posts when the new Daemon codex/army book/models were all released then you'll know I wasn't impressed with the Skull Cannon/Blood Throne of Khorne. I officially take it all back, this thing looks like so much fun!

Winged Pestilence

These models have really served to show just how fast a painter I'm not as its taken me all day today to get to this stage and he's still not finished. Plus there's the other two to go but we just won't mention that... That doesn't count by the way.

Learning to Fly

This evening saw two things accomplished; the first was a base coat on my Herald of Tzeentch (nothing too exciting there yet so no picture until I know what I'm doing with him) and the second was to finally figure out my Plague Drone wings!!

My Herald is currently a nice and deep pink as his body will be mainly like the Pink Horrors but I want to add some funky colour mixes too but I'm not sure which colours, where on his body or how I'm going to blend so until I get further inspiration he's just going to go pink.

Tactic Analysis: Heralds, Horrors and Flickering Fire

I've read a lot lately about various tactics for the Daemons and one of the recurring tactics I keep seeing is utilising a Herald of Tzeentch, the Divination specialism and a large unit of Horrors. It involves having a level 3 Herald cast Prescience on a unit of at least 16 horrors (therefore generating 3 Warp Charges thanks to the Magic Made Manifest rule) and then bombarding the enemy with the Flickering Fire of Tzeentch at full power (by expending 3 warp charges the amount of attacks becomes the result of 4D6).

Spreading Like Plague

I decided this evening that it's all good and well talking strategy if a large part of my force remains unpainted so that's exactly what I've been doing and I have to start by saying that my painting session didn't exactly go to plan...

Data Stream

Today has been less about the models for me and more about the game and how the Daemons work within it. I've only been able to do this with 40k at the minute because I don't have a WHFB rule book yet.

This thinking came about while I was creating a data file for Battlescribe because there isn't one that I've found yet. I was working on the Heralds (convincing that programme that 4 Heralds are allowed to take one HQ slot was tricky but I've managed it) when I started to think about the best way for this army to function and after some careful thought I've come to two conclusions. The first is that my initial feeling was wrong and that this is NOT a hoard army. It's not exactly a "lets field 5 warriors per unit and still kick ass" army but it's not throwing millions of units at a problem and hoping to overwhelm with sheer numbers either. I'm now thinking that this army is actually somewhere in the middle in that you can still field pretty large units but flooding the battlefield (a la Tyranids) would be way too expensive (in points and pounds). To me the basic army setup is big units that play to the strengths of the factions (i.e. utilising Slannesh's speed, Khorne's strength, Nurgle's resilience and Tzeentch's range). Of course they've added other effects to the units that change how they can be played and to what use each unit is put to but I'll review each unit at a later date.

Pestilent Quandary

Although I've still got my Bloodletters to get through (So help me Khorne I won't let these become the next Horrors) I've been pondering my Plague Drones and what I'm going to do with them. You'd think this would be an easy choice because I've done a lot of Nurgle models (a Great Unclean One, 3 Nurgling bases and 10 Plaguebearers) but there are two reasons that this is different:
1) I want the flies to be distinct from their riders who will obviously be painted like the others.
2) I've never done a wash over the spray paint I'm currently using so I'm worried how it will turn out.

Cost of the Pact

Out of sheer curiosity I added the total basic points costs (i.e. no upgrades of any kind) of all the models I have both finished and unfinished for both 40K and WHFB and quite frankly the results are pretty shocking. The models I have are as follows:

The Fourth Plague Cometh

The Plague Drones; giant flies with rotting corpse riders. If you've read my earlier posts about the new products you'll know that I've been a little unsure on these models as they just looked... Strange. I wasn't sure if I liked them or not but I got some anyway and I actually really like them a lot. They're weird and funky and pretty damn huge (I took a picture of one next to a normal Plaguebearer for comparison). I haven't attached the wings yet and I'm thinking I'll paint the bodies first before I do but they're going to be even bigger when the wings and the riders are attached and I kinda love it.

Setting the Standard

I am still working on my Bloodletters (pesky real life keeps getting in the way) but tonight I've finished off the Standard Bearer. This is a first for me because I never normally use the banners due to the need to decorate them myself but I decided if I was ever going to go for it then this was the perfect opportunity. I therefore eschewed the bleeding icon of Khorne and went for the banner.

Blood for the Blood God!

Inspired by the new releases, I decided to finish off my last Daemon models and take a break from my CSM. Introducing the first of my Bloodletters which, not counting my Daemon Prince, is the first Khorne unit I've ever painted.

They are Arisen!

So the new models for the Daemons have officially been released for advance order and I have to say that while I'm still not entirely sold on the Khorne cannon I could really get into the rest of the new releases and now that they've gone live I think I can add pictures now. If I'm not allowed I'm sure that GW will tell me so.

Ok first of all we have the Herald of Slaanesh who appears to be bridging the gap between the regular Daemonettes and The Masque with her dynamic pose, skirt and extra head detail. She does only have two arms as well.

From Hell

Tomorrow (23rd February 2013) marks the release of the new Daemon army book for WHFB and codex for 40k as well as a whole host of new models. It's like they knew my birthday was coming up or something. It all goes on for advance order tomorrow and should be released the following week which will either mean they're out just before or actually on my birthday. Interesting how these things work out.

Looking Like Hell

The Helbrute is done! I changed my mind on the veins and bone and just went for blood and metal. I did add a little more colour by using red and blue on some of the tubing to sort of imply a circulatory system. I added a little blood around the spine so that it looks like it burst out of the flesh. All I have to do now is finish the base but I'm not sure what I want to do there yet so it will just stay as it is until I work it out because obviously I can't do anything until inspiration hits.