Alternative Bitz for Thousand Sons

As you may know, I had a tough decision to make on which Chaos Legion I was going to play. I finally decided to play Death Guard and Daemons of Nurgle as I love the synergy effects (with Epidemius) and other cool options (Plague Zombies!). But before I made my decision, I was torn between Death Guard, the Thousand Sons and the Word Bearers. I was researching what models and bitz I could use other than the official GW miniatures (which aren't that many) for each of those Legions. So, today I want to give you my report for alternative bitz and models for the Thousand Sons.

Mecha Egyptian Heads

Thousand Sons players are very limited in their choice of miniatures and bitz to use. Although I like the Rubric Marines from Games Workshop, I think a bit of variety can't hurt. Those Mecha Egyptian Heads from MaxMini were definitely designed with the Thousand Sons in mind. I'd love to see those as helmets for Sorcerers or alternate Rubric variants.

Set of 10 available from maxmini.eu for €5.99

Steam Knight Helmets

The Steam Knight Helmets from MaxMini would make very good pre heresy helmets for Thousand Sons. Especially the one on the very left side. You can ask if you could have the left helmet only (I've done so with their pre heresy shoulder pads and they've done me the favor).

Set of 10 available from maxmini.eu for €5.65

Sorcerer Shoulder Pads

Those Sorcerer Shoulder Pads would look good - not only on sorcerers. PuppetWars also sell a Type "Termos" variant which might be shoulder pads for Terminator armour. But I am not 100 Percent sure.

Set of 10 available from puppetswar.eu for €7.00
Set of 5 (Type "Termos") available from puppetswar.eu for €5.50

Egyptian Shoulder Pads

Sciber sells a lot of Egyptian themed bitz that have Thousand Sons written all over them! Here are the shoulder pads.

Set of 8 available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Shields

I don't really know what to use those shields for but they look great.

Set of 6 available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Big Shields

I could imagine those bigger shields on Thousand Sons Terminators.

Set of 3 available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Decorated Plates

Decorated Plates for vehicles of the Thousand Sons.

Set available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Parts

Those Egyptian Parts could be used (i.e. I haven't seen or tried it yet) to make Thousand Sons Terminators with the signature Rubric headdress and additional armour plates for the shoulders.

Set available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Ruins Terrain

A lot of miniature companies sell desert terrain bases (Scibor has more in the terrain section e.g.) but those Egyptian Ruins are quite outstanding. They appear very easy to paint and make an impact on your desert battlefield.

Set of 4 available from sciborminiatures.com for €16.90

Pteruges

I know that pteruges are rather Roman than Egyptian but I think they could work on Rubric Marines, too.

Set of 10 available from maxmini.eu for €5.65

Books (dt. Bücher)

Thousand Sons are Sorcerers. And Sorcerers want to have a lot of books with spells and knowledge around (Especially Ahriman must own quite a few - as he is always looking for a certain library to return them).

Set of 8 books available from tabletop-art.eu for €6.00





That is my first collection of bitz and models. I'm thinking about making this a page that is expanded over time as I find new bitz and miniatures. I will do this for other Legions too - most definitely for the Death Guard and Daemons of Nurgle as they are my army project now.

PS: I get no money for linking those shop items. I just love collecting bitz and, obviously, writing about it :-)

Which Legion should I play?

It's legion time again! In the last article I wanted to find out which legions were easy to represent with the new codex (based on the confirmed rumours and models we know). I want to start a new Chaos Space Marine army with the launch of the new codex. My only problem is that I like all of the nine traitor legions. Every one of them has either great possibilities to be played, great models and paint scheme or other awesome features like great background stories. So I thought about all the pros and cons of every legion and tried to squeeze them in a quantifiable rating system:

• Flexibility: The possibilities in army composition, play styles and allies.
• Background: How much I like the background story of the Legion.
• Visual Appeal: How much do I like the look and would I want to paint them?
• Bonus Points: Open category for awesomeness.
• Personal Opinion Coefficient: What do my guts tell me?
• TOTAL: The overall rating of the Legion on a scale of 0 to 25 (stars are rounded).

I know that there might be more, less or even completely different categories, depending on what you consider important when choosing an army to play. For me, flexibility, background and the visual appeal are the major categories. I added an open category and one for my personal thoughts (since it's going to be my army and my gut feeling should count, too). Here are my thoughts and ratings to every one of the nine traitor legions:

Black Legion

The Black Legion offers near endless possibilities in army composition, play style and allies without suffering from fluff restrictions. Abbaddon the Despoiler is an absolute combat monster and, what is more, he unlocks Chosen (and Chosen Terminators) as troops (rumour!). I like the thought of an elitist army. Also, I like the black and metal paint scheme as it looks great on the Chosen from the Dark Vengeance box set and the photos of the new Raptors. Painting black can be hard but I already found a way (working with dark blues and greys) to do it well. The big downside of the Black Legion is that everybody looks down on them as the Ultramarines of Chaos.

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (no restrictions at all)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (Horus Heresy is a plus)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (black and metal looks nice)
• Bonus Points ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (for elitist Approach and Abbaddon) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (not totally convinced)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

World Eaters

I like the World Eaters' raw and brutal approach to solving problems. Crazed maniacs with Chainaxes, blood red and brass colours and skulls, a lot of skulls. Angron's legion is pretty awesome and I can totally imagine having fun at playing an army of Berzerkers while listening to death metal music. Sadly, one of my main criteria of choosing an army is flexibility in army composition and play style. I don't want to miss out on the chaos psychic powers and general shooty stuff. I like the World Eaters, I just don't want to collect and play them as a single army, although I could imagine to field one or two units of Khorne Berzerkers and Daemons alongside another Legion.

• Flexibility ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (too much focus on close combat, no psychic powers)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (blood and gore is great)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (red, brass and skulls is always en vogue)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for raw violence and being totally death metal) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (I like the WE, but I'm looking for something else)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (15/25)

Death Guard

Collecting and playing Death Guard would be tons of fun (on par with Orks)! Converting and painting would be no less than hilarious. Not only could I use Nurgle Daemons as allies but also would Epidemius special rule enhance all Nurgle units on the board. Also I like what I hear about Typhus turning Cultists into hard-to-kill Plague Zombies. The downside of Death Guard is, that it would be a mono-god list and I like Daemons of Khorne and Tzeentch, too. Then, Nurgle units (Daemons and Marines alike) are slow in movement and combat.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no other restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (I don't know much about the stories, but I like what I know)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (awesome, just afraid that it might get boring)
• Bonus Points ★★★★★ (5/5) (for fun and great daemon synergies) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★★★ (5/5) (one of my favourites at the moment)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (21/25)

Emperor's Children

I like Chaos in all its ways but Slaanesh is the Chaos God I like the least. Don't get me wrong: The Emperor's Children are awesome - they're the 80s glam metal of Warhammer 40.000. I'd really like to field Noise Marines as I like their rules - but not their models (maybe Forge World can do something about this in the future as they did with Berzerkers and Plague Marines). Same goes with Slaanesh Daemons: I don't like the Daemonette miniatures and their Eldar-ish statline (I already got my Alaitoc Craftworld for fast glass cannons). I'd love to get some Noise Marines if they ever receive an optical overhaul by Forge World, but I don't want to play Fulgrim's Legion.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no real restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (okay, have to read more about them)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (pink and black is awesome, the models aren't)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for being glam metal and Noise Marines in general) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5) (not as a full legion, maybe single squads of NM for fun)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (14/25)

Thousand Sons

I love the Egyptian look of the Thousand Sons, and their psychic powers are unmatched by almost no one in the galaxy. Rumors agree that Ahriman is one beast of a Sorcerer. I also like the Tzeentch Daemons, which are quick and powerful. I don't really like the fact that Rubric Marines are merely walking piles of armour. They are my second favourite cult legion after the Death Guard - maybe they'd be placed first if they had the same synergy effects as Nurgle Marines/Daemons. Thousand Sons always appealed to me and I know I want to paint and play some Rubrics sometime.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no real restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (rivalry with Space Wolves is cool)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★★ (5/5) (awesome, Egyptian look is great)
• Bonus Points ★★★★☆ (4/5) (for great looks and my love for Tzeentch daemons) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★★☆ (4/5) (they might be the one)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (20/25)

Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion, not unlike the Black Legion, offers a lot of possibilities in army composition, play style and allies, as they tend to use whatever it takes to win a battle. They are portrayed as tactical geniuses and have a mysterious back story (seriously, I have to start reading the Horus Heresy series!). My biggest problems with the Hydra is that their fluff and artwork is kind of under-developed and there is next to no reference material (yes, there is one book, but that doesn't satisfy me). What is more, is that they don't have any signature unit at all: others have cult units, Dark Apostles, Warpsmiths and tanks or Raptors. Even the Cultists look more like they were designed to be religious zealots for the Word Bearers than cold blooded and calculating Alpha Legion terrorists.

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (everything is possible)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (loyal? traitor? I like the mystery, don't like the lack of reference material)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (don't like the blue and green, I'd rather paint them turquoise and gold)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for interesting tactics and endless possibilities) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (the new codex has no goodies for them, so probably no)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

Iron Warriors

The Iron warriors can put a mean list on the table with lots of heavy tanks and daemon engines. Also, the aspect of siege warfare looks interesting to me. I haven't read Storm of Iron yet but everybody says that it is a good read that makes you want to start an army of Iron Warriors. No to the downsides: Their paint scheme can be either utterly great or incredibly dull - I think I might get bored after painting a lot of models in metal colours. Then, they are a bit to grumpy and paranoid for my taste: they don't seem to have fun, which is sad because the Eye of Terror looks like fun place to me. They rather use bionic transplants than mutations or daemons, which I don't like either. Also, a friend of mine got a Chaos Space Marine army in metal colours already. I won't start an Iron Warriors army.

• Flexibility ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (not to fond of daemons)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (siege warfare and brutality is great, grumpiness not so much)
• Visual Appeal ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (don't want to paint metal, don't want to paint metal, don't want to... )
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for daemon engines and siege tactics) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (no siege warfare for me)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (13/25)

Word Bearers

Word Bearers offer a lot of possibility in army composition, play style and allies. For instance, Daemon allies of every Chaos God are fluffy and offer a great tactical variety. The new Codex: CSM (with Cultists and the Dark Apostle) makes it very easy to represent a Word Bearers Host on a gaming table. They are visually appealing with all the inscriptions on the armour, impurity seals and scrolls. I read the first two books of the Word Bearers trilogy by Anthony Reynolds (good read, a lot of raw violence) and found the description of the legion very tempting. Also, they have a grudge with with the Ultramarines - I don't like the Ultramarines! The downsides of the Word Bearers are their red armour (i don't like painting red), their primarch (Lorgar doesn't really appeal to me) and their religious bookworm attitude (they are more into preaching and building monuments to the Big 4 than crushing the Imperium into dust).

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (pretty much anything is possible)
• Background ★★★★☆ (4/5) (I like their book series)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (great, but red is tough to paint well)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for daemon allies and the fluffy use of Cultists and Dark Apostles) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (i like them)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (18/25)

Night Lords

First of all, the Night Lords have the coolest primarch of all Legions. Period. Basically, the Night Haunter is Batman in space and the Legion is the League of Shadows. Okay, enough of the comic book references! I also like their paint scheme, although I don't know if I could paint the lightnings on the armour in a way that would satisfy the perfectionist inside me. Everybody says that the Night Lords trilogy is worth reading and I like to read about armies I play. A very big downside is the restriction in army composition, play style and allies: They have no cult units (no, raptors don't count and they aren't exclusive to Night Lords) and I wouldn't know which allies would be appropriate since they don't use daemons and I can't imagine traitor Guard fighting alongside them in battle. I had the odd idea of using Dark Eldar Wyches as gangers and thugs, but that's a long shot.

• Flexibility ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (no cult units, no daemons)
• Background ★★★★☆ (4/5) (crime hunters turning into evil itself - awesome)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★★ (5/5) (their armour looks bad ass)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for awesome primarch and raptors) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (I don't like the lack of flexibility)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

Final Ranking

So, here's the final ranking that will hopefully help me with my decision on which Chaos Space Marine army I shall start to collect with the launch of the new codex. Please note that this ranking is only supposed to be about my preferences of which army I'd want to collect and play. For instance, World Eaters would rank much higher if they'd offer more than the focus on close combat (on the table I like durable and shooty armies). So, the winner is... *drum roll*

1. ★★★★☆ (21/25) - Death Guard
2. ★★★★☆ (20/25) - Thousand Sons
3. ★★★★☆ (18/25) - Word Bearers
4. ★★★☆☆ (17/25) - Black Legion
5. ★★★☆☆ (17/25) - Night Lords
6. ★★★☆☆ (15/25) - World Eaters
7. ★★★☆☆ (14/25) - Emperor's Children
8. ★★★☆☆ (14/25) - Alpha Legion
9. ★★☆☆☆ (12/25) - Iron Warriors

To my surprise, two of the four cult legions ended on top of the ranking. In the beginning, I thought I would choose a legion that would leave me with the most possibilities of army composition - I wanted to be able to take any cult unit or daemons from any god I wanted. This would have left me with Black Legion or Word Bearers. So, it's no surprise that they are 3rd and 4th of my personal ranking. Death Guard, however, became the winner because I realised how much fun it would be to paint and play them. The line of Nurgle models from Games Workshop and Forge World is great and not boring or restrictive at all. Thousand Sons on the other hand have always been a favourite of mine. I love the design philosophy and daemons of Tzeentch, too.

It's unlikely that I'll start to collect two legions at once (so my wallet told me) - but I might start Death Guard or Thousand Sons with either Nurgle or Tzeentch Daemons. Then I might expand my Daemons with models from other gods and finally add cult troops from those god(s). Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Anyway, I will get my copy of the new Codex this Saturday and now I can't wait to read about Plague Marines, Typhus and Plague Zombies as well as about Thousand Sons, Ahriman and Tzeentch's psychic powers.

Death to the false Emperor!

Nostalgia!

I can't believe it! I just went through my bitz box looking for something as I stumbled upon the first miniature I ever painted. Usually, I doesn't brag about how much I sucked at painting. But it's nice to see that I was capable of improving my painting by practice and learning new techniques over time. Maybe this encourages other players that are new to the hobby not to give up. Paint! Read tutorials! And paint more!

My first miniature ever (left: Ultramarine from old starter box) vs. a Chaos Marine I painted for fun last week.

Blogwatch: Painting Metal, the Ruinous Powers and thoughts about GW

He reads all the blogs!

I want to start a new series of articles in which I want to pay tribute to the work of others. So, from now on I start collecting good blog posts, great tutorials/miniatures or other things worth reading and will post them here on Bawaaaghria! from time to time. In this first issue, I want to present you a few articles from blogs I subscribed to:

• From the Warp: Creating metal effects with just a few washes. This blog post inspired me to do a metal painting tutorial myself (I hope I'll get it done this month). I especially love the effects on the weapon barrels. Read this and the linked tutorials within the article if you want to become better at painting metal effects.
• Eternal Hunt: The Ruinous Powers - Synthesis. KrautScientist from Eternal Hunt did a series of articles in which he painted  Chaos Space Marines from all of the four Cult Legions. It reminds me of this GW product and makes me want to do something like this myself.
• Frontline Gamer: Sunday Sermon: Does familiarity breed contempt? I should have mentioned Frontline Gamer much earlier as he inspired me to do this blog in the first place and gave me advice on how to do it. I always read his Sunday Sermons because I like the meta approach to gaming, the industry and people around it and how it reflects back to ourselves.

This were the articles I enjoyed reading this week. I'll try to make this a weekly or bi-weekly category in my blog and I'm positive that this is going to work since I read a lot of wargaming blogs anyway. Have a nice read and see you again on Thursday when I'll ask the question: Which Chaos Legion should I play?

How to represent Chaos Legions with the new Codex

Ever since the old codex was released, people complained that it doesn't do justice to the Legions of Chaos. I want to revisit this thought with the rather solid rumors about the new Codex: CSM in mind and find out if the Chaos Legions are now better represented by their codex from a fluff perspective (!). If you are only interested in rules, you might want to look somewhere else as I am rather a fluff romantic than a great tactician

Black Legion

Everybody says that the Black Legion is bland and boring. I don't agree. Although they might be the Chaos Smurfs because they could take any model fluffwise, that doesn't mean they have to. People who call the Black Legion Vanilla CSM tend to forget that the marines of this legion are no less than the Lunar Wolves, the Sons of Horus, the army of the greatest Warmaster of Mankind ever. They are an elitist force and the new Codex: CSM suggests they should be played as one. The rumors are pretty solid that Abbaddon makes your Chosen troop choices. Combine this with the rumor that Chaos Terminators can be upgraded to Chosen and you got yourself: Chaoswing! I don't say that this is super competitive (most likely it won't be) but it is awesome! You can still use any other entry in the codex for a Black Legion army, but elitist super hard troops seems to be the direction Phil Kelly wants to push the Legion of the Warmaster. I really like this!

World Eaters

World Eaters are easy to represent with the new Codex: CSM. Kharn or a khornate (is this an adjective?) Warlord will make Berzerkers troop choices. Along with the new Mutilators, Close Combat Cultists, Close Combate Hellbrute and the Maulerfiend this army is going to be brutal in hand to hand combat. I think that the World Eaters are represented well in the new codex, especially when you take Khorne Daemons as allies.

Death Guard

Mark of Nurgle or Typhus makes Plague Marines troops. What is even more awesome: Typhus is told to turn Cultists into Plague Zombies. Taking Nurgle Daemons as allies is a great idea since Epidemius special rule affects all Nurgle models on the board (even the enemy). Death Guard is going to be fun and one of the most synergetic armies out there!

Emperor's Children

I haven't really heard much about Lucius the Eternal or Fabius Bile (at least I can't remember a lot) but they can't become any worse, can't they? Noise Marines are as good and versatile as ever and the mark (or icon?) of Slaanesh now gives the unit the Feel no Pain special rule ("You call THIS pain? That doesn't impress my senses at all!"). As far as I know, there are no Sonic Weapons for tanks and walkers. Again, the ability to take Daemon allies adds flavor to the Emperor's Children.

Thousand Sons

Ahriman is rumored to be to psychic powers what Michael Jordan is to Basketball. Rubric Marines seem a bit better to me than they were before. Together with the very fast and competitive Tzeentch Daemons the Thousand Sons look fluffy and playable to me. Can't say any more about them until I read the codex.


Now here comes the more interesting part. The Cult Legions are rather easy to represent in a fluffy manner. The remaining four Legions however, don't have special cult units or a dedicated deity. So let's see if the new Codex: CSM does them justice:

Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion are known for cunning tactics, cultists, propaganda and surprise. It's rather difficult to surprise your opponent in a game the way the Alpha Legion does in the background. Cultists are in to distract the opponent but from there you are left on your own to create a fluffy Alpha Legion army. You could, however, ally with Imperial (i.e. traitor) Guard to go deeper into highly tactical warfare. E.g. Chaos Vendettas and Veterans seem appropriate. I'd love to play against such an interesting army.

Iron Warriors

The Iron Warriors got a lot of new toys in the form of daemonic flyers, daemon engines and the Warpsmith as an HQ. Together with tanks, Havocs and the Hellbrute (formerly known as the Chaos Dreadnaught) you can easily field an interesting army of Iron Warriors. I'd rather take Imperial (traitor) Guard as allies than Chaos Daemons, in order to get access to heavy artillery and more tanks!

Word Bearers

The Word Bearers are great to represent in the new codex! Actually, the Word Bearers are pretty standard CSM minus the cult units. The Dark Apostle and the Cultists are a great addition for the followers of Lorgar. Together with Daemon allies I could imagine a really atmospheric Word Bearers Host. From a fluff perspective the Word Bearers are looking forward to a good time with the 6th edition codex.

Night Lords

Night Lords got new models for Raptors and a new, more daemonic unit: the Warp Talons. If I recall correctly, the Night Lords use Chaos more as a tool than anything else an don't like mutations. This doesn't fit well with the new Warp Talons but I guess if you spend millennia in the warp it doesn't matter which philosophical approach you have towards the Ruinous Powers: in the end you turn into what surrounds you. Cultists could be described as thugs and gangers that fight as brutally as possible to be recruited as Night Lords Space Marines themselves. Right now I can't see which allies would fit the Night Lords from a fluff perspective since they don't tolerate daemons besides furies. Fun idea: Dark Eldar Wyches (desperate allies) as talented gangers and thugs fighting alongside the Night Lords (I still have to read the NL book trilogy, so I don't know if this idea works).


To sum things up: I think that the new Codex: Chaos Space Marines is a good thing to properly represent the major nine Chaos Legions, especially with the allies rule in mind! The Black Legion is steered towards being a more elitist army. The four cult legions can take their deity's Daemons as allies - Word Bearers take them all! Iron Warriors take the heavy tanks and artillery from the Codex: IG; Alpha Legion take veteran infantry and fast flyers (or whatever pleases them to completely mess with their opponents). Night Lords have even more jump infantry to choose from but I don't know which allies would fit with them. Nevertheless, I am really looking forward to picking up the new Codex: CSM and I am already counting the days to Saturday.

Closing thoughts: Right now I want to start a new Chaos army and continue to play my Dark Wolves as 13th Company Space Wolves instead of Traitor Wolves (I don't want to collect two armies from the same codex). This time I want to play one of the 'Big Nine', a full scale Chaos Legion - yes, hence this article. My problem is that I can't decide on one legion and am torn between some of them. I am going to expand my thoughts on this topic later this week.

My Opinion on the new Chaos Space Marine Design

I've already talked a lot about the new models for the Chaos Space Marines. But I haven't written anything down in my blog. Without further ado, here's my opinion on the new Chaos Space Marine models:

The new Codex: CSM. The cover is from the Blood Gorgons novel.

• Codex: The Codex: Chaos Space Marines is going to be hardcover and full colour. The price went up from € 26,00 to € 39,00, which is a lot. From what I have seen from various rumor sites on the web, the Codex is going to look badass and will have a lot of options to field a variety of highly different armies. It's not a Codex: Chaos Legions (I don't see one being published in the upcoming years) but the options for marks and icons are expanded to more units and certain marked HQs are going to unlock cult units for the troop section. Together with the allies rules you can team up with Daemons of Chaos or Imperial (i.e. Traitor) Guard. I like the way Games Workshop is going with this and I am really looking forward to buying the Codex next Saturday at the local GW store in Augsburg.

• Heldrake: The model everybody seems to hate. And I am afraid I don't really like it either. I am not convinced from what I've seen of the model in the White Dwarf and on GW's website. I'm not pleased by its rather cartoonish looks and, what is more, its price tag. € 59,00 is too much for a model I don't have fun to build and paint. Rumors say that the Heldrake however will be a flyer killer - and killing flyers is what everybody and their grandmother wants to do in 6th edition. I'll wait and hope that somebody comes up with a great conversion idea for the Heldrake. Then I might get one.

• Forgefiend/Maulerfiend: Those two are the other model(s) everybody has a different opinion about. So do I: I like their look. It reminds me of the Khorne Blood Slaughterer from Forge World or the Juggernauts of Khorne. The Maulerfiend certainly has a khorne-ish appeal. The Forgefiend on the other hand looks cold and menacing. I like them both and I like the rule rumors that say that both are very durable walkers that can put out high loads of pain to the enemy. Again, € 52,00 is a tough price tag but I will pick up one anyway sometime to build a really shooty Forgefiend.

• Raptors/Warp Talons: Every time I look at pictures from the new Raptors and Warp Talons I like them more and more. They already incorporate the new style of Chaos we know from the Dark Vengeance box. I dislike some of the helmets but I don't mind since I got a big box of Chaos bitz at home. I love the heresy era jump packs and the newly designed chainswords. I don't know if I want to use Raptors or Warp Talons until I've read the whole codex. But no matter what I choose, I can use the bitz of the other variant, e.g. the Raptors' CCWs and Melter or the Warp Talons' CCWs as Lightning Claws. For € 26,00 this box is full of win! Makes me want to start Night Lords...

• Aspiring Champion: The model continues the Dark Vengeance Chaos style. This makes me happy because I really want a box of Chaos Chosen (rumors whisper that there is going to be a second wave around October 20th). The model is superb but € 15,50 is quite a lot for a single plastic model with no spare bitz.

• Warpsmith: The Warpsmith looks great and any Iron Warriors player is going to be happy right now even though it isn't a Warsmith (the leaders of the IW Great Companies). Yes, this model looks like it is one lab accident away from hunting down Spiderman. I don't know if i'd want to glue on all of the tentacles to this model. How would you even transport it? € 23,00 is a lot. Too much for me to pick up the model at its release.

• Dark Apostle: This model looks really good and offers a lot of space for adding the words of Lorgar to the toilet pap... eh... scrolls dangling everywhere from the miniature. I still think that the Champion from the DV box whith his power maul would make a good Apostle too after adding some (im)purity seals here and there. But for € 15,50 you get a nice model to lead your cultists into battle.  

• Mutilators: Okay, jokes/comments/rants/etc. about the Mutilators' faces have been made. I won't pile on. But even the rest of the model looks way to cartoonish for my taste. Everything is out of proportion - even for Chaos Space Marines. The much older Obliterator models look much better than the Mutilators. I won't use them, especially not for € 41,00!

• Sorcerer: This model looks like an old miniature redone in finecast. It lacks details and dynamics. There are better models for Chaos Sorcerers. My € 15,50 will go somewhere else.

That's is my opinion on the new Chaos miniatures. I left out the re-releases in finecast because there aren't any changes besides the material. I hope the rumors are true and there is a second wave of Chaos Space Marines coming around October 20th, containing kits for the Hellbrute, Chaos Cultists and Chosen. Also, I keep a close watch on the rumors about Warriors of Chaos getting new models and Chaos Daemons a new Codex/Armybook next year. It's a good time to play Chaos!

Painting Tutorials on YouTube

What I always liked the most about the White Dwarf and smilar hobby magazines were the various painting tutorials. But I don't really want to pay 7 EUR per month for Games Workshop's ad zine (I hope this is going to change with the WD revamp) for some beginner tutorials and instructions on how to use GW's hobby tools. Other magazines like the German Tabletop Insider are published two times, maybe three times a year and most tutorials on the internet lack the quality of their printed counterparts. In a nutshell: I love painting and hobby tutorials, I want quality and I want it for free.

After some research I found some outstanding tutorials on miniature painting on YouTube. I want to introduce two dedicated tutorial channels with some of their best video tutorials.


Lester Bursley from AwesomePaintJob.com

Lester Bursley has literally dozens of tutorials on painting various Space Marine chapter colours. In his YouTube channel he also gives advice about handling airbrush tools which I find very useful. Watch this awesome video on how to paint Blood Ravens Space Marines.

BuyPainted

BuyPainted is the other YouTube channel focusing on tutorials. What I like about those tutorials is, that there are plenty of tutorials on painting vehicles and miniature bases. In this brand new video the guy from BuyPainted (sorry, I couldn't find his name) paints the Interrogator Chaplain from the Dark Vengeance starter box.

I've spent hours over hours watching those tutorials (a few of them even twice) and can't wait to get my hands on an airbrush pistol myself now! Have fun with the videos!

New Chaos Space Marines: White Dwarf Leaks (sharper pictures)

I'm back and thus right back to business: There is a complete White Dwarf overhaul announced for Saturday the 22nd and in it there will be the new Chaos Space Marines. I'm really looking forward to this! Not an hour ago, Natfka postet a few blurry pictures of new Chaos miniatures in his blog. I soooo love the Maulerfiend - it looks vicious!

Here are the pictures and I tried to improve them a bit (sharpen, dodge & burn) because a) I wanted to see more detail and b) I thought why don't I share this with you :-)

I'm not sold on this one. Looks to cartoonish for me. Maybe I need another view of the dragon.

I like this guy. He looks a bit static but that's all.

This model is beyond awesome. I hope its rules don't suck *g*

Doc Oc - how do you transport this guy? Anyway, looks good!

Weird poses, but i suppose they can be posed differently.

The Chaos style we know from the Dark Vengeance box. Love it :-)

A single Warp Talon (there was another one, but way too blurry)

Back... again!

Again, long time no new article. I'm sorry for that, but moving in with my better half took quite rather much of my disposable attention for the last month. But enough of my personal stuff, here's what happened in my wargamer life ;-)

• I managed to smuggle in a workbench for my hobby into the new place
• I bought Dark Vengeance. Love the miniatures! Especially the new style of Chaos
• I'm still looking for an affordable airbrush set

So, that's it for now. This time I'll really try to keep this blog updated and undisturbed my stuff like moving ;-)

Now on Facebook!

I decided to create a Facebook page for this site for several reasons:

1. I feel more obliged to create new content when I receive direct feedback via likes and comments.
2. Some of my friends don't visit this blog very often (and apparently nobody uses RSS feed readers anymore). On Facebook they won't miss any updates.
3. I can throw in the occasional picture or comment, even if it doesn't qualify for a whole article.
4. It doesn't hurt to gain a few new readers :-)

When my friends comment on news articles on Facebook in German, I will - of course - respond in German. Apart from that I will keep writing in English, so that everybody will be more or less able to understand me :-)

The Facebook page is public and anything posted by me there will directly appear on Twitter too. You can either follow me on Twitter (why aren't you already? ;-)) or check the Twitter feed on the right.

PS: I'm still trying to get everything (the blog, the Twitter feed and the Facebook page) in sync and stable. Until then, there might be double posts and other technical inconveniences - just FYI :-)

Aeronautica Imperialis: Eldar Nightwing (Craftworld Alaitoc)

Since I took a break for two months, I feel a real urge to write a bunch of new tutorials and guides. I want to start of with a model I finished yesterday: An Eldar Nightwing from the Alaitoc Craftworld for Aeronautica Imperialis (I have to catch up since my friends' Tau and Imperial fleets are growing fast). I only used basic layering technique to paint this model. In a nutshell: You start out with your darkest paints and paint the brighter ones atop with leaving the darker paint visible in order to create depth. So here is how I did it (from darkest to brightest paints, the ratios are rough estimates):

• Blues: Regal Blue/Chaos Black (3:1), Regal Blue, Regal Blue/Enchanted Blue (1:1), Enchanted Blue, Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue (1:1), Ice Blue
• Yellows: Snakebite Leather, Snakebite Leather/Golden Yellow (1:1), Golden Yellow, Golden Yellow/Skull White (1:1), Golden Yellow/Skull White (1:4)
• Bone coloured: Snakebite Leather, Bleached Bone, Bleached Bone/Skull White (1:1), Skull White
• Metal: Boltgun Metal, Chainmail, wash with Badab Black
• Gemstones: Chaos Black (all of the gem), Scab Red (3/4 of the gem), Blood Red (1/2 of the gem), Blood Red/Golden Yellow (1/4 of the gem), Skull white (tiny dot in the 1/4 that was left black)

This model is not at all hard to paint. Except for the yellow (I bet it took more than ten layers of paint) all other colours go on really smooth. So, there's only three more Nightwings, two Phoenix and one Vampire Raider left to paint. Stay tuned ;-)

Eldar Nightwing from the Alaitoc Craftworld

Eldar Nightwing upside down

I am back!

A lot of time passed since my last article. I'm sorry for that, but I simply lacked the motivation to do anything wargaming related - be it painting or writing about it (the European Football Championship didn't help much). I now want to start again, in a slower rhythm so that I am able to publish new articles more regularly. I am surprised however that, although I didn't post anything in the last two months, people still read my gallery and tutorial articles. Thanks guys!

Resumé time... and some TV!

This blog exists for a little over a month now, and I'm surprised that people are actually interested in my writing and photos. Google tells me that people look for galleries and want to read tutorials, especially on painting Skaven and Nurgle - so, there is going to be more of this in the future. The article on our Gaming Day has been the most read one on this blog so far - that's no surprise, since Korbi pretty much literally posted the link in every German and Austrian gaming forum. Thanks for that, and also thanks to Jody, the Frontline Gamer, who encouraged me to start this blog in the first place.

Right now, I'm working on a few blog posts on board and card games I own. After this, there are going to be some galleries and tutorials about Infinity scenery like cardboard containers, buildings from Sarisa Precision and other manufacturers (I'm trying to take a lot of photos at our gaming club tonight). Maybe, I'll even dust off my ever-work-in-progress Eldar and write something about those 'oomies with da silly 'elmets ;-)

I'm excited! Thanks to all for reading my blog and giving me feedback. Or, considering my international readership: Thanks a lot, vielen Dank, merci beaucoup, Большое спасибо, grazie mille and kiitos!

And now for something completely different: Another episode of Wil Wheatons "Tabletop"! This time, with the German board game classic "The Settlers of Catan".

Custom Norse Berzerkers (W.I.P.)

Kill! Maim! Burn! - Khorne Berzerker Time!

On the one hand, I don't like the plastic Berzerkers that come with the Chaos Space Marines starter box. On the other hand, I don't think the look of the Forge World Berzerkers would fit into my army - too khorny and too little norse atmosphere. So, I had a different idea how to do Norse Berzerkers, and here is a picture of my prototype:

My Norse Berzerker prototype

Here are the bits I used building the model:

• Torso, head, arms, weapon and shield: Chaos Marauder Horsemen
• Legs and backpack: Khorne Berzerkers
• Green Stuff to fill the gaps or to cover them with fur

It's not that easy to build as the normal Norse Marines of my army because the Marauder and Marine bits are not made for fitting together. A lot of cutting, sawing and work with green stuff is going to be required if I ever want to field a whole squad of them. Tell me what you think of my berzerkers.

Gaming Day - Review and Gallery

Our Gaming Day on April 14th has been a full success. We expected about 25 people to attend, but our expectations have been surpassed: Over 30 wargamers and board game geeks gathered in Pleiskirchen to play, chat, eat and drink. We even had ourselves a small vending table with lots of Infinity material and other games (I got myself a Blood Bowl Team Manager!). I spent the whole morning playing a great game of Descent and got an introduction game to Infinity in the afternoon. Apart from that, there was a 40k table, a Warhammer Fantasy table, one big and several smaller Flames of War tables, three Infinity tables and some others for aerial and naval combat as well as for historical battles.

My personal conclusions for the Day:

• I can hardly wait for the 2nd edition of Descent to be published, then bought and painted by me.
• I need to play more and worry les about big armies (smaller or simply squad sized games like Infinity or Mortheim somehow suit me better).
• You cannot have such a thing as enough scenery in a game of Infinity.
• Dystopian Wars has got some badass miniatures! (Iron Sky anyone?)
• As has Aeronautica Imperialis - my Eldar Skyhost is heading in my direction via Royal Mail right now. 
• Blood Bowl Team Manager is tons of fun.
• We need to repeat this Gaming Day soon. Maybe even this year.

Here are the impressions of our Gaming Day (more and utterly blurry photos in my Dropbox gallery):

Panorama view of our Gaming Day (via a mediocre panorama app)