Modelling. Of a Kind.

The way I work is I have an idea, this leads to another one, then another and before I know it I'm elbow deep in blood (figuratively speaking of course).

I've not been able to touch a model since the last update as I ended up taking a different course.

Basically I decided I needed a new desk.

This has resulted in me pulling my spare/hobby room apart, me spending all the money I made selling the Orks and me spending the last week and a half living in a tip and working solidly almost constantly over that time.

There is a lot of stuff squeezed into the room, and all of it had to come out. My bedroom, the landing, the bathroom and downstairs have all had stuff, barely been able to move in some rooms...

I pulled up the carpet and ripped off the skirting, put in a laminate floor and new chunky skirting, put up new shelves and put in a new desk. Painted my old casting desk and did some repairs to the walls. Lots of other little jobs are in there as well. I also pulled apart the old spare bed but didn't get time (yet) to rebuild it with a load more storage underneath it.

Frankly I'm knackered. But here are a few pics to prove I haven't been idle of late.

The new desk and shelves, so much better than the old set up I had. Lots more desk space and better storage.

The mould/casting desk. Still needs sorting out obviously. You can just make out below the Dark Angels picture I picked up from WHW a while back.

Below is where the spare bed will eventually go when I get round to rebuilding it. You can also see the hinged desk top hanging off the wall, this is normally hinged up giving me even more room to spread out.

The last job I did was put up my pictures which had to move from their original postion, though the two on the right have never been up in here till now. Not happy with the arrangement at the moment so this may change. May also pick up some better frames for them all.

Still a few jobs to do to finish the room off before I tackle the spare bed/storage area.

It is also going to take me days to sort everything out and find the right place for stuff. There is still a lot in their temporary storage while I did the work.

eBay auctions.

As promised here are the links to the Ork clear out on eBay:

Killa Kan Unit (A).
Killa Kan Unit (B).
Deff Dread.
Meganobz.
Dakkajet.
Grot Tank (Red).
Grot Tank (White).
Grot Tank (Blue).

Also up on eBay are two Chaos Warhound weapons:

Vulcan Mega Bolter.
Plasma Blastgun.

I've spent most of this weekend doing DIY, planning DIY, or doing the mind numbing job of putting things on eBay. As such the next update will probably take a couple more days.

Seems wrong to do a post without pictures. So here is one.

Just look into those eyes...just look into them...

Recalcitrant Daze - A Follow Up and Other Things

A couple of months ago, while still deep in my hobby slump, I posted up a list of things I wanted to aim at doing in the forthcoming one to two months.

I thought I showed revisit this earlier post and see how successful I was at tackling them.

1. Daemons - To get at least one unit which was currently PIP finish.

Result - Abject Failure.

Not even looked at them.

One of the Herald Blight Kings

2. Blight Kings - To get these built as Heralds.

Result - Success.

Very nice kit, happy with the results.

3. Militia - To get the last elements finished and sent to Sheep.

Result - Abject Failure.

Not looked at them, not even been tempted to get them out. In fairness Sheep is a little pre-occupied at the moment so is hardly desperate for me to send him more stuff.

4. War Altar of Nurgle & Weirdboy Battle Tower - To get them out and make a decision on their future.

Result - Success.

I decided on their future - to finish and keep the Altar, to finish and sell the Battle Tower. Delighted I was able to make some real progress on the Altar as well.

Now on hold while I do other things and Maelstrom does a bit of sculpting on the Bell Ringer for me.


5. Inq28/Inquisimunda - To make a start on the warbands.

It's a start isn't it?

Result - (Partial) Success.

Technically I did make a start, namely cleaning up the first two members and giving them a coat of primer, however I can't in honesty claim too much success when I didn't get even one of them assembled.

6. Terrain - Er, not really sure what I was aiming for. I'm guessing to finish some of it.

Result - Abject Failure.

Nope, that didn't happen.

7. Pillboxes - To make real progress, casting them, basing etc.

Result - Success.

All of the casts are now done, first two are based and this weekend I should get more done (update over/after weekend).


So something of a mixed bag.

"What about the next couple of months?" I hear one of the few lucid voices in my head ask.

Well, this is the new list of targets I am aiming at:

1. Daemons - Might as well give that a second chance.
2. Pillboxes - Get the builds finished.
3. Militia Infantry - Again, one failure doesn't mean this time round it won't be a success.
4. Adeptus Mechanicum - As featured in my recent post about 30k. Get the Zone Mortalis AM force build under way.
5. Inq28/Inquisimunda - Turn the partial success into a fully fledged one.


In other news I had a new tattoo.

Kudos to anyone who recognises him.

Actually, I had two.

That brings me up to double figures in tats. Much more to come, though I'm now having a break as I can't afford new tats and new FW at the same time.


In other, other news. The remaining Ork items will go on ebay Sunday, along with some other items I need to clear out.

I will put a post up once everything is listed with links.

Orky Clear Out

My clear out of my Ork (plus other Orky bits) has started.

Some of the Ork units from my Zone Mortalis force has already found a new home, the rest are now destined for ebay.

However before I go through the hassle of listing them I thought I would ask if any readers of RD would like to pick them up.

We have the following:

Ork Deffdread:

Magnetised CCW arms and the Skorcha is not glued and can be hooked on (hasn't fallen off during games).

Meganob Unit:

Weapons are not glued on and the Iron Gobz have also been left off for ease of painting.

Killa Kans - Six available as either units of three or individually.

ZM bases shown will be taken off, replaced with a mix of plain bases and one in three will have a GW Dread base.

Each power unit is different.

All weapons are either magnetised or can be hooked on/push fit.

Forge World Mega Dread plus two arms:

GROT TANKS! Love Grot Tanks. Almost finished paint jobs.

Fighta.

GW Plastic kit, converted so that the plane takes a thread flying stand instead of the regular clear plastic stand.

Been so long can't remember how much I converted this. I can remember all those sodding rivets I replaced.

If you are interested by anything drop me an email - rictus-blog (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk

Recalcitrant Daze and the Horus Heresy

This evening I started to get my Orks out to see what needed to be shifted.

While doing that I got seriously side tracked in getting out everything I have picked up for my planned Horus Heresy armies. These are a Zone Mortalis Adeptus Mechanicum force and a larger Death Guard army.

I have been picking up bits here and there for some time but not started building anything as yet. My main aim was to get other things finished first before starting another project.

But while I had everything out I thought I would take stock as I really hadn't been keeping track that well.

Adeptus Mechanicum.

This is a 1000 point Zone Mortalis force. So all infantry and walkers.

I'm a big fan of the FW Adeptus Mechanicum range, they have done a great job of getting the vibe of the AM without going the easy route of just taking the usual Imperial vehicles and units and sticking on a cog symbol or two.

So for my force we have the following:

Myrmidon Secutor which will be the Magos leading the force.
Two units of Thallax
Castellex (off ebay).
Vorax squad (also off ebay actually).
Domitar.
Scyllax Guardian Automata unit.

I will be starting these guys soon - as the Orks are on their way out I want a new ZM force asap.


Death Guard.

Ok. At this point it gets a bit embarrassing.

I have been picking up units and models for this force since FW launched their Heresy range. I may have got a bit carried away, spreading the purchases out so much means it is surprisingly easy to lose track...

It took two pictures to get everything in.

In this lot we have...

x5 Legion Mk. III sets.
x1 Mk. III Heavy Weapon set (don't remember buying these)
x2 Mk. IV Destroyer with Jump Packs c/with x2 sets of Death Guard Mk. IV Shoulder Pads
x1 Mk. III Breacher set
x1 Mk. III Command Set.
x1 Mk. III Wepon Set.
x1 Rapier (it has crew in Mk. III armour so had to get it)
x4 Mk. III Death Guard Shoulder Pad sets.
x3 Umbra Pattern Bolter sets.
x1 Volkite Calivers.
x1 Volkite Culverins.
1/2 set of Flamers, 1/2 set of Melta Guns, 1/2 set of Plasma Guns (I split three special weapon sets 50/50 with Sheep I think)
x1 Death Guard Heads.
x1 Death Guard Torsos.
x2 Deimos Pattern Vindicators.
x1 Death Guard Brass Etch.

In the second picture we have:

x1 Mortarion
x1 Typhon Super Heavy Tank.
x1 Calas Typhon
x1 Leviathan Dreadnought
Leviathan Weapons - Storm Cannon, Grav Flux Cannon, Siege Claw
x1 Death Guard Contemptor,
x1 Relic Contemptor.
x1 Plastic Contemptor (Calth set)
Resin Contemptor Weapons - x2 Lascannon, x2 Plasma Cannon, x1 Assault Cannon, x1 Multi Melta, x1 CCW, x1 Volkite Culverin, x1 Conversion Beamer, x1 Cyclone Missile Launcher (might be a bit over the top with all those).
x1 Apothecaries Set.
x1 Narik (Show Only figure).
x2 Castellex (from ebay)
x1 Grave Wardens unit.
x1 Deathshroud unit.
x1 Death Guard Cataphractii Shoulder Pad set.
x1 Plastic Cataphractii Terminator unit (Calth set).

The plastic Calth Termies may not end up with the Death Guard but the fact I picked up some DG shoulder pads for them has probably decided their fate...

I would hate to know how much that lot totals. A ridiculous amount I am sure. I may have an addiction.

Actually it was quite handy getting everything out, it's allowed me to get a fix on what is needed to be done and will allow me to plan out the squads. I really need to start these sometime soon..maybe I can get a small force together in time for the next Heresy Weekender.

Waaagh! Ghazghkull and the Fate of My Ork Force.

A couple of years ago I picked up 7th Edition and the Ork Codex and did a post about my thoughts.

So this Sunday I found myself in Nottingham for a gig and it seemed sensible to pop into Warhammer World to pick up the revised Waaagh! Ghazghkull book (as well as a few pieces of FW resin naturally).

As I did that previous post I thought I would do something similar for the newly revised book.

Now this is not going to be an article breaking it all down and discussing the tactical implications of each page - frankly I haven't got the time or inclination for that sort of thing, plus there are other places you can go who delight in that sort of thing (probably with a video, which I'm sure is just what you want). Instead this is just a collection of thoughts that pop into my head looking through the book and the eventual fate of the Orks I have knocking around.


1. The Story.

I have to say the story was better than I expected. After hearing from others who have bought the recent campaigns I wasn't looking at this to be a good read. I also expected it to be mainly a re-hash of the same Ghaz & Armageddon text we have had previously.

Now I know this is a re-release and as such this isn't technically a piece of original work as it was in the first release (I assume, I didn't buy it so as far as I know it might actually be different) but for someone buying the book for the first time I was relieved to find while the bones of the story may be familiar it has been expanded upon.

We also have some sidebar information about other characters involved in his story and certain warbands and forces under his command. All adding to the overall scene setting.


2. The Artwork.

Well.

What a shame.

Don't get me wrong there are some nice pieces. Not all original but nice to see. However some of it is lacking, only so many almost identical Mork/Gorkanaughts you can see before feeling someone was a bit bored while using Photoshop.

The biggest problem with the artwork is the lack of it.

Just like the Ork Codex from a couple of years ago this follows the same pattern - hardly surprising of course as it was published the first time round not that long after the Codex came out, we have lots of pictures of models. By lot I mean a chunk of 12 pages in the middle plus a few more pages later on. On top of that instead of getting artwork for the unit entries we get more pictures of models. Do we really need to see a picture of an Ork plane for one entry, then another for another entry, then a group of two for another entry...and then a group of four for another one? This is of course after seeing pictures of said planes earlier on in the book.

Each Formation has a picture taking up the majority of each page, so one page per formation. That's a lot of models with no artwork and very little writing.


3. The Rules.

We get some new rules in the form of Warlord Traits, some items of wargear and some new Missions. No problem with any of that at all. All themed to a force under Ghazghkull so perfectly fitting and giving Ork players more options. While I am not going to judge if any of these additions are worth taking their inclusion certainly get a thumbs up from me.

The bulk of the content which could be under 'rules' are formations. Just formations. 14 of them.

I have to be up front and say I'm not a big fan of formations. Never used one and never been tempted. I could see their place in Apocalypse where you paid a few points to get some benefits from fielding a set formation. However in 40k it seems to be a cynical attempt to get people to buy models solely to gain a benefit. I like the Force Organisation Chart, especially when you had options to modify it to create a themed force (e.g. taking a HQ choice to altar what units are Troops etc). Instead of giving people creativity formations just seem to bring a cookie cutter approach.

What I was hoping for (though I had very little hope it would happen) would be for the book to include actual unit options themed on the Ghaz forces, such as Meganobz unit with different options to represent his closest Goffs, or perhaps a Tellyporta upgrade to Meganobz allowing them to Deep Strike (at a big risk of course), How about letting a Goff Warboss take two Close Combat Weapons letting him be the assault monster he should be?

But no, nothing like that. Just formations.


The End Bit.

What does this mean for me? Well it means all my Orks are going. While I love the models I just find the rules for them now so limiting and lacklustre I have no enthusiasm for keeping them.

So the Zone Mortalis force I put together will go on ebay, along with the other units I have knocking around (in case I wanted to expand them into a full army) including Grot Tanks, a FW walker and a Dakkajet.

I can't see me picking up and starting any new 40k armies if this is the way things are going to continue. My Nurgle Daemons will be staying but any new forces will be taken from a Forge World list, I've already got the Militia (IA13 list), the 30k Adeptus Mechanicum for to come for Zone Mortalis (HH list) and the 30k Death Guard to build (HH list again). After that it will depend what Forge World knock out in their Imperial Armour series...