Monday, 23 April 2012

Finally done!

So, finished stripping and fixing models... FINALLY!

So here's everything that I've managed to salvage from the garage, all ready for the next step:


They break down like this, left to right, top to bottom:

The Tau

HQ:
Shas'O Crisis Battlesuit
Ethereal

Elite:
6 Crisis Battlesuits (two will act as bodyguards for the Shas'O, three will make one team, and the other will be alone)
3 Stealth Suits (one leader)

Troop:
2 10-man Fire Warrior teams with pulse rifles (missing 4 models!!)
1 10-man Fire Warrior team with pulse carbines (missing 1 model!!)

Fast Attack:
8 Pathfinders (3 rail rifles, one leader)
14 Gun Drones
2 Stealth drones (one for Ethereal, one for Shas'O)
Devilfish

Heavy Support:
Hammerhead Gunship
3 Broadsides


Spartan Space Marines


HQ:
Commander
Command Squad (4 men)

Elite:
Grey Knights (5 men)
Deathwatch Kill-Team (10 men)
Dreadnaught

Troops:
2 10-man Tactical Squads

Fast Attack:
Assault Squad (10 men)
Rhino

Heavy Support:
Predator
Whirlwind
Land Raider Crusader


Imperial Guard: 171st Sierran Rangers


HQ:
Command Squad (5 men *missing Colonel [going to use Commissar Lord])

Elite:
Kasrkin Squad (10 men)
Ghost Team (10 men)

Troops:
3 10-man Shock Troop Squads

Fast Attack:
Sentinel
Chimera

Heavy Support:
2 6-man Support Squads
Leman Russ
Basilisk


As well as these three complete (nearly) armies, I've also got the following:
(these are all models which I think are cool and intend to keep)

- Colonel Schaeffer's Last Chancers (plus Sly Marbo as... I forget his name, the other main guy in the novels. EDIT: Cage! thats his name!)
- Gaunt's Ghosts (the 6 man pack plus every different model from the blister packs)
- Emperor's Champion (converted)
- Magneus Calgar and Honour Guard
- Creed and Kell, plus two limited edition standing Cadians and a wounded Cadian
- Inquisitor Cortez and Retinue (psyker, converted kasrkin and the funny mini dude)
- Two female Ghosts, one with a GS hood, one without (I'm going to use one of these for my Inq28 warband as the character Mira, undecided which)


Finally, I also have these leftovers and scraps:

- 15 random Gaunt's Ghosts models
- Scope from the Last Chancers
- Nork Deddog (sp?) Ogryn
- 4 Cadian meltagun troopers
- 4 Cadian plasmagun troopers
- 8 random Cadian Troopers
- Cadian Colonel, medic and standard bearer
- extremely random and out of place Aragorn model... someone fell into the wrong box!
- Space Marine Sergeant (limited edition I think?)
... aside from Aragorn and the ltd ed Marine sergeant, I think most of those can go on ebay/bin/dark box at back of wardrobe.

So, to complete the squads in those armies, I need the following:
Commissar Lord to act as the IG Colonel
Ibram Gaunt model to lead the Ghosts
1 Pulse carbine Fire Warrior
4 Pulse rifle Fire Warriors

that should do it! Ive got enough Fire Warrior pieces to make 3 of those 5 needed models... annoying.

Im going to mention this, because on the off chance that anyone actually reads this, I know they'll think it. Yes, it might be weird - even against the rules - to include Deathwatch and Grey Knights in the same army. I don't care. Its my army and I seriously doubt I'll ever play against someone (if anyone) who actually cares. Hell, I don't even own the codex. Infact, while I'm saying this, I'm putting the inquisitor in with the space marine army.

In that missing 'favourites box' I keep mentioning I've also got 5 Grey Knight Terminators plus Brother-Captian Stern, so when I find and strip them they'll be joining the Spartan army too.

Im sure someone will also poke holes in having the Ghosts in my Guard army... again, I don't care, they fit the fluff and if I ever get the codex I'll find a way to make them legal (even if they're just a veteran squad or something).

Anyway, its late, I'm tired, and my room smells of paint stripper, so I'm going to bed!

Sunday, 22 April 2012

Fluff!

I've always been a huge fan of character and background develop, I've written a fair few stories and it was this that always made the hobby come alive to me. I've lost all the previous fluff that I'd created, so I've started again.

First up though, I went through the GW website and made a list of my favourite models. I photoshopped them together and thought they'd make a pretty cool Inquisitor warband!

So, if I can't find my Inquisitor models.. Im thinking Inq28 is the way to go!

Ive scribbled some fluff too:

Carter Retinue

Captain / Inquistor Nathan Carter
28mm model: Kal Jerico / 54mm model: Kal Jerico
Wargear: 2 pistols, sabre, frag grenades, carapace armour
Ex-Imperial guard Kasrkin/Strorm Trooper Sergeant, turned smuggler and treasure hunter (he learnt how to fly). Recruited by Veredus into his warband as pilot and mercenary, but trained him as his protégé. Comes from the planet of Sierra VII. Former Sierran Kasrkin.
- pistols? 2 laspistol? Laspistol and stub pistol? Two stub pistols?

Aun’ui Kais
28mm model: Aun’Shi / 54mm model: Fire Warrior
Wargear: Honour blade (his father’s), pulse carbine, pulse grenades
Nate’s first mate. Was a low rank ethereal who trained with fire warriors before setting out alone to explore the galaxy as a nomad. Owes a life debt to Nate, who saved his life. Became first mate, trusted ally and best friend to Nate. Broke Tau creed by not following the Greater Good and not sacrificing his Fire Warriors in exchange for a victory/objective. Disobeyed orders for suicide mission? Either way, was exiled. Extremely agile and nimble – parkour etc.

Inquisitor Aiden Veredus
28mm model: Primaris Psyker / 54mm model: Eisenhorn
Wargear: Pistol (bolt? Auto?), power sword, force staff, carapace armour
Nate’s old mentor and well respected Inquisitor. Old and extremely wise. Inspiration: Obi Wan Kenobi. Retired after giving Nate his rosette, but was brought back by Nate to act as advisor and aide in his team. Powefrul psyker.

1st Lieutenant Miranda ‘Mira’ Kain (Myra?)
28mm model: Female Ghost / 54mm model: ??
A Lieutenant of the Special Recon Unit (The Ghosts) of the 171st Sierran Rangers 1st Vanguard Company. She is an excellent marksman and specialises in covert operations, stealth, reconnaissance, espionage, guierrilla warfare and behind enemy lines insetion. She has light armour, black fatigues and a cameoline cloak. She is armed with a lasgun (with tactical sight), laspistol and frag grenades.

Commissar
28mm model: Commissar / 54mm model: Arbiter Judge
Arrests Nate and Kais before being thrown into an adventure with them and subsequently joining them.

Sniper
28mm model: Cadian sniper / 54mm model :??
Part of a Sierran special forces team that was forced to partner up with Nate against a mutual foe. The entire team was killed, so with no one to report to, no where to go and no exfil transport (hes assumed dead), he joined Nate who offered him a ride and a job.

Assassin
28mm model: Death cult assassin / 54mm model Severina
Extremely fast and agile, parkour and cat like moves.

Beck – Jayne Becker
28mm mode: Harker / 54mm model: ??
Wargear: heavy bolter, sword
Ex-catachan support trooper turned mercenary. Was part of a rival merc team, but Nate noticed his use and out paid him. Inspiration; Jayne Cobb. Deadly loyal as long as he gets paid. Tall beast of a man. Faux hawk. Black??

Jokaero
28mm model: Jokaero / 54mm model: ??
Nate finds it as a baby, and so earnt its trust. How do they communicate? Acts as mechanic and engineer.


The Cutter: Travel in a Valkyrie (Cadian green)

Often recruit a 10man Sierran Rangers Kaskrin squad or 10 man Deathwatch Kill Team


As you can probably see, Carter is based on the Han Solo / Indiana Jones / Malcolm Reynolds type, who's become an Inquisitor. He uses the Kal Jerico model because it was always my favourite GW model (both 28mm and 54mm!). The character himself is based on my (non40K) character, Nathan Carter, who fits into the adventurer genre (inspirations being Indiana Jones and Nathan Drake)... so I've ported him across into the 40K universe, and using my old Veredus character, I've made Nate an Inquisitor.


I've started making ideas for the other members too.


The Psyker model reminded me of the 54mm Eisenhorn (best. mini. ever.), which was the basis of my old Veredus character (I'll try and snap a pic one day!). I had the idea that since Veredus (in his prime) was my character when i was in my early teens, that since I've now grown up, then so has he. He's become an Obi-Wan Kenobi type mentor to his protege. I thought that was kinda cool....


I've always loved the Aun'Shi model (though I ended up butchering him for a conversion), so have decided to get him back. I thought he'd make a cool partner in crime for Nate (kind of the Chewy to Nate's Solo.. if you follow).


The other models I think are just really cool for various reasons, and are either the 28mm version of models I used to have in 54mm (death cult assassin I'm looking at you!) or are just cool new sculpts that I never had the chance to own.

On the train yesterday I fleshed out the backgrounds of Nate and Veredus some more...


Inquisitor Nathan Carter

Carries two stub pistols
Also a sabre. Silencer for stub pistol.

Although good in CQB, he prefers marksmanship. He and his old master clash over this. He claims that hand to hand combat is "an ancient artform that has no place in modern combat". He is an outstanding shot, as he was formerly a gunslinger.

Is very laid back and easy going, unlike his fellow inquisitors - mainly due to his life as a rogue.

Wears a brown coat over khakis and a cream top. Brown boots. Blue trousers??


Ordo ArteFactum?



Born on Sierra VII. Former Sierran Black Team. Left - why? Discharge?

Became smuggler and treasure hunter, was very sought after. 

Met and partnered with Kais. Became good friends and realised that the xenophobia of the imperium was so necessary.

Eventually hired by Inquisitor Aiden Veredus as a pilot and for his skill in combat (Kais came too)

Became Veredus' apprentice, eventually promoted to full Inquisitor when Veredus retired. Though recruited Veredus back as advisor, sage and psyker.

Specialises in hunting ancient artefacts, either useful to imperium or corrupt by chaos (for destruction)

Viewed by many as a radical due to his association with Kais. Nate believes that the best way for peace is to ally with friendly Xenos, not to purge and kill them all. It's unrealistic to wipe the universe of all alien races, it will never happen and so mankind will be in a constant state of war. However to ally with (relatively peaceful or similarly idealised) races such as Tau and Elder, a Republic can be formed. However he has no problem killing... unfriendly Xenos.

Believes that chaos is the greatest threat to humanity, and it is up to all races to unite against it and destroy it once and for all.

When dealing with puritans he hides these views and says Kais is his prisoner (much to Kais' chagrin)

Ordo Malleus (?) though he roams?

Has a very strong set of morals when it comes to human life, though otherwise he argues that (except for chaos) "there is no black or white... Only grey"

Very handsome, witty and charming. Gets by on his wits and charm.

Is very young for an inquisitor - only 34 and was recruited into retinue age 28. Left the guard at 22 (made it to rank of Sergeant)

Travels in a smuggler ship, which contains a (dark green) Valkyrie in the hold.

Inquisitor Aiden Veredus


Old inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus



120 years old? - age rejuvenation 
Very little hair, almost bald 

Like obj wan kenobi - very wise and fair, genuinely trying to do good. 

Is a powerful psyker, which is channelled through his force staff. Also carries a stub pistol, though considers it crude and uncivilised. Prefers to use his power sword on combat, despite being a good marksman.

Wear a long brown greatcoat over beige robes

Believes in destroying chaos, claims that Xenos "aren't his concern"

Ummatched with a sword in combat, despite his age.


I've also started making some fluff for my Imperial Guard and Space Marine armies. I wanted the Guard, Marines and Inquisitor war band to all have ties to one another, so decided that they were all from the same System / group of planets known as 'Sierra'


171st Sierran Rangers, 1st Vanguard Company (171 SR: 1 VG)

The 171 hail from the planet Sierra VII, in the Seirran System. Sierra VII lush planet, while not a hive world, it does contain a few Hive cities, which are surrounded my lush fields and forests, as well as rocky mountains. The regiments that are raised from Sierra VII are highly trained soldiers who have a natural ability in the wild, with excellent survival and hunting skills – hence the regimental name ‘The Rangers’.

The 171 are result of generations of knowledge and skill, and represent the crème of the crop of what Sierra VII has to offer. The 171, 1st Vanguard Company was created as an agile, tactical special operations force focused on covert warfare, guerrilla tactics, deep insertion etc. However they are also capable of leading an assault with supplemental companies. The 1st Company are intended to be a Vanguard unit, scouting ahead of the major formations of the 171 in order to fully brief the rest of the regiment. They also operate behind enemy lines and act as reconnaissance units.

The 171 1st Company has two particular specialised units;
-       The Special Operations Units – colloquially known as the Black Team – who are the counterparts of the Cadian Kasrkin, ie, highly trained commandos with tougher armour and more specialised weaponry than they regular Shock Troops of the 171.
-       The Special Recon Units – colloquially known as the Ghosts – who are masters of stealth and reconnaissance. They use cameoline cloaks to help blend in, and are lightly armoured for maximum maneuverability. They are an extremely agile unit, and are also able to blend in to civilian populations in order to carry out espionage duties. They are also excellent marksman, and are usually used as scouts for the 171 1st Company.

The company commander is Colonel Edward Sheppard, a fierce but loyal warrior who – unlike many of his rank – forms close ties to his men, and as such earns their eternal respect. Sheppard is supported by Captain Malcolm Buck of the Black Team and Captain Scott MacMillan of the Ghosts. 

As you can see I've also incorporated my Gaunt's Ghosts models into the mix, because I think they're really cool.

The Space Marines will be from the same sector, and so far all I have for them is that their chapter name is Spartans... or Sons of Sparta.. or Spartanmarines... or something like that. I want to go for a Halo feel for them, with hints to 300 (Im also a classical history student... I know, photography and classical civilisations is a weird mix).

Since I want the Guard and Marines to be similar, I want to go for similar colour schemes and styles.. and I want them to be realistic (bright blue soliders? Please. Dark green all the way!)

I looked up some model painter things online and came up with these:

Although the greens look different, they're both supposed to be Catachan Green (or whatever it is now) with black under layers and Red Gore details. The eyes of the Marines are yellow as a nod to the visor colour of Master Chief from Halo.

As well as the models at the very top, there are two more than I really want as well. 

The first is the Imperial Guard Valkyrie. As I said in an earlier post, I love it, and i REALLY want it. My student loan comes in tomorrow and its the fist thing I'll be buying! Amazing model!

LOOK AT IT!

I like the new flying bases too... the base of the stand is just asking for a diorama of some kind. Im thinking of using my injured Cadian (the old metal model from the command squad.. i think) and maybe something else. Could be cool!

It also really reminds me of the Pelican from Halo, which is possibly the coolest thing ever. Hmm.. maybe theres an idea there somewhere... I dunno.

I'll use the Valkyrie for my guard army, but also as the personal transport for Inquisitor Veredus and his gang (the idea being that it can fit into the cargo hold of his ship.. which is a smuggler ship - nice and covert!). The fluff will be that he's requisitioned it from the 171st Sierran Rangers.

I love that model, love it.

I also want to get the Commissar Lord, as I think he'll make a cool Colonel for my Guard army (as the current one looks a bit naff)

I think it a really cool model with awesome details and fantastic sculpting. He'll also be my first foray into finecast! (I seem to remember him being metal just before I quit :( sucks...)

Oh, speaking of metal. In my last post I mentioned that I like metal because of the weight.. well looking at my Marines I've realised that I've glued 2 pence coins under their bases, and it gives the plastic models a much nicer weight and feel, so I'm going to try and do that for the rest of my plastic models too!

Ok, enough ranting. Im going to go glue and strip models. I'll post an update soon.

UPDATE: just spent the last hour trying to get a bit of clear plastic out of my eye. Not fun.

Where'd everybody go?!

Err... so that was a disappointing trip.

I sifted through the garage for aaaaaaages and only came out with a few boxes. What the hell happened to the rest of my stuff?!

Worst of all, I kept my 'favourites' box separate from everything else so it wouldn't get lost or damaged... and in a piss-take twist of fate, I can't find the damn thing! I have NO idea where that is, and its quite upsetting cos it had the best of my stuff! Including ALL my Inquisitor models and some cool original sculpts by Greenstuff Gav! ack!

So what have I got? Three shoe boxes of models. One army in each.

I've got Tau, Space Marines and Imperial Guard. What the hell happened to my Space Wolves?! I know the rest of my Grey Knights are in said favourites box, along with the metal LOTR things and Inquisitor stuff. So I need to find that.... but seriously! Space Wolves! Where?! I found a Warhammer fortress that I'd painted to look like a lame Minas Tirith, definitely gonna sell that on eBay!

I also couldn't find any of my books (rulebooks, codexes, Eisenhorn and Gaunt's Ghosts novels etc)... But I didn't really look too hard for those.

So I've spend the last couple days stripping all my minis and fixing bits that are broken (why, why, whyyyy does GW need to sell two types of plastic glue?! I felt like an idiot walking into the store for the first time in 6-10 years and saying "erm... can I buy some plastic glue please?" "Sure, what are you glueing?" "erm... plastic?" "yes, but what?" "err.. plastic models?" "yes but we have two types, thick and thin" the guy then proceeds to put them in front of me and I'm so stupidly surprised by the stupidity of having two types of glue that I just stand there for a full minute just staring at them. "err... that one". I still don't know which I got in the end. POINTLESS! anyway....)

I also bought a s**t load of dettol to strip the models in, and this photo shows how far I've gotten:

(please excuse the bad photography. Believe it or not I'm actually a photography student and own a badass £1200 Nikon D300s DSLR... I just can't be assed to get it out! So iPhone will have to do for today!)

I decided to paint strip everything so I can just start again (to be honest, none of the Space Marines were even undercoated, and most of the Guard were only undercoated.. it was mainly the Tau and other things here and there that needed stripping!)

I havent painted minis in ages, but I like to think I'll be able to do something better than just crappy block colours I did in my youth. I want to try and get proper highlights and such going!

Loads of the models got broken while in the garage, so I've fixed those, and even more got bits broken off during the stripping....


Good thing I bought glue!

Here's a slightly closer look at the legions:


When all the models are stripped and reassembled I'll make a proper list of what I have.

I've made such a mess of my room with this dettol :/ also, if you're doing it for yourself...

a.) don't hold text conversations with your girlfriend. Taking those gloves off everything causes a massive mess. Plus panics when you get painty dettol over your shiny iPhone.
b.) don't keep dropping the slippery models into the dettol, it splashes. When that then gets in your eye (TWICE) if causes a scene as your rip the gloves off (mess again) and rush to wash your eye out. Again.

Oh, in case anyone was wondering, the name of this blog - Veredus - was the name of my Inquisitor character back in the day (I hate how I'm now old enough to say that!). He is the only model that I know the location of... unfortunately its sitting on my Dad's desk, because when I quit the hobby he really liked it so I gave it to him as a present! Definitely not getting that back! Ahh well, Im sure Veredus will reappear in some way or another!

I forgot to say, I also found my GW case with all my paints in... they look ok, though I'm reluctant to use them due to the paint range change. I also found some Tau sprues... Fire warrior, kroot and gun drones. I hate kroot (I want to use humans for CQB!) but the rest should be enough to fix models and maybe make another 10 man Fire Warrior team!

I guess that will do for now. Just need to finish stripping models and glue em back to together!

Back from the dead...

So when I was a young teen I was really into Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000, Inquisitor and Lord of the Rings models and games. For a fair few years I collected, made, painted and gamed with them almost religiously, spending almost every penny I had on those cool little minis.

Unfortunately when I hit my mid teens I decided to quit and get out of the hobby, I boxed up some things and threw the rest away, never really intending to ever get back in to the hobby - only keeping a couple armies for the sake of eBay.

The boxed up stuff was chucked into the garage and the rest into a skip... end of story.

Well... until now. Reaching my mid 20s now I've decided to get back into the hobby, I always really enjoyed it and to be honest, only quit because of what other people said about it - which is a shame, but when you're that age that kind of stuff really matters to you. Well I've grown up now, gotten rid of those judgmental friends and no longer care what people think. Feels bad saying this stuff, but it is the case. So I'm back to the hobby with renewed vigour and excitement! (it was actually my girlfriend who suggested I get back into it!... though nobody knows that secretly over the last few years I've occasionally gone back to the GW website to have a snoop around and see whats what.)

The only problem is salvaging whats left of my vast empire of models. Now as far as I can remember, my collection was as follows:

- Tau
- Space Marine
- Grey Knights
- Space Wolves
- Imperial Guard

^ these were all complete 1500-2000 point armies. I also had...
- many 54mm Inquisitor models
- LOTR Rohan Army
- LOTR Gondor Army
- loads of LOTR hero models
- loads of other sets of models such as Gaunt's Ghosts, Schaffer's (sp?) Last Chancers, cool models here and there (such as the 'new' [back in the day!] metal Calgar and Honour Guard set)

I also had all the rulebooks and codexes that applied to my armies.

Finally I also had a massive box of bits covering every single range and filling up quite a bit of space!

I remember putting all of these into boxes (I may have thrown out the plastic LOTR stuff... really can't remember after all this time!) and putting all my 'favourites' into one box and keeping it in my room.

That was back when I was living at my parents place, Ive since grown up and moved out... so I'm going to have to go back there soon and check out whats what!

Until then I've been looking at the GW website.. and wow things have changed! Prices have shot up, well, MASSIVELY. They've also stopped making metal models and replaced them with this 'finecast' malarky?! Whaaaat? And the entire paint range has been replaced and renamed? Great.

First of all, why stop making the metal models? I get that finecast is more detailed bla bla bla, but metal was also like having a shiny pokemon card... it was just better! I cherished all my metal models, they had a nice feel to them - nice and weighty. The plastic stuff would always blow over even if you just breathed on it. That sucks.

Secondly, replacing the names of paints? How is that useful?! I know theres a conversion chart.. but still, come on. That was unnecessary.

Thirdly, the price hike is ridiculous. GW was always expensive, now its just stupid. Im not going to say any more on the matter. Actually, I am. RIDICULOUS! When I last collected a Space Marine Tactical squad was £15. Now its £23?! Are you freaking kidding me?! Or look at the 54mm Artemis... that used to be £15, now its £20.50?! And also GW, what with the random prices with strange pennies on the end? What happened to round pounds? Everything seems to have gone up between £5 and £10. Even the old Necromunda Kal Jerico and Scabbs used to be.. what? £8? Now its £12.30! And seriously, THIRTY PENCE?! Is GW just trying to scrape every penny from us?! The only price change I can't complain about is the Valkyrie, which is now £40... I swear back on Force World a few years ago it was more like £80. Though I could be wrong. Dunno...

But what is cool is how some Forge World stuff has moved across to the 'mainstream' GW range... such as the Valkyrie. I LOVED that thing back in the day, and it WILL be one of the first purchases I make. Theres some other really cool new stuff, I like the new multi bit Grey Knights and Terminators, and the Space Wolves Lords on wolves are really cool. The new guard Commissars are pretty sweet as well. Guess theres some stuff Im going to want to get!

The new codexes... I have mixed feelings about. Ive had a look at them. They've gotten rid of the Deamonhunters and Witchhunters and just replaced them with Grey Knights? I don't like that. The old armies allowed you to basically mix Inquisition, Grey Knights and Imperial Guard into a nicely varied army... can you not do that anymore?! Also some of the changes to the Tau are crap. I swear the old codex allowed you to include humans as auxiliaries? or was that a supplement? I like the new Vespids, but not sure on this new take on Tau not being so 'good' anymore. Now I know many people will argue the 'grim dark' angle, but the Tau were made to be goodies! That was their THING! Anyway... Im half tempted to just ignore some of the new fluff.

Anyway, enough ranting, I'm gonna go reclaim my models!