Sunday 25 December 2011

Obligatory Christmas Blog Post.....

Sorry I haven't been publishing much over the last fortnight but a combination of Christmas and life seemingly hating me has made finding spare time next to impossible. I thought I best find time to say Merry Christmas to you all though.....

So here's a merry Xmas from me and all of Santa's special helpers...


and don't forget to unwrap all your presents...


Enjoy the holiday everyone ;-)

Thursday 15 December 2011

Bye Bye Deathwatch, Hello Dark Heresy.....

We'll be finishing off Deathwatch over the next two or three sessions and then moving onto Dark Heresy for a bit of a change of pace.


Unfortunately the sort of character I wanted to play couldn't be done properly within the strictest definition of the rules so we had to improvise a bit. My new character and an explanation of the tweaking needed to make it work can be found here.

In the same way that our previous GM made a vague attempt to chronicle our progress at Deathwatch our current GM is going to be doing the same over here.

For some reason that I'm a little afraid to ask one of the guys is choosing to play as some kind of cowgirl gunslinger which is going to be interesting to say the least...

Probably not how a 40K 'Scum' Gunslinger would actually look.....

Sunday 11 December 2011

Primarch's - Alpharius/Omegon

Been a while since I attempted one of these.....

We knew very little about Alpharius + Omegon until some of the more recent Heresy books. We know that the fact that there are two Primarchs of the Alpha Legion is told to no-one outside the Legion itself. They're only slightly larger than the other Alpha Legion Marines and are apparently somewhat similar in facial appearance to Horus. They are known for the use of unorthodox (but still effective) tactics and have on occasion taken the difficult path to victory simply because the alternative would have made their inevitable success too easy...

Due to the fact that the Alpha Legion Marines often introduce themselves as Alpharius and the Primarchs themselves armour and equipment had few obvious differences to that of normal Marines it creates a few design issues.

Firstly, I'd stated that I had no intention of giving the Primarchs points values as I intended them to be balanced only when taking into account that the opposing player would be using one as well. To all intents and purposes this means that the Alpha Legion has the advantage of having twice the Primarch for his money than his opponent. I could of course have got around this by stating that you only used one at a time but that would have been a bit of a cop-out now wouldn't it?

Secondly, I can't make them too weak as this would simply mean that they were easily dispatched by the opposing Primarch who would then proceed to find the other and kill him as well.

I have tried to balance this problem by making the Alpha Legion Primarchs somewhat less well equipped than their brothers due to their need to blend in with other Alpha Legionaries while increasing their survivability by creative use of the whole 'I am Alpharius' thing.....

They'll therefore be getting the top-end of marine equipment but nothing that a Marine (in theory) couldn't have got hold of (or at the very least couldn't make look like standard gear) while having the uncanny ability to be in just the right place at the right time.

In order to represent the often unusual tactics of the Alpha Legion units were going to give a quantity of them access to a list of special abilities that can be distributed as required and the ability to change between them at will. As this could possibly create some 'broken' combinations I'm going to limit this to a few units only ;-)

Alpharius + Omegon Primarchs of the Alpha Legion.

I haven't used the John Blanche picture as he has given him hair and all the current descriptions describe him as bald.
WS 7, BS 6, S 6, T 6, W 4, I 6, A 5, Ld. 10, Save 2+, 4+ Inv.

Composition : 1 (Unique - Alpharius) + 1 (Unique - Omegon)
Unit Type : Infantry

Wargear:
Artificer Armour, Master Crafted Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades, Iron Halo, Master Crafted Combi-Bolter*, Master Crafted Power Weapon.

* This may be of any type (Flamer, Melta or Plasma) as long as the model is appropriately equipped and me also be a standard Bolter instead if you so desire.

Special Rules:
Acute Senses, And They Shall Know No Fear, Eternal Warrior, I am Alpharius**, Independent Character, Might of the Primarch, Relentless, Unorthodox Tactics***, Will of the Primarch.

** I am Alpharius - Neither Alpharius nor Omegon are deployed at the start of the game. Instead at the beginning of any player turn the owning player may choose to exchange any Power Armour equipped Alpha Legion Marine for the model representing either Alpharius or Omegon. If the unit has a Champion, Sergeant or similar ranked model then this is the one that must be replaced, otherwise any standard model can be used.  From that point on he uses his normal profile as detailed above.

If there are no enemy units within 6" of Alpharius/Omegon at the end of the assault phase (before any consolidation moves are made) then he may be replaced with the original Power Armoured model.....as apparently that wasn't Alpharius after all ;-).....The owning player may then choose to replace a different Power Armoured model with Alpharius/Omegon in any subsequent turn.

*** Unorthodox Tactics - The Alpha Legion are famed for the use of unconventional or unorthodox tactics in order to confuse and undermine the enemies expectations. To represent these unusual tactics, at the beginning of each of the owning players turns up to three Alpha Legion units can be given one of the following special rules (though all of the units need not have the same rule).

Counter-Attack,
Furious Charge,
Hit and Run,
Infiltrate,
Relentless,
Scouts,
Stealth,
Tank-Hunters.

This ability lasts until the beginning of the owning players next turn after which it ceases to be in effect. The owning player may however use the same special rule (or a different one) on the same unit in subsequent turns if he so desires. Any unit containing either Alpharius or Omegon gains this ability but does not count towards the three unit limit.

Strategic Assets (Apocalypse Games Only):
Alpharius/Omegon's controlling player gains one of each of the following Strategic assets though they may ONLY be used by Alpharius/Omegon or Alpha Legion units.

Tactical Assets - Ambush, Careful Planning, Flank March, Recon, Strategic Redeployment.
Battlefield Assets - Tunnels.
Support Assets - Blind Barrage, Jammers, Surgical Raids.

This one was tricky to get right and I'm still not sure about how well it balances against the other ones, but as usual thoughts and comments are most welcome.

Friday 9 December 2011

Forge Master Mortis gets a bit more paint.

I've put some basic colouring on him but other than a Badab Black wash on some of the Boltgun Metal bits he's lacking in any kind of shading or highlights at the moment.



and if that awesome front shot that makes you have to stare down the barrels of those Storm Bolters doesn't convince my GM to let me have a 2nd one for my character based purely on 'that's fucking cool' then nothing will.....









Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

House of Paincakes Article No.44ish

Article can be found here.

This week on the subject of why foot armies in 40K are shit and why armour is blatantly better in (almost) every way.

But most of you couldn't give a flying fuck about my Tuesday iHoP article now could you?

Tuesday Eye-Candy this week will feature only ladies from the UK for several very good reasons.....only one of which is Kate Beckinsale.....This will probably spread over two or three weeks as there's a lot of talent to choose from ;-)

Billie Piper.



Catherine Zeta Jones.



Cheryl Cole.




Elizabeth Hurley.



Jessica Jane Clement.



Kate Beckinsale.




Keira Knightly.



Kirsty Gallacher.



That should keep you happy for a while and as the girl (I'm presuming it was a girl anyway) who complained about me only catering to male viewers e-mailed me again here's a token guy for you to look at.....


Happy now?

Monday 5 December 2011

Forge World Newsletter 290

 
Forge World Newsletter #290










Hi there,
            With December and the festive season upon us, there’s still time to receive your orders before Christmas. In today’s early newsletter we’ve got a new Contemptor pattern Dreadnought weapon, two sets of Space Marine shoulder pads and a
 brand new (old?) Imperial Guard war machine
Christmas Order Deadlines
On the eve of the festive period, Forge World’s Customer Service team and Despatch warehouse is working around the clock to ensure your Christmas orders are shipped as quickly as possible.
We’ve got full details of our imminent order deadlines at the end of this newsletter, and if you’re outside the UK, we advise you place your standard delivery orders by midnight (GMT) today.
Graia Pattern Rapier Laser Destroyer
Graia Pattern Rapier Laser DestroyerThe Rapier Armoured Carrier is an ancient device, one of many such technological relics of the dawning days of Mankind’s stellar empire; a bulky, armoured track unit which mounts a powerful antomantic reactor. The Rapier is often armed with a powerful quad lascannon known as a laser destroyer. This has become synonymous with the Rapier Armoured Carrier itself, and the Graia Pattern Rapier Laser Destroyer is perhaps the most common design of this potent anti-tank weapon.
Designed by Will Hayes, the Graia Pattern Rapier Laser Destroyer is a finely detailed full resin kit, which contains parts to build optional Cadian crew, and can be used in several different armies. You can download experimental rules for the Rapier Laser Destroyer from the Forge World website.


Contemptor Pattern Autocannon
Contemptor Pattern AutocannonThis week’s second release is another weapon option for the ancient and hallowed Contemptor Dreadnought. The eagerly-awaited Contemptor Pattern Autocannon, designed by Will Hayes, is fully compatible with both the standard Contemptor Dreadnought and the Relic Contemptor.


Minotaurs Shoulder Pad Sets
Minotaurs Shoulder PadsA mysterious and darkly famed Chapter, the Minotaurs played a major part in the prosecution of the Badab War. Adding their full Chapter strength to the Loyalist cause, they were most lauded for their brutal and unrelenting near-destruction of the Secessionist Lamenters during the Battle of Optera.

Designed by 
Simon Egan, these two sets of detailed Minotaurs Shoulder Pads and Minotaurs Terminator Shoulder Pads are compatible with the full range of Space Marine infantry available both from Forge World and Games Workshop.


Forge World Christmas Ordering Deadlines
Standard Delivery:
Thursday 1st December – Australasia, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Africa, the Caribbean, South & Central America, APO addresses and static BFPOs
Monday 5th December – Eastern Europe, USA and Canada

Thursday 8th December – Western Europe
Tuesday 13th December – UK and Operational BFPOs
Express Delivery:
Tuesday 13th December – Worldwide
Thursday 15th December – UK
The Customer Service team are standing by to assist with any and all enquiries you may have - from product availability and hobby advice to helping to explain the difference between a Titan and a Dreadnought to a confused relative.
You can call us on:
0115 916 8177 within the UK
011 44 115 916 8177 from the US and Canada
00 44 115 916 8177 from much of Europe.

Our opening hours are 0900 to 1800 (GMT) Monday to Friday and 0900 to 1700 (GMT) on Saturday.

Thanks,
Ead Brown
Customer Service Manager
Forge World

Friday 2 December 2011

Warhammer Forge Newsletter 19

Some more not 40K.....
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/SiteImages/fw-wh-logo.png 
Warhammer Forge Newsletter # 19


Hi there,
            In today’s newsletter we are excited to announce that a new Chaos Dwarf war machine is available to order. We’ve also been able to extend our standard delivery order deadline for customers in Australasia, Asia and the Far East. Read on for more!
Christmas Order Deadlines
On the eve of the festive period, Forge World’s Customer Service team and Despatch warehouse is working around the clock to ensure your Christmas orders are shipped as quickly as possible.
We’ve got full details of our imminent order deadlines at the end of this newsletter, but there’s still plenty of time to receive your orders in time for Christmas.
Chaos Dwarf Skullcracker
Chaos Dwarf SkullcrakerWhen laying siege to an enemy, a Chaos Dwarf Daemonsmith will sometimes remove the fell cannonades of an Iron Daemon and replace them with a hissing and grinding arcane-mechanical conglomeration of iron hammers, hacking blades and brutal picks. Designed to smash down walls and tear fortifications asunder, the cruel blades of the so-called Chaos Dwarf Skullcracker are equally adept at pulverising the flesh and bones of any enemy unfortunate to be caught in its implacable path.
The Chaos Dwarf Skullcracker is a highly detailed full resin kit, designed by Tim Adcock, and is supplied with three unique crew figures designed by Thais Mariblanca Lopez. It is available to order now, and full rules for this nefarious device can be found as part of the Legion of Azgorh army list in Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos.

Forge World Christmas Ordering Deadlines
Standard Delivery:
Monday 5th December – Eastern Europe, USA and Canada, Australasia, Asia, Far East (including Japan).
Thursday 8th December – Western Europe

Tuesday 13th December – UK and Operational BFPOs
Express Delivery:
Tuesday 13th December – Worldwide
Thursday 15th December – UK
The Customer Service team are standing by to assist with any and all enquiries you may have - from product availability and hobby advice to helping to explain the difference between a Titan and a Dreadnought to a confused relative.
You can call us on:
0115 916 8177 within the UK
011 44 115 916 8177 from the US and Canada
00 44 115 916 8177 from much of Europe.

Our opening hours are 0900 to 1800 (GMT) Monday to Friday and 0900 to 1700 (GMT) on Saturday.
Thanks,
Ead Brown
Customer Service Manager
Forge World
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