Project Reaver: Paint Stripping Resin

The Armorcast Reaver Titan stands at just over 13.5 inches of Mike Biasi sculpting goodness from just over 18 years ago, originally cast in 1993. This particular Reaver came to me almost a year ago and has been patiently waiting on my hobby table while other projects came and went. But with summer weather in full swing I have decided to get the paint off, fix up 18 years of use and wear on the model and get her back into fighting shape. First order of business is the removal of the Warp Runners paint scheme.

Grey Knights: The New Leaf Blower!

So a Grey Knight army won the NOVA invitational, congratulations to the Winner of the invitational tournament go to Nick Nanavati who managed to use his own cunning, tactical strategy and skill to design a list and play it well enough to win the tournament!   The finals of the open tournament also feature another Grey Knights army that was ground to bitz by the juggernaut that is Tony Kopach; the wunderkind who won last years open and this years Adepticon at just 17 years of age. So now with all the data mining from the 'ard Boyz and now the NOVA tournaments we can finally stick a fork in the Imperial Guard auto-win mythos, once and for all, right? Now that Grey Knight are racking up win after win and laying waste to all that stand in their way, we know they are the new kings of the hill and we can all begin constructing our very own internet auto win kill lists! Right!?

Grey Knights are the new Bieber!

Off Topic: Ice Cube Tray for Geeks!

While perusing through Amazon the other day I stumbled upon a most intriguing find, The 'Hon Solo Frozen in Carbonite' ice cube tray. While I think we can all agree that Lucas sold out all the hard core original fans when Jar Jar hit the stage, we can also agree that nothing lets your geek flag fly like putting Hon Solo in your drink cup.

Modeling: Rust Technique

Hey guys, this is my introduction post, as i've joined the minds behind the scenes. My handle is Skrall, i'm something of an ork addict... in fact at current i have some in the region of 3000 points of orks... and its just the tip of my project iceberg. In the next 3 months i'll be putting up tutorials for modelling as well as reviews of new products (ogre kingdoms mainly, which i suspect isn't going to be the greatest source of interest for this group but who knows).

So first here is one of the 3-4 tutorials on weathering i'm doing. This is salt resist rusting.

Weathering Tutorial 1; Salt weathering.

Firstly, get your model painted to the quality of rust you like, mine seems a little washed out in this light but you'll see i go for a brown/orange rust, a mix of fresh and old rust.

Deep Thoughts: Soft Core Cheating

To me there are two types of cheating; both of them are evil, stupid and have no place in the hobby for anyone. The first type of cheat is a gamer who is hard core in their cheating, they will make stuff up and rule lawyer you to death using arguments they know to be false hoping that you will concede the point just to not be a bad guy. They read forums and know what the counter arguments are and rehearse their cheating before playing, to ensure that it comes across as true and accurate. The other kind of cheater is a soft core cheater who will make snide remarks while presenting a cheerful face and simultaneously apologizing for mistakes that are planned and deliberate. In my opinion, the soft core cheater is by far the worse of the varieties of cheaters because they will present a friendly and welcoming appearance to your face while simultaneously waiting for any opportunity to stab you in the back.

My Chimera, Soft Core Cheater Target

Inspiration: Idea Gallery Updates Deux

As always these are not mine, things found that might be either burried in the depths of history or forgotten about. First up is Col Corbane and his take on a Hydra anti-aircraft defense vehicle which was recently finished and you can see here. Corbane has since taken a leave from the world of blogging, but already came back, so give him a comment to let him know we care!

5 Minute History: Whirlwind

The Whirlwind is an artillery support vehicle used by the Space Marines, it is a mobile multiple missile launcher along the same lines of the modern M270 MLRS. Another variant of the Space Marine Rhino, the Whirlwind concept first appeared as a conversion of the Rhino in the pages of White Dwarf 117 magazine in September 1989. The first actual Whirlwind kit was released by Games Workshop in 1995 during the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40,000. That original model was essentially a Rhino plastic kit with an additional metal turret composed of multiple missile launcher tubes. With the release of the 4th edition of Warhammer 40,000, the a new Whirlwind model was released based on the newly-designed Space Marine Rhino. This latest version of the Whirlwind features a fully-plastic turret assembly.

MK I Whirlwind Circa 1989, author unknown

'Ard Boyz; Garbage in, Garbage out

How to create a 40k 'hockey stick' with statistical data is really not as hard as you might think. By assuming that we can use army placement in tournaments as the perfect predictor of the individual viability of armies in a perfect data set that represents the entire cross section of the country; we no doubt arrive at a set of data point ripe for manipulation. In the Warhammer 40k blog-u-verse it is the constant analysis of numbers, that have any number of variables built into them that absolutely no one can account for, in order to produce results that support your hypothesis that acts as our 'perfect model'. The hypothesis being supported depends on the individual conducting the analysis and what particular set of data they have gotten their hands on. Oh. My. God. What did he just say?!

The blogger way to conduct analysis

Game Time: Custom Building Rules

A friend of mine recently purchased the complete 'Fortress Kit' from WarMill Gaming, which he plans on using at the next big get-together with all his assorted gaming buddies from up and down the east coast. While I can't comment on the quality of the kit or offer a complete product review on it, I can offer some advice on some custom rules for this new piece of terrain that will make for a more interesting game.

The War Mill fortress set

5 Minute History: Skulz Program

Starting in June of 2000 Games Workshop started the Skulz program where hobbyists and collectors earned little silver stickers / pogs with skulls on them. For each $10 dollars of Games Workshop merchandise purchased you would receive one 'skulz token'. Additionally there were skulz tokens given at special events, in some issues of White Dwarf and stores were given then to hand out for gaming nights and as local promotional material.  

Game Time: SPOCON Results

Every community has its little convention of gamers getting together once a year. The Inland Northwest is no different and this weekend gamers from around western Washington, northern Idaho and eastern Montana gathered in Spokane for shenanigans and general merriment. Card flippers, role players, board gamers, historical and sci-fi miniature players and LARPers (the most dreaded of all geeks) all gathered to stare at each other’s silliness while other people who had the misfortune of stumbling by got to be surprised by it all.

Ummmm - where was the sign up sheet for that again?

Deep Thoughts: The Road to Geekdom

Royal Assassins, Sorcerer Queens and Ali From Cairo are three names that were burned into my memory at an early age when I first bought my first pack of cards. At the time I didn’t know how to play or what it would all lead to, but there I was buying my first pack of cards with lawn mowing money. Fast forward twenty years and here I am, blogging about sharing that same experience with my children.

My clones outside the local gaming store

5 Minute History: Adeptus Mechanicus Magos

The Adeptus Mechanicus Magos was only produced by Games Workshop as a miniature once, as part of the Skulz program. The Skuls program was published in White Dwarf 245 in June of 2000 and ran for just over two years before being canceled. The Magos miniature was only available as part of a set of Adeptus Mechanicus miniatures totaling 9 miniatures. While exact an number of how many were produced is not publicly available, these sets of miniatures consistently sell for over $200 dollars on eBay.

Photo from Stuff of Legends (tons of pics at the link!)

Fiction Review: Age of Darkness (Part 1 of 2)

Time to review this 'new' compendium from the Black Library Horus Heresy series. I know, I know, it's been out ages, but I've only just found the time to put the proverbial pen to paper, so here goes *spoilers ahoy* :

Flames of War: Testing the Water

Im a huge WWII buff, as two entire bookcases down stairs can readily attest, and a huge mechanized warfare proponet, as my years in the US Cavalry can also attest. One year, for Chirstmas, a friend and I flew to Belgium and drove all over the old Battle of the Buldge battlefields in the Ardennes instead of celebrating with family and friends. So dipping my toe in the Flames of War system is not such a huge stretch for me. Im starting small, with a personal hero of mine,  Hauptman Michael Wittman.

5 Minute History: Adeptus Mechanicus; Knights

Knights were introduced in the late 80's with release of the Adeptus Titanicus sourcebook for the Epic tabletop game. Three types were introduced in the early 1990s. The Knight Wardens had a defensive role. They were armed with long ranged, heavy weapons and were well armoured. Knight Paladins were jack-of-all-trade units, armed with a ranged and a close-combat weapon. Knight Lancers were scout units, armed with a single ranged weapon but were faster than the other Knights. Afterwards, the miniature range was reworked and the rules were updated. Knights were subdivided into the Paladin, Knight Errant and Lancer types, along with the Knight Baron as a superior command unit. A number of Knights were included in the Titan Legions box set.

GW Catalog circa 1988