Friday, July 29, 2011

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Angels of Vengeance Objective Markers

Here are 5 objective markers for Magilla's Angels of Vengeance. These are a last minute addition to his 2nd commission for the army.

He just wanted some simple bronze marine statues to use with the army for the Bay Area Open that is happening this coming weekend. I will also be at the event snapping lots and lots of Pics as the staff photographer!



Also before I forget, I will be finishing the Gaming outside the box series next week as this commission has got me otherwise occupied.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Gaming outside the box: Inspiration




When it comes to narrative wargaming the only thing holding you back is the limits of your imagination. Sometimes even the most creative amongst us fall short on inspiration, and that is what this post is about. I am going to share some of the ways that I get inspired.

A phenomenal source of 40k inspiration is the Black Library books, which just keep getting better and better. They contain some fantastic settings that are just screaming for recreation on the tabletop! If I had to pick my favorite series of books it would have to be the Horus Heresy series. Any of these stories can be re-envisioned to fit your current armies in the modern era of the 40k universe.

Another great source of inspiration can be the History and Mythology of our own real world. In fact I know that GW has used some of the great battles in history as inspiration for 40k. A small force of Space Wolves that is lead by Wolf Guard Ranulf the Strong holds a small mountain pass against an Ork horde to allow the rest of Space wolves to regroup, sure sounds like the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae.

A personal favorite of many wargamers and GW is Hollywood! Movies can be a great starting point for inspiration, cause who does not love the tension of being trapped in a spaceship surrounded by the foul xenos! I’ve even enjoyed games involhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifving a dozen military criminals sent on a suicide mission where you know all but a few are gonna die!

Other Sci-fi genre books can inspire also, but this can be a bit tougher due to the established Grim Dark of the 40k Lore.

Edit: a great suggestion from Porky. Lexicanum is a great online source for 40k inspiration!

The bottom line is that there is a world full of inspiration waiting to be transformed to life on your tabletop all you have to do is find the correct muse for your tastes!

See you Monday for part three, Objectives and Special Rules.

Until then!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

On the table: Eradicators/CSM Havocs


Here are the first two finished models for the squad. The other three models are almost finished I need to finish painting the gold on them. I should have the rest of them up by Thurs or Friday.

I have finished the Centurion and one of the Missile launchers. Sorry for the dark pics I lost a lamp and didn't have a replacement bulb for it.






I was a bit worried about the rotting heads hanging from the missile launcher models. I am pretty satisfied with the result, they are a little lighter in color in person.




Monday, July 18, 2011

Gaming outside the box




In this series of posts I will be going over my thoughts on Narrative gaming; from tried and true mechanics that my group has used for years as well as ideas that are brewing for upcoming games.

Here is a little background for those of you that were not around in the early days of 40k Rogue Trader. Back in those hallowed days 40k was all about the story; it was so deeply ingrained into the game that you were supposed to have a game master. Most gamers back then were more worried about having a great time creating a fantastic story that winning and losing was only a fleeting secondary thought.

So for most of the been playing since 1st ed crowd narrative gaming is as natural as breathing. Oh how things have changed, now with the streamlined rules and tournament hungry gaming culture, narrative gaming has taken a back seat. I’d be willing to bet that there will be gamers that read this that have never played a narrative game of 40k

Narrative gaming means different things to different gamers, but at its core it is about creating a story with your games. This can be achieved in many ways, from a simple objective driven system where each objective has real significance to the actual story. It can also be very elaborate with custom special rules, random events or anything your imagination can cook up.

All you have to do is let your imagination take over and find a fried that wants to have a game where the results create a story.

Did Captain Antillies, and his Knights of Fire purge the traitors from Pergos, more importantly did he survive the engagement?

On Wednesday I will be going over idea about where you can draw inspiration for your narrative games.

Until then……

Monday, July 11, 2011

On the table this week: Eradicators/CSM Havocs


Here is a WIP shot of what I am working on this week. It is a squad of Soul Reapers Eradicators; so basically correctly priced Chaos Havocs! The squad weighs in at 155 points without an icon or costs 160 points with a personal icon.

I really like the way that they turned out, even though they were a nightmare to build with the metal heavy weapons.

The Champ is a particular favorite of mine, I worked hard to give him a natural pose for a model holding a bolter and pointing. I also gave him that clever spiky bit on his pack that can double as a personal icon for those time that I give the squad an icon.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Soul Reapers Praetorian Centurion: CSM Chosen Champ

I am working on finishing up my Praetorian squad, I have finished the Centurion. I really love these Forge World berzerker heads, they give the perfect look to these veteran madmen. He is armed with a Chaos Rune Blade and bolt pistol, but his right arm is magnetized so will have more weapons options later.






Monday, July 4, 2011

Have a great Independence Day


To all my fellow Americans, Have a safe and happy Independence day!

I will be spending the day in the man-cave getting some painting done on the Soul Reapers. Then round out the evening with a lawn chair on the roof, to watch the fireworks!

Until next time.

Cheers,
Jim

Friday, July 1, 2011

My goodness, Forge World does it again!


Every time I think Forge World cannot possibly amaze me the do it again!

The pre-order for the Contemptor Dreadnought is up and this model is "Pure unadulterated WIN!!"

The experimental rules are pretty good too, at first glance!