Finally, 6th Edition! First Thoughts.

So at long last my Gamer's Edition has arrived. I've finished reading through the rules and they look really solid so far - quite a few rules have been shaken up, but that's to be expected. I think this'll help greatly to get rid of some of the mech stagnation that 5th fell into.

The other thing I like about the rulebook is the VERY extensive background and hobby sections - the rules are only about 1/6 of the book. In the back there are some neat alternate missions, campaign and terrain ideas which are reminiscent of the 4th Edition book - something I found distinctly lacking in the 5th edition one.

The Munitorum Dice are not extra special, but the las-pack they come in is nifty - I'll probably try and snag the Vehicle Damage Dice and Battlefield Objectives when they come out, keep the red Munitorum dice for markers and such. Might refill one of the las-packs with my brass-pipped Chessex dice (because the Gamer's Ed satchel has handy pockets for the las-packs).

Now the only things I've left to do are keep hammering away at getting my Marines painted, and get some games in! With the power weapon changes, might bring the Terminators back off the shelf... and get the Space Hulk ones painted up to augment my First Company detachment.

A Farewell To Fifth - The Final Tally

With only four days left until Sixth is officially released, I'm putting the cap on my running tally of Fifth Edition battle statistics. Of course, I'll update it if I manage to get any games in between now and then. So, for posterity... the annotated tally of war from Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition, 2008-2012.

W/L/D (G)

Revilers 3rd Company
36/34/16 (86)
The Revilers were my main army for 5th, and continue to be. I actually started this army soon after 5th was released, alongside the Black Reach starter set and the latest Space Marine codex. In the last four years, the Third Company has grown from five push-fit Tactical Marines (who all bear gold aquuilae as honour markings) to almost an entire Battle Company (command, six tactical, two devastator, one assault squad) with large detachments from the First and Tenth Companies as well as the Librarius.

A'rynnal Corsairs
4/3/3 (10)

My second army, the Eldar were the army that I brought into 5th Edition. I lost interest in them due to a lack of focus in army planning, however, I would like to revisit them in small-project chunks, building up an Aspect-heavy foot Eldar force.

219th Vigilance Line Infantry
2/1/1 (4)
The 219th Vigilance are a collection of classic metal Imperial Guard models I got secondhand from a family friend. I run them as basic infantry supported by Conscript Platoons, and they see the most action as allies in Apocalypse games.

The Legio Aerayakh
2/0/0 (2)
My first ever army, I hadn't touched my Necrons since I had declared them "finished" at about 2000 points and moved on to Eldar. With the advent of a new codex last November, I brought them out again over the Christmas break and started repainting them in a bold new colour scheme.

157th Aeshaettar Light Infantry
2/0/0 (2)
My own Imperial Guard regiment, recently relegated to "hobby project" status so I can focus more on developing the look and feel of the army rather than building an army to use in standard games. Hopefully in 6th they will see more action as an allied contingent to my Revilers.

The Great Hunt of Svenhag Scar-Foot
0/1/2 (3)

A Space Wolf army list I tried out for a few proxy games. The army's four heroes accounted for fully half of the total points, and it was great fun to try out.

Total
46/39/22 (107)


So I exit 5th edition with a 43% victory record, out of 107 total games played. I hope to better the second statistic in the new edition - and maybe with a little luck, I'll surpass the first as well.

Sixth Edition Allies Rumours

Sixth edition will allegedly be announced on Saturday, and the rumours are starting to look more concrete.

The only thing that I have anything to say about right now is the rumours of allies... apparently, the allies rules will allow you to "integrate a second FOC" from an allied codex.

If this is true, I might start fielding combined Marines/Guard as a matter of habit. Might even pick up some Vostroyans (to be modelled/painted as Evanturel Highlanders) and do Shrinehold themed armies.

Now, back to painting Scouts for Saturday.

Strike Force Xerius - 1250 Point Space Marine List

So, my FLGW is running a 1250 point tournament next Saturday, and once again the Revilers are making an appearance. My list looks something like this:

Chaplain
+Jump Pack
+Meltabombs
+Digital Weapons

Librarian

Tactical Squad [10]
+Powerfist
+Meltagun
+Heavy Bolter
Drop Pod

Tactical Squad [10]
+Powerfist
+Meltagun
+Missile Launcher

Scout Squad [10]
+Powerfist
+5 Combat Blades
+4 Shotguns

Sternguard Veterans [5]
+Combi-melta
Drop Pod

Dreadnought
+Multimelta
+Heavy Flamer
+Extra Armour
Drop Pod

Assault Squad [5]
+Power Weapon

So that means I've got a touch of painting to get done in the next six days. The Chaplain, Assault Marines, one tactical squad, Dreadnought and drop pods are good to go. The Librarian, Sternguard, and Scouts need painting... and the Tactical Squad with the heavy bolter is partially painted.

Strike Force Sabre - Space Marines

In lieu of the Weekend Workbench this week, I've got some shots of the 1000 point army I took to a tourney at my local GW yesterday.

Tactical Squad III, led by Sergeant Dymius.

Tactical Squad I, led by Sergeant Valdis, and containing a returned Deathwatch veteran.

Assault Squad VIII, led by Sergeant Raedix. This squad also has a returned Deathwatch veteran in it, and Raedix's jump pack is embellished with two reliquaries.

Leader of the strike force, Brother-Reclusiarch Behemiel.

Lastly, my first Dreadnought, Brother Gaheris.

Weekend Workbench - 20 May

Quick post here this weekend, so I can get back to painting Space Marines. Been a bit skint with the photography of late, but that's due to the in-progress Drop Pods currently inhabiting my photoshoot area (a piece of paper taped to my back wall). My laptop's been temporarily evicted from the workbench for now, to make space for the 1000 point army I'm painting up to take to a tournament next Saturday. Currently I have 8 Tactical Marines, a Drop Pod, a Dreadnought, and a Chaplain finished, 9 Tactical Marines and 1 Assault Marine awaiting details and basing, and 3 Tactical Marines, 9 Assault Marines, and 2 Drop Pods in various stages of PIP.

Weekend Workbench - 13 May

Three words: Drop Pod Assault.

I also built four Honour Guard, five Assault Marines, and a power-armoured Librarian this week - the Assault Marines are visible on the palette in the foreground, and I'll get detail pics of all of those projects up soon. For now, though, my workspace is transitioning into painting-mode! I've entered a tourney at my "local" GW on May 26, so I need to paint up those Assault Marines, those two Drop Pods, and do some finishing touches on my Tactical squads. When I get tired of painting blue-grey Power Armour, I'll take a break and paint some Inquisitorial Henchmen.

Weekend Workbench - 6 May - Special Outdoor Edition

Today was an exquisitely nice day outside, so I dragged myself out into the backyard and got some priming done. The Inquisitorial warband, 2 Sternguard, a missile marine, and a Veteran with Thunder Hammer for my Command Squad - as well as 2 drop pods and a Rhino still on-sprue.

Here's a shot of the backyard, painting backdrop all set up on the left, minis laid out to dry on the bench, and pretty pink petals from the crabapple tree everywhere. On a slight tangent, priming grey plastic minis grey gets kind of frustrating.

Here's my workbench this weekend - freshly primed stack sitting on my stool, and barely visible on the cutting plank are two MkIII Iron-armoured Sternguard Veterans in progress. Going to finish up a couple more minis then clear off the bench for some painting. Until next time!

"Anyone Can Be Killed" - Inquisitorial Assassins

So Jeff's Inquisitorial warband is now complete - today I'm showing off a variety of Imperial Assassins, as well as the last Daemonhost and two rather special-looking Crusaders. Click the photos for larger versions!

Front and back shots of the last Daemonhost - I greenstuffed his left arm and added chains and other gubbins today. 

These two charming individuals are Death Cult Assassins - made from plastic Wood Elf bodies, torsos, and masked/hooded heads, shivs from the Forge World Renegade Upgrade set, and assorted plastic swords.

Two Crusaders, done Empire-style - Pretty much stock Empire Free Company, with Dwarf shields (hammer = Malleus) and some 40k purity seals and trophies.

Last but not least, two Assassins from the Clades proper, with some minor repairs done in plastic. The Vindicare on the left was missing the end of his Exitus rifle, so I made a suitably impressive-looking replacement from one of the antennae off a Grey Knight Interceptor backpack. The Eversor was missing his right arm, so I substituted a sword arm from the Empire Free Company sprue. It makes him look quite a bit more dangerous, I'd say.

Next on my list of things to do is to get all these chaps painted, then start on their Rhino transport.

Inquisitorial Warband WIP

My gaming buddy Jeff is building up a Grey Knight army. Actually, he bought a small Daemonhunter warband, and it turned into a Grey Knight army when the new codex came out. To save him some time, and also to give myself a chance for some wacky conversions, I offered to spruce up his Inquisitor and retinue. Here are my WIP's so far. Lighting is a bit off - I'm still figuring some things out with my new hobby setup.

Front and back of Lord Inquisitor Nelson Princeps - force sword taken from the Grey Knight Terminator box.

Front and back of two kitbashed Arco-Flagellants - Catachan legs and bodies, Space Marine arms, Flagellant heads and flails, Grey Knight Interceptor backpacks and steel wire.

Two Mystics - the one on the left is the vox-man torso from the Forge World Renegade Upgrade with a Cadian laspistol and legs. The one on the right is a converted Techpriest Enginseer.

Front and back of three heavily converted Daemonhosts (the one on the right isn't finished yet). A vague amalgam of Chaos Posessed, Flagellants, Empire Free Company, and other assorted bitz.

A bit on the tamer side - four Warrior Acolytes, of the Guardsman variety. From left to right: Kasrkin with repurposed Space Marine backpack and Grey Knight head; Catachan legs, Cadian arms and torso, Free Company head; Catachan legs, Cadian torso and meltagun, Free Company head; Cadian legs, torso, and vox-head, Space Marine arms and bolter.

I still have to kitbash two Death Cult Assassins and two Crusaders to round out the retinue, as well as building a Rhino for them to ride in. Then all that's left to do before I give them back to Jeff is paint them!

Weekend Workbench - 29 April

Inspired by Ron over at From The Warp, and to help myself keep up a good flow of content on my own blog, I've decided to do a snapshot of my workbench area every weekend - leaving enough flexibility to work around my schedule. Here's the first one:

Nothing much going on yet, as I've just got back from school. I spent the weekend unboxing my Space Marines and laying out all my tools and brushes again. First on the chopping block are a couple of miscellaneous Marines in mkVI armour - one will be equipped with a missile launcher and I'm not sure what I'm doing with the second.

AFTERMATH: The Taking of Hellion Prime

Author's note: this is an after-action report from two years ago that I somehow neglected to publish.

So I went down to the local GW today for a 1750 point pseudo-narrative tournament - 3 rounds with a rudimentary linked narrative running through all the games. The list I brought looked like this:

HQ

Librarian 175

• Terminator Armour

• Epistolary

• Vortex of Doom, The Avenger

Chaplain 130

• Jump Pack

• Meltabombs

• Digital Weapons
ELITES

Terminator Squad [5] 230

• Assault Cannon
TROOPS

Tactical Squad [10] 220

• Meltagun

• Multimelta

• Sergeant: Powerfist, Meltabombs, Teleport Homer

Tactical Squad [10] 210

• Meltagun

• Multimelta

• Sergeant: Power Sword, Meltabombs, Teleport Homer

Tactical Squad [10] 205

• Flamer

• Heavy Bolter

• Sergeant: Power Sword, Meltabombs, Teleport Homer

Scout Squad [10] 165

• 4 Combat Blades

• Heavy Bolter

• Sergeant: Combat Blade, Teleport Homer
FAST ATTACK

Landspeeder 50

• Heavy Bolter

Assault Squad [5] 135

• Plasma Pistol

• Sergeant: Power Sword, Meltabombs
HEAVY SUPPORT

Devastator Squad [10] 230

• 4 Missile Launchers

Game 1 was Seize Ground with Spearhead deployment. The Secondary objective was to "scan" each objective marker with a Troops unit; roll a D6 and on a 6 you got a point. Most points takes the secondary objective.

My opponent had a fairly balanced Eldar army: an Avatar, 10 Dire Avengers, 10 Wraithguard, 10 Guardians, 10 Swooping Hawks, 5 Dark Reapers, a Wraithlord, and 3 Warwalkers.

At the end of the game we were each sitting on one of the four objectives, but my opponent had managed to scan 3 objectives - whereas I had failed to scan any. Minor victory for the opposition.

Game 2 was Annihilation using Dawn of War deployment, with Table Quarters as the secondary objective. My opponent was a very tank-heavy Ultramarine army: a Librarian, two Tactical squads (one in a Rhino, one with a Razorback), ten Assault Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader, two Landspeeders, two Predators, and another Land Raider Crusader.

My infantry-heavy army was slaughtered almost to a man; the game ended with my opponent claiming 8 Killpoints and 2 table quarters, for a Massacre.

Game 3 was a Capture & Control mission using Pitched Battle deployment. The Secondary Objective was to end the game with units in your opponent's deployment zone. An additional twist included in the scenario was that all terrain was counted as difficult for infantry - that meant it would be a long walk for my Revilers. I faced an aggressive Salamanders army that included Vulkan and 5 Vanguard in a Land Raider Redeemer, 2 Tactical Squads in drop pods, an Ironclad Dreadnought in a drop pod, an unmounted Tactical Squad, and a squad of Assault Terminators.

This game was incredibly close - in the end, my opponent claimed one objective by an inch, but I had three units in his deployment zone. This resulted in a Minor Victory for him.

Despite losing all my games, I got to play three good games of 40k and walked out at the end of the day with the award for Best Sportsman - and $45 in GW gift certificates.

Rethinking Captain Telemachus

Jarhael Telemachus, Captain of the Revilers 3rd Company is the erstwhile commander of my Space Marine Army. Currently represented by a somewhat sloppily converted Emperor's Champion, I decided to make my first summer project an attempt at converting a model that does him justice. To that end, I picked up a Space Marine Commander box and a Finecast Emperor's Champion - hopefully the Finecast lends itself to conversions better than the original white metal. The old Telemachus model will probably be repurposed as a Vanguard Veteran sergeant, or a member of the Honour Guard.

Update and Rebranding!

Hello readers,

Just a quick heads-up to inform everyone of a slight change - Magnet Addict is now Stormcrow Hobbies. I'm still writing, converting and painting all of the stuff on here, the only thing that's changed is the name and URL.

In future news, I've decided to halt purchases (except of paint and hobby supplies) in the short term and tackle the mountain of unpainted additions to my Space Marine army over the summer, once I'm done with my second year of uni. Slated projects include another Tactical Squad, filling out my five-man Assault Squad, two more Drop Pods and a variety of First Company Veterans.

I'm excited to try out the new Citadel paints, and am going to attempt to post weekly updates/thoughts once I'm back in the swing of things.

RESURGAM

The new Necron Codex comes out tomorrow. As my first army, the 'crons hold a special place in my gamer heart... so, I've decided to set about giving them a nice reboot to go with the new rules. New colour scheme, and probably a couple of shiny new units to go with them.

Step 1: picking up the new Codex at the Kingston Gaming Nexus tomorrow!
Step 2: do some colour scheme proofs in my sketchbook, in preparation for repainting old minis as tests over the Christmas holidays.

The Return

Coming back to this blog after over a year away... mainly due to spending the fall, winter, and spring in Europe for my first year of uni.

Anyway, I find myself back at home in Canada for the foreseeable future, and getting right back into the hobby swing of things.

A bit of thinking and looking at my collection have prompted the following thoughts:

• I'm through with building armies around army lists. I want to collect and paint models I want to collect and paint and maybe even play with.


• My Space Marines will be my main gaming army. That means my other armies (Imperial Guard, Necrons, Eldar) are more free to focus on theme and showiness, and less on game legality.

Currently I am about to dive into a wave of plastic power armour, utilising the new Grey Knight plastics to bolster the Revilers' Librarium and First Company, as well as assembling the MkIII Marines I bought in England at Warhammer World. Also two more drop pods!

My other main hobby project at the moment is a set of Inquisitorial Henchmen, attached Inquisitor, and Rhino transport for my friend Jeff who recently started Grey Knights.

In the further future (all the grim darkness of it) I plan to pick up some Dark Eldar models because they're bloody amazing. But that will wait until a little while later, probably.

Watch this space for imminent pics of my current works in progress, taken with my slick (and thoroughly field tested) DSLR camera.

And trust me, there will be magnets. Oh, there will be.

Battle Missions

Invited a buddy of mine over this aft to test out the Battle Missions book. Got five (!) games in - they were relatively quick as we were only playing 1000-1250 points or so.

First up was the Close Quarters Action mission, available from the GW website. To capture the cramped, desperate flavour of the mission we decided to use the tunnels from Space Hulk as the setting for the mission. I took on my friend's Imperial Guard with my Revilers and ended up falling half an inch short of contesting the objective (for a win). Nevertheless, I managed to chew my way through 90% of his Guardsmen and a good time was had by all.

Second game was a Surprise Assault, with the Revilers on the defensive and my friend breaking out the new Blood Angels codex. Although by no means indefatigable, the new Blood Angels are incredibly strong... despite taking down a Furioso Librarian (Sergeant Alban claiming his second career Dreadnought kill), I ended the game with no units alive. Lessons learned: Thundershield terminators are a huge beatstick, but moreso on the charge; Command Squads add a lot of bang to the already (surprisingly) beastly Space Marine Captain (Feel No Pain for great justice!); and Chaplain Lemartes is by far one of the dead killiest things in the new Blood Angels Codex.

Third game was a Flank Assault - this time I was the attacker and the Blood Angels defended. I castled up my home objective with a half tactical squad and scout squad, and had the rest of my army go for a flank. Lemartes & Death Co. fell to a literal hammerblow from Chief Librarian Orzora and his Terminator retinue, and my Landspeeder was able to evade the Furioso Librarian's attacks, get behind it, and blow it up real good. Although slightly hampered by only having a single scoring unit, the Blood Angels' Land Raider-borne Assault Squad managed to claw their way onto my objective - making the game a draw.

Game four was an Ambush. We swapped roles again, with the Revilers lining up in a nice column for the Blood Angels to attack. Some less-than-average storm shield rolling with my Assault Terminators led to the Death Company carving a bloody swathe through the rear of my column, and a Turn 1 explosion involving a Heavy Flamer shot and my Landspeeder didn't help either. Although a few of my units survived to make a run for the table edge, I ended up throwing caution to the wind and simply charging Captain Telemachus back at the remnants of the Blood Angels force. In a series of post-game "what if" combats, the Captain managed to slice/meltabomb his way through half an assault squad, a Librarian, a Furioso Librarian, a Land Raider, and two Death Company before eventually falling to the remaining Death Company's power swords. His performance further reinforced my newfound love for the Captain's combat prowess, and reinforced my desire to get a proper command squad built for him.

The final game was played with the Dark Eldar Slave Raid mission. The game didn't really start until turn 3 as the Blood Angels held everything in Reserve - but once they flew on, it was a bloodbath. Death Company charged Terminators, Assault Marines charged Command Squad, the Furioso Librarian chased the Landspeeder around using Wings of Sanguinius, and Sergeant Koros' combat squad faced down a Land Raider. I managed to blow up the Land Raider and rack up a few prisoners by winning several rounds of combat against the Assault Marines (punctuated by the 3rd Company Champion slaying the Blood Angels Librarian!), but in the end, Chaplain Lemartes proved his sheer deadliness by slaughtering most of my army. The game ended turn 6, eighteen prisoners to ten.

The Battle Missions book is definitely worth the thirty dollars - the scenarios, for any of the armies, provide a fresh twist on 40k for those tiring of the three basic missions. As well as a tactical challenge, they also offer a great pseudo-narrative feel that would be great for campaigns.

Guardsmen and Veterans

Got around to some kitbashing today. Here are the results:

First up are the plasmagunner and Sergeant for the first squad of my outflanking infantry platoon. The plasmagunner uses legs and a head from the Catachan command sprue, a Cadian torso, and the plasma gun from the Forge World Renegade weapon sprue. The Sergeant uses Catachan legs, torso and head from the Empire Militia sprue, and arms from the Cadian and Catachan command sprues.

Next up I have the first two members of my premier Veteran squad. On the left in the first picture is Corporal "Moose" Picard, who is based off the classic Cadian Lieutenant, with a head from the Empire General and a plastic Necromunda shotgun. He'll receive a greenstuff toque later; I didn't feel like breaking out the sculpting tools today. On the right is Private "Probie" Ternay, created by sawing Hero from the Last Chancers in half, sticking on a pair of Cadian legs and a Space Marine Scout shotgun in place of a lasgun.

Finally, a parting shot of the tray that I am slowly assembling and shuffling the completed Guardsmen around on. If you can make out the scribbling on the paper, it's a record of which models I still need to build. I've got a ways to go.

Squeaky Clean and Ready To Build

Just finished thoroughly washing my pile of Forge World conversion pieces. Two sets of Cadian Veteran bitz, a Cadian Upgrade Pack, a Renegade Weapon pack and a Thunderbolt Pilot now join the bitz pile (well, not the Thunderbolt Pilot - he's fine just on his own).

Off to build up a few more guardsmen! Pictures later/on the morrow.

The Sound Of Booted Feet

Well, I'm still here.

An excellent ski season and a particularly hectic period at school are drawing to a close, and the men and women of the 157th Aeshaettar Light Infantry are beginning to line up on my workbench. With excess Guardsmen drafted from my Vigilanti army, as well as more OOP Guardsmen bought on eBay, I've got a good foundation going - now I can lay into the massive pile of sprues and Forge World bitz bags I've assembled for the sole purpose of constructing my 1500 point all-infantry Imperial Guard army.

So, once I've settled back into a routine of free weekends... time to crack open a fresh bottle of plastic glue.