Know Your Necromunda – The Gangs Of The Underhive

Posted by johnnya10 on 17/08/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 9 Comments
necromunda underhive poster
With everyone now losing their minds over the new edition of Necromunda coming out at the end of the year (are men in their 30s still allowed to have Christmas lists? I’m asking for a friend), I thought I’d take you through the denizens of the Underhive over a couple of articles. After all, it was so long ago that the original game came out that some of you young’uns might not be so familiar with it at all. And to all my fellow old fogeys, you may well enjoy a little trip down memory lane. So, who are the gangs of Necromunda…
House Orlock
house orlock badge
Also known as the House of Iron (because they mine iron – real original guys), these are about as close to the idea of a ‘normal’ gang as you get in Necromunda. Each one a cross between a man who dresses like John Rambo with fewer muscles, and a sheet metal worker, these guys are responsible for producing the the lion’s share of the Iron for Hive Primus. Despite having a ‘regular joe’ look, and not being afraid to double-denim, they’re plucky fighters who can hold their own with the more extreme and interesting inhabitants of the Underhive. The only beef they have in extremis is with the duster wearing Delaques due to a deal going bad and the small matter of an assassination.
orlock box
They represent ‘the human element’ of Necromunda and while some would see their design as being a bit boring, they’re really there to give us a human perspective. I always thought Imperial Guard players would like this gang because, like the now-named Astra Militarum, they’re just guys. Guys with guns in a a place where everything is trying to kill them. That gets a thumbs up from me.
rambo gif
House Goliath
house goliath badge
Nothing says ‘Necromunda’ quite like a juiced up, gym-obsessed looney who only wishes he had more arms so that he could carry more blunt instruments and loud guns. The Goliath gangers are the epitome of Underhive brutality. They really are all about drugs, muscles, mohawks and clothes designed by a blind Megadeth fan in the late 1980s. But boy are they tough. Clan Escher find them particularly distasteful and wars between the two gangs are legendary. Imagine that guy at the gym that everyone’s scared of, shot full of steroids and speed and wielding an enormous chunk of metal as weapon. That’s these guys. Subtlety is not their strong suit.
house goliath miniatures
Goliath gangers are a cross between heavy metal artwork, punk hairstyles and the bad guys from more than a few Judge Dredd comics. If your game is all about brute force, and you regard manoeuvrability and stealth as being someone else’s problem, then these are the chaps for you.
necromunda original artwork
House Escher
house escher badge
Noteable by the fact that all their gang members are female, House Escher look like that girl that you just don’t have the balls to ask out or take home because she really would eat you alive. Escher men are weak, diminutive little runts and so it’s left to these underworld Amazons to protect their territory and do the heavy lifting. They loathe the ‘Meatnecks’ of House Goliath (which is odd as I’m almost certain they listen to the same music) but they tolerate House Orlock a little better. Cruel, sadistic and haughty would perfectly describe their personalities, while cunning and speed define their tactics on the tabletop. Even with six inch serrated heels, these ladies can run rings around a lumbering Goliath.
escher gang
House Escher’s gimmick was that they were female warriors and it’s sad to say that this is likely to continue. The loud hair and leopard print aside, it’s still a novelty to have girls on the tabletop (as the actress said to the bishop) in this day and age – something that will hopefully change more with time. Not having a moan, but I do wish we could have a few more female sculpts in the 41st millennium – I’m getting a little tired of painting dudes.
escher illustration
House Cawdor
cawdor badge
Religious nutters, mad monks, and righteous zealots all, House Cawdor is pledged to the Redemptionist faith and their faith is their shield. This cult of hooded hooligans don’t play well with others and while they don’t seem to mind the Orlocks too much, they’re usually actively trying to kill everyone else who doesn’t follow their creed. Apart from burning mutants and heretics, their only other hobby appears to be the recreation of the ‘Pilgrim’s Spire’ which was a domed tower too far above them in Hive Primus’ upper reaches. They’re obsessed with this spire and to them it represents heaven itself, which is rather sad considering their proximity to the sump.
cawdor miniatures
These guys are along the lines of cartoon villains. Masked and hooded (it’s considered quite the faux pas to reveal one’s face in public within Cawdor society), they have a slight touch of Doc Doom about them, if Doc Doom had been in the Wicker Man. There’s more than a hint of hooded executioner too.
cawdor illustration
House Van Saar
van saar badge
The Underhive’s gun-nuts, House Van Saar is all about the money and the murders. These guys are staggeringly rich in comparison to the other main houses of the Hive Primus’ lowest levels. How come? Because they don’t just like guns – they make them. They can take discarded Imperial Weaponry and turn it into something very special indeed, and the more illustrious houses are willing to pay top dollar for these bang sticks. Looking like sci-fi car mechanics, they’re not the most aesthetically pleasing of gangs, but they sure do know how to shoot good. And where better to test your weapons than in the city’s bowels where there are mutants to hunt and gangers to gun down. Not that they take any visible joy from it – they’re a stern, sombre and somewhat downbeat lot.
van saar gang
In terms of their looks, they just resemble soldiers really (which fits in as they are known to fill the ranks of Necromunda’s guard regiments from time to time) but they’re a bit boring as I look at them now. Hopefully this will change soon…
van saar illustration
House Delaque
house delaque badge
Dusters, dark glasses and bald heads. Imagine a whole gang of dudes that look like Cypher from The Matrix. House Delaque are among the deadliest assassins in the Underhive because, having dwelt in its darkest depths for so long, their eyesight is particularly sharp, even if their dress sense leaves something to be desired (though the long coats are handy for concealing weapons). Universally disliked by the other gangs (and downright loathed by the Orlocks), Delaque members do not play well with others, mainly because their stock and trade is information. Yep, these guys are spies. Snakes (as indicated by their badge) in the grass. The ruling houses of Hive Primus like to keep tabs on whats going on within the lower levels and they get all the gossip they need from the sneaky, stealthy members of this very creepy gang. And no one likes a snitch, right?
delaque gang
Most gang members avoid Delaque territory because even by Underhive standards it’s rather dingy, and the likelihood of getting shot is pretty high too. These snakey, sneaky bastards will kill you and tell everyone about it, so best not to trouble their doorstep. Would you let them give you an ocular pat-down?
mac duster
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And those are our main players. These were the original six gangs from Necromunda and back in the day, I had my own Escher, Van Saar, Cawdor and Delaque entourages. Boy, was it a fun game to play, though it got even better when the other inhabitants of these lower levels were added. In my next article on Necromunda, I’ll look at a few of the later/smaller additions, but for now, I’ll leave you to ponder which gang you’ll be bringing when Necromunda returns. Onwards…
Who was your favourite? And who are you looking forward to bringing in the new edition? Stick a comment below and let me know.

Forge World Open Day 2017 – Necromunda, New Toys & Nice Times in Nottingham

Posted by johnnya10 on 14/08/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 6 Comments

Hello all! I have returned from a smashing (if a little exhausting) weekend in Nottingham and I have many tales to tell. It was a great event as always and I have plenty of pictures to share with you, including, yes, Necromunda minis (which you’ll no doubt have seen yourselves by now) but I can’t tell you how excited I am about the return of that old favourite. But before I get all giddy over that, let’s start at the beginning.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Nottingham is a fantastically pretty town and the first thing I did was head to the pub, and then another, and then another. This was on Saturday and after a very fun night out in some lovely bars and more pubs, I spent the night in the Ibis hotel which was very pleasant indeed – I would recommend it to any looking to stay in Nottingham. Simple, comfortable, clean and in a good location. The next morning, after a slap-up breakfast at Annie’s (seriously, screw your hotel breakfast and go here instead) we set off down the canal to Warhammer World.

nottingham canal

It really is a very pretty little walk and a good way to burn off some of the amazing breakfast before reaching Warhammer world (it’s about 1.5 miles from the town centre). Once there, I have this tip for anyone attending; if you’re not there to buy something being released on the day, don’t bother getting there too early or standing in the queue. Go and chill out for a bit. Admire the rhino, or the space marine statue, or sit down in the lovely little garden they have there and soak in the sun and the atmosphere.

Once in line, we received a flyer and our lanyard and that’s when we got the news. The flyer for the day had a nice big fold out of the Escher ganger featured in the Necromunda marketing material. Oh, the excitement. But we’ll get to that shortly. As soon as I was through the doors I set off for the Forge World store to bagsy my buy from the day (more on that later too) and then over to the Painting Competition area to get my Leviathan installed on the vehicles shelf.

blood angels leviathan forge world open day painting competition 2017

It looked a bit lonely at the time but the cabinet filled up eventually so he had some company. And then it was into the design studio, and first up was this…

necromunda underhive poster

Great artwork! But getting to see the miniatures was even better…

clan escher juve

clan escher ganger

clan goliath minis

Yes, you’ve seen them all in the post on Warhammer Community but I can’t tell you how good these looked in the flesh. My pictures don’t do them justice, partly because of the scrum around them to get images – they were like Hollywood stars on the red carpet! And the guys there were very happy to share some great info:

  • The scale will pretty much match the old miniatures – the Escher ladies might be a bit taller but only because they can model heels now which they couldn’t do in metal all those years ago.
  • The game will continue to get support – this won’t just be a boxed game release.
  • The rules will be unique and defined, but will match 8th Edition in many ways.

All good there then! I’d been hoping to see some Heresy Blood Angels stuff on the day, but I understand why they’d be holding that back – Necromunda was stealing everything’s limelight. I seriously cannot wait until later in the year when this comes out. Expect H&H to go very Underhive heavy for a few months at least.

One bit of other news though is that Adeptus Titanicus may be a bit further off than we thought. Necromunda hasn’t pushed it back, but apparently there’s just so much to do and they want to do the best job with it. Necromunda was always on the slate for the release slot it’s going to have, and I’m glad they’re putting the hours and effort into nailing the rebirth of the epic game.

Blood Bowl was next up and the Elf Team is coming along very nicely. Expect to see this coming soon to a blood-soaked pitch near you:

elf blood bowl player

And the snow covered pitch was looking rather good too…

blood bowl snow pitch

And then there were all of the new releases that were on show that day. The Orion dropship for the Custodes appeared to be getting the most ‘Ooo’s and it was certainly a beast – bigger than I expected, certainly. Here it is next to a Thunderhawk:

legio custodes orion dropship size comparison

And in fact, the Legio Custodes are now really starting to look like a proper army. The dreads and new terminators have filled their ranks fantastically…

forge world legio custodes

legio custodes dropship

The new Sicarans are also looking pretty darn solid and the new variants were on show as well, alongside the older versions.

sicaran tanks

After all the ooh-ing and aah-ing in this part of the hall, I went back to the painting competition to check on my entrant and scope out the competitors. It then struck me that something was indeed different this year. Firstly, there were a lot more gaming tables in use with huge knight and titan battles featuring on several. It’s great to see the gaming element return to days like this. Secondly, and it may have been because of the gaming, the event didn’t seem quite as busy. Still hugely popular, but there seemed to be a little more space, and fewer enormous queues which was great. It also meant that there were fewer entrants in the painting competition than last year, but the standard was still incredibly high.

forge world painting competition 2017

Alas, there were now a fair few red Leviathans in there and my chap no longer stood out. Eventually the competition was won by the Lightning Strike Fighter that you can see there and it was a very worthy winner – incredible details. Alas, I didn’t catch the name of the winner but it was well deserved. I did overhear a couple of people lauding my effort and that certainly put a smile on my face. Always good to hear that.

Next up, I popped into the hall of miniatures. I won’t show you everything in there (I’ve highlighted much of it before) but I’ll show you a new bit and a couple of well angled shots of some old favourites. The karadr-, the Kharhad-, the krh-, The steam punk space dwarves attacking the forces of Death was a particular favourite of the new batch:

kharadron Overlords diorama

And, as mentioned, I got some shots of a couple of oldies-but-goodies from some tasty angles as well. See below…

prospero battle of tizca warhammer world

eldar vs tyranids

And then I just wanted to share this. I remember the release of this chariot so vividly from my youth, and the Necromancer that you can see standing at the back there was among the first miniatures I ever painted. I love seeing this retro-hammer stuff in these halls. Always a pleasure.

wight king chariot

And that was about it for the day. We lunched at Bugmans of course and while delicious, I do have to say that we as community, and I include myself in this, are not the leanest nor most svelte of peoples. And the menu at Bugmans does not help. Delicious yes, but everything is dripping with grease and cheese. The amount of Ogre Burgers being devoured was almost obscene. A few more healthy options would be greatly appreciated.

On the way out I took a quick snap of the 8th Edition box set miniatures duking it out in yet another great diorama.

8th edition diorama

A great day out and loads of fun. I quick pub stop and a short and comfortable train journey home and that was that. I’d like to thank the folks at Forge World and Warhammer World for putting on yet another excellent day. And I of course came back with a little something to add to my Grey Tide for future painting. I shall look forward to that, and I hope you enjoyed my run down of the day in this post. Onwards!

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Preparation for Forge World Open Day

Posted by johnnya10 on 10/08/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 1 Comment

Forge World Open Day Tickets

Yes, regular readers, it is that time of year again when I break out for the fair city of Nottingham and the Geek-vana that is Forge World Open Day. Those of you who have long subscribed to my drivel will know all too well that each year I pop up there for a weekend of general merriment and resin shopping, and because I am now a veteran of such days, I thought I’d give you some tips on preparing for the day, and a peek at what I’m taking with me to the painting competition.

Getting There

london_to_Nottingham_-_Google_Maps

The trip from London to Nottingham (and back again) can actually be very enjoyable. The car is a good choice if you don’t mind spending 2.5 to 3 Hours on the M1. No, no, if you’re coming from London (and being a Londoner I’m assuming you are because we don’t really believe that the rest of the country actually exists in any tangible way), the train is the way to go. If you book far enough in advance, a 1st Class ticket will cost you about £5.00 more than a standard ticket and I do like my soft, comfy seats and free coffee. To get from the station (or central Nottingham) to Warhammer World, your best options are either a good walk or a short taxi. I believe busses/trams also head out that way, though I’m more of a walk/taxi sort of person myself, and a stroll by the canal on a sunny day is more than passable.

Staying There

Nottingham has some fine hotels to stay at, and plenty of awful ones. My advice: unless you’re happy to see the funny side of tragedy, don’t stay at the Britannia. I’ve gone Ibis this year, so I’ll let you know how that goes in my follow up post. All I know is that it can’t be worse (well done, idiot, you’ve just jinxed yourself).

There’s also a hell of a lot to do in Nottingham, and not all of it revolves around Warhammer or Robin Hood. There’s the castle (which, in truth, does have a fair bit of Robin Hood going on), a lace museum, and a small, regional art gallery, and… well, I’m sure you’ll find something to keep you busy. If you’re anything like me though, you’ll prefer to be at a good ol’ Nottingham Pub. And boy, do they have some ol’ ones up there.

fullsizerender-15

Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem is one of those pubs and I definitely recommend stopping in – it’s where I spent a pleasant early afternoon last year. But there are lots of others. The Pit And The Pendulum, The Castle, Ye Olde Salutation, The Round House and plenty of others are worth visiting. Even the Pitcher & Piano (slightly poncy chain of pubs in the UK for them that don’t know) is built inside an old church and looks amazing.

Enough Of The Tour Guide Schtick!

Quite right. So, what Am I bringing to this year’s painting competition? Well, I had intended to bring a freshly painted Varag Ghoul-Chewer to show off, given that it’s my current project, but alas, I have not had time to complete it…

varag wip

What can I say? Being a man about town leaves one only so many hours to paint and there simply haven’t been enough. So instead, I spent a couple of hours last night tidying up an old favourite and making a display base for him. Here he is:

leviathan dread on display base

Yes, the big fella is coming along with me and will be in the display cases there. I’m not hoping to win – the standards are very high (and I don’t have a smoke machine or flashing lights all over it, and it wasn’t the most expensive thing there), but I do like to hover nearby and listen out for any compliments that might come my way. So if you see it while you’re there. Don’t forget to exclaim something like “Wow! This Blood Angels Leviathan Dreadnought Is Amazing! My Mind Is Blown! Wow!” or words to that effect. I can’t promise I’ll be there to hear it, but the judges might be and that’s cool. 😉

Now, the thing I love most about the above picture is that the “display base” is a bit of a hack. I didn’t have a plinth big enough for this guy’s base so I had to improvise. I thought about using some CDs maybe, or the lid of a tub of soup, but then I looked at my paint palette and turned it over and…

diy display plinth for a leviathan dreadnought

Yep. I turned it over, sprayed it black, coated it with ‘Ardcoat and it works! It started life as the lid for an old tub of Citadel sand, became my palette, and now it’s moonlighting as a display base. In a way, I think it’s rather fitting that my palette should end up attending the show – after all, it contributed greatly to painting process.

So if you’re coming up to Nottingham this weekend, I hope you get a chance to see it in the flesh, and if you see me in the flesh, do tell me to put some clothes on and come over and say hello.

And Will Sir Be Shopping?

Oh, indeed Sir will. I won’t say exactly what I’m buying yet, but it’s big. Well, for GW it would be big. In Forge World terms it’s small/medium but it’s still big to me. It won’t be anything from the ‘first chance to buy’ that you can see here:

forge world open day 2017 new products

But how about that Legio Custodes Dropship!? And why can’t the Blood Bowl troll look as good as that Minotaur!? All good stuff that I look forward to seeing in the bare resin.

So, I’m in for a good weekend, I reckon. I shall report back as usual with as many interesting pictures that I can take (which you’ll probably have already seen on other sites by the time I get round to posting but whatevs). I hope you have a good weekend too. Onwards!

A 40k Mystery…

Posted by johnnya10 on 04/08/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment, Uncategorized. Tagged: . 4 Comments

Well, well, well. What do we have here then? This isn’t one of my usual rambling articles, but just a quick post regarding GW’s new teaser trailer. Have a quick watch (if you’ve not done so already) and let’s discuss…

So, we have an Aquila-shaped skull. That’s already interesting. I mean, trust GW to turn a two-headed eagle into a skull because, hey, everything should be a skull, right? 😉 And inscribed above it, we have “B50-AP/78903//M/h” inscribed above the skull eagle (Skeagle?). Now what the heck does that mean?

Question_Mark

Now, as regular readers will know, I don’t usually just post these vids up here, but the reason I’m posting this is that it’s a genuine mystery at the moment. I’ve had a quick check in comments sections and a couple of forums, and there’s nothing certain. Usually when one of these teasers comes out everyone is just like “Oh, so Dwarves then” and then it’s just about waiting. This one has had people talking about Grey Knights, Death Watch, Dark Mech, a new campaign, Legio Cybernetica, Necromunda, Assassins, and about a billion other things. I like it! True intrigue! And does that code mean something? Or perhaps it’s a red herring and it means nothing. Who knows!? Whatever this is, you can call me intrigued.

So what do you think? Got any cunning theories? If you do, stick them below in the comments. I genuinely have no idea so happy to hear any and all theories. Onwards!

Painting Miniatures By Stages – A Method

Posted by johnnya10 on 29/07/2017
Posted in: Tutorials, Uncategorized. Tagged: . 6 Comments

I wanted to show off a bit more of the Orc Blood Bowl team but it’s still not done and I didn’t want to do just another WIP post as I’ve shown them off a couple of times now. So what I thought I’d do was show you how I’m painting them. I’m not much of a batch painter, and this method has worked for me throughout this project. You may do something like this yourself already and if that’s the case, you may as well skip on to the last photograph and see the finished project. But for those of you who are interested in how I do what I do, this is where it starts…

Stage 1: Undercoat

undercoated black orc blocker

Not the most interesting of stages, I shall grant you. I put the muddy stuff down first (I used Blackfire Earth which is a difficult bugger to get down but leaves a lovely effect) and undercoated in black because this is going to be a dark looking miniature when finished. When you start, you may see some patches didn’t get much of the Chaos Black Spray so just touch those up with a little watered down Abaddon Black.

Stage 2: Basecoat

basecoat miniature

The entire miniature is given its base colours. There aren’t that many of them but keep it all neat. I made the skin with black and Waaagh! Flesh – after all this is a Black Orc and you want a nice dark, almost ‘Dark Angels’ sort of green. In the words of our Lord and Saviour, Duncan, you want to use two thin coats all over. And don’t get frustrated if you miss the odd bit and have to go back to a colour you’d thought you were done with – it happens to the best of us. Also, Rhinox hide has gone down on the base.

Stage 3: Wash

applying washes to miniatures

Everything gets washed aside from the red and black on this miniature. Use a complimentary shade for each different colour, such as an orange wash for the yellow  areas, or a deep green for the green areas. The silver areas, and a few gaps and cuts in the red get treated with Nuln Oil to add some real depth. In fact, this is going to add shadow and depth all over the model, which you then bring back up in…

Stage 4: Highlight

highlighting miniatures

This is a bit of a long winded stage but it really does add so much to the model. With steady hands avoiding the recesses and keeping to the edges, you work with lighter colours than in the basecoating stage. For skin, you want to build up the colour over several stages for a more natural look. And for both the silver areas and the red areas, you can use a highlight and lowlight. For example, over Mephiston Red, for down facing edges use Evil Sunz Scarlet, and Fire Dragon Bright on the upward facing edges to represent light hitting them. But for many areas, you only need a single highlight colour.

Stage 5: Details

detailing miniatures

Think of this as drawing with a brush. You’re adding patterns and details that aren’t built into the sculpt. This is the little brother of true freehand painting, and on this Orc, I’ve added the ‘Orcidas’ stripes, the torch emblem on one shoulder and the number on the other. Because it’s Orcs, I don’t want to be too neat, but if you’re working on a miniature that ought to look a little more perfect, you need to practice your steady hand. I also took off some of the white by using a rough old brush with a little Mephiston Red on it. This neatly leads us on to…

Stage 6: Effects

adding effects onto miniatures

Typhus Corrosion is your friend here. This is the stage where you add the mud, rust, wear and tear. A bit of rust on the bare metal is always a nice touch, and of course a bit of mud on a Blood Bowl player is very good. In fact, after taking these photos, I went back and added a little more mud (especially to the shoes) and I sponged on some black spots and ‘wear patches’ too. I also added some ‘Ardcoat to the mud to make it look wetter, and a touch to the eye as well to give it some life.

Stage 7: Basing

blood bowl basing

Our final stage! Clean up the base (you don’t need to go green – I’m going retro for this) and keep it neat. A subtle bit of white lining on the patchy flock that was added using a little PVA glue and a quick dip in the flock box.

And that’s your lot. I love seeing how the miniature comes together under the paint. I’m getting closer to finishing the core of the Orc team so keep a look out for that, though there are a few other little bits to add to the overall squad. But more on that later. I hope that’s given you a bit of an idea regarding how I do what I do, I also hope that it might help an aspiring painter or two. But who knows. If you have any questions, stick them below, and I will do my best to answer them. Onwards!

Why Painting Your Miniatures Matters

Posted by johnnya10 on 25/07/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 11 Comments
I’ve seen this topic crop up a few times in recent weeks. On various message boards, there has been moaning on both sides of the argument regarding the painting side of the hobby, and I thought I’d chip in my two cents. I’ve mentioned it briefly before but this time I want to write a little more on the subject, and why, to me, painting your miniatures is a must.
grey plastic everywhere
First of all, do remember that you can tell me to get on my bike. You don’t have to take one bit of notice of what I’m going to say, but I’m still going to say it. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to leave a comment below (constructive preferred) or ignore the whole damn article.
The opponent that I dislike facing the most, is the unpainted horde. A hundred grey miniatures and not a drop of paint upon them. It’s awful. I loathe the very prospect. I’ve even heard of some players having special house rules to deal with this. In older editions, giving your army Hatred (Unpainted) was a popular one. I just used to say that if it wasn’t painted, you weren’t playing it on my table, but I always bent that rule for new players. They have an excuse, but the more long-in-the-fang gamers have none.
So why do I hate it? For me, a big part of the game is the thematic, almost cinematic nature of the battle. When I survey my 6×4 board and toy soldiers, I like to imagine that it’s a scene from an epic war film, and unpainted miniatures kill this for me. It’s like facing a load of training robots rather than a real enemy and it’s just not as fun.
I’m not the greatest painter in the world, but I practice a lot and I put a lot of effort into painting my miniatures to help me achieve this level of imagination-positive work. Now I do this because I enjoy painting, and I totally get that not everyone does. That’s cool, but many players don’t necessarily like having to remember complex tactics or exact rule wording in order to use their miniatures, but they put the effort in.
1t1bbd
That’s the trade off, I guess. We have a set of rules and the game pieces, and technically, that is all we need. However, there are standards within that, are there not? I could turn up to play someone with the rule book and my relevant codex and spend hours looking things up each turn. I could turn a three hour game into a six hour game just because I own the rules so therefore, I don’t need to memorise them. I have access to them, and that’s all I need. As frustrating as it is for my opponent, I can tell him that ‘sorry, I spent my money to buy the rules, but I don’t need to memorise them because I don’t really like doing that’. To me, there’s no difference there to someone saying they don’t like painting and so they’re not going to paint, even if it affects the way you enjoy the game.
It’s about mutual respect. You wouldn’t turn up for a date having not washed for three days and saying ‘well, all you need is right here, so what are you complaining about?’, right? In the same way someone doesn’t turn up to a pick up or tournament game with a codex still in the wrapper saying ‘it’s alright, I’ll read it as we go along’. This hobby is, for most people about the two different elements – painting and playing. Most people lean one way or the other, and so don’t run the risk of disrespecting your opponent by either not knowing your rules, or by playing with unpainted miniatures.
And most primarily-painting-orientated hobbyists will tell you that it’s better to have three colours down than none at all. And if anyone tells you that your painting sucks, tell them they suck. The overwhelming majority of the painting community wouldn’t dream of doing something like that (even if they thought it) and it’s only a small number of squigg-brains who are dicks about it.
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What’s more, in the same way that I can ask people for tactical advice because, while I am more painting-orientated, I still like to win the odd game, if you’re more gaming orientated and you’d like your army to look better, ask a painter for some tips. There are ways to quickly paint things and ways to make things look better for very little money or time investment. You won’t win Golden Demon with those skills, but hell, I’m not going to win Golden Demon any time soon and I’ve been painting miniatures for ages! We all like good games and good looking armies, so how about we help each other out here? A coat of wash and a quick drybrush will take you seconds and will make a big difference.
Of course, many of us are both painter and gamer, and in truth I haven’t run into a grey horde player in a very long time. Just remember that in this game, you should always show respect for your opponent. Whether that means learning your rules or painting your miniatures, it’s worth doing, and there’s no problem asking for help.
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But, hey. If you don’t like painting your miniatures, and you’re in a group that doesn’t mind facing a grey horde, then don’t worry about it. I’ll promise you this though – even with a basic paintjob, your enjoyment of the game will go up.
I hope that’s set my position out. Certainly not trying to have a go at anyone, and I totally get that those of us not interested in painting don’t want to paint. But mutual respect and enjoyment is such a big part of this hobby – if not the best part, and I hold it to be true that just as painters should spend time learning rules, gamers should spend a little bit of time throwing colour down. And I want more of those big, epic, cinematic war zone vistas – I can’t imagine that my opponents wouldn’t like this too.
Hopefully-not-a-rant over. 😉 What about you? Do you mind facing grey plastic armies? Or do refuse to play the unpainted? Interested to know, so stick a comment below. Onwards!

New Chapter Tactics – My Thoughts

Posted by johnnya10 on 19/07/2017
Posted in: Lists and Tactics, Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 2 Comments
The new Space Marine Codex is on its way and the chapter tactics have been leaked online. If you’ve been anywhere hobby-related on the net recently, you’ll have seen them as gleeful Astartes players post them with joy, while everyone who plays the other factions post them to complain that they’re going to have to wait ages for theirs. Well, I thought I’d review the news today and break down what I think of each chapter tactic. Mainly because I’m a little bit bored, but also because I have some thoughts on each of these as they’re a really nice set of rules for the game. Let’s dive in.
Ultramarines
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The Smurfs (and Sons of Smurfs – their successor chapters) get a leadership boost which is nice. This, coupled with ATSKNF should mean that losing any of your troops to morale will be a lot less likely. That certainly has a nice thematic feeling to it as the Ultramarines are indeed supposed to be the embodiment of the brave and noble warrior who gives no quarter. But the one that I really like is the fact that they can fire with just a -1 penalty to their ballistic skill after falling back. Anyone looking to tie-up the boys in blue in combat is in for a tough time as they can just pull away and still have around a 50% chance of hitting you with their ranged weapons.
White Scars
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KHHAAANNNN!! These guys are all about speed and they certainly get a killer speed boost thanks to Lightning Assault. An added 2” to your advance may not seem like much, but it’s pretty solid, and given that you can boost your bikes to gain an added 8” this becomes a far greater boon, especially as White Scars armies are likely to be made up of a lot of bike squads. This is how you get Space Marines into combat on turn 1! But what I really like here, is the fact that they essentially retain hit and run (? – they had this before, right? Am I getting confused?). The can fall back from combat and then charge right back in to ensure first strike. Keeps them very much in line with the fluff.
Salamanders
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See, now I wanted Salamanders flamers to get a D6+2 wounds or something like that, but instead they have one of the more underwhelming new special rules (in my opinion of course). You can re-roll a single failed to hit AND a single failed to wound roll each time a Salamanders unit shoots or fights. It’s not bad (and as I proof this it’s starting to sound stronger), and I know they talk about the master-crafted weapons of Nocturne but it just doesn’t feel thematic to me. It’s a nice rule to have – that’s a lot of re-rolls in a game, but it doesn’t exactly capture the imagination. Could have done a bit better with this one, I feel.
Imperial Fists
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An interesting one this. On the one hand, I think it’s pretty awesome. No cover bonuses for any of your enemies mean that these guys will terrify the slower units of squishier armies. If you can’t get out of their line of sight, or in their face straight away, these guys will hammer you with their guns. On the other hand, the fact that they can re-roll to wound against buildings is, while certainly thematic, not something that I’d imagine being hugely useful. It feels like it was tacked on to the rule as an afterthought. I don’t know, maybe IF players will make it work but I doubt anyone saw that and thought ‘Ooh! Game changer!’.
Raven Guard
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A nice defensive tactic this, and simple with it. If your enemy is more than 12” from their Raven Guard target, they’re -1 to their ballistic skill. It’s thematic, in that the Raven Guard take after Corax in being hard to see and harder still to hit, and it will make them more survivable. And, as most RG armies will be thematically filled with jump packs, flyers and even bikes, you can strike from real distance with them and enjoy this rule. It will draw the enemy towards you and then you can leap in and strike them with great speed. Again, this is not a huge game changer, but it’s a nice nod to the fluff and can certainly be very useful.
Black Templars
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Re-rolling failed charge rolls. Not exactly a mind blowing change, but I dare say it will have its uses. Thematic. I dunno – there’s really not a huge amount to get excited about, but it fits. Maybe I need to spend a bit more time watching BT armies play to appreciate how this will work for them.
Iron Hands
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The Flesh Is Week is essentially a 6-up Feel No Pain roll for any Iron Hands unit that suffers a wound. If they lose a wound, there’s a 1-in-6 chance of that being ignored. The mechanical parts of the Iron Warriors Space Marine absorbed the hit and kept the weak fleshy part alive. Thematic and a nice little boon, but I don’t know if perhaps they deserved something more as well. Some sort of little bonus like a +1 to hit when targeting armour or something like that. Anyway, it’s an ok bonus here that fits with the Medusan fluff.
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So, those are my thoughts on all of the new chapter tactics. Some big winners, some nicely thematic ones, and a couple of underwhelming though potentially useful options too. But I have to say that what I love about these are that they are simple and easy to use, and they do definitely give each army a personality and a way to play. That’s a great combination and will certainly help to give the armies flavour. So for me, this is a good step in the right direction, and I’m interested to see what the rest of the rules look like when they get leaked/released.
What do you think of the new chapter tactics? Are you looking forward to trying them out? Do any of them give you the fear of facing one of these armies? Leave a comment below and let me know. Onwards!
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I did an interview! You can read it for yourself on the fantastic St Andrews Wargaming blog. I hope you enjoy the read. All about me, my work and this blog. Check out some of the other bloggers in this series of articles – there’s some real good’uns in there. Cheers!