Tau-velution – Where The Tau Have Come From, And Where They’re Going?

Posted by johnnya10 on 02/10/2015
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . Leave a comment

I am absolutely thrilled that this weekend sees a return to 40k releases from GW. Not that I haven’t enjoyed seeing Age of Sigmar grow, but my heart belongs to Warhammer 40,000 and so seeing the Tau Empire stomping about on the cover of White Dwarf this Saturday will be like a sight for sore eyes.

stormsurge

To celebrate the coming influx of fish/water-movement-themed names that the Tau update will no doubt bring, I thought I’d spend a bit of time looking at the evolution of the 41st Millennium’s youngest, and arguably most pleasant race. Let’s go back in time to 2001…

*Insert Wavey Flashback Animation Here*

Warhammer 40,000 needed something new. Something needed to set it apart from WFB and bring it into modern times. Other than the Tyranids, all the races in 40k had a twin in the fantasy game, and what’s more, the Squats were now dead – devoured by those aforementioned Nids. GW needed to find inspiration from somewhere new. So they looked East.

gundam tau

Many people have noted the obvious similarities between the Tau battle suits and Manga/Anime mechs such as Gundam, but the comparisons didn’t end there. The caste system, the idea of the Greater Good, and the Tau language all exhibit an Asian theme. Though a little derivative, this was a master stroke from Games Workshop’s designers as it allowed them to create a mechanised enemy with a completely unique (to the 41st Millennium) set of aesthetics and values. The Greater Good ideal also afforded GW the ability to add races, such as the Kroot and Vespid without needing to flesh out an entire army. I still to this day believe that the addition of the Tau was one of the smartest things GW ever did for 40k, and that they have continuously improved this army over every edition.

They also allowed GW to work on a younger race. Eldar, Necrons, Orks… these were ancient races whereas the Tau are the new guys on the scene with a far shorter and more recent history. This meant that they could go deeper into the fluff without making an enormous codex. What’s more, the Tau are kinda the good guys. Aside from a few mildly sinister mysteries about their origins, they are the Ordered Good of 40k. In most Sci-Fi, we tend to root for the human, but what with all the grimdarkness of the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy and what have you, the Imperium is hardly squeaky clean. The Tau though seem like decent chaps who like to share and probably make sure they call their blue, fish-like mothers every Sunday for a chat.

If Looks Could Kill

Big robots in space! Kind of. Actually they’re battle suits, but of course they look like robots to the uninitiated. Regardless, they look awesome. Lots of guns, jumping around the place – who doesn’t love that idea? There is a certain blockiness to them, but this is offset with smooth lines and angles to take them away from the traditional big metal casket look. Even suits like the Riptide or soon-to-be-released Stormsurge have a genuine elegance to them, despite being massive weapons platforms. If you like, it takes the size and weight of the Imperium, and offsets it against the slender limbs and flowing lines of the Eldar. And because of their unique look, this becomes less of a middle-ground and more of a genuine identity.

old new broadsides

The models themselves have seen some excellent updates to reinforce this. If we take the Broadsides, we can see an evolution from boxy-big-guns, to a dynamic, massive weapon-wielding character. Rumours abound that a new Commander suit is on its way too, which will doubtlessly, given the skills that are prevalent in GW’s design team, carry on these traditions.

Go For Your Guns

The Tau also offered, and continue to do so, a different style of fighting which revolves almost exclusively around shooting. Aside from Commander Farsight and the Kroot, the Tau are as close to useless in close combat as it’s possible to be. They are a gun-line army almost without compare. I once witnessed a Tau vs IG game that I swear no model ever really moved. It was just constant artillery battery and the Tau smashed the Guard into the dust. This is a very appealing thing to some gamers who dread the idea of getting lost in CC, and who want to dominate with massive firepower.

Tau Firepower

Again, this is something that was pretty unique to the Tau. It gives them an edge and balances their useless hand-to-hand skill perfectly. If you go into playing Tau from any other race, you will have a whole heap of problems if you don’t change your game style to match this army. Yes, that is in some part true for any army switch, but Tau are particularly unforgiving, especially to those who do favour running forward.

Forge World (Fish N’) Chips In

fw tau

When Forge World got to work on the Tau, they went big. Really big. Never more so with the recently released KX139 Supremacy Armour. But long before that there was the enormous Manta that can carry an entire army inside it. These are some of the prettiest models that Forge World currently do and I am always tempted to pick one up whenever I’m looking for something new to paint. One day, I’ll get round to it. This also proves the scope within the aesthetic restraints of the design which is a great thing to have for future models and releases.

So Where Next For Tau?

New Commander and Stormsurge aside, there are rumours of new terrain coming too. But that’s not what people really want (though it would be cool). A lot of old-school Tau players feel that one of the biggest tricks GW have missed is the whole Greater Good aspect. They want more Kroot, more Vespids and lots more variety. For a start, Demiurg would give those old Squat players something to cling to, but there are a lot more races to explore as well. This is one of the core ideals of the Tau, yet the idea itself is hugely underdeveloped. I’m sure GW have their reasons, but people really want to see more of these single unit races under the fish-face banner.

codex 3rd

Aside from that, I’m sure the coming years will hold even bigger suits and rail-rifles from both GW and FW. With Tau, the only way is up, and the Riptide and Stormsurge are just the beginning of the upward expansion sphere.

I’m a real fan of the Tau, and it’s these big guys that really tempt me each time. They are a truly unique component of the game and of the galaxy and that makes them perpetually interesting. They make a great and challenging enemy too. One day, I’ll get round to working on some myself. Until then, onwards!

Titan Update 1 – In The Beginning

Posted by johnnya10 on 24/09/2015
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling, Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

Ok, so I’ve stalled a little in my Titan project. That is not what I was hoping to be able to tell you in my first update about my Warhound Titan, but there you go. The stall should now be over but I wanted the first lines of my first update to be something like ‘Wow, what progress I have made! What wonderful things I have done! So many things accomplished!’ Well, the best laid plans of Techmarines and Servo Skulls are often twisted by Kairos Fateweaver (or something like that). However, I do have many learnings from my initial week of work that I can share with you here.

Titans Cost More Than You Think

The initial outlay for a Warhound Titan with a pair of weapon arms is £341 (at least it was when I ordered mine). However, if you’re starting on a big project like this, you have to remember that really, depending on what tools and materials you already have, it ends up costing you more like £400. In addition to the actual model, I’ve had to purchase all of the following: face masks, drill bits, clamps, pinning wires, more drill bits (when you find out the ones you have are the wrong size because stupidly you didn’t check when you bought the first lot), magnets, epoxy, coping saw, spray primer, a base and pliers. I’m actually kind of annoyed about the pliers – I always owned a pair but I think I loaned them to someone who never gave them back. Grrrr…

clip art bill

And buying all of this stuff has actually been one of the things holding me back from making real progress in this first week. But my main point here is to remember, if you’re buying one of these things, that the cost doesn’t stop with the Forge World receipt. You’ll need to plan out your budget because costs can spiral upwards. But now it’s all bought, nothing should be stopping me now.

Forge World Has The Best Customer Service Ever

On Saturday morning, I called up Forge World to ask if I could exchange the Lucius Pattern Mega Bolter that I’d received for a Mars Pattern one as I’d ordered. The guy on the other end of the line was genuinely surprised by this and asked if I wouldn’t mind sending a photo to check. I sent over a snap while still on the phone and when he saw it, he apologised for the mistake and there and then set up a new order for the Mars Pattern version. Not only that, he asked me if there was anything else I wanted to add to the order as I’d be getting free shipping, which is ace. Not only that, he said I could keep the Lucius Pattern Mega Bolter as well! In fact, given that they believed all the Lucius Pattern stuff to have already gone or been melted down, I apparently got the last one that will ever leave Nottingham!

mars pattern mega bolter

It doesn’t take much to accomplish good CS and these guys have got the process down perfectly. Quick, courteous, helpful and generous. If all customer service was like Forge World customer service, the world would be a much happier place. Happily, my new Mega Bolter has already arrived and I’m looking forward to getting it painted, but that might not be for quite some time, which brings me on to…

Plans – Make Them First

titan assembly plans

All the blogs and vids that I shared in my last post will help, but really you need your own set of plans for a project like this. I’ve started writing mine out, but I haven’t got past the waist yet, but that’s fine. Doing the legs is job #1 so I’ve got that planned and this will happen in order (you can hold me to that). I haven’t even started thinking about the body and arms yet because it’s already really complicated in my head – what do I glue/magnetise and in what order do I do each piece and when do I paint what… I’ll get there, but first, the legs.

So What Have I Actually Done?

titan bath

Short answer; not much. Slightly wordier answer; I’ve made a decent start but I’ve had a busy week. Hopefully this weekend I’ll find a bit of time to really work on it. But the first thing I did was give the whole thing a bath! Each bag went into the sink with a little fairy liquid and some warmish water and got a soak and a scrub. Each piece was lovingly dried and rebagged before another bag went into the sink. It was long, boring, and my hands were pruney and wrecked after that.

FullSizeRender_2

The Titan’s afoot! Well, it’s a foot. Although this doesn’t look like much, there are more bits that go into the foot than any other part of the Titan. You can see in this snapshot the lower legs at the back, but all the other bits will go into making the other foot. As I want a more dynamic pose, this will be stressful. A great way for me to spend my Saturday morning. Also, because I want to do some painting, I’ve undercoated and primed one of the leg armour pieces and begun to plan my freehand work. I’m treating this more as a test, but we’ll see how it turns out.

Hopefully I’ll be able to show you something that looks a darn sight more Titanic in my next update, but I hope this gave you a bit of insight and an idea of how much work has to go into these sorts of projects. As ever, onwards!

So I Bought A Warhound Titan – This Will be A Challenge

Posted by johnnya10 on 18/09/2015
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: . 4 Comments

titan head

Yep. I did it. I took the plunge. I splurged and treated myself to one of Forge World’s Warhound Titans and yesterday it arrived (as I mentioned in my last post). I am excited and terrified, and feeling guilty, happy, a little sleepy, intrigued… it’s a roller-coaster of emotions. But most of all, I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with my most challenging hobby project to date. So, here are some more details, plans and thoughts.

The Hows And Whys

I was brought up to be frugal. My parents didn’t really spend much money, nor my grandparents. Saving was always the key to success and I inherited that way of thinking. So whenever I do splurge on expensive toys (and I do count £300+ to be a splurge), I do feel guilty. I can’t help it. It’s encoded into me. Even though I guess I don’t really have to worry that much. I have no debts and I get paid a decent wage these days, so why shouldn’t I treat myself? And in those circumstances, £341 isn’t too dear, right? Exactly.

But I also sold an old iPhone and cashed in almost £200 in silver coins that I’ve been collecting for a couple of years, so it’s really not too bad of an outlay. Besides, the amount of time this project is going to take up, I probably would have spent the same amount on other minis anyway. See how I keep having to justify this to myself!?!

fw warhound

I’ve always loved the model – like, since it was in epic scale. I think it’s the most dynamic of the Titans and it has that prowling, predatory look to it, as if it’s hunting down its prey. I can see it lurking behind shattered buildings and skulking through smoke to ambush its enemies. Of course, that means me sculpting it to look like that, but we’ll cross that bridge later.

In terms of the why, I really want to take my freehand painting skills to the next level now, and this beast provides a huge canvas area. I’ve got some really grand plans for this one, that will really test me. I’m going to have to do a lot of practicing and meticulous planning if I’m going to pull this off, but painting is a long way away at the moment. A loooong way away. More on that later then.

Preparation Is Key

Since placing my order, I’ve been scouring the internet for resources of information about how this thing gets put together and painted. Thankfully, there are some great bloggers and Youtubers out there who have documented their own techniques, builds and tools/equipment used in the process. Here are some of the good ones:

  • Wild Boar Blog – This is one of my goto guides. Steven has written a really comprehensive guide about the whole process with loads and loads of great tips. Excellently written and very methodical, this is a treasure trove of info for any Warhound Builder.
  • Youtube – there are some good hobby vloggers out there at the moment doing excellent things. There are good multipart guides from quibbledgo, cruorangelussilicis (who’s working on the Lucius Pattern in these vids) and OrcPainterNerd (who works on the Chaos variant in these vids) and they’ve been really informative and interesting to watch.

titan instructions

  • Instructions! – Forge World actually give you instructions with the Mars Pattern kit, and I am so happy about that. It’s a good guide to get you going at least.
  • The God Machines – This is a blog run by my bestest buddy Henry South and though he’s working on something much bigger (a Warlord!), he’s pretty good at this stuff so I am going to let him make the mistakes for me and pick up his tips and tricks here. 😉

new multi tool

In terms of what I’ve got to do, for prep work, I’ve already invested in some JB Weld two part epoxy (because why risk superglue when this stuff can cold weld an actual car engine block?), a new coping saw, a multi tool (above), and I’m off today to pick up some new drill bits and pieces and pinning wire too. Magnets are being ordered as well. Of course the first step will be washing all of this resin and removing the flash. I should also say that I have never felt so much cast removing agent on a piece of FW stuff before. It’s slick with it, which I totally understand because kits this size must be tough to remove and the company really don’t want it to mess up.

imperial armour modelling masterclass

I’ve also been reading up a lot using the Modelling Masterclass books too. Although there are no specific guides for the Warhound Titan, there’s plenty of info and the second book has a painting/assembly guide for the Reaver, and that helps a lot.

Talking Timelines

My aim is for the Warhound Titan to be complete by the end of November. That gives me two whole months and change to get everything pinned, bonded, built, magnetised and painted, so I should be good. I might even take a bit of time off work to really get to grips with it and bust through some of the tougher stuff. I’m determined not to rush it though, whatever happens. This is too big an investment for me to have a ‘that’ll do attitude’. This will be my showpiece model so I want it to be built perfectly, and sturdily, and the paint job is going to look fine too. That’s my pledge.

Upwards And Onwards!

forge world titan delivery

It was still surreal waking up today and seeing this huge box full of Titan at the end of my bed. My inner 12 year old was like a kid on Christmas morning and though I’ve taken out and lovingly fondled may of the pieces of this kit, I’ve been very careful to keep the bags complete. There are so many components (especially for the feet!!) and I don’t want them getting mixed up and lost – Forge World have used a pretty logical system to bag up the pieces too.

bag of titan

So, as I mentioned, I’m off to do a bit of manly shopping today for drills and metal stuff that makes scary noises. I’m not going to be doing a full tutorial on this guy (the guys above have done some great work on that already) but there will be plenty of updates on this blog over the next couple of months. Oh, and I also need to get in touch with FW as they’ve sent me the wrong weapon pattern for one of the arms – I got a Lucius Pattern mega bolter instead of the Mars Pattern. But it’ll be a long time before I get on to the weapons, so nothing to worry about there.

lucius pattern mega bolter

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted. Wish me luck, and hopefully I’ll have some wips to show you soon. Onwards!

I’m Very Excited About My Next Project – What’s In The Box…?

Posted by johnnya10 on 17/09/2015
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

simpsons mr burns mystery box

I’m literally about to pop out of the door to go and have dinner, but I thought I’d first share with you some exciting (well, I’m excited) news. Today, I got a delivery from Forge World. It contains my next project. Normally, this alone would not be excuse enough to write a blog post, but this one’s pretty special. Here’s the box…

big forge world box

It didn’t really fit on my work bench, so I had to open it on my bed. So what was in this big box?

fw box

As it transpired, it was a slightly smaller, though nevertheless impressive box, and a Forge World receipt. Alright, I’m being a tease. Here’s a glimpse at what was in there.

warhound titan head

Yes, that is what you think it is. Yes, I am very excited. I also feel guilty, apprehensive, happy and slightly astounded. I’ll do a proper post about all of this tomorrow, but for now, that’s your lot. Onwards!

Mortifactors Chapter Champion – The Bling Marine Cometh

Posted by johnnya10 on 13/09/2015
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

mortifactors chapter champion

The summer holiday is over and I’m back on the Mortifactors project and here is my Chapter Champion. I have never put so much metallic paint onto a model this small and so I’ve been calling him the Bling Marine/Mr Shiny  throughout this project. In fact, it appears that he’s so shiny, my camera refused to focus properly on him so, yet again I’m hear apologising for my photography. One day, I’ll get it right.

The thing about a chapter champion though, is that he has to be a bit flashy. He’s the duelist, the finest swordsman in the chapter and a member of the Chapter Master’s personal retinue after all. To that end, I wanted to construct a very unique Space Marine. I used the power armour clad Praetor from Forge World as a base and, using a few other bits from other kits, I think I got a pretty unique-looking warrior. He’s got the asymmetrical look of a specialist who has adapted his armour setup to be a better swordsman.

mortifactors honour guard

I also made this chap a former member of the Deathwatch. This gave me a chance to use one of the old shoulder guards which still look really cool. This in turn allowed me to break up the gold and black base of the model without having to use bone (which is looking like a rather subtle touch on this chap). The sword comes from the other Praetor and of course I went for bronze to keep him in line with the rest of the army.

The kit was great to work with (just like the other Praetor) and I love the pose of the guy. It really looks like he’s stepping forward to meet an opponent in a battle or arena.

skull shoulder pad

Not the best skull I’ve ever done but it’s still pretty good so it’s nice to learn that I’ve not lost that particular skill. The dagger comes from one of the FW weapon sets (seriously, such a great addition to the bits box) and I went with that over a boltgun because I like the idea of the duelist also being a close combat purist. Also, it gives him an extra attack on the table top too, which is nice.

praetor in power armour

And so that’s the Chapter Champion done. It’s nice to be back to work on the Mortifactors again, and of course a champion means an honour guard. This will come eventually, but I’ve got a few more things on the shelf that need painting so that might be a longer project (or I’ll cave next week and buy the kits from FW – we’ll see). Hopefully my photography and skull painting will be back on track soon. Onwards!

How To Paint Ancient Dead Skin – Things I Learnt From Fabius

Posted by johnnya10 on 04/09/2015
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I recently finished my Fabius Bile model (see the last post) and rather than go for a traditional skin tone look that one might use for living flesh, for his delightful dead skin coat, I wanted to make it look like really ancient skin. Human leather, if you will. Charming, isn’t it. After all, Fabius Bile has been flaying people (probably alive) for over 10,000 years, so unless this is a new addition to his wardrobe, it’s probably quite old. Now, these pics were taken with an i-phone, so they’re not exactly top quality, but I can assure you that the finished look of this really works, and I’ll throw in another shot of the completed model at the end so you can see a little better what I mean.

The first thing I did was look for inspiration. I recalled reading a while back that at Harvard University Library, they had made the rather grizzly discovery that some of their books that they had long thought to be bound in leather were actually bound with human skin. Pretty gross, right? Well, as gross as it is, there were a ton of pictures of one of these books online and they provided a good basis for the look I was trying to achieve. Here’s one of those now:

harvard skin book

Disregarding for a moment what this thing is actually made of (if you can), it does have a really cool look to it from the perspective of someone interested in colours. That yellowing, going into really rich browns from almost bone-coloured flecks… it would be beautiful if it wasn’t slightly upsetting. I decided to use this as a jumping off point – not something I was going to try and copy, but something that would provide me with the palette of colours that I would work from. So here’s my step by step guide to painting ancient dead skin.

1. Prime – Rhinox Hide

IMG_2660

I’m working on the shoulder pad here (as you can see the coat had been done at this point). I typically undercoat black but I then primed the skin patches with a thin coat of Rhinox Hide. Make sure you get right into the cracks – you don’t really want any black coming through here.

2. Base – Choose Your Weapon!

IMG_2662

Now, if each different patch has come from a different person, each should be a little different, right? So I picked out four different colours to use as the base across the different patches. In my case I used Screaming Skull (shown here), Kislev Flesh, Cadian Fleshtone and Ungor Flesh. Pick the one you’re going to use and, after watering down just a tad, apply it to the patch at hand. Then, mix that colour with a bit of White Scar and dab a couple of spots of this onto that same patch. Don’t go into the cracks though – you want to keep these dark. It’s good for contrast and, when you look at some mummified skin, the darker pigments are always in the recesses (again, charming).

3. Detail – Choose Another Weapon!

IMG_2663

You now want to give it a few spots/scratches with a darker colour. I typically used XV-88 or Deathclaw Brown but you can go all the way back to Rhinox Hide if you’d prefer. I didn’t do this on every patch either – helps to keep things different. Now, put a little of this on an old brush (something a bit gnarly that has long since lost its point) and then take most of it off again. Dab very gently, and not all over. Think of it like a little rash.

4. Washing – Reikland Fleshshade/Fuegan Orange

IMG_2664

Apply the flesh wash to the lower part of the patch, and the orange shade to the upper part (presuming that your light source is above). Don’t worry about them mingling a bit – that’s actually preferred. Don’t slather the patch, but apply enough to allow it to pool just a little in the recesses.

5. And Repeat…

IMG_2665

Before we go on to the final step, do this again over all the patches on the area you’re working on. It’s quite easy to patch process all of this so it’s a good time saver. It also means there’s less waste in the next step!

6. Glaze – Averland Sunset/Lahmian Medium

Now, you could, I suppose, use Casandora Yellow glaze, but I find this a little too orangey for this, so I’d suggest making your own glaze by adding a good amount of Lahmian Medium to a small splodge of Averland Sunset. A little yellow will make a fair amount of the glaze, as you need to use a good bit of the medium to get it looking like this:

IMG_2666

Apply across the area, covering all patches (and let it go into the cracks too, though don’t let it pool) and leave it to dry. It should now look like this:

IMG_2667

7. Highlights – Mixing Time!

I tried initially to do the highlights earlier in the process but they all got covered with everything else and didn’t really work, so I then started to do it at the end. You want to create a light flesh shade – think Kislev Flesh mixed with Screaming Skull. Muddy it up with some Reikland Fleshshade and then add in some of that yellow glaze you just made. Basically, if it looks like a good highlight colour for what you’re highlighting, then you got it right. Take a fine detail brush and apply it to the upper (again presuming that your light source is above) edges of the patches and the upper parts of any vertical edges. Also, it looks like I forgot to take a photo of this step but you can see it in the below pic so, yeah.

bile

And you’re done! Here’s Fabius in all of his glory again. If you were really brave you could consider adding tattoos (I’d do that before you add the washes with something like Dark Reaper – I only tried it once with his Slaanesh symbol on his shoulder there) but essentially, that’s it. Perhaps, in retrospect, I might have gone a little lighter to get it more like the book above, but ultimately I’m satisfied with the end result and would quite like to use this again. Onwards!

Was this useful? Would you have done anything differently? Stick your comments and ideas below. Cheers!

Fabius Bile – My Debt Is Paid

Posted by johnnya10 on 28/08/2015
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , , . 3 Comments

fabius bile

The twisted monster that is Fabius Bile has emerged from the warp (and my painting table) and my debt to the mad apothecary is now paid. I’m pretty happy with this guy – I got to try a lot of new things, and the guilt I had from my last attempt (aged 12) is now gone. Let’s take a closer a look at Fabius Bile (or should that be “Fabulous” Bile? Eh? Eh? …no, it shouldn’t) now.

One of my favourite parts of this chap is his billowing cloak of flayed skin (sentences you can only say when you do this hobby – hopefully). I worked out a really nice way of getting the colours right for it which involved looking at ancient, preserved skin, and working with washes and glazes. If there are people interested in it, I can put a tutorial up here (with bad iphone photography included of course!). I did get rid of the gimpy little faces in the cloak though. A little shave with a craft knife and some green stuff sorted those out.

apothecary fabius

I went a little off-piste with the Rod Of Torment. I wanted to give it a sense of containing the Warp itself within it, and went for a purple galaxy motif which, I think, worked out quite well. One thing that’s a little out of place is the head that hangs at his back from its hair. I went for a really nice rotting flesh look, but it would be more at home if the model itself was done in perhaps a more “Blanchian” style. Other than that though, I don’t think there are any parts of the model I don’t like.

One thing I’m particularly thrilled with is the blending of the purples which goes from Naggaroth Night to Xereus Purple. It was nice to bring back a bit of the insane surgeon’s Emperor’s Children heritage, and it turned out really well too.

Chirurgeon

The Chirurgeon on his back and the Xyclos needler in his hand are a symphony in metallics. I wanted to do things a bit different to the normal silver-coloured arms, so I went for a brass effect that ended up giving him a very retro and almost steampunk feel which I’m happy about. Lots of washes, a little dry brushing and plenty of fun. That being said, this was another reminder of how much finecast needs to die – so many little tags and lines and general flimsiness.

bile

And of course a skull on the base for good measure. Sorry the pictures aren’t particularly great this time around – not sure what happened there but they’re still a heck of a lot better than the old days (eh, regular readers?). Anyway, it was a fun model to work with, and my debt is now settled with Fabius. No idea what I’m going to work on next, but it’ll be fun finding out. Onwards!

Fabius Bile – An Old Debt To Pay

Posted by johnnya10 on 11/08/2015
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 3 Comments

1996

Let me take you back in time to 1996. Prince Charles and Princess Diana were getting their divorce, Britain was in the grips on the BSE crisis, Alexandria was discovered by divers in the Mediterranean and the Olympic Games were staged in Atlanta. That all seems like so, so long ago. Just look at what was hot in that image above!

For much of the year, I was but 12 years of age and was just about discovering the idea of playing sports. Girls were starting to get quite interesting too. It was the tail end of my childhood and my love for Warhammer 40,000 was on the wain a bit. Codex Chaos kept me gripped for a little longer but really, my first foray into the hobby was coming to a close. One of the miniatures I bought in that bygone year was one Fabius Bile and I’m afraid I didn’t do a very good job of him.

gw catalogue fabius

I have no pictures of the Fabius model I painted from that time (probably a good thing). I remember him leading my Emperor’s Children (lots of Noise Marines and Predators) alongside N’kari (A very badly glued together scratch built thing) into 3rd Edition games of 40k, but I also remember how he looked – terrible. He was painted with a lot of enthusiasm but very little skill and that has been weighing on me for a while now. He wasn’t quite humbrol dipped like some of my earlier attempts, but he certainly wasn’t good. Flat colours, details lost in thick, gloopy strokes and he was just generally quite bad. I remember not even being proud of him myself then and that was rare despite my complete lack of skill.

Anyway, now that I’m older and wiser and considerably better at painting, it’s time for me to finally do right by Fabius Bile and so last week I ordered him and yesterday I picked him up from my local GW store. But why do I care so much about this guy? Well, he just ticks all the boxes I can think over to make him one of the 41st millennium’s most glorious villains. Let’s run through some stuff now:

chaos fabius illustration

1. He’s a mad freakin’ scientist. This dude makes Frankenstein look like an amateur too. He saw what the Emperor had done with the Space Marines and said ‘Yeah, it’s ok I guess, but let me show you how to do it properly’ and that brought about, among other things, the Noise Marines themselves. And that’s just totally awesome.

2. He’s Emperor’s Children (my faves). In the 41st millennium, he doesn’t really care who he works for, but there’s still a hint of that regal purple armour going on. His back story in the Black Library’s Heresy books has given him a whole new dimension and witnessing his hubris is just so much fun.

3. All of his wargear is boss. Who else is carrying a Xyclos needler these days? No one. Oh, look at you sweet little apothecaries with your Narthecium thingies. Sorry? Oh, this? Yeah, this is a Chirurgeon and it is like a billion times more awesome than what you have but whatevs. Let me just beat you with my Rod Of (freakin’) torment a little and you might understand. Winner.

4. The dude tried to clone Horus. In fact, he pretty much succeeded and were it not for Abaddon having a little hissy fit, the Big H MkII might be leading the Black Crusades today. Not only that but he even managed to steal a phial of Sanguinius’ blood from right under the nose of Dante. How brazen is that!?

webstore fabius

I could give you more reasons but sufficed to say, I love this character and I want to do him some proper justice too. That illustration a little higher up this post is what I want to conjure up. That’s why the next thing you see from me here will be Fabius Bile done in my own style and to a level that will hopefully do him some justice. Stay tuned for updates – I hope to have him up here soon!

Also, when I was picking out Fabius from the characters on the GW store, I noticed a few old faces that I also butchered back in my youth, so if this goes well, I might do a couple more too. Onwards!

Nurgle Daemon Prince – Mamon Done!

Posted by johnnya10 on 28/07/2015
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

nurgle daemon prince

Well that was fun! My summer holiday (away from painting Mortifactors) is now in full swing and Mamon, the Daemon Prince of Nurgle is now done, and it was so enjoyable to do! Is it my best work ever? No. Categorically, no. However, this was a bucketload of bubonic bliss and brilliant bile. I got to crack out the technical paints, go really over the top, and just have loads and loads of fun.

forgeworld mamon

This chap has been haunting me for over a year now. I bought Mamon ages ago when I was still a confirmed follower of Nurgle, before my Mortifactors obsession had kicked in, and after painting the herald that came with him, I did nothing with the big man himself. He is a solid unit of resin and covered in a billion and one details and I guess I just got intimidated and distracted. So I have no idea what I was thinking on saturday morning when I slathered him in brown primers, having cleaned, clipped and undercoated, but as soon as I put down the first base coat of Straken Green I was hooked. I then worked up the layers, washing with Agorax Earthshade on the under parts and the Flesh wash (can’t remember its name right now) on the upward facing surfaces to bring in some definition, before mixing Ogryn Camo and eventually Ushabti Bone to the Straken Green to bring the skin up. Once that was all done, I got to work on the tonne of details on this big fella, and break open the technical paints.

fw nurgle prince

As this project was all about enjoying my painting, I wasn’t worrying too much about holding back with the gimmicks and, in truth, Nurgle lends itself greatly to all of the technical paints that GW do, as well as the use of pigments which were used relatively conservatively on the barrel on Mamon’s back, and the barrels of his gun. You can see a lot of Nurgle’s Rot of course, but the rust and oxide paints were used heavily on the barrel too, and Blood For The Blood God made a lot of appearances as well. Especially gross is the BftBG used at the base of each toenail, as if it’s about to pull off. Made myself gag a little just thinking of that.

chaos daemon prince

It should be said that this is a proper FW kit too, in that it’s a ball-ache to get every piece to sit together and stay flush. A lot of cutting and Green Stuff went in to getting that barrel and those tubes to sit properly on his back. Also, I love the tine lines of maggots crawling around on that thing – another great little detail. I almost clipped off the flies that are crawling up his arm (you can just about make them out in the pic above – on the right side) because I didn’t realise that’s what they were – I thought they were just casting imperfections but it goes to show just how full of detail this guy is!

painting nurgle

I think I’d forgotten how much fun Nurgle is to work on. Getting all gross and disgusting with your painting is so much fun and these days, I know more about what I’m doing than I used to. From weeping sores to blisters and boils, it’s all so disgusting and that’s so much fun to work on! On this model, I really like the effects I got on the leather apron, the barrel and weapons, and those toes. So filthy and awful. And my favourite details include the Nurgling birthing pods on the shoulders and the intestine leaking from the stomach wound. If you want to have loads of enjoyable times with your paint brushes, I do recommend getting this guy and having some (yes, I’m going to use the word again) fun with your technical paints. I can’t wait to see what I do with the rest of my summer holidays now! Onwards!

mamon

My Horus Heresy Top 5 – The 30k Novels I Love To Read

Posted by johnnya10 on 15/07/2015
Posted in: Product Reviews, Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 3 Comments

pile of books

Today, I’m putting on my literary hat (it’s kind of like a cross between a fez and a “foam dome”) and giving you a run down of my Top 5 Horus Heresy novels from the Black Library.

As I was looking for something to reread the other day, I noticed just how many books of this series I have read and the only other series that I have read more of was the Discworld books (RIP Sir Terry). Over a month I like to split my time between something I feel I should read that will help me to understand the human condition, culture and experience, and something I want to read that typically has things like dragons, guns, space ships and all the other cool stuff. I find it’s a good balance and in recent months, the Horus Heresy has pretty much been my go-to series for the latter part of that equation. I’ve not read all of them, but I’m not far off, and so I thought I would share my Top 5 here. I’ll try and keep spoilers to a minimum so hopefully all can enjoy (no promises though). Let’s put on our reading glasses, make ourselves a hot chocolate and snuggle up on the sofa with these good books.

In no particular order…

1. Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

horus rising

It makes sense to start at the beginning, right? This was the book that got the ball rolling on this expansive series and it remains a fantastic read. Covering the last days of the Luna Wolves before they became the Sons of Horus, we meet the heroes that are Garviel Loken and Tarik Torgaddon who, over the next couple of books (False Gods by Graham McNeill, and Galaxy In Flames by Ben Counter), we come to really empathise with and cheer for their efforts. They make great heroes and the action scenes in this book are written with typical Abnettian (new word, coining it) skill – fast, bloody and very descriptive. We also meet a Warmaster who actually turns out to be a pretty decent guy and in this book, he too is a hero. Then there’s Abaddon who, though not yet a villain, his character is established and we see the man who would one day lead those Black Crusades.

You don’t need to read these books in order really, not if you know the story already, but this remains the best place to start your journey if you’re new to this series. It gives you a real taste of the Great Crusade and the galaxy before the Heresy too.

Best Bit: Samus is coming. Samus is coming. Samus is here.

2. Fulgrim by Graham McNeill

fulgrim

Graham McNeill’s true strength as an author is his ability to develop intriguing, interesting and unique characters that you want to learn more about. Fulgrim is absolutely filled to the brim with so many characters, from the eponymous Primarch himself to the remembrancers aboard his flagship, and from his captains to Elrad Ulthran who makes a fantastic appearance in this book. My personal favourites are the triumvirate of captains that many of the battles in this book focus on (Kaesoron, Demeter and Vairosean) whose relationship is intricate and poignant.

This story centres around their fall, and at over 500 pages, it takes its time to move from the perfection of the legion and its warfare, to the fall to decadence and the embrace of Slaanesh that is truly terrifying at points. Other aspects of note are the beginning of Fabius’ experiments, the villainous mind of Eidolon, and the personal downward spiral of Serena D’Angelus (which is really quite upsetting). This was actually the first heresy book that I ever read and it remains very much within my favourites.

Best Bit: Fulgrim and Ferrus on the battlefield / the Opera’s first (and final) performance.

3. Angel Exterminatus by Graham McNeill

angel exterminatus

You know how I was just saying how good Graham McNeill is at creating those deep and engrossing characters? Well, over two books, they get even more absorbing and in Angel Exterminatus we get to see Fulgrim at the height of his decadence and vanity. What’s more, this is perfectly juxtaposed by Perturabo, who turns out to be quite a likeable character for the most part, bar his jealousy of Dorn. He is a master craftsman who turns his skill at building on its head when it comes to warfare and we get to see for the first time his skill at siegecraft.

Further to that juxtaposition, we also have the shattered legions, stealthily hunting the two heretic primarchs across warp and world to try and get some form of revenge for what went down at Isstvan V. McNeill is brilliant at highlighting their pain and anger, as well as their honour and their determination. This is a book about desperation. Perturabo is desperate to outdo Dorn, Fulgrim to ascend beyond his mortal body, and the broken legions are desperate for revenge. Truly engrossing.

Best Bit: Lucius meeting his match.

4. Know No Fear by Dan Abnett

know no fear

Many of us knew the tale of Calth before picking up this book. Of the sudden (but inevitable) betrayal of the Word Bearers who threw dying stars, daemons and death at the Ultramarines in an effort to completely remove the 500 worlds of Ultramar from the game. Well this engrossing account of minute by minute, hour by hour action is an amazing depiction of all out warfare on multiple scales and on multiple fronts. From the desperate hand to hand fighting on the surface to the star ship battles in high orbit, Dan Abnett has created a tale of destruction and devastation not seen before or since in this series.

Throughout the series, the Word Bearers are painted as the real villains of the heresy, and above all others in their ranks, perhaps even Lorgar, Erebus is the character that inspires the most hate and anger, and in this book he reaches what you feel might be the lowest depth of pure evilness (though knowing the character, he can undoubtedly sink lower). This, along with Lorgar and Kor Phaeron, works great against Guilliman’s compassion and stoicism, and provokes a wonderful chain of reactions from him including…

Best Bit: “Lorgar of Colchis. You may consider the following. One: I entirely withdraw my previous offer of solemn ceasefire. It is cancelled, and will not be made again, to you or to any other of your motherless bastards. Two: you are no longer any brother of mine. I will find you, I will kill you, and I will hurl your toxic corpse into hell’s mouth.” – Roboute Guilliman

5. Unremembered Empire by Dan Abnett

unremembered empire

This book was both necessary to the series, and also something amazing. Though written by Abnett, one gets the sense that this book is really a product of all the great authors in this series and it brings a large chunk of the Heresy novels into a single point. It connects so many books together in a thrilling tale full of favourites. There are more Primarchs than you can shake a power maul at, a clutch of perpetuals, a false invasion, and a declaration of a new home for the Imperium itself, far from the threatened world of Terra. We see a stoic Guilliman, a broken Sanguinius, a brooding Lion and a very crispy Vulkan too. So much goes on in this book and it really can’t be summed up in mere paragraphs on a blog so I heartily suggest reading it, but only when you’ve read all the books that come before it – that way it does the most for you.

The second half of this book is particularly amazing and centres around a long and bloody battle that is full of fear and suspense, but that’s not the best part for me. For me, it is the relationship of the loyal primarchs that you get to see in great detail here. From here on out too, all ships point to Terra.

Best Bit: What the Lion brought to Macragge…

Honourable Mentions

There are so many novels I could have included in here. The fact that these five books only come from two authors shocked me a bit, as others have created incredible works themselves. So I just want to highlight a few books that almost made the cut.

heresy books

Vulkan Lives by Nick Kyme

Tallarn: Executioner by John French

Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Deliverance Lost by Gav Thorpe

A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill

I guess I could have done a Top 10, but that would take hours to write (time is money, people!). They are well worth discovering for themselves (all of which you can find at the black library site) and to be honest, there isn’t a single book that I haven’t enjoyed. I’m really looking forward to watching this series go from strength to strength and I can’t wait (though I’ll have to) for the Battle of Terra, should we ever reach that far. Onwards!

Agree? Disagree? Stick some comments below and let me know what your favourites are!