Woo Hoo! - Monday 17th August 2009

I've just pre-ordered 3 copies of the new Space Hulk game.

Given the speculation that's been on various websites over the last few weeks a lot of gamers have been facing a decision. The assuming ‘everyone is wrong and it's not Space Hulk’ option required no further action than just to wait and see. But assuming the speculation was correct and it is Space Hulk, do you want a copy?

Given my fond memories of the game I knew that as long as it looked okay when it was released I would be getting one. After mentioning the rumours to several gaming friends they also asked me to get them copies too. Why so keen to buy it? Well we all bought/played the game when it first came out and obviously enjoyed it enough for it to be worth spending £60 to replace copies lost, destroyed or sold over the years.

The general feeling from our group is that it used to be a lot of fun when you didn't fancy a full blown wargame and although the old Terminator figures weren't up to much, the Genestealers can still be found in several of our Tyranid armies even today.

First impressions of the box set are that the figures are top notch and I think these miniatures really take it to a whole new level. I'm a fan of more animated figures, which look less like they're modelling their armour for a catalogue shoot and I think the Terminators look particularly awesome!

The only downside… it's not out until the 5th of September!

Just like new - Friday 14th August 2009

By day I’m an IT Project Manager and my job also involves a fair amount of IT support work too. I’m afraid I’m like a lot of IT help related folk and my first words of advice are often “have you tried switching it off and back on again?”

Well I just did that with my entire Tau army. Four cans of spray paint later they're all back in black.

I’ve been collecting Tau since their 2001 release and I’ve amassed quite a sizeable army so far (check out the Tau section for my current force list). I’ve tried a number of paint schemes out on them over the years with varying degrees of success and quality.

As I mentioned in a post below, I’m moving house soon and gaining a new games room. This has led me to sort out all of my various armies and try to get them all to the same level – painted and based to my current standard.

So I’ve pressed the reset button and put the entire army back to its basecoat, barring a Commander Battlesuit and a Hammerhead Gunship. I’ve left these two figures alone for now, as I’m quite proud of the paint job on them both and it won’t hurt to leave them alone until the rest are done.

For the rest of the army I’m going with the common Tau ochre paint scheme. I’m a big fan of this look and it’s nice to paint troops in colours I’m not already using for any of my other armies. Now they’re all black I’ll be getting a photo of them up on KMANT soon too, so look out for them over the next couple of weeks.

Stargate Atlantis - Thursday 13th August 2009

I'm watching series 3 of Stargate Atlantis at the moment and although the Wraith feature a bit less in this season than the previous 2, they still play a big part. I hadn't really noticed it before but the Wraith remind me a lot of Dark Eldar.

1) They are cruel and evil.
2) They both raid to capture slaves (Wraith to eat, Eldar for slaves/sacrifices).
3) They're both big fans of black.
4) Their ships are both pointy.

Where am I going with this? Well, after watching the Wraith in action in Stargate I really wanted to go on a few slave raids myself, but sadly Dark Eldar are the only 40k army I don’t collect. It’s not that I don’t like them, in fact the few times I’ve played against them they’ve quite impressed me with their super speedy tactics. For some reason though I’ve just never expanded on the warriors I got in the 3rd edition box set.

So is now the time for me to invest in a raiding party of Commorragh’s finest? No, I don’t think it is. The various Warhammer forums have been crying out for a new Dark Eldar army for a while now. I can understand why too. The army contains a lot of great figures (the Raiders, Reaver Jetbikes & Wyches) despite its age, but their Codex doesn’t offer a huge variety of tactical options and although some of the figures might be cool, quite a few of them look a bit dated in comparison with the current figure ranges (it’s important to add this ‘in comparison’ bit – the figures are still awesome, it’s just hard to choose them over the brand spanking new models for the other armies).

A murmur from Rick Priestley in White Dwarf 343 indicated that the Dark Eldar will be getting looked at in the near future though when he said "I think it's time that the Dark Eldar, Space Wolves and a few others have their time in the spotlight again...” With the promised Space Wolves release on the doorstep it can’t be long before the evil Eldar are upon us.

Will I be adding the only 40k army I don’t have to my collection? You can bet your best pointy helmet I will!

More KMANT Updates - Tuesday 11th August 2009

Another evening of sorting out KMANT stuff and adding more content.

All of the Army Section links are now live and will soon be home to photos and info about my armies!

Manufactorum Painting - Monday 10th August 2009

I spent yesterday evening painting my Manufactorum 40k building and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped though as my girlfriend put the first episode of Band of Brothers on. Although its not as exciting as some of the later episodes of the lot, it's still quality viewing and highly distracting! It also really made me want to use my Imperial Guard more...

It took me a while to pick a paint scheme, but in the end I went with the one you can see here.

I think I'm going to need another 2 Imperial Sector sets at the least to finish my city. I set myself a rule of getting them all painted to a tabletop standard (lots of drybrushing and not much detail) before I was allowed to buy any more though, so I've still got a Shirne of the Aquila and 2 Basilica Administratum buildings to go.

Descent of Angels - Sunday 9th August 2009

I read another 4 chapters from Descent of Angels today and I feel the need to once again praise the entire line of Horus Hersey books. They've all been really great reads and for anyone who hasn't made a start on them yet I'd highly recommend you get cracking!

The books give you a great insight into the background and origin of the various Space Marine Chapters featured in each novel. I've been gaming for 18 years (Rogue Trader onwards) and it's been great seeing some of the little bits and bobs of information that GW have hinted at in the past coming together with new ideas from the authors.

I'd say Graham McNeil and Dan Abnett are still leading the way, but the other authors have all paid their way with great stories too. To say I'm looking forward to the two upcoming books covering the Space Wolf / Thousand Son conflict would be the understatement of the year!

Llanthony Priory - Saturday 8th August 2009

Is it wrong that when I visited the Llanthony Priory and wondered around its scenic grounds I found myself thinking it would make a great terrain piece?

It reminded me of the plastic ruins that came with the third edition of 40k (the one with the Dark Eldar and Space Marines). Sadly I only had my phone camera with me and the picture I got wasn't great, but it'll give you a rough idea and next time I go I'll take my SLR.

KMANT Progress - Friday 7th August 2009

More work on the new KMANT layout for me this evening. It's times like these when I wish I was:

A) better at web design.
B) rich enough to pay Ed Jeavons to do it properly.
C) working for GW so I could retire KMANT and get my hobby fix elsewhere.

That said, it's all coming together now and I can't stop wondering why I didn't incorporate my wargames stuff into KMANT sooner?!?

Sanctum Imperialis Painting - Thursday 6th August 2009

The final dry brush of my second Sanctum Imperialis building is complete!

I really like the Sanctum Imperialis buildings. The Cites of Death book describes them as being used by Imperial Dignitaries, so it's nice to imagine how plush the interior must have been before it reached its current state. This is the kind of building I like to think Eisenhorn would have commandeered if he visited, pacing its halls and drinking Amesac on the balcony with Alizabeth.

2 Realm of Battle Boards! - Wednesday 5th August 2009

I'm moving house at the end of this month. My new abode is even bigger than the 3 bedroom monster me and my girlfriend are currently in, which is fine by me as it means an even better games room! Woo hoo!

The second biggest of the two bedrooms has been awarded 'War Room' status and will soon be home to all my gaming goodies. It's big enough to comfortably house both my Realm of Battle Boards end to end (12' by 4' playing surface) and still has plenty of room round the edges for my shelves, desk, books and of course gamers!

Sanctum Imperialis Construction - Tuesday 4th August 2009

I put my 2nd Sanctum Imperialis building together today.

I built this one from a Sanctum Imperialis kit that I bought on a recent visit to the Worcester Games Workshop and the left overs I had from the Imperial Sector boxset I got from Shrewsbury Games Workshop. So it's a nice mixed construction job of local GW purchases!

The keen eyed among you might also notice Antaro Chronus standing in front of the laptop (perhaps enjoying Death Magnetic). He was another purchase from my visit to Worcester GW and will soon be finding a home in one of my Land Raider hatches. I really like the dual figure approach to the miniature and the idea of him bailing out of the tank to carry on the battle on foot was impossible to resist.

Battle Board Praise! - Sunday 2nd August 2009

Gaining my own monster games room in our house a few months ago (thanks again to my wonderfully understanding girlfriend Sharon) has led me to begin a mass sort out of my Warhammer and 40k stuff. The first step has been realising a plan I've had for as long as I can remember, to actually sort out a decent games board.

When Games Workshop in Shrewsbury first opened (not the current location, but the old store under the long gone multi-story car park) and allowed me to game on White Dwarf quality terrain I've wanted more from my own setup.

Like a lot of gamers I'd been using a green flock mat and hills to match. Don't get me wrong, this setup did a sterling job, but when the Realm of Battle Boards came out I knew they were what I had been waiting for. The photos I saw online looked amazing. They had well and truly captured a chunk of Warhammer essence and wrought it into plastic form!

I know their initial launch was tarnished by a price change. I also know a few people made some forum posts telling everyone they could make a better board for quarter the price from MDF. But I say if you can actually make a better board, which is just as portable, can be neatly packed away and is as detailed as the GW one then please put a tutorial online - you'll be rich in a week.

Basically I look at the boards like this; I know I couldn’t have made anything anywhere near this good and I know that the amount of enjoyment I get from my hobby makes the money worth investing. Now mine are all painted, flocked and ready to go I can safely say, with 100% conviction that I would spend the money again tomorrow.