Retribution impression, Forgeworld, and my Finger.

Dawn of War 2 Retribution


     I don't know that I've mentioned it before on this blog, but I love me some Dawn of War 2. Hand on heart: It is what got me into Warhammer 40K. Now I'm sure that warms the hearts of both Relic and Games Workshop, to know that their marketing synergistic approach to licensing has paid off. Perhaps that sounds a bit cold, but I'm not pretending I don't know what's going on here: Unadulterated Capitalism! AND I LOVE IT!

     I've only been in the hobby for two years, and since I was introduced to the hobby via this video game, it only seems right that I should mark this second anniversary with a nod to the expansion for the game that made it all possible. If you haven't played Dawn of War 2 before, just know that it's similar to Company of Heroes in that the brunt of this Real Time Strategy is about managing squads. As opposed to the more common Dune 2 model, which was copied into Warcraft, Command and Conquer, Starcraft, and on down the line, you're rarely managing more than about five or six units. It can certainly be more than that, but it is rare, like I said.

"Nice hat, by da way..."

     I'm not going to try and fill you in on the campaigns from DoW2 and DoW2: Chaos Rising as that's something best served either from the Dawn of War 2 website or by a proper review. I'm just going to say that thus far, I love it. They've blended elements of the original DoW2 campaign mechanics with some of the multiplayer mechanics to some pretty awesome effects. The diversity of options you have between kitting out your heroes, choosing to leave the heroes and take special "Honor guard" units, or even which units to build during the mission to enhance your force can be nearly dizzying. Though the campaigns might seem a tad short, there's re-playability simply in the way you spec things out. I know that in the last two interations of this game, I have spent nearly 170+ hours playing and replaying the original campaigns. And those were quite limited compared to some of the meat on the bones that Retribution throws our way.

     The characters and their moments of interplay are awesome. You can pick up on some really established 40K archetypes. Having completed the Space Marine campaign, and nearly finishing up on the Ork campaign, I can say that these characters cover the gamut. If you enjoyed the original DoW2, and are remotely a fan of 40K, you owe it to yourself to give this a shot.

Forge World Cadian Goodies!


     It's like they know! So I've been going back and forth about what to do about my upcoming Storm Troopers. The Kasrkrin were my first choice, but they were metal and didn't come with the weapon options that I wanted, thus I would have to spend a good bit of change on two all metal squads that would have a lot of repeat models. Bleh. I LOVE the look of the helmets and armor. They're exactly what I want them to look like... if they were plastic. Then my next idea was just to get the Forge World Cadians with Respirators upgrade kit. There were some neat grubbins in the kit (whoops! Channeled my inner-Ork) and I did like the look of the helmets. It was still a toss up.

     Then Forge World broke the tie with the Cadian Hostile Environment kits! They had slick backpacks, unique torsos, and the awesome heads that I wanted. Granted they are lacking the grubbins that were in the other Cadian upgrade kit, but I'd make do.

     Then came the Cadian Hostile Environment Command Squad, and boy does that look slick. So I think I can combine the following and get two awesome and unique Storm Trooper squads:

1x Hostile Environment Command Squad
1x Hostile Environment Troops kit
1x Hostile Environment Melta Gunners kit
1x Cadians with Respirators kit

     That will give me plenty of the awesome Hostile Environment torsos, backpacks, and heads, plus all the extra grubbins from the Cadian Respirator kit to make two Storm Trooper squads with two melta guns in each. Not bad! I was really holding out for a plastic Storm Trooper kit to be potentially released for the Grey Knights codex, but that seems to be out of the picture now as it looks like the Storm Troopers were left out of the book.

     Thoughts anyone? Got any other ideas for potential Storm Troopers? I'd love to hear them. It's ages still until I order these. I've got plenty to paint before then. Including a Japanese Bulldozer (for my future White Scars army, of course).

Finger Update (speaking of scars)


     Not that you asked for it, just because it bugs the hell out of me. So as you can see from the picture, it has really healed up quite well, and quite fast. For a two inch gash that went to the bone, I'm happy to see that there doesn't (as yet) appear to be a hideous scar, nor is there seemingly any other repercussions. It hurts a bit when I flex it, but that might have something to do with the lack of motion it has had for the last week being mostly wrapped up in a bandage to prevent me from doing something daft and accidentally ripping some stitches out.

     I expressed the idea that I might take out my own stitches to my wife. Surprisingly she wasn't supportive of that! She mentioned something about me being "... your father's son" which I can only take as a sign of respect and admiration. Given that I'm in the military, I think there might be some official channels I'll have to go through to get these stitches out anyways. My wife can rest easy.

     So to sum things up: I should be painting again very soon. I might actually give it a go this afternoon as I do have some stuff sitting on my painting table that need to be finished. Namely that stupid Vox Caster I keep going on about.