Dozing off? Better get back on track!

It's cheesy, I know.


     So I've been busy. Busy with work, busy with Dawn of War II: Retribution, busy with Minecraft, and busy not painting! GASP! I'm ever so sorry for the complete lack of updates, I'm trying to get back to my painting table, and thus back on the blogging.

     So I've managed to finally finish up my first experiment with the weathering powders. I like the effect, but there were some lessons on the way. Mainly it was about me remembering (or not remembering) what I had seen in other tutorials. A key one was the medium that you use with your powders can make a huge difference and you want to select that carefully. I started by using rubbing alcohol, but without a protective base coat, that started to lift the paint underneath. So in future I'll need some glossy finish to protect the finished paint job, do the powders, then respray with a matte finish. I suppose that I could use a matte spray to protect it, but from what I read, it seems that the glossy stuff does the protecting job a bit better.

     I've seen a tutorial where they used a mixture of alcohol and white glue to form a sticky medium to basically clump the powders to make stuck on mud and whatnot. I like it, but I think it's a little too much for my models. If I was doing a diorama, I might use that technique to achieve a specific effect.

Grey Knights

     I grabbed the codex from my local GW. I've been slowly reading it, and so far I'm cool with it. The Grey Knights' back story has always been a little vague, and I think that has served them well enough, to a point. I think many people underestimate their over powered-ness when it comes to the fiction. These are the chosen of the chosen, and they have a very specific calling in the universe of 40K. The fiction in 40K is more about opening my mind, rather than closing potential creative avenues because something doesn't match expectations or previous stories. In that vein, I'm more likely to not have an issue with new interpretations of established fiction. Draigo's story, for example, might seem over the top, but I think it was intended exactly so to be. We're talking about one of the most powerful beings within the Grey Knights, which itself isn't filled with your "average" 7 foot tall, bio-engineered space marine. He kinda has to be crazy.

     But let me say something VERY important here, and it has NOTHING to do with the rules, or fiction:

"Dear GW, please continue to make kits like the GK power armor and Terminator kits!"

      Seriously! These are what I've been harping on about since I got into this hobby. I've never understood the seemingly bizarre kits that were missing options. A tactical squad box should have all the weapon options. Simple as that. What's more, I should be able to make Devastators out of a tactical box, or perhaps (and this is stretching, I know) assault squads! I was pleased, when I stopped by my GW store, to see that the new Tomb Kings kits are following this model of "Here's a ton of options in one box. Have fun!"

     This means more bits, and likely lower costs for GW. I don't suppose that latter fact will translate into lower prices for us, but... one can dream.

What's next?


    I have a little toy Hummer here, and I'm going to practice some vehicle camo stuff. I'll start working on that this weekend. Should be interesting. In the meantime, here are some more pics of my bulldozer, enjoy:

 The headlights came out nice. I like the dusty effect I got on the dozer blade.

The seat got a little freehand wear marks. Not too much. 

The tracks came out okay. Don't know if I'll use that mud/rust color for my IG vehicles.

Tau says: Squats! I CHOOSE YOU!

Say WHAT?

     This rumor comes from the gentleman that spilled the beans on the Dreadknight for the Grey Knights. Now one of the earlier Tau rumors hinted that some more xenos would be added to the book. The Kroot and Vespids won't be the only add-in races for the Tau. Rumored is that the Demiurg might be joining in their Tau adventures. The Demiurg, for those of you that don't know are the squats (space dwarves), currently still in  Battle Fleet Gothic, and according to some fluff had allied with the Tau in times past. They are not, however, members of the Tau empire. And you thought they'd stop at space orangutans?

Demiurg Concept Art and Stronghold Ship from BFG

     The Tau have certainly been one of the races I've been more interested in. Some of their rules that are up for consideration in this new codex might really swing me towards their corner. They will surely need some new plastics, their Boxy-McBoxinton crysis suits are in desperate need of some refreshing. Fortunately I think Forgeworld knows the way forward.

You can get with this, or you can get with that.

     These tweaks would pretty much sell me on the army. I love the organic look of the tanks, and I dig the sort of anime styling of the battlesuits, troops, and drones. I really like the idea of an army that could possibly win a game of 40K in the shooting phase. We'll see if it happens.

Grey Knights

     If you've been following this blog for a while, you might know that I've actually got some painted Grey Knights. I grabbed a Stern model and a box of terminators more for the fun of actually painting them up and looking at them than playing them on the table. I've used them as an ally to my Space Marines in a few games. They never really did anything to spectacular, but they look dead sexy, and I dig their back story so I let it slide.

     I've been entertained with the reactions I've been seeing online. The mixture of "They went too far!" and "They didn't go far enough!" is bordering on insanity. GW isn't going to be able to please 100% of their fans... ever. I actually stopped by my local GW store a few times to check out the models and the codex. I'm loving the kits more for their completeness, but aesthetically they blend very well with the old metal models. The terminators more so than the power armored ones, but still they were meant to look very close to their older brothers. I listened to a few folks at the store moan about how they really expected more, but these aren't Dark Eldar we're talking about. That was an exception. Their old models were HORRIBLE, and without a reset, they'd have been dead in the water.

     The GK models were fine, but they were metal. So keeping the look, but making an awesome plastic kit that covers all the war gear gets a big 'win' in my book.

     Will I be running GKs? Yeah, but they're WAY down the road. Since completing these lowly six GK models, I've been wanting to build it out to a whole army. But before that, I have an IG army to do, my Red Scorpions, and a few long overdue additions to my Orks. Those shiny bastards will just have to wait their turn. 

Shout out to Japan


     Like everyone else, I've been pretty torn up concerning the tragedy in Japan. My wife has a few friends over in and around Tokyo, and fortunately they've all reported in that they are fine. Some are getting out of town while this nuclear reactor situation sorts itself out a bit. So I'd just like to say that I'm praying for all the folks out there, and I hope you might do the same, dear reader. The scale of the devastation is maybe too much to take in, but I'm hoping help gets where it is most needed. If you want to help, you can drop by the Red Cross website and make a donation. I've done so, and it ain't much, but I'd like to think that someone would do the same for me.

     And on a slightly sillier note: I was in my local Chipotle restaurant this evening and as I walked in a grimaced at the song playing. That song would be "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult. I'm a lyrics guy, and in case you didn't know there are a few parts: "Oh no! There goes Tokyo! Go Go Godzilla!" and "History shows again and again how Nature points out the folly of men."

     If you didn't know, Godzilla was originally an avatar of nuclear weapons. He was an allegory of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With the reactor at Fukushima in an ever worsening state, this song seemed ever so timely. I was living in Norway when the Chernobyl accident went down, and I remember how panicked people were, and how helpless everyone felt as the fallout poured across Europe. Fortunately the effects weren't too widely felt, but you have to wonder what this will mean for Japan in the long run.

Take care out there, and be safe.

Let us all take a shiny silver chill pill...

OMG!

     Well well well... Thanks to my friend Red, I didn't miss the most recent update to the "leaks" concerning the new Grey Knights codex. Three images were leaked, the one you see above, a back-of-the-box shot from the Dread Knight, and a very crappy cover of the codex shot. Here is the Dread Knight picture:

Hysterical Reactions


     So I came by these through Warseer.com. If you want to see some insanely furious posters, go check it out. I'm not really one for the Sky-is-Falling approach. I much more prefer to take a deep breath and remember that we are talking about far-future space warriors with more internal organs than you can shake a stick at fighting strange aliens such as fungus men and space elves. It tends to put things in perspective.

     I'll freely admit that I've been guilty of overreactions concerning newer rules and models, namely Blood Angels and the Storm Raven. In both cases, I was proven wrong. The craziness of the Blood Angels is tempered by the points costs. The awkward initial "leaked" pic of the Storm Raven was pretty much the worst shot you could have taken of the model, except maybe if it were on fire. People are going crazy on the forums at Warseer.com, and one could rightfully argue that this is par for the course. I try not to steep my opinions in that heady atmosphere, as I long since have learned that forums can be a fickle, and frightful place.

My Reactions

     I'm totally down with what I see here. Let us be honest with ourselves here; This game is about epic badassness on a scale we had not yet previously experienced. This is a good chunk of why I'm in the hobby in the first place. If I wanted Space Marines with properly proportioned  bodies and no silly extra organs, I'd just play Halo. I want Ork silliness, Eldar snootiness, Guard Armorness, and these Grey Knights pics seem to add a new spicy mix to that recipe.

     The Dread Knight looks like it will be fun to covert and pose. The GK models in general (though hard to distinguish in the pics, I admit) look pretty well maintained, as far as their original look.

GK Rules


     If you haven't seen all the rules rumors, please check out my good friend's post over at Bolter and Chainsword: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=211572 You won't be disappointed.

On the subject of "Leaks"


     You might have noticed that I've been placing quotes around the word "Leaks." This is quite deliberate. I'm now firmly of the opinion that these are deliberate actions of GW. I'm not normally one for conspiracy theories (quite the opposite), but all of these pictures (not just the GK ones, but going back through the last few Codices) have a uniform look to them. The fuzziness is always the same. The time frame from the actual product release date is near-enough-it-makes-no-difference the same.

     Let us now face facts: GW likes to strip tease us. Also... I'm kinda okay with that. I would rather them just come out with the nice large clean pics, but oh well. Gotta build the excitement, right? Also I'm reminded of this:

I'm Looking for a Fight!


     I will be at Area 51 Gaming in Dallas this evening, if anyone is interested in meeting up. I was out this way, thought I might take my Orks on the road, get an away game in. At the very least, meet some other 40K addicts like myself and swap some war stories. If you are in the area, but don't know the location, here's a link: http://www.area51gac.com/

     I've never been there myself, but I ran into a few fellows that are regulars there at the last GW event I attended in Dallas. They seemed pretty cool, so I thought I'd check the place out.

Grey Knights completed

I've completed that final two Grey Knight Terminators for my little clump of terminators to be allied with my space marines chapter. I'll basically be running a Grand Master and five terminators as his retinue. This leaves me with lots of expansion room should I want to add more units either as further Demon Hunter allies or as a possible stand-alone Demon Hunters army. I've said it before, but I'll just say it again here: These are awesome looking characters. The Terminators from the Grey Knights are just so sharp looking. The near medieval look to their helmets and the nice engraved lettering really make these guys a treat to paint and own. I'll be interested in how they perform on the table. Here are a few pics of my latest additions as well a group shot:

Time to catch up!

Yikes! I've really let my bogging slip! Time to catch back up. I've grabbed a box of Grey Knight Terminators. What a fantastic box of models that is. Each one has something unique and the poses are pretty slick. Which is good, frankly, as they are all metal. Painting them isn't complex, in fact they are pretty much the easiest models I've painted. The stakes are higher since it is a $55 box. Here are some of the results thus far: