Alrighty then. I'm now pretty committed to painting and completing this Imperial Fists army. And I'm not sure it will just be Ebay fodder anymore. I think I'll actually keep it for my own personal army and do the Imperial Guard after I do this one. I WILL still do the Imperial Guard Cadian army... just not right now. I've been sucked into Space Marines again.... because they're too awesome for me to ignore. Damn it.
So I've got this army list that I think is pretty awesome. Its kind of themed around minimal squads in transports with a bit of character backup. One thing about armies that I design - I don't like to paint or collect a large number of models. I've always been a fan of low model count, high points cost armies and this one is no different. I find working on more than a few of any certain type of model tedious and I get bored. When I get bored, I'm way less likely to finish a project. With that in mind, I've decided to create an army that's constitutent units are as diverse as possible, while still being effective.
Here's the list. What do you think?
HQ
Space Marine Captain - Power Sword, Storm Shield - 130pts
Librarian - Epistolary with Avenger and Vortex of Doom, Terminator Armor with Storm Shield - 190pts
These guys are in the army partially for the cool factor, and partially to take advantage of their wargear to help their squadmates. The Captain will be very resilient with his storm shield, and will ignore armor saves with his power sword, so I'm thinking he'll act as a little bit of backup to the Tactical Squad and ride with them in the Razorback in case they get stuck in against some close combat foes. The Librarian will ride shotgun in the Land Raider Crusader with the Terminators. Not only will his Storm Shield allow him to take any plasma or lascannon shots than may injure the squad (a 5+ save just doesn't cut it when you only have 5 terminators), but his psychic powers, Avenger and Vortex of Doom, make him a character that nobody in their right mind will want to be even remotely near (for the most part).
Troops
Tactical Squad - Sergeant with Combi-Plasma, Razorback with T.L. Assault Cannon and Storm Bolter - 185pts
Scout Squad - Sergeant Draggo (counts as Telion), 4 sniper rifles - 125pts
Scout Squad - Sergeant with Power Fist, 3 Shotguns, Heavy Bolter - 110pts
The Tactical Squad's job is to rush toward any objective being held by enemy troops, gun them down with the Razorback, then get out and gun them down more with their Boltguns! I think people really under estimate how effective 5 Boltguns can be inside 12 inches on just about any unit that's not in power armor... but I digress. The first Scout Squad will be there to simply camp on a home objective and shoot at infantry that looks important. Telion gives the whole squad Stealth, which is awesome, and his ability to choose which model in an enemy squad is hit by his ranged attacks is very useful but seldom used. Warlock? Goodnight! Nob? Tough, but killable. I lookforward to using this unit. The second Scout Squad is going to be hanging out inside the Land Speeder Storm! Their job is to outflank! Why, you might ask? Well, wouldn't it be REALLY annoying if you were an Imperial Guard or Tau player and an outflanking Land Speeder suddenly showed up, deployed Scouts with a *power fist!* that go about destroying your artillery, whilst the Land Speeder shoots up an Infantry or Fire Warriors Squad. The Power Fist is something I've never seen anyone else take in a Scout Squad, but I'm interested in how it will work out at surprising vehicles that are sitting on the outskirts of a battle. They'll also be useful in zooming over to an objective to claim in quickly in the end game!
Elites
Terminator Squad - Heavy Flamer, Land Raider Crusader with Multi-Melta - 465pts
These guys are pretty badass. Their job will be to lay waste to enemy heavy infantry or vehicles, plain and simple. The Land Raider will get them there whilst dealing out its own punishment, and the Termies will get out of their ride, shooting and burning even MORE, and then they'll assault, doing even more damage! Not a lot of foes can stand against a charge of Terminators. Especially when the Librarian will be hanging with them too!
Fast Attack
Land Speeder Storm - 50pts
Scout Biker Squad - Sergeant with Astartes Grenade Launcher, Cluster Mines
One of the must under utilized units in the entire Space Marine army. Its job will be to zip the Scouts around the table so they don't get overwhelmed by enemies! It can be used as a mobile firebase for the scouts inside as well. They'll be safe and secure inside, firing heavy bolter rounds at Tyranid Warriors, while eating tea and crumpets, secure in the knowledge that the enemy has to destroy the Land Speeder first before thinking about damaging they themselves. The Scout Bikers are just pretty funny to use because of their Cluster Mines. They pretty much allow you to booby trap a piece of terrain on the battlefield so that when the enemy moves into the area they get themselves exploded. The Astartes Grenade Launcher is also pretty decent at threatening light vehicles, as well as shreddifying weak infantry like Kroot or Guardsmen.
Heavy Support
Devastator Squad - Sergeant with Combi-Melta, Lascannon, Missile Launcher - 150pts
Now, a lot of you just looked at that Dev squad and said "hmm... why take a basic 5-man squad? Why not a 10-man squad? And why not give them the maximum 4 heavy weapons to the squad? Ablative wounds, that's why. Since I really want to use minimal squads, it doesn't make sense to me to take 4 heavy weapons, because if the squad takes hits on the first turn, I end up losing something important before I can even fire a shot. This way the squad can absorb a couple of wounds without the loss of any of those important big guns! It's the same reasoning that people use when they max out the heavy weapons and then max out the number of marines in the squad to protect those big guns.... just on a smaller scale. Also, obviously, this squad is here to hunt vehicles of all kinds. The options for the Missile Launcher to fire Frag Missiles also makes them somewhat effective against infantry is they end up killing all the tanks they see! :)
And that's the list. All told, it rings in at exactly 1,500 points, which happens to be my personal favorite points level to play. I can do 2,000 once in a while, but I rarely have the patience to play more than one. Maybe I'm getting old or something.
Anyway, let me know what you think of the list.
~Mr. Bad Guy~
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Random Acts of Painting
Alrighty then, we're back! Thanks for tuning in! In our last episode we saw our hero vowing to start an awesome Imperial Guard project... and I'm still going to do that... I just got side tracked by something shiney! I had a conversation with an old friend of mine about the hobby, and it convinced me to start a pretty cool Space Marines army!
Space Marines always have this weird magnetic pull with me. I go through episodes where I'm fed up with the hobby, take a break (usually only like a week or so. That seems to be the maximum amount of time I can stay away.), and then I'll read a cool bit of fluff or see an interesting conversion or army list that piques my interest, and I jump back in with both feet. The army that almost always pulls me back in is Space Marines. They're genetically engineered Human war machines with the most powerful armor and weapons that Humanity can produce. What's not to like!?
I've been waking up super early to hit the gym lately, and with that comes a whole BUNCH of free time in the AM hours. I was sitting there, bored, looking at some models I had originally assembled for a commission job that fell through on me, when I though "hmm... I should paint those..." After a conversation with my old buddy Jay over at Jay's Workshop I realized that painting lighter colors - namely yellow in this case - isn't as difficult as it really seems to be, so I decided to do it up with some Space Marines of the Imperial Fists chapter! I had nothing but time, so I got right to work the following morning after gym time.
I had only five Space Marines assembled, which is only 50% of a full squad, but I had no inclination for build more... call it hobby laziness, but simply didn't want to spend any more time building models. I still wanted the squad to have a lot of firepower behind it, even though I didn't want to build more models, so I looked through my extensive collection of bits and found some interesting things - a combi-plasma, an entire freakin' Rhino that was already assembled, and a Twin-Linked Assault Cannon from the Land Raider Crusader kit. Perfect! With a little bit of work I was able to swap out the top doors of the Rhino with the Razorback gun cradle, pop in the twin-linked assault cannon, and give the Tactical Squad Sergeant the Combi-Plasma for a little extra punch in case he needs it. I assembled everything, cleaned it clean of mold lines and imperfections, then glued some sand on the bases of the 5 marines. Here's a shot of them post-assembly.
The next step was to prime the model. Now usually I'd simply hit the models with a Citadel Skull White or Chaos Black spray, but I wasn't too keen on the idea of spending so much time building up the yellow color, layer after layer over White - and CERTAINLY not over Black - so I decided to go outside my Games Workshop comfort zone and give The Army Painter's products another try. I'd used their products with mixed results in the past, but I still had a lot of Demonic Yellow primer laying around, unused and unloved in the huge bin o' paint in my workshop area, so I decided to give it another go... and I couldn't be more pleased with how it worked out for me. Not only did the new can of Demonic Yellow cover as adequately as Citadel Primer, it also saved me the step of using my Citadel Spray Gun to hit the models with a yellow base coat. It turned a normally hour-long process (for me - I'm kind of slow) into a 10-minute prime job, thus speeding me on my way to finishing the project. What's better is that there's no reason at all that you can't use the primer as the basecoat for your model. Anyhow, here's a shot of the models after they were primed with Demonic Yellow from The Army Painter.
The next step required a little bit of planning, as I had to figure out a decent paint plan for my marines. The traditional colors of the Imperial Fists are Yellow with Red trim, and I wanted to stick with that general color scheme, but I also wanted the marines to look dirty and battle-worn, like they're been in the thick of battle, not pristine and bright like they're on parade march. I realized that I'd have to improvise a bit because the shades of Yellow that are available straight out of the paint pot didn't really work for what I wanted. So I got to thinking about a suitable shade of yellow for the type of painting I was doing and came up with what I have affectionately dubbed "Imperial Fists Yellow" (original, I know). I made this mix with a 1:3:1 mix of Iyanden Darksun : Golden Yellow : Bad Moon Yellow. Bad Moon Yellow is kind of hard to find anymore though, so if you need to you can just use 4 parts Golden Yellow, as they're just about the same shade. I really just put the bighter Bad Moon Yellow in there to brighten the mix from the darker, more pigmented Iyanden Darksun. Here's my "mixing lab", a.k.a. my kitchen counter. :)
Moving on from there, and after drinking some delicious chocolate milk (drool), I set about putting paint to brush and brush to model. Base Coating these models was pretty simple, really. I painted the sand and the base Chaos Black. I did all the metal in Boltgun Metal, the shoulder pad trim, chest eagles and purity seals with Red Gore, and the parchment with Khemri Brown. Instead of using Imperial Fists Yellow as a basecoat at this point, I decided to go ahead and just use the Demonic Yellow primer as my basecoat, and it turned out pretty well. Traditionally, the Imperial Fists' boltguns have black casings, but I thought they'd look cool with casings the same color as their armor. Its a personal preference, and I went ahead with the choice. In retrospect I think it looks pretty good. I always thought the black looked out of place amidst the yellow and red armor. That's just my personal take. Oh, I also basecoated the sergeant's exposed skin with Tallarn Flesh. That's my absolute favorite color for painting skin. It's excellent! While I did the Razorback a day after I did the squad, here's pictures of both of them at this stage. I need to point out that this is also the stage in painting where your model will look like poo. I've seen MANY hobbyists lose their patience at this stage and just stop painting because they think they're not doing a good job. What many don't understand is that at this point EVERYONE'S models look their worst. It's the stages of painting that come afterward in which your models really start to look awesome! Anyhow, here's those pictures I was talking about...
The next step in my usual painting process is rather nebulous. Sometimes I'll layer a slightly brighter color on top of my base coats and then go about highlighting with an even lighter color to make a perfect looking finish on the models. I also went that way at this stage, but then I remembered that I wanted them to look battle-worn and dirty, not perfect! So I simply hit all the models with a thin wash of Devlan mud! It sounds simple, but it worked out really well! The thin wash did exactly what I thought it would do and separated after it was on the model, thereby leaving some of the base color showing itermitently over the models. This gives the effect of dirty armor, but you're still able to see the parts of the model that have yet to get dirty. It looks ugly at this stage, but the end result looks cool in my opinion.
A side note on Citadel Washes - THEY'RE AWESOME! They shade those hard to paint areas well, and they add a great layer of color to anything they cover. They're like cheating at painting! Also, painting a wash on a tank with a wash brush takes a LONG TIME, but its worth the effort put into it. You could use a large drybrush or a tank brush, but that will leave weird bubbles all over your vehicle that will leave unwashed spots after they dry. Save yourself the hastle and just grin and bare it with the Wash Brush. It will look better. Here's some post-Devlan Mud Wash pictures of the squad and the transport.
Alrighty then... the wash takes a long time to dry completely, and you do NOT want to start painting around "mostly dry" wash, so I took a break at this point... which turned into lunch...which turned into a nap... but when I woke up, I started painting again!
At this stage of painting it's time to put that Imperial Fists Yellow to work. I took a drybrush, loaded it will my mixed color, and went about painting all the broad areas of the models. After using washes on a model you will usually have areas where the model has pooled, and a slightly wetter than normal drybrush is perfect for "buffing out" those areas that are too dark. This was pretty time consuming on the Razorback, but it ended up being worth it. The red on the shoulder pads, chest eagles and purity seals was highlighted slightly with Blood Red along the edges, and I think it turned out well. I drybrushed the metal areas lightly with Chainmail on the marines and the vehicle. I also went about doing a bit of weathering on the Razorback around the exhaust vents by stipling on Scortched Brown, followed by Chaos Black to give the effect that soot and dirt has built up. I also did a tad of weathering on the underside of the vehicle to simulate road dirt by stipling on Adeptus Battlegrey, followed by Astronomicon Grey. I forgot that I hit the lenses with Blood Red, and the Sergeant's skin with Rotting Flesh... I figure a 300 year old Space Marine won't have the healthy complexion of youth. Painting his eyes was kind of a pain in the ass, but I got it done and I'm satisfied with it.
Oh, and I also forgot about the bases! I drybrushed them all with Calthan Brown, followed by Kommando Khaki, followed by Bleached Bone, followed by Skull White! Then I mixed up a little bit of PVA glue with a tad of Snow Flock and put the resulting paste in patches on the model's base. Afterward, I sprinkled on a bit of the Snow Flock to the base, blew off the excess, and painted the rim of the base with simple Calthan Brown. Voila! Snow bases!!! Here's pictures of the models at this stage.
Now, I was thinking about doing without the chapter badge decals for the Imperial Fists, because I HATE putting goddamn transfers on my models. It's a pain in the ass, and I end up breaking them. But as The Dude abides, so shall I! After consulting some of the folks in my local hobby communities I was convinced to go through and add the decals, and they look pretty sweet in retrospect. I think I'm going to start adding them to all marines I paint, or simply buying the scuplted shoulder pads. They really add a certain "pop" to the models. Here's some pics of this stage.
After this, I did a couple of things to the models that I don't really remember on account of sleep poisoning. I forgot to take pictures and close-ups of what I did next, but they were all very minor, like highlighting the targeting and navigation lenses on the Razorback. Here's a picture of the finished squad! What do you think?
Well... that's all for now. I'll go about writing another blog whenever I get around to it. I've been meaning to do this more frequently, and I think I'll try to make at least one post every other day. I'm thinking of doing a unit a week... I think that would be pretty sweet.
Anyhow, I'm out of here. Stay tuned!
~Mr Bad Guy~
Space Marines always have this weird magnetic pull with me. I go through episodes where I'm fed up with the hobby, take a break (usually only like a week or so. That seems to be the maximum amount of time I can stay away.), and then I'll read a cool bit of fluff or see an interesting conversion or army list that piques my interest, and I jump back in with both feet. The army that almost always pulls me back in is Space Marines. They're genetically engineered Human war machines with the most powerful armor and weapons that Humanity can produce. What's not to like!?
I've been waking up super early to hit the gym lately, and with that comes a whole BUNCH of free time in the AM hours. I was sitting there, bored, looking at some models I had originally assembled for a commission job that fell through on me, when I though "hmm... I should paint those..." After a conversation with my old buddy Jay over at Jay's Workshop I realized that painting lighter colors - namely yellow in this case - isn't as difficult as it really seems to be, so I decided to do it up with some Space Marines of the Imperial Fists chapter! I had nothing but time, so I got right to work the following morning after gym time.
I had only five Space Marines assembled, which is only 50% of a full squad, but I had no inclination for build more... call it hobby laziness, but simply didn't want to spend any more time building models. I still wanted the squad to have a lot of firepower behind it, even though I didn't want to build more models, so I looked through my extensive collection of bits and found some interesting things - a combi-plasma, an entire freakin' Rhino that was already assembled, and a Twin-Linked Assault Cannon from the Land Raider Crusader kit. Perfect! With a little bit of work I was able to swap out the top doors of the Rhino with the Razorback gun cradle, pop in the twin-linked assault cannon, and give the Tactical Squad Sergeant the Combi-Plasma for a little extra punch in case he needs it. I assembled everything, cleaned it clean of mold lines and imperfections, then glued some sand on the bases of the 5 marines. Here's a shot of them post-assembly.
The next step was to prime the model. Now usually I'd simply hit the models with a Citadel Skull White or Chaos Black spray, but I wasn't too keen on the idea of spending so much time building up the yellow color, layer after layer over White - and CERTAINLY not over Black - so I decided to go outside my Games Workshop comfort zone and give The Army Painter's products another try. I'd used their products with mixed results in the past, but I still had a lot of Demonic Yellow primer laying around, unused and unloved in the huge bin o' paint in my workshop area, so I decided to give it another go... and I couldn't be more pleased with how it worked out for me. Not only did the new can of Demonic Yellow cover as adequately as Citadel Primer, it also saved me the step of using my Citadel Spray Gun to hit the models with a yellow base coat. It turned a normally hour-long process (for me - I'm kind of slow) into a 10-minute prime job, thus speeding me on my way to finishing the project. What's better is that there's no reason at all that you can't use the primer as the basecoat for your model. Anyhow, here's a shot of the models after they were primed with Demonic Yellow from The Army Painter.
The next step required a little bit of planning, as I had to figure out a decent paint plan for my marines. The traditional colors of the Imperial Fists are Yellow with Red trim, and I wanted to stick with that general color scheme, but I also wanted the marines to look dirty and battle-worn, like they're been in the thick of battle, not pristine and bright like they're on parade march. I realized that I'd have to improvise a bit because the shades of Yellow that are available straight out of the paint pot didn't really work for what I wanted. So I got to thinking about a suitable shade of yellow for the type of painting I was doing and came up with what I have affectionately dubbed "Imperial Fists Yellow" (original, I know). I made this mix with a 1:3:1 mix of Iyanden Darksun : Golden Yellow : Bad Moon Yellow. Bad Moon Yellow is kind of hard to find anymore though, so if you need to you can just use 4 parts Golden Yellow, as they're just about the same shade. I really just put the bighter Bad Moon Yellow in there to brighten the mix from the darker, more pigmented Iyanden Darksun. Here's my "mixing lab", a.k.a. my kitchen counter. :)
Moving on from there, and after drinking some delicious chocolate milk (drool), I set about putting paint to brush and brush to model. Base Coating these models was pretty simple, really. I painted the sand and the base Chaos Black. I did all the metal in Boltgun Metal, the shoulder pad trim, chest eagles and purity seals with Red Gore, and the parchment with Khemri Brown. Instead of using Imperial Fists Yellow as a basecoat at this point, I decided to go ahead and just use the Demonic Yellow primer as my basecoat, and it turned out pretty well. Traditionally, the Imperial Fists' boltguns have black casings, but I thought they'd look cool with casings the same color as their armor. Its a personal preference, and I went ahead with the choice. In retrospect I think it looks pretty good. I always thought the black looked out of place amidst the yellow and red armor. That's just my personal take. Oh, I also basecoated the sergeant's exposed skin with Tallarn Flesh. That's my absolute favorite color for painting skin. It's excellent! While I did the Razorback a day after I did the squad, here's pictures of both of them at this stage. I need to point out that this is also the stage in painting where your model will look like poo. I've seen MANY hobbyists lose their patience at this stage and just stop painting because they think they're not doing a good job. What many don't understand is that at this point EVERYONE'S models look their worst. It's the stages of painting that come afterward in which your models really start to look awesome! Anyhow, here's those pictures I was talking about...
A side note on Citadel Washes - THEY'RE AWESOME! They shade those hard to paint areas well, and they add a great layer of color to anything they cover. They're like cheating at painting! Also, painting a wash on a tank with a wash brush takes a LONG TIME, but its worth the effort put into it. You could use a large drybrush or a tank brush, but that will leave weird bubbles all over your vehicle that will leave unwashed spots after they dry. Save yourself the hastle and just grin and bare it with the Wash Brush. It will look better. Here's some post-Devlan Mud Wash pictures of the squad and the transport.
Alrighty then... the wash takes a long time to dry completely, and you do NOT want to start painting around "mostly dry" wash, so I took a break at this point... which turned into lunch...which turned into a nap... but when I woke up, I started painting again!
At this stage of painting it's time to put that Imperial Fists Yellow to work. I took a drybrush, loaded it will my mixed color, and went about painting all the broad areas of the models. After using washes on a model you will usually have areas where the model has pooled, and a slightly wetter than normal drybrush is perfect for "buffing out" those areas that are too dark. This was pretty time consuming on the Razorback, but it ended up being worth it. The red on the shoulder pads, chest eagles and purity seals was highlighted slightly with Blood Red along the edges, and I think it turned out well. I drybrushed the metal areas lightly with Chainmail on the marines and the vehicle. I also went about doing a bit of weathering on the Razorback around the exhaust vents by stipling on Scortched Brown, followed by Chaos Black to give the effect that soot and dirt has built up. I also did a tad of weathering on the underside of the vehicle to simulate road dirt by stipling on Adeptus Battlegrey, followed by Astronomicon Grey. I forgot that I hit the lenses with Blood Red, and the Sergeant's skin with Rotting Flesh... I figure a 300 year old Space Marine won't have the healthy complexion of youth. Painting his eyes was kind of a pain in the ass, but I got it done and I'm satisfied with it.
Oh, and I also forgot about the bases! I drybrushed them all with Calthan Brown, followed by Kommando Khaki, followed by Bleached Bone, followed by Skull White! Then I mixed up a little bit of PVA glue with a tad of Snow Flock and put the resulting paste in patches on the model's base. Afterward, I sprinkled on a bit of the Snow Flock to the base, blew off the excess, and painted the rim of the base with simple Calthan Brown. Voila! Snow bases!!! Here's pictures of the models at this stage.
Now, I was thinking about doing without the chapter badge decals for the Imperial Fists, because I HATE putting goddamn transfers on my models. It's a pain in the ass, and I end up breaking them. But as The Dude abides, so shall I! After consulting some of the folks in my local hobby communities I was convinced to go through and add the decals, and they look pretty sweet in retrospect. I think I'm going to start adding them to all marines I paint, or simply buying the scuplted shoulder pads. They really add a certain "pop" to the models. Here's some pics of this stage.
After this, I did a couple of things to the models that I don't really remember on account of sleep poisoning. I forgot to take pictures and close-ups of what I did next, but they were all very minor, like highlighting the targeting and navigation lenses on the Razorback. Here's a picture of the finished squad! What do you think?
Well... that's all for now. I'll go about writing another blog whenever I get around to it. I've been meaning to do this more frequently, and I think I'll try to make at least one post every other day. I'm thinking of doing a unit a week... I think that would be pretty sweet.
Anyhow, I'm out of here. Stay tuned!
~Mr Bad Guy~
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Philosophy of Being a Guardsman
Imperial Guard are awesome.
Don't agree with me? I can certainly see why. When you have elite, genetically engineered killing machines, hordes of savage green monsters, soulless robots and technologically advanced aliens flying around the galaxy destroying everything, it can be easy to ignore or pass over simple Human soldiers with lasguns and flak armor. Why would anyone want to collect an army composed of warriors that are so... normal? I personally think that it is specifically because Humans are so normal that they are the most interesting army in Warhammer 40,000.
For me, the background, story and character behind an army is just as important as how it performs on the gaming table. Often more so, in fact. Imperial Guard characters and soldiers are simple Humans like you and I who have been thrown into an impossible situation that they ultimately have no hope of emerging from alive. They face the alien hordes and traitor legions with nothing but their courage, and rarely falter from their duty even in the face of imminent destruction. They have no impenetrable adamantium armor to protect them from the threats of the galaxy. They have no high powered, fantastic weapons with which to destroy their enemies quickly. They have only their lasgun (which, to be honest, is just the M-16 of the 41st Millennium), flak armor (which is no different than that worn by modern soldiers in our present day and age), and the Man standing next to them to rely on in battle. They undergo training that is rudimentary at best and are then sent into the fray, totally unprepared for the horrors they will face on some Emperor-forsaken alien world. The average Guardsman was conscripted against his will, along with hundreds of thousands of others from his planet, as a tithe to the Imperium's war efforts, and wants nothing more than to return back to the home that he knows he will never see again. His friends, family and loved ones, all the places he frequented as a child and youth, they are all dead and gone to him. All he has are his brothers in arms.
I think the character and story of Imperial Guardsmen is definitely what piques my interest in them, because they're just like me. I can relate to them. They're not superhuman. They're not corrupted by the Warp (though that happens sometimes). They're not genetically engineered, nor have they undergone any form of psycho-indoctrination to remove all traces of fear from their minds. They're just normal guys - farmers, factory workers, merchants - who were given a lasgun, pointed up a hill and told "Go kill Orks!"
Imagine you're an Imperial Guardsman now. You're stationed in a rocky outcropping on a rolling hill, overlooking a shallow valley near a dense tree line. You've been stationed here for DAYS with the other nine members of your squad, your mission simply to shoot any Greenskins you see, and ask questions later. Oh, and if you let ANY of them past your position and you happen to survive then you'll be executed for dereliction of duty. The hillside is strewn with the decaying bodies of slain aliens, the rotting, fungal stench almost overpowering. Thinking about it for too long will cause you to wretch, so you pass the time by scanning the tree line for enemies and listening to tactical chatter over your squad's Vox-caster. Every hour or so someone will ask if new orders have come through, but you know they haven't. Every hour or so, the heavy weapons team assigned to your squad will remind your Sergeant that they only have one crate of ammo left for their heavy bolter. Every hour, the same damned thing, broken ever so often by a sudden emergence of Greenskins from the forest. You and your squad mates unleash hell on them, they all die, everyone checks their ammo, and wait for the next wave. Repeat process. The thing is, every time the Orks come back, they do so in greater numbers and get a littler farther up the hill towards your position before perishing. At this rate they'll be on top of you by sundown. And yet your Sergeant refuses to budge. Orders are orders, he says, so you sit tight and wait for the inevitable final push from the Greenskins that will likely result in the slaughter of you and your entire squad.
What balls those guys have! They know that sooner or later they'll be overrun, but they don't budge. Why? Because its their sworn duty to the Emperor and Imperium to hold that hill and not let a single Ork past them. Why are they there? Only the Sergeant knows, if even he does, but its ultimately irrelevant. Not for the Guardsman is a glorious last stand or lone charge into the breech. Their job is to do the dirty jobs, the fighting and the dying, so that the overall strategy for victory will succeed. Who knows why they're on that hill. Perhaps they're simply sentries, there to report the position of any substantial Ork force. But maybe they're the only unit left to protect something of vital strategic importance. They'll never know. They just have to have faith that their Commanders will not callously throw their lives away or forget about them.
They're not larger-than-life warriors, they're not overly heroic, they're not monsters, they're not high-tech, and they're not altogether very powerful individually. What makes Guardsmen awesome is that they're each one of a million rather than one in a million, and they will use their 999,999 friends to make damn sure that your "elite" army of a hundred or so super soldiers is ground into a fine red paste.
Imperial Guard are awesome because, simply put, they're the most Human army in the game.
Nuff said.
~Mr Bad Guy~
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Zen and the Art of Painting Models
I've been sitting here at work while the store is dead, considering starting a new Warhammer 40,000 project. I've been cruising internet sites about painting, how to speed paint, how to take your time, how to properly base a model, scenic basing, drybrushing, washes, glazes, highlighting, paint plans, just about damn near everything... but there's a key component to this great hobby of ours that seems to be lacking in me presently - Focus. I can read all want about how to paint Tau, or how to base Imperial Guard models, but the How isn't as important sometimes as the Why, and that's that I'm missing right now. The Why. Why should I start and stick to a new 40k project? Without a Why to focus on, I'm not going to accomplish anything other than trying in vain to break my hobby funk, and the cycle of irritation will continue to spiral down into oblivion. So now I'm thinking... WHY do I want to start a new project?
In the past, I used to try to finish armies as soon as possible, so that I could game with them as soon as I possibly could. I'd basecoat the models, drybrush them, and move straight to the game table because I was all about refining my skills and expanding my experience as a gamer. But I've grown since then. I am quite knowledgeable about the rules, I've played and defeated, or been crushed by, just about every type of Warhammer 40,000 army out there. My motivation for maintaining my hobby no longer revolves around gaming and smashing my enemies, or having an army with a cool gimmick that I can take advantage of to surprise my oppenents, but rather from creating a finished product that will make my opponents and peers in the hobby community say "Holy crap, that's an awesome model! How did you do that!?", and producing something that I can personally be proud of.
With this in mind, I think its about time for a TOTALLY NEW project, and that means starting everything from scratch. New paints. New brushes. New models out of the box (not the half-assembled ones i have in storage), and a set, step-by-step paint plan that isn't "quick and easy" but rather long and complicated. Why complicated? Because its the only way I'll grow as a hobbyist.
The other "Why Factor" is storyline and background. Lately I've been inspired not by what a model does on the tabletop, but by what the models represent in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Sure, an Imperial Guard Commander isn't nearly as powerful on the table as a Daemon Prince, but in my opinion they are a more personal option for an army, and one with a more diverse background, and that goes a long way in furthering my personal hobby. I feel like Bob Ross sometimes when I'm assembling and painting models. "This guys's gonna have one arm in a sling. Maybe he took a grazing shot from a plasma blast or stood too close to a frag grenade when it went off. He traded in his power sword for a plasma pistol because he obviously can't use a power sword with a ruined arm, and he still wants to be useful in a fight. He's a happy little Imperial Guardsman!"
So I think what I'm going to do later is go to Gamers Sanctuary and buy a brand spaking new Imperial Guard Command Squad. I'm going to take my time assembling them, maybe I'll crush up some cork that I have with my supplies to make some rubble and ruins that they're standing in and around to put on their bases. I'm going to write a reliable, awesome paint plan and I'm going to take my time with it. I will make the entire squad something that I'm proud of, that will make people think "wow, that's actually pretty awesome." I think this will serve as a focus for my fractured hobby, and it will probably be a bit of a stress reliever too.
I'm going all Zen with my hobby. To understand the models, you must become one with the models.
~Mr Bad Guy~
In the past, I used to try to finish armies as soon as possible, so that I could game with them as soon as I possibly could. I'd basecoat the models, drybrush them, and move straight to the game table because I was all about refining my skills and expanding my experience as a gamer. But I've grown since then. I am quite knowledgeable about the rules, I've played and defeated, or been crushed by, just about every type of Warhammer 40,000 army out there. My motivation for maintaining my hobby no longer revolves around gaming and smashing my enemies, or having an army with a cool gimmick that I can take advantage of to surprise my oppenents, but rather from creating a finished product that will make my opponents and peers in the hobby community say "Holy crap, that's an awesome model! How did you do that!?", and producing something that I can personally be proud of.
With this in mind, I think its about time for a TOTALLY NEW project, and that means starting everything from scratch. New paints. New brushes. New models out of the box (not the half-assembled ones i have in storage), and a set, step-by-step paint plan that isn't "quick and easy" but rather long and complicated. Why complicated? Because its the only way I'll grow as a hobbyist.
The other "Why Factor" is storyline and background. Lately I've been inspired not by what a model does on the tabletop, but by what the models represent in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Sure, an Imperial Guard Commander isn't nearly as powerful on the table as a Daemon Prince, but in my opinion they are a more personal option for an army, and one with a more diverse background, and that goes a long way in furthering my personal hobby. I feel like Bob Ross sometimes when I'm assembling and painting models. "This guys's gonna have one arm in a sling. Maybe he took a grazing shot from a plasma blast or stood too close to a frag grenade when it went off. He traded in his power sword for a plasma pistol because he obviously can't use a power sword with a ruined arm, and he still wants to be useful in a fight. He's a happy little Imperial Guardsman!"
So I think what I'm going to do later is go to Gamers Sanctuary and buy a brand spaking new Imperial Guard Command Squad. I'm going to take my time assembling them, maybe I'll crush up some cork that I have with my supplies to make some rubble and ruins that they're standing in and around to put on their bases. I'm going to write a reliable, awesome paint plan and I'm going to take my time with it. I will make the entire squad something that I'm proud of, that will make people think "wow, that's actually pretty awesome." I think this will serve as a focus for my fractured hobby, and it will probably be a bit of a stress reliever too.
I'm going all Zen with my hobby. To understand the models, you must become one with the models.
~Mr Bad Guy~
Of the Hobby and Monsters
Hello there, and welcome to my first post here at A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy.
Alright, celebration over! Now for some news, and some annoying things that have been on my mind.
... there are a couple of things that have been REALLY annoying me lately and, being my blog and all, I'm going to go ahead and use this opportunity to complain about them.
Fistly, concerning my Love/Hate relationship with my Games Workshop wargaming hobby... I need a break from it... but I can't seem to stop picking up my books, making army lists and planning new projects. I really need to get out any actually play some games once in a while, and enjoy my hobby, or just hang it up for a bit, but I haven't been able to do either of those things lately and it sucks! I'm stuck in this crazy hobby limbo into which the light of freedom will never shine! The simple fact of the matter is that if I can play some games, I'll be inspired to finish some of the projects I've been working on, and make a few army or squad sales on Ebay. If I don't get the play games, my hobby will die for a little while like it did when I was working for Games Workshop last year. I'm in dangerous waters. Here there be monsters!
Secondly, speaking of Monsters... Monster energy drink is fantastic. Sure, it's full of artificial crap, and I'm probably losing a day off my life for every can I drink, but damn if it's not great stuff. Today for example, I didn't sleep all that well and would have been dragging through the day. Luckily, however, I had time to stop and get a Monster before work and now I'm upbeat, have a positive attitude, and am full of energy. My question concerning Monster, though, is this; Is this actually the effect that Monster is supposed to have, or is it all a big fat placebo? Hmm... they're really bad for you, but I don't care. They make me feel awesome, and with them I'm able to keep up with my kids and still have energy to enjoy myself after they go to sleep for the night, and for that reason I'm going to keep drinking them. Some of you will tell me "they're not good for you, you're poisoning yourself!" That might be true... but at least I'm not becoming an alchoholic.
So um... that's pretty much all for the first entry here. Exciting, wasn't it? You're all inside my mind now, and you're never getting out. It's a vile, twisting maze of anarchy and curses, with crazy mirrors and trap doors leading to alternate dimensions where vicious, rabbid dream-creatures stalk the hallways. Stick with me though! I've got all the weapons and ammunition. But if you think you can go it alone in here, be my guests...
Stay tuned for the next post - same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
~Mr Bad Guy~
Alright, celebration over! Now for some news, and some annoying things that have been on my mind.
... there are a couple of things that have been REALLY annoying me lately and, being my blog and all, I'm going to go ahead and use this opportunity to complain about them.
Fistly, concerning my Love/Hate relationship with my Games Workshop wargaming hobby... I need a break from it... but I can't seem to stop picking up my books, making army lists and planning new projects. I really need to get out any actually play some games once in a while, and enjoy my hobby, or just hang it up for a bit, but I haven't been able to do either of those things lately and it sucks! I'm stuck in this crazy hobby limbo into which the light of freedom will never shine! The simple fact of the matter is that if I can play some games, I'll be inspired to finish some of the projects I've been working on, and make a few army or squad sales on Ebay. If I don't get the play games, my hobby will die for a little while like it did when I was working for Games Workshop last year. I'm in dangerous waters. Here there be monsters!
Secondly, speaking of Monsters... Monster energy drink is fantastic. Sure, it's full of artificial crap, and I'm probably losing a day off my life for every can I drink, but damn if it's not great stuff. Today for example, I didn't sleep all that well and would have been dragging through the day. Luckily, however, I had time to stop and get a Monster before work and now I'm upbeat, have a positive attitude, and am full of energy. My question concerning Monster, though, is this; Is this actually the effect that Monster is supposed to have, or is it all a big fat placebo? Hmm... they're really bad for you, but I don't care. They make me feel awesome, and with them I'm able to keep up with my kids and still have energy to enjoy myself after they go to sleep for the night, and for that reason I'm going to keep drinking them. Some of you will tell me "they're not good for you, you're poisoning yourself!" That might be true... but at least I'm not becoming an alchoholic.
So um... that's pretty much all for the first entry here. Exciting, wasn't it? You're all inside my mind now, and you're never getting out. It's a vile, twisting maze of anarchy and curses, with crazy mirrors and trap doors leading to alternate dimensions where vicious, rabbid dream-creatures stalk the hallways. Stick with me though! I've got all the weapons and ammunition. But if you think you can go it alone in here, be my guests...
Stay tuned for the next post - same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
~Mr Bad Guy~
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