30k is so hot right now, and with the second Betrayal book likely to be released at Games Day, I thought it would be good to show my journey into Horus Heresy-era models. Having recently attended the Horus Heresy weekender, which was a showcase of what Black Library and Forge World have planned for the series, with seminars with the authors and modellers, I will say now that this was an amazing event and I will do a summary of it in another post. I picked up loads of tips from Mark Bedford who does sculpts and paints for Forge World. He showed us one standard troop from each Legion that he had created using resin and plastic parts , as well as some he had sculpted himself, which inspired me to think about how I could make the most out of the bits I currently own and the FW resin kits. Continue reading
Category Archives: A Tale of Gamers
Mourn The World Of Man
War. War never changes.
Or at least that’s what Ron Perlman’s told me on multiple occasions. Whether it’s a long time ago in a galaxy far away or the Grim Darkness of the far future it’s not a pretty thing. It’s not subtle, unforgiving and damn straight it’s messy as hell.
For my money there’s only one Fantasy race that so completely encapsulates the chaotic, wanton destruction and essence of battle to warrant pouring hours of my meagre existence into painting up a block of troops. We don’t need technology, fancy weapons or showy magic spells (yes I’m looking at you Teclis). An innate will to ruin everyone’s day; a solid wall of Primal Fury and Chaos tainted nature rampaging in it’s bestial form. It’s time to shirk the life of man, release the Beast within, muster the Bray Herd and return humanity to it’s rightful place as food. Continue reading
March Of The Damned – Part 1
Initially I wasn’t going to get involved with A Tale Of Gamers, I’m a procrastinator, I have too many Grey Knights to paint as it is and I hate having unpainted models lying around, it just deflates my interest and I’ll never get anything finished. But then one evening at the end of April I decided to have a look on the GW website to see how the armies I used to see and read about in White Dwarf during the early/mid 90’s have evolved and if I were to field 500 points, what would I choose purely for aesthetic reasons?
Rancid Hooligans
While I appreciate that none of us have much time for post-Out Come The Wolves Rancid, the fact is that the first three records are nigh-on untouchable. And besides, everyone else was naming their Tale Of Gamers articles after bands, I didn’t want to be left out.
Here is a fun fact for you. As of about 6 years ago, Tim Armstrong had been sober for years. A band who had done some touring with them in the past told me and my bandmates that a few hours before they started, he would start acting drunk to ‘get in to character’. I guess thats what happens when you’re a millionaire dressed as a punk. Anyway… Continue reading
Sons Of Northern Darkness
Whilst ruminating in my private reflection chamber/loft, upon which race I was going to throw my lot in with for this project, it was clear to me from the start that I was playing purely for fluff. I’ve no tactical agenda dictating my allegiances, I’m just not that type of guy. My decisions were based upon which army appealed to me most aesthetically and reflected my personal tastes in terms of character and motivation. Initially I was drawn to Wood Elves. I’ve always appreciated the reverence for nature and ecological themes that define the Asrai and form the foundations for their fluff. The obvious influences of celtic paganism, horned gods etc along with fond memories of owning the Scarlocs Wood Elves Regiment of Renown as a youngster made for an obvious choice so I purchased the Wood Elves batallion box, popped on some Fauna and set about getting busy.
A Tale Of Gamers
For our first sequence of ongoing articles we imaginatively elected to go with that stalwart of gaming blogs and White Dwarf when it was sweet, The Tale Of Gamers. I’m sure you’re already familiar with the very simple premise, but for the greenshoots and morbidly curious voyeurs amongst you, the plan is to chronicle and mock the (lack of) progress of a handful of traditionally WH40K players from the Corehammer mailing list taking the tentative steps back towards the grim world of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.
For the purposes of this blog we opted for small 500 point armies purely for the feasibility of actually completing the project without sucking too much cash, time & effort away from our 40K priorities. The ultimate goal for this project is to have the armies ready by August, head down to Warhammer World in Nottingham for a meet up and blast a round robin tournament. With the victor not just reveling in the scornful adulation of his peers but also getting his curry paid for after. These things are important. Now, I realise that 500 points might not sound like much of an effort for some of you big cheese players out there, but I am only too painfully aware of my own limitations when it comes to finishing the job and with a smaller amount of models there’s far less chance of me tossing it off or getting distracted by something else, dig?
Over the course of the next few months you’ll begin to see posts gradually popping up on here from all the chaps involved, introducing themselves and documenting their developing armies. Fortune and glory (or at the very least, a begrudging curry) awaits!