The Blue Gnoll

Virtual Con for Star Frontiers

2011-12-22T20:39:00.000-06:00

In a few short days, TSR's classic Science Fiction RPG Star Frontiers turns 30. Click the name for info about the upcoming virtual con.

Nifty timeline summarizing 48 years of Doctor Who

2011-12-20T22:21:00.000-06:00

Via: CableTV.com

So Beautiful, it's Stupid...

2011-11-28T01:37:00.001-06:00

I can't write intelligently about the gameplay yet. After several hours, not a few beers and lengthy good conversation with gaming mixed in, I CAN say Games Workshop's Dreadfleet plays like a Seabound version of Battlefleet Gothic if it were done by Fantasy Flight Games. This is a round-about way of me saying I enjoyed it very much and am looking forward to learning the game more completely!

From a modeling/hobby standpoint alone, the game is worth the price of admission! The results are seriously beautiful:

Yes, I'm sure it's become quite clear from the pics which boat was mine... the one that sank first. THAT part of the game I'm solid on.

Speaking of Fantasy Flight-esque, the kids and I tackled FF's World of Warcraft Adventure Game.

This was also primarily a learning experience, but still fun.

What is it with all these cards necessary for games within the last decade or so? Do we have Magic and Pokemon to thank for this constant reliance on cards? I can adapt, but it makes for a busy, precarious tabletop.

Every September

2011-09-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

Someone said in conversation recently: "How many times do you really reread a book?" Well, I'm going on 16 times for one in particular. For 16 years, I've mentioned that: "it's that time again"! As Autumn rushes in with piles of cumulus fractus to cumulus mediocris clouds making flame colored tree leaves stand out stark against their blue gray masses, and cold, dry winds from the north make the change of season rains colder, and the scents more crisp, it's time to read Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

First, Dragonlance fans will immediately know that 16 years is off. It's been around 27 years. The book's first printing was in 1984. So where was I? Slow on the uptake of course.

But why? 16 years, every year, the same book? Because it's THE definitive piece of 80's high fantasy literature? Because it's way easier and just as emotionally fulfilling as reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings? Yes and yes, and more besides. Reading the book, you can tell two things: This was an early effort by the authors -- which in no way detracts from the tale told, and the absolute "life" of the characters within. The neat part about that is these characters were born from play-testing the game modules, and it shows. Not as a summary or best-of of an AD&D play session, but as storytelling born from a great time roleplaying the game! It immediately rounds out and animates Tanis, Sturm, Goldmoon & Riverwind, the Majere Brothers, Tasselhoff, Laurana, Tika, Fizban and all the rest in a way that is immediately effective without loads of flowery description. Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a fun, tense, satisfying read and I never get tired of it. It's a great way for fantasy readers or even just book/ereader fans in general to see in the change of seasons.

I'd like to convey a massive, heartfelt recommnedation to read this book, and ultimately the Chronicles Trilogy which it begins.(I'll admit here I have not yet read the Lost Chronicles Trilogy, also by Weis and Hickman that takes places within the time frame of the original trilogy and I'm not sure that I want to. Like Forgotten Realms or the Star Wars EU, I look at the Lost Chronicles with trepidation. Every last blade of grass and every time a character breaks wind doesn't need to be cataloged, honestly. Some mystery is good.)

Cream City Blood Bowl Pitch Ready

2011-09-09T13:35:00.002-05:00

The Blood Bowl Pitch is finally ready for Play. The dugouts are in -- with a clearly human slant to the architecture, the "sponsors" have their ads placed, the lines are down and the grass is mowed.

Now, in this age of PC game awesomeness

how do you convince Blood Bowl players it's better to roll dice across the table from someone instead of sitting on your arse by a computer that does every and all in-game calculation for you? Shouldn't be too hard! See ya on the pitch!

Notes on construction: I tend to use a lot of throw away stuff when I build. Some people would call that: "garbage". The pitch itself was that pill-y styrofoam insulation from a crib and the pressboard supporting it I rescued from a dumpster, oddly enough it matched the foam. The score boxes, re-roll boxes and turns are all the 25mm sqare bases from GW topped with matting material that I rescued from an artist's scrap pile. The numbers are actually from a Michaels craft store that conveniantly came in blue and red. The dug outs are more foam cut to fit with a foam cutter, topped with an awesom product called "Woodsies" -- thin popsicle sticks basically, over wall made from card under a cereal box roofs. The white zone markings are 1/16" tile spacers and the movement box markings were done over the top of the paint and static grass with a green Sharpie.

Not in the face!!!

2011-09-05T22:50:00.000-05:00

You ever have one-of-those-games? Originally, this was going to be a simple battle report. Unfortuntely, it begins and ends just like this:

Spiders and hooves... you don't get it?

These are the last things my Warhammer Dwarf army saw before being summarily annhilated by goblins and beastmen.

Mercilessly.

Thoroughly.

Completely.

They were beaten so badly the pulp that was my Longbeards unit -- the one with the "general" in it -- smelled strongly of brown ale urine. Even the undead my dwarfs had allied with for this game had pissed themselves we were beaten so badly. I know, I know, they would never ally with each other but that was hardly the point. It was a learning experience! And by "learning" I mean "schooled".

Absolutely everything that could go wrong went wrong... but only for our side. I'm no stranger to losing games;

I've lost an entire 2000point Space Marine force in less than 3 full turns, left to play 3 more turns with a single model. Sometimes, however rarely, I've even inlficted some suffering to a lesser degree on opponents. To be fair, these things largely go 50/50. Even power-gamers used to waving their pricks around in one hand with their supercharged army lists in their other, lose as much as they win, I'll bet. It's about what you emphasize.

But the staggering wave of crap dice rolls and just plain bad luck that dogged me and my fellow general Nick, from the very first turn's opening dice roll was nothing short of awe inspiring, or tear inducing, which ever comes first.

You can talk about good sportsmanship, you can say our tactics weren't sound, you could even recommend how our set up could have been done differently,

but that would be like lecturing a pencil about how best to dive into a pencil sharpener. From the first entirely failed magic phase by my partner to my dwarf canon misfiring immediately, we were marked for doom.

My last standing unit needed to roll snake eyes to not run away like the sad sacks the rest of the army turned out to be and... After watching graveguard humiliated and made inept in the face of super-regenerative trolls, after watching these same trolls make my dwarfs disappear by puking on them -- no really -- after seeing small goblin chariots rape and destroy undead and dwarf alike, at will, after suffering a bray-shaman cast 3 times with irresistable force, neutering the runes I took to dispell magic and NOT dying, after watching blood knights murdered by a fething doom diver, after seeing my longbeards unmanned and trampled, after all our attacks were made moot by well made saves, after every hopelessly lost close-combats against outrageous odds born of a clearly skewed point cost system, after I, myself as a player, was physically done and slapping myself and moving around like an ADHD poster boy to stay coherent... this one unit...

my original dwarf unit, bought on a whim...

...rolled snake eyes and stayed in the game.

Well shit. If they're staying, I ain't going either. Write it in the book of grudges and see you on the battlefield you bastards.

Sunday Night Blood Bowl

2011-08-29T00:35:00.000-05:00

Tonight, The Ironheed Manglers met the Morrsleib Manglers on the new Milwaukee Pitch to test it's suitability. Only about 2/3's completed, it held up just fine and there was much mangling up and down the pitch!

The dwarves stomped the Chaos beastmen into the dust, sending 4 to the dugout in VERY short order:

one pushed right off the pitch, one K-O'd & two seriously injured for the rest of the game. But, a dropped ball just outside the Ironheed Mangler's End Zone...

...and some fast hoofwork and a great pass on the part of #4 saw the score 1-zip Morrsleib.

The perfect storm continued at the opening kick-off of the second half for Chaos as once again, #4 (Mugglwump), ran the ball up the center with plenty of protection to score again.

As the Dwarves tried to rally, time on the game ran out. (The building contractors got wind the pitch was in use and the two teams hightailed it out of there...)

The BloodBowl Pitch takes shape

2011-08-24T01:38:00.000-05:00

To be fair, 1987 is when the first edition of the Star Wars RPG was released for the saga's 10th anniversary, so my meager funds at the time went heavily towards that instead of Blood Bowl. However, now putting that 24 year old regret to rest permanently, my Blood Bowl pitch begins to take shape:

Love the weathervane... I ought to make that weather-VEIN and paint it purplish blue, eh? All hail Nuffle!

Don't know what it was...

2011-08-21T21:39:00.014-05:00

...seriously, no freakin' clue. It was in a lot I got off Ebay when I "needed" some Mechs for Battletech. I don't even know if it's a legitimate mech from FASA or Catalyst Game Labs or what...

It's just sort of a blobby, crappy, robotnic-y kinda slab-o'-metal and I was sure I had a place for it in the depths of my garbage can! But wait!!! KIT BASH TO THE RESCUE!! First, lose the Hex base. Next cram some balsa bits under those wayward toes to balance it on it's original goofy base. (Much easier than trimming all that metal) Rip it in half and readjust like so:

KIND OF looks like it really wanted to be a 40K Dreadnought before it wound up as foul. We're gonna operate: Next do a little trim of a Chaos Space Marine vehicle combi-bolter's flamer half and cram it in there for stability. Add the creepy Chaos head from the command vehicle sprue...on a neck:

Add some of this:

Put these there...

...and those there:

"Hold it! Hold it! What's with the deadly-discs there. Fething lame!"

No-no. No lame. First off, those are engine parts from Anakin Skywalker's podracer. In their new home on that mounting they could be giant table-saws with a monomolecular edge, or they could be big electric heating elements that go through armor like an electric stove goes through a vinyl record, or they could generate a null field between them that just makes things go away -- the point is, if you were 28mm tall, you wouldn't want them waved in your direction by this thing.

Where was I?

A ChAoS Dreadnought!! All stretched out and crazy-bat-shit nuts about slaughtering whatever it comes across, "friend" or foe! How does it stack up against it's more noble and mentally stable counterparts?

Not bad... not bad at all. Just big enough to menace even these two guys, yet not so big as to look out-of-place. Look at how close the legs are compared to the other two. It's like this Chaos one could run really really ostrich fast; like it could chase dudes down and then peer around corners, hunting with it's creepy, too-many cameras and eyes, seeing them pissing in their hiding spots before it flames them or cuts the overhead pipes down on them. And as it's running it's slipping and tipping off balance while it's blades screams against the steelcrete building and rubble...

See, kit-bashing for Chaos is fun! And the moral of this story is never throw away your bits! There's always something else to be made or modified!

What's a third coat of paint?

2011-07-12T12:00:00.005-05:00

Been a pretty good year for gaming. Original D&D, Superhero RPG game based on the 4E Gamma World system, Battltech, free trial periods of World of Warcraft, Axis & Allies, AND I finally learned to play Warhammer. (Even built up a nice sized dwarf army thanks to E-bay and a friend's generosity.)

Been a good year for modeling too. My $5.00 glue gun is the best modeling purchase I ever made! But that's for another post. This is a brief illustration of my turning back the clock as implied in my last post.

Most of my original Space Marines were lost in a move, but were replaced and painted as quickly as possible. They've existed as two homemade codex chapters with wildly different paint schemes to match. (Silver & Brown and Viridian Green) and now are being made over in the colors of one of my favorite legions: The Salamanders. Despite the awful novel bearing their name, they remain one of the noblest and humble of the Space Marine chapters. Guarding the rear, protecting the convoy, helping civilians, ruthlessly beating the living hell out of the enemies of the Imperium, they are one of the best faces of the Space Marines in the 40K Universe (even if that face is pitch black with glowing red eyes per their peculiar geneseed reaction to their volitile homeworld Nocturne.)

Showing their age for sure. Still, green's definitely their color.

All about the Values

2011-05-19T23:41:00.011-05:00

This being primarily a gaming blog, how can I be the one to ignore the 500 pound gorilla in the room that is the latest price increase from:

"You gotta pay to play with my resin balls, bitches!!"

Although it would take ten times the space and take ten times as long to read, it would be easier to run through all the prices, illustrate all the increases and bitch and moan bitterly... but there's been plenty of that already, and not just by me personally, but all over the web and blogosphere. For all the relevant info, nobody summarizes the history, price increases and product releases better than Jay's Workshop. Definitely read his take on this situation.

While I did my minimal required reading on the subject trying to wrap my mind around all the moves Games Workshop is making, one financial expert set everything sharply in perspective. (For those of you in a traditional marriage, you're already way ahead of me on guessing that "expert" was my wife.) "The company hasn't changed it's practices," she said, "you've changed. You don't value their product like you used to."

Well... ain't getting old a bitch.

She's right... mostly. And I'll qualify that statement and the small dilemna that remains for me as to how to perceive all this.

True, when I bought my first set of Space Marines in 1988:

And around the same time period I also picked up:

I wasn't a) Married, b) a father of three, c) Staring an upside down 30 year mortgage in the face, d)smothered in debt of all kinds, e) paying utilities, f) paying insurance premiums for health, life, car, homeowners, etc... you get the picture.

Now that I DO have to consider those things, I don't necessarily value a single model the size and weight of a very fat paperclip. That, ofcourse, is my wife's practical point, and it does make a lot of sense. For example, if I remember correctly, this model used to cost 25.00 for three in a box set: Now, it will cost $30.00 (U.S.) for one model. Clearly, with the weight of my other considerations, I may not value this model like I might if it were 1988 or even if I were just 23 years younger, period. This logic extends to the entire product line, and I can also assuage my pride by conceding I own 3 versions of the game's rules and more models than I'll be able to paint any time soon. So if need be, as younger people with richer parents move on to sleeker and more expensive editions, I can happily exist in another era on the tabletop, much like I do with Dungeons & Dragons.

But then, there's the side of me that breaks from logic and acceptance that says: $30.00 bucks for that?? Really? Are you F-----G kidding me you greedy s--t bag f---s!"

My contention is, despite all the practical business considerations involved with GW's decision as a whole, I can't help but wonder at their values over the years. This was a company that captured not only my eye & imagination, but my loyalty for decades with things like this: Yeah, that's right, an underarm deodorant bottle dressed up as a "hover" tank, a few rules and a: "have a good time" philosophy. Now, in appearence and price they have the "cadillac" of miniature lines:
and the increasingly limited customers who will be able to afford them. (As a side note, I can't help but remember right now that GM/Cadillac is sponsoring the movie honoring China's Communist Party on their 90th year of "service" to the Chiniese people. Yeah. Great allusion there GW...)

In the end, make no mistake, GW DOES have fantastic looking miniatures worth taking your time on to model and paint and stare lovingly at for a disturbingly long time, after you've sprayed that last coat of dullcoat. The rules to use those miniatures are now easier than ever to learn and are incredibly streamlined. Yes, they're designed for the "draw" as opposed to actual winning and losing -- but that symptomatic of the times we live in. Also, don't be fooled, their target market is not the Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers with a sense of permanance and nostalgia, but their kids, brought up on video games and "apps", the internet and TV programs we as children would have found unwatchable. Hell, there are services now like tumblr for people that can't be bothered with the amount of time it takes to "tweet" or blog. And yet, it's those little turds with their own waxing and waning values they need to snag, even at the expense of us "veterens" (i.e. old people) who have given to the point of giving-out when it comes to our cash for their stuff. Again, I don't know what that says about GW's values or if they're going to go full circle someday and be catering to underarm deodorant bottle converters out there, in an old age home, as art therapy or something, in some not-so-distant future.

Ain't she sweet?

2011-05-04T09:09:00.004-05:00

If I had only known, if I had taken two seconds to do the math... if if if.. bla-bla-bla. Better late than never, right? After roughly $22.00 and a total of 2 hours active work, help from a friend and a donation of felt from an art instructor, my gaming table is ready for the dice to start rolling! Yeah, there's still sawdust on the floor, and maybe some bits of glue, oh, and some Lego... but the table's good-to-go!

What should I call this space? "Dork dungeon" has already been taken -- and rightly so. Hm... "Nerd's nook", "dork den", "Geek's garden", "poindexter place", "The Alcove", "The Bastille"... ooh, like that last one. "The Bastille". Or maybe "the Cell", (or is that too Jennifer Lopez?) Or maybe my kids will come up with something... For now, the title of the room is up in the air. What's for sure is the house has gaming at it's heart.

Sarah Jane

2011-04-20T09:36:00.002-05:00

Elisabeth Sladen: 1948-2011. The first time I caught Doctor Who in 1982 it was a monster movie blitz: the Wirrn, the Sontarans, the Daleks and the Cybermen, and there was Sarah Jane Smith at the Doctor's side. She's gone now. But like the Doctor, we can go back in time and see her adventures on DVD and listen to her commentaries and remember.

From digital spy:

Tom Baker's Tribute

4E Superheroes

2011-04-06T09:35:00.009-05:00

4th Edition D&D is reversed engineered WoW, there's no getting around that. But the same system heavily modified for Gamma World THEN applied to a Superhero game? We'll see! Tales of Lakefront City Heroes here we come! Meet the Real Life Superheroes League: Using Heromachine 2.5 and some kit bashed minatures (That the kids painted mostly ;))

Grey Matter! He'll make you think twice about committing a crime, literally!

The Kitchen! Serving up Justice with a knuckle sandwich on the side!

Kitchenette! This flying waitress has a TIP for you! Stay out of trouble!

The Woods Girl! With an affinity for nature and monkey rage This park ranger will keep you on the path...of good!

Zoo Pal Girl! Able to shapeshift into animals AND become invisible, evil-doers had better hope she also needs to sleep sometime!

Quality Cadian 412th Time

2011-03-27T21:14:00.009-05:00

I thought when my son put down his Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard army last year, after building half of it, he was done with 40K completely. He'd collected a decent sized Chaos Marine army and attached them narratively and physically with their paint scheme to my own Space Marines, saying his army was born of my fallen-from-grace Marines. I was flattered enough as a dad not to be pissed off at the thought of MY Space Marines turning from the Emperor of Mankind and the Golden Throne! (He was irritated when I decided to convert those same Marines from vanilla codex to Slamanders Chapter; understandably. He can thank Vulkan He'stan for that move).

It's February 2011 and I suddenly find myself with time in the post World of Warcraft world in which I now live. So I picked up his lone sentinel, primed it and set about painting it in the scheme of his beloved 412th Cadian regiment as introduced in the Dawn of War videogame series. Out of nowhere, my son's interest is back and he sits down with me, putting together the rest of the models at a furious pace.

Why? He doesn't have to paint them ofcourse! How did I not see that months ago?

So the nerd cave in the basement was remade into our Guard rallying depo and the PS2 found post PS3 relevance acting as our DVD player as we indulged in:

...all the while building and painting like crazy. Then we got to kit bashing and the boy got to thinking and threw this tasty group of hardcore veterans together: One flamer, 2 grenade launchers and seven shotguns! Yes, I know it might make more sense to take a heavy flamer, but he's making them grenadiers so the point costs are better served on a squad-wide 4+ save. With a Chimera that has a heavy bolter turret, hull mounted heavy bolter and heavy stubber up top, this could be a beautiful anti troop unit, dice rolls permitting ;) Time well spent all around. Can't wait to see them painted and fighting!

Quadragesima

2011-03-09T11:55:00.006-06:00

Quadragesima, 40 Days, Lent. Today is Ash Wednesday the beginning of the season of Lent that leads up to Easter. As it began, I've had one friend accosted by a Bible Thumper online and my wife made fun of at work for having ashes on her forehead. Interesting.

No one would fault a Yogi for meditating for months at a time, no one dares say a word against Muslims praying 5 times a day, the neopagans and wiccans celebrate the spring equinox freely, nothing much is made out of Jews celebrating Passover, but smear some ash on your Catholic forehead and offer to give a little something up for 40 days and suddenly the Earth spins off it's axis. Curious.

Lent as we know it began early in Church history as adults fasted and went through the rituals to become full members of the Church. By the 4th century, the practices began attracting particiption from people already baptized alongside those waiting for admittance. Between the 6th and 8th century, "Confession" or Reconciliation became the focus of absolution for personal sins and the 6 week period of Lent began to take serious shape into traditions we'd recognize today in the 11th century. Though some of the severity of the fasting and abstinence were gradually removed, it wasn't until 1966 that modern guidelines governing the Season made them less stringent.

Why do it? So many people from Baby Boomers on down make the statement that it's all ritual and no spirituality in the Church. Yet here's a tailormade spiritual season of 40 days leading up to Christians' most important holiday and the very tools that in any other religion would be seen as key to kick off and/or enhance the physical and mental process of embarking on a spiritual journey are ignored, mocked or generally disregarded as outdated practices with no modern application.

For whom is there a spiritual vacuum?

40K Traitor Guard part 2

2011-02-25T11:44:00.002-06:00

I'm WAY past due addressing this and I need to thank Jay from: Jay's Workshop for giving me a swift proverbial kick in the ass. Since November, I haven't just been complaining about how I've been priced out of a hobby I've been at for 24 years, I've actually been working on things and stuff that have been sitting on the shelf from the time when I bought and purchased and horded like a Democrat with someone else's blank checkbook.

While this isn't the comprehensive Traitor Guard List, this is everything that will appear in it! Because this isn't simply misled, misguided or otherwise foolish regular Guard, but full blown renegade traitors who have embraced Chaos and turned from the Emperor I use the colorful, "in-Universe" names and titles,and provide tailoring for all 5 styles of Chaos army. (Undivided, Slaanesh, Nurgle etc etc.) But when I post the full list, it will become clear what stat lines I am using for whom and I'll try to list which codex or article each entry was pulled from. Also, I'm not including point values here.

HQ:
Company Command Squad
-Arch Renegade or
-Beastman Champion or
-Herald of Slaanesh or
-Chaos Magus or
-Plague Disciple
--Heretic Veteran
--Heretic Veteran Weapons Team

HQ Independants:
-Dark Mechanicum Enginseer
-Alcolyte
-Chaos Magus Master
-Demagogue

ELITES:
-Big Mutants
-Demon Packs
-Rogue Psykers
-Heretic Veteran Squad

TROOPS:
-Heretic Infantry Platoon (Same as IG)
-Cultists
-Mutants
-Gibbering Hordes

FAST ATTACK:
-RoughRider Squadron
-Scout Sentinel Squadron
-Armored Sentinel Squadron
-Hellhound Squadron
-Chaos Hounds
-Valkyrie

HEAVY SUPPORT
-Defilers
-Chaos Spawn
-Leman Russ Squadron (Some type restrictions)
-Hydra Flak Tank Battery
-Ordinance Battery

This has come together nicely, providing a guide to build a tough tabletop 40K army that could go toe-to-toe with a loyalist Imperial Guard army without either side having an outrageous advantage or disability in the face of the other. I'm confident it accomplishes this while stylistically remaining true to the 40K universe and frankly would be fun to hobby as well! (Which is good because since I really can't buy new models, I have to turn inward on my stock!)

40K Traitor Guard

2010-11-30T09:01:00.004-06:00

All these spare Guard models, what to do? Traitors would be a cool enemy for my Guard and Marines. Very "fluff", very appropriate to the setting. "Just make them Traitor Guard" is the common suggestion if the Lost and the Damned or the old Chaos Cult armies are ever brought up. "Just make them Traitor Guard." But how's that done effectively, then? Would Commissars and Stormtroopers be present in a Traitor Guard army? Not likely. They'd be the first taken down or the first to retreat and regroup if their companies started going sour with Chaos.

When it comes to the "fluff" of the 40K universe, it would be cultists and traitors and renegade guard that would be the major problem and at the heart of most of the conflicts in that setting. Even seeing a Space Marine is a rare occurence, a Renegade/Chaos one showing up would be that much more rare. It's a numbers thing. Eldar and Dark Eldar raiders a nuisance, but survivable. The Tau may be expanding, but their pocket of the galaxy doesn't even rate the word "pocket" in size. The Orks are a massive problem, there's no real way of knowing how many Tyranids are on their way and the Necrons could be any and everywhere, but we're talking Chaos. With the quadrillions of people that populate the Imperium, the Inquisition, Space Marine Chapters, the Sisters and the Imperial Guard would have their hands full mostly with putting down Chaos corruption and rebellion from within. Plus, with all those planets in "The Eye" and nearby other tears between real space and the warp aren't spilling over with Chaos Space Marines. They'd be the ruling minority amidst throngs of cultists and militia and Guard-gone-bad.

I've looked around online and there are a few decent army lists out there for bringing the Lost and the Damned up to date for 5th ed 40K, and it would be easy enough I guess to throw some spikes on the models, step back and say you have Traitor Guard... but I think there ought to be an army list. (Actually they should have their own small codex probably) So, using the 5 relevant codexes from 1996 to the present day I'm going to piece together a viable and hopefully fair army list for Traitor Guard. I'll post it here soon!

Summer of FASA

2010-06-09T11:54:00.006-05:00

My best friend just scored an in-the-shrinkwrap, complete Battletech 3rd edition set!! I just scored an in-the-shrinkwrap, complete Renegade Legion 2nd edition box set -- yeah, the one with the 36 tanks included!!

Add to that the fact I've been studying this for the past couple months on and off:

And with Games Workshop doing something about inflation -- i.e. raising their prices -- and adopting a European store management model -- which apparently means they're never really open for any length of time -- I think we got the makings for the summer of Fasa! The material's just as fun and playable as it was 25 years ago and thanks to ebay and Amazon.com and loads of independant retailers/resellers out there in the world. Almost just as accessable. Woot!
Nope. Never played Shadowrun and have no ambition to, but thanks for thinking of that one.

Another Classic

2010-05-16T23:50:00.005-05:00

"Do you have what it takes to lead men into battle?" So asks the bottom of the Battleforce box. It had been at leat 20 years since I played. What was I thinking? In the 80's I had avoided the Battletech phenomenon. How, I have no idea. FASA Corporation totally had their finger on gamers' pulses at that time. Again, what was I thinking? Still, at least I played this one.

Without true knowledge of the game that spawned it, I can't discuss Battleforce's connection to it's Battletech parent intelligently, though very soon, I'm going to remedy that and just get in on the modern incarnation. As my friend said, it's been playtested for 25+ years, the rules are solid.

Battleforce is putzy to set up. Small, thick paper representations of the different lances of Mechs, tanks, fighters, infantry, etc, each jammed full of info and each sprouting "chits" to designate the skill of their crews and other information. But past that stage, despite what seems like a ton of information, game play is fast and easy to pick up on. Are the pieces as glamorous as miniatures, certainly not. But it doesn't take much imagination to view the flat map and seemingly sterile pieces as small illuminations of larger units on a master tactical screen. Without knowing much of the history of the game and with very basic knowledge of the different types of mechs, the game still lends itself to imagery of the darkened command room with the main screen showing the distant battle play out, or a holo-table somewhere with information changing and winking out of existence as men and mech clash on the battlefield.

We just played a brawl essentially to refamiliarize ourselves with the game, but it deserves the detailed scenarios and campaigns it was designed to illustrate. Looking forward to playing it again.

New Dalek Design

2010-04-18T20:30:00.006-05:00

I haven't been able to track down but bits and pieces of the new Doctor Who: Victory of the Daleks -- to be fair, I DO know where to go to download it, but I'm not going that route. The Daleks have a brand new look that's getting mixed reviews from what I've read so far. Most, if not all of the negative feedback consists mostly of highly intellectual analysis like: "These new Daleks are shit" "The new Daleks are rubbish." ("Rubbish", to me sounds like paper recycling, but I believe it's the Queen's English for "crap")

There are more than a few YouTube videos offering people's "thoughts" about the new Dalek design, when truthfully, they offer little more than barely adolescent "feelings" about them.

Again, I have not seen the episode in full, so I can't offer anything concrete in return... except for around 47 years worth of the Daleks being reshaped and re-imagined. Pinheads.

And this is only a tiny selection of changes the Daleks have gone through. As anyone with functioning eyes...or even one function eye -- can see, the basic shape is always the same. Always! The color, height, width, base etc is and always has been, somewhat fluid. Oh, by the way, Daleks didn't always fly by using machinery built into the own chasis -- that goes out to the exceptional morons who have the sense of melodrama to claim they've some how "lost their menace". "Lost thie sense of menace"... this coming from people who poop their pants at a new paint job and a height increase.

I think they look great, new, "modern". I think the new Daleks are what the current writers envision them to be, little xenophobic blobs in tanks.

How'd I get by without this?

2010-03-13T01:13:00.005-06:00

The gps of gaming! 48 interchangable tiles of detailed terrain goodness. I know I'm WAY behind where I intended to be with the modeling this year. But I've finished painting these tiles and their accompanying accessories, PLUS the gorgeous hive tiles I ordered from the local GW shop. Because they come on the sprue already looking gorgeous, there's little I did at all except paint them. Well, except the one hive tile...I did kinda want to make a bigger hive city so...

Trimmed Dark Eldar rifles make great gothic looking towers for this kind of scale -- (also true for Battlefleet Gothic ships and space stations.) The central spire is a shell from a WW2 military set. For that particular Hive city tile I painted the base largely navy and blue and used Games Workshop's brush on gloss varnish to give it the appearence of an absolutely gigantic hive city clinging to the only land mass around for protection or necessity. But imagine that tile on a map necessitating an amphibious assault on a hive city, then dove tailing into a game of Cities of Death. Man...

Which brings me back around to the rest of the box set tiles. Out of the 48 tiles, 6 are single sided -- scultped spaceports. Still, that's 42 double sided tiles... that's 84 sides to play with in sculpted groups of 14... Meaning there are 14 individual sides before they repeat pattern; that's 6 solid terrain types to craft with the paintbrush. And with these tiles, you'd have to try deliberately to screw them up as far as painting goes. With little effort and some dry brushing they become instantly beautiful. But that's assuming you want just 6 terrain types, or full sets of each. I did opt for that with 4 sets of the 14 faces:

set one: desert
set two: Snow (This was a powder blue undercoat, highlight with white, flat clear coat and blue glitter sparingly sprinlkled onto the flat parts as the clear coat set for that snowfield look.
set three: general green/brown/water
set four: Black ash wastes leaning towards volcanic.
The rest I mixed up, not sticking to any one scheme, including swamps, melting snows, darker churned up earth looks. Just to get a decent mix to build a playable landscape.

Best thing about them is they're not necessarily 40K specific. First of all, buying this:

...and marrying the two sets is an ideal set up. But they are still general enough to be used hundreds of ways for ANY map based campaign for whatever game seems appropriate, from wargames to rpg's to fusions of those to the Games Workshop products they're designed for. Just a brilliant piece of gaming goodness from GW!

Renegade Legion: Centurion

2010-03-08T01:46:00.002-06:00

Sunday night 3/7/10 was archeology night. Roughly 16 years ago, my friend Cain and I played a game of 2nd ed Centurion, and apparently that particular set hadn't been played since. We remedied that.

Swift gameplay, "realistic" rules for the TOG setting that don't get up their own sphincter, and a compelling background of SciFi. The exchange of fire betweenthe tanks is immediately rewarding with a great template based damage system. Great looking minatures that you's have to TRY and paint wrong to screw them up they're so cool. Also, tactical manuevering counts -- it's not just a run-at-each-other and throw dice kind of game. The game is readily expandable to include other aspects of the TOG setting like Interceptor and the RPG connected with them.

In the few short hours we got reaquainted with the game, I got plenty more inspiration for an upcoming Star Frontiers campaign I'd like to run and a small pang of regret for not focusing more on this game when it was available as a new product and not a resale.

If TSR ruled the "Old School" era for setting the bar high for RPG's, then FASA had their thumb on the pulse of tactical games -- the fun ones anyway. It's a shame they, like TSR, went belly up. But with the advent of card games like Magic the Gathering (of douchebags -- yes all 6million of them) and the infusion of Goth/emo games full of sparkly douchebaggery like Vampire: The Masquerade, the old school stuff just couldn't sell fast enough.

Nerdvana, another step closer

2010-03-03T12:51:00.005-06:00

Whoa, the places you could go with these two boxed sets of the game...why didn't I already own a copy of these from 27 years ago? Oh well, they're here now and on first assessment of the materials I can say firmly, with mental clarity: WOW KICK ASS!!! WHO WANTS TO PLAY??

Cadian Blood: Book Review

2010-02-25T09:39:00.002-06:00

I have to admit, I haven't read much of the Black Library's Guard Fiction outside of the Ghosts novels. When a bar is set as high as Dan Abnett has set writing for the Imperial Guard in the 40K Universe, how can you keep from being hesistant? Maybe even jaded, i.e. too much of a good thing, nothing compares even remotely...

Cadian Blood by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is, without a doubt, a "fanboy" book. If you're unfamiliar with the 40K setting the import of some of the situations -- namely the 13th Black Crusade -- won't mean as much. But that being said, there are no other negatives to report on this phenomenal story! It's an action movie in a book with just enough horror laced through to cement the gothic horror that is the 41st millenium.

The Cadians are fleshed out brilliantly -- with their genetic heritage of violet or blue eyes, with a distinct dialect, and with great characters you don't want to see blown away -- staying true to their bad ass character without making them into super heroes, and that includes the Kasrkins. They're shown to be the special forces kick-ass element that they are, without being cheesy or trying to sell product for the tabletop.

The way Space Marines are handled is exactly how they should be written; you'll have to read the book to fully get what I mean by that, but all the appropriate awe, mystique, fear and inspiration their presence provides is conveyed with zero cheese. And The treatment of Chaos, especially Nurgle's brand, is done with enough detail to disgust and inspire model making but not enough to be over the top. There isn't the full on horror elements you'd find reading a Guant's Ghost novel, but when a Primary Target identifies itself in the form of a Death Guard Marine wading through the cultists and undead around it, the excitement, terror and exhilaration of the Cadians is palpable. Great novel.

Big gaming weekend!

2010-02-21T23:53:00.008-06:00

WOW! Awesome weekend of gaming! It was like a junior "con!" There was:

And there was:

And then there was:

And then MORE:

I can't say enough about Conquest of the Empire except where do I buy it. It's from the same 80's family that spawned Axis and Allies, Fortress America, Shogun etc. Great, easy to learn rules, smooth gameplay, excellent simple to understand and execute dice based combat system. Just all around fun experience with that one. Thanks Casey and Cain and Mick for the lesson!

First real D&D game I've had since the 90's when there was a substantially larger group of us playing. Special thanks to our DM Casey for dealing with three players under 13 (my kids), and for putting some great spins on a dungeon crawl! That was well done! I think the intent is for this D&D game to blossom into a campaign, drop-ins are welcome!

The Joy Vacuum

2010-02-21T22:36:00.007-06:00

"If you're going to be serious about this, you need to take serious steps." "If you're going to move forward, you have to committ yourself to what needs to get done." "If you don't have that, you really have no right to be in here in the first place."

What do those sound like to you? A serious talk between professional corporate baby boomers? A fast food restaurant manager trying to encourage some level of professionalism from a modern teen? An acting coach or agent speaking to an aspiring performer? An editor addressing a writer on a submission? If only they were spoken in those contexts, those scenarios would garner some modicum of respect or even a bland acceptance; boss speak, manager speak, corporate speak, condescension, call it what you like. Only these sentences weren't heard by me in a boardroom, or a professional kitchen or in an office, this is how some raiding gear snob gamer addressed aspiring raiders in my guild the other night after a few wipes in some "older" level 80 raid.

I knew I was in trouble when the guild was assigned video homework in order to do a raid! -- as if the guild is somehow paying for the two accounts I maintain or paying me a wage or something. "Sorry boss, I can't come into work today, I have to memorize this raid." "Sorry honey, I know you made dinner, but you and the kids go ahead, this raid is REALLY IMPORTANT to get right!" "I know we were going to go out, but I had a real shot at those level 264 boots and I had to be sure I got my DPS rotation right" "I know I told you I would read you that story but you have to understand how important this video game is! I have to research this raid!" "I realize I have to look for a job mom, but c'mon! If I can get this raid right it will make the monthly subscription toally worth it!"

Now don't get me wrong, raiding is part of the game. Questing, Player vs Player and Raiding. Ya can't get around it. However, especially lately, Blizzard and their minions have made raiding a key part of the game if you want, like, really goofy looking cartoon gear with a purple heading and outrageous statlines so you can sit for 20 minutes at a time clicking your hard earned, well thought out rotation and smack the same monster over and over and over and over again while someone "heals" you. Oh this is HIGH drama and quality fantasy gaming we're talking about here!! Kind of like the emotional, intellectual and story driven action involved in a game of Space Invaders, or even Defender! What kind of gaming experience compares with standing within a graphic of a monster and hitting it repeatedly while monitoring a dozen "add-ons" that let you know everyone else is doing the same thing you are, or ensuring you can keep doing what you're doing.

But my bullshit tolerance was breached when the participating guildees and I got a lecture from some limp cock tank about raiding and moving the guild forward, about comittment, about time management and about being serious. My guts gave a small lurch when my guildees responded with sad, solemn humilty to this sad sack's diatribe and acted on it. Are you kidding me? Are people really that debased? Is it really that simple? Really?

Who toys!

2010-02-19T22:13:00.004-06:00

I don't have to lament being too old to play with toys, I don't have to confine myself to toy soldiers in cerebral wargames, because I got really cool children!! Here's my son's latest acquisition happily bought by me and mom for a report card that blew us away! These aren't one plain model repainted over and over to resemble a certain era in the show, these are separate and gorgeous recreations. Must have for collectors or just really fun to play with! The title of this blog is a link to WhoNA (Who North America). They don't have everything, but their stock is huge and their delivery is fast!

Best 50cents I ever spent

2010-02-16T08:58:00.005-06:00

With the advent of d20 rule systems everywhere, what happened to the rest of those dice?

Here's a piece of gaming brilliance from the early part of the 21st century!!(2003) I found this at a flea market in central Illinois for a dollar -- marked down to 50cents! Good luck finding it for less than 50bucks now on ebay or Amazon. It's been out of print for a number of years, which is a shame, because you can tell they were poised to release new rules and expansion teams.

With easy to master rules and dice that are color coded to the players' bases, which in turn reflects the speed and power of thier positions, i.e. a runner gets a d20 and a tackle gets a d6, one's potentially fast as hell, but the lower dice roll makes the tackle happen. Brilliant.

Can't afford to invest in Blood Bowl? Have kids that would rather watch grass grow than play Monopoly or Life? This game is well paced, simply ruled, has great looking minitaures, a simple but cool background and futuristic setting so as to necessitate "carnage markers" (Blood, mechanical parts and uniform bits from cybernetic players) and takes anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes to play. 50 cents well spent! Unbelievable shame it died a quiet death on the toy store shelves!

New Teeth...

2010-01-13T22:33:00.006-06:00

Enough time has passed since the airing of David Tennant's last two parter as the Doctor that I can put this "down" or "up", whichever.

The idea of Regeneration is probably one of the most brilliant plot devices ever invented in the history of broadcast television. His appearence is altered, maybe severely in the case of the Doctor, but the central hero is still the same character, the same man, erm, TimeLord, the same being at his core.

This concept was understood in the transition from 9th to 10th Doctor. Eccelston's Doctor goes out of his way to explain to Rose that yes, he's dying, but he has a way around it. Yes, he's going to change and she won't see him again...with that face. And, reinforcing something I've always personally believed to be an unspoken truth about the Doctor -- he sucks at regenerating, so he can't be sure what he'll get when he does it. Rose doesn't get it, but maybe the new viewers to the revived show do, and off the Doctor goes, like a gasoline fire, burning away the old dying body to make way for the new...

"Hello... New teeth, that's wierd."

The Doctor's first words to Rose Tyler after he regenerated for the 9th time to save his life after absorbing the energy of the time vortex. And why wouldn't it be wierd. It's the same guy within the context of the show. Again, Rose -- with whom the audience is meant to identify -- is the one who needs to be convinced this is the same man she fell in love with the previous season. Her mother and Mickey get it, Harriet Jones Prime Minister gets it, and eventually, Rose comes around as well:

"I'm still the Doctor then?" he asks after she throws him a sword in his Christmas Day duel with the Sycorax leader.

"No arguements from me!" she replies. And there ya go. It's the Doctor, regenerated and ready for more.

So what happened between then and the next regeneration?
Don't get me wrong, I loved both parts of the End of Time. I though the master went out EXACTLY like he should, I'm totally on board with Rassilong back as President, I think the loose ends of the Time War were sewn up nicely -- leaving the possibility that a few clever time lords may have bailed fro mGallifrey while they could -- David Tennant's performance as the Doctor kicked ass as usual... but then things take a crap at the regeneration.

Without ripping into both episodes with needless nitpicking, I'll simply say I was VERY dissatisfied with the tantrums the Doctor threw, not because he had them, but because the accompnying lines were lame and out of character. Being worried about regenerating is nothing new to the character. Being a narcissitic ass clown is also nothing new to the Doctor when he's real pleased with himself, or wearing his 6th rengeneration. It's in character and often funny. But not this time. This time it seemed out of context not only of the episode but of the whole history of the show.

"I don't want to go."

You don't want to go? What the hell are you talking about? You're afraid to go through with it, okay. You're afraid you might not make it, understandable. You hope you don't forget everyone you cared about, it could happen. But you don't want to go? You mean you the Doctor or you David Tennant the actor. It was a bizzare, out of character way to handle things and it didn't do Matt Smith, the next Doctor, or the next season of the show, any favors. An actor's departure was emphasized which is in total opposition to what the plot device was invented for. Yeah, one of the best actors to portray him has moved on, but The Doctor survived his regeneration and so should the show.

Oh well, still a great episode all told. And seeing Rose last before he regenerated was a massive nod to that character's importance in the revived series. River Song can get bent, Rose and the Doctor all the way!

WoW...Feeling the burn out coming on

2009-12-22T11:35:00.005-06:00

I once called World of Warcraft "the perfect game". After two years, perfection's flaws are starting to wear on me. What started off as a REALLY cool gaming experience, with tons of variety and cool people and quests balanced against player vs. player elements and compelling if somewhat hollow storylines, has now somehow become a pointless race to get gear. This pursuit appears to be a built in black hole in the game's structure -- one that Blizzard does nothing but encourage. If you, the gamer, are the turd, they're more than happy to flush.

Every update, every patch, every tweek and nerf to the character classes over the last couple years I've been playing, all have ease and speed of leveling at their heart for, apparently, the sole purpose of gearing up for "raids"; raids that honestly amount to little more than a spectacular looking Atari 2600 or early 80's coin-op video game. Fun, but pointless games like Yar's Revenge, Bezerk, Asteroids or Space Invaders come to mind.

This deconstruction of the world's most popular mmo has given birth to what I call "gear snobs" -- people who truly give the game a bad name and suck the joy right out of playing WoW. Avid number crunchers, anal organizers, and more frequently foot stamping little bitches, they live to see their toon outfitted in the best armor the game has to offer their class so they can do two things mainly that I can determine: run into instances and raid and dungeons over and over and over again for that Atari 2600/space invaders feeling of no matter what you do, you'll never truly advance the narrative of the game; and number 2, contract a very selective amnesia and enter a bubble in which they reign supreme over a video world not of their making, forgetting that they too had to start somewhere, while they rip and ridicule and generally abandon players not up to their level of gear, or not obsessed with their worthless pursuits.

Go on any server in either faction, Horde or Alliance, in between the inane and truly stupid things discussed in general and trade chat, you'll find the gear snobs. The impression of their asses firmly engraved into straining desk chairs, their mouse buttons and number keys polished smooth from use and their mouth running constantly about the tier of their gear. If you truly want to destroy any sort of joy the game could provide, if you prefer a completely sanitized and academic gameplay, turn off the music and sound, download ventrilo and listen to these same gear snobs talk for real.

I wouldn't have been motivated to post about this, but recently, I found myself urging my 9 year old daughter to get more agility from her hunter gear. She's been playing for a long while and having a great time, then here I come adding nothing to her experience but doubt and stress. Hence my toilet imagery above; even I was caught up in the swirling waters of the gear snob turd... And I think Blizzard is aware of this downward tailspin because in their next expansion, they destroy the original world of Azeroth -- literally.

2009-12-17T09:20:00.000-06:00

Why isn't there more time?

The Imperial Guard back and beautiful

2009-04-19T11:50:00.004-05:00

Last night, my friend Cain and I descended on the local GW shop to monopolize the PREVIEW COPY of the new Imerial Guard Codex. Cain's been collecting and fielding Guard armies since 1998-99 so he's WAY ahead of the curve and can fully adapt his boys to ever shifting tide of benefits and restrictions new editions place on humanity in the 41st millenium. My own collection is more modest and troop based, so I got a clean slate when it comes to the mahjority of the tanks now available in this latest incarnation of the IMP Guard codex...and holy crap are there the choices.

It's hard to say where to begin, but in the spirit of the majority of 40K blogs across the web, I'll start with a little bitching. As with most of the 5th edition geared codexes, the squad sargeants have been reigned in considerably -- not a problem for me really. But I don't like that a regular lasgun is no longer an option for the plain ol' squad sargeant. Yes they get a cheap-CHEAP power sword to make up for the loss, but at WS3, I'd rather have my sarges shooting with the boys. In the same vein, Stormtrooper sargeants can now TAKE a "Hotshot" gun like their boys. At WS4 and AP3! (AP fething 3!!)...happiness is extra shots!

The 4th edition codex saw a downturn, a recession and reigning in of the use of tanks, and apparently a blossoming of Forgeworld alternatives. With the new 5th edition codex there are tanks literally falling off the shelves in their number and variety. GW has taken their best customizable army and tripled the variety and character of it. From the familiar Leman Russ and demolisher and all of their wonderful children, and allowing 1 to 3 tanks per heavy choice it a tread heads wet dream. I'm especially excited about the mainstreaming of the Executioner tank! The only leman russ I currently own. Also, The Exterminator is back with a higher rate of fire. The autocannon is still the most underrated, understated weapon in the game, but not for much longer once these awesome 3rd edition relic tanks are dusted off and replaced on the tabletop where they belong.

From the 4 ways to use veteren squads -- as troop choices -- to the option for stormtroopers to the can't go wrong randomness of the penal legion squads to the long overdue arrival of PLASTIC VALKYRIES, regular humans in the 40K universe should have a better chance of showing off on the tabletop why theirs is the largest empire in the galaxy -- "time of ending" my ass.

U.S.S. Pulsar

2009-04-06T16:45:00.003-05:00

Spending time away from Azeroth and World of Warcraft and the mind wanders. Not only have I made some progress converting my generic Codex Space Marines over to Salamanders, worked on a rocky desert tabletop for 40K and finished a full set of Imperial markers for a 40K Cities of Death Table, but I've found I've still got Trek on the brain. If you've seen the previous two postings, you'll know this has been building for awhile.

While my friend Mike and I were set on the "Movie Era" Trek and even played games of FASA's Star Trek Combat simulator with our futrure GM Jay to lobby this era, we've been sucked in to the late Next Gen era. My friend Casey's enthusiasm for ALL things Trek helped this along. Assuming we will start actual gaming soon, I'll be recording the exploits of the crew of the U.S.S. Pulsar here -- a Nova class starship patrolling along the Romulan Neutral Zone. With a relaxed Commander on his last tour of duty before retirement and a female Andorian XO not afraid of inter species "relations", it should be a good time on a tight ship.

Nerd-vana

2009-03-04T14:07:00.003-06:00

For today at least, I have acheived Nerd-vana. 24 years late, I finally tracked down:

Trekkie, Trekkor, Whatever right?

2009-03-03T22:49:00.007-06:00

With the new movie coming out soon, I would expect a lot more Star Trek gaming news and merchandising and collectibles and everything else that goes with the mania. I'm looking forward to seeing the latest addition to Hollywood's current trend of restarting and re imagining every franchise they can; the action looks fantastic. The Enterprise herself, not so attractive. Worlds away from the original Constitution class, but nowhere near the elegant beauty of the "movie era" Enterprise.

Frankly, from what I've seen, the new Enterprise looks like a Galaxy Class got the jump on the movie era Enterprise, raped her and spat out a bastardized version. The sets that I've seen look like SNL got themselves a huge budget, and the uniforms -- well yea for keeping 60's style mini's on the female crew. Still, that negativity aside, it looks like it's going to play well on the big screen.!

Speaking of "play", I started the year out right by dusting off the near ultimate in Starship table top gaming:

Only GamesWorkshop's Battlefleet Gothic plays better for Space Combat. Plus, you just can't beat the look and feel of movie era Trek. The Starship interiors looked functional and plausible the uniforms -- I have to say the uniform design was probably a mistake in their awesomeness because everything before or since, sorry to say, are pajamas in comparison.

Even Picard, arguably the greatest onscreen StarFleet Captain of them all, has that much credibility in the blood red tunic (sans the turtle neck unfortunately)

And the Klingons owe everything they are now to the movie era of Trek. Rebooted in the late 70's and 30 years later, they haven't changed from the look established for them in Star Trek the Motion Picture. And remember the phasers. Like the uniforms of the movie era, phasers before and since seem tame and lame. You hear and see the phasers in Wrath of Khan and there's no doubt those beams are going to punch through a ship's hull. This is the Trek Universe as it stood for Fasa and Star Trek Combat Simulator.

To be fair, the movie era and TOS are "my" Trek. I grew up watching the reruns in the early 70's and the brief run of the cartoon. The movies came out in my preteen and teen years. So my bias is built in. But it'll be fun to see the new version for sure. Looking forward to that. And as it's set before the original series, the old Fasa game holds it relevance for the new era.

Vulkan fever

2009-02-13T21:53:00.002-06:00

I'm not alone in recognizing the awesomeness that is Vulkan He'stan. He's a link to a great 40K blog showcasing not only their version of Vulkan He'Stan, but 4 others as well, including yours truly. http://maxstarscloud.blogspot.com/2009/02/vulkan-hestan-space-marine-champion.html Thanks a lot for the nod Maxstar and finding all these great conversions to showcase.

Painted Vulkan

2009-01-16T21:03:00.006-06:00

There's the guy, painted. There are a few areas that need another go over, but largely, Vulkan's table top ready. He's painted in typical Salamander colors -- or at least their equivalent -- as far as the green and lighter green highlighting. The back pack I left understated. Yes, it's covered with bones and skulls, but leaving it black with a dark gray highlightwill marry the miniature to a larger Salamander force while still setting him apart. I also came down on the side of "fluff": Yes, the Salamanders make great artificer armor, but they've also got a humble streak in them.

He'Stan's pic in the New Marine Codex shows a nice piece of artwork on his left shin-plate. On that small of a space, and with my eyes, that's a stretch, but I did pull it off somewhat in miniature, pictured below.

The inside of the cape: I went away from the tanned leather look and did a few decorative lines and some hammer symbols. The spear's shaft was done with GW's "Tin Bitz", but to me it looked like mahogany or some rich wood. Maybe if it were decorative only... So making a bunch of tiny letter "S"'s with a copper paint hopefully gives it a more metallic look. I left the blade itself plain white. It's stated to burn white hot and with the overall darkness of the rest of the model, I like the way it stands out.

I know, the crossed hammers look a little lame and I'll fix them. But for the 3+ Invulnerable save giving mantle, I painted it a darker green then dry brushed it with a metallic paint called "Crystal green". Like the backpack, it's understated, even with the bony protrusions, but still stands out as a lizard's hide that could survive sunbathing next to a lava flow.

Building Vulkan He'stan

2009-01-04T22:04:00.003-06:00

In the past, Space Marine Codexes would come out, and in my opinion, future codexes of other armies seemed to be centered around taking the Marines apart. Not this latest issue. The Space Marines are back! Their latest codex for Warhammer 40K introduces all sorts of new pain to inflict on Mankind's enemies, but one that stands out for me as a favorite piece of "dirty" is Vulkan He'stan of the Salamanders Chapter. Since my "regular codex" Marines were already green with a flame motiff, conversion to Salamanders makes sense. Since Vulkan He'stan's presence on the board makes all thunder hammers master-crafted and all flamers, heavy flamers, meltaguns and multimeltas twin linked, he is a MUST have! Since no miniature exists of him yet, this is how I put him together:

The Space Marine Captain body is a good place to start because of the cape if nothing else, but the set itself has lots of extras in it. I used a more tech looking head because among all his other sweet attributes, He'stans got digital weapons. Assault Marine legs are good for the action pose and worked out well I think. Since he is a Salamander -- essentially a Chapter of Blacksmiths -- I used an old Legion of the Damned back pack to convey a little sense of that artificer armor and in the same vein put a Chaos shoulder pad over his right arm, with the arrows shaved and smoothed off. After shaping and detailing the bottom half of his mantle out of greenstuff, I added a couple teeth to it and then tore it downwards giving it a rougher look.

The Mantle conveys a 3+ Invulnerable Save to He'stan so I went for a chunky scale appearence, rolling several sizes of greenstuff balls and smashing them in place on the plastic cape. A few teeth from Fantasy Ork sheilds and a Tyranid node accessory reinforce the whole "hide" motiff and I think make that awesome save of his believable. For his Gauntlet of the Forge -- a heavy flamer, twin linked just because it's his -- I scraped the wolf skull and bones from a Space Wolf power fist and set two Imperial gun turrets from Battlefleet Gothic on it. These have to be shaved and trimmed with the curve of the fist in mind and the gun barrels bent downward for the same reason. The spear is a master crafted relic blade and needed a spiked ball from the Empire Flagellants set on its end, just because.

The business end of the spear is made from two different Ork knives/Choppas. The illustration in the new Marine Codex has a clean looking blade, but I liked the serated edge better. A spike from the Dark Eldar accessories completes the halbrid.

Not pictured is the simple bolt pistol-in-holster glued to his right hip because first off, he's a Space Marine and needs a firearm despite his weighty arsenal, two, because it's partof his wargear and three, because he's hardly going to draw and fire it with the gauntlet on his left hand. Now to paint it.

Catch a Titan by the Toe

2008-12-01T21:11:00.003-06:00

"Tanksgiving Weekend" is over and the Imperials came out on top at the local GW store, despite the opposing side's best efforts, recycling their tanks, and attacks from other stores around the country. The Judicum Divinia, my Warlord Titan, once again wound up face down on the table, -- no, not because of it's construction, because of enemy fire-- but no apocalyptic explosion for her. Regrettably, the much anticipated face off with my buddy cyborgtrucker's BaneLord never happened. I'm thinking Grandfather Nurgle didn't like his pursuit of things Khorne and visited him with a sinus headache per his own blog.

I had the pleasure of playing across from not only my son, who's Chaos baneblade nearly singlehandedly blew away my Titan, not only next to my friend Cain who's tank line remained pristine until the last turn and killed much Tau filth, but across from another guy named Mike who, frankly, looks like a retired Space Wolf and clearly has a passion for all things Orky. I'm kicking myself for not getting shots of his work, but any Ork Horde that rapes the Tau for their vehicles and nails tank treads to them has my vote for Warboss!

At this Tanksgiving weekend, GW stores from across the country could attack one another's tables. While we accosted no one, the repeated highlight of the day was the pregnant pause on the phone when other stores attacking us learned they'd have a Warlord Titan's apocalyptic missle launcher to contend with. The Divinia killed many Basilisk tanks and crews nation wide. The Detroit store in particular felt our wrath as they couldn't seem to leave Philly alone. The Philly store called up and asked for help. So my Titan missiled Detroit, Cain's and my Vultures flew over there and strafed their tables and Mike used a strategic asset to drop a boulder on their lines from orbit. That pretty much ended the store to store attacks.

After absorbing more fire than probably even the modified event rules should have allowed, my Warlord was taken out by the toe, literally. An ork vehicle piloted recklessly and bravely by Mike's daughter crashed it's deathroller right into the middle toe of my titan and easily claimed its last structure point. Awesome!! My Inquisitorial Chimera once again put the fear of the Emperor into it foes, ramming an Ork battlewagon -- I didn't realize it was a battlewagon -- and taking a toll with it's autogun turret, coming through unscathed once again! But the icing on this cake is that my Space Wolves Predator gets a Monolith silhouette on it. I know it wasn't a "real" game of 40K, but that little under-armored tank killed more than it's share including the Monolith bearing down on it.

All around a great event!

Super Sexy PhotoShoot

2008-10-20T00:35:00.004-05:00

There are no two ways about it, there's no debate to be had. Forgeworld's Vulture is a gorgeous model! Even if you made no effort to straighten whatever pieces came bent -- and in my kit there were quite a few -- you'd be hard-pressed to screw up the look of this model. You would have to try and make it look bad, because by design alone, the model makes you look good. (And maybe a little more wealthy than you are.)

My friend Cain and I were fortunate enough to get the last two Vulture's at Chicago GamesDay. Considering where we were in line, this is no accomplishment, and they were probably the ONLY to in the inventory that day. Below are some of the pic's from the super sexy photoshoot we arranged to showcase the models:

Cain's been collecting and playing the Imperial Guard since 1998-99. His army reflects the wide range of models Games-Workshop and Forgeworld have produced in that time span. His Vulture Paint scheme was inspired by Russian attack helicopters and the only real adjective to describe the work on his Vulture is "perfect".

With a camoflauge upper hull and an aircraft gray underbelly, Cain combined Games-Workshop Imperial Guard, Baneblade and Vietnam era Attack helicopter decals to make his aircraft extra sexy. As if that weren't enough, the weapons array below have all been built with small magnets so that he can have any configuration allowed by the rules.

I've only been collecting and playing guard for a few years. When the first "Armored Fist" set was available, I picked one up and was lost to the Guard since. While a Valkyrie seemed to me the next logical step to take collecting and fielding, rumors of a plastic Valkyrie were enough to redirect me to the Vulture.

With my paint scheme I took a radically different approach. My Guard army hails from Calth, a world in the Ultramar Empire, controlled by the Ultramarines. My scheme for troops and vehicles reflects a bastardized version of second edition Ultramarines, so my Vulture is a natural extension of this painted in a dark blue with red accents to the weapons. Also, because of its support role, I imagine the Vulture spends more time in flight hugging terrain like an attack helicopter rather than dropping from the sky, so I used a very dark blue for the entire hull top and bottom:

My weapon racks are fixed to the bottom so this Vulture is forever armed with Hunter killers, Lascannons and the heavy bolter on the nose. The Hunter killers are the new style ones that come with every IG tank kit. While I think they look goofy on the tanks, on the underside of the Vulture's wings, they look like so many angry hornets.

To see the best of the rest of the the supersexy photoshoot, follow this link: http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e203/bluegnoll/Valkyrie/?start=0

DICE!!!

2008-08-01T08:19:00.004-05:00

When it comes to tabletop wargaming, you can have a masterful grasp of tactics and know your units' moves inside & out & sideways. You can compose your army list so that it could take on you if you were to physically climb on the table and square off against your miniatures. You could have your minitures painted so well it could cause a member of Games-Workshop's 'eavy metal team to weep... and all of that means less than a squirt of piss once the dice start rolling.

Especially in a game like Warhammer 40K, the ups and downs on the battlefield can be woven into a sweet narrative to bring your army to life or give dimension to a campaign. Dice rolling can really ruin that narrative unless you don't mind your armys' constant story being something told like this: "AHHHHHH!!!! Omg I've never seen the enemy do that! ACK! Not in the face, not in the FACE!!! arrrgh...."

As rarely as I play, that is the story told by any and all of my minitaure armies. If I sound bitter at all that is completely not the case. 20+ years ago when my hormones were in flux and I still had hair, I might have been upset by my persistant lack of good battlefield fortune. Now it's just the way it goes. The fun is in hanging out and seeing a beautiful battlefield turn proverbially red with fictional blood and carnage.

I played my first game of 5th edition Warhammer 40K last night; my Space Wolves vs. Chaos Space Marines. Somehow, SOMEHOW my boys pulled out a draw for me even though I failed them utterly, dropping the ball on every assault, armor save and reserve roll I was called to make. Absolutley nothing went my way, and still my boys pulled out a draw. A testament to the brilliance behind the new rules, or a statement about the kick-ass-ness of the Space Wolves, I don't know. Fun? Absolutely!

Sweet Atari Label maker!!!!

2008-07-30T01:49:00.005-05:00

This is absolutely brilliant, especially if you're old enough to remember when these suckers cost $70 a pop. Thanks CyborgTrucker! And thanks to your buddy who found this! Atari 2600 Label Maker! If I were photogenic, I'd have a better pic on there, but this looks like how I'd respond if I woke up in the Atari world. Woot!

Gamesday 2008 Forgeworld

2008-07-29T08:19:00.005-05:00

Three days later and I'm finally able to tear myself from my new models -- and WoW, let's not mince words.

Another successful GamesWorkshop GamesDay (Chicago)shopping trip, as I call it because I've yet to buy a pass to get in. That's money I'd be unable to spend in the product lines, and believe me I spend it. Especially in the ForgeWorld line, where you are made immediately aware of just how worthless the dollar has become next to the Pound and Euro. Still, Forgeworld as a whole has always given me the impression that they have a real passion not just for modeling, but for the game and fluff of the 40K Universe. From a set of "Big Shoota's" to the Reaver Titan and everything in between, the Forgeworld products fluff, puff and otherwise expand the militaristic gothic horror that is the 40K Universe. And to thank the boys at Forgeworld, the GamesDay attendees line up immediately in their line and spend bigtime.

So what the hell happened this year?

Let's see, there were Gamesdays all over the world last year and the year before that, etc. In fact, there was always a Gamesday Chicago included in that list. And unless something has changed dramatically, the Chicago/Midwest market is GamesWorkshop's most fertile. No other region in the world spends as much on their products as we in the Midwest do. So let's back up and put this together... There's a GamesDay Chicago again and the Chicagoland area represents THE biggest spenders and consumers of GamesWorkshop products.

So...what happened?

Watching the line ahead of us, and I was at or about number 50 in a line that was ever growing, we complained about the people at the actual counter for rifling through their catalogs instead of knowing exactly what they wanted. How could you come to GamesDay knowing Forgeworld would be there and not know EXACTLY what you've been dying to buy! Then I got to the counter...and had to rifle through my catalog! Autocannons for the Vulture... Hunter Killer missles for the Vulture...out, Khorne axes for the new World eaters...out... A friend of mine was there to drop some big money on an Ork Fighta or Fighta Bomba...out. Another buddy of mine was buying the Chaos hell talon...out. I picked up a Vulture Gunship...last one. Last one? There's 300 people in line behind me!

Was this some asinine attempt at "creating demand"? Did Forgeworld collectively oversleep that day and just packed the quick version of their shop? Were the people behind the counter imposters? All I know was it was a bizzare twist on the day and not appreciated at all. You got product people want and are there specifically to buy, stock it. Simple right?

The other woman

2008-06-13T17:37:00.005-05:00

The "other woman" is around my height. She's lean without looking like she's aspiring to be a man. Leather and chainmail are her preferred garb. She's got a mane of red hair like an 80's metal girl and bright green eyes. So bright, they glow, literally. Her ears are pointy and as long as her feathery eyebrows. Her make up's minimal but always perfect, and she can be a haughty bitch when she's not running around with a big white gorilla -- no not me. She's Nithia, and she's my female blood elf hunter in World or Warcraft. I've been a gamer for 28+ years, so I'll forgo justifying playing a girl.

I didn't realize she'd become "the other woman" until recently. My addiction to the game has subsided somewhat -- i.e. I'm able to work and do other things without thinking about it constantly, stealing glances at thottbot.com, and playing it the second I get computer time. Or at least so I thought. Apparently, this particular "char" or "toon" as they're called now, holds a special place in my subconscious. Jokingly I'd say I couldn't stop looking at her, but there might be a deeper more sinister side to that.

A few nights ago, my wife awoke from being bumped as I was rummaging around the bookcase that is our headboard. "What are you doing?" was the natural question -- keeping in mind my wife doesn't need to include the word"hell" as she can masterfully communicate that with the tone of her voice.

Apparently, my quick answer was: "Looking for a flashlight."

"Why?"

"Because Nithia needs to be able to see in the dark..."

I remember none of this ofcourse -- walking and talking in my sleep and the occasional night terror are nothing new t0 me -- but somewhere in the bowels of my brain, Nithia's got a life outside the confines of WoW. Creepy, but perhaps beneficial I have to believe as I thumb through the new Player's Handbook and DM's guide of D&D 4th edition. Maybe it's her that needs to hand me the flashlight and show me where in my head she's living, because that area of creativity has been beyond my reach the past few years.

Here's "my girl", "the other woman", Nithia as she stands now in WoW:

He's at it again

2008-05-23T11:54:00.003-05:00

The master has reviewed what the student has done and now he's going to up the ante! CyborgTrucker's going to build the BaneLord Chaos Warlord Titan. If you want a more thorough explanation of how this process unfolds -- instead of me proclaiming how I've built mine from garbage and bits -- and what materials are best to use, how to attach them, an effective way to paint you need to go here: http://cyborgtrucker.blogspot.com/2008/05/banelord-khorne-warlord-titan-project.html

I seriously want to build Chaos Titan as my son collects Chaos and Traitor Guard, but between finishing up my own Warlord and finding time to complete my Damocles Rhino, I don't see that happening soon. So let's hobby vicariously through the Trucker, hey?

Warlord Titan progress

2008-05-19T17:55:00.004-05:00

Due to the fact much of the Titan was built in the last 7 days, and a World of Warcraft addiction I am slowly recovering from, there have been no posts on this for months. But thanks to cyborgtrucker's effeciancy, I was able to pinch some of his pics to post here and give a little run down of what goes where in this semi-final form of the Judicum Divinia.

Here it is on it's trial run at a MASSIVE Apocalypse battle from May 18th at the local GW store:

Since that first hover tank from the Rogue Trader days of 40K, I don't see how I could NOT use an underarm deodorant bottle on this project, and since the ridges were just in the right place, that's where the Plasma Blastgun on the left carapace gets its shape. It sits on the casing for a chemical pump discarded at work which rests in the cap of urinal flush valve -- that was not used, but it was from a previously raided repair kit. The apocalypse missle launcher on the opposite shoulder was born from 3 different 1980's G.I.Joe toys. If you want to duplicate it, you're gonna need Grand Slam's launch pad, Lady J's Wolverine missle tank and the Hovercraft.

The feet became a major hang-up. I put them off as long as possible, hoping they'd just work out as is. But the more beefy the upper hull became, the more necessary some kind of effort was needed towards making the feet look more Titan-esque. I had purchased two plastic plates (one of only two items on this Titan that was actually paid for -- and happily, it wasn't even my money!) but trimmed, there was no way they were supporting any weight at all. The same type of wooden slats that made up the hips were trimmed and fitted underneath. Between them and the heavy floor tiles as the rear ankle guards, I now had stability gallore. The toeswere done at the zero hour, digging through my bits boxes when I came across loads of scout walker heads.

The thighs, Pringle can trimmed down. Much of the rest, cardboard cut to fit and festooned with old plastic sprues and the Mechanicum bits that look nice and techy. Above the butt, a battery case from a defunct CD/Radio. Exhaust on the back -- two computer fans. And other assorted details.

But even though it's gone into combat -- and was ripped apart by Tyranids -- it's still a work in progress. Hopefully, I'll have it done before cybortrucker finishes his planned Chaos Banelord of Khorne so we can have a proper tabletop brawl.

The Judicum Divinia's first battle report will follow soon.

Cynical Star Wars "fans"

2008-04-10T20:46:00.005-05:00

Star Wars the Clone Wars is due out this August on the big screen to be followed on the small screen by a regular TV series this Fall. The Clones. The cool looking clones with the retro "Rocketeer"-meets-the-Fetts helmets and big plasma rifles that can blow a hole through a super battle droid. One of Lucas' descriptions of the film and series has been (paraphrased) "Band of Brothers, but with clones." How freakin' sweet is that?

The sound is spectacular, which goes without saying. The imagery and animation is absolutely gorgeous -- the characters are rendered into 3D from the animated Cartoon Network mini-series 1 & 2. The story will flesh out the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin which will give Anakin's fall that much more impact in Episode 3. As a lifeling fan -- i.e. a fan old enough to remember seeing it for the first time in 1977, how do you ask for more than that? Another chance to go back into the Star Wars Universe with the master himself at the helm!

The preview videos are available at StarWars.com and YouTube (naturally).

I say: "how can you ask for more than that", knowing full well that for as many rabid fans that are out there like me, the number of whiners is legion.

For the whiners my age and older, I can only offer a measure of pity. They seem to suffer under the illusion that the original films were somehow different, had a different feel, were better somehow... No. No such difference exists. Not in the terms they describe anyway. The differences in scale and tone and overall feeling are all relevant to the story telling and with the two (current)digital revampings of the original trilogy films, the sweeping, massive scale introduced in the prequels is revisted to illustrate how the actions of a few key figures affects the overall story arc on a grand scale. The major difference the older whiners fail to recognize is they're older now -- the movies haven't changed, but they have. For those that have lost that spark and childlike acceptance and joy of being able to dive back into the Star Wars Universe, they have my pity.

The biggest pile of whining maggots are the the next couple generations down, the "Y's and the Millenials"; the people that grew up with the "EU" as (shudder) "Canon". I try and see their point of view in regards to the Star Wars Universe, but at my age and weight, I'm unable to get my head that far up my own ass. The arguements they spawn over what's (shudder) "Canon" and what's not and the different tiers of this timeline vs the canonicty of this comic and the feasibility of this novel vs. what the movie said... it would be impossible to address it all here or anywhere for that matter. Until these people accept the Wookie Lifeday Special and the original comic seriel that ran in the newspapers and the anti-smoking commercial from 3PO and Artoo as canon, they have nothing to say that interests me. When they're able to accept that in 70's, we already knew the Stormtroopers were clones... oh, that's right, they're not clones in the EU...

The EU, to me, is a disasterous soap opera. An out of control hydra that should have had it's heads cut off a long time ago. A collection of really talented authors that would be better served, and better serve the SciFi consuming fans by writing their own fiction and creating their own mythos. Luke, Leia and Han can't take a crap or get an oil change without a book being written about it. When a committee has to sit down and decide a major character needs to die to provide more validity to a storyline, there's a problem.

Lucas identifies 3 different worlds for Star Wars, his, the licensing world and the fan's world. For me, the first and third are synonymous. Despite my negative sounding take on the EU, I don't begrudge any SW fan for following it, but when the creator of the SW Universe himself writes a new chapter to the tale, I can't stand the whining.

Gathering Materials

2008-01-10T22:45:00.002-06:00

More on building the Warlord Titan: Unfortunately, in the late 80's I never picked up "Battle Titans" from Games Workshop. If I remember right, it came with sprues to make at least 6 Warlord Titans! The reference would come in handy now. Research online has had very limited results, and old catalogs and codexes I have only give a glimpse at the original form of the Warlord.

I'm not very fond of the most recent titan models for Epic, and even the majority of the illustrations. Their lines are too clean. There's something less 40K about them and more BattleTech-esque in my opinion. But the illustration in the the Apocalypse rules seems to be a happy compromise bridging the old and the new so I've been using that as a rough guide. My circumstances prevent me from doing actual workbench/workshop level crafting of this Titan, so out of necessity, my Titan's final form will no doubt lean more towards the older models.

So looking around the bits boxes, the garbage, the hidden corners of smashed and broken things at work what do you use to build a Warlord Titan? Things like this:

Legs: The legs I lucked out on as far as a decent set of parts. I had a Star Wars game from '99 that replicated Darth Maul's probe droid on a stand. The legs of that stand have an industrial, landing gear look to them, so I married the four of them into two and made them the basis for my Titan legs. For the lower greeves, yup, Folgers Coffee cans. It'll make sense later if you can't see it. For the beginning of the hips, again Star Wars TPM came through for me and I used these old candy containers that were available at the time. I just had to pop off the sculpted images of Palpatine and Jar Jar.

WEAPONS: The Volcano cannon and the laser blaster made the most sense to me for the "arms" Again, hurray for Darth Maul. I happened to have a broken Maul light saber that I couldn't bear to throw away and lucky thing. After attaching it to an archaic dashboard cell phone holder and with minor detailing, it's now the basis for my volcano cannon! The cell holder has an awesome articulate arm on it that will make fixing the weapon to the body a breeze.

The Laser blaster was deliberately made to resemble all the other lascannons in the game using various sizes of pvc pipe and mounting in a used motor oil container. The one pictured here has been modified already with a much shorter barrel; in this form, I was on my way to making a Catachan Las-carbine.

The Hips: Wooden slats I found on a pile at work which glued, screwed and stacked fit well into the candy holders. The Blue crotch? That's an old mushroom container from the produce section. And they call me mad...

Not pictured, the head: The head gave me real problems and was my first stumblng block. I looked at cyborgtrucker's blog a hundred times, and looked at illustrations and pics and art, new and old models... I just don't have the time, and mostly the skill to to do some of the things I've seen out there. But digging through one of my bits boxes, I figured it out. When I started collecting Orks my buddy gave me an old Humvee model he wasn't going to use. The curves on this thing are very reminiscent of the illustration of the Warlord head's many variants. So I carved the hummer in half and folded it on itself, kit-bashing like crazy to hide the holes and gaps.

Can I bring this pile of garbage together and make something table worthy out of it?

Building a Warlord Titan Intro

2008-01-03T22:55:00.001-06:00

The first thing I did when the Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Gamer Edition back-pack showed up at the house was to naturally sling it over both shoulders and run around making lasgun noises, like I was actually in the Cadian 8th defending the "Gate". In my neighborhood, that's not hard to imagine. You'd think at my age I would forgo that step, but alas... nicotine can only hold back so much.

More to the point, on page 124 of the Apocalypse rules stands the Warlord Titan -- well, the illustration of one anyway -- towering over the Warhound Titan and necessitating a magnifying glass to the see the guardsman silhouette. With a datasheet and an array of weapons that would make the most battle hardened Imperial Commander blow his load for the sheer joy of having one; "fething" awesome!

There was an instantaneous ambition to build one.

A friend and I discussed it at length, but while he leaned more towards purchasing this and shopping for that, I instantly turned my attention to ridiculously full "bits" boxes in my basement and ofcourse garbage, both at home and at work (and maybe in the alley too). While our attention was misguidedly focused on theory and practicality and feasibility and all the asinine crap a 30something year old brain goes through to hinder creativity, another friend had gone ahead and built his first warlord titan. I say "friend" because I am unoffically credited in the opening of his blog and I'm ignoring a 17+ year gap in our active contact.

His blog moniker is "cyborgtrucker". Creative and innovative well beyond me, cyborgtrucker set the pace in this GW area/market for building a 40K Warlord to go with the 28mm scale of the miniatures. The chronicle of this from beginning, with a few pieces of Masonite, to selling the finished product on ebay can be found in the link below:

http://cyborgtrucker.blogspot.com/search/label/Titans

Now, I like Cyborg's Titan. It may be a bit lean, espcially for a Nurgle blessed mech, but to be fair it was his first, and in our area, it was the only Warlord Titan to be found. And, it was never defeated in battle -- considering that everyone and their brother probably shoots at the thing as soon as it hits the gaming table, that's pretty decent.

A little slower getting my project past the planning stages, I'm afraid my Titan will never be across the table from the "BileDriver". I anticipated finishing it before Christmas '07; now I just want to have it ready before the end of January '08.

Details of construction begin in part two.