Prospero Update

Hey all just a quick update. Finished all the vehicles I need for my crusade era Thousand Sons. So here they are:

1 vindicator and 3 rhinos in total. I only showed you 2 different rhinos but there are 3 done. the weathering was done to match the bases on my infantry.

That's it for now. Hopefully I will have the infantry done by Friday. Until next time..

Sons of Prospero Minor Update

Hey everyone. Just a minor update. Got 5 more marines done. I have to do 4 more vehicles and 16 more marines for this army so next update will most likely be it finished which ideally will be around Sunday. So here are some pictures:

Just bolter marines. The two with the crazy plumage are tests because I want to eventually in the future when i slowly add to the army to create a sternguard or a counts as Legion of the Damned squad because both have good rules that fit well with the fluff of the Thousand Sons during the crusade. Anyways hope you enjoyed. I didn't wash the gold parts on purpose because i like the contrast.

Until next time..

Army at at glance.. Necrons

Hey everyone. Just thought I would do a little installment on Armies called Armies at a glance.

Basically giving a little fluff overview and gameplay overview. I am not going to go into detail on the entries or wargear really. I also will only touch upon the special rules hence at a glance. This installment is really about armies that get flak.

Alright so first on the block are the Necrons:

The faceless unfeeling undead machines. Once alive the Necrontyr made a pact with the C'tan (Star Gods) and become the Necrons. That's the in a nutshell blurb on there background. They are an ancient race with very advanced technology and the ability to travel great distances fast without the warp. There Gauss weaponry is the most efficient weaponry out there. The Necrons and the Eldar are bitter enemies although the Necrons will reap any and all life. If you want more on there fluff the codex and wiki sites will no doubt have more detailed information.

Gameplay wise the Necrons are an Earth style army. Very resiliant with the ability to get back up makes them hard to kill. Ther are a shooty army mostly because of the Gauss special rule. It lets any Gauss weaponry always glancing hit a vehicle on a 6. But what it also does that people forget is allow those weapons to wound any non vehicle unit on a roll of a 6 (normals saves allowed). This makes the weapons very efficient allowing any Gauss weapon to always be effective against any army.

Now being they are a legion of robotic zombies essentially they are static model wise. Meaning that in general they all have similar poses with not much to really make the army individualist (in general) aside from paint scheme. But this also lends to its charm as they are a legion of death so a very cookie cutter-esque look lends to that imposing inevitability.

Pros of the Necrons:
- Gets back up (same rules as feel no pain only during the beginning of your movement phase), Gauss weaponry always glance or wound on a 6. Disrupter fields allow CC attacks to always glance vehicles on a 6, A nearly indestructible vehicle the Monolith. A fast building and painting army. C'tan are tough as nails.

Cons:
-The phase out rule which makes the necron army vanish from the board if they get reduced to 25% or less models with the necron rule. This results in an auto loss, Low initiative for most units. If you get tied in CC with your warriors your going last but before powerfist weaponry, Kinda high priced units. No real reason to include some of the specialist units as they are either too points heavy or do not have the necron rule.

So that's a quick glance at the necrons. They are a strong army and forgiving. The wargear options for the Lord lend to lots of customization and combos. Until next time.

Picking an Army.. Space Marines

Hey there. This is just a follow up on Picking an army. This has to deal with Space Marines because A) I know about them as I play them and B) Space marines are so diverse that they pretty much cover all aspects of the game (all 4 elements, many play styles etc). This can still be of some help for picking an army in general but this may be of more help for those who are new to Space Marines.

So lets say you want to be space marines well what now? Ok well first you have to take a step back and look at all the space marines out there. For purposes of ease I mean the codices. So we have: Codex Space Marines, Black Templars, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Dark Angels and Daemonhunters. I include Daemonhunters because of the grey knights.

Firstly unless your really set on space wolves/ are able to find a codex or are able to get your hands on the codex I would suggest avoiding them for now. I only say this because yea you could use another codex and if you do i would suggest the Black Templar codex to run them with for now if you want to build a force of them. But a new codex for them is somewhere in the release schedule.

Also Greyknights are different in that here highly specialized with unique war gear. They play like a water army with great fire ability. I wont touch on them here really but in a future post I will.

So aside from that we are left with the other codicies. So if your not driven to any one codex due to looks or fluff then it falls to there play styles. So do you want to shoot or assault more? Now the nice thing is the Codex Space Marines can do both so that codex is always an option.

If you want to assault more then shoot I would suggest looking at the Blood Angels, Black Templars or Space Wolves (if you can get the codex). Yes they have shooting units but there strengths are in the assault. They all play differently too so this further breaks down assaulting into how you like to assault. I wont go into detail but I will give a blurb on each. If you like the idea of space vikings with hot headed units as well as grizzled veteran then you may like Space Wolves. If you like the idea of an eternal crusade of super knights that have a champion as well as who move forward when they take casualties then you may want to look at Black Templars. If you like the idea of a noble chapter that goes into a berserk fury with a super assault squad and assault marines as troops then you may want to go Blood Angels.

Alright so if assault isn't your style then you may want to look at Dark Angels (ill talk about codex space marines later). Dark Angels can do the assault and do it well but they are more about the shooting in my opinion. Dark Angel armies are really 3 separate armies that can be fused together. You have Battle company, Ravenwing and Deathwing. All 3 really need to make use of shooting to be effective. You can still have an assault driven list but the difference here is that assault with them is usually the last step to victory.

Ok so remember that codex space marines can do both as it is the codex for all other chapters. So that means this codex is essentially good for everyone interested in space marines that do not have there heart set on a specific chapter. Now special characters aside you can tool out your army to be good at assaulting or shooting by selecting specific units. Note however that while they can do assaulting this codex is a little hard pressed to do it as well as the assault oriented codices.

So that's pretty much the codices in a nutshell. Notice how I didn't touch on war gear. I did that on purpose because while war gear is important when you build your lists it should not factor into choosing an army. Yes storm shields work differently for codex space marines but that should not decide the codex for you. Every codex is viable so you need to pick ultimately what you feel you'll like the most. Having a strong list will come in time.

Welp hope that helps. Until next time.

Videos

Hey everyone. Just a quick info post. I started making some youtube videos in relation to 40k cause I thought it would be a nice way to enhance my blog. This blog here will still be my primary way of getting my point across and submitting material but the youtube channel will help this blog with that. I will be doing videos on what I already have posted here as well as stuff I will have posted a day or so in advance. Now there will be some random videos of things that i just cannot get across easily typing if at all but that should not happen to much.

I just made a video about WYSIWYG and counts as that has no relation to a post here because i couldn't figure out how to write it. So i figured this would be a good time to introduce that youtube channel.

Its link is: http://www.youtube.com/KeeperoftheFortress . So hope you enjoy it if you want to take a look at it.

More to come on this blog soon. Including Tactica outnumbered! heh soon i swear. Until then.

All Your Base.. Idea

Hey everyone. Another segment of all your base. It will be quickie as its more an idea then actual how to.

I was reading the new White Dwarf with the War of the Ring information in it. In the beginning it shows the movement trays and I got an idea. Those movement trays are for 25mm and 40mm bases. Last I checked 40 uses those bases. Now I'm not saying use them in games but they can work really well in display boards. How? You can use them to create flush displays where the base is inset into the display.

Now they are rigid blocks but you can take extra 25 or 40mm bases and make them objective markers or whatever to break up the blocks.

How I would do this is find a board the same thickness as the movement trays then cut out rectangles where you want the movement trays. Then I would find a rigid under board to glue both the top board and the trays to. Flock and base then put the models on and there bases would be flush with the board.

Now this would not work for models that you would want on the cities of death terrain but it can work for other larger thicker areas like rock slabs, desert, rivers, stuff like that. I would test this out but I have no display board planned at the moment but at some point in the future I will buy some movement trays to see how they are. Feel free to let me know how they are if you own some. Until next time..

The 4 Elements of Battle

Hey all. I figured I should write about the 4 elements of battle. This has been around for a while now and has some variations so what I'm about to write is my view on it.

Alright so the 4 elements are Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. Also while I will give examples of armies that fit these types that doesn't mean they may not also qualify for other elements. These are just what comes to mind the quickest.

Earth armies are generally armies that are hard to kill or generally are strong on the defensive (ie: gunline). They can sometimes be slow to reposition and tend to favor shooting. Tau, and Chaos Nurgle marines are good examples of an earth army. This does not mean that they are static armies but rather that they are adept at surviving or defending.

Air armies are armies that are fast and/or maneuverable. Able to move fast usually goes hand in hand with maneuverability but it is not necessary (Drop pod Marines for example are not very fast moving but can position well). Dark Eldar, Eldar jetbikes, and ravenwing are examples of this type of army. These armies tend to either be fragile or small in number and so they rely on there ability to move and good positioning to win the battle. These armies can be harder initially to start playing because they usually are more unforgiving then others armies.

Fire armies are armies that are all about raw aggression. Getting in there and getting it done. They tend to be straightforward armies with a clear fighting style. Now while fire armies are typically assault heavy armies they can also be shooting armies as well (ie an aggressive moving tau shooty list could be considered fire). Orks, Khorne beserker marines, Blood Angels, Salamanders (due to there preference for close range firefights) are all good examples of fire armies.

Water armies are those that for one reason or another are more about the battlefield and the enemy your fighting then about there own talents. What I mean by this is a water army is about preemptive planning and having the ability to react to the changes in the game. Water is hard to define really because by the nature of this type of army almost any army can and does play this way. Good examples of water heavy armies are: Grey Knights, Necrons and Dark Angels. Good solid armies but either for lack of numbers or a drastic drawback they cannot just be aggressive like fire or defensive like earth. Also Air armies can tend to play similarly to water but the distinction is air is about the speed and maneuvers while water uses the terrain and its own special abilities to deal with an overwhelming or fast threat.

Well there you have it. My play style tend to be heavy on the waterside with fire tendencies. Feel free to comment with your style of play. While some elements may be harder to initially learn no one element is the strongest amongst them in my opinion. Sometimes you just gotta slam into the enemy to get the job done while others you gotta fall back to win.

Well until next time.

All Your Base... plasticard

Hey everyone. Since I needed to make bases for my Thousand Sons pre heresy I thought I would show the quick and easy process of how I base them. I do this for them because I want them all to look like there on some sort of stone tiled surface. They don't all match up perfectly which is fine because it gives it a more battle torn feel while still being subdued.
Alright to get to this stage I used the bases and used them to mark the circle's on my plasticard. Thickness is not important you can choose whichever thickness you like. Now after that you just need to cut them out. Keep in mind they are going to be as larger then the base surface which is a good thing.

Alright. I cut them into quarters and then glued them on. Depending how big you want your tile look you can cut them in only halves or a half and two quarters or even not at all to represent them standing in the middle of a large tile. Once the glue was dry I used my clippers to trim them flush with the bases edge and then based them black.

I went for a grey stone look but any color can work even metallic for a metal floor. I just painted a few coats of Astronomicon grey to get this color and that is it. I also painted the sides of the base. The reason I did that is it helps the graveyard earth out for the sides. That is my typical color for trimming the bases.

And here they are. I gave them a second coat of graveyard earth after this photo. I just wanted you to see how the graveyard earth worked after just one coat with the grey underneath it. I do not know if other peoples graveyard earth is really thin but mine always seems to be that way.

Alright so there you have it. Nothing particularly creative or complex. Just a quick way to do a base. Even these simple bases will add more narrative to a model then just leaving them unbased.

Progress report

Hey everyone. Made some painting progress so here we are:

Firstly I tried my and at some actual greenstuff work. Simple scarab symbol for Thousand Sons Rhino hatches. One for each of my rhinos in the list. I did not do too much touch up with regards to finger prints or minor divots because I think it gives this character. The divots for battle worn and the finger prints give it a more scarab look in my opinion. To make scarabs you just have to make the desired scarab circle/oval shape and then with a knife or sculpting tool cut into the greenstuff a "T" with the crossed top of the "T" being the top of the scarab.

The grenade marine with 4 other heavy weapon guys. The Autocannons are heavy weapon team autocannons that I shortened the barrel of. I will use them as heavy bolters.

Another shot of the group. The Autocannons were a bit odd to get on the models only because I did not attempt to make the model in anyway to actually carry it effectively. I think they still get the point across and look decent. What I like about the autocannons is that they can represent heavy bolters, missile launchers or even lascannons as long as they all represent the same thing.

Well that is it for now. Until next time.

Picking an Army

Hey there all. This post I am going to talk about choosing an army in 40k. This is intended as something for those new to the game as well as those who maybe there army is not working for them or simply still do not have there own army.

There is not much that is more important then picking an army that you will really enjoy playing. Even for those people who want to branch out into multiple armies it is still important. If your not going to enjoy the army as a whole then why bother investing in it and building it up? So how do you choose?

Well firstly the army will probably catch your eye and chances are more then 1 army will catch your eye which is good. Then you can learn more about them Which will let you know there fluff and what not and if you like that you can move on. Now I am all for liking an armies history and fluff and what not. I do that with my armies. But there comes a time in choosing when you have to make your choice based on the armies rules. What do I mean?

Well its broken up into 3 categories: A assaulting heavy force, A shooting heavy force or a mixed force. Generally the mixed force isn't really a category as those forces tend to lean towards either shooting or melee. Now some people have no problem playing either style. But for those that do have preference this is a big factor. Now luckily practically all races can be fielded as either assault or shooting heavy. Even Tau with there Xenos auxilia can beef up there assault ability (though I wouldn't with Tau). Now with that being said most armies have a preference. Blood Angels for example are geared for assault while Necrons are geared for shooting. Both can do the opposite but there lists are set up for what they prefer.

Ok so you may love the fluff but not like there play style what do you do? Well there is a good chance that you will like multiple armies. So in that aspect you can look at the others. I suppose it is possible to like the play style but not the fluff but in this case it is less severe because you can make your own color scheme and have your own chapter or regiment or splinter fleet etc. and not worry really.

Now of course monetary issues may make it difficult to play a certain army. Inquisition is heavy in pewter and expensive or orks are too numerous for your wallet. Those circumstances happen and it is up to the person on what they should do. But for any army building I feel that aside from how the army looks and what not whats really important is if how they play will fit your style.

Tactica Outnumbered to come soon.. as well as other stuff. Until then..

All Your Base... Examples

Hey all. Since I currently have no bases to work on step by step at the moment for this All your base I figured I would show some examples from a friend of mine. These are all done by my friend at Helios Raven's Nest. He also sent me a blurb about how he did them for me to share with all of you. So lets get started.

This base above was done by using extra bits. He cut them up painted them and then put them on the base. He gave a wash of red ink for more gore. Even without red ink you can still achieve a gore look depending on what reds you use.

This base is a nice example because it is a flying base. Flying bases are clear so many people including myself don't base them. I do not base them really because I never know what to do with there curved surface. What he did was first flocked and painted the base. Then he took pink insulation foam and cut square pillars out of them. He then cut the pillars tops angled to give a crystal appearance. He then painted highlighted and glossed them for a shine. Crystals can be any color so the exact colors do not matter here.

Here is a nice example of base combination. A square type base and a round base to give a small diorama quality to it. For purposes of gaming you could just do all measurements to the beginning of the round base and ignore the square one for purposes of charges or range for weapons. Also you could potentially work the dead terrain feature underneath your model (depending on what it is) to keep it as one base for those really rule oriented gamers. What he did was take a spare marine and a spare skeleton model and fused the two. He then used wires to give the effects of ripped apart armor. Paint and add any blood effect and your done. This could also be done with imperial guard or any race really. The base behind this one was done with pink foam cut randomly to resemble rock. Also some scoring was done for a more eroded feel. It was then based black and dry brushed codex grey and then fortress grey followed by a light touch of white. He added pins to the models feet and pressed them in with glue to secure the model to the foam.

Lastly a ripper swarm base. The nice thing about ripper swarms and other swarm bases from GW is that there is a decent amount of space to allow a simple base job to add narrative. He flocked the base and painted the skeleton model separately. He then attached the skeleton to the base and coated it with red ink. Afterwards he positioned the rippers to appear like they just finished feasting and were moving on. A note here: rippers and scarab swarms are a special case in which you could make a base that would take your eye initially away from the models themselves. That is ok because these bases represent swarms of tiny creatures. It adds a lot to the base regardless of if your eye is not drawn to them directly from the beginning. Sort of like " hey its a dead guy.. oh rippers are coming" type of thing.

So there you go. 4 different examples of bases that are not hard to do and would not take away from the models themselves. More to come in the future of this and other stuff. Until then.

All your Base.... Materials.

Hey all it is another installment of All your Base. This time I'm talking about materials. Now I'm not talking about what we can buy from games workshop or whomever like the broken up stone, static grass, flock, sand, snow effects etc. This is some random stuff that we can all get easily or already have. At the end ill talk about one or more others not pictured.
Alright a group shot. What we have is an empty sprue that we should all have. The rest is from a chemistry molecule set. It is one of the poorer ones that was going to be thrown out.

These can be used as pipes for cities of death. Aside from terrain you could use clumps of these to represent rocket pods or what not for units that can take missile launchers. They have a variety of uses. One thing to note is that they are harder to get paint and glue to stick too and glue in place. But once you do it looks great.

Alright these guys also have some uses. The fan like things on the bottom can be used to represent turbine blades in rubble. They could also be used for orky bits. Those white pipes are flexible if you need a thick power cord thing that can move or can be used just like the other pipes. Te red thing however can be used to represent mines. Eldar or Tau can do that easily as it looks in line with there tech. But really any race could. Or maybe something to put barbed wire around. Just need to use your imagination.

Lastly the empty sprue. If your in the hobby you have these. You can grind them up for rubble or cut them up to represent iron bars in rubble. Melt them a bit to represent a melta hit somewhere on a building. Twist them to represent stressed metal. They are very handy. Can also be used as orky bits for vehicles.

One thing i did not take a picture of was screening like for windows or screen doors. They can be purchased in large quantities. They come as metal or plastic screening. I recommend the plastic one. It is easier and safer to use. This is what I use for my terminator space hulk basing.

Well I hope that helps spark some ideas for people. There are more things of course that you can use these are just examples. Until next time.

Legends of Wat update

Hey all. Sorry about the sporadic posts. I am still active just not much real progress worth mentioning. But here we are. A random 40k (Legends of War) update. My First troop choice. Because of the Warboss I took a 5 meganob strong mob as my first troop choice. I call them the Good toof guard because they all have some goldteef. Fluff wise they are the personal guard boyz of my Warboss. Any more meganobz that I may add in the future wont have any gold teef on the gobs.
Group shot of the Goold toof guard. They all have kombi-skorchas because I feel its the best upgrade for them.

A close up of one of my bases with a skull on it. All the bases were done the same way as in the all your base segment. The skull and other bone was done with the same paints and just a white over it and a wash of devlan mud.

Another group shot. The 'ead nob of this squad is the one with 2 gold teef on his gob.

So yea this took priority over my pre heresy thousand sons. But I am back to working on them. I hope to get that army done by the end of this month. Until next time.