Thursday 26 April 2012

Modular Gaming Table - Part 1

The other weekend I took delivery of the materials for my modular gaming table I am building


The local DIY had an overstock of Extruded Foam Insulation panels, so I picked up 12 40mm thick Sheets. This stuff is ment to be the replacement of the "blue stuff" and "pink stuff" that is commonly used.



I plan on making 2' by 2' tiles that interlock together to form any number of panels in multiple configurations. The plan is to lamenate a 40mm sheet onto 2' by 2' MDF panels and sculpt in valleys, rivers etc into the them, and form hills and cliffs by layering more sheets ontop.

I have 24 MDF panels cut, which should allow me to create a large variety of terrain


So far I have made 6 panels and a mess cutting the foam! All going to plan I will have them finished before Southcon in June so they can be used at the tournament



Im not sure how I will interlock them yet. I have considered large dowels of magnets, but am not sure how well they will preform with the foam. The final result will be great from creating massive Apocolypse tables!

Chaos Dwarf Great Taurus

Yesterday my first Chaos Dwarf model, which is also my first Forge World miniture, arrived.


At first look the model appears to be well cast. I find very few mould lines, and no miscasts! There are a few bubbles generaly on the opposite sides of the injection flutes, but nothing a bit of liquid greenstuff wont fix. Overall it is far superior to any finecast model I have purchased!

Did I mention this thing is huge?

Unfortunatley, when I test fit it together, I find there is massive gaps between the bull head and body. the rest seems to be fine, but it will take a great deal of effort to fit the head nicely including some sculpting, an art I'm yet to master. I would like to say I am disapointed, but I am very keen to find out what this material is realy like to work with and I have been looking forward to this model every since it was previewed...

I should realy be painting up another 3 Necropolis Knights for The Horned Rat V coming up in a little over a week...

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Necron 2nd Wave Spotted

The expected second wave of Necrons has arrived!


First up is the Triarch Stalker, looking every bit as good as the artwork in the book! Jury is still out if they represent a good choice or not, but with little competing in the elite section I think many people will be selecting this simply for a good looking center piece. I'll be buying one of these.


Next up we have the Tomb Blades, and Wow! Sign me up for 10 as this model is one of the best ive seen from GW's plastic range. They capture the artwork perfectly and remind me of the Droid army in Starwars! And everyone secretly wants their own Droid Army bent on galactic domination. Such a pity they compete for the fast attack slots as there are already great selections available. I hope the weapon options are easily magnetised.


What sure to be the most popular selection in the Necron Codex, we have the new Canoptic wraiths. Yourve read the rules, yourve fought the proxies, ladies and gentalmen I introduce 2012's best selling plastic kit! With 3 to a box im sure many people will be buying 5 sets (including me).


Last but not least are the new Canoptic Spiders. A vast improvement over the old metal turd, but not looking to much larger these lil fellas offer a heavy support option that any Tyranid player would be jealous of. A T6 St6 monsterous creature for 50 points! Poor little bug army keeps on getting nerfed years after the book release...

Looks like Im going to be busy this next month as a friend of mine wants to borrow my necrons for a doubles tournanment in June. Hes just lucky Ive already entered in the Fantasy section as this new plastic krak is getting the juices flowing, and thats saying alot since its 40k!

Wednesday 18 April 2012

76000 point Apocolypse Game

Over the long easter weekend, I got together with a few like-minded friends and some new ones to participate in the largest 40k battle we have had yet.


I only recently started 40k when the Necrons where release, jumping on the wagon and getting me some Dead Egyptians in Space! Only having a paltry 2-3k of my own, I begged, borrowed and stole a few extra models, and ended up contributing about 5k points.


On one side we had the Imperial defence force, comprimising of Imperial Guard, Space Wolves, Dark Angels and a few other unamed chapters, vs the Xenos of Necrons, Tau, Tyrannids, Grey Knights and some Black Templars for good measure! Each side was 36k points, with a further 3k or 4k (the Black Templars) turning up on day 2 to the side which was holding the least objectives at that point.


We bid 10 minutes for deployment, whereas the opposition bid 15. We managed to deploy the majority of what we wanted to in the time alloted, reserving the rest, whereas our opponents ran out of time and ended up having over half their forces in reserve. They did however get the key ones out, ie the reaver Titan, the 2 Warhound Titans, and most of thier artillery.


Some Key formations and models included:
A reaver Titan
2 Warhound Titans
7 Baneblades
A Doomsday Monolith formation
A Harradrian
A Herodule
An endless swarm!
A Tau Tiger Shark
About a dozen Tau Railgun Bunkers and Emplacements
Over 15 Landraiders
Somewhere in the vicinity of over 50 railguns!
Dozens each of Whirlwinds, Basalisks, Predators, Carnifex, Hammerheads, Vindicators....
The list goes on....


Initial deployment looked a like this. The table was approximatley 27' x 5' to give you an idea of the scale....

Instead of a blow by blow, I noted down some of the highlights from my (The Necron) perspective.


Highlights turn one

Lightning rains down from the veil of darkness bought by the Stormlord destroying multiple predators, rhinos and dreadnoughts,  plus taking a structure point off a baneblade, devastating several marine squads and incapacitating many more vehicles.

Monolith formation turns many space wolves into emerald green corpses


Marines storm the far right objective nestled between multiple railgun bunkers wrestling it from the control of the Tau

The skies light up with re-entry trails as it rains drop pods. Multiple dreadnoughts start to wreck havoc behind our lines.

The Reaver Titan targets a Necron formation incinerating 16 warriors, only for 13 to get straight back up!

Grey knights push forward on the far right hill inflicting many casualties and securing both objectives only to be pushed off by counter attacking Marines

Both Warhounds, and multiple artillery from the enemy open up on the tyranids, almost wiping out the endless hoard of gaunts.


A squad of Necron immortals light up a baneblade and take a structure point off on the left flank

Highlights turn two

Scarab swarms having survived turn one unscathed, assault one of the warhound titans, stripping it of all armour and reducing it to a bare frame!


The Stormlord fails to control the skys and the veil lifts. A cryptek ignites a solar flare blinding the enemy resulting in a massive reduction in firepower

Tau fliers arrive and strafe the enemy artillery positions, but fail to find their mark!

Genestealers erupt from all the terrain on the far left and threaten the enemy objective

Tau railgun emplacements make beautiful vapour trails in the night sky, but fail to find any targets! (there was about 40 railguns)

Bjorn the fell handed is immobilised and stripped of his weaponry


Grey Knights absorb a massive amount of firepower on the right hill with multiple objectives, but still manage to stick around contesting one.

Screamer killer carnifex formations wreak havoc on the advanced tank companies in the centre reaping a hefty toll for little return damage

Reinforcements arrive in the centre battlefield to cover the three central objectives

The Necron “Death Squad” arrives to shore up the centre via a veil of darkness blocking the line of advance. It proceeds to get bombarded by several basilisks and the Reaver Titans apocalypse template sustaining a lot of damage, however all but two hits are reflected on nearby Space Wolf units damaging rhinos, and killing over half a dozen marines. The two casualties suffered by the lychguard proceed to get back up and continue the advance…!


A dreadknight engages an immobilised Lemon Russ demolisher and fails to do anything but embarrass itself

Landspeeders enter from behind the monolith formation and reduce one of their number to a smoldering pile of slag.

Highlights Turn three

The immortal squad takes a further structure point off the baneblade, that’s 2 in 2 turns!

The scarabs having received a few casualties, and after feasting on the first Warhound, find the range to the second one and proceed to reduce its armour down to 4 on the front. They then score 15 penetrating hits reducing the warhound to a smouldering wreck. The ensuing explosion catches a single base from the swarm. Whirlwind firepower annihilates all of the swarm (a little to late…)

The Genestealers are all but wiped out on the left


The Necron “Death Squad” multi assaults some rhinos and a space wolf veteran squad. The vets proceed to kill all their own without a single blow being landed by the necrons thanks to mindshackle scarabs

Another space wolf vet squad (only 4 strong) assaults a warrior group. They cause 6 casualties in return for 3 wounds. The Necrons hold and pile in. several of their number stand back up!

Solar flares cause further havoc with the imperial targeting systems

Grey knight Stormravens move forward into position ready for turn 4 counter-assaults


The last of the carnifex formations dies to a hail of heavy weapon fire

Bjorn is ignored!

Using a strategym, a warlord Titan re-enters the fray and engages a lonely assassin, squishing her without even noticing…

A Tomb stalker finds its mark on the immobilised Lemon Russ that the dreadknight failed to scratch and promptly flips it

The monoliths and necron warrior squads light up the landspeeders and exact a heavy toll for destroying one of the floating pyramids

The Dreadknight, after failing to scratch the Lemon Russ, targets a Baneblade only to fail once again miserably….

Highlights Turn four

Bjorn is still there, flailing his arm about…

The Tomb Stalker, after fixing what the Dreadknight failed to do, finds the baneblade that the dreadknight also failed to dent, and proceeds to open it like a tin can…


More solar flares once again hurt the long range firepower of the imperial forces

The two remaining monoliths target the Reaver Titan scoring direct hits and removing two void shields. With a lack of immediate targets in range, some razorbacks that had entered on to secure the far left objective on our side add their weight in firepower removing the remaining void shields and causing some minor structure damage. Communication channels open and the Tau light up the Reaver with all available marker lights. Two Railgun batteries coordinate their firepower into one devastating strike, at absolute maximum range (and I mean 179” out of 180” range) fail to roll a one to hit (and I mean fail to roll a one, as that’s all they could do beforehand) causing a chain reaction and destroying the Reaver in a massive explosion, which takes out a bunch of marines and guard!

The Endless hoard re-enters the the board shoring up our left most objective


The Imperial forces throw up a smoke screen stratergym which stops any shooting or targeting through its veil. This caused the Monoliths to find an alternate target, which resulted in the loss of the Reaver

Grey Knights move the Stormravens into position disgorging their contents to force the enemy off the three central objectives and try hold them for the final turn




The Result?


It was 3 objectives to 1 with 2 contested on the top of turn 4. Victory went to the Xenos! team


Im now pricing up 2 or 3 Necron pylons and how to flesh out my forces to 10k points. With the leaked necron 2nd wave in May and the rumoured next Imperial Armour book being Necrons vs Space marine Minotours, things look good on the horizon for my necron forces

Saturday 14 April 2012

K'daai Fireborn Available for Pre-Order

Obvious title is obvious!

Head Shot... there is a lot of detail that is not obvious from the leaked pictures


I hope they inspect all the armour detail before shipping them, as there is alot that could go wrong



Wont stop me getting this fella though


After seeing these I've officially started my Chaos Dawi army...


Monday 2 April 2012

Forgeworld 2012 Open Day

There's been some really amazing stuff spotted at the Forgeworld Open Day this year.

Apparently the next Warhammer Forge book will be "Battle for Black Fire Pass" centred around the events of the third battle in the history of the Empire, with all three contingents represented
ie Empire, Dwarfs, plus Orcs and Goblins


I for one am looking forward to this book!


Finally GW (well at-least an offshoot) are doing a campaign book on something other than freak'n Chaos!

Some other interesting pictures....

New Kaadai Fireborn



Artwork of Kaadai Destroyer




Some more tasty gribblys

The artwork and sculpts coming out of Warhammer Forge are simply amazing. I'm getting that pokemon feeling... Gotta have em all!