WOC release - Movers and Shakers edition

So some interesting observations have been made with the new WOC stuff going up for pre-order on the GW website

There is a few movers and shakers in the WOC force organisation

Forsaken are listed under core
Chariots are also now core
The chariot beast option is special
As is the re-release of the SoM Chimera - wait! an unmounted monster in special (yay for 5th edition)
The new big gribblies are sitting under rare
And rejoice, the Hellcannon is still there (some people where worried it would be cut)
Also, interestingly the war altar has moved into special....

Neodymium Magnets Banned in NZ

Title says it all really. 

Yesterday the government made a knee jerk reaction and banned the sale and import of high powered magnets in NZ citing potential harm to children. 

More information can be found here.

http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=102226

They cite us being the third country (even though NSW is the only state in Australia to have a ban in place, and for children's toys only) in the world to ban them. 
So no longer can we purchase magnets for our miniatures thanks to a brainless few.

New Finecast Formula?

Everyone knows by now what a failure the Finecast launch ended up being, with warped moulds and models missing large parts in detail, not to mention how frail the material is. Models once made in metal but now converted to finecast carry a nice premium on the second hand market thanks to all the problems of what has been dubbed "failcast" by the market.

However of late some people have been noticing less miscasts and a harder, more durable resin being used on finecast miniatures. The models have a bit more weight behind them now as well. Has GW changed the formula for finecast on the sly? Is it now the same material as Forgeworld resin? I for one am interested, as I do not mind working with Forgeworld resin at all. This really came to the fore with the recent Dark Angels releases, some noting how heavy the new casts of Sammael on his jetbike are, and the lack of miscasts.

One can only hope there is more substance to this

Rumors - Daemons and Fliers

If you bother to follow the rumour mill you would have hardly missed all the contradicting 'ideas' floating out there in cyber space at the moment. A quick recap and we have:

Daemons! Consisting of a dual release for both Fantasy and 40k both in hardback. Models are rumoured to include a Bloodthirster and Great Unclean One in plastic! with finecast upgrade kits to make special characters. A new Nurgle unit that is like a plaugebearer on a fly? and a Chariot with an option for some sort of flaming cannon (although this last one has mentioned the Tzeentch getting the cannon option). Theres also plastic furies on the horizon according to some.

Some interesting stuff here, and my take lends me to think that we will get the two new greater Deamons in plastic with some sort of options in the kit to make a special character (think Emperor Karl Franz) with the other two being released later in the year in a wave. A new Khorne chariot that is a dual kit, but its hard to believe it will have a ranged option on it as this is unusual in Khorne fluff (at least in fantasy). I believe we would then see a flying Tzeentch chariot pulled by screamers with a flaming cannon (dual kit as well) with the second wave greater Daemon release. Don't know how to place the Nurgle Fly-ers. Suppose this could be a  the replacement for a chariot option or will we see a Nurgle chariot in a second wave?

The Daemons do get my blood running as I have been wanting to brush off my Daemon army ever since the new Slannesh chariots where released, so I am secretly hoping the plastic Greater Daemon rumours are true, as I am not a fan of the current GUO and BT.

The other rumour rearing its head at the moment is another flier wave for 40k consisting of the Dark Eldar Void Bomber, a Tau flier, the Harpy and an Eldar flier. Whats unusual here is that its 4 large plastic kits in a month. As far as I can remember GW generally releases only 3 plastic kits at a time, so lets just hope to be pleasantly surprised.

As for timing, there is a huge amount of conflict here. But I would put a penny on Fliers wave for Feb and Daemons in March (Pre order late feb). I can't remember the last time GW did back to back books for fantasy/40k.

I guess we will all find out early next week when the WD gets leaked

Necron Rules Clarification - iPad only?

So that clears that up (although people who argued against it where just a lil butt hurt...)

But interestingly enough, this update is for the iPad.  The above image is a screenshot from the latest Necron Codex update on iPad. Will we be seeing another round of FAQ's going up soon on the GW website? Or is this a new trend?

Latest FW News Letter - Warhammer Forge Update

Warhammer Forge Newsletter # 34

11/01/13

	Hi there,             Over the past few months we’ve had some great Warhammer Forge releases, most on a monstrous scale! This week we’re going to shrink things down a little with the release of a new resin character set for the malicious and spiteful Night Goblins, which is available to pre-order now. Night Goblin Command Set Prevalent throughout the Old World, the Night Goblins of the Worlds Edge Mountains have developed into a sun-hating sub-species of the greenskin race. Considered particularly vicious and cruel for their kind, they are infamous for their cultivation of dangerously hallucinogenic fungus and their skill at rearing the bizarre and improbable Cave Squigs. Individually cowardly, when Night Goblins gather in massed ranks they are renowned for their maliciousness, and it is the Night Goblin Warbosses and Big Bosses that most epitomise this bullying spite, having risen to their position through treachery and backstabbing. In battle it is common for one of a Warboss’s underlings to be given a tattered, filthy and terribly ostentatious battle standard. Unlike the proud colours carried by other armies, the primary function of this banner is not as a symbol to rally around, but instead to boast of the power and majesty of the Warboss himself. The most powerful (or most foolhardy) of these warlords sometimes ape the heroes of other races, and ride to battle on Great Cave Squigs, hand-reared at the cost of many dozens of Night Goblin handlers. The natural ferocity and toughness of these obnoxious beasts is also often augmented by crude armour plating, bolted and nailed to the Squig’s thick hide. Night Goblin Shamans are sinister and crazed individuals, due to their consumption of huge quantities of the powerfully hallucinogenic fungus for which the Night Goblins are renowned. Their spells are malicious and spiteful, much like the Goblins themselves, and often accompanied by unnecessary additional effects such as puffs of oddly coloured smoke, obnoxious smells, and overly loud bangs. The Night Goblin Command Set, designed by Keith Robertson, contains three multi-part resin models: a Night Goblin Warboss on Great Cave Squig, a Night Goblin Boss carrying a Battle Standard, and a Night Goblin Shaman. All are packed with fantastic and characterful details, from the severed beards and skulls of slain Dwarfs, to the heroic, martial pose of the Warboss and the malicious grin of the Squig he’s riding, to the sign of the ‘bad moon’ forming in the smoke billowing from the mouth of the Shaman. This fantastic character set is available to pre-order now for despatch from Friday 25th January. Thanks, Ead Brown Customer Service Manager Forge World

A New Beginning

So this is my first post for the new year, after a very quiet blogging month in December. I had not found much time at all to do anything hobby related during the silly season, much to my disappointment, and the world didn't end, much to my amusement!

So 2013 starts off with a big self serving xmas present to myself in the form of a new army...

After spending all of 2012 marching the dead legions to war, I am starting on a new journey for 2013. I achieved all the goals I had set myself with my Tomb Kings at the beginning of the year. Often regarded as the weakest of the new books and a bottom tier army in the competitive arena, I managed to get a tournament win (4 wins in the end!), made it to the masters tournament, and get selected to team NZ ETC 2013.

This year I enter the slave trade. The Dawi Zharr will march forth from their Ziggurats in the far east scouring the lands for more victims to toil in the blasted forges of the fallen ones. Not only will my new slavers see the light of the old world, so will my retired army of Daemons come to the fore when/if the rumoured new book arrives this February. 

These will be my major projects for the year. In addition I have some other things I wish to finish off. I started making a modular gaming table mid last year that typically never got finished. I also have my Horus Heresy legion that I started, although I am wavering on the actual legion, I want to get 1500-2000 points done by 2014 (I have quickly begun to hate painting yellow). There is also the apocalypse scale Necron army that needs to be refreshed and finished.

So my New Years Hobby goals are

• Build a Chaos Dwarf army
• Rebuild my Daemon army
• Finish my modular gaming table
• Finish painting my Necron army
• Make a 1500 point Horus Heresy Legion
• Buy and paint a Titan (or something else as epically scaled)
• Find some other project to throw me completely off my other goals 

Some hefty goals to achieve, and probably unrealistic knowing how good I am at procrastinating. Somewhere in all that I hope to finish painting my Tomb Kings which sit 90% done.

And I guess I should throw down my gaming goals as well, since I do enjoy the competitive side of Warhammer. NZ has such a great WHFB community at the moment and a tournament environment that has solidly moved into the little to no comp environment.

• Attend 3 NZ WHFB Tournaments
• Win a NZ Tournament
• Achieve a podium at NZ Masters (providing I actually make it that far!)
• Attend the ETC

I would also like to organise and/or run a tournament this year, but thanks to my location I do not think this is a realistic goal. 

At the end of the year I will dig this post up gain and see how well I have done.

Oh and lol puppies will feature this year. You have been warned.