Looking forward to the open day!

Ah the Forge World Open Day! We go every year and usually come back with armfuls of resin goodness and a thousand photographs which sit unpublished on my computer!

Not any more! 

This year The Hobby Butterflies will be attending as usual, but we shall be publishing pictures of our discoveries, news of our purchases, and summaries of the conversations with the FW design team.

A butterflies worst Nightmare

The FWOD is a day where, placed in WHW with a credit card, I ponder the multitude of choices in front of me.

The list of things I could buy is big this year! (Handro: Speak for yourself!) I clearly need to get Ixion Hale!  I have 2x5 custodes on sprue and think Ixion is the man to join them into a cohesive fighting force - In my head that means it is a project which is all bought, and jsut needs building and painting....easy right!

The new Blood Ravens character we all know and love from the Dawn of War series finally takes physical form and is, of course, very tempting also! I haven't decided on my 40k marines/Primaris yet and the Blood Ravens would be a mighty fine option...alternatively, it is a gorgeous model that can be carved up as needed - see my upcoming look back at my conversion of the Primus Medicae!

I also like the look of the three new Sicaran variants - two of the three we have already seen! The Arcus is my favourite and is already up for pre-order; it certainly looks like the plasma variant will be available on the day too!

The above are all, of course, known about and already available - what new stuff will we see? Well it looks like we have news on that too!

Clearly Custodes is the theme!

The aquilon pattern terminators are gorgeous models! I am undecided between the two variants although the infernus firepikes certainly have the nostalgia factor. Considering the size/on table power these guys have £49 isn't too bad really.

The sisters upgrade set is also nice, I have 5 sisters, and another five would be a nice addition with this upgrade set - not too high on my list though.

We can see the two Sicaran variants top right - the omega looks a little off at first glance - Ill need to get my eyes/hands on it directly I suppose.

The dropship is VERY nice! I know that my good buddy Handro has some views on the new custodes line of vehicles but this is a nice touch - Although for that money a Lancer comes first!

Adding to the IIIrd

I keep threatening to add to my IIIrd legion boys - Fulgrim and some more Phoenix guard terminators would be very pretty! As would a Stormeagle to fly them around in!

I keep threatening to buy a Lancer too...one day...

Circles-within-circles

The XXth legion are everywhere! I have several parts (including Autilon Skorr) lined up for a potential XXth Legion project and keep meaning to pick up some XXth parts.....is this weekend the weekend?

Things to look out for this Sunday! 

- Our live postings from the FWOD!

- Necromunda/specialist games news

- Titanicus (surely due some news now!)

- news for the next black book (Bangles and Dangles!!) 

- 30k 7th Ed rules book

- Valdor? 

- new models!

- A bag full of grey stuff to add to the list.

We will probably do a hobby day "live stream" on the monday, with pictures and an updating blog post during that day of our hobby progress!

Der H

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Project Update - Bolt Action Winter Terrain

Had a go today at making a flexible gaming mat from canvas and silicone....needs work but it is progress! The silicone has shrunk a little but the table is slightly bigger than 4x6 so hopefully I can cut it down to a nice 4x6 mat.

Trying to work out a method for snow:

1. White paint and have done with it!
2. White paint/filler and have it thicker over certain areas?
3. White paint/Caulk/sand mix in some areas - flexible and raised
4. Flock?
5. Someone on Facebook recommended Aleene's 4oz Speciality Glue - True Snow...Has anyone any experience with this product?

What do you think?

I also got some trees onto their bases. I have 18 of these in total - made from Gutter guard (a tutorial might be something I do later....) They fix into their polystyrene bases pretty easily.

I'm hoping that this board can be finished with mat, scatter terrain and all the snow flock by the end of this next week. However I have some long days and some night shifts coming up, not to mention the Forge World Open Day 2017!

What are your thoughts guys?

Der H

Project - 40k/30k Trench Board

Yet another (but not the last!) terrain project I have on the go. Brother Handro and I have a narrative campaign on the go called "The Battle for Grandia" . It is the invasion of the Grandia system and more specifically Grandia Viridis  by the forces of the IIIrd legion. Loyalty and allegiances are complex, and there may even be a rift in the IIIrd legion forces...but more of that to follow...

Grandia Viridis is an agri world, and most of our games are played across fields and farm machinery, but I wanted to make some game boards to represent the more 'dug in' areas of the campaign - region spanning dug in fronts where the imperial militia/Grandia defence forces could wage longer wars of attrition, cities defended by trench works, the usual.

The boards are all 2"x2" and each have a road on one edge. This can be a central highway, smaller access roads and can be arranged in a variety of ways quite easily. It's all mounted on regular (and cheap!) polystyrene, with trenches cut into the board. The trenches are deep, marines heads stand proud but most guard/human scale models are well hidden so trench steps will be a feature in due course.

Metal trench walls, sandbags and mud is the main theme and, if I say so myself, it works quite well!! 

The fields are made from a large coir doormat, but here in lies the problem - there are some big areas of mud in between full fields but no debris/detritus!

Now clearly the trench boards need finishing, there needs to be some scatter flock to represent some of the greener expected. I'm even likely to cover the road in grit and re-paint it to add an asphalt texture

My dilemma is this...should I shred some coir mat/natural fibre plant liner and make crushed broken crops in all of the flat muddy areas?

It would let me put in tracks of vehicles to show that it was all fields and not just bizarre planting methods.

It would allow me to bury some plastic humans/drums/barrels/czech hedgehogs and wire as casualties/detritus of war.

What do you guys think? 

How are you finding the blog?

Comments welcomed!! 

Der H 

Thought of the day: " How can a man understand and appreciate the time of peace when he has never been in the trenches of life."

Review - Bolt Action - Battle of the Bulge Campaign book

Everyone else seems to review stuff so I guess I'll jump in too!

As war-gamers we (many of us!) surround ourselves with books related to our little plastic/metal/resin men. Forge world books are my main vice - they do look pretty when all lined up!

Over the weeks and months of this blog I want to take a look at various campaign/rule books, from new releases from FW right through to ancient tomes like the Angels of Death Codex - more on that another time.

Today I wanted to take a look through the 2017 Campaign book: Battle of the Bulge for Warlord Games' Bolt Action rule set. 

The cover, as with several of the books released by Warlord/Osprey, has a mat finish with gloss characters. As expected it comes across as finished, designed and gives the impression of a really professional product! 

The inside is FULL of fantastic pictures of Bolt Action miniatures in nicely finished terrain. The sand bags, the trees, the snow; it all makes me want to make some Bolt Action Battle of the Bulge terrain (cough!).

Those who own previous Bolt Action publications will be used to the other style of image found scattered throughout; the Osprey drawings. These give a great sense of the conflict they describe and are a nice contrast to the miniatures for BA. 

Of course the real reason we buy these books is for the rules, scenarios and the new unit entries!  The Battle of the Bulge gives each of these in good measure.

The narrative and their associated scenarios give a good overview of the historical details of the conflict including the initial setup right through to what would be one of the largest, and possibly most gruelling, battles for the US forces. There are 12 scenarios, from the early stages including the fleeing German forces are nicely covered with rules for ambush missions and art-stealing trucks, right through to the Colmar pocket. The French/Belgian forces take a significant role in this book and to me, as someone who mainly wanted this for the 101st Airborne side of the conflict, was a nice surprise.

The Bastogne section is one of the sections which will get the most love I imagine. The Band of Brothers episodes which cover this stage of the conflict are some of the most popular and the emotional interviews with those that served there still resonate with us. 

The description of the conflict around Bastogne covers the 'feeling' of the conflict well, and the scenarios around this stage of the battle are thematic and flavoursome.

Foy; this assault is a famous scene and stars one of my favourite characters in the history of the 101st - Spiers. The stories that surround this man are open to discussion, but they help convey some of the legendary moments of this particular theatre. The story of Spiers taking over Easy and leading them on having been stalled in the open is one thing, but running through German occupied Foy and then running back must have been genuinely unbelievable to those that saw it. It would be easy to make his rules cheesy or to have them unbalance the game, but the guys at Warlord have made an interesting character. He counts as a Captain to represent the remarkable leadership he was known to show, and he conveys two special rules. One allows a nearby unit to remove a pin marker when activated, very useful to keep units in the fight, the other allows a 4+ save when Spiers is removed as a casualty - if he passes he doesn't die but continues the fight!! 

Foy isn't just about Spiers; it has a host of other special rules attached which I will review at the end. 

Spiers is also not the only special character. The Germans have several, including SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Joachim Peiper who is of course represented by the direct order model which comes with the book if purchased from Warlord directly. He has some nice, subtle rules and also has access to a Panther...(Der H: Handro! build your Panthers!). Others included are Sgt Jose Lopez and Sgt McNiece.

There are also a number of rules for extra HQ choices which took my fancy - one is the chaplain. I'd associated the chaplains with actions in Northern Europe - again the visuals from BoB of the priest performing the last rights on the wounded in Carentan stick in my head! They aren't really for combat but will allow a similar pin removal mechanic to Spiers - a nice touch in this game. 

The other I immediately liked was the intelligence officer - an HQ unit upgrade (attached to an HQ unit) which allows, on a successful role, the choice of a dice from the bag at the start. This could be open to some cheesy lists if coupled with Spiers and a chaplain but then again, going first isn't necessarily better, and once you go it's then one less dice in the bag - good mechanic Warlord! 

Other units to catch my eye were the Feldgendarmerie, US military Police, non-combatants and the Ersatz units. The latter have some nice articles on Warlord here and here.

Extra/Special Rules! 

This book, as with many of the theatre books, has a special rules section in addition to the rules scattered throughout. These include;

- Rifle Grenades - a nice little addition to add some nice cinematic moments to your games, especially for infantry heavy lists.

- Snow - rough ground

- Mud - this includes a mud table with effects for vehicles and artillery - don't get buried deep!

- Frostbite - pre-game casualties (brutal) and a further modifier with cold weather clothing.

- Poor weather and Fog

- Foxholes/Dug in - a nice set of rules to cover the cinematic effect of units being dug into the tree line

Summary:

This is a great book. Mark, Alessio and Paul should all be very proud. If this stage of the war interests you - BUY IT!

Der H

Though for the day: "Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish The justice among men and nations. Amen" - Father J O'Neill

Project Update - Lord Commander Eidolon

Step up Brother Handro, I'm in the lead (with my one model...)

I spent some of this afternoon starting to block out some of the colours on this guy, as well as tidying up the purple/adding a wash.

It is quite a nice kit to paint, although some of the recessed areas are difficult to access. I like the additon of black to the standard purple/white/gold theme the IIIrd have going on. I try to use the black panels to represent the more corrupted areas of the legion, whilst the palatine blades and the purer sections tend to get some silver panel work.

I also made some progress on his base. I want it to be worn, rusted and ruined to contrast the pure brilliance and perfection of Eidolon (Der H:"A difficult task with my painting skill"). It needs to dry and be drybrushed with silver to finish it off but now it has magnets it is nearly there!

What do you guys think so far? Feel free to comment below or over on my blog at Bolter and Chainsword.

Der H

Project Update - Blood and Plunder Terrain

Huzzah! We have an ocean!

I was going to use the canvas/silicone trick to make a flexible mat, but the paint adhered so well to this other sheet I had, well, I just left it!

It has a heavy brush of lighter blue and then white to make it stand out. I might leave the tan coloured edges....looks more like a map!

What do you guys think?

Der H

Project Update - Bolt Action Winter Terrain

This weekend saw some more progress on my Bolt Action/Winter terrain set.

Brown paint flock and some other tidying took a lot of Saturday evening

The White edges around the ploughed fields are filler - this might need painting prior to application of snow but I might be able to take a short cut.

The white discolouration in the mounds/foxholes is PVA drying. They've been re-sealed and hopefully once dry I can crack on with snow and snow flock. After that It's time for winter tufts and then we are (dare I say it...done!)

What do you think? Comments accepted and encouraged!

Der H