An update in the Christmas aftermath

I had a wonderful Christmas break, and I'm feeling very relaxed. I took some painting up to my parents' house. I did not need to sneak away from my parents, although there was a very helpful guide  to escaping your family provided by Joeyberry for those who need it.

I got a few gaming related presents which I will mention here. The non gaming related stuff was also lovely, but this is my gaming blog, so you only get to hear about the gaming related things!

The first thing to mention is the board game Lords of Waterdeep. I've played it before and enjoyed it, so happily added it to my Amazon wish list. The premise is that you are a significant figure in the D&D city and to try and take control of the city, you gain political capital by sponsoring adventurers to complete quests for you. I would heartily recommend it!

Sim got me a Dark Vengeance set, which is wonderfully generous. My only panic is that it will stuff my painting progress this month! I have some plans, though, and intend to do a little bit of kit bashing to deal with the few duplicates in the box, which should be fun. Have I said how wonderful my wife is enough yet?

Finally, I got Imperial Armour Aeronautica. It maintains Forge World's high standards, and I'm very happy with it. It does favour the Imperium over the Xenos and Chaos, but that doesn't affect me much. The campaign is a nice filler, but I don't really expect many people to actually be using the rules and missions from it given the number of fliers you'd need to be able to do anything with it!

You should see a little more hobby in the blog from the progress I got over the holiday season. I hope everyone had an excellent holiday period, and has a wonderful New Year.

Some thoughts on 'Counts As' Adeptus Arbites

 

I've been thinking about how to run some Arbitrators in 40K. Now, with the advent of allies, there's a lot more flexibility in how you can do this as you can steal from one army's list to help another.

Imperial Guard

You can quite easily put together a squad of Imperial Guard Veterans as Arbitrators. They can replace their lasguns with shotguns, upgrade them to carapace armour, give specialists grenade launchers and the sergeant a power maul.

Sadly, there's not much more you can do - although I might consider a Priest with an Eviscerator as a "cyber mastiff", although I'm not happy it's the best representation of what the model should be doing.

Space Marines

Space Marine Scouts are the other solid option - they start with carapace armour, and can take shotguns easily. Sadly, they lack the grenade launcher upgrade available.

You can also get Arbites bikers by using Scout Bikers. You get shotguns as standard and carapace armour, and some real potential for mayhem with a locator beacon.

Grey Knights & Sisters of Battle

I'm putting these in together as its effectively the same rules you're using for both - Arcoflagellants for cyber-mastiffs and Crusaders for shock squads with power mauls and suppression shields - whether from a Battle Conclave or an Inquisitorial Henchman Warband.

Both have restrictions in taking other models - the Battle Conclave is not a Troops choice so you would need to take some Battle Sisters as well, while the Henchmen either need Coteaz to make them Troops or some Grey Knights to go with them.

So, those are the units you can potentially use as members of the Adeptus Arbites - but how would you use them in a force?

All Arbitrator Force

For the greatest variety, you're probably best placed putting Space Marines and Imperial Guard allied (it doesn't overly matter which way around). You'll have a lot of scoring units from the Marine Scouts and the Veterans. If you want to up the close combat punch, using the aforementioned Priests with Eviscerators as Cyber Mastiffs.

You can certainly take a Marine Captain with a Storm Shield and Power Maul as a good Judge, and from the Imperial Guard side you can easily have a "Detective" Primaris, a Commissar Lord "Judge" or a Command HQ as a Judge with a bodyguard.

Hydras or Leman Russ are good choices for Heavy Support, with it not being too hard to justify a Vendatta as an Arbites gunship.

Marines to the Rescue

One good option for a theme list is to take a pure Codex Marines force, but with the Scouts and Scout Bikers as Arbitrators, holding out on the planet against the evil invaders - perhaps a Fortress of Redemption as the "Precinct House"?

The Marines get held in reserve, whether Terminators or Drop Pod troops - and they can then rock in to "save the planet" from the evil invaders as the Arbitrators were preparing for their last stand!

Forces of the Imperium

This is about coming up with a way of fitting as many different branches of Imperial Forces into a list as possible. Imperial Guard & Space Marines is your best bet again, but you should be able to fit in the following;

• Imperial Guard
• Space Marines
• Adeptus Arbites (any of the counts as mentioned above)
• Imperial Navy (Master of the Fleet, Valkyries & Vendettas)
• Adeptus Astra Telepathica (Astropath, Psykers)
• Departmento Munitorum (Commissars)
• Adeptus Ministorum (Priests)
• Adeptus Mechanicus (Techpriest)

I have some ideas on how to kitbash a few Arbites, but that is definitely something for the future. I hope these rambling thoughts have been helpful. Does anyone have any other suggestions for units?

Christmas Treats

So, with the intent of sharing some Christmas cheer and inspiration, I thought I'd share a few blogs and sites I've come across recently which have been impressing and inspiring me.

Do You Have a Flag? and Palladian Guard by Headologist and Colonel Scipio
I have mentioned these blogs in the past - they've been the inspiration for my creative writing (I hate the word 'fluff') around my army. I also see some awesome modelling and kitbashing going on, and even better, they're both Guard players!

Inquisitor 28
Legion of Plastic
Spiky Rat Pack
Tears of Istvaan
Oh my goodness.
Each of these four blogs turns me into a slightly embarrassing fan boy. This is the kit bashing I've always had in my head as to what I want to be working towards, but I've never seen it done so well or in such quantities. The fact that they're also playing Inquisitor in 28mm just adds to the mild hero worship I'm currently suffering from.
These four blogs are my absolute "best of the 'net" right now, and I think for good reason.

Indiegogo and Kickstarter Campaigns
If you were wondering what to spend your Christmas money on...
I already spent a bunch of money on the EDEN Indiegogo Campaign, which is going to make up Sim's slightly late Christmas present when it finally arrives...
My wife is a massive Eden fan girl, and the campaign reward doesn't just cover her Christmas present, but also my starting a faction. When this all arrives, expect some happy blog posts as I to through all the shiny things.

We then have the Kingdom Death Kickstarter, which is tempting me but I am trying to resist. All the miniatures are very pretty, and the game concept looks interesting. I'm not normally a fan of horror games but the idea of trying to build a community of survivors in a horror world is quite appealing. It's co-operative, it can be one player.

I totally failed to resist Through the Breach: A Malifaux Roleplaying Game, though. I'm holding off right now and trying to be good and not go too mad on what level I'm supporting. I think it really comes down to how much I can save and whether I get enough cash for Christmas to get me a higher level of Stuff. There's plenty of time left, though, so its not something that is worrying me too much yet.

And while on the subject of "It must be mine" craziness, I know it is only a matter of time before I buy Only War and as many of its supplements as my budget allows. I just accept it as a sad reality of life and move on. :)

And as a final note: I get most of my miniature release gaming news from Tabletop Fix, and all my GW rumours from Faiet 212. I don't really bother linking to them much, and definitely try not to repeat what they say - if you want the news with regards wargaming, go there.

In which certain people's habits with blue on blue are discussed (creative writing)

To: Segmentum Tempestus High Command
From: Inquisitor Bernard
Date: 7874912.M41
Theatre: Laxus Sector
Planet: Lambum Obscurum
Security Grade Omega

I would just like to reassure my learned colleagues that the most recent engagement between the 666th Chapter and Captain Rafiq's command was not the matter I referred to in my previous report.

It appears, from talking to the survivors, that Captain Rafiq had most definitely received authentic and genuine instructions from high command to advance into no man's land ahead of the major offensive. The intention was to proceed with a heavy armour to take the positions needed to launch the right flank of the upcoming offensive, particularly a large bunker complex which could act as a forward command base.

The actions of our colleagues in the aforementioned Chapter are shrouded in secrecy, but it would be a brave man indeed to draw any conclusions on their receiving identical orders to secure the same co-ordinates and to make assumptions regarding the presence of Justicar Thawn in their force given his previous encounters with the Tallarn XVI. It is, however, far more easy to be sympathetic to their point that given Captain Rafiq's previous hostility that it was reasonable to assume he would be hostile again when encountered.

This wasteful encounter did at least ensure that the bunker complex was properly secured for the servants of the Emperor - it is now a staging point for our power armoured colleagues.

Captain Rafiq's force (the survivors of whom can have some minor mind scrubbing for the incident to cover a few light issues with seeing things they should not, but a complete wipe is not required) did acquit itself well, despite its defeat. The lesson was most certainly learnt not to underestimate the capabilities of the explosive lances of Imperial cavalry, nor their threat range.

I will express some suspicions as to the identity of the sniper who engaged in a firefight with a Leman Russ tank and won, although I understand they were in turn killed by small arms fire at closer range.

It is my understanding that the conscripts involved in this conflict behaved excellently, and the survivors should be redeployed to fill roles in the depleted platoons. Despite the unfortunate 'blue on blue' their behaviour was without fault with regards to the tactical battlefield situation.

You will notice that Captain Rafiq is no longer in his hospital bed. He and Sergeant James' squad from the Tollo II auxilia have been requisitioned by me for a special mission behind enemy lines as a part of the upcoming offensive. Please be assured that I will be taking all appropriate actions to ensure his personal safety is given the regard it is due based on his faith, actions and loyalty.

Progress in December

I have really started to motor along with getting things done now!

The silos are now fully assembled, although my wife has disputed the "fully assembled" part of that and has confiscated them to fix some slapdash approaches in assembly. She also fixed the broken handwheel on the door, achieving her first thing to do! I abjectly failed to get some pictures of them in all their glory.

...

OK, I'm back. I've taken a photo!

Wife fixing some of my poor construction...

You've already seen the fiction from one of my two battles against Grey Knights - perhaps the other one will come soon!

A lot of this month I've been doing some painting on one of Sim's commissions - just getting the base coating done to save her time. I'm only really doing this on commissions for friends right now - I feel like people are not just paying for the paint job, but for the sheer awesomeness imparted by the miniatures being in the presence of my wife. I got a bunch done, but they aren't due for a while, so I've put them to one side once they began to get to me, and moved on to something else.

(This does, notably, indicate to me that I really shouldn't take up commission painting. The idea of an external deadline just takes all the joy out of it, when I'd far rather switch to another project when something starts to drag...)

So, this afternoon, having put away the other work, I hit my own stuff. The Vindicare has now had a lick of paint as I try out the method of painting black suggested in the Eavy Metal Masterclass. It's looking good so far!

I've also got a little progress on the Imperial Beastman:

Fur now washed....

You'll notice I've taken off his right arm for painting - that's now glued to a lollipop stick for ease of access. I also got all the bodies, heads and horns that I need for the two squads I'm planning on putting together. A Catachan Battleforce (for all the muscled arms you'd ever need) is now on my Christmas list...

The Collodi crew now have more paint on them. I realised when I got them out again that I'd been leaving far too much very dark purple on them which just looks black under most lights. I'm correcting that now and going a little faster and being a bit less precious over them. Hopefully this will pay off.

Collodi's hands are still separate. They stare at me, accusingly.

I've also started sorting out my Malifaux corpse markers, in the hope that they'll be a quick win that I can post some nice progress shots of shortly. Also, I need to learn water effects!

I plan on writing up the rest of the entries for the blog this year this evening, and set them to auto post. That should keep people interested and happy!

Also, I passed the 10,000 views marker!

Vast quantities of these views come from the two posts I put up about stuff I found out at Games Day. Still, I'm pretty happy people are reading what I'm writing.

I am hoping that "time spent with family" over Christmas where I won't be able to paint or model can be counteracted by the days I've taken off between Christmas and the New Year, so I won't lose too much progress.

An unfortunate incident (creative writing)

To: Segmentum Tempestus High Command
From: Captain Rafiq, Tallarn XVI
Date: 7852912.M41
Theatre: Laxus Sector
Planet: Lambum Obscurum

As per standing orders, I led a small force (platoon strength plus auxilia) into No Man's Land to seek out  enemy advance forces to engage and destroy. Whilst advancing through the eastern-most reaches of our designated patrol area, our forces sighted a number of unmarked units of tactical-dreadnought class infantry advancing on our units.

Upon receiving this report from our scouts, I ordered our troops to take up firing positions and alerted our air support units. Attempts at contact over authorised hailing frequencies failed, at which point I designated the units as renegade and viable targets.

My force then engaged and destroyed the enemy. There were no survivors. Enemy casualties consisted of over a dozen tactical-dreadnought class infantry and one dreadnought class support walker.

Of particular note is that one of the individuals seemed to show extreme resilience to injury. In particular, Sergeant James from the Tollo II Ratling auxilia placed a confirmed headshot with a needle rifle through the eyepiece of the individual in question, only for him to rise again after a short while. The individual was eventually neutralised by the survivors of 1st platoon bayoneting him repeatedly.

Notable casualties included Lieutenant Yusuf, who was killed by a bolt round as he exited his destroyed Chimera and Commissar Price, struck down in hand to hand combat.

The survivors of the conscript platoon performed admirably, withdrawing from untenable and needless positions before regrouping and returning to the fray more than once. I recommend they be permitted to replace casualties among the full members of the company elsewhere.

I have asked my adjutant to provide you with the usual list of rounds expended, necessary repairs and replacements.

The intent of the enemy force remains unknown.


To: Segmentum Tempestus High Command
From: Inquisitor Bernard
Date: 7855912.M41
Theatre: Laxus Sector
Planet: Lambum Obscurum
Security Grade Omega

Despite his innocent protestations, Captain Rafiq knew exactly what he was doing. My spies inform me that he purchased a map to a "valuable treasure". It appears that our colleagues in a specialist Chapter believed this relic to be incredibly dangerous and sought to recover it, treating others who had interest in it as potentially corrupted.

Justicar Thawn has reported (after he recovered from his injuries) that his Chapter failed to recover the relic, but it should also be noted that the Captain was most angry on his return, so it appears lost. Several scans of his quarters and interception of his private mail seems to confirm this. The Justicar was holding it at the point where he fell as the last Marine active on the field - but it was not found or recovered by either side.

This is a most vexing loss and one that concerns us for the future. The relic poses a potential danger for the future and I fully intend to take this out of our errant Captain's hide. He may be too politically powerful to punish directly, but I will be taking a leaf out of some of his superiors' book when it comes to inconveniently dangerous missions...

November in review (wherein a lot of lists happen)

November has gone pretty well!

Achievements:
- Assembled and Undercoated the Imperial Beastman kitbash
- Prepped and Undercoated my Wicked Dolls
- Prepped my Vindicare Assassin
- Assembled one Sarissa Silo
- Undercoated some cultists for one of Sim's commissions
- Prepped most of Becky's Herald (awaiting some help from Sim with some Green Stuff)
- Prepped & Undercoated the Disc for the Herald

Not done:
- Imperial Beastman isn't finished
- Collodi isn't assembled
- 3 other Silos are not assembled
- Didn't do anything with my Skaven

Reprieve given:
Sim had asked me to prep and assemble some Sanguinary Guard and Kabalite Warriors, but she's now farming that out, so I don't have that on the "to do" list any more.

I've also got a ton of games in;

• 1 game against Space Wolves
• 2 games against Grey Knights (I even got mentioned in someone else's blog post)
• 1 Apocalypse Game

Picture totally stolen from ClauseIV1918

So, that comes to this month...

The wife has asked me to give her a "to do" list an itemised order. Where better to do it than on my blog?

1. Fix the handwheel for the silo door I've already broken!
2. Green Stuff Becky's Herald so I can undercoat it
3. Fix the Valkyrie Door
4. Magnetise the Valkyrie Weapons Options (I need to check if I should paint the other ones first)
5. Fix the Basilisk so it doesn't look terrible any more
6. Fix the Ogryn banner
7. Fix the Ogryn bayonet
8. Help with the Techpriest Assembly
9. There's probably some more but that's all I can remember for now

(Hello love - just the first two this month is all I really need doing quickly!)

I did find a little this month that by setting myself a high set of targets, if I got demotivated with them, I didn't want to do other things because they weren't contributing so much.

So, in an effort to try and be a bit more flexible, I'm going to try and do some of these goals;

• Finish Beastman kitbash so I can blog it
• Sort out another unit of Troops for my Guard?
• Assemble Collodi & progress the Malifaux crew painting
• Progress the Vindicare
• Prep the Salute Mayan for April
• Finish the assembling the other Silos
• Do something with my Skaven

I may also do other things instead, depending on how I'm feeling. Making a hobby a chore is a fast way to madness.

I also have some things I would also like to do for the blog;

• Write up the fiction for the two Grey Knights battles I had, and the Apocalypse Game
• Get some more games in
• Write a blog about all the Kickstarters & games that are looking shiny (such as Eden, Malifaux RPG, and Kingdom Death)
• Talk about other crazy future projects and ideas I have
• Write up the Beastman Kitbash
• Maybe throw out some army list ideas I've had

I also really need to take more pictures for the blog so you have more nice things to look at.