White Dwarf 373

Finally....some 40k content!! Don't know about everyone else, but I've about had enough of Skaven. It seems like it's been non-stop Warhammer Fantasy and Skaven for the last few months and I for one am jonesin' some 40k goodness. Well thanks GW for February's White Dwarf. I just picked mine up and it's chock full with Blood Angels and 40k treats, including a Battle Report, Apocalypse Datasheets and what looks to be a great article on the Armageddon war. Check it out!!

Blood Angels - Progress

Here's an update on my Blood Angels projec that I started last summer. I've put it off for a while, but with the new stuff coming out, I thought that I'd put a little time in on it.

Mephiston

Sanguinary Priest

Tactical Squad w/ multi-melta, flamer

Tactical Squad w/ missile launcher, melta gun

Assault Squad w/ melta x2, pw & plasma pistol for sgt

Baal Predator

Dreadnought w/ assault cannon, heavy flamer

The goal here is to hurry up, get caught up and complete my other projects.

Season of the Witch

I got a couple of hours to myself last week, so I thought that I'd take in an early matinee while the wife was having lunch with her lady friends and the kids were in school. Nicholas Cage's new flick, Season of the Witch. It was much better than I thought it would be.

It's the story of two Templars who become disillusioned with the devastation that the crusades are causing and become deserters. They are caught and imprisoned while making their way back home. Their only chance for freedom comes from a plague-ridden cardinal who needs an alleged witch transported to a distant abbey where a ritual can be conducted to help end the curse of the plague. As a fan of Templar history (fictious or otherwise), I loved the story and the eerie demonic/witchy elements were very cool as well. Good special effects that were not overdone just added to a well written adventure. I thought it was a good, balanced mix of action and story. I recommend it.

Got a New Game Today...

So I ordered a copy of FFG's Dust Tactics and it came today. I've been checking this game out for a few weeks now. Doing internet research, reading testimonials and game reviews and most of importantly, looking at the figures that come with the game. I was able to download the rules and read through them, finding easy and straight forward. Nothing complex at all.

Just at first glance, there's a few things that really reach out and pull me in. First, the back story is just awesome. It's set in the 1940's, during WWII and the Nazis and their Axis allies have discovered a crashed alien ship and used the technology to develop superior weapons. The allies have done the same, but not to the same level as the Axis. The second thing that I love about this are the figures. The robot tanks and soldiers are just amazing. They come pre-primed and in two colors: green for the allies and gray for the axis units. They can be painted and their was a limited number of deluxe versions of this game produced with painted figures, but at $300 or so a pop, I'm not too worried about getting one. Most of the sources out there are stating that it a knock off of AT-43 (which I own, but have never played). The story and the figures that come with the game took me back to my childhood and I found myself fondly remembering playing with my plastic army men on the kitchen floor. Yeah, you old timers know which army men I'm talking about. Well, this soldiers are way way freakin' cooler than those.

The rulebook is a short 24 pages and it comes with a quick start rule card, some plastic terrain pieces, a campaign book and 9 of those heavy stock game tiles that are used as a game board. I'm still going through the contents, but I'll be playing a couple of games. Over the weekend I'll be setting it up on the dining room table and testing playability for myself. I'll post images then.

Back in the Saddle....er, I mean Rhino

I assembled my Crimson Fist Tactical Squad and after adding a few bits here and there, and a little more filing, these guys are ready for primer. I'm looking forward to getting started on painting this squad with the new colors. I went with the metal shoulder pads because the decals don't settle too well on the plastic shoulder pads even using microsol.

For the basing, I used a mix of GW Sand and a Coarse Brown Ballast made by Woodland Scenics that I bought at my local hobby shop. I think the GW stuff is too fine to be used by itself, but that's just my two cents. At least now it looks more like what I would imagine as the rocky surface of another world.

Off Topic....Comics

In an effort to inject a little more variety into Kantor Base, I wanted to share another childhood passion of mine: comic books. As kids, I spent countless summer hours on the porch reading the latest adventures of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and dozens of other heroes in both DC and Marvel universes. It's a past time that I have honored and enjoyed even to this day. But recently, with the upcoming Green Lantern film looming on the horizon, my love for comics has increased exponentially. After a brief and intermittent break from regular trips to the comic store to pursue other hobbies, I returned to the world of super heroes and sank my teeth into the Blackest Night series of graphic novels.

Blackest Night was a story arc that started a couple of years ago in the Green Lantern comic book. It tells the story of the walking dead in true DC Super Hero fashion. A dead DC character by the name of Black Hand is resurrected and is using the power of an artifact called the Black Lantern to raise dead heroes and villains from the dead. And as tradition demands all of Earth's heroes rush into action to save humanity.

This honestly has to be one of the best stories that has emerged in the comic book industry in some time. The story is awesome and the art simply kicks ass. I'm about two thirds of the way through and I can barely put it down. I'd check it out. It's awesome.

Getting Started on Resolution #3

I got a chance to stop in at the local Games Workshop to spend one of my gift cards and I noticed a Crimson Fist army on display. It, quite honestly, blew me away. I forgot how cool a fully painted Crimson First collection looks on display. The hobbyist (whoever he/she was) had a nice mix of plastic marines, metal veterans and some of the newer Forgeworld stuff throughout the force along with some cool conversions. I also really liked the shade of blue on the armor. I inquired and as luck would have it, the staff there had the color combinations used.

I ran home a painted up a test model. I was much happier with the way the test model looked as opposed to previous attempts at painting the army. So, I decided to begin keeping my resolution and got to work on my first unit of Tactical Marines. So stay tuned for more Crimson Fists stuff.