Chaos Corner... On YouTube!? It Can't Be!?!

Hey there Chaos fanatics! Like the title says... it is true. The legions of Chaos have been vomited out of the Eye of Terror, and even now they strike out against the Imperium! The forces of Chaos Corner have taken over YouTube!!! Nothing will ever be the same again! LOL

Seriously, I have decided to take the plunge and do YouTube. Now, this will be to supplement Chaos Corner, not replace it. I will still do plenty of blog posts, showing off miniatures, terrain projects, pics of recent games, reviews, and all the other things you have come to expect on Chaos Corner. However, I am itching to try my hand on YouTube. I have seen so many videos on line for 40K- great battle reports and other hobby videos-they have inspired me to try it out.

So my first video is decidedly Un-Chaos, I must say. I show off my Adeptus Mechanicus army as a whole (which I have not done yet on the blog). I didn't do ANY editing or have music (which is trickier than I thought on YouTube). I will be experimenting with all kinds of things as time goes on though.

Here is my channel, be sure to check it out- Corners of Chaos

Let me know what you think of my first YouTube video! Hope you enjoyed it. 

Until next time...

Space Hulk

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new installment of the blog you never asked for- Chaos Corner. Now, we all know that the warp consumes all- everything is taken by the Immaterium. But, every once in a while, the Sea of Souls gives something back---- in this case, a dreaded Space Hulk!

This has been a project I have been working on for the better part of 2 months. Now, I can hear already what you're saying "Come on, Old Man Chaos- this game was released years ago! You mean you haven't done it yet?!"

Too true. Too true. The game was released in late summer 2009. I have owned it for that long, as a matter of fact. Sad but true story to follow: It was August of 2009 and the rumors were true: GW was going to make a new version of Space Hulk, with gorgeous models and gaming boards. However, just at I pre-ordered it, I experienced a family tragedy. My father passed away after a brief battle with cancer. I recall my friend Joe talking to me about Space Hulk after my father's passing; Joe was obviously trying to take my mind off things, but it wasn't working, for obvious reasons.

So, when I got the game, I opened it and looked at the contents, but I just couldn't seem to be able to sit down and paint the models. I just couldn't at that point. So, I gave my friend Pete the Broodlord from the box and then put the thing in my basement. And forgot about it pretty much. Every once in a while I'd look it over, maybe even read the rules. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess it just reminded me too much of my father.

So, fast forward to this past winter. GW announced the new game, Deathwatch: Overkill. This box looked simply amazing. The Genestealer cults?! I have always loved that idea. And I am a fan of the Deathwatch. How could I not get this game? So of course, my wife ordered it for me. As soon as I got it, I immediately put all of those models together.

But then it suddenly occurred to me... I said to myself "Self, wouldn't it be cool to do Space Hulk? You could paint the Tyranids in the same way you did for that commissioned work from last year... Paint up Space Hulk, then Deathwatch: Overkill, and you could do a huge "campaign" based on these Tyranid board games..."

Of course, I always listen to the voices that whisper to me (that's what got me to the Chaos Corner in the first place). So I dug up the Space Hulk set, opened the long closed box, and began modeling away... Everything but the Broodlord was there. Heck, the corridors and markers hadn't even been punched out yet.

My first order of business was to put all the models on bases. I figured, IF I ever wanted to use them for a regular 40K game for what ever reason, I could. Plus, I felt it made them look better, and the bases fit well enough on the Space Hulk corridors. This way I could handle them by the base, not by the model itself.

I painted the Tyranids first. I used the same technique as I had on that commission I did last year. The skin was painted white and then washed with Sepia all over, and then some Earthshade in the recesses. I painted their chitin armor I did in blues- Altdorf with a blue wash, highlighted with more Altdorf and Temple Guard, and then I did the blue glaze over it. I also went to town adding copious amounts of green slime and blood. I also added some corrosion to the metal corridors that the Nids were walking on- for all the rust and grime on these old Space Hulks.

The Blood Angels I painted in the same way that I did for that commission (which I never got a chance to take pics of before the guy needed them). Their basecoat is naturally Mephiston Red, with a wash of earthsahde, with more Mephiston over it, with successive lighter highlights.

I didn't do anything too fancy to the Blood Angels. After all, they are Blood Angels and they should look a certain way. No experimentation or anything here- just straight up Blood Angels. I did add some character in terms of adding Tyranid blood (slime) on their power fists.



In particular, the guy holding an eviscerated Tyranid head and torso was a lot of fun to paint. The bone/blue makes a great contrast with the red armor, and the green slime accentuates both, pulling your eye to that poor dead Tyranid.

I also had fun painting the Librarian. I have never liked the idea of painting them blue, as I felt that made them look too much like Ultramarines. I decided, in this case, to paint the armor Blood Angel red, however, I painted the shoulder pad and psychic hood blue, in honor of the Librarius. Thus, he looks like a Blood Angel, and yet he stands apart and is very distinct.

I also enjoyed painting the dead Blood Angel on the command throne- it was a bit of a hoot for this old Chaos player to paint up a slain servant of the false Emperor lol. But seriously, it is a nice model with lots of detail that I enjoyed painting.

All in all, with this many models, it took me nearly 2 months off and on to paint. I enjoyed it, but at times I was getting tired of painting so many damn Genestealers. One good thing about the Deathwatch box is that there is some variety among the Genestealer cult, which I will have a lot of fun painting. And the Deathwatch marines have so much character, and I look forward to bringing that out as I paint them.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed painting Space Hulk, but at times it was more a labor of love than just hobby fun. I guess 'Nids are not the army for me then LOL. I need another army like I need a hole in the head.

At any rate, I am greatly looking forward to playing Space Hulk with my friends, or even taking the game down to my local. I am planning to start Deathwatch within the next month or so- I have a few other projects simmering that I must attend to first. As it turns out, I have quite a bit to assemble and paint over the summer... But as soon as I do Deathwatch I will show it off here.

Until next time....

My Latest Mechanicus Stuff

I know its been a bit, but I welcome you back to Chaos Corner. I've been so busy for the past month or so. Sure, I've been able to paint and stuff, but I had very little time to blog. I have also managed to play in both a tournament and a couple of one off games too. Not too shabby.

As I said, I have been working on several things. One of them is a bit of a "project" that I'm going to show on a future installment. That "project" took longer than anticipated. It wasn't that it got tedious, but it took quite a bit of doing. More of a labor of love than anything else. As I said, I will be showing that soon enough.

Unfortunately, that project took time away from other things. Ultimately, once I finished the big project, I dove back into Mechanicus. I really love the army, though I got some mixed results at my recent Tournament; I'm still learning the rules and the options.

 I do wish the 2 codexes would be put into one. Having 2 books for it is really, really dumb; frankly, neither half is really complete without the other, as I discovered at the tournament (I had taken ALL my units from the Cult Mechanicus book, and I discovered their limitations big time).

So, let us start with my Kataphron Destroyers. Now, these guys are nasty on the battlefield. If you equip them with Grav, you are getting a ton of shots- whatever they shoot at is going to have a bad day (unless I'm rolling poorly, which happened at the Tournament, sadly). The Plasma Calivers are also pretty nasty, though I have an aversion to small templates drifting. But if it hits, it is devastating. You can also mix and match them in a squad (something that I haven't tried yet, but is really interesting).

So, as I had a box of Kataphrons that I had not assembled, I decided to make two Gravs and 1 Plasma. I figured that each of the Grav could go with my other grav squads (making two 4 man grav squads), and the Plasma joined my 3 man Plasma squad (thus making 4). Theoretically, I could have an 8 man squad of Grav--- talk about overkill! I wonder if a large grouping has its merits, or am I better off with MSU? I will have to try both approaches.

I really like this model and how they look uniform, and yet can be made to look more distinct with head swaps and weapon poses. I deliberately left the servo-arm off the smaller guns- just to further distinguish them from others.

They really have a lot of firepower, and at T5 they really can't be ignored, but can also be tough to kill, especially if you have them in cover or with a Tech-Priest Dominus. Combine that with Canticles and the Kataphrons are a great troop choice.

However, the Cult: Mechanicus book lacks speed. I took a list to the Tournament that was all Cult: Mechanicus and a Knight Ally. Now, I blew chunks with my Knight at the tournament. I couldn't make a 4+ ion shield roll to save my life, and my Knight blew up in all 3 rounds of the Tournament.

As this happened, I saw that the Cult: Mech units are all very slow. Tough, but slow. I love the Kastellan Robots, but since they can't deep strike or anything, have to slog 6" all the way. Same is true for the Kataphron Destroyers (Breechers can Deep Strike IF you take the formation- and I haven't yet as I don't have enough Breechers for that formation). The army has lots going for it, but without transports, it is a slow army.

But in Codex Skitarri- there are the Ironstriders and Dragoons. These are units that move fast and are actually much more formidable than one might think, considering they are open-topped walkers. In the few games I've used them, they have done very well. In one, they took on a Lord of War character (can't remember which one now- Draigo I think)- they got him down to one wound and then the game was over. They tied him up for two turns! He could have done a lot of damage before the endgame, and the Dragoons more than paid for themselves by keeping him out of the bigger fight. After the Tournament I decided to get a bunch more of them, so that I might do the formation with them.

 But to do the formation I had to build some of  them as the Ironstriders- these are walkers with either auto or las cannons. I think these guys may also be very useful, particularly in the formation. In tandem with the close combat walkers, moving 9" at a clip- they can be both mobile and hard hitting. If all these walkers target one vehicle or unit, I suspect it will indeed be dead meat.

As I have said in previous posts, I have envisioned a whole bunch of walkers supporting my Imperial Knights. I just love the idea of these "knights" charging into battle with their mechanical steeds. The mental image for me is very strong, and I am determined to make it a reality. I am not even considering it to be strong tactically or not- I just want these guys storming over the table! LOL

So, now I have 4 of the Dragoons and 2 of the Ironstriders. Ultimately, I would like to get 2 more Dragoons- this would enable me to do 2 squads of 3 or 1 squad of 6 (that must be brutal on the charge). I would also like 1 more Ironstrider, so that I could have 3 twin-las or autocannon shots to support the Dragoon charge. 

I also recently finished a squad of Skitarii Vanguard. Thus far, I only had a squad of Rangers, so I realized I really need to bulk the troop choices out a bit. I decided to do Vanguard, so I could try out the other troop option.

As far as the models look goes, I like the Vanguard better. While the Ranger hoods are nice, I feel that the Vanguard look far more mechanical than the Rangers. They look more mechanical with that extra metal head exposed. I also like that their regular guns are shorter than the Ranger rifles, which gives the Vanguard a sleeker look.

I gave the leader a power sword and an Arc pistol, while the 2 special weapons are Plasma and Arc. I think both of those special weapons are quite useful. I also gave one an Omnispex. I was inspired to paint its lenses as red, blue, and green by the 1950s version of War of the Worlds. The device made me think of the Martian probe in that film- since the Mechanicum are based on Mars I thought it was appropriate.

Well, that's all I got for now. I have plenty of other projects in the pipeline, so I'm sure you'll be seeing them on here sooner or later. Until next time...