My Hobby Lair

Hello Chaos fanatics and mutant scum! Welcome to yet another fatal and furious edition of Chaos Corner. Old Man Chaos is here for a look behind the curtain if you will. This will be a bit of a look into my hobby life. A look into... THE CHAOS CORNER itself. If you are not prepared for this, turn back now... otherwise, get ready to see horrors beyond imagination...

Recently, my wife and I bought a new house. The house had an unfinished basement that was the footprint of the house. All my life, I have wanted a man cave, complete with big TV, videogames and... dedicated Warhammer space (that is NOT common for a man cave huh?). I really wanted a place where my hobby flag could fly; a place where I could leave my Warhammer out for all to see.

In my previous house, I had a painting station on a desk in my bedroom. All of my armies were kept in foam trays and boxes in my basement. The aforesaid basement was an unfinished basement filled with all my family's stuff. I had a gaming table down there, but it made for a crowded basement. Furthermore, there was a boiler down there and as my friend Pete often said, when the boiler was on it felt like the gates of hell had opened down there (very fuel inefficient too).

At any rate, that was then. Let's talk about now. My wife and I had visions of doing work on our house (new kitchen, etc). The basement beaconed to me---- but would it be feasible? So after a lot of discussion with my wife, and planning and more discussion, we came to it. We would divide the basement into two halves divided by a wall (with a door, obviously). The one side would be laundry, etc. The other half would be my man cave. I would finally get my chance to have a dedicated hobby lair.

First and foremost, was the table. As my loyal readers know, I had some great friends and family build a suitable table. I have made one alteration to the table since then. I got some felt and added it to the sides of the table. These are my "rolling lanes" for the dice. While throwing dice on the war gaming area is nice, the truth is I hate "cocked dice", and I really hate the dice hitting into my lovingly painted (and sometimes delicate) models. Hence the rolling lanes. Now I put the felt so that the table is protected. Further, it makes it look really professional LOL.

The other rolling lane can be used for rolling dice, or as we do, use it for command points, cards, books, dead models, etc. Having the two lanes on either side of the table really gives the table something special. If you are going to build your own table, I strongly recommend a 4x8 table (rather than the traditional 6x4). My friend Joe, who has a gaming table of his own, says that the rolling lanes make a huge difference in both keeping things organized and keeping the game moving (again, no cocked dice, no dice knocking models around).

Another thing that I did was really try to utilize the space under the table for my terrain. Over the years I have collected a ton of terrain. Personally made terrain, odds and ends, GW terrain, friend built terrain, etc. I can't store it all under the table. So I did the best I could, organizing it so I could maximize the amount of terrain that was under there, but having it still be accessible. I got some boxes for the terrain, and used them to add more storage space (terrain won't spill out of the box).

Around my table I have placed some Warhammer art. I found a couple of pieces on Amazon that I really liked. One is a winter scene from one of the Dawn of War games. I love it because it is just so evocative of the Guard, as well as the cold environment. My second piece of art is one of the new renditions of THE battle of the Horus Heresy, with the Warmaster fighting the Emperor with Sangunius laying "dead" in the background. This is the largest art piece and it is near the center of the table. I think this is THE moment in Warhammer, so it deserves the special prominence. Interestingly (and unintentionally) the grey color in the art is similar to the paint color I used on my walls... The third art piece is the Chaos symbol with the artwork from 3.5 edition codex for the Chaos gods. I saw this and said how could Chaos Corner not have this on the wall?! LOL

Finally, I have several pics that I cut (literally) out of the old edition rule books- how many do you recognize? And I have two that came with the box sets of special characters. They just needed an 8 1//2 x 11 frame each. Small, but still effective for my purposes.

Next up in the Chaos Corner is my 40K model display cases. The cases are from Ikea. They go together pretty quickly, though I recommend having at least two people putting them together- I thank my brother for doing that with me. At any rate, I have (many, but not all) of my models on display. Again, this is something that I have always wanted to do- have my models out for all to see.

I have in my cases Ad Mech, Khorne, Thousand Sons, and of course, nearly two cases of Plague Marines (and that doesn't include Plague Zombies). My Ultramarines are not on display, as I let Brian use them and thus they are kept in carry cases.

Up next is my painting station. It is still just a desk, buttressed by two bookshelf units. I get to place extra models and paints on these bookshelves because... its my Chaos Corner and why not? Previously I couldn't have done that. Now I can. I have all my 40K books and White Dwarfs in easy reach too so I consult while painting.

That is the first half of my Chaos Corner. The other half is my multimedia setup. I have connected most of my old videogame systems up to my TV. I can now play my old TurboGrafix 16 system then switch over to my Super Nintendo! Again, a dream I have always had and has now become a reality.

Finally there is my collection of autographs that I have gotten from various ComicCons and I-Cons and the like. I am particularly proud of my George A. Romero signature. I also have Darth Maul, the Emperor, Captain Kirk, and more! I am happy to display these in my Chaos Corner.

So here is the whole thing: 

Well, now the curtain has been lifted, and you can see the complex operations happening in the Chaos Corner. I am very happy to share my gaming area to inspire you as you build yours. It took a long time, and a lot of work, but is such a pleasure for me. I am grateful to my wife for supporting me in what I wanted.

Until Next Time...

Some Pics: Blight Drones and a Great Unclean One

Hey there everybody! I've got another edition of Chaos Corner here for your perusal. I may have to up my game here, if GW is going to publish a WD every week... Hehe. I really have no clue if those rumors are true or not (can GW actually publish once a week? Even if its only 32 pages? Online downloads, sure. Printed? IDK about that). If the rumors are true, the monthly mag will have more modelling stuff, so that pleases me.

At any rate, I have been taking some pics of some of my older models with my new pic-taking setup (a Christmas gift from my brother). He got it from Cowboy Studio. It is really cool, as I have never had anything like this. It is a very simple box with backcloths and small lights, but it is just so easy to use and looks so cool- it is perfect for taking pictures of miniatures. It makes my work in taking pics so much easier, and the pics look so much cooler. I love it. If you are interested in taking pics of your models, check out Cowboy Studio. You may or may not like it, I'm just saying you should check it if you want to take "more professional" pics.

So, I decided to take some pics of my "older" Nurgle models. First up, lets see the Blight Drones. I really dig these models. Yes they are Forgeworld, and at the time they really couldn't be used in regular games (can they be used now? What FW book will I need to use them in 6th edition?). Even if I wasn't going to use them that much, I really wanted them. The models just looked too damn
good.

These models just scream Nurgle. Part machine, part daemon, all scary looking. A contraption that is part organic and part fan blade. I just wanted them as a part of my army, even if I didn't use them. They were a bit pricey if I recall, so I only got 2 (1 would be bad, three too expensive). I just don't know how people can afford to build whole armies with Forgeworld (says the man with a Titan).

They were quite easy to put together if I remember correctly. I used metal rods to have them hovering over their bases (I never use the plastic ones, as they always snap- just ask my Ultramarine Land Speeders). I had one be higher than the other, just to give the illusion that they are hovering irregularly.

As for painting, I painted them kind of like how I was painting my army at the time- a green base coat with Rotting Flesh and the like over it. I was careful to leave the mottled look for the shells and the fan guards. The eye was yellow, as I wanted to give it that mechanical yet sickly looking sensor/eye.

I decided to do the flesh differently. Perhaps its a different daemon in the machine. Perhaps they are in a different state of decay- who knows. One I decided to do flesh colored, while the other I did grey and purple- giving it a more deathly look. I used blood and yellow ink to do the sores and whatnot.

Finally, the rust was done with my old standby- dark brown, orange stippling, and boltgun metal. I suppose now the new effects paints would make that much easier, but hey- at the time it was a great method. The blades in particular look good on these bad boys.

I know I have used them in a couple of battles, in particular my Bachelor Apocalypse game. But, they are really cool, and look good with my Death Guard army.

The other model I wanted to show today is my Great Unclean One, which we affectionately call "Jimmy". Why Jimmy? That calls for a short story. Back in the day, as I was building up my Death Guard Plague Marine army, I wanted to add some daemons (back then, you'll recall, they were in the same book).

So, I sat down with my friend Pete to discuss this addition. I wanted to do something different, and I suggested that I'd like body parts reaching out of the Greater Daemon, as it would look like he consumed them or absorbed them or something. At this early point, I had NO putty skills, and didn't know how to carry out the vision. Pete said that he would do the conversion for me- and seeing the final product got me to learn putty work (that and I hated the bland looking metal Death Guard that had been released for 3.5/4th, and putty was the only way to make them better).

When Pete was done, I was awed. The putty work was amazing, and the thing looked so twisted- perfect for Chaos. After playing several games with him (later on), Pete called the little zombie thing in the Unclean One's stomach "Jimmy". Thus, the name stuck, and he would always be "Jimmy".

The painting was what would be my "typical" Nurgle. Dark Angels green base, with successive layers of Rotting Flesh. I used their old inks for the wounds and the "wooden" horns. I was careful to pick out the maggots and whatnot.

The eyes would be what I would always do for Nurgle daemons- red, white, and black (which I think I got from an old WD). The sword I also did with metal and inks. What really sells the model is the conversions- the zombies were done with brighter flesh tones- are they a part of him? Inside him? The paint makes them stand out a bit, but I also blended to make the zombies look like a part of the model.

When all was said and done, this was one of my favorites. The teamwork of conversion, the paint job- it really became a great part of my emerging Death Guard army. He had been a mainstay then, and he evolved to be the heavy hitter of my successive Daemon armies- the guy is currently a beast. Give him psyker levels and bam! The guy is almost unkillable, and he deals out punishment of all kinds. Nurgle himself would be proud.

So, perhaps I'll be back next week with some more pics of other models. Like I said, if WD is going weekly, then I have to try to keep up- Ha ha.

Until next time...

Building my Khorne Bezerker Army Part I

Hey there Chaos fanatics! How's it hanging? I'm doing just fine- a bit busy with work, Warhammer, and all that other fun stuff. As I had promised previously, I was going to begin to show off my latest hobby mission, the Khornate World Eaters army for 40K.

I discussed earlier as to why I wanted to try my hand with the followers of the blood god, and I'd like to elaborate. I wanted an army that functioned quite differently than my Plague Marines. The Death Guard are solid at firefights while also being tough in close combat. With World Eaters, I'd have to rely most extensively on close combat. They are also different from my Chaos Daemons- the Daemons are close combat, but they can deep strike in fairly close and go from there. As for my Dark Eldar, well... they have a ton of speed to get up the battlefield. Thus, Khorne Bezerkers represent a far different challenge: they must get to close combat, but they have no fancy tricks in getting there. In this new edition where transports are fragile and there's overwatch when charging, a Khorne Bezerker force is actually quite a challenge, one that I am looking forward to getting to grips with.

Then, there's the look, which is, again, quite different from what I'm used to. I loved the Plague Marines because of the startling imagery- rotting, bloated marines looking all kinds of nasty. When GW released the metal box (2003/4-ish? I forget) I didn't care for the look- I liked the metal from 3rd, but that was a heck of a way to build the army. I decided instead to use the plastic as a base and went wild from there. I'll save it for a different article, but suffice to say I did a ton of conversions, putty work, and more. For this Khorne army, I love the plastics. They have such a range of motion, cool helms, and great, heavy looking chain weapons. Thus, I didn't' have to convert nearly as heavily as I did with the Plague Marines.

However, being a Chaos fan and a long time converter, I simply can't NOT convert or kit bash ANY, now can I? Of course I did some work in this regard. As I assembled the Bezerkers I mixed and matched a ton of parts from other kits. I've been collecting all things Chaos for so long, that I have a ton of useful bits. I used parts from Khorne Bezerkers (natch), Chaos Space Marines, the ye olde mutation sprue (I still love that sprue), Old Fantasy Chaos Warriors, Possessed, Spawn, and more. I decided to give many of them axes (chainaxes* or not- doesn't matter- Khorne Marines should have huge damn axes!!). I used fantasy axes to accomplish this, sometimes using the whole arm (patchwork armor taken from fallen warriors and welded together), or I just cut off the hands and swapped. I also used a few fantasy helms, just to shake things up. I used Possessed bits to make some of the Bezerkers stand out (I am working on dedicated Possessed, which will obviously be much more mutated).

Putting it all together, I have been very pleased with the results thus far. The Bezerkers look solid- they have motion, big ass axes, a bit of variation... Yep, I'm very, very happy. They look vicious, as the followers of the blood god should. I feel that (thus far) I have captured the Khorne look, as distinctively as I captured the Nurgle look.

So, you have been looking at pictures of my first squad. The squad has a Champion and two plasma pistols. They also have a Rhino to bring them to the fight. In a future article, I'll discuss my approach to the vehicles (why do they have those doors? Haha- a long story for another time). I'll also delve into my painting techniques (it was tough to get that type of red- I was being very picky). I will post again with shots from my second squad, as well as others as I finish them.

Hope you've enjoyed- comments and criticisms are welcome. Until next time, my friends...

*Note: I think Khorne Bezerkers should have big blades and axes. This whole chainaxe is an upgrade  thing sucks- each individual model may purchase? That's like saying some Plague Marines get Plague Knives, but other don't have to- what the? Whoa- that sucks for converters/modelers- plus, there aren't that many chainaxes in the box. How about this, all my Bezerkers buy it, or none do? No half measures- would that satisfy WYSIWIG?

Brief Review: The New GW Paints

Hey there Chaos fans! I'm back with a brief look at the new Games Workshop Citadel paints. Of course, I've been excited by the news of the release. I am particularly excited by the new lines (like texture) and the return of the inks (only 4, but still...). So, naturally, I went out and bought the new How To Paint Citadel Miniatures guide/DVD and a whole batch of new paints. Does this new line reflect an improvement over the old GW paint range? Or is this just a GW cash-grab? Let's find out, shall we?

I am very, very impressed with GW this time. This new range of +140 paints is just staggering. Now, I can be critical of GW (I've had articles here showing folks how to SAVE money, I've criticized GW for allowing Chaos to fall by the wayside, etc.), but I must state for the record that these new paints are amazing. Whether you're a veteran painter or someone just starting, these paints are great. Even if you're like my friend who uses Vallejo or Reaper (I have too from time to time), there are things in the GW range that you will find useful. I'm going to give my impressions of each of the types of paints...

1 Coat of Khorne Red

Base: When GW released the "Foundation Paints" a few years back, they were somewhat mixed. Some were great, while others (like Macharite Red) still took a few coats to get right (without being streaky). This time, GW has gotten the Base Paints right. The paint goes on nice and even, and the color is well-defined with just one coat. In these two examples, I have painted Khorne Red on the Blood Slaughterer and Caliban Green on the Nurgle Sorcerer. I am very impressed by the Khorne Red, it's a great color and just one coat looks smooth and deep already. Great stuff here!

Shade: The Shades are similar to the washes that GW released a couple of years ago. They work about the same, though there are more to choose from. However, I feel that their coverage is much better than the old washes. In the example, I used Nuln Oil over a Scab Red cloak. The results are striking! Look at how deep it makes the garment look.

Layer Paints: Now, I certainly haven't had the time to try all of these out- there's a ton to choose from. However, I must say that the couple that I have used thus far go on really well. They are bright, clean, and go on nice even over black. I have already tried Wazdakka Red (which IS brighter than Red Gore, FYI)- it goes on nice and smooth. I am dying to try Wych skin- it looks like a great layer paint for my Dark Eldar Bloodbrides skin.

Texture Paints: I must confess- I hate modeling bases. I find it tedious to PVA glue sand, let it dry, then put a thin layer of glue to seal it, and then... blah blah blah. All of my Plague Marines have bases, but as I went onto others, I either bought pre-done bases (like my Khorne Daemons skull bases) or simply stopped basing outright (like my Dark Eldar). Now, here comes the new Texture Paints. I am very, very happy here. The Texture Paint allows you to make a dirt base in just one sweep of the brush. The dirt in the paint sticks right on, no glue or mess required. If you want only a little, just put on some. If you want a lot of dirt, just paint more on the base. It is so simple. An operation that used to be tedious and take time now just takes an  hour (I waited to really let things dry). In the examples below, I used Armageddon Ash Texture, followed by a wash of Seraphim Sepia, followed by a use of Tyrant Skull Dry paint. The results are great, and only took a brief amount of time. This may be one of the cleverest things GW has ever made, and I will now be basing ALL of my Dark Eldar like this straight away. If that doesn't show you how impressed I am, nothing will.

Dry Compound: Now, dry brushing is a fairly simple technique. However, these new "dry compounds" make that process even easier. The material is fairly thick, rub it off the brush and you get a very nice and even drybrushing effect- no huge streaks. For most experienced painters this is no problem; however, the variety of colors that they have for this are different from their regular colors, so that the right set up of base, layer, and dry brushing can have a powerful combination. I used dry on the bases (after the Texture Paint and shade was applied)- it went on nicely 1 2 3.

Glaze: Kind of like the inks of yore, though not quite as thick and not quite as many. However, these glazes do indeed serve their purpose well- they go on and color the model with a stronger hue than had been. I missed the old inks, and it is nice to see GW bring back the big ones. Here, I used the Green glaze on the Medusa's tentacles, while yellow on her exposed brain and eye.

PS- The book, How To Paint Citadel Miniatures, is a very good book for the beginner. I bought it to learn more about the new paints and their uses. I also like to get new ideas, techniques, and inspiration from books like this. The book did well on all accounts, and the DVD that comes with it goes along with the book, actually showing you the techniques described in the book, and the slice of British humor certainly helped. Its a nice product, though a bit pricey AND if you are a really experienced painter, you may find that this book isn't worth it. However, if you just appreciate looking at nicely painted models and enjoy reading about others techniques, then this book is right up your alley. Of INTERESTING note, they show NO 40K Chaos Marines in this book. None. They mention Nurgle and Khorne (They show a daemon, but that's it), but they don't show ANY Chaos Marines, Vehicles, etc. If you suspect that they'll be bringing out the new line of Chaos soon, I think their lack of inclusion here IS evidence of that... At any rate, I'll give the book 3 out of 4 Marks of Chaos (subtract 1/2 if you are too experienced for this book, considering the price tag).

Until next time, my faithful disciples of Chaos...