Mortarion :-(

Hey there Chaos fanatics! Old Man Chaos is back with yet another piece of hobby goodness (or badness, depending on your point of view). This article is a bit mixed in terms of my own feelings and sentiments. So let's take a look...

So, I must admit to several things. First, I was really excited by the idea of a Death Guard codex and special releases. I was also greatly looking forward to the new units, the new tank particularly. Of course, I was stoked about the impending release of Mortarion. Especially as I loved my finished Magnus- what a great model.

Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed on all fronts. The Death Guard codex is lackluster. It is very gimmicky with the POTENTIAL Mortal Wounds, but it is not strong, relying on hordes of Poxwalkers (which is fine, but I want an all marine option too). As it stands, the Plague Marines are too expensive points wise. Further the book invalidated things like Heldrakes and the like (I guess you could have a separate CSM detachment for them, but that becomes annoying). The Plaguecrawler is also a lackluster vehicle with a poor ballistic skill. I want to get one, but the rules make it suck in my opinion. And then, there's Mortarion...

I have never felt so torn on a GW model. On the one hand, its great to have another Daemon Primarch on the field. Mortarion is a large model, much larger than Robute Guilliman (though smaller than Magnus, which I "get"). The inclusion of Silence and the Lantern shows that GW pays attention to their own fluff. Finally, the face and gas mask is very nicely done- he looks sickly and deformed, but still strong. Love the face. And his armor is quite cool too, complete with pockmarks and the like.

Unfortunately, I have way too many problems with the rest of the model. First, the total lack of posibility. The model only goes together two ways. One way both weapons are down. The other the gun is pointed (obviously I went with that one). But I am really upset about the poses. I envisioned Mortarion sweeping with his scythe like the grim reaper, rather than it just kind of being at his side.

I am also not too fond of Mortarion's pose as a whole. I despise how it looks like Mortarion is leapfrogging. I know its supposed to make him dynamic. But Mortarion shouldn't be dynamic. His is slow creeping death, not a jumpy and hovering. I imagine him standing all nice and decayed, like a monolith. I also dislike how the cloak holds him up- it just looks stupid in my eyes.

Finally, the other things on the model make it look WAAAAAYYYY too busy. There are way too many censers on Mortarion. One would have been sufficient. As it stands there's just too many jutting off him. And then there's the Nurglings. I made a huge mistake in putting them on his base. I did because he MUST have the two flying ones carrying the censers (otherwise you would have to make some nasty cuts on the model).

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the wings. The model comes with two bug wings, which look similar to the wings on the daemon Plague Drones of Nurgle. On a regular daemon prince they would be cool. But Mortarion needs something bigger and more evil looking. The bug wings just look silly on him. So I added different wings, from the old Balrog LoTR set. He looks more like an angel of death instead of moth man. LOL

The model took me forever to paint. Part of the problem is that it is way too busy and detailed. Deatil is fine, but add on the cloak, the nurglings, the censers, etc... well, it tends to slow painting production down quite a bit. Then there is another issue. Enthusiasm. Or the lack thereof. I was just so not into painting him. Unlike say Magnus or the Bloodthirster, I wasn't too excited to paint Mortarion. I just kept feeling indifferent about the model. No doubt the paint job suffered as a direct result.

So how did he turn out? Considering all of the above not too bad, though he pales in comparison to my work on Magnus or the bloodthirster. It's just too bad I don't like the model more. To me, while I get what GW was going for, it just doesn't work for me. I am looking forward to using him in battle sometime soon.

Sorry if this article seemed to be a complain-fest. But hey its my blog so I'm allowed LOL

I am however looking forward to my next projects. I'm finishing up a few more mechanicus pieces (Rangers with Arquebuses). I also have some of the Plague Marine special characters which I got from my friend Pete. Finally, my wife bought Shadespire for me. I just like the idea of a fast paced game that takes less than half an hour. And I love the models in the set. Reminds me of Heroquest a little bit...

Until Next Time... 

Magnus The... Blue?!?

Hey there Chaos fanatics! Welcome to Chaos Corner. Now, I know I've been intermittent in posting. I've been very busy with house stuff and real life. As I said in my previous posting, I have been working on 40K stuff to be sure. So here is one of the big ones that I finished in recent months...

Magnus The Red. He is one of the best characters in 40K. Tragic, brilliant yet stupid, careful and reckless, selfish and selfless in equal measure. Unlike some characters in 40K fiction, he is very 3 dimensional and complex. Of course, he led his Thousand Sons to utter disaster, and in a way, they have all been paying for it ever since. The idea that a man who valued intelligence above all should see his beloved sons reduced to incurious shells of armor without will or knowledge is just an amazing story.

Naturally, with the release of the Thousand Sons, I got into them and I received him as a Christmas gift. However, I didn't want to paint him right away. I wanted to paint some of the army first, so that I could get a feel for how I wanted the overall army to look. My thought was that since Magnus would be the centerpiece, I should flesh out the army first so that he would tie into it, yet be distinct.

First off, I had to do some conversion work on him. I can't help it; its the old Chaos converter for me. The model is great, if slightly fantastical (which befits the Daemon Primarch of Tzeentch). But one of the things that bothered me was the darn chestplate with the horns. I felt that it made the model way too busy, so I decided to do without it.

As a result of that, Magnus looks statuesque- like a Roman god come to life. For his skin, I wanted to keep it darker than how I painted the Thousand Sons rank and file. So I used Kantor Blue for his skin, with lighter blues for highlights (as I feel that Tzeentch's color is blue). I also decided to make his feathers blue, but a bit lighter than his skin. By painting the wings white, with blue washes over it, making them distinct from his body but also tied in.

The other conversion I did was his open palm. I thought it was kinda silly to have that hand just hanging out there. So after some thought, I went and bought ghosts from Fantasy. I took the two that looked best (and would fit properly) and with a little putty made them sit in the palm of his hand. To me, it looks like he is summoning some kind of warp entity. I also took part of another ghost (the swirl but not the head/arms) and put it over Magnus' weapon, so that it looks like there is wrap energy coming from it.

I guess I just wanted my Magnus to look a little different, especially as he is utterly un-posable (something that is bothering me about the new GW products unfortunately). Anything I could do to make my Magnus a little unique. As for the rest of the model, I used a lot of gold for the metal bits, so that my 1K Sons gold helms and his gold would match and tie them all together.

Last but not least, his hair. I have always thought that Magnus The Red implied not red skin but rather red hair. I figured he had a ruddy appearance, but not literal red skin. (Personally I think its rather silly that he's actually RED). So I decided to go with my gut and make only his hair red. The red starts with Khorne Red and some crimson wash followed by successive brighter highlights. The hair looks vibtant and hot, contrasting nicely with his cool blue skin.

Now I haven't used him in battle yet (I finished painting him in June actually). I have decided to wait on playing Thousand Sons until their codex proper is released (which rumors indicate will be by the end of this year). Then I will field them once more as a force to be reckoned with LOL.

Well, thats it for now. I'll be back with later postings of other stuff I've been working on.

Until next time...

Long Time No See and I did a bad thing... LOL

Hello Chaos fanatics. I know I haven't posted in quite a while. I have had some issues these past several months and they started to catch up with me, so I stopped blogging. However, its a new year and time for a fresh start. So, I figured I'd come back in style. Naturally, I have been working on 40K- AND I have been bad. Yes, perhaps bad. Perhaps weak. You know me by now... how could I resist the lure of NEW Chaos? The lure of... The Thousand Sons!!

Why the hell not? I have Plague Marines, I have Khorne Daemonkin... so why not the Denizens of the Planet of the Sorcerers too? Looking at the models, it is clear that GW have outdone themselves. The whole line is great- the Rubricae are just wonderful- I have always loved the look of the Thousand Sons but had no desire to do metal models anymore... Now, they are plastic and they are great. They have that Egyptian / Thousand Son look, and they have SO much detail. They are truly amazing.

 Equally awesome is the Scarab Occult Terminators. It is great to see real, honest to Tzeentch Cult Terminators. They look great and really match the army look while also being distinct. The Exalted Sorcerer kit is fantastic, with so many options and with interchangeable parts with the other kits that its frankly mind boggling. Finally, there is Magnus himself- Daemon Primarch stalking the galaxy. Wow. We certainly live in interesting times in 40K, huh?

So naturally I could not resist. Funny enough, the Thousand Sons came along just after my birthday but before Christmas- my friends and family got me plenty for both occasions: 4 boxes of Rubricae, 2 boxes of Terminators, Ahriman, 2 boxes of Exalted Sorcerers, 1 box of Tzaangors, and of course, Magnus himself. I also received 2 boxes of Horrors. So, that means I haven't bought anything, besides the book Wrath of Magnus. Not a bad way to build an army.

So, I started with a box of Rubricae. They go together quite easily. You *could try to do different poses, but as they are all automatons animated by Tzeentch and dust, they are methodical and relentless, so no fancy poses are necessary (in fact, the idea that they are posed the same is part of the appeal). Once assembled, I sprayed them. I did NOT want to spray them gold, as GW did in their video, as I DO NOT trust the Metallic Spray Paints nearly enough to try that. So, I went tried and true and sprayed them black.

The armor was painted Thousand Sons blue (which is a vivid but not overwhelming color). I did highlights with Ahriman Blue. Both blues are very good additions to the paint line overall. As far as the armor trim, I used Retributor Gold. Then I shaded with Earthshade, with some highlights in Auric Gold.It is true there is a TON of trim, and that takes the longest on the model to get right (along with cleanup, etc.). Indeed, the gold drove me crazy, but not crazy enough that I'll dare to attempt spraying them all gold. No Chance In Hell.

As far as the headpieces, I painted some of the lines with Celestia Grey as a base, then I added successive layers of yellow. The light grey base really helps in painting the yellow. The alternating blue lines I did Teclis Blue followed up by Deep Sky Blue (from Vallejo).

With the taberds of the regulars, I did Celestia with lighter grey highlights, with Nuln Oil in the recesses. For the Sorcerers, I painted their taberds/cloaks with Screamer Pink, with Nuln Oil in the recesses followed by by Khorne Red highlights. The deep crimson echoes back to their original red armor, before Tzeentch got a hold of them.

For the eyes, I did Celestia followed up by the new green gemstone paint. As far as the stones go, I did either Evil Sunz with orange highlight followed by red gemstone, or I did layers of green followed by the green gemstone paint again. I must say the gemstone paint really makes those parts pop.

Finally, the part that I really thought that truly came together was the bases. Knowing their enemy is the Space Wolves (and my friend Joe has an ice table and may well be starting a Space Wolf army), I decided to do arctic bases. I did Astrogranite, followed by the blue wash. Then I drybrushed a light grey. Once that was done I began to put the new GW snow effect on in big clumps. Thus, the land is mostly frozen, but there is some tundra underneath. Finally, I put little tufts of Tundra Grass from Army Painter to finish the effect. The blue and gold contrast very well with the white snow, and the effect of these slow moving, almost possessed suits of armor slowly walking across the snowy wastes, is complete.

Ultimately, both the Rubricae and the Occult Terminators came out well- they look like they are in the same army, but still different enough. I particularly like the Sorcerers leading them- both from an aesthetic and  fluff points of view. While I have to build up the army's bones more (more troops), I can't wait to paint the Exalted Sorcerers. They will be visually striking, no doubt.

As far as games go, I don't know how they are really going to do. Magnus is a beast, but is unaffordable in smaller games. Sadly, so is the rest of the army. The points are out of control, way too high. A Rubric Marine dies just as easily, and while the inv sv is nice, they will fall in bolter fire just like cheaper marines. The inv sv doesn't justify the high cost. The terminators are also expensive, and to make it worse they can ONLY have AP3 swords, which means they will suck against other Terminators or Special Characters (I really don't get that decision at all).

The only solution to the cost problem is to bring either Tzangors (or Cultists) or ally with Daemonic Horrors (which is fluffy, but boy will that be a lot to paint), in order to make a bigger footprint on the battlefield. Obviously, this is just my estimate, as I have no experience with them on the tabletop. I NEVER play with unpainted models, so it will take me a bit longer to field anything.

In any case, I intend to continue on with the bones of the army. I have already started the next batch of 5 Rubric Marines. My goal is to finish another 10 men squad, another squad of terminators, and then do some of the Exalted Sorcerers. Then we will see where we are at and I can go from there. I can't wait to see a whole army of these guys.

I'll post again as soon as I finish more, which may be a bit (damn that gold trim).

Until Next Time...

Book Review (In Brief): Battle of the Fang

Hey there Chaos fans! It's been two weeks since I've posted (I've been a bit busy, but that's how it goes), but now I've got another one for you. I just finished Battle of the Fang by Chris Wright, so I thought I'd give you a brief review:

I had just finished reading Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett, and I really liked it. No, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I prefer it when Abnett does the unexpected (Legion, Eisenhorn) as opposed to when he's predictable (Titanicus, Ravenor). After reading that saga of the Space Wolves war against the Thousand Sons, I decided to "finish" the trilogy by reading Battle of the Fang, which takes place only 1,000 years after the events of the Heresy (as opposed to being in the 41st millennium).

The book is really, really good. An action packed book that shows how things are going to go from here on out in the "Long War". The Thousand Sons are splintered, with some of the sorcerers still backing Magnus, while the other half has been banished for following Ahriman. Magnus has been plotting for a long time to attack The Fang, the Space Wolves' fortress on Fenris. The Thousand Sons want to destroy it, just as the Wolves ravaged Prospero during the Heresy. Of course, Magnus would not be the chosen of Tzeentch if he didn't have another, more secret motive than just simple revenge...

The Great Wolf now leading the Chapter, Ironhelm, has become obsessed with chasing down the remnants of the Thousand Sons. Following clues to Magnus' whereabouts, Ironhelm takes the vast majority of the Space Wolves with him to chase down a lead, and leaves only the 12th company, led by Greyloc, to protect the Fang. Of course, this was Magnus' plan all along; once Ironhelm is off on the proverbial wild goose chase, the Thousand Sons lay siege to the Fang, with Greyloc desperately defending the fortress with his handful of marines and normal Fenrisians.

The balance of the book is the siege itself. I mean it as a compliment that it reminded me of the sieges of The Lord of the Rings. Greyloc is surrounded and outnumbered, and must rely on cunning to hold the enemy back as long as possible. There are upsets for both sides, and the battle ebbs and flows as an epic showdown should. There are some great bits: the escape of a single Wolf ship, that leaves Fenris to find and warn Ironhelm; the waking of the Dreadnoughts (Bjorn is awesome), the collapsing of the entryways into the Fang, and more. But the height, of course, comes when Magnus himself is "summoned" to Fenris (he is a Daemon now, after all), and all hell breaks loose.

As I said, its action packed, and the author does a great job of contrasting the Wolves with their corrupt and soulless opponents. I also enjoyed the paths of two human soldiers, father and daughter no less, and the parallel paths they take in the course of the battle. Several marines are developed (Helfist and Redpelt stand out), as does the Wolf Priest Wyrmblade. I do wish that the author had developed Greyloc a bit more- he is a heroic figure, but he gets lost in the action at points, and gets overshadowed by Bjorn and Wyrmblade, which is too bad. I also wish that the author had developed Magnus and his two lieutnants (Temekh and Aphael) just a bit more, but that's just me wanting to give the bad guys their due.

The best part of the book? Well, I don't want to give it away, but I do want to discuss it, so here's what I'll do. I'll rate the book now 3 1/2 out of 4 marks of Chaos. If you've read the other two (A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns) you really owe it to yourself to read this- they really do tie together quite nicely. If you've already read it and want to stick around, I'll briefly look at the ending, which may be one of  the strongest (and yet ambiguous) endings in the Black Library...

So, If you want no spoilers, stop reading now...

3...


2...


1...

Well, OK, if you're still here, you want to know about that ending then. Here's the crux of the plot and the climax: while Magnus wants to conquer the Fang for the sake of revenge, he is also seeking to destroy something else. Wyrmblade has been working on something called "The Tempering", which could shift the balance of power in the universe once and for all. The gene-seed of Russ is strong, but unstable. It does lead some of the Space Wolves to fall into animal fury permanently (one flaw), and it cannot really be replicated on those outside of Fenris (the second flaw). Wyrmblade's plan is to "temper" the gene-seed- keeping its strengths while limiting the flaws. Wyrmblade's vision is of many, many Space Wolf successor chapters, each with this new and improved gene-seed. Wyrmblade says that they could make so many Wolves, that they could surround the Eye of Terror and traitor marines could never again leave it. The Space Wolves would truly be the protectors of a new, stronger Imperium.

This is what Magnus is really attacking the Fang for. Obviously Tzeentch and the other gods of Chaos would not want the Space Wolves to become so great in number that they can actually carry out Wyrmblade's plan, so Magnus goes to destroy "The Tempering" and all who know about it. Magnus tells Temekh that this is not about revenge, but about preventing a "possible future" (how Tzeentchian). That is what the siege is really about... stopping the Wolves from reaching their "true potential". Ultimately, Magnus is successful- he kills Wyrmblade and destroys all the materials and experiments regarding "The Tempering", and it is made clear that this was the last chance the Wolves would have to try this. Thus, even though the Thousand Sons lose the battle (with the return of Ironhelm's companies), they won the war by denying the Wolves a better future.

However, in true Tzeentchian fashion, that may not be a victory at all... Why, you say? Think about it this way... Only the Emperor knew how to do the gene-seed thing (and even his results were far from perfect); who is to say that "The Tempering" would have been successful? Several characters called Wyrmblade's experiments "an abomination". What if... what if it appeared to work and was carried out on the scale Wyrmblade intended? Would the Wolves have run riot across the galaxy? Or what if it appeared to work only to develop mutations later on, say nine thousand years hence? The Space Wolves could have been ruined... So, did the destruction of "The Tempering" really hurt the Wolves, or did it force them to remain true to themselves?

Thinking about it that way- I can't be sure if this is a win for Chaos or a win for the Imperium... And that's great about the book- being that it is only the 32nd millennium, the events of the Heresy are still "fresh". The book sets the stage for an ambiguous, dark future, full of war and stalemate, without hope or change, of squandered potential.

Did the good guys win or the bad guys? Neither. It is simply war, with no winners...