Terrain Terrain Terrain!

The forces of Nurgle are coming! (Just look at that terrain!)

 Hey there ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to another edition of the Chaos Corner. I've got a little bit of a surprise coming up soon, but I don't want to divulge yet- it's a work in progress and I don't want to spoil anything, so just stay tuned. At any rate, I've been doing some terrain work, and I thought I'd let you in on some of that...

Notice- GW terrain, Armourcast, and Gale Force 9 all together.

Terrain has never been my strong suit. I've done a ton of models, but my terrain work has always been lacking. I've never been good at it. I can't make stuff out of scratch really, and personally, I've always been much more interested in models that I'll be playing with than the terrain that just sits there. I have bought terrain pre-made from GW (the old fantasy graveyard, trees, etc), other stores on line (Gale Force 9 buildings, special order, for example), old Armourcast stuff, and private individuals (an overpass from a nice guy working out of Hawaii). I've dabbled in making my own GW buildings, but those efforts were never my best... I lost interest in it. 

A scene from my Bachelor Apocolypse game 

 

But recently, I've had a change of heart. It really started when my wife bought me some GW terrain that I wanted.There's the field with the ruined Rhino, as well as the Marine statue with the broken aquilla. It was nice of her to buy me "nerd stuff", and my painting of them turned out pretty good. Since then, I've gotten into a bit of a habit- painting a ton of models, but then taking time to do terrain. I've done a bit with this, including the Chaos Shrine from WHF (it's Chaos, so it fits for me) and then recently the Landing Pad.I've enjoyed my terrain work, even if they don't turn out perfect.




So, I've decided to take a break from DE for a few weeks and work exclusively on terrain. I play most on 2 types of tables- grass field and urban. So, I need to make terrain for both if possible. So, let's look at the grass terrain first...

Now they won't topple over every 30 seconds!

I've had GW trees for a long time. These are the ones of a type used for model railroads and such. Nice material, and a good look. I've used them for years, as a matter of fact. However, there's always been a problem- they always fell over! Just move a model near and- Bam!- fallen tree. So, after getting inspired to do terrain, I decided to put them on bases so they'd stand up. Nothing fancy- I just put them on bases and painted them green to match the battle-mat. That's it. Simple and easy- and my models will appreciate it!




But, I continued to make grass field terrain. I must admit I borrowed the idea from Bell of Lost Souls. An article there recently suggested that you use cork board (found in kitchens and such) as a base. Its solid, fairly durable as long as you don't put a ton of weight on it. So, I took a few trees and put them on. But that wasn't enough- so I decided to add statues from Lord of the Rings terrain (I had wanted to play it at the height of LotR madness, but never got around to it, but I had these pieces still- unpainted and forgotten). After placing the statues, I added static grass to parts of the statues, to make it look like moss, vines, or other overgrowth. It took me an afternoon, just about. Now, it's not the greatest terrain I've ever seen (or made), but it is effective and was quick to do.

Simple...easy...and fun to do!

Nice ruined effect...

So, I continued on my terrain kick. I went down into my basement and recovered my Cities of Death set. Yes, whn CoD came out, I bought a few buildings plus the giant set. Over the years, I also inherited sets from my friends. At the time, we were all gun ho for making cities and such, but that fell by the wayside. We all want to do our warriors, not terrain. But, I still have all of this stuff, so I decided to start giving it, as the Orks say, "anover go"...

Slightly crooked, but hey, it just got hit by an Orbital Bombardment!

I decided to make my first building a Manufactorum tower (must be all my time playing the Manufactorum level in Space Marine from THQ). I had previously made buildings without bases. Now that had been fine, but I wanted to do something more this time out. What to do for a base? The building would be too heavy for cork. So, I did the next best (and easiest) thing for me--- I got the WHF movement tray set and used an entire sheet as the base. It costs $10 for 2, plus you get pieces that can be used for debris and girders and such. With my base ready, I began my factory...

I made a single, high tower, complete with smoke stacks at the top. I added walkways and ruined corners. But, the tower didn't end up quite straight enough. Like I said, I have a hard time doing terrain. Despite it being akin to the leaning tower, my brother justified it as "Hey, its bombed out, so it's OK if its crooked". He was right, so I kept going. I added some ruined beams and debris to the base, as well as a few resin bits from the old GW CoD basing stuff.




Painting it went quickly, as I had decided early on not to do every single detail. After all, who would look that closely at the paint job while playing a game. As long as the models looked good with it and it looked good on the battlefield, who cares of not ALL the wires are painted? So, to make it stand out from the rest of my (gray-ish) buildings, I painted it scab red with a scorched brown basecoat. The metal I did with my patented Nurgle Rust technique (brow, orange stipple, boltgun stipple over that). After a bit more detailing (but not too much)- I finished it. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the battle field.

So, what terrain will I attempt next? I'm not sure-- but I've got a ton of CoD bits laying around, and God knows what else in my basement... We shall see. Until next time, friends...

The Plague Marine Titan Metzora

Hey Chaos Followers! I'm back- and its an oldie (3 years now) but a goodie... I'm going to show off my Chaos Warhound Titan!!!

Now, how did I acquire said Titan, I hear you ask? It's damn pricey, that's for sure, and I wouldn't have been able to afford one just like that. I assure you, I didn't steal from a bank or sneak it out of Forgeworld (or did I?). Here's how it went down: When my friend Pete turned 30, we got together and decided to buy him an iPod (RIP Steve Jobs). Now, back then (yes, it feels like a while ago) iPods were quite new. They were larger than the current iPods and such. Pete had wanted one, but it was too costly. So, I got his friends together and suggested that we pool our money together and get him one. We even got it engraved on the back too!

At any rate, we gave it to him at his birthday dinner at his favorite diner (complete with the owner singing off key "Happy Birthday Dear Customer")- and boy was he surprised. At that point, giving a big present at 30 became a tradition (will we do that at age 40- who knows?). We pooled in and Joe got an X Box 360, my bro got a Foosball table, etc. And, guess what I got... hehe! A Titan!



  
But it got even better! Not only did they get it for me... Pete was kind enough to put it together in several large pieces. Pete knew that I might have been put off by all the really small pieces (and he was right), so he took it upon himself to put it together. At one point, he discovered that a piece of the leg assembly was missing. As he explained to the Forgeworld rep the situation, the rep told him in effect "it happens. And there is NOTHING we can do. So eat it". Pete said that he wasn't trying to jimmy a new weapon or something out of them- it was just a piston of the leg, but the rep was adamant that despite paying $400, you MAY or MAY NOT get all parts. Sucks to be you. Truth be told, that was the worst experience any of us have had with Forgeworld or GW customer service. Normally, we get what we need fixed/addressed.

Luckily, Pete is an expert modeler (putting my efforts to shame) and was able to improvise. To look at it, you wouldn't even notice! However, getting that Titan together was tough, and Pete swore "Never Again!", though he did help Joe put together his Eldar Titan...Ha!

So, on my 30th- the guys got together and gave me 3 boxes. Pete had assembled it in large sections, so that I could paint it efficiently and then just glue it all in place. Excellent! I now had a Titan. Now- I'd have to paint the monster...

Of course, I painted it in my typical Plague Marine scheme- rotting flesh to give it that off-white, sickly look. The metal parts I did scorched brown and orange, with metal stippling. I am most proud of the interior detail- to this day I can't believe how I did that tiny work in the cockpit. Nevertheless, it all came together quite well. It took me months of work, but it is one of the best paint jobs I've ever done. That's not boasting- I just think that it's one of my best works. And my works are certainly on a sliding scale.

But, there was one last catastrophe awaiting my Titan. I received a call from my brother one Saturday afternoon while I was out. He told me he had done something terrible- he had accidentally knocked over the Titan onto the floor! He said a couple of the spines broke and a few other cracks happened! He was so upset, and figured I was about to reach through the phone and kill him. However, by this point, I was dating my future wife, so I was  quite happy and all, so I just told him "I'll fix it, no problem". To this day I still don't think he realizes why I "let him off so easy"...

I repaired the damage, finished the painting and concluded the work in April 2009. Now, to name my Titan... doing some research, I decided I'd go a bit different from my usual (names like Pandemicus and the like) and dug a bit into history. I chose the name "Metzora". In ancient Hebrew, Metzora means "one being diseased" and is referenced in the Old Testament book Leviticus. This part deals with being "ritually impure" and why God brings disease, and how God wants man to deal with it: “I will defile My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the longing of your soul,”  “And he shall look on the plague, and behold the plague”. Biblical impurity and plagues, Leprosy, wrath of God... yep, that's the kind of thing I was looking for. So Metzora works quite fittingly as a name for my Titan.

 

I have played several games with my Titan over the past few years. Obviously, I don't use it for pick up games and the like... hehe! I've squared off against my brother's old Armorcast Imperial Warhound Titan (how my brother acquired that is a tale in and of itself), Joe's Eldar Titan, and Pete's Tyranid Bio-Titan. And of course, I took on all three at my "Bachelor Party Apocalypse" contest, but that is another story for another day...


Hope you liked this one, and the pics. Until next time...

Finished: The Landing Pad

Hey there Chaos fans! Did you think old man Chaos forgot about you? Of course he didn't. I'm back with a new post, this time its the Imperial Landing Pad!

I was inspired by the color scheme of the landing pad shown in the 40K rulebook (in the battles/campaign section. What page is it on? How should I know? What- you think I have a photographic memory... come on now!). I used Calathan Brown with successive lighter brown (Graveyard Earth) highlights. I used Tin Bitz and Boltgun Metal for the grating and to show signs of damage / wear. I painted the lights in successive blues, followed by gloss to make the lights look shinny.

I'm trying real hard to continue my quest to build more terrain. I'm currently alternating between terrain and the Dark Eldar. I prefer to paint my army, but, truth is, terrain is needed. I have a lot, but I want more variety. I want to make special pieces so that I can use them for story campaigns (The Blood Angels have to make it to the spaceport in order to send for reinforcements or get picked up or whatever). I'd like to add these terrain to make game story-lines. That works as a good motivator for me to make more terrain.

Enjoy the pics. Until next time...

Space Marine (THQ) Insanity!

Hey there Chaos fans. I must confess that I haven't been modeling much this past week. I had been working on a new Venom for my Dark Eldar- it was about 2/3rds of the way done when THQ's Space Marine came out. Since then, I've been playing non-stop. The multiplayer, that is. It is so darn addictive and crazy to play. I've advanced to level 27, and I just got the Chaos Marine award for killing 250 enemies. Whoa! And I just killed my 50th with the Heavy Bolter. There's so much in this multi kill fest... It's fantastic. My only issue is that THQ seems to have decided NOT to go with dedicated servers. While I understand the decision, the downside for us players is that there are some Internet problems- slowdown, glitches, changing hosts, etc. that sometimes mar the experience. Granted, it's still great, but I wish that lag and whatnot was not an issue.

I also figured I'd show you guys my Plague Marine from the game. It's amazing how the color customization works. This guy is so close to my Plague Marines, it's not even funny... Until next time...

Game Review: Space Marine (In Brief)

Hey there Chaos fans! I'm sure that all 40K fans are aware that THQ and Relic have rolled out the first major (and modern) 40K action title- Space Marine. Yes, I've been around long enough as a 40K enthusiast AND a video gamer to remember such outings as Fire Warrior and the ancient Space Hulk ("Bethor's Bolter... is.... jammed"!). I've also played the fantastic (and underrated) Squad Command for the PSP. Indeed, Warhammer 40K has had a longer and more storied video game career than some may realize.

Who remembers this game? Who remembers the Saturn?

The real issue for GW is that no video game has yet created "cross-over appeal"- that is, cracking into the "regular" gamer demographic (and don't give me this "hardcore" gamer crap- that concept is overblown and inaccurate, in my opinion). I know that is GW's real goal- making money off the video game while, at the same time, getting some of these video game players into the hobby. In other words, the games are an advertisement for the hobby. The closest GW got was Dawn of War- embraced by many PC gamers as a great RTS game. However, what GW really wants is a knockout title- a triple A title to go toe to toe with Halo, GoW, Resistance, etc.

The 40K gamer, has a different, but important set of expectations for a 4oK video game. They too want a triple A title- BUT, they want the game to have all the bells and whistles from the 40K universe. They want the action, look, feel, flavor, and tone of the 40K universe. They want a game that is 100% faithful to their vision of 40K.

Thus, both parties were looking to Space Marine (from THQ and Relic) to accomplish these lofty goals. The game has been in production for nearly 2 years, I believe. Last week, it was released. The Internet reviews have been "lackluster" and "good, but not memorable" and the like. It's earned grades of  7.5 (IGN) and B- (1up.com) and 7.0 (Gamespot). That doesn't sound like what anyone was hoping for. So, I thought I'd add my 2 cents...

"Does the Codex say how to clean the blood off our holy armor"?

Wow! This game is fantastic. The look and feel of it IS 40K. This isn't a hack job or "dumbed down" version of the universe I know and love- This has it all. The lead character, Captain Titus is dead-on perfect Space Marine. From his demeanor to size, to the way he moves in the armor and fires his bolter- he's great. It's not just just him- the architecture of the buildings LOOK like the building kits! The Imperial Guard have their uniforms, lasguns, and more. The Orks are vicious and cockney. And Chaos is... well, more on that in a sec. The game itself is a blast to play- a bit of Devil May Cry with a bit more shooting. Its NOT GoW- there's no button to duck and cover. The action is fast, furious, and bloody. It does get a bit repetitive, but you're having so much fun you barely notice! Overall, the sounds, voices, actions, weapons- it's all here!

And then... there's multiplayer! Holy cow! This is incredible! It's a bit akin to Star Wars: Battlefront. A whole bunch of players online killing each other in fairly large battlefields. Once you play a few rounds, you go up levels and open up the customizer and other classes- Tactical, Devastator, Assault (and their Chaos counterparts). This is where it gets great... you can make you're own Marine... you can pick a chapter/legion from the pre-selected builds, or you can build from scratch. I made mine look almost exactly like my Plague Marine models! Then, as you play, you open up more weapons and armor options, as well as bonus perks (like Iron Halo, Feel No Pain, etc.). This constant opening of "stuff" makes it all the more addictive- the play is furious fun, and you want to play a bit more to open up that Plasma Cannon for your Devastator/Havoc. I'm not a huge multiplayer guy, but damn this is a ton of fun!

"This game should be added to your Codex Astartes... today!"

From a 40K gamer's perspective, this game is fantastic. Action packed, fun, and ultimately VERY faithful to the source material. A 40K-er will LOVE this. As a video game, it has a few faults (single player occasionally feels repetitive, there's a few glitches, etc), but these are no worse than any other game out there. Overall, this game is everything a fan can ask for! I give this 4 our of 4 Marks of Chaos, no question. I'd love to see a sequel (play as a dreadnought in multiplayer!). Or even better, I could see them making an Inquisitor RPG next, using the Fallout engine. Imagine, your enemies could be VERY diverse (cultists, xenos, daemons), your decisions could save/kill millions, and if you go bad (radical) you'd summon Daemonhosts! Wow! Now that's a game I'd love to play.... Are you listening GW?

Just Completed: Dark Eldar Wracks

Hey there Chaos fiends, er, friends. We're back with another posting- this time I've decided to show off my latest painting project: a squad of Wracks and a Haemonculus to back them up.

Since the Dark Eldar codex has come out, GW has been putting out new models for the entire range at regular intervals. I think this is a great approach, as it keeps people (like me) excited for the latest release, and it keeps the army fresh. Others have complained that it all should have been out at once- but I like this strategy of releasing every few months. Most of the models (excepting the boring Grotesques) have been well worth the wait (the Talos and Scourges are incredible models).

A few months ago, GW put out the Wracks and Haemonculus. Now, I've been interested in the Wracks since day one- the artwork reminded me (in a good way) of something from Silent Hill or such horror movies/games. As for the rules, they may be a bit slower, but they have 2 poisoned cc weapons, toughness 4, and they start with a Pain Token. I couldn't wait to get my hands on them. As for the Haemonculus, I'd been using my Urien model to stand in- but I really wanted to expand my Haemonculi choices a bit.




So, I bought them, along with a 5 pack of Mandrakes (my big summer purchase). First things first- my analysis of Finecast. This was my first modelling work with Finecast.Now, there's been a ton of controversy here- people saying its the best GW product ever to comments like "Fine-Crap" and even some outlandish stories of Finecast melting in the sunlight (Well, that didn't happen to mine, and my desk gets plenty of sunlight). The truth, like most things, lies somewhere in between the extremes.




The Haemonculus himself went together 1...2...3. It went so fast, with so little effort. The metal Urien drive me up the wall. The FC Haemonculus was a breeze to put together. Now, the Wracks. These models are gorgeous, no doubt about it. There was some flash and bits to be trimmed, though not a big deal- the worst part was the mold/flash on the base portion, meaning you had to trim very closely to fit it into the slotter base. The FC is quite delicate- a whip broke and one of the blades on their hands did. But, these were VERY easily repaired (the whip should NOT have been broken, and the blade was my mistake). All 10 Wracks went together quick, much easier than the metal, and better looking, I might add. The Mandrakes were a different matter. I'll go into them in a different article- lets just say if the quality of the FC was say 8/10 on the others, they were 4/10. Very poor quality indeed- pieces broken, warped SO badly, etc. I hope that GW can fix this- as it is FC has great promise, but the Mandrakes will make me cautious about buying FC for the moment.

So, now that the Wracks were completed, I began paint them with vigor. I decided to tie the Wracks and the Talos together by using the same flesh color scheme- Hormagaunt Purple, with Bleached Bone overlay, then a purple wash into the recesses. I also used black and gold for their helms, just like the Talos. I tied the Wracks into my whole DE army by having their cloaks black with Red Gore highlighting. I added suitable blood onto the weapons, and viola, the Wracks were done. I must say I'm quite happy with the results.

With the Haemonculus, I had the same Black/Red Gore for his cloak and armor. His flesh was similar, but with both Dwarf and Elf flesh instead of Bleached Bone. His "medical apron" I painted white (a stark contrast) but put on a ton of blood-stains. I think the Wracks came out a bit better paint-wise, but he still looks good, though my paint-job of Urien is still excellent.






Hope you've enjoyed the article and the pics. Until next time... smoke 'em if you've got 'em...

Dark Eldar vs Imperial Guard

It's gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight!

Hey there my Chaos friends! Old Professor Chaos here with a brief battle report for you- this time it's Dark Eldar against the Imperial Guard. The game was for just shy of 2,000 points. The mission was Capture and Control, using the Dawn of War deployment (which, for some strange reason, I have not played that much).  Due to circumstances beyond our control, the game only lasted until the end of turn 3. But, it was a crazy fun game, with a bit of back and forth. Here's the highlights:




The Wyches again, outdid themselves. I had a squad of 10 with an Archon attached (he bought combat drugs- which turned out to be the very helpful Painbringer drug). The Wyches ran across the table, killing 2 squads of guardsmen and laying claim to the objective in record time. Wyches cannot be underestimated in close combat. The trick is to get them there.






Unfortunately, Tanks/Armor remain the bane of my existence. As my Wyches claimed the objective, the Guard's Hellhound fired it's flamers into the objective ruins- immolating 8 of my Wyches. Luckily, they held, then attacked the tank using Haywires- scoring a 6 on the vital rolls, destroying it. However, that's as far as my luck with destroying his armor went. Aside from a Ravager EVENTUALLY blowing up a Basilisk, I hit, but could not penetrate the vehicles. I massacred most of his guardsmen, but could not finish off his armor. Damnation! The only good thing here was that my opponent was rolling equally poorly, unable to really hurt me either!



My Kabalite Warriors had solid fire discipline though. They shot and killed quite a few guardsmen. The Kabalite Warrior is indeed dependable. I can't say the same for the Scourges. I had them as a mix of anti-infantry and anti-tank, and they didn't do much except get shot at a ton. I suspect I'm not using them right- perhaps I need to have them all one OR the other.






By the time we had to call the game, my opponent had no one on his objective, but 1 Wych and 1 Archon were sitting on it. Meanwhile, Kabalite Warriors were on top of my objective, with no Guardsmen in the vicinity. Therefore, the Dark Eldar won this one. But who knows- if we had gone on the full length of the game, his tanks might have prevailed, so I'll call this a narrow win.


Until next time, friends!