Thoughts on the Chaos open day model

So as most of you will have seen, a new Chaos character was revealed last Saturday at the new year open day and he looks awesome. Very Chaos, very cool. Not much was said about him, but I think its safe to say he'll be along with Vigilus part 2. There has been some discussion in the community about if he is generic or named, or what role he fills. I had my own take on this. When eyeing up the model, I though the robe looked the same style as the Dark Angels Vets, as oppose to sternguard for example. Being a Dark Angels player myself, I'm a bit biased here as I'd like a campaign were I hunt some Fallen, which led me to the hope that this is the second Fallen character in the game. We know the Ravenwing and Deathwing are on Vigilus in force, so it not impossible for this to happen. It would also make the Deathwing's rule ever so slightly more useful.

While I was discussing this with my friend who plays Space Wolves, he had noticed something similar. The teeth, skull, and stone necklace, and stones on the staff all have a Space Wolf vide to them. Both of these may just be design coincidences, or have another story behind them, and these are definitely not rumours, but it was just another one of many 40K thoughts I had running round in my head. Either way I'm excited to see who this guy is, and what Vigilus part 2 brings.

Thanks for reading,

Ste

Scout-Primaris model link

I've just been gluing torsos to legs on some scouts and notice an interesting link between the models. The scout torso has always looked more stripped down and mobile, having the smaller chest piece with stomach armour. The mark x armour too has this design feature, albeit more detailed with a second stomach plate.

I know its not a big deal but I'd hedge a bet that this was an intentional move on the design teams part to tie in the older models to the new range, helping to make armies more cohesive. After seeing how well they've tied in the mechanicus amd imperialis terrain it seems too similar to be a coincidence.


Just a thought I had that I though I'd put out there.

Happy New Year all,

Ste

Christmas Downtime

As with many this time of the I've had little time to stay on top of everything and so haven't had a chance to post anything for a few weeks.

I did manage to get the games room sorted a bit more, still got some shelves to put up and a kill team table to sort but its getting there. I've picked up a squad of scouts to fill the battalion detachment as I'm sick of using proxies, and a Killzone: Sector Munitorum that I'm using for some terrain conversion.

As the new year settles in I'll get back to posting regularly.

Hope you had a good holiday period, and hoping you have a happy new year,

Ste

Vigilus Open Day Debrief, part 2 - Vigilus Defiant

So as I'm writing this. I'm remembering mny more details of the open day. I was hoping originally that I could do this all in one article, but it looks more like three or four now.

Anyway, on to the more specific products, starting with Vigilus Defiant. This looks like an exciting book, its the first one of an ongoing product line in two ways. Firstly, it's book one in the Vigilus setting, there are more coming although we were not told how many. Second, once the Vigilus story has been told, GW are continuing this product line with different world/factions/stories. Now not all factions with be present in the Vigilus story arc, they've decided to really improve the narrative content of these books, comparing them to the Imperial Armour campaign books. As part of this they have decided to focus on factions that they can easily integrate into each story. The choice of not including all factions stemmed from the Medusa V campaign (from just before I was playing 40k properly), were all the factions had a reason to be there, but it felt very forced and 'unreal'. Choosing to leave factions out helps make a much more solid narrative, (The term 'real' was used many times during the seminar, all of which had to be taken in context of the 40k narrative. Another recurring point was that the galaxy is a very big place, and the scope of this is often lost when looking at a galactic map.)

From the Community site previews it is known that Calgar has returned, as a Primaris marine no less, with two body guards to face the Black Legion led by Haarken Worldclaimer, all of which will be receiving new rules in this book. The background of the traditional marine to Primaris process has been fleshed out, and apparently its a gruesome process. When asked if this means will other marines undergo the same process (Dante and Grey Knights were named) the answer was that it can potentially happen to any marine, but nothing is confirmed as this is very much lead by the designers. Although Grey Knights are not expected soon as there are no models currently in development. The armour Calgar is wearing is not Gravis, but his current armour modified to meet the specification of a Primaris marine. Nothing was said about the changes to Calgar's rules, or the rules of Worldclaimer, I'm guessing its an extra wound and attack for Calgar at least.

Some rule additions were touched on though. Specialist Detachments. These sound really interesting. All of what we were told the host recited from memory, but they work by using a stratagem to upgrade the detachment to a certain specialism, and then a further stratagem to upgrade units in that detachment. So for example, there will be a Ravenwing specialist detachment, you take an outrider detachment and fill it with what ever units you feel like, as you normally would. You then use a stratagem to make it a Ravenwing outrider detachment, and then a second stratagem to activate the bonuses on the specific units. Questions were asked about if these are 8th edition's answer to formations, and answer was mutli-layered. They are designed to be much more open, and with more downsides. So its not just take these units and gain these bonuses with no downsides, the cost to doing this is command points, and by association limiting army construction to some degree. Additionally only Ravenwing unit in the 'Ravenwing detachment' will gain bonuses, you can't do it to other units. The other thing about these detachment is that the design team didn't want to be handing these out for everything and everyone, they wanted them to be lodged in background. So for example the Ravenwing as a fighting force operates differently to a normal 2nd chapter, so is a good candidate for a specialist detachment. These detachments aren't only for the story of Vigilus Defiant, they can be used in any of the three ways to play. The some of the other detachments mentioned:-

• Indomitus Crusade Veterans, Kastelan Robots
• Aeldari Windhost
• Stompa (including warlord traits), Speedfreaks

There are a few more which I can't remember, all of which sounded pretty cool.

As mentioned earlier this is book one in the Vigilus narrative, there was no mention of how many books it will be other than that it will be more than one, but I think we're looking at three. Once this campaign is finished there will be more and not all campaigns will span more than one book. It's important to remember that this isn't the new way of updating armies now that almost every army has an 8th Ed codex, codexes will remain the main source of this, the campaign books are a cool way of adding little bits here or there. (In fact, we were told that there are more than one codex on the release schedule, so there are more coming after Genestealers but that's all we were told. They may be full new factions or a redux of exciting codex, he didn't say but he did have a cheeky smile when he told us, he seem excited himself about it .)

That's about all I can remember about Vigilus Defiant, it's the next step in 40k, its exciting me, and its out before Christmas. Thanks for reading,

Ste

Vigilus Open Day Debrief, part 1

Last Saturday I managed to make the trip to Warhammer World with a few friends for the Vigilus Open Day, and what a day it was.

We managed to get five tickets to the game development Q&A seminar, we had a look round the exhibition centre, had a bite at Bugman's and spent some money in the three shops.

Today I'll be talking about the Q&A seminar. As I'm sure you're all aware from the Warhammer Community team, a few things where announced this weekend. Firstly the Vigilus Defiant book, Urban Conquest map campaign system, Genestealer previews, and the New Titan. Vigilus Defiant and Urban Conquest are my two particular favourites. The gentleman hosting the seminar was head of the game development team (I'm sorry, I failed to catch his name. Nice guy though...), he ran us through the Vigilus, Conquest, Wrath and Rupture, and the Genestealer codex, then opened the floor to questions. Some questions he could not answer, due the eyes and ears of the Inquisition keeping tabs on the seminar. All in all though, it was a nice insight to the development process. A few key, but general points he made are:

• They work about one year out, so item that are being worked on now, will be out just before Christmas next year.

He did say this caused all kinds of awkward but funny moments when the development team go to tournament and are playing from habit on next years rules. The gentleman who was running the event works about three years out on a general plan for the 40k.

• The process is very much model led.

The model designers come up with cool concepts, and take them to the game designer, who then make the rules fit the models. After the bulk of the model is complete, there may be some consultative processes, but nothing too drastic. For example switching a wargear option. It was pointed out that currently most model designers are big fans of the game, so really enjoy bringing the type of models we find cool to the forefront, because they too find these models cool.

• Other Beta Codexes have not been ruled out

The reason for the Sisters Beta Codex is because its been so long since the last one, they want to get it right. The best way they believe they can do this is with as much player feedback as possible, hence the beta Codex. They haven't ruled future beta Codexes out, but did stress that it won't be commonplace.

• Forever is a long time

When asked about will this or that be supported, we were told that there are currently no plans to retire ranges. Two specific exampled were asked. One being the traditional marine range, and the other being if the Vigilus book is a timed release. The answer was that the game designers want to allow people to continue to use their current models, and they too do not want their armies to become obsolete. However we may not have all the current kits available in 10-15 year time. 

• Designers are gamers too

Tying in with the last point, as cool as new stuff is, both the model and game design teams are made up of Warhammer players. They have companies worth of space marines, they too play Warhammer Quest or Blood Bowl, and they get excited and apprehensive about the same things we do. It was said that many of the design team have large Space Marine armies that they themselves do not want to be invalidated. It was also said that it felt wrong that people coming into the hobby could not field certain unit builds, for example Chaplain on a bike, as they are not sold by GW, which is why they are removed from codexes. They did not want to invalidate people's collections, and so they will continue to receive be useable via the indexes.

Im sure there are many more general points that he mentioned, which I'll add into future posts where relevant. Next up will be the Vigilus Defiant book as soon as I get a chance.

Hope you've enjoyed what I've managed to share, and thanks for reading,

Ste

Vigilus Weekender

I had a busy week last week and unfortunately didn't get a chance for a post. Sorry about that...

Today though I'm touching on the Vigilus Open Day coming up this Saturday. Some friends and I are heading down to Nottingham to go. It'll be the third to so time I've been to Warhammer World, but a first for a few of the lads.

If you've never been, an event like this is a great way to do it. Usually free entry to the exhibition centre is included, which is an amazing collection of displays and dioramas. Hopefully I'll be getting a few pictures, but from previous experience, they will not do it justice. Some of the techniques I've seen there I've been starting to use in projects at home.

Getting to see the staff behind our hobby is an great experience, as there's usually many of the staff from various departments present on the day. From the 40K open day a few years ago (the one round about the Wrath of Magnus release) I remember having a good chat with Phil Kelly about general hobby topics, discussed some of his models, and tried to ask him about future releases (but of course I didn't get far with that). I also managed to speak to one of the weapon designers for the Primarch models. This was just before they moved to CAD designs as opposed to physical sculpts. The mock up weapons were so intricate, the ball of Logar's mace was made from about 20 tiny pieces. I can't remember that weapon designer's name but this enthusiasm was amazing, one of the best parts of the day was that conversion. I'm hoping to have a similar experience this time round.

I'm also looking forward to the seminars for Blackstone fortress, particularly the artwork. I didn't get to the seminars as it was something I missed last time round, so I don't know what to expect.

And of course there'll be the previews. I'm taking an educated guess that either the rumoured Primaris codex will be teased, or going on the last rumour engine and the Wrath and Rupture box either a World Eater or Emperor's Children codex. A friend and I discussed the possibility of Black Legion codex containing some traitor guard after seeing the Blackstone models and maybe the long awaited Abaddon model, but we'll see.

I'll get round to posting some photos next week.

Thanks for reading,

Ste

New home, new goals, progress with the army.

Hi everyone,

I've had a go at this Warhammer blog before, hoping that it will keep me focused on completing at least one hobby project (something that I'm notoriously bad for within my gaming group). Unfortunately life got in the way last time, so I'm having another go. Hopefully I'll be better at staying on track this time round, and maybe you'll hear from some of the other 40kers in my group. The first few things I want to write about, over the next few months, are:-

• Progress on a game board
• How I've come to paint Deathwing and standard Dark Angels
• Possibly my thoughts on the current Dark Angels codex
• I'll also be working on making the site look good and be fully functional.

 So without further ado...

Recently my girlfriend and I have moved in together, which amongst other things, has allowed me to finally get started on a gaming room. Out of the two rooms to which I was planning to be the game rooms, she suggested I should take the larger room as it would be used more (she only had to tell me once!)

Now there was a few things that you need in a Warhammer room, mainly space to play, space to paint and storage. One of the issues I've had playing 40k at friend's places is there is only enough room for one game, everyone else sits and waits. There is obviously a bit of chat and banter going on, but like anything for me, watching isn't as good as playing. While looking for other items for the house, I found an old time baby changer in a charity shop. It's got storage, and the top flips out to right on 30" and the width is about 28", just about big enough for a Kill Team board. I snapped it up as it partially solves the sitting and watching problem. Next thing was a table big enough for 6x4 40k board. I picked up 2 Lifetime 72"x30" folding tablets. Put them side by side and you've got a sturdy table, with room either side for reserves, cards, etc that folds away easily if you need more space. Its a good space to built and paint on too. I'd highly recommend these things, I got mine from Costco in UK. It came to about £90 for the two of them, which isn't perfect if you're on a budget, but at the same time isn't outrageous in this hobby and is definitely worth the investment. Luckily we also managed to pick up a full size fridge that a friend was throwing away. I've still got to stick up some pictures, shelves and get a cupboard as storage for the airbrush.

Most of my stuff is still in boxes under the table, but I'm working on some terrain and a Primaris Master based on the 500th store lieutenant model, so at least that's a start. My first goal is to get a board set up with enough terrain built for a game. Photos of the board will follow as I progress.

Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll stick with it this time,

Ste