The First Expedition - Painting & Modelling Contest!

To Celebrate the launch of the new The First Expedition forum, a painting and modelling competition is being held. Not only are the guidelines for the contest deeply intriguing by themselves, with a great scope for imagination, but there are also some really cool prizes on offer - namely a new hardback copy of any Black Library, but also very rare but useful components from the Rogue Trader/2nd edition era! 

So without further ado I would advise anyone interested to head over to the forum and get your thinking hat on! The competition only requires a single miniature be completed, so you should have no trouble at all meeting the Sunday 17th deadline.

http://z13.invisionfree.com/The_First_Expedition/index.php?showtopic=111

The First Expedition - New Horus Heresy and Pre-Heresy focused forum!

January 4th is a date that is notable for many events in history; Burma became independent on that day in 1948, Richard Nixon was impeached as part of the Watergate scandal in 1974 and also my old dear departed Uncle Walter attempted but ultimately failed to travel the length of England in a wheelbarrow pulled by a pack of gerbils (although his death was not in any way related to that).

But now this date will be famous for another reason! It marks the launch of the brand-new 'The First Expedition' website and forum. A continuation of the highly successful 'Great Crusade' forum, this marks a re-launch of that site as a dedicated area for fans of the Great Crusade, Pre-Heresy and the Heresy itself to gather, discuss that period of 40k history, share modelling and painting tips and more! There is already a competition underway (details on that in a few days!) and a Heresy Battles event planned for the beginning of March.

So if you haven't done so already please head over there, sign up and get involved with what is probably the most amicable 40k-based community on the web!

Link: The First Expedition. 


PS: The answer to the question posed by my last post - answered by a grand total of one person (great to know so many people are reading my blog! ^^ ) was 'Epic Space Marine'. The little 6mm guys that is, construction is under way so hopefully some pics to show soon!

A flickering of life..

As much as I have enjoyed writing articles for this blog, updating with new miniatures, writing background and all the rest of it, as I've mentioned now the wind had left my sails when it came to the boys in blue (and white). That much should be apparent from the lack of new articles, the slightly sarcastic nature of those that were posted, and the complete failure to cover anything about the new Forge World: Betrayal book.

Without this becoming overly introspective, and therefore incredibly tedious to anyone but myself to read, this was as much to do with the 40k system itself as anything. Oh, and making Space Marines; thinking back over the years, I must have made several hundred of them in all sorts of various guises, to the point where it had ceased to be enjoyable. See also, marines dismounting from rhinos. Now I don't want to be overly critical and therefore damage anyone else's enjoyment of either 40k or building/painting space marines, something which has given me enjoyment over many years and especially concerning the nature of this blog (which, after all, was intended to act as a point of reference and inspiration to anyone reading it!) but it is the reasoning behind why this blog looked to be approaching its shelf life.

So, with that extremely downbeat start to this article in mind, why the update? Well, it's to announce that there is new material on the way. What you may ask, if you are ruling out 40k and space marines? Surely that doesn't leave a lot? Well, it won't involve the 40k game system, that's true. Also, it won't involve me matching up pairs of arms to hold a bolter, or debating whether I should have a go at true-scale.

So what then? Here is a quick clue, with a classic piece of artwork..

Answers on a postcard please! And hopefully, something more concrete to show over the next couple of days :)

New World Eaters, from Forge World !!

It would be a shame to not keep this blog updated considering all of the forthcoming Horus Heresy books from Forge World, so without further ado the latest official video!

Enjoy :)

A fellblade:

Really I should know what this is! Answers on a post card please (or the comments section below)

Finally, the one that has got me really excited:

No doubt you will need to sell a kidney to own these, but boy are they beautiful looking models! Glad to see that Forge World has really upped its game with these, rather than simply re-treading the ground covered by the likes of Maxmini and Kromlech. 

Wonderful stuff, and roll on the end of this month and the official un-veiling! 

..Just another skull? But I already have so many..

The voice boomed across the room. A palace, resplendent in brass and fire, at the centre of which a horned monstrosity sits upon a skull throne. Legs crossed, his giant bestial head rests upon his clawed hand, and his crimson eyes seem half-mast and disinterested. Another figure enters the room - obviously a warrior, his giant chain-axe betrays him as such, although any casual observer would wonder why he was partly naked, and the slightly comical nature of the ears upon his helm. The giant figure upon the throne spoke.. 

"That is so thoughtful of you, Kharn... Yes, indeed it is a very fine example of a cranium. Perhaps even nicer than the one you brought me on Thursday.  No... no, I don't think there is room on the fireplace. I'm worried those Squat skulls will break with the weight of the others on top of them, especially those Warhammer Fantasy zombie heads. I'm down to my last three... And it's not like you can just pop out and collect some more!.. 
Right yes.. on the huge, mountainous pile over there with all the other Grey Knight and Blood Angel skulls.. Buddha knows how the Emperor keeps churning out those guys!"

Perhaps best not to look at the date of the previous post?

It's been far too long. This blog, like so many others before, and so many more to come, has started to slow to a crawl as my own enthusiasm for the project dwindled.

That's a topic for another time, but generally as much as I love the Warhammer 40,000 universe, too many games against opponents who cared little for the aesthetic aspects of their army has left me completely nonchalant about it as a games system. There is a common saying of 'people make a place', and coming up against the same unpainted Grey Knights, Space Marines comprised of 5-6 different chapters (when presumably the painter has got bored after finishing a couple in one colour) did nothing to inspire me to play the game. I realise what you 'get' from a gaming system is different for each of us, but sadly for me the game mechanics of 40k aren't strong enough to carry the experience on their own. And, I found myself getting annoyed by the level of abstraction involved, with comments such as 'why is X just doing that' and 'how on earth does that happen', to the point where I just wasn't enjoying it. There are only so many times you can laugh sardonically and make joke references as your troops just stand there like genetically-enhanced melons as they get assaulted and aren't able to do anything to prevent it happening. Now a new work schedule has meant that I couldn't play even if I wanted to, and it hasn't been much of a surprise to find that I'm not really regretting it.

So, really this is just a short blog post to let any followers know that I am still alive! The World Eaters have had their fill in their current form, but I hope that there are other avenues to follow and that some more information can be added to the site. I will say that the new releases from Forge World (specifically, their 'Pre-Heresy' armour marks) make it easier than ever, although more expensive, to start a Pre-Heresy force. Those mk2 and mk3 sets in particular would look great in white and blue, and with some chainaxes thrown in for good measure.

And really, what is that people would like to see? Some modelling or painting articles? Perhaps the World Eaters in Epic or BFG? What about more background or review articles? It's very hard to gauge how many people have actually read this blog over the years, beyond mis-directed 'Jimmy Eat World' fans, and so if there is enough interest I'll try and make some new material for it? Otherwise, well.. I'm not sure how I will break the news to that guy on the brass throne! In any case, feedback of all sorts would be greatly appreciated!

Butcher's Nails Artwork

A friend of mine commented a while ago about how much he was enjoying the Dawn of War series, specifically the second game. He had no experience at all of the 40k universe (aside from half heard conversations between myself and other 40k playing friends which left him feeling isolated and afraid) and so the imagery and experience of that game was his sole source of information regarding that game universe.

And his comment about the main character, made as he charged him into combat amongst a horde of orks? "Yeah, he is a hard ass, but why does he look like someone from a Hair Conditioner advert? He's called Gabriel Angelos so I guess he's some kind of future Italian?"

It made me laugh, but also roll me eyes at the folly of Relic's character design regarding a Space Marine. My friend was correct in a way - without any other knowledge of a Space Marine, of their background, their physiology or their lifestyle, I could quite imagine Angelos cracking a cheeky smile and winking, "Because I'm worth it" as he pirouettes into a group of orks and starts imitating Kenneth Williams with a fly-swatter and running like Russell Brand.

I will have to show my friend this picture:

Relic, this is how a Space Marine should look. No neat brush-across, blended into a number 3 across the back and side and chiselled good looks. You take a Rugby forward (or a linebacker for our American friends), you add a hundred pounds of slabbed muscle. You then give him plastic surgery, carried out by Dr. Nick from the Simpsons, and you subject him to a hundred years of physical training and hardship that makes the Iron Man contest look like a Sunday gala event for toddlers. Add a few weapon impacts, and scars, fighting the worst the galaxy can throw at them in the most inhospitable environments, then finally apply the flat of a spade to the face for good measure. After that, you might be approaching something of what a Space Marine looks like.

So thanks to Neil Roberts for this wonderful piece of artwork of Angron. Not only is it frightening in its intensity and aggression but I think it perfectly captures the Primarch of the 12th Legion.

Finally, here is a quote from a friend of mine on Facebook regarding the picture:

‎"Do we do him leading a charge in battle?"
"How about gazing out of a starship window into space?"
"Why not try giving him a new look?"
"F*** ALL THAT. DO HIM NAKED, WITH TWO AXES."

Black Library World Eaters Audio Book

The Black Library have just announced an exciting addition to their Pre-Heresy line up - A new short story, written by none other than Aaron Dembski-Bowden!

The posting is up on the Black Library website, here, and has been confirmed as an Audio book by the writer himself on the B&C forum (backing up the price point of £10). The date is currently set at June next year.

Mr. ADB is regarded by many as the hot-property of the Black Library at the moment, and I'm sure anyone who has read his books will agree that he is one of the best writers with the publishers in terms of bestowing depth and personality to his characters. Certainly, he transformed the Word Bearers from their previous position as comic book-esque evil guys to victims of tragic circumstance in The First Heretic, and I'm sure many fans of the World Eaters will hope he treats the 12th Legion with the same attention to detail!

When Aaron revealed on his blog some time ago that he wanted to write about the World Eaters I sincerely hoped the legion would get their own full length novel. However, beggar's can't be choosers as they say, and hopefully this Audio book will be a prelude to more background information on a traitor Legion that has been largely overlooked in the Heresy series so far.

More information as it comes!