Nurgle Terminators (Forge World Parts)

Being an old fashioned gaming fellow all my Chaos units have to adhere to the deamonic numbers set out in Realm of Chaos. With my Slaaneshi fantasy army it's six and multiples thereof. And with my Nurgle Chaos Space Marines it has to be units of seven, fourteen, twenty one, and so on. Here then are my seven Nurgle Terminators. I've taken the rather standard route of getting the regular box and adding the Forge World Death Guard parts, but I've also tried to be a little more creative with the plastics. Achieving a unit of seven was very economical as all I required were two extra pairs of legs, which my brother dutifully supplied - thanks Paul.  

Then it was just a case of mixing all the shoulder pads around the unit and working in some interesting plastic parts. I chose to utilise a couple of spare Plague Bearer heads and the candle topped altar piece from the Coven Throne. Yes, it's undeniably OTT, but it's exactly the kind of look that I enjoy. It also makes this guy look something like a standard or icon bearer, which could have useful in-game roles. With the unit as a whole I'm pleased with how dynamic they look. That's not something I was expecting with terminators as they're often rather lumpy and sluggish looking.

What Do You Think About Mierce Miniatures? Con Merchants Rising From The Ashes Of Maelstrom Games? *...UPDATED...*

...UPDATED... Mierce have now been in touch with me and offered to fulfil my missing order, so... watch this space for further details ...UPDATED...

It doesn't take much to figure out that Mierce Miniatures is basically the same outfit that ran Maelstrom Games into the ground and left plenty of people out of pocket and without the miniatures they'd ordered in good faith. They even say they are on their own website, here.

What do you think about them? Did you contribute to their Kickstarter campaign? Or do you, like me, think that they're a highly dubious outfit that doesn't deserve any of a hobbyist's hard earned cash.

I for one don't buy the 'we're not Maelstrom' nonsense that they're trying to get everyone to buy into. Not for one second. I'm still owed a number of their miniatures - the ones from the BaneBeasts range - that the now defunct Maelstrom website still claims will be honoured in November: yes, November as in five months ago.

I find it really frustrating that bad business can be rewarded with good fortune. Mierce claim to have raised £108,036 from Kickstarter - do these backers not realise that this is the same bunch of crooks that ran a business into the ground and walked away and into another cushy job, leaving many hobbyists (that they claim to be themselves) high and dry? We need to stop investing in these people because they'll only do it again, given half a chance. Why wouldn't they when they got away from it last time?

It really annoys me because their miniatures are rather good. I'd buy more - happily - if they actually fulfilled their previous commitments rather than shafting people who once supported them with custom. I for one will avoid them like the plague - and believe me, that's giving the plague a bad name.

What Might A Summer Of Kings Of War Actually Mean?

So it seems that Mantic have a great deal planned for their fantasy war game line Kings Of War in the coming summer months (and if you reside in the UK you'll remember summer as being that season when the sun was in the sky around about 20 months ago...).

A troll, apparently...

The full list of releases includes the following:

- Trolls

- Orc Gore Chariot

- Orc Fight Wagon

- Undead Mummies

- Undead Werewolves

- Undead Vampiress Lady Ilona

- Undead Lord Malak

- The Basilean Legacy

- Basilean Men at Arms

- Basilean Paladins

- Basilean Crossbowmen

- Basilean Elohi

- Basilean Sisterhood

- Basilean Sisterhood Lancers

- Basilean Paladin Knights

- Basilean Chariot

- Basilean High Priest

- Kings and Legends

- Ogre Warriors

- Ogre Shooters

- Ogre Grokagamok

It's good to see Mantic returning to this area after focusing on Dreadball and a few other projects. I like my Mantic undead even though I've not really been inspired to do anything with them yet. The prices look good - around £15 for 3 Trolls is hard to argue with. But I do wonder about the look of them, which seems to follow the Hordes aesthetic. I actually don't mind the look of the Trollbloods but I know plenty of other people aren't keen. I like the sound of werewolves so those will be the ones I look out for. 

The others... well, it's possible that this batch of releases could be a make-or-break for Kings of War. Do any of you actually play this rule set? I've never been tempted. 8th ed WFB and retro 3rd ed are far more my style of gaming. My only experience outside Mantic's own promotional material is seeing heavily discounted boxes of their stuff in indie game stores. I wonder if they hadn't played the slight of hand of getting loads of advance orders via Kickstarter whether they'd be on the way to going out of business? This might be a decisive few months for Mantic... 

Toughest Girls of the Galaxy - Raging Heroes

I have slightly conflicted feelings about the soon-to-launch Raging Heroes Kickstarter. Firstly, I've not invested in a Kickstarter before, although they seem to be a very good idea on one level, I wonder if rather large businesses have been taking advantage of this indie business model to slyly launch their products (I'm looking at you Mantic). Secondly, the Toughest Girls of the Galaxy line of models does look rather typically sexualised in terms of their images of women. But then, I suppose with all their rippling muscular physiques, science fantasy men are hyper-sexualised themselves. It's just people don't tend to mention this because, you know, that might be seen as a bit 'gay'. All that being said, if the miniatures live up to the concept art then I'll be very tempted to invest in this project. Take Necro Priestess Nephahrya for example: if the mini looks half as good as this, how can I resist?

The Helfly Grows... Some Colour On The Nurgle Heldrake

It seems as if all my hobby time in the last few weeks have been sunk into sticking things together, most prominently this guy. I have a project for the Forge World Open Day painting competition to focus on over the next two weeks, so I've been busy over the last couple of days getting primer, base and a first shade coat on numerous models. Lots of work to do... (how often do I write that!). 

Stunning Game Of Thrones Art

I found these on the official Game Of Thrones facebook page. They're stunning. It's interesting how much they remind me of some of the old Realm of Chaos era art work actually. Great aesthetic. The richness and the claustrophobia.  

The Helfly And The Herald Of Nurgle

Firstly, apologies for the odd nature of these photos. As usual I'm trying to experiment with too many projects at the same time and everything is a rush. So here are a couple of shots of this evening's works in progress. 

Most prominently there's the Helfly. On this I've finished all the greenstuff work and gone round the whole thing several times smoothing out the gaps and checking for anything I'd forgotten to clip off when getting the whole thing to actually stick together. Tomorrow the primer. Really looking forward to that. Nestled at the base you'll see the beginings of my Herald of Nurgle on palanquin. Here he is close up.

This should be a reasonably straightforward corpse cart plus converted Bragg the Gutsman. This will be pretty much as you see it now, with some work done on the ogre to ensure he's sufficiently nurgled. The corpse cart is a nice little kit that I've wanted to get for a while; really easy to put together and insanely gruesome (in a good way obviously). Luckily, I can use the necromancer it comes with in the undead cohort that's forming part of my Cult of Slaanesh. How economical of me!

Building a Nurgle Heldrake: The Helfly Part Two

The Helfly is now 90% completed. I've got it fitted to the flying stand (though not glued), the engines and wings are in place, and I've got a few finishing touches to do before priming. Very happy so far. I can report that fixing the wings and legs in those positions was extremely fiddly! 

Scibor Giant

Scibor have finally released their giant. I think it looks like a really good model and it would be so much fun to paint all that flesh. Something else to add to the wish list...

Building A Nurgle Heldrake: The Helfly Part One

Big spider plus bits equals Nurgle Heldrake: the Helfly. 

This is a conversion job that's been done before by a few people, but my take is distinctive because it's supposed to be a direct substitute for the standard heldrake. I've modelled the legs in a forward attack pose rather than drooping down limply because I want to retain the notion that this thing plummets from the heavens to being wanton destruction. It's not simply dawdling along! Engines to be added once the bits arrive. And as a little teaser, the bits for the wings are in the last photo.

The baleflamer ready for action

Soon to be wings

Oldhammer Event Registration Open

Hey folks, most of you will know that registration for the Oldhammer day at Foundry in the summer is now open.

Visit here: http://oldhammer2013.wufoo.com/forms/oldhammer-bring-out-your-lead-2013/

It's also worth taking a look if you're undecided or curious about the event. I suggest having a read and finding out about this way of enjoying the hobby. You might just be inspired enough to come along.

Plague Drones In Flying V Formation

Here are all my buzzing friends in formation (currently minus riders/pilots): a unit of seven - being the number of Nurgle - led by the blight drone. Hopefully these shots show all the different poses that are achievable with this kit - not just the rather uninspired floppy legged ones on the box...

The Eye Of Slaanesh... Look Closely...

Follow me, my Children, and the glory of victory shall be yours. We shall cleanse ourselves in the crimson waters of our enemy. We shall bring the ecstasy of quick release to those who stand before us. We shall give bloody praise to the Lord of Pleasure and sing his name as we dance across the fallen. Follow me, my Children, and you shall taste the undreamt joys that lie beyond the bounds of mortal sense.

What Oldhammer Means To Me

The best thing about Oldhammer is that it's a broad church. In the contemporary gaming community that I observe online daily there seems to be an odd split between the rules as written brigade and those they call fluff bunnies. This division is a product of modern mainstream commercial gaming and should be ignored at once. It's bollocks.

Free yourselves from this nonsense and come be an oldhammerer. Oldhammer isn't about age; it's about ethos. It's about playing games and having fun with friends. Structured fun that means everyone is equally invested and likely to feel their time has been well spent. Rules are vital but they are not the game itself only part of it and they're there to help you enjoy yourself.

Don't field armies to win! Put your toys on the table in the spirit of friendship. Sure, your little people might have a solid scrap but was it storied, full of character, mishaps, irony, heroism, and probably spilled tea? Those are the important things in the world of gaming and they all come from you, your friends, and someone's kettle.

In the Oldhammer ethos old models are wonderful. Yet new models can be just as fitting. It's all in the choices, the gaming, the painting and collecting. If you don't know about RPGs that involve dice: learn. Get some people involved in a few games of D&D or WFRP. See how these aspects of gaming have been siphoned away by marketing people who have non-gaming agendas. Recapture this ground! Build a castle there. Occupy gaming as it is supposed to be.

Old is good. New is good. Evade linear time. Make real choices and live through all the best that gaming has to offer.

Paint as a social activity. Bring sociality into all aspects of the hobby. Blog regularly and feel happy about your punky paint jobs. Don't emulate standardisation and cleanliness. Be a mucky pup. Make mistakes. Make more tea. Embrace pathos.

Make up rules that suit you, blend then with others you like and own your game. Celebrate when GW actually puts out a great new miniture. Don't just moan. But continue to have moaning in your portfolio.

Or if you really, really cannot stomach what I've suggested here. That's fine. You can have coffee rather than tea. Vive la différence!

Plague Drones - Out Of The Box

I survived a week of near-fevered anticipation and the plague drones are finally mine. I am not disappointed because this is a great kit. I picked up two boxes from the marvellous Firestorm Games in Cardiff for a couple of reasons. 1. I wanted to see if there was the possibility of converting three of these bugs into a Nurgle heldrake, and 2. I wanted to make all the different options available, and create - along with my Blight Drone - a unit of seven buzzing flyers.

On 1., the answer is pretty simple. Without a lot of messing around the conversion isn't a possibility as far as I can see. Perhaps someone highly imaginative will dream up an ideal way to do this but I can't. However, as you can see from the look of these bugs, a converted O&Gs massive spider would fit right in... so maybe there's one final addition I need to make to this force...

On 2., all the options can be yours with two of these kits. You can swap all the horns around, mix up the tails, and change the arms on the plaguebearers, though in general there are two options per plague drone. Plenty of variety can be attained through fixing the wings and legs in different ways. This would be more restrictive if modelling them up for WFB. If I'm ever going to use them in that system I'll use longer flying stalks so the models are based up in unit formation. I never want to model for that eventuality if I can avoid it and it's actually easier to do with flying creatures.

So here ladies and gents is my first complete drone. I went with the musician as it was the one that happened to come out of the box first. With the legs splaying forwards and to the side I think I've achieved a more dynamic pose than the ones GW have used in their promo photos. Plenty of Slaaneshi work going on in these parts too, so expect March to be a pageant of chaotic greens, pinks, and violets.