Sunday 16 December 2012

Warllama Weekly Issue 5

Monday 10th - Sunday 16th December 2012

Let's start off with the big news first, I've actually finished painting a whole miniature! As I think I mentioned in last weeks update I was experimenting with layering rather than just basecoat-wash-edge highlight and I'm quite pleased with the effect. I think I still need to improve with the smoothness of my brushwork but I've got four more Deathwing to improve on.

I've also started working on a couple of regular Dark Angels. Because my Necrons are painted in Caliban Green with a stark edge highlight of Moot Green I needed a different technique to paint this dynamic duo. I basecoated them green, slapped on a heavy dark wash then started drybrushing. First with Warpstone glow and finally Moot green. Then I tried something I haven't done before and put a glaze of Waywatcher Green all over it. This did mute the colours back down and I think I'm happy with it but I might experiment with a heavier drybrush before glazing on the next one. I'm also hoping that this extra layer will prevent the drybrushed paint from wearing off when handled.

Also on the painting front (kind of) I got the FW etched brass and resin rear door for my Chimera so I got it all primed and ready to rock'n'roll at some point in the future. I was gearing up to get back to my Grey Knights when Dark Angel fever has hit. It'll be the first time ever that a new codex has come out and I'll already have some miniatures painted and ready. Some of the rumours of new units like Knights and Fliers sound amazing, I've got my fingers crossed for the 5th Jan!

The final news of the week was that my Warmongers Secret Santa arrived! It was from a chap called Christopher Chestnut, who you will find on Twitter here. It was a huge parcel so I had no idea what would be inside. As I tore the wrapping paper off the first thing I spotted with the pinata, then the book emerged. The Fall of Damnos from the Space Marine Battles series! I'd been wanting to read this for ages being an Ultramarines fanboy. I don't get much time off over Christmas, exactly 35 hours between leaving work on xmas eve and starting back again on Boxing Day, but I'm hoping I can start it soon. With the pinata I didn't have anywhere to hang him so he was rather unceremoniously stood on the floor and beaten senseless until he surrendered his chocolately innards, nom nom! Thanks mate.

Hopefully next week I'll get those DAs finished, and I've got a game scheduled for Wednesday night, it'll be great to roll some dice again. Hope you're all getting on with your xmas shopping and are feeling ready for the festive holidays! Laters.

Thursday 13 December 2012

Warllama Weekly Issue 4

Monday 3rd - Sunday 9th December 2012

Well there's more hobby progress this week than there was last time, although nothing groundbreaking so please don't get your hopes up. We'll kick off with what you've all been waiting for, the Christmas tree!

Onto the 40k now and I've almost finished prepping the Chimera, all that's left are to clean up the FW back door and stick on some etched brass then cover it in purity seals.

I got a couple of other bits primed but the big news is that I actually did some real painting. The Blood Angel  captain from GD2012 finally has some red on him. I thought I was going to hate painting large areas of red but it's been alright so far. Just got the edge highlight of Tau Light Ochre to do and a quick glaze of red.


With the pace of rumours about the Dark Angels codex picking up I thought I'd revisit the Deathwing from DV. I just started working on one as a test as I've never really done any layering before and it's turned out alright I think. Again the final edge highlight is missing and then it's down to the hard part detailing it.

Not much progress I know and it's very late but xmas seems to have that affect on my free time when you work in retail! See you next week...

Thursday 6 December 2012

White Dwarf - December 2012

This is going to be the first time for me that the new look mag gets put to the test. So far the previous two have had 40k releases that I've been really stoked about so my excitement could've (not saying it actually did) cloud my judgement. This issue is all about the Hobbit, and while I love the book, am pant-wettingly excited about the film, and can't wait to buy the lego, I'm afraid I couldn't care less about the game. I don't know exactly what it is but it just doesn't sit right with me, maybe it's a bit too much like historical gaming. I know how the battles go because I've read and seen them, I'd be changing the course of history by playing it myself! With that out of the way let's delve in...

Opening Salvo - The usually calm but excited Jes is in full on exaggeration mode with talk of jar-dropping and dazes induced by the miniatures. Yes they look like the actors in the film, please don't hype them up so far it seems ridiculous please.

New Releases - As you'd expect we lead with the Hobbit. There's a lovely two page shot of it all set up painted but that's immediately followed by a four-pager showing the same thing only bigger. I hope this isn't a return to the old way of showing the same thing too many times. A quick page turn reveals it's not. We're treated to some amazing close ups of each of the characters and they really do look great. One or two of them seem to lack a bit of detail and the sculptor seems to have a problem doing feet but other than that they look cool.

The goblins look good too but I am a little disconcerted by the troll with the moobs! The thing that I'm most excited about in all of this release is the actual Goblin Town scenery. It looks amazing and very useful to be using in other game systems.


The Crusade of Fire is up next and boy do the page shots look amazing. It's just a shame this wasn't in last months issue to encourage more people to buy it and give us a bit more detail about what to expect. It turned out that I actually got my copy of the book three days before I got my copy of this WD, a bit of poor timing there. Moaning aside Andrew Kenrick has come up trumps again with a blinder of a book. The cover and artwork are lush, the ideas and concepts held within are huge food for thought and you can't fault it on giving us additional rules and scenarios, the back section is chock full. I'll be reviewing it soon but all I'll say now is buy it now!

The Wall of Martyrs from last month has sold out so they've broken it down into pieces to sell separately, always good to know I can expect my set as and when I need to.

BL/FW/Digital/Licensed - We get a few new books out this month with a write-up on each, ForgeWorld show off the incredible Fellblade and Typhon. There's nothing new on the digital front but for licensed games there's the launch of Talisman Prologue. It was previewed at Games Day earlier in the year and looks great, fingers crossed we won't have to wait too long for the digital version of Warhammer Quest to come out too.

Army of the Month - Yet another fantasy army (is that 3 in a row?!) and it's a chap named Keith Robertson and his Ogres. They are beautifully painted, each and every one is amazing. However I have a thing about/against goblin green bases in a warzone. Surely the grass would've been trampled?

Jervis Johnson - He continues to both infuriate and enlighten me this month with talk of unwritten social contracts. It's an interesting read, he always makes me think and often about topics I would not normally consider, but every once in a while I'd love a proper behind the scenes at the studio type thing.

Battle Report - I know many people love the battle reports, it's the part where I tend to gloss over and this month's Hobbit fight is no exception. My only comment is that the atmospheric lighting made the photos look great, and that much Goblin Town scenery on one table is amazing.

The Rivals - A return to the fold after a notable absence last month. It's refreshing to read an article comparing and debating the merits of two units without it descending into whining or shit that happens on forums.

Blanchitsu - More inspirational work, this time looking at his space marine warband. I might be missing something but I don't know what they're for! If he could include some background that would be extremely helpful.

Hall of Fame - The recently released Coven Throne. Just like last month's look at the squigs, yep they're great kits but I don;t think they're quite old enough to be a classic just yet.

Parade Ground - More 40k goodness with a focus on fliers. The asymetric ork bommer is bizarre but Dave Thomas' souped up blitza-bommer is fucking brilliant. It's also great that there's a few pages given to readers' models too.

Kit Bash - Again plenty more reader submitted entries for this article, excellent stuff gang!

Battle Ground - Let's get this out of the way, I fucking love the Somaro Starfort. It's the greatest 40k scenery I've seen and I've loved it ever since the 6th ed book came out. I was fortunate enough to see it in real life at Games Day and it also features in the Crusade of Fire. I don't know how easy it would be to play a regular game on it but I'm sure there are hundreds, well maybe tens, of scenarios and ideas for ways to play on it.

Paint Splatter - Sadly quite light on actual tutorials, it's more of a checklist as to which pots you'll need to paint some Hobbits.

Jeremy Vetock - Vetock chats about getting too hot and playing games with a sort of GM so random things can always crop up. It's funny because having a GM is also mentioned in Crusade of Fire, it's almost like they're hinting at something!


This Month In - The design studio talk Hobbit, and there's some lovely shots of Radagast, the LE model from the box set. I really wish he wasn't only available in that box as his pet hodgeheg is so cute!

FW show us a load of stuff they are working on including some bits and bobs from the upcoming Battle for Black Fire Pass, I'm getting a little excited about my Dwarfs again. BL give us more words about their recently published words and with that the issue wraps up.

The magazine still feels really fresh and exciting, and I even wanted to read about the Hobbit which is something that I probably wouldn't have done before. Jes, Andy and the gang also manage to accommodate all three main game systems which is definitely a new thing, previous issues used to be solely dedicated to the big new release. The inclusion of so many reader models is amazing and the Battle Ground article steals the show for me this month. I'm going to give it a 8/10, would've easily been a 9 but I was put off by the gushing hyperbole at the start and it left a bad taste in my metaphorical mouth. Yes we all know the models are cool and that you get paid to big them up, just please don't patronise me in future!

Monday 3 December 2012

Vintage White Dwarf 193. January 1996.

This issue is a truly amazing eBay find. Not only is it from my favourite era it is possibly my favourite issue! To top it all off the auction finished this morning at around 11 for £1.50 and I had it in my hand by half one the same day as the lovely chap Iain was heading to Cardiff and offered to bring all my winnings if I could meet him. Admittedly this hasn't helped me feeling like a plastic crack addict, as I loitered around Cardiff central station waiting to hand over money to a stranger in return for old magazines. With that out of the way lets delve into this amazing issue.

News - There is all sorts going on this month, from the release of the IG Hellhound and ice warriors to the launch of the modelling workshop hobby tools. Clippers for a fiver and needle files for even less!

Codex angels of death was also released along with a few of the special characters, and as always from this time there was even more Necromunda blisters released.

There's a whole page given to a competition to celebrate the launch of the PC game Shadow of the Horned Rat and this is the month where GW discovered the interwebz!

Pyromania! - Ian Pickstock takes a closer look at the Hellhound with some guides to decals, squadron markings and the complete rules and a cut-out template for the inferno cannon. The article gives tactics and diagrams of how best to use the new tank and in the cardboard section of the mag there's the datafax with all of the rules and points for the whole tank.

(I'd forgotten how much I loved the 2nd edition system of having everything on cards like the datafaxes and mission cards. It was always exciting each month to open the issue and see what goodies would be included. Even though its just printed card it really felt like a huge gift and would be something that Jes could and should try to emulate now)

Warhammer Quest: A dungeon of your own - A follow up article from one back in #188 about creating your own monsters and events for this now forgotten about game (well, by GW anyway). There's great examples and loads of food for thought to really inspire anyone who was playing.

In Communion - An interview with Andy Chambers! One of my all time favourite members of the GW team. Jake Thornton (the WD editor at the time) is on questioning duty. They cover a very broad spectrum of topics from how he got started, what he's currently up to, how he goes about his work, and going rock climbing with Mike McVey! He came across as extremely passionate, very knowledgeable and I remember that then filled me with huge amounts of excitement. I haven't felt that from reading any designer notes in the past few years. Maybe it's because I'm old. One of the coolest bits was a photo of his completely scratch built Redemptionist gang he made to help with the writing of the Outlanders supplement for Necromunda. I was so inspired I spent all my pocket money on a Deacon carrying a grenade launcher as soon as I could!

The bigger they are... - Looking at how to deal with huge fucking monsters and dragons in fantasy. Again there is sound advise and diagrams to help out.

Games Day & Golden Demon 95 - 11 pages given over to some of the most beautiful models little me had ever seen. The majority of them still stand up to today's advanced standards with just the age of the sculpts letting them down. I'll let the photos do the talking for a while...

Yep I know they're all Eldar

Target in Sight - Once again Ian Pickstock talks 40k and different ways to use the mission cards, putting them together, and inventing your own story lines and objectives for games. A great little read and cool to see creativity being encouraged.

Stillmania - I loved this article while I first read it and it still stands up almost 17 years later. Nigel
Stillman talks us through his thoughts about collecting and painting an army without losing focus becoming a hobby butterfly. I was they would include this type of thing in the current WD as it would be invaluable for newer recruits to the hobby. Although thinking about it GW operates totally differently now. Back then they still had big releases but not as much was made of them and they were constantly releasing individual kits whenever they felt like i and putting the full rules in the mag, so I think people had a lot more loyalty to a single army rather than chasing the new big thing. Or maybe it's just me, and I imagine that everyone has the same addiction as me!

I still plan my armies by the Stillmania method to this day, only now I can actually purchase what I want rather than only dreaming. It's a treat of an article.

Just an old Hack - Next up is my beloved Necromunda. Gav Thorpe tells us about the studio campaign and inparticular the necromunda chronicle they produced to keep everyone up to speed. They show some examples of past newsletters and he talks very openly about the playtesting that the game went through. There's some lovely battle shots too, the terrain for necromunda is what really gets me, although the gangers running around the underhive still have goblin green bases!

'Eavy Metal Masterclass - Mike talks us through a couple of reader submitted questions, one about how to paint skelingtons and the other about how to apply smooth edge highlights.

Dave Andrews' iconic Imperial Thunderbolt in the hanger gets two pages dedicated to it. There's a brief interview, you don't see the current golden demon winners being interviewed these days.

Unsung Heroes - Adrian Wood gives us an article about the 4th or maybe 5th game system of the issue, epic! To be honest I didn't really read it when I was young and I haven't read it today. It looks like there's talk about infantry and how effective they can be sometimes.

Q&A - A huge Necromunda section this month and the nostalgia of plasma weapons having to recharge after being shot!

Modelling Workshop - How to make your own gaming table. This was at least a decade before the Realm of battle when GW gave us amazing hobby articles about how to scratch build things from modular tables to flock-covered hills. Obviously they're less inclined to do that now as it would detract from their scenery sales.

Complete with old school cut out banner
Dark Saviours - So finally when we almost get to the back of the magazine do they give us what would've taken up the majority of a more recent issue. Dark Angels get rules, wargear cards and background for Commander Azrael, Grand Master Ezekiel and the Chaplain Asmodai. There's no input for Jervis in terms of design notes but rules is rules.

Raid! - We finish off with a fantasy battle report between Orcs & Goblins and Dark Elves. What's cool about it is that it is part of a campaign, not just a single mission. I'd love for this idea to be reintroduced to the current WD but then there wouldn't be as much fresh stuff to put into books such as the Crusade of Fire or Blood in the Badlands.

Another issue over and boy has it been an action packed 100+ pages. There really was something for everyone regardless of which system you played, and every single article either gave you new rules, new ways to play, things to try or just amazing ideas and food for thought about the hobby. That's why I love this issue so much, my only gripe is that it could've done with a touch more necro but that's me being greedy! It's damn close to being a perfect 10 however I have to retain my tough edge so it's an all time high of 9.5/10!

Warllama Weekly Issue 3

Monday 26th - Sunday 2nd November/December 2012.

Yet again I've got nothing major to report. By blogging regularly I'd have thought I would be making sure I had something to talk about each week but it turns out that I lack more focus than very blurry thing.

That's not to say that some hobby related things didn't happen, they're just very minor. I bought a couple of green citadel paints to start work on my Ork warboss and yesterday I picked up my copy of the Crusade of Fire. I've only read the introduction so far but I have had a flick through and it does look like its going to be a great read. There's a fuck load of bitching about it all over the net which for me is a good sign because I seem to like the stuff that others don't! Speaking of which, my White Dwarf finally arrived on Monday. I'll be reviewing it very soon and it should be interesting as its the first of the new style issues where the main release isn't something I care about. Can the new style still keep my attention?

I haven't managed to get a burger this week. I had a nandos which is always tasty but the closest I came to beef was when I bought a rustlers one morning. Needless to say it won't be scoring on the burger blog but it is a guilty pleasure.

Forgot to mention I met Darth too.
So what else happened this week? I bought super mario galaxy (yes I realise everyone else has had it for years and probably completed it a million times). Anna and I decided to buy a second hand Wii together as our anniversary gift this year and we've been having great fun making our Mii's and playing on WarioWare. Not so much fun has been had with Cooking Mama, the instructions are rubbish and my wiimote is definitely to blame for my low scores!

Other than that I haven't lifted a brush or hobby knife all week which I feel terrible about, fingers crossed ill get back into it this week coming.

Oh and I finally made it down to Fish 4 Comics, hadn't been in a few weeks, well since the Cardiff Comic Expo last month, so had a small stack to pick up. Really enjoying the new TMNT series.

Last minute update! I just bought a few (6) white dwarfs and two citadel journals off eBay! To add to my joy I got them same day as they seller was visiting Cardiff! What a day off! Now it's time to put Die Hard on the tellybox and get my Christmas tree trimmed up. Festive photos to come next week folks.

Take care and may your hobby time be more fruitful than mine!