Monday, June 30, 2008

TUTORIAL: Plaguebearer Speed Painting by Goatboy



Hi all,

Its time for a new painting article. Goatboy is back to show us his speedpainting technique yet again. While we all want to have beautiful Golden Daemon quality armies, at the end of the day I just like to get a nice paint scheme on my minis that is easy to do and looks good on the tabletop.

With that in mind, I've asked one of BoLS good friends Goatboy to show us what can be done by any one of us, regardless of painting skill level. His tough assignment was to paint up a squad of minis in 2 hours. He was to use methods that are easily replicated and look good on the tabletop. He accomplished it with flying colors. I present:

Speed Painting Plaguebearers in 12 Easy Steps!

Goatboy take it away:

Step 1
Black base. A broken ankle means I have to hand paint black. It sucks. I don't really try to cover the whole model all that well. The plaguebearers are heavily detailed and it makes it a little bit annoying to get all the nooks and crannies filled with black. I try my best, water down the paint etc. Good thing I use a lot of washes to fill in the spaces


Step 2
Here I start the layering of brown. I decided to go with scorched brown as my first layer. It is pretty dark, and it has enough red to make it a more interesting brown. This is a heavy dry brush layer. What that means, is that I didn't really pay attention to pull the brush along the raised edges. I wanted to cover the majority of the model and have tiny bits of black showing. It is easy, just do it messy


Step 3
Next I dry brush a layer of Calthan Brown. I go not as heavy as before, but enough to pull up the color from the scorched brown.


Step 4
Next up on the brown, is Vomit Brown and I dry brush a bit lighter and pull the brown to a higher color again.


Step 5
After that is Bubonic Brown. The dry brushing is lighter and pulls the color up higher, making the brown a gross throw-up color.


Step 6
Next I used the new wash Devlan Mud to darken the model and fill in the recesses. It brings the overall color down. It also unifies the browns, by placed a thin colored layer over them all. The biggest thing I have found with the washes, is that they do a great job of bringing all the colors together on the model.


Step 7
Here I added a contrasting color. This makes the model pop more, and gives it a much more interesting look. Just like my plague marines before, the red shoulder pads break up the monotony of the color scheme. Here I added Warlock Purple on the tongues and other fleshie bits. This is a good dark base, and for a purple color, and it really isn't too guady.


Step 8
Next I did a highlight of Tentacle Pink on the warlock purple. This is just a lighter color, used to create a start contrast. Start contrast help make things look wet or gooey. Thus the reason I put it on tongues and other rotten flesh bits.


Step 9
Here I created another contrast color on the model. I painted a Snot Green on the edge of the swords. I wanted to give an otherworldly look to their plague swords.


Step 10
Next I highlight the green with an even more neon green color. I don't know what the name of it would be in GW's pallete, but shoot for something even brighter than the base color.


Step 11
Here I finished off the final highlight using my tried and trusted Antique white. I used it lightly to pull the highlights to the final level.


Step 12
Finally I add the Flesh Ink wash to the crevices of the model. This brings the dark parts down and creates even more of a 3d effect. Also the Flesh Ink creates more contrast within the shape of the model, and creates a nice sort of rusted, old look.


Total time to finish these five guys: 2 hours. If I had five more, it would have been about the same, due to having more of an ability to control the drying times. I find 10 models to be the best to work with in this assembly line manner. Once you get up to the 20's it might be harder, but easily doable if you keep layering system fairly simple.

~The basic drybrushing with tight detail added in last is easy to replicate across a ton of different colors and models. This technique seen here in a brown color scheme lends itself well to CSMs, Orks, Tyranids, Necrons, IG, and many more. Almost any army out there that needs to look like its not factory fresh or parade ground polished can get from your hobby desk to the tabletop in record time with these methods. Lets hear it for Goatbay, and by all means go check out his blog for even more of his techniques.

SNEAK PEAK: Forgeworld and Black Library Tidbits



Dread Pic brought to the community by Warseer's: Gereth

Hi Guys,

A few little things here to keep you informed.

First up we have this great shot of a Forgeworld Death Guard Dreadnought being released for the upcoming Siege of Vraks Part 2 hardcover.

In the number two slot we have yet another shot of a collector's range Kroot mini shown at Games Day: Canada.

We also hear word from Black Library that due to continued interest in many of their background books (such as Xenology), a compilation book may be coming down the pipe (yay!!!). They are still working this one through and deciding which books would be most desired for the compilation project.

~Once again, Forgeworld comes through with a phenomenal mini. That Death Guard Dread is amazing, from the abandoned skeleton atop it to the pockmarked skulls chained to its waist. Siege of Vraks 2 seems to shaping up to be quite nicely.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

FLY WIRE: Tyranids and 5th


Hi guys,

Take a look over at the Fly Wire section to check out Mkerr's 2 latest posts on his newest Tyranid list.

Tyranid List
After Action Report

He's convinced that Nids are the new tournament "killer list" of 5th editon and I'm sure would love to hear some feedback regarding his list and your own Tyranid experiences in 5th.

~He's apparently working through some teething problems (such as Bulwark's army), but I know you guys have a lot of good advice to give :)

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Blood Ravens Logo Sheet


Did someone say Blood Ravens? You all asked and you shall recieve.

I have been noting (again) that GW does a great job of covering the major 1st Founding and select 2nd Founding chapters with their decal sheets. However, there are a number of great looking 2nd and later founding chapters who get a good amount of back-story and have great alternative uniform colors that never have had decals produced for them. In the interest of promoting diversity in the Marine community and encouraging players to branch out beyond the "big 4", I keep knocking out logo sheets for some of these other chapters who I think look great and have no GW decal support.

The Blood Ravens have gotten a lot of GW attention and were the top BoLS reader requested logo sheet by far so here they are. Here is the link to the PDF file for the decal sheet you can freely pull down and use:

Download Here

The sheet is designed for printout on Decal printer paper which is easily available online. These decals are designed for the CLEAR decal paper. The procedure is as follows:

CLEAR PAPER: If you use the clear decals, the decals need to be applied to a light colored surface to be visible at all. The procedure for applying the "outline only" decals is to apply them to a white surface, and wait till they are fully dried. Then using the outlines as a guide, paint in the darker color around the decal if needed. It is odd, but gets the job done.

Click here for a detailed Custom Decal Tutorial

Size wise, the larger decals towards the top are best used for super heavies/terrain, and move down in size to the large array of Marine Shoulderpad towards the bottom.

In any case, enjoy and I wish you the best in using this set for your forces.

~Please feel free to leave comments if there is a special Chapter, Craftworld, or something else you would love to collect, but have no GW decal options, and I will see what I can do.

Friday, June 27, 2008

GW 5th Edition Launch Events


Hi guys,


Here is a flyer from GW describing the launch-day events surrounding 5th Edition. These events are happening all over the place at participating stores and independant retailers, so give your local FLGS a ring and ask them if they are taking part.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

SNEAK PEAK: IG and Black Reach Tidbits


IG pics brought to the community by Warseer's: vladsimpaler

Hi guys,

A couple of things for the weekend. First up we have this nice oversized pic of the back of the Black Reach boxed set. Its a newer version of the one released earlier this week, and we can now see the templates, rulebook, measuring sticks, and read all the text on the back.

Secondly, we have heard some very early Imperial Guard related rumors a little while back. While its not confirmation , these 2 pics lend some credibility to that earlier post. Here we see a "Commissar-Lord" who might definately be considered a new HQ, and the interior shot 3-d from the rumored Valkyrie kit.





~Its starting to feel like the IG rumor mill is beginning to rumble...

TEASER: Macharian Heroes and Villians



Hi everyone,

I think this is a great time to formally announce the winners from our Create a IG Regiment Challenge. Below you will find 2 sample pages from the Macharian Crusade campaign book. The first is a rundown of our winners! Take a look at that page and give it up for your fellow BoLS readers who threw down the conversion gauntlet and came up on top! CONGRATULATIONS!

Secondly, I think its time to give some love to all of you xenos/heretic players who want in on the Macharian action but don't have an IG army. Never fear, because this time around, there is a lot of cool information and ICs for all you bad guys. Is there anything more fun than playing a nefarious scheming villian? Of course their is; playing a nefarious scheming 40k villian!




~Enjoy the ICs, and consider this an open thread so have at it guys. Remember no chairs! Oh, I almost forgot... You can expect the Macharian Crusade to be out hot on the heels of 5th edition, in July. It's almost time folks!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

NEWS: Assault on Black Reach Box and Pics




Images brought to the community by Warseer's Wrath, Kaldanesh, and Hatemonger

Well look right here:

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a box.

We also have a nice set of additional pics of the sprues, including nice closeups of the Marine Captain, Ork Warboss, and the ork boyz.










~I'm really impressed with that Plastic Captain, and Dreadnought. that is just great work for press assembly plastics. The pics on the back of the box would also seem to settle once and for all, the mini contents of the box.

NEWS: Games Day Canada:2008

News brought to the community by warseer's: Maxis Lithium

Hi guys,
Here are some pics and quick news coming out of Games Day Canada:

Minis
First of all, check out the pics brought to us by an intrepid BoLS operative of the Assault on Black Reach Marine Captain and Ork Warboss. Word is that the others pics of the Blood Angel, Space Wolf, Tau, and Runts minis will be direct order minis available in July.

News
Jervis was present and there was confirmation that work on Codex Imperial Guard is underway, but not much else. There is also talk within the studio of expanding the playtesting cycles which go into codices (yay!).

Apparently to the shock of all, he brought up Squats!!! The crux of the conversation was that GW has a 5-year plan to hit every army that was not addressed in 4th and bring them up to speed for 5th Edition. Apparently Witchhunters & Daemonhunters is towards the tail end of that period. Once that is finished, if GW can spare design resources (which they cannot do now), they may look towards re-introducing the Squats as a completely re-imagined new xenos race, with a total break from their Rogue Trader original concept (so perhaps the Demiurge concept).








~I gotta say, WOW; that Squat thing is just out of left field, but hey, more races are always better. Also, extra cool points for the torn up armor on that Blood Angel. I'm confused... is it a bad thing if GW resets the Squat-Clock themselves?

Monday, June 23, 2008

Mentor Legion Logo Sheet



Its been too long since BoLS has kicked out a logo sheet, so it was time to tiptoe through my backlog of requests.

I have been noting for a while that GW does a great job of covering the major 1st Founding and select 2nd Founding chapters with their decal sheets. However, there are a number of great looking 2nd and later founding chapters who get a good amount of back-story and have great alternative uniform colors that never have had decals produced for them. In the interest of promoting diversity in the Marine community and encouraging players to branch out beyond the "big 4", I keep knocking out logo sheets for some of these other chapters who I think look great and have no GW decal support.

I've gotten a few requests for the Mentor Legion (really!), with their old school Rogue Trader era original logo so here they are. Here is the link to the PDF file for the decal sheet you can freely pull down and use:

Download Here

The sheet is designed for printout on Decal printer paper which is easily available online. These decals are designed for the CLEAR decal paper. The procedure is as follows:

CLEAR PAPER: If you use the clear decals, the decals need to be applied to a light colored surface to be visible at all. The procedure for applying the "outline only" decals is to apply them to a white surface, and wait till they are fully dried. Then using the outlines as a guide, paint in the darker color around the decal if needed. It is odd, but gets the job done.

Click here for a detailed Custom Decal Tutorial

Size wise, the larger decals towards the top are best used for super heavies/terrain, and move down in size to the large array of Marine Shoulderpad towards the bottom.

In any case, enjoy and I wish you the best in using this set for your forces.

~Please feel free to leave comments if there is a special Marine Chapter you would love to collect, but have no GW decal options, and I will see what I can do.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

SNEAK PEAK: Images from Crusade



Hi guys,

Its dead on the news front today, so I thought you would like to see some porn. 40k porn that is. One of the things that I've been working on is bringing up our picture quality for our mini-dexes and campaign books. Its a tough one, and lately I've been playing less and lugging around my Canon and tripod a bit more than I like. Here is a small set of pics from the Macharian book I think you guys might like.

We have new regiments, some of our old favorites, an Imperial air-wing courtesy of Gentleben, and yet more images of the Imperial Guard smashing their way to the Galaxy's edge.







~So let me know, how am I doing? If you like the pics it can't be all that bad. Anything in particular stand out?

Saturday, June 21, 2008

NEWS: Sunday Tidbits...


Hi guys,

Mkerr and I are back from Seattle and settling back into things. We had a great time at the Bellevue Bunker and wanted to say thanks to all the staff who were just great. Chaosgerbil showed up and got to look through the Macharian Crusade book and wowed us with his 4 BOXES OF CHAOS SPAWN!!! I'm not sure what he has in mind, but if you guys ever need a rampaging horde of dozens of spawn to smote your enemies...he's your man!

Anyway, onto the daily into.

Launch Accessories
Following up on the Laser Pointer, its definitely a laser, not a LED. The laser works in such a way that when it appears there's a cross-hair; and while odd looking it also has a purpose. The idea is that if any part of the cross hair is obscured on the target model then you get a cover save. The Laser image can be seen at distances of 10-15 meters in low light and is easily visible on a tabletop.

We have also heard of the recall of the new GW "flamer airbrush". Apparently there is some issue with a plastic hose that can crack under extended use, and they have been pulled. We have no info on future reintroduction plans.

Latest Future Releases Rumors
We are now hearing that the Space Wolves are not scheduled for the DEC/JAN slot, but have no additional info. This could just be a slight re-jiggering of the release schedule, as many sources say they are well underway.
2nd Wave of Orks are in JAN (Zagstruk and Co.)
2nd Wave of Daemons are in March (rumored to be plastic Plaguebearers)
Imperial Guard is tentatively scheduled for May next year

~Standard Caveats on the release schedule rumors (as always). Mkerr and I had a great 5th edition game up at the bunker (my foot eldar > IG in centaurs), but now that we are really getting a feel for 5th, the floodgates will soon be opening. Mkerr is just bursting with his latest set of TACTICAS for 5th that sound both awesome and full of dirty tricks. Expect those to start rolling in here soon.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

TUTORIAL: CSM Speed Painting by Goatboy



Hi all,

I think its time for a painting article. How about You? Now I know, I know... we are all busy poeple and lead busy productive lives. That said, we all find time to collect that ever growing pile of non-painted GW minis that builds up in our hobby rooms and mocks us day and night.
We all want to have beautiful Golden Daemon quality armies, but really, at the end of the day I just like to get a nice paint scheme that is easy to do and looks good on the tabletop on my minis.

With that in mind, I've asked one of BoLS good friends Goatboy to show us what can be done by any one of us, regardless of painting skill level. I gave him a tough assignment. He was to paint up an entire 10-man squad of minis with their dedicated transport in 2 hours. He was to use methods that are easily replicated and look good on the tabletop. He accomplished it with flying colors. I present:

Speed Painting CSMs in 10 Easy Steps!

Goatboy take it away:

Step 1
Paint em black. Cuz that fits for my coloring style and my own choice for doing any kinda of design. Some people prefer white, but I like em painted black first.


Step 2
Dry brush with foundation color Knarloc Green. I dry brushed it fairly loose and thick in places to give it a nice chunky look. Like bits of flesh and to create more texture on the form.


Step 3
I dry brushed using foundation Gretchin Green to bring up the greens. These initial stages are not meant to be that detail intensive, they are just there to create varying shades of color and small bits of texture due to the amount of paint hitting the model.


Step 4
I used the new Thraka Green wash on the model, as well as added a layer of bubonic brown to the zombie flesh bits to bring up that color and make it stand out from the rotten old armor.


Step 5
I used the Sepia wash on the models in order to try and pull the recesses darker and create more shades of the model. Washes are great, because they double the amount of colors on the model with one swipe. Lets say you have 3 layers of green. An ink or a wash, will create 3 new shades based on those 3 greens. The wash/ink will darken each color, thus creating a new color. The old colors will still be there, maybe not as bright as before, but they will be there.


Step 6
Here I added tin bitz as the base color for the metal. Tin bitz works great as a beginning rust color. It is dark enough and has enough of a purple in it to help with any rust colors you want to add in later. IE Flesh Wash ink and anything else.


Step 7
Here is where things start to look like my normal minis. My tried and true, super cheap Antique White dry brush. I like the cheap paint, because the amount of pigment is very light, thus it allows me more control over the drybrushing and overall detail work. Antique white is the same color as bleached bone, so you can use that as well. I use the models texture and forms that were already created, to gently put a lightened layer of white on top, to highlight the model.


Step 8
Here I add detail work, such as a new highlight color to break up the monotony of the form. I picked red, due to the fact a lot of my army has red shoulder pads, and it helps keep it a part of the Chaos Undivided theme that I want to play with. I start with a foundation paint Mechrite Red, go to a Blood Red from there, and then end with a small bit of drybrushing of Fiery Orange.


Step 9
Almost finished, here I add a bit of Flesh Ink to the zombie bits and red parts of the armor. This brings down the color, and gives another grimey shade to the flesh. It also breaks it from the armor more and helps make it look like the armor and flesh parts are leaking some kind of brown, brackish liquid. If you put Boltgun Metal on your metal parts, using the flesh ink on it, will create a rust type of effect that looks pretty good. You can see this on my Ork Nob Bikers.


Step 10
Here there are finished, after putting in one more layer of Antique white/Bleached Bone on the flesh parts and basing the models. And I used a fine point Sharpie pen in order to create lines of black in parts of the armor. This will help it stand out more and give a nice bit of contrast to the model. Thanks to Bigred for the tip on this.


If I did this at home, and not at work, most likely this would have been a 2 hour job at most. If you do models in batches of 10, most of the time you can finish the last model and the first model you started should be dry by now. But yeah, there you go, a nice table quality squad in 2 hours. Hell if you had 20 models you could most likely finish them in 3 hours or so.

~Yes, I know...more Death Guard. But the basic drybrushing with tight detail added in last is easy to replicate across a ton of different colors and models. This technique lends itself well to CSMs, Orks, Tyranids, Necrons, IG, and many more. While I wouldn't go for such a rough look for Eldar, almost any army out there that needs to look like its not factory fresh or parade ground polished can get from your hobby desk to the tabletop in record time with these methods. Lets hear it for Goatbay, and by all means go check out his blog for even more of his techniques.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

NEWS: Forgeworld Upcoming Releases



News and pics brought to the community by Warseers: Kayvaanshrike and Orgussv2

Hi guys, Apparently Forgeworld has a ton of things headed down the pipe. Here are some of the things they showed off at Gamesday Baltimore:

-The Siege of Vraks book series will be in at least 3 parts, with part 2 due out in September.
-More weapon options for the Reaver Titan are coming.
-A Chaos version of the Reaver is coming.
-They are planning more torso/head/shoulderpad kits for other Chaos Legions.
-There will be some funky stuff for various Orky things, such as Trukk accessory packs.
-Plague Ogryns on the way.




~That plague ogryn looks crazy! The jacked up ogryns with the chem injectors from Siege of Vraks: Part 1 seemed pretty cool, but Nurgle Ogryns are even more over the top. It would seem that Vraks is a bad place to be an Orgyn. I almost feel sorry for the simple-minded guys...almost.

Seattle or bust!


Hi guys,

A quick one here. Mkerr and I will be in Seattle this Friday. We are aiming to head on over to the Seattle GW in the evening around dinnertime. If anyone would like to link up with us, let us know.

We may even have a preview copy of the Macharian Crusade book with us... :)

RUMORS: Apocalypse Reload Datasheets



Rumors brought to the community by 40konline's Chosen Man

Hi guys, we have some more rumors on Apocalypse:Reload. According to the original poster, he got this info from flippping through the book at the Baltimore Battle Bunker. Here they are in their unaltered form.

Formation Datafaxes:

Steel Fury Company: Basically just like the one online 3+ Baneblades in the formation. Check the PDF online if you want to see it.

Baneblade Troop Transport Variant: I believe its called a Banestorm(Something like that). Basically its a 40 model transport(Note that I said model....not specific to any kind of IG unit....Keep that in mind for what you want to cram into it). It comes with a Vulcan Megabolter. The drawing in the book has the Vulcan Turret mounted in the forward spot of the baneblade, with the TL Heavy Bolter. The troops in the rear, so your looking at a Superheavy Chimera profile. The troops inside can have 20 models shooting out of the tank! On top of that, if the tank doesn't move all power can be diverted to the weapons allowing the Megabolter to fire again.

Castillans Command Formation: Its the Cadian Special Character with his own High Command/Honor Guard Formation. He has his own personal High Command squad with several characters like HSO, Psykers, Commissars, Vets, Techie, and so on. On top of that you also get 3 other Command Squads that are part of the formation. This formation gives you 4 Stratagems I believe.

IG Shield Infantry Company: Basically an IG Infantry Company. 1 Command Platoon+at least 3 Infantry Platoons. This formation allows for several stratagems.

IG Armored Fist Company: This one is broken down in the same way as the Armored Tank Companies, where you can take 3 AF Squads to make a AF Squadron formation....OR you can up it to 3 Squadrons+1 Command AF Squad, to make a company.

IG Hellhound formation: This is exactly as you might think, 3 hellhounds with one chosen as a command hound. The formation allows you to combine all 3 templates on one target....TOASTY!

IG Catachan Formation: For those of you who want to bring a flavor of the catachan DWV, here is your formation. This is 3 Hardend Vet Squads+at least 2 SWSs formation. This is an attempt to bring the DWVs into Apocalypse. You get rules for Ambush and Booby Traps, as well as several special rules for moving thru cover to allow for that Jungle Feel to the army.

Strategic Assets:
In this book each race get their very own set of assets and stratagems. There are some universal ones, but the mood of the book is set to help specific armies. Even the Sisters of Battle have their own stratagem(Holy Crusade I think, like in DoW Soulstorm). The IG get 4 assets for them, which some of the new formations are allowed to use. Right now I can only remember 3 of the 4.

Defensive Line: Basically you get a shield dropped in front of your IG forces. If I remember right you get a +3 or +4 cover save, similar to the blind barrage.

Fortifications: This asset gives you basically 3 Bunkers at AV 14 in your deployment zone.

Fix On My Coordinates!: This has got to be one of the funest one of all. Basically you pick any squad with a Vox Caster. You make a leadership role and if you pass an Orbital Bombardment will drop Exactly right on top of that Vox Model. Heh! I'm not exactly sure, but I believe this asset can be played at any time...

~Standard caveat emptor's apply but I'm intrigued by the baneblade superheavy transport. If it does what the man says it does, it better be a lot more expensive than a Gorgon, because it sounds superior in every way. As for the Strategic Assets, Fix on my coordinates sounds like a blast! Apocalypse:Reload is supposed to be a great deal for the cost if you're into Apocalypse (like me).

Monday, June 16, 2008

News: 5th Edition Launch Tidbits



Hi guys,

A few little morsels for the day...

White Dwarf 5th Edition Mini
Ramping up for the release of 5th Edition, GW is giving everyone a little treat in an upcoming White Dwarf. Here are the details:

There is a free Terminator and Ork to be mailed with US WD #344. These are models from the new 40K boxed starter set. The Terminator is 4 major parts plus a base: torso front including head, full lower body with torso rear half, left arm and right arm, plus one small fifth bit in the form of a decorative skull. The Ork is 3 parts plus base: body, head and one separate pistol wielding arm if my memory serves me correctly.

The amount of detail on these models is terrific. They appear to have all the same types of detail seen on their multi-part model equivalents. Per page 39 in WD #342, newstand copies of WD will come with one model or the other while subscribers will get both models.

Laser Pointer
There are conflicting reports that the LOS pointer is an LED, not an actual laser as predicted by many, so there should be little in the way of safety concerns with it (the jury is still out on this one).

Terrain Kits
We are hearing that the small tower-like bunker and the terrific landing pad shown in photos in the new rule book are model kits under consideration for release in the near future. So look for them the next time you flip throughthe book.

~Well, no laser eye trauma is always something to be thankful for(if it pans out...). I admit to being somewhat worried about the ensuing laser shenanigans when I first heard about it, but it looks like we all dodged a bullet on this one.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

IG Regiment Challenge - Finalists Voting



Today is VOTING DAY!
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to each of our finalists. Congratulations to you all.

Now on to the voting. Due to some changes in the campaign book, we need 5 winners instead of 3. Listed below are the 10 highest ranked Imperial Guard Regiments submitted for selection and voted upon by you guys. The goal of this final round is to select our five winners.

The Rules:
  • You may select up to five choices in the poll. (no going over please)
  • Take into account not only painting, but quality of fluff text, fair and appropriate doctrines, and originality.
  • The names and background of the regiments are directly ABOVE each picture.

13th Helios Abhumans

The 13th Helios Abhumans are a shadowy ally of the Lord Solar’s Imperial armies, drafted into the Crusade under the auspices of an ancient pact between the governor of Helios and the Inquisition. It is said that in the mists of early Imperial history a Lord Inquisitor allowed the mutant worlds of Segmentum Helios into the Imperial fold in exchange for manpower and weaponry, to assist in persecuting a war on xeno-invaders. To this day the Inquisition honour this pact, and the worlds of Helios repay their debt in blood. The Helios Abhumans are comprised of a variety of abhuman strains, from common ogryns and ratlings through to more obscure varieties such as beastmen. Pictured is a common example of a Helios trooper – the flame-thrower being a common weapon carried this regiment. Many Imperial armies have refused to fight alongside the Helions, decrying them as mutants or worse. However, time and again the 13th Helios have proudly banished the Emperor’s enemies.
Doctrines: Ogryns, ratlings, conscripts (beastmen), chem.-inhalers, independent commissars
Preferred weapons: Auto-cannon, Flamer

123rd Sovrus Guards
One of the remaining hastily trained Guards Regiments from the planet Sovrus. The lone Imperial Agri-world to raise troops beyond PDF status, Sovrus pledged three entire Rifle Regiments to the Macharian Crusade. Doomed from the start by a terrible supply situation, the poorly trained and equipped Guardsmen were issued antiquated autoguns. The universally equipped Imperial Lasgun can use the power of a sun to recharge its powerpacks. Autoguns need solid ammunition akin to the Heavy Stubber. Bulky and hard to transport, ammo ran low in every engagement. The three Regiments performed adequately in minor skirmishes and two major actions within the Argolis Cluster. After the Crusade ran afoul of a technologically advanced system along the edge of the Argolis Cluster, the three poorly trained Regiments were reduced to a single ad hoc Regiment. The single Regiment, the consolidated 123rd Sovrus Guards Rifle Regiment (once the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiments) was reduced to an occupation force. Another job these men are not well trained for...

Doctrines:Conscripts, Independent Commissars, Close Order Drill, Iron Discipline, Heavy Weapons Platoons.
Preferred Weapons: Lascannons, Grenade Launchers

Amazons of Lethe 4
Lethe is a mostly jungle world with a matriarchal society. It was discovered by the 745th Black Templar Crusade just before their penetration into the Il-Kaithe Craftworld's sphere of influence. Eagerly rejoining the Imperium, the 'Amazons' helped the Black Templars, and thus the crusade, by doing numerous scouting missions against the eldar. Such was the Amazon's prowess, the farseers of Il-Kaithe decided to, and succeeded in, decimating Lethe 4. The Amazons were recalled to the home world and played no further role in the crusade. Standard weapon load out was to have sniper rifles in the infantry platoons, with the heavy weapons being concentrated in the command squads and heavy weapon platoons.

Doctrines: Special weapon squads, heavy weapon platoons, light infantry, sharp shooters, independent commissars.
Preferred weapons: grenade launchers, sniper rifles, missile launchers.

Arcturian Aerotroopers
191st Arctaurian Aerotroopers is highly celebrated Imperial drop trooper regiment. Arctaurian regiments specialise in low-altitude, rapid-deployment combat drops, utilising the pre-emptive abilities of sanctioned psykers to predict safe drop patterns. The regiment favours man-power over artillery, and save for sentinel squadrons rarely employs vehicles. Drafted into the Macharin Crusade to fight on the side of the Lord Solar, the Arctaurian Aerotroopers fought valiantly in many combat theatres. Due to their highly dangerous method of deployment, the casualty rate suffered by Arctaurian regiments tends to be very high. The 191st lasted some six months in active service before the it was decreed no longer combat viable, and disbanded.

Doctrines: Drop troopers, special weapon squads, iron discipline, sanctioned psykers, veterans

Preferred weapons: Missile launcher, Grenade launcher

Borsan Storm Eaters
The Storm Eaters of Borse III were one of the regiments allied with Solar Macharius during the Crusade. They were a mixed regiment, made up of infantry, mechanized infantry, and tank companies. The history of the Storm Eaters is not grand, and is in fact somewhat sinister. After playing a minor role during the Macharian Crusade, where they worked to secure and indoctrinate captured planets, interesting developments began to occur. Late in the crusade, the Storm Eaters ceased being an available force for deployment, being continuously listed as ++Assigned to Inquisition++.Rumur has it the Storm Eaters' leadership formed a relationship with Inquisitor Tor-Mal, and began to act as his military arm, during his investigations. Tor-Mal was a member of the secretive Ordo Malleus--the daemonhunters. Tor-Mal himself is the reason for the sinister history of the Storm Eaters. Many rumors exist of his radical ways, including the use of daemonhosts and weapons of chaos to accomplish his goals. Little is known of the storm eaters since their 'disappearance' into Tor-Mal's service. It is believed they still serve Tor-Mal, or his inquisitorial descendants, even today.

Doctrines: Iron Discipline
Preferred Weapons: Autocannon

Golgothan Iron Brotherhood
Originally from a planet called Golgotha, this regiment is what remains of a full Squat Brotherhood. Squats were useful imperial allies before their homeworlds were destroyed in late M41. Squats were a hardy race, descendants of the first human colonists that found their homes in the dense, mineral-rich systems close to the galactic core. The harsh conditions, and especially much stronger gravity typical of these worlds meant that over the millennia, the descendants are now much shorter and stouter than their human counterparts. Prior to their virtual extinction, the Squats fought in many of the greatest Imperial campaigns, including the Macharian Crusades.
After the destruction of their homeworld at the hands of the Orks led by Ghazgkull after the Second Armageddon War, surviving Squats set off for the stars, sometimes known as the Demiurg. Despite their race being virtually wiped out, a few Squat companies still fight wherever Orks are to be found. The Iron Brotherhood remains to this day on Armageddon, keeping the Orks in check alongside other Imperial forces.

Doctrines: Close Order Drill, Tech Enginseers, Rough Riders (Bikes), Iron Discipline, Sharpshooters, Preferred Enemy: Orks
Preferred Weapons: Grenade Launcher, Lascannon

Helghast Korps
They came from the Segmentum Obscuros, from Helghan, a ash waste planet. Trained by Armaggedon and Death Korps regiments, they excel in mounted warfare combined with a tenacious courage and iron will. Their rebreathing gear allowed them to work on poisonous envoirements and the like. Also they were the only regiment to use autoguns and their similars, they dislike las-weaponry (except lascannons). Lord Commander Solar Macharius, requested their presence in his crusade, though they only appeared in the later stages of the war. Yet they gained honours battling orks and heretics on the few battles they witnessed. Their former commander, Colonel Armin Metrac, was exiled due to *access denied-inquisition file.beta992* .

Doctrines: Die-hards, Iron Discipline, Special weapons teams, Mechanized, Independent commisars, Conscripts

Preferred weapons: Autocannon, grenade launcher

Reinecke's Raiders
The world of Preatorium VI was a hive world that flourished during the Dark Age of Technology. However when the Age of Strife brought humanity low, the commercial systems that kept the hive world alive collapsed. When scouts from the Lord Solar's fleets entered the system and started exploring they found that the population of Preatorium VI had regressed into a series of feudalistic empires, each centred around one of the former hive cities, primitive feasting halls co-existing with pieces of elaborate archaeotech. Despite the technological advantages enjoyed by the Imperium the feudal lords proved difficult to subdue. However one of the Feudal lords, Lord Robert Reinecke was convinced (in exchange for being supplied with modern weapons and being made planetary governor) to switch sides. His forces known as Reinecke's Raiders soon conquered the rest of the planet. So in a stunning move of diplomacy a world was brought into the imperial fold in exchange for ten thousand lasguns and a thousand horses.

Doctrines: Rough Riders, Light Infantry, Hardened Fighters, Iron Discipline, Veterans
Preferred Weapons: Sniper Rifles, Flamers

Slaves of Spartacus Primus
Sparta Primus was a planet dedicated to agriculture until it took part in the Andronicus “the Blind” uprising. When the rebellion was eliminated and the leaders executed the population of Spartacus Primus became slaves in Imperial service. This saved billions of people from exterminatus but not was for free. Now the population of Spartacus Primus is used in all places of the Imperium as slaves in civil or military functions. When the slaves from Spartacus Primus are deployed in campaign always are accompanied by a platoon of Adeptus Arbites (adeptus and cadets).

Doctrines:Sub-humans, Slaves, Veterans, Carapace, Special weapons squads (Arbites)
Preferred weapons: Heavy bolter, Melta gun

The Scourge
Self-named The Scourge, and labeled “Red Devils” by Imperial forces, these enigmatic forces presented a considerable threat to Third Army Group perimeter and reconnaissance forces for the duration of the Macharian crusade in the Ghost Worlds region. Scourge forces struck rapidly utilizing highly fluid tactics which consistently demoralized the more rigid Imperial troops through the use of insidiously clever ambush and hit-and-run guerrilla tactics; generally preferring to strike at night or in poor weather conditions. Advanced liquid propellant-based projectile weapons, which made a distinctive low-frequency thwumph sound and X-shaped red-orange muzzle flash when fired, only served to add to the elusive adversaries' mystique and further unsettle the outclassed guardsmen. Specifics regarding troop disposition, motivation and origins were never significantly discerned as Scourge infantry were morbidly adept at discovering creative means of suicide to avoid interrogation. The ultimate fate of Scourge forces after the crusade remains unknown; though haunting regional tales persist of unidentified raiders striking fringe settlements and unwary patrols without warning, leaving only the corpses of their victims as evidence of passage as they seemingly vanish back into the ether.

Doctrines: Die-Hards, Drop Troops, Sharpshooters, Carapace Armor

Preferred weapon: Liquid propellant-based sabot projectile cannon (lascannon equivalent)


~Feel free to leave any comments regarding the entries in the thread and have a good time guys. Good Luck and may the best regiments win! For all the folks who don't make the cut, I will try to get as many of you as I can into the book in another capacity, so hang in there.

NEWS: Games Day Baltimore 2008


Picsbrought to the community by Bolter and Chainsword's: Age quod agis

Whew, what a day. It looks like Games Day: Baltimore has its own set of goodies to unleash in concert with the Design Studio Open Day.

UPDATE: Ten more images added at the bottom from our own: Brassscorpion and Dakka Dakka's dienekes96. Thanks a ton guys! It looks we have plenty of sprue pics, including an ork battlewagon, Space Wolves, and a cad drawing of possibly the Ironclad Dreadnought. Also, check out those costume contest folks. Extra kudos goes out to the young lad in the Eldar Phantom costume. +100 Style Points for him!

On the news front, its mainly a retread of what was said earlier in the day at Nottingham, half a world away.

On the minis front, were are treated to these goodies, including the first look at the cad/cam drawings of the "Land Speeder Storm", the scout transport. We also get our first good look at the boxed set Marine Captain, and sprue. Enjoy, and more info and pics as we get them.















~I'm really liking the triple engines on that speeder. that would definately rule out a simple accessory sprue for the land speeder. Its probably an entirely new kit. There is so much new stuff here I don't know where to begin... Have at it guys!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

NEWS: UK Design Studio Open Day



News and pics brought tothe community by warseer's: Philbrad and Art is Resistance

Hi guys,

It likes like things are hopping in Nottingham. the Design Studio Open Day is opening our eyes to several upcoming releases. Tim Deakin, Rick Priestley, Andy Hoare, and Alessio gave the presentation. Here is what we know

40K "Mighty Empires"
Confirmed by Rick Priestly for 2009. There are resin casts of the 40K tiles such as defence lines, spaceports, bunkers and a multipart hive city. Priestly was forthcoming about the Mighty Empires 40k. It won't be seen until next year, but will be fully compatible with WFB Mighty Empires.

Army Policy Change
Instead of an army's entire miniature range being done all at one time with the codex release, additional releases for armies will be coming out over a period of time. This is happening with Orks and there is a plan to release Plaguebearers and Horrors into plastic "at some stage".

White Dwarf
All White Dwarf production is now centrally controlled from Lenton to prevent as Rick put it "anarchy!" GW are quite aware of the lack of hobby content in the magazine and are working to address it. Rick Priestly was apparently quite vocal regarding White Dwarf policy - he seemed very concerned at the direction White Dwarf had taken. Now that the design studio had more control over the magazine he'd like to see more rules based stuff in there.

Combat Patrol/Kill Team
These are NOT in the 5th Edition rulebook. Rick Priestley mentioned that there are several supplements being worked on that will cover Kill Team etc... by Jervis and his team that would be released in the future. Rick's opinion was that as the rules are written now, it's easier to take 40k down to 500pts with the rules as they stand, unlike WFB. No details were forthcoming about Planetstrike or any other named supplement

Dark Eldar
Priestly also mentioned Dark Eldar. He's got the miniatures and the codex. He was quite keen to point out that they would be seeing 'some love' soon.

Apocalypse Reload
This book does have the website Datafaxes in there, but the pictures for the likes of the Khorne Tower of Skulls, Plaguetowers, etc.. are new conversions. The book is nicely presented in softback format.

Odds and Ends
There will be no new races for the forseeable future. It was said that to support the races they already have is hard enough.


Tower of Skulls Conversion

Legion of the Damned Display Page


White Scar IC Display Page



Stern Veteran Display Pages

~Thats an interesting take on the Tower of Skulls. Legion of the Damned are back, and those Sternguard Veterans seem really cool with all their extra ammo rules. White Scars players can rejoice with their own very first IC. Beyond the individual rumors its VERY interesting to see the re-emergence of Rick Priestly as 40k frontman and see him talking about releases beyond the "3-month window". Perhaps all that inside-baseball talk we've heard of GW shakeups is actually occuring.

FLY WIRE: Armored Company Feedback


Mkerr's at it again...

As I'm mired in myriad details of the upcoming campaign book, he's off in designer-land cooking up a new concept for a nice 5th Edition IG Armored Company list for us treadheads.

Take a look at the top three armored company posts here and think them over.

~Let us know what you like, don't like, would improve, or leave alone. Are there sections that confuse you, or are some things too concise? The designer's chair is open folks. Have a seat, get comfortable, and lets hear from you...

Friday, June 13, 2008

NEWS: Marine Scout Speeder Sighted


Here is a pic that has been floating around the tubes for a little while. Its only artwork, but sources say that it is in the new Space Marine codex, so a mini should be coming down the pipe at some point.

~Pretty neat, I'd reckon that can hold 5 scouts in it. What do you guys think of it? How would you use it in games?

We're on 40k Radio!



Hey everybody,

Our good buddies Spencer and Philip over at 40k Radio but up an entire BoLS episode with your's truly (bigred and mkerr). We talk about everything from the Age of Heresy book to our upcoming Macharian Crusade book, and everything in between.

~So head on over and check it out and let us know what you think.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

IG Regiment Challenge Voting ~ Round 1



Today is VOTING DAY!
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to convert a mini, write some fluff and submit it to BoLS in such a short time. Congratulations to you all

Now on to the voting. Listed below are the 30 Imperial Guard Regiments submitted for selection and addition to the upcoming Macharian Crusade campaign book. With this many entries we are breaking it down into 2 rounds of voting. The goal of this first round is to narrow the field to six choices.


Next week we will put up the six finalist with their listed doctrines and background fluff (cleaned up by your's truly if needed). From there we will select the 3 winners to be added to the campaign.

The Rules:
  • You may select up to six choices in the poll. (no going over please)

  • Please try to select across a variety of styles so if you identify any "groups" of very similar minis, choose the best from each set then move onto different type of submissions. This will help to ensure we gat a varied selection of finalists.
  • The names of the regiments are directly ABOVE each picture.


13th Helios Abhumans

13th Penitent Legion

14th Arethian Longrifles

22nd Valhallan Mororized Rifles

23rd Tenaris Armored Cavalry

95th Antarius Irregulars

110th Ryza Pioneers

123rd Sovrus Guards

Amazons of Lethe 4

Arcturian Aerotroopers

Borsan Storm Eaters

Cardalian Swamp Stalkers

Gerreck Throne Guard

Golgothan Iron Brotherhood

Governor Garris' Beast Brigade

Helghast Korps

Holocaust Defenders

IV Skudd "Swamp Rats"

Kharaxian Guard

Kleistes II Memorializers

Lord Helvraks Slave Army

Mjolnir 6th Combat Engineers

Octane Bodyguard

Reinecke's Raiders

Slaves of Spartacus Primus

The Scourge

Tolmeque Rats

Veronos Jungle Fighters

Widow's Blades

Zeonic Guard



~Feel free to leave any comments regarding the entries inthe thread and have a good time guys. Good Luck and may the best regiments win!

Open Thread: The Future???



Some days there is just nothing going on...

As our latest campaign book slides towards completion, thoughts turn inevitably towards the future. There are mini-dexes to update and re-address with 5th edition in mind, and a slew of new cool ideas I would like to explore. From my detailed "titan legions" ruleset to mkerrs "famous sergeants of the imperium" idea, and everything in between, we have lots if directions we can go towards, but would like some feedback from you guys as well.

~What things would you guys like to see BoLS homebrew rules for after 5th hits the shelves? This can be anything from 40k army lists, to map-based campaign rules, to narrative missions-packs for apocalypse...so be creative. We can't make cool stuff if you dont tell us what you want. :)

p.s. Today is the last day to get in your IG regiment submissions. Tomorrow...we vote!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

SNEAK PEAK: Macharian Crusade and stuff...



Hi again guys.

Two quick pieces of news then on to the fun stuff:

1) New GW FAQs for the Dark Angels and Orks are out. Go check em out.

2) Tomorrow is the deadline for the Macharian IG Regiment Competition, so get those submissions in!!!

OK, on to the fun. Here is one of our favorite ICs from the Campaign book. Chem Lord Maharana is quite a unique fellow and always adds a certain amount of fun into games if things go his way. Once you understand his special rule, his wargear makes a lot more sense :)



~Check him out and let me know what you like, dislike, would change, clarify, or even how you would model this rascal of the Imperium. He is very much a work in progress.

Monday, June 9, 2008

SNEAK PEAK: More Boxed Set Pics Minis



Pics brought to the community by warseer's Spacemonkey

Hot on the heels of the first batch of boxed set mini pics we have this set of 4 new ones.





~That Captain is really, really impressive for a "quick assembly" mini and the Termys are better than I was anticipating.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Sleepy Sunday: Rumors and Stuff...

Rumors brought to the community by Warseer's: Captain Ventris

Hi Guys,

A couple of things for you all this Sunday.

RUMORED 2009 Schedule:
First we hear that 2009 may be shaping up as follows:

September-October 08: Space Marines
December-January 09: Space Wolves
March-April 09: Imperial Guard
July-August 09: Dark Eldar
November-December 09: Necrons

The last two could get swapped as the Design Studio has supposedly made more progress on the Necron Codex and models than they have with Dark Eldar.

Macharian IG Regiment Competition:
We have gotten in a boatload of submissions so far, so lets hop to it gentlemen. I will keep the competition open till mid-week, so we can start the voting by Thursday-Friday.

"So lets get painting soldiers! Paint brushes up, MARCH!!!
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, I LOVE the EMPEROR"
-Drill Sergeant Bigred, Chiros Red Guard

~I'm pretty happy to see that 2009 list as that pretty much rounds us up on updated codices with the exception of Witch/Daemonhunters who always seem to get updated dead last. Those dates are really far out, so standard Caveats apply folks. Consider this an open thread, and have fun guys!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

RUMORS: Weekend Tidbits



Rumors brought to the community by the 40k Radio forums

Space Marine Codex:

Stand Alone 144pg Codex
4 New Plastic Boxed Sets
3 New Metal Boxed Sets
4 Blisters
Spearhead

Built around Codex disciplines: Ultramarines, Crimson/Imperial Fists, White Scars, Raven Guard and Salamanders - and everyone else.
Rewards 10-man Tactical squads as the core of the army
Unique Force Organization chart

Space Marine Land speeder
All three variants on one sprue ~See the above pictures

Land Raider - Redeemer
Brand New Land Raider variant.
Strength 6, AP 3 super-heavy flamers on the Redeemer sponsons.

Ultramarine Scout Sgt Telion
Scout Master Sgt Upgrade
Squad upgrade: confers his BS of 6 to one other Scout in his squad (sniper, missile launcher, etc.)
Apparently sculpted by a trainee. This guys is awesome.

BS 5 with their bolt weapons, and have access to special ammunition types ~This may be in reference to Sternguard Tacticals

Ultramarine Sgt Chronus
Heavy Support upgrade: confers his BS of 5 to his vehicle, and can survive its destruction to keep fighting on foot! (hence the foot slogging model)
Tank Commander Upgrade

Sternguard Veterans
New codex entry - veterans with guns

Techmarine and Thunderfire Cannon
New codex entry

~That Landspeeder sprue image confirms the "all variants in one box rumor" which is cool. My initial comments are that 144 pages is huge for a codex, and its great to see more 1st Founding chapters get some love. Standard Caveat Emptors apply to these guys.

Friday, June 6, 2008

TACTICA: 5th Edition Games - Retooling




So our LGS got in the 5th Edition preview copy and what a time we have had! As you can see from those pics, we've rolled out some of our favorite toys (included mkerr's new Macharius Vulcan) and put the new rules through the ringer.

Continuing on the heels of my earlier thread of 5th edition thoughts, I figured you would want to hear some more about my impressions after seeing and playing several more games.

1) Maneuvering: I touched on this last time, but lets go over it again in detail. Learning to maneuver to minimize intervening friendlies to maximize your firepower, while presenting as many interleaving units to your opponent (including his own troops) is a key skill which must be learned. You are going to force yourself to relearn how to move your units to give the enemy as few 4+ cover saves as possible while maximizing your own armies 4+ saves. Its a delicate dance and is much trickier than it seems.

Right on up there in this department are tall units blazing away over slightly shorter ones (such as fire support dreadnoughts firing over rhinos they are advancing behind), as well as the tricks that you can pull off with any unit which can move in the assault phase like eldar jetbikes, and tau jetpacks. Running with key units at the end of the your armies firing phase can also help.

2) True Los: This one is easy to learn but hard to master. You get used to it after only a few games, but boy are most LGS's going to need to do a "terrain week" pretty soon. Most places I've been to have way to little full LoS blocking terrain to give vehicles something to get obscured behind, and a way to much area terrain that now doesn't block LoS. The results are tons of cover saves for infantry, and dead vehicles. I predict a tidal-wave of tall hill, solid impassible forest/hedge, and zigurrat production in the near future.


3) Cover Saves: These are just everywhere now, and as such, have given a huge boost to anything that can ignore them. Things such as crack shot, and template weapons and the like are vastly improved. Tau airbursting flechettes, heavy flamers, and the like are to be feared. I would like to make a special note of the IG Hellhound which is the new bane of the open/area terrain tabletop. It only takes one game of a Hellhound firing through multiple forests to incinerate groups of Aspect Warriors on the far side with no cover saves allowed before folks start working on solid walls and other such impassible cover.

4) Speed: The game is much more freewheeling now, with run giving lots of units a new lease on life. Lots of dog slow units which had to plod across the table or just were useless if caught out of position like Striking Scorpions, IG Heavy Weapon Teams, and even Ogryns can now get in there much faster and reposition with minimal loss of time.

5) Assaults: Fast, brutal, and deadly as all get out. Dedicated high quality assault units such as Assault terminators, banshees and the like will routinely completely destroy their target units ans sweep them with huge negative Ld modifiers (we saw several -9 Ld tests just tonight). The skill is not getting the key units into assault, but to hit an area of the enemy army en masse so they cannot effectively recover and easily blow the assault force away as it is caught in the open. Unsupported assaults are short lived and doomed to ultimate failure.

6) Missions: The new scoring units status really shines a light on Troops. Their ability to contest down to the last model is spectacular, and lots of maligned units such as guardian jetbikes, full sized IG infantry platoons and the like are now worth their weight in gold. Secondarily the flanking ability gained by any infiltrator or scout unit turns a lot of average units such as sentinels and war walkers into much more flexible and threatening foes.

~All in all we hare having an absolute blast, rediscovering our armies, opponents, and building completely new armies we would have never thought of in 4th. As usual, questions, comments and thoughts are welcome. How are your early 5th games going?

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

SNEAK PEAK: Codex Space Marine Minis



Images brought to the community by Heresy-Online


~HOLY MOLY

I'll let the images speak for themselves.


Land Raider Redeemer


Drop Pod


Scout Bikers


Techmarine with Thunderfire Cannon


Sternguard Veterans


Sternguard Veterans with Jump Packs


Captain Sicarius


Master Pedro Cantor


Scout Sergeant Telion



Sergeant Chronus ~Apparently on foot and in a vehicle...cool

~I'm thinking that new Space marine codex is going to be quite the hot item. Take these minis, add them to what we saw in the new Black Reach boxed set, and throw in the new double sized codex that is said to be in the can and ready to go for the Sept/Oct timeframe. Its looking like fall will be the Season of Powered Armor 08!

NEWS: Forgeworld Releases



Hi folks,

Forgeworld sent out their latest newsletter announcing the following goodies:

Chaplain Dreadnought
World Eater Conversion Set
World Eater Terminator Conversion Set
World Eater Chain Axes





~Hot on the heels of the Death Guard conversion kits, these are pretty cool. Ho long can it be till Slaanesh and Tzeentch are on the way, not to mention the possibility of a Librarian Dreadnought.

Monday, June 2, 2008

CHALLENGE: Design a Macharian Crusade IG Regiment



OK, guys lets take a break from all the rumors for a bit of BoLS community building. This challenge goes out to all the intrepid modelers and 40k fluff nuts out there. Today I introduce the: Macharian Crusade IG Regiment Challenge!

Your goal is to submit to the BoLS email box (upper right column) the following:
  • A high quality pic of a single converted and painted IG trooper against a white background
  • One paragraph of background fluff regarding your regiment (including whether they fought on the Imperial side or struggled valiantly against the forces of the Lord Solar).
  • A list of Doctrines (up to 6, and be fluffy not cheaty!!!) and preferred heavy/special weapons.
  • A very brief rundown of the bitz used to convert your trooper.

After a week or so, we will post the top finalists BoLS receives and put up a poll for you, our dedicated readers to judge. The top 3 finalists will get added into the Macharian Crusade book for all to see and try to match world over (along with a special thanks credit for the 3 proud creators).

Here is an example to get your creative juices going...



Chiros Red Guard
Once one of the most decorated regiments of the Segmentum Solar, the famed "Red Guard" were the personal army of General Richeleau of Larka. One of the most pious and determined of forces, they choose the wrong side in one of the Ministorum' s many Wars of Faith. Hounded out of the Imperium they fled into the wilderness space of the Segmentum Pacificus. They were discovered on the rebel world of Chiros by the Macharian Crusade's 2nd Army under General Sejanus. Beaten, but never broken, the Chiros Red Guard fought to the end, extracting a high price in blood in exchange for their lives.

Doctrines
Hardened Fighters
Iron Discipline
Drop Troops (representing hidden ambushers)
Veterans
Priests

Preferred Heavy: Autocannon
Preferred Special: Flamer

Construction
Cadian, Empire Pistollier, and Space Marine Scout bitz

~Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines! Its only one IG trooper to convert up and paint and a tiny bit of fluff. Lets see your best stuff folks. As usual, comments are welcome, so let us know if you're in, what you're working on, and how its coming. If you want more context for the Macharian fluff, feel free to use this Crusade Map to help you out. Happy modeling and good luck to you all!

RUMORS: Imperial Guard


Rumors brought to the community by: Warseer's Dosadi

~These very, very early inklings regarding Codex: IG have been floating about the tubes since this weekend:

Take this with the usual dose of salt guys, but someone I trust told me that the new guard codex may have the following things in it.

Army wide special rule: I think it’s called Platoon Drill or something like that. Basically, units from the same platoon may ignore intervening squads when shooting. So enemy units targeted in this way do not receive the 4+ save. Apparently this only works if the Platoon command squad is alive and within 12” of the rest of the platoon. I’ve been told that this is just one of the abilities guard Platoons may get, but only as long as the chain of command is intact (whatever that means). So loosing your HQ Command Squad may be a really bad thing.

Doctrines are for sure gone (I think we all knew this), but have been replaced by more mutable platoons. Instead of Armoured fist squads you can buy Chimeras for a whole platoon. Or buy the whole platoon grav-chutes to give them deep strike, or drop the heavy weapons from squads and give the platoon Scout. Veteran squads become upgrades to platoons (i.e. they are not elites anymore).

Apparently infantry platoons let you attach certain types of support vehicles to them(kinda like back in second edition). Things like sentinels, hellhounds and demolishers can be attached to platoons. They still take up a FOC spot, but become part of the platoon and so will benefit from the Platoon Drill rule.

The Leman Russ can be bought as a squadron so you can get 3 for a single FOC. They can not be attached to platoons however.

Sniper Squads can now infiltrate, get stealth, range finders and all models in the squad have sniper rifles (and BS 4!).

Like the Land Raider, a new plastic sprue for the Leman Russ has been made that will allow plastic demolishers and a 3rd variant (my money is on the Exterminator).

The Baneblade in NOT in the new codex. It just doesn’t work (i.e. overpowered)in games that are not Apocalypse in size.

However Stormtrooper squads can now take Valkyries as transports. Both will be getting a plastic kit. Valkyries follow the rules for skimmers I’ve been told. Again, they want to keep flyers and super heavies out of “normal games” but give people the ability to use them with all the special rules in Apocalypse and Planet-strike (if the ever get around to that.)

This last one makes me wonder what’s they are doing, but apparently there is a new HQ in the book; Inquisitor and Retinue much like the elites from the current Daemon Hunters/Witch Hunters books.

~Like the man said, take these with a LARGE dose of salt as these are very, very far out, but still it may be an insight to what GW is brewing up, and in any case a good sounding board as to what types of army abilities we may see in 5th Edition. Still, this does tie in with the persistant things we keep hearing about a plastic Valkyrie and Stormtroopers.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

SNEAK PEAK: 5th Edition Boxed Set Minis








Pics brought to the community by warseer's: spacemonkey

We've already heard the rumors of the boxed set's contents here, but behold the first set of pics of those minis (I've cleaned the images up a bit for easier viewing):


~That Dreadnought is fantastic for a quick assembly model, as are the others, The (blurry) marine captain looks very detailed, as does the ork warboss. Finally I have to agree that there is little to distinguish the boyz from the full multi-part kit. Those termys are fantastic as well. This kit is going to fly off shelves, starting with me.
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