HQs of Christmas Past

Merry Christmas!

And Let the Firewood Burn!

Flashbacks and Nightmares - Ork Painboy and Squig

While searching for some missing paintbrushes earlier I came across one of my favorite old GW minis from back in the day. It's been something of a bust on the hobby and painting front today so for now I'd just like to share a few photographs of that old miniature, a rather archaic Ork Painboy. I'm not exactly sure when he was in production but I'd guess it was around twenty or so years ago. Likewise I don't know how old I was when I painted this one but evidently I was still rather new to techniques such as highlighting and even thinning one's paints. Thus he is a prime candidate for another edition of Flashbacks and Nightmares, in which I take a nostalgic look at examples of my painting past, both for a sense of perspective but perhaps more importantly for some simple facepalm-inducing fun.

So this Ork Painboy has for some reason always seemed really cool to me in that goofy old school Ork sort of way. I also remember well how much fun I had painting him and displayed him proudly for many years on my bookshelf. Even considering the more simplistic style of sculpting back then compared to what we have become accustomed, I think this model still has a lot of neat little details to enjoy. Looking at his gruesome range of doctoring implements, it's easy to see why this caste of Orks became known as Painboyz. The bone saw is great, as are his many knives, cleavers, and clamps. My favorite part of the miniature however is the doctor's head mirror that he wears. It has always amused me that an Ork doctor would be concerned about something as trivial as proper lighting.

As was the case with many Ork personality blister packs, also included with the Painboy was a randomly selected squigly beast. Over the years squigs have become essentially standardized in their shape and appearance, but in olden times there was a very wide assortment of squigs which took on many different forms. Some were pretty nasty looking and may have even seemed like the dangerous little monsters that they were supposed to be. Others, however, appeared rather less ferocious....

Now that's just weird. This particular squiggly beast could be one of the most bizarre and pointless miniatures Games Workshop has ever produced. It should be no wonder then that I am so fond of it. Due to it's standout nature, this squig has been a central focus for numerous homebrew scenarios and has served as an objective marker countless other times. Indeed it's possible that this horribly ridiculous squig has been used in more of my games of 40k than perhaps any other miniature. Not quite up to the usual Grim Dark standard, is he?

Hmm... it seems that I've run out of steam this evening and need to wrap this up. It's been a long day and I'm beat, although I've really enjoyed looking back on this classic GW Ork miniature and his less-than-classic companion squig. I find it quite interesting to see how things have developed and changed over the years. If there are any old minis that you remember fondly for whatever reason, please feel free to leave a comment telling me which ones were your favorites. Otherwise I hope everyone had a great weekend filled with plenty of gaming glory.

Goodnight!

Killzone: Space Marines and Orks

It's going to take some time to get my new team "Baker's Dozen" ready for use in games of Killzone but I do want to start playing as soon as possible. To that end I've spent some time over the last few days merrily going through boxes of miniatures to see what could be used right away. I made some nifty discoveries which I'll be writing about over the coming week or so, the first of which I am presenting tonight in the form of these two opposing Killzone teams.

The beta edition of Big Jim's Special Operations: Killzone is poised for release tomorrow but I thought I'd enjoy putting together some teams to start getting a better sense of the game. These are likely rather basic teams comprised almost entirely of standard models with very little in the way of special equipment or personal upgrades. I therefore don't anticipate having to make too many changes to them to stay in line with the evolving ruleset or to scale down for lower point games. What follows is a look at the first set of teams that I will be trying out in the coming days, Space Marines and Orks

Killzone: Space Marines - 247 points

Space Marine Sergeant (Team leader): bolt pistol, close combat weapon, frag and krak grenades, refractor field (41)

Space Marines x 7: boltgun, bolt pistol, frag and krak grenades. (112)

Space Marine: flamer, bolt pistol, frag and krak grenades (21)

Space Marine: missile launcher, bolt pistol, frag and krak grenades (26)

Space Marine: heavy bolter, bolt pistol, frag and krak grenades (21)

Space Marine: boltgun, frag and krak grenades, medi-pack (26)

This team constitutes most of what's left from my first 40k army intentionally collected as such. It seems like there are many interesting things you can do for a Space Marines team in Killzone by selecting individuals from all the different types of units available. In this case however I've put together essentially just a tactical squad with a couple extra specialists attached for the mission at hand. The most basic Space Marine still represents the pinnacle of bio-engineering and military training. I like the idea that their standard troopers are on par with the elite soldiery found in many other armies. It's a pretty common theme in GW and Black Library fiction and seemed like a fun way to go for this group.

You say something strange is happening on the planet's surface? Simple. Load Marines into a pod and drop a Tactical squad in to deal with it, whatever it is. Problem solved.

Well, that's the idea behind this group at least. Basic, no frills, flexible, tough... Space Marines.

Killzone: Orks - 250 Points

Nob (Team Leader): slugga and power klaw, 'eavy armour (50)

Nobz x 2: slugga and power klaw, 'eavy armour (100)

Nob: slugga and choppa, 'eavy armour (25)

Ork Boyz x 11: sluggas and choppas (66)

Gretchin x 3: blastas (9)

Again nothing fancy with these guys but there are at least some grots and nobz providing a little variety to the list. The goal with this group was to max out on the number of models allowed in a single Killzone team so that I can try out a more screaming-horde style of play, if such exists at this scale of skirmish gaming. I don't think of these Orks as a specialized team chosen for a particular mission but rather simply those Nobz and their underlings who happened to be closest at hand when the opportunity for a fight presented itself. They're Goffs so I think they'd approve of that approach.

I should be able to start playing games of Killzone this week with only a few scheduling details that still need to be resolved. Until then I'm going to put together some more teams including ones for Imperial Guard, Chaos Marines, Necrons, and Tyrandis, though without anything nearly as vintage as the miniatures featured in this post. I'll also check to see if anything needs to be adjusted for the Ork and Space Marine teams once I've had a chance to read through the new Killzone stuff. I'll post some sort of update to cover all that.

Oh, and there's quite a lot of painting to do as well. Good times ahead.

A classic match-up: blue marines vs. ork clones.

In time I'll report on how things go once I've played through a number of the scenarios. If everything works and Killzone turns out to be as much fun as I hope it will be then I may also attempt writing one or two more detailed reviews of individual games. Regardless I'm sure I'll have plenty to chatter about soon.

Okay, time to paint!

Grand Scheme of Things

Wow, I am so relieved that it is now October! The past month ended up being fine overall but there were most definitely times when it was putting me to the test. But we made it through and Mercury has moved on along its heliocentric wanderings. I am still suffering from having fallen down the wooden steps in front of my house but otherwise I think the worst is done and I am looking forward to a great month... I love the Fall.

With the start of October here I feel it would be helpful for me to lay out my plans with regards to my army projects for 40k. I know I've been talking a lot about Chaos recently but this does not mean that I have forgotten the other armies that I had mentioned since getting interesting in Warhammer again. This all started with me talking about how I wanted to put together an Ork Stompa and how I had a bunch of Imperial Guardsmen already assembled, but it now feels as though I've drifted widely since then. I've begun the process of founding my own Space Marine chapter as well as started the actual work on a new Chaos Space Marine army, which will in fact be my third such collection. I've even mentioned briefly that I had some interest in a Craftworld Eldar army themed as an Alaitoc force. So with all that in mind, what am I to do?

Well, I have decided to still collect and paint all five of those armies. For someone who has trouble making progress on even just a single project this may prove to be an overly ambitious undertaking. Nonetheless this is how I have chosen to direct my hobby efforts and I can only imagine how cool it will be to have my display cabinet filled with all those painted miniatures. My first goal is to get a small collection finished for each of these armies before I start to fill out any of them so that I can start playing low-point matches against my brother and friends. I will probably still give extra attention to the Chaos Marines so that I can begin playing games at my local gaming store. I think my Black Legion will be best for this as I already know for certain the colors that I'm going to use, as well as having sculpted shoulder pads which should make getting them table-ready even faster. Plus having two other complete chaos armies helps as I will be able to recruit extra units for service in my growing Black Legion warband.

Once I have finished with approximately 500 points for each of the five armies, I will then start adding to them in whatever order appeals to at the time. Ultimately my goal is to have these armies brought up to at least 1500, after which I can further pursue those that have proven themselves to be the most enjoyable to paint and use in games (or perhaps even those most in need of a really big Stompa). I've been tinkering with lots of army lists and now have a pretty strong idea of where I want to go with the different collections. I'm still sort of shaky with regards to the Eldar and have a fairly generic target goal for them, although that will probably result in leaving myself the most room to change their list as I go. Oh yeah, and I want to tie all of the armies together by putting together a completely new set of terrain using my Realm of Battles gameboard, all of the buildings I've been assembling, and the various other scenery kits that I have hanging around. Fun!