Preperations continue...

So the first session of the Death Campaign is in a week, and I'm really excited for it. I have the adventure module that the GM is going to be running and I've thumbed through it but haven't specifically read it. The module itself is rather large comprising three separate stories that are intertwined and create a cohesive whole. The little snippets I've glimpses really get me excited.

However, one thing that doesn't get me excited: Using stand in items for the game. And when I say 'stand in items', I'm talking about using scraps of paper, pens and pencils, and beer caps as location markers for units and enemies. In a hobby that is designed around highly detailed models, it just... insulting to have to use scraps of paper for that sort of thing.

Now, am I suggesting that the GM should be required to go out and buy 2 boxes of Guardsman so we have guardsman to fight? or the GM should be solely responsible for providing models to put on the table? No. But with a group of 7 hobbyists, I do not feel it is too much to ask that we pool our resources and just keep in touch so like lets say next week we may encounter a group of stunted aliens with spears, the GM can toss out an email saying "Hey if anyone has 20 or 30 Skaven models they can bring, it'd be appreciated."  or "Hey Mike, you said you had some Guardsman models right? Would you mind bringing them next session?"

That's all there is to it.

But, that does not seem to be the case at this time. So I have taken it upon myself to provide what I hope to be a decent assortment of models for use in future games. Now I'm not going to try and provide every model we could possibly use. I'm sorry that's simply not within the realm of my abilities at this time. But rather I'm trying to provide a range of models that can be representative of most things we could encounter.

The first ones I will talk about are the Genestealers.

I started with a BroodLord because I had a fairly good idea of what I wanted to do with him. I wanted to make him look like he was ready for a fight, like maybe he'd been cornered and was rearing up for a charge, or perhaps he'd just dropped down from a ceiling to face it's aggressors.

The Conversion itself was pretty simple. Cut off the square mounting pegs on the model, and position the body down wards so the head is facing "out" as opposed to up, and put the arms facing outward.

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Wow... how that time flies

Wow, it's been almost 3 weeks since I started this blog! Holy cow! My oh my how the time does fly. Also I've been somewhat busy of late, between work and school those 24 hours in a day just kind of fly right on by. But I have more to report on.

I'm preparing for a Death Watch campaign with my gaming group and the big thing I'm focusing on is my character, Brother Quintus of the Ultramarines.

Quintus lays down a hail of heavy
bolter fire with Marcus'
heavy bolter.

 Story wise Quintus is a survivor of the first Tyrannic war on Macrage so he knows how to fight Xenos. I crafted what I feel to be a good bio for the character in order to give him some depth and explain who he is and such, which you can read below:

Born on the world of Prandium, Quintus showed his abilities at a young age competing in competitions of speed, stamina, and marksmanship, frequently besting boys 2 and 3 years his senior. His greatest rival became apparent when he was 8 and he took part in a week long challenge to cross the Northern mountain ranges. Quintus achieved a commanding lead early on, and pressed his advantage. On the second day of the challenge, Quintus found he had been passed by another 8 year old boy named Marcus. Quintus quickly redoubled his pace and quickly closed the gap with Marcus. The pair continued in the challenge for the next two days until the finish line was in sight. At break neck speeds the pair approached the finish line no clear winner in sight. It came down to the observers at the finish line to declare that Marcus the winner by only the slimmest of margins.

Quintus can also use a bolter.

Marcus and Quintus again crossed paths a month later at an archery competition. As the competition drew to it’s final rounds, only a hand full of boys including Marcus and Quintus still stood. Slowly, Marcus and Quintus beat their adversaries and it came down to the two of them alone. The pair continued to match one another shot for shot and the competition continued on without end in sight. After nearly a full day of shooting, Qunintus finally won the competition but only by the slimmest of margins. And so the boys rivalry continued to grow for the next few years as they competed in one form after another nearly without end, frequently ending in a draw as neither boy would back down or declare defeat.

Quintus using a Lascannon.

 While it was still a day of considerable pride, few were surprised when both boys were selected to be Ultramarines. The boys rivalry continued to thrive as they pair proceeded through training and conditioning and perhaps it was chance, perhaps it was their training officer trying to teach them to trust one another, but the pair were constantly assigned to the same training squads and operations. Gradually their rivalry became a friendly one as each of them grew into aspiring marines and were ultimately assigned to their first active squad as devastators.
When the Tyranids attacked Macragge, Quintus and Marcus were assigned to a unit sent to reinforce a defense line. As their position was overwhelmed and their squad mates scythed down, Quintus and Marcus were hard pressed to hold the line. As a Termegaunt grievously injured Marcus, Quintus picked up Marcus’ heavy bolter and proceeded to unload into the advancing termegaunts. Finding some new level of focus and prediction, Quintus was unable to miss a single shot, each bolt felling a creature with out failure. Doing alone what his squad had failed to do, Quintus was soon facing a wall of dead xenos.

Ultimately additional relief troops arrived and rescued Quintus’ squad. Marcus, injured beyond any apothacary’s skill to heal died soon after. On his brothers body, Quintus made a vow to fight the xenos and took up Marcus’ heavy bolter as his preferred weapon of choice. In the years since Macragge, Quintus has become highly accomplished as a devastator marine and gained the attention of Chaplin Cassius who offered Quintus the chance to serve in the Death Watch, a chance he quickly accepted.

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This is the begining

So this is my first post on this new blog. My day has been a bit wild today so I can't afford the time to go into much detail right now. So in a nutshell this post is going to be about what this blog is about.

I was first introduced to Warhammer in 1993 when I happened upon a game of it being played in the back of a model store. The first thing I saw was the large machine on the top of a hill, a machine I would later learn was known as a "Dreadnought". I was all of 10 years old at the time and I was with out recourse drawn to the goth-future look of the game and a few weeks later I talked my older brother into buying the starter box set. That was the start of my involvement in the hobby.

I've always been involved in the modeling and painting aspects of the hobby, but for various reasons have only recently become interested in the actual game itself. This is the purpose of this blog: A catalog of my efforts in the hobby both from the perspective of a born again gamer and a long-term hobbyist.

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