Project: Thunderhawk Part 2

So I've been working on the Thunderhawk project. The designer of the template, Patoroch took a noteworthy approach to his templates and created a 3 part template. Part 1 provides the parts and the plans for the cockpit, part 2 the fuselage and part 3 the wings and engines. In a simpler template such an approach wouldn't be an issue in the slightest. But Patoroch's templates are very detailed and frequently have parts numberings in the hundreds. So my first real step was taking his 3 templates, stripping out the colored parts and the plans from the templates and assemble a file that was nothing but the black and white line art parts. I printed that out and have been building the pieces in sections.

So the section I'm building now is the lower deck of the forward section:

Here is the lower section as it stands now. As I build the model in card stock I'm making notes about how parts go together. One of the big things I want to do in my plastic model is to build the interior details. This is really the challenge of the project at this point. Deciding what I want the interior details to be. You see, Patoroch's templates are layers of details on top of one another. This approach works quit well with paper and card stock. But it's rather limiting when it comes to plastic. You can't have round cables with card stock for instance. When working with plastic you can file down the edges to make it a rounded shape, which is something you can't do with paper or cardboard.

So I'm building the cardboard model as it's intended to be built and in the process making notes about what I want to do with the plastic version. One of the big things is that I want to add cables, monitors and interior lights to the plastic model. I've even considering wiring up actual lights for the interior.

For the power cables such for the interior, I think I'll using Dragon Forges' small and medium cables. I'm thinking about building a large monitor bank for the interior as well, a bit like the bank of monitors on the inside of the Land Raider model.

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Plague Marines continued

So now we come to the next model in the Zombie Marines units I have built for the Black Charity army.

With this guy I wants to go for a very distinct feeling of "How the bloody hell is that thing still alive let alone reaching toward me?!" and to accomplish that I went for an almost entire zombie torso showing the rotted flesh, the ruptured guts, and the shriveled head. I bore out the gauntlet, mucked it up a fair bit and then added a zombie hand to it. I placed the back pack at an angle and then fashioned strips of green stuff to to run across the chest showing that it was being held in place, but wasn't actually attached the way the should be. I deliberately made the texture of the  green stuff straps rough and un-even to carry on the "decayed" and "rotten" looks in the model.

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Plague Marines

Okay I have some time so I'm going to put up posts about my contribution to the Black Crusade Charity army. I have been a big fan of the charity armies ever since I saw the Storm Wardens one two years ago so when I found the announcement that a new army was being done I jumped at the opportunity to contribute. I quickly contacted Falk and offered up two 8-man squads of 'Zombiefied'  Plague Marines. I also offered to create a new Abaddon for the army but that role had already been taken. Falk was happy to accept my Plague Marines though. Through Falk I was introduced to Dave who has agreed to paint my ugly little fuglies.

So first up:

 This was one of the first models I built for the unit. I wanted to give the unit a peice-mail look and feel to it, like the armor is constantly rotting away and being replaced by whatever the individual member can find to replace it. So I went with a mix of loyalist armor parts and Chaos parts making a very conscious effort to avoid using the same styles of armor detailing on the same model.

I'll be honest; I've never much liked the Games Workshop version of the plague marines. The whole bloated stomach... it just doesn't scream "Plague Marines" to me. So instead I went for more of a "rotted armor" sort of look to the marines, showing that Nurgle's toxins and acids slowly eat away at the armor. To accomplish this I went at the model rather liberally with my pin vice, drilling dozens of small holes and then going back and selectively drilling a hand full of medium sized holes in the model. I then spread a layer of plastic glue across the holes and moved the glue around with an old brush. The glue partially melted the plastic around the holes while the brush pushed the pliable plastic around creating the rotted look on the model.

In this particular case I wanted to make the model mostly marine and just show his army rotting away in some parts indicating he had recently replaced over parts of his armor. So I was a bit more selective about the rotting process.

One part I do particularly like on the model is the Plague knife I gave him:

I took a chain sword left arm, removed the sword and attached a zombie knife blade to the bottom of the hand. I then attached the heft of a chaos sword to the top of the hand. I think the Plague knife is something that just isn't seen in game much and it's a real shame. The Plague Knife is as much a part of Plague Marine lore as anything else.

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Development of the Thunderhawk

So, I am beginning work on the Thunderhawk. At this stage what I am doing is taking the paperhammer template provided by Patoroch and building the model in sections on card stock. As I complete each section I will then reverse engineer it to understand how the parts go together, how they accomplish that, and why they are designed that way. Then I have to figure out if I can accomplish the same thing in Plasticard and Styrene and if so; how?

So here is my first effort: The Engine.

This piece has been constructed out of cardboard stock and assembled based on the instructions in the plans. I made a couple mistakes along the way but this is the part of the project to make those. So with the part built I then began studying it to determine what I want to do with the design in styrene.

So I went into photoshop, pulled the page with the plans over into it and began to break it down and make notes about it. Here is the result:

I've broken the plans, for the engine, down into small color coded sections. Each color corrosponds to a type and thickness of styrene. The light blue represents a 28mm tube while the yellow-green represents strips of styrene sheeting that will be 2mm wide.

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Return of the resurrected hobbyist!

It's been a bit of a helluva couple weeks for me. First the majority of the east coast of the United States got hit by what was basically the little brother to a hurricane. That little punch knocked out power for five days. It also destroyed a friend's modeling studio, so I'm not sure which I would prefer. No power for five days, or having my studio wrecked. Either way, that was not a fun five days.
Then I went down to Richmond Virginia to help my cousin move into her new apartment. In 105 degree heat. Despite drinking close to a gallon and a half of water during the course of the 5 hours worth of work I found myself suffering from heat exhaustion shortly after my return. So I spent the rest of that day in bed.

The next day I was hit with the first punch of an ongoing series of problems. Namely work. And the fact that the company I work for is reorganizing. The reorganizing is fairly radical and wide reaching. I won't go into details, but will simply say I basically have to re-learn the job I was already doing, plus learn how to do three other jobs now. Oh and then I worked for 11 days straight. That all topped off with a rather sever spell of dizziness and mild nausea that had me bed ridden for two days as I worked to recover from the preceding three weeks.

And then finally recovered from those series of ass-kickings I realized that in the course of everything I had yet to finish the two units of Plague Marines I had promised to the Black Crusade. So I've spent the last week working furiously to complete them. I'm not going to go into detail on the units tonight, but they will be detailed in coming posts. Here is a picture of the completed 16 plague marines:

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Some more speed and some 'Ooomph!'

So I've finished building some extra goodies for my Blood Ravens.

 A Land Raider Redeemer/Crusader and Captain on a bike.  I've been experimenting with Army lists and I've been gravitating toward bike heavy lists of late. But the thought of 18 bikes backed by 6 Attack bikes running point for a Land Raider... lets just say I like that particular image.

As a means to save some cash, and with the price of a Land Raider kit at $75 I need that, I used a rather liberal application of magnets to the kit to allow me to swap the model between a Crusader or a Redeemer. I even added magnets to the sponson mounts to allow me to swap the crusader/redeemer mounts for normal Land Raider mounts should I get those parts.

As an extra addition to my forces I converted a captain on a bike with a relic blade. Off the top of my head I'm very tempted to  run him as a counts as Kossaro Khan. Have to admit, the idea of having my entire army with the ability to out flank... oh... so very tempting.

I took a Dark Angles Raven Wing icon, cut it half, removed the sword and used the wings to bracket the sides of the forward wheel guard. I also added the least Dark Angely fearings I could. I intend to paint these parts in the colors of the Blood Ravens icons to help tie it together.

I mad a banner by cutting a triangle of plasticard and heating it in boiling water a bit so that it would become pliable.

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A little scratch building

So, we've all seen 'em:

 

Thunderhawks! Yup those big aw-inspiring Space Marine Flyers! Well, I'm going to build one! But not right away. I'm still somewhat new to scratch building and have only worked with Plasticard a couple of times so I simply do not feel that my skills are up to the challenge of such an undertaking yet. 

So I'm embarking on some smaller scale scratch building projects:

This is an in-progress shot of a scratch build Razorback and a land speeder.

The Land speeder is about as done as it can be. The plans I'm working from don't translate well from cardboard to plastic and I need to go back to the plans to figure out what I need to change. So far the Razorback seems to be coming along well. I will post more updates on them through out the project.

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Battle Report: Space Marines Vs Orks

Battle size: 1750
Mission:  Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead

Turn 1: I moved my Razorbacks forward 12", with the support of the Land Speeder Squadron, on the right flank in an effort to draw the Orks further away from their objective, popping smoke to help protect the forward most Razorbacks. With the Razorbacks under cover of their smoke clouds, the Land Speeders opened up on the forward most Orks felling a hand full. First blood to the Emperor's finest!

The Orks were fast to respond to the threat and the lead Buggies quickly roared forward while unleashing their rokkits into the Razorbacks destroying one and forcing its' occupants to bail out of the blasted vehicle. A pair of trukks rushed forward to allow the boyz to surround the other razorback and attempt to destroy it in close combat. Sadly the Nob failed to hit the broadside of a barn. Mid-field, the Lootas took aim at the Land Speeders and let fly managing to destroy one of the troublesome skimmers, tearing off a heavy bolter and shaking the other two speeders. The Tank Bustas raged at the tempting targets of the Land speeders, the targets too far away to be attacked. The Looted wagon attempted to blast the Ironclad dreadnought, but the entombed warrior proved to nimble to be caught in rage of the wagons gun.

Turn 2: Not willing to invite a second round of attacks from the surrounding Orks, the remaining Razorback quickly revved its' engines, reversing and catching the Ork nob under its treads and crushing it death as he attempted to attack the vehicles vulnerable rear armor. Eager to exact Vengeance for the destruction of the first Razorback, the combat squad inside quickly disembarked  and took aim at the Boyz, unloading on full auto shredding several of the boyz on the spot. Their brother squad from the first Razorback quickly added their own firepower to the effort and with the aide of a third volley of fire from another combat squad, they cleared the Boyz from the map. The Ironclad smashed over a barricade to bring it's guns to bear on the first of the Ork Trukk, its' Hurricane bolter tearing through the vehicles armor while it's Melta gun scored a killing strike destroying the ramshackle trukk with a resonating boom.

Showing a bit too much enthusiasm for the moment, the crew of the Looted Wagon hit the gas and sent the heavy vehicle careening forward before they got their wits about them.  The Lootas managed to once again land several telling shots against the Land Speeders destroying the vehicles much to annoyance of the Tank Bustas. Behind a row of buildings the Warboss and his lads stomped throw the debris hoping to get into a good scrap while the characteristic stomp stomp stomp of a pair of Deff Dreads echoed off the walls as the machines lumbered forward eager to join their brother green skins.

BURN OOMIES!

Turn 3: Believing they saw an opening for their attack, the Bike squad speed onto the battlefield escorted by the first Storm Talon. The Storm Talon Pilot saw the destruction of the Land Speeders and quickly moved to support his brothers on the ground while the Bikers speed forward out of line of sight of the Wagon. Unable to reach a proper position in time to be of assistance, the Storm Talon took advantage of a window of opportunity to land several assault cannon shots against the Warboss's mob. Behind the mob of Boyz, Librarian Azariah and his Stern Guard brothers came crashing out of the sky in their Drop pod landing on target. The 6 stalwart warriors dove out of the Drop pod and unleashed a combination of poisoned bolter fire and etheric energy into the boyz decimating their ranks but the group was quickly broadsided by the first of the two Deff Dreads. Despite a valiant effort to combat the mechanical monstrosity, the Deff dread claimed the Librarian and all but one of the Sternguard in a combination of Skorcha attacks and piston driven claw attacks.  Across the battlefield, the Bikers gunned their engines and came tearing toward the objective while the combined fire of the kannons and looted Wagon failed to find targets amongst the zooming marines. Hoping to claim an ambush on an approaching Trukk, the Ironclad dreadnought jumped over a ruined wall into the space beneath a ruined building.

Turn 4: The Ladz in the Wagon landed a lucky, not to mention destructive shot and destroyed the potentially troublesome Storm Talon in a single shot, it's debris raining down around the raging Warboss. To his shock, the Ironclad dreadnought was assailed not from within the Truck, but from above as the Boyz had jumped from the trukk into the overhanging balcony and clamored over the Dreadnought's head assailing it from the rear. Landing a telling blow to the vulnerable hydraulics, the Nob was able to smash the machine's legs and bring it crashing to the ground. To the Orks amazement the pilot of the venerable machine refused to die a second time and continued to fight on, crushing the nearest boy in its claw while ripping another 2 to pieces with its' guns.

"HA HA! Can't see me"

Turn 5: Coming into range, the Biker squad unloaded their guns on full auto into the defending Boyz feeling a handful as the second Storm Talon came screaming onto the battle field. The second Deff Dread came smashing and thrashing toward the Space marine objective it's claws and blades whirring as it charged into battle killing a single battle brother and forcing the unit to retreat and regroup. Unable to bring its weapons to bear against the 2nd defending squad, the Dread showed remarkable cunning for an ork and stepped back to avoid a reprisal attack from the missile launcher. This forward thinking failed to save the dread as the immobilized Razorback spun it's turret around and, with a single well placed Lascannon shot destroyed the monster outright. The footslogging Orks quickly retaliated by destroying the vehicle outright. 

The Orks which guarded the objective were un-phased by their losses and surged forward eager to get into it good and proper with the offending bike marines. Though the Marine superior training allowed them to fell several Orks, the sheer number of Orks threatened to overwhelm them and nearly half the unit was killed before the sergeant could sound a retreat.

Turn 6: Recovering from the previous beating, the Biker squad regrouped and prepared to charge the attending Orks on the objective. With a good strong push they could destroy the Looted Wagon and sow havoc among the Ork ranks, contesting the objective and weakening the Green Skins defensive lines in preparation for a subsequent strike from reinforcements. They may well have completed their mission had the Tank Bustas not landed a lucky shot and destroyed the Storm Talon. Robbed of their fire support, the Marines retreated from the battle field, vowing vengeance against the Orks.

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Objective Markers

Since I actually started playing games and not just building models I've noticed the need for something, and it's something I don't see mentioned very often.

Objective markers!

A lot of the games I've played have been objective based, where you attempt to control more objectives then your opponent at the end of the battle. Most people I've seen just use dice to mark out objectives. While this works it seems mildly lazy. So I've set about building a set of Objective markers for my Blood Ravens army. Thus far they are nothing more then the Space Marine Casualties from GamesWorkshop. I bought them on the same order I originally ordered the Storm Talon on so I would break $99 and get 6 months to pay it off through pay pal. Over all I rather like the models and hope they will make casualty models for other armies.

The package comes with 3 models of Space Marines in various stages of being killed.

The first marine is shown to be in the midst of a fight, desperately backing away from his attackers attempting to gain the upper hand or drive his attackers off with bolter fire. I painted dripping blood on the armor coming from the bullet marks in the shoulder and painted it as having dripped down onto the torso, the groin and down the marines hips.

The second model is a recently killed commander with a power fist. Nothing particularly note worthy about this paint job.

Finally we have a Space marine corpse. This one has an exposed skull showing he has been dead for a while. I rather like the Ork skull under his leg. I think it adds a fair amount of narrative to the model showing that it was likely Orks that he was fighting when he died. Bonus points because my frequent opponent plays Orks.

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New 40K Audio Goodies!

So my birthday was last month and has I tend to do these days I ignored it completely. I have little interest in parties and even less interest in receiving well wishes from my family members. That's not to say I don't love them, but when you see them every day and every day is simply dealing with one problem after another from any number of directions, peace and quiet is more highly valued then well wishes.

Still, my mother did manage to surprise me by going to my amazon wish lists, and ordering a series of items for my birthday for me. Now as our lives tend to do, things got busy and I only just today actually received the presents. So I opened the packages as my mother handed them to me and received a rather pleasant surprise of 3 Black Library productions. The "Horus Rising" and "A Thousand Sons" unabridged audio books and the "Raven's Flight" audio drama. Thanks mom!

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Adding a little speed to my forces

So with the net practically hopping about the upcoming 6th Edition I'm still learning the game in general. I know that's an odd sounding thing to hear from someone like me who's been involved in the hobby for going on twenty years. But it's true. In the previous 19 years of my involvement in the hobby I've played perhaps a dozen games spread across 4 editions. It has only been in the last few months that I've really gotten into playing the game. I am still a very dedicated converter, and that will likely never change.

But I am playing more games now. Presently I'm building a Blood Ravens army. I've got a fairly solid and variable 1,000 point list with enough units I can swap in and out to experiment with different configurations. Today I add a new unit: Space Marine bikers!

 Right now I've got 5 bikers built. One is a sergeant and one has inter-changeable assault weapons. In both the sergeant and the assault weapons, the ability to swap out weapons is made possible by the application of rare earth magnets in the shoulder of the torso and the shoulder of the arm itself.

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The Black Crusade!

It seems I picked a fantastic time to get re-involved in the hobby. I have joined up with a group of hobbyists from around the world to particapate in the Black Crusade of 2012 a large scale charity Army build intended to raise funds for Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. I'm really excited to be a part of this project and I will post information about my portion of it as I accomplish it. To learn more about the project you can check out the full blog here.

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Blood Raven Storm Talon

So, with a completed Storm Talon model built and otherwise sitting on my desk I decided to add it to my growing Blood Ravens army.

I built the Storm Talon with large laser blast effects bits from Armor Cast Cinematic Effects series. Overall I find the Storm Talon a very lack-luster model with nothing really impressive about it. The rules are a bit better, though I think it is still very expensive for what the unit is capable of. AV 11 with a twin linked assault cannon and a twin linked Lascannon for 150 points... I don't know. I think taking a trio of Land Speeder Typhoons for only slightly more point wise offers more fire power and more tactical options. Still I have the model, so I'll give it a shot and see how I feel about it.

So a layer of Mechrite read, a wash of Badab black for the red areas. Chaos Black with a dry brush of bolt gun metal for the metallic areas with a layer of Dehneb stone with layers of Bleached bone for the none areas. We'll see how it works out in game.

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Gamers Aide: Psychic power cards for Space Marines

So I've been experimenting with using a librarian in my army of late. The versatility of the Librarain has a lot of options and since the psychic powers are free and chosen after deployment you don't have to commit to what they are when you build your army list. So I went to work in Photoshope and created a series of Psychic Power cards. Each card represents 1 power and has the rules for that particular power on the card. Nothing much more then that to it. I've put the card images here in the post so you can download them and make your own if you so choose.

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Review: Storm Talon

So, today I'm taking a look at Games Workshop's latest entry to the "Aircraft" category the Space Marine Storm Talon!

Let's begin. I have to say, in comparison to the Storm Raven model I am rather underwhelmed by the Storm Talon. First off, the box is way bigger then it needs to be.

At first inspection of the model, I see that it's entire contents  occupy less then 1/2 of the inner volume of the box. I know it's very petty but this really bothers me. If you look at the Predator model that model fills the box to the brim. And frankly, that's what I was expecting from this model. A predator with wings and jets. The model just doesn't live up to that expectation.

Though in comparison to the Storm Raven, the Storm Talon the part density of the Storm talon is much higher. You can see very little wasted space in this kit so that's a plus.

Now moving onto the finished model.

The model is surprisingly small. Once again I was expecting something more akin to a predator size and mass. Instead the model just seems to be closer to a beefed up attack bike. The engines on the sides of the main body do rotate about 80 degrees so you can make the Talon appear to be flying forward or hovering which is nice considering the rules for the unit. Which leads me to my next disappointment in the model: The "hover jets" on the belly of the craft.

They are literally just plastic thruster nozzles glues to the bottom of the craft. I was really expecting the model to be somewhat more involved with these hover jets. Swivel mounts like the Storm Raven VTOLs perhaps. Instead they are literally just suck on the model.

 The Twin linked assault cannons on the chin mount are my second biggest point of annoyance with the model. These cannons really seem like a throw back to the older style of assault cannons found on the dreadnought and the previous version of the Baal predator. Big, and clunky and not particularly well thought out. Honestly, a single Assault cannon from the Raven Guard or LandSpeeder sprue with a targeting array would have worked much better for this model and I think helped to give it a sleeker profile.

The weapon pods on the side are kind of nice and are over all the best part of the model. They are well designed and look very comparable to the Typhoon launchers from the land Speeder and the missile launcher from the dreadnought, helping carry the idea that all these units are from the same force and share technology. I'm somewhat tempted to adapt the design for a Razor back turret by attack them top to top and mounting it side way:

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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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