The Daemon's Claw

The new 40K FAQ were released while I was on holiday. I like the new rules, dropping 75% of your army points on your opponent in a deep strike in the top of turn 1 doesn't seem like much of a game to me. I remember Andy Chambers talking about how attacks in 3rd ed took longer to develop so you didn't need over watch. Then they proceeded to speed up the game so attacks happened without any ability to answer. So I like the slower deep strike and the limitations on the number of duplicates of the units. Tyranids are supposed to be led by a hive tyrant not a committee. I was impacted by the battle brothers rule because I can't make an Inquisitor and their retinue out of a detachment. But you now get 5 command points for a battalion so for 2 HQ and 3 troop units you get 5 command points. That's very achievable and still leaves plenty of points left over for toys. I also get to use my new Inquisitor Eisenhorn model as an auxiliary HQ. This is even aligned in one of the Ei...

Last week I was on Holiday in Fiji. I took some models away with me and managed to get some paint on them. I took some plastic dark age warriors that I can use as Anglo Saxons or Anglo Danes. It was nice to get some base colours on these models. they are now ready for a wash. I think I will break the models into different groups and paint them with different shades of wash on the basis on the colour of their shirt. I also made a ghetto wet palette out of a glass and some wet tissue. this was useful to use because it kept the paint wet in the hot Fiji air. When I got home I found Warlord Games had sent me a copy of their shield wall book. this is interesting because its an individual based retinue game version of their Hail Caesar rules. This is cool because I can use my Saga armies for this. (If there is any one who is interested to play with) The book itself is full of great pictures of painted Dark Ages models. Very inspirational. I also got a figure with the book. Harol...

Since my Saga game last weekend I have been painting a unit of mercenary warriors, they can be either Sons of Death or Vagrant Warriors. This gives me a hard hitting unit of expendable mercenaries who can take out an enemy linchpin unit probably at the expense of their own lives. I have also been finishing off my unit of Crusaders. These are devout warriors of the Emperor and it purely coincidental that they look like gladiators released from the pits to fight for the Inquisition. I also got a figure of Inquisitor Eisenhorn. I have started work on him. I need to find a suitable model for the Daemonhost Cherubael who is one of the last of Eisenhorn's companions now that he has been declared diabolis and expelled from the inquisition. I have tried painting the eyes on these models and it is hard work. I definitely think that painting the face and eyes early in the model is the way to go if you want to do it. Then, if you make a mistake its easy to correct without dest...

Alan and I had our first game of Saga 2.0. I painted up some of my Norman models and Alan used his Vikings. We played a 6 point game. We had loads of fun. I got the Norman Saga ability Volley Fire wrong, I thought that crossbows could also use this ability because they were a type of bow. But it is archers only. Here is the initial Viking set up, they have a big unit of warriors on the left a smaller unit out in front, two units of hearth guard and a bunch of levies in the forest. The Vikings make an initial move forwards using their free maneuver actions. The Normans spot an opportunity to take off a Saga dice. I power up my crossbowmen and they shoot down 5 of the warriors. The Vikings respond by sending their big unit of warriors forward and smash into a unit of the Norman knights. The Vikings trade 7 warriors for 6 Knights. In the next turn the other unit of knights charge in and kill off the warriors. The Vikings send in their big unit of hearth guard into the Flemish...

After a game of DBA a couple of weeks ago I got inspired to paint some more historical models. With the release of the new Saga rules and Viking age book now is the time to get back into some gaming. Alan is painting his Vikings, this got me inspired to paint some of my own. I have dug out my Norman models. I have some knights to paint and can supplement some units from my Military Orders army. The Normans will also do double duty as Crusaders, the first crusaders looked very like Normans who conquered England and Italy 30 years earlier. I have also been making some bases for my Executioner marines. I bought some Adeptus Mechanicus bases from GW and have been painting them with a mix of artists acrylics and inks over a silver base coat. The artist acrylics can be wiped off the silver paint with a damp sponge. This gives a nice easy way to get an aged metal look. Here are my Adeptus Mechanicus Arquebusiers. These guys can pick off enemy characters with their Transuranic 5...