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Whoever at GW did last week's "ork" teasers article must have the biggest, smuggest grin on Earth right about now.

"GW wasting money on unfunny slop like this is proof the soul of Warhammer is being sucked out by modern corporate ghouls. Why don't they spend it on making Glup Slime-o in plastic?! This makes me glad I only spent £10,000 on GW plastic this year. Disgusting."

Gets an awesome new ork, thread descends into space marine chat... :p

My Shield Captain was featured on WHC, which is nice. It’s in there with some fantastic NMM versions but I wanted to do a scheme that could be replicated on ~30 models. Happy overall with how she came out. it’s a bit odd they upload them on a transparent background but there are probably good reasons for it.

Because: What it offers is: Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Maybe unpopular opinion but Id rather see them focus on actually finishing the updates for the mainline Heresy first, i.e. tartaros terminators, MK4/5, destroyers, recon, etc before putting out MK7, characters, etc for the Scouring. There's still a ton of stuff they havent finished updating, and the Heresy team doesnt have a great track record of multitasking Rules is whatever

That right there is Begging to be converted into an Adeptus Arbites 'Riot Van' for Necromunda/Kill Team Urban environment games.

Watching the competitive community collectively pitch a temper tantrum over L-shaped ruins being taken out behind the shed - not to mention the melee and hidden changes - has made my morning.

This has bizarrely good production values for a three minute long April Fools. I'll give them credit though, this actually made me chuckle.

Veteran Sergeant is complete!

Found this one, didn't realsie I needed it,

In my opinion tournament play has made the game vastly less interesting, and the mindset it encourages is anathema to many traditional aspects of the hobby. I lament the state of things.

Somebody over on Reddit set out their terrain according to the new maps. Looks pretty decent and dense, although I know the cardboard bases will make some people gasp in horror, but that doesn't seem like anything a bit of PVA and some flock or basing paste won't fix.

It’s too similar to the jump pack Intercessors. I get making standard marines unique is hard, but GW could have at least made the jump pack more interesting. The current vanguards have a bit of bling on theirs.

I’d just like the game not to be boring, blobby blob vs blobby blob doing actions and card-game inspired combos. I’d like points and the ability to customize my squads as I see fit, not be held to box-locked loadouts. I’d like to move away from the land of architectural alphabet building tournament game boards. I’d like my Admech to not feel like a boardgame army having to for whatever reason keep my battle line next to my other units to confer a bonus (who thought that up? Heretical AI?)… I’d like to play with my toy soldiers and have the game be about heroic deeds, tactical movement and gameplay, a reason to kitbash and convert, and a reason to keep putting time and money into my army because it feels like I have options. I don’t want or need perfect balance or tournament stats. I need hobby and narrative! Just my humble opinion. Praise the Omnissiah and Sanguinius. #NoVanguardArquebus

As a Steel Legion enthusiast and collector, I largely bit my tongue when we saw we were going back to Armageddon but weren't getting SL models – cathartic as complaining on the noosphere can be, it rarely improves things! However, now there are some actual rumours about new Steel Legion, I've gotta say that I'm cautiously excited. Metal conversion work is fun... but it gets wearing after a while. I do agree with @Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla that the sketches aren't quite hitting the spot for me at the mo. A bit of an 'uncanny valley' not-quite-Steel Legion, but perhaps they'll grow on me. Of the four options below, the second in from the left is what I'm hoping for. The great joy of the Armageddon setting, of course, is that there are lots of Steel Legion armies, and I think it'd be entirely appropriate to use any new models as (say) the forces of Armageddon Prime, and the old ones as those from Secundus – but equally, I rather relish the idea of the new design literally being the same forces but a few centuries onward. If GW are going to advance the storyline, I'd rather they did something solid with it. Either way, rules come and go, background can be personalised and re-interpreted, history can be refought, but cool models are forever and more options is always good :)

Hell of a hiatus, but I'm back. First in a new squad - meet Amik of Hawk Cadre.

Thanks a lot! I'm having a blast with them, it has to be said. Got a little WIP of a character for the force...

A lot of people haven't updated their understanding of AoS since the day it launched.

New painting guide I found...

The jump from death Korps to steel legion visually is nowhere near as stark as wolves to blood angels.

Inb4 this is one of them objective terrain features of the 11th starter box.

This month.... yeah, it's been a bit busy. But I've managed to squeeze in some 40k stuff. Firstly, the slightly adjusted, rearmed and finished Tactical Squad. Before: And after: In the spirit of a classic Tactical Squad, these guys got the worst set of weapons: a Missile Launcher and a Flamer. I've also opted to add a backpack banner for the sergeant. Some other minor things included painting the Tactical Squad Arrow on the empty pads, a '5' on the kneepads, added some holsters and bags painted on and a sword thingy. Here's the finished MM 'Eradicator' - I'm not particularly happy with how the cables turned out; they're a bit wonky but I'm not sure if I'll be redoing it, though. I probably should but don't feel like doing it, at least now. EDIT Thanks for pointing this out! It was very late when I posted this and apparently I've been more beat that I thought. And the most important achievement: the Relic Shield Captain (that I've started painting in, I think, November). Eventually, I've abandoned my pro-painting-attempts (most importantly, attempts at NNM), but I think he turned out great: Despite my failure to reach the goal I set out to reach, I'm quite sure that I've learnt a lot in the process and will probably incorporate it in painting the other purple dudes.

Thank you! Time for the finished squad...Really happy to have these guys done. Not sure what's next, but inching toward something looking like a playable force.

like many people that collect Exorcists I often incorporate Grey Knight wargear and iconography to emphasise the daemon hunter aspect of the chapter, but at the same time don't just want red grey knights. I really wanted to paint the upscaled terminators when they were first released but wanted to make them a little bit different for my Exorcists. I found some 3d printed guardian spears online and that reminded me of the Rogue Trader Grey Knight Terminators that I really liked when I was a kid, and I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that a couple of the new terminators had very similar poses to those old models. So here is an image of my Grey Knight inspired Exorcist Terminators. There are some pretty serious gaps being hidden by purity seals and tilt shields, and the religious icons are a bit floaty but overall I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. Eventually I'll turn it into a five man squad and hopefully learn from some of my mistakes. There are some more images of these guys in my gallery. I just noticed this photo isn't great.

Can I just say the highlight of this whole experience is watching people complain about generic marines painted as Blood Angels rather than folks complaining about generic marines painted as Ultramarines. We finally get a break

Because it was designed as a loose ruleset to use your tiny dudesmen in tabletop battles, and allowed them to do cool stuff. As the game has become more and more competitively focussed, the overton window of socially acceptable gameplay has shifted from someone abusing rules interactions being shunned by their local community, to it being par for the course until it gets FAQ'd. It was standard practice to bring friendly lists, and ask opponents permission/consent if you wanted to use a tough 'tournament list', but now they're all tournament lists otherwise you just lose the game.

I dont drop the 'respectful' disagree lightly, but this is brutally false. The last what, decade of the game, has been overwhelmingly balanced towards, influenced by, tournament play. An utter fraction of the playerbase. It has done NOTHING to improve the game for casual pickup players in any way whatsoever. There are games, where a strong group of competitive players aid in balance and therefore the wider player base. When an army thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours of investment, only to be invalidated by the next beta update of the rules? That aint it. Casuals have been forced out of the game that is for some bizarre reason (wonder who the Whales are...) chasing after an absolutely tiny number of players in reality.

I disagree - we only just had a “fresh start” with 10th. Last thing I want is for everything to be invalidated again.

They have rules at present, don't they? If your group wants to use them, just use them; not like GW putting them in Legends is going to make the models disintegrate if you try and play with them. The shift of 40K into a "live service" game was a mistake, but it only affects you if you let it.

More finished models from the pile of shame. 12 more sisters ready for the table, 2 banners, 2 grenade bolters, 4 flamers, 2 each of heavy flamer and bolter.

It's a tabard/loincloth. Painting it black was not the best choice IMHO.

I just want terrain destruction...hide inside that building coward, I will bring it down on you.

I can't deny, as someone who enjoys force organisation charts and other such restrictions because they force me to think and plan army composition, this is how I feel whenever I read about one of GW's games becoming "more open than ever, letting you build armies however you want!": (note: I haven't actually read in detail and don't have real opinions on the new system yet, this is just a joke that comes to mind whenever they shift away from existing restrictions on army building)

I have just finished my Wolf Scouts. I built the 5 from the box to make a 40K-legal squad but then I used a couple of MOTM Phobos dudes and the remaining spare parts to build the Hunter and the Fang Bearer. This is in case I ever want to run them in Kill Team or if the 40K version allows the extra variants in 11th edition.

Just finished him for use in my local Crusade

The problem with reductive statements is that a) they're reductive and b) they invite reductive statements in return. It simpy does not make for constructive discussion. For example, a perfectly cromulent response to "I enjoy not having to think about it is not great design" is that most wargames are obviously better for not incorporating rules for how wind resistance affects your troops' movement. It is a bit flippant, yes, but it's prefectly true; there are many things that simply should not have rules, because they take up time, space and contribute to bloat/mental load when playing the game. However, if we're discussing wargear options, both these statements are probably a bit too reductive. So, it would probably be better to adopt a slightly more nuanced look, if we want to interact constructively with each other. Similarly, while I think most people would agree that 1st edition AOS wasn't a good game, it is not a productive stance that anything used in any edition of AOS is bad by definition. If they come up with a good rule for AOS that would work well in 40K, there's no serious reason to be against it. If it doesn't work in 40K it's another story, of course, but in that case an explanation beyond "AOS bad" is necessary.

Well I finished this guy about a week or so ago: Which has given me the first complete squad I have had in a long time. Here he is with his two buddies, both complete in previous years for in the ToH. So, moving on from an actual completed model I have decided to try to cath up on some of the back log/plodding along while I wait for my Combat Patrol stuff to start arriving. I've suddenly got some free time as I've been stood down from work following an accident so... try to find a silver lining with things I guess. I, Brother Argent, vow to continue to attempt to find my Hobby Mojo by repainting (some for the third time) 5x Eldar Guardians from my Plodding Along vow. These models are likely older then some members on the forum, having had them since I first started the hobby back in the mid to late 90s I think. Back when Guardians came in a box of twenty and no special weapon platforms.

Thanks guys, really appreciate it :) @Heraclite, great idea. Also happens to be my favourite move in that game... Here's the last of the assault squad - group pic incoming!

So, I gather that Krieg looks nothing like Steel Legion and now neither does Steel Legion? At least we're not going to run out of things to complain about, I guess.

Honestly this is objectively very funny, after weeks of some very smug people asserting with extreme confidence that there was no market for another greatcoat and gasmask guard army and that obviously GW knows that, suddenly it turns out that GW knew nothing of the sort. Initial sketches look interesting, looking forward to seeing more as it develops.

The mobafication of the hobby is part of a larger trend across all hobbies, where disconnected business majors and financial groups have snapped up these relatively modest but reliable streams of cash (modest for investors) that feed on professional adults (grown up nerds or the parents of young kids) incomes. Simultaneously, the hobby has moved “online” and been absorbed into the wider internet content mill and culture wars. It’s just the continuous en(redacted)ification of modern life. We got Krieg in plastic, but they look nothing like the forge world models because some sculptor had to “make it their own” and then pass a committee review. Jes Goodwin wanted to reinvent the Space Marine, and product designers wanted something fresh so we got things like the Desolator monstrosity instead of that new marine with a heavy bolter or lascannon. This institutional decay has impacted Bethesda, Creative Assembly, BioWare, Bungie, Atomic Mass, Wizards, and on and on and on and it won’t stop because some of the things coming out are cool or fun and we are bored and we all have the fatal flaw of loving our hobby. It’s never going to go back, and more and more online only engagement will bring in the worst humans possible and we will be forever bombarded with terrible takes from people who never owned a 2nd Edition Codex or never mailed in a battle report from a global campaign and ask questions on reddit instead of reading books or watch Valrak get hyped about some character they have no historical concept for. The Steel Legion debacle and new Heresy options apocalypse all get handwaved aside as “just house rule it” or “no one is taking your models” but the game design has reached the point where they are removing things from product lines and rules. You can make up your own rules for Acid Bolters or Assault Cannons or Special Characters, and that’s fine. They used to exist 10 months ago, but now we just gotta move on. In 36 months there will be less options and you gotta do the house rules again, and people will say “what’s an acid shell” and you’ve gotta tell them it was a unique flavor item from two editions ago. When you pull out your Steel Legion to use whatever monstrosity datasheet soup 11th creates you gotta deal with the people who don’t like oldhammer. You can’t even play Elysians anymore outside of a handful of units. Theyre not coming back because that corporate decay has mandated that everything must have a corresponding model in production. They don’t get any new lore because the writers are tasked with making new lore for the season pass books, and the codexes are just copy pastes of the edits of the edits of the edits of the 4th Edition Codex lore anyway. Something like Warhammer can’t exist anymore. It has to have every thing purposefully crafted for product. Black Library barely releases anything now, everything is saved up for quarterly targets and what you do get is hit or miss because when a setting has lost as much soul as Warhammer has, the writers don’t know where to take the stories. They try and write a book that feels good but at the end it’s just another generic scifi novel. There’s no more Night Lord trilogies coming. No more Scars. No more Double Eagle. All that is left for us to do is just write my little fanfics about my little toys and read the stuff that inspired me in the first place. At least the heresy kits and the new 40K stuff actually looks sick. Ill have to wade through another WarCom article where I’m told the Emperor actually hated space ships so battlefleet gothic won’t get a new release, or all space marines now worship the emperor, or the Elysians actually turned to chaos and got eaten by piranha just to get to the news about the new models. Then I can go to reddit looking for a cool scheme and see a four hundred reply thread of people well ackchullying each other incorrectly because not a single one of them owns a codex before finding a very nice scheme to modify. Moving the story forward or keeping it the same isn’t actually the problem, the problem is the people doing it and the fans engaging with it and that’s not unique to Warhammer. I don’t know how they can unshag this sheep but I sincerely hope they figure it out before Cavill’s show brings in the final wave of the modern audience.

Honestly I hate the move from sandbox to space soap opera and everything that came with it. Specifically the transition to a "live service" style game and the ensuing shift from a hobby you can engage with at your own pace to a FOMO driven mad dash to use your models before another "Whoops, your favourite character was awarded a new necktie for their bravery in yet another anticlimactic duel, and so they're now on a considerably larger scenic base! Also your second favourite character died off screen and is no longer game legal, sorry!" rugpull. I would actually go as far as to say the entire "living system" thing should never have been accepted by the community as it allowed GW to psyop the player base into handing over any agency they once had over the game. Regarding fluff specifically I 100% agree. The shift from "This is the Imperium, some bits are like this, but it's so big we couldn't possibly describe it all, go nuts" to "This is the Imperium, it's like this, every single aspect has been (poorly) explained* is a damn shame. And absolutely, lifting the lid on mysteries that were supposed to remain mysterious was a massive mistake. See the Terminus Decree...

This is a take that probably seems very clever but falls apart under the most basic of scrutiny. As said, those who run LGS's are hobbyists, plenty of hobbyists brought GW shares, a bunch of commission painters are hobbyists... not to mention plenty of GW staff themselves who probably would be hobbyists by any reasonable standard. I mean, isn't the logical conclusion of this argument that you can only be a hobbyist if you are a "consumer"?

Really? Cause up until this week, I'd not really heard anyone calling for specifically Steel Legion. But I'm sure your market research is significantly better than Games Workshops. As for releasing more model soldiers... you've seen GW's releases recently, right? They're hardly not releasing new and updated stuff literally every single week, if you haven't noticed. But apparently not redoing a single Guard regiment is a slap in the face, even though they do in fact have an in production gas mask and great coat regiment which are perfectly serviceable. Or people could use those 3D printers they are forever banging on about....

But it's the truth. You can shush all you want, but that doesn't change reality

Well, that's how you do a model update. Why mess with perfection?

And my last part of this month's vow is now completed with 5 Wraithblades: The pic is a little bit blurry. But it includes a very important feature: the weather has gone better and better and I can now come back colonizing the veranda space for my hobby. Hookahey!