Leaderboard

Here's the newest

The void isn’t in the rules. It’s in our hearts.

Centurions just needed to be upright, not squatted like that Custodes shield captain fellow

Before Guilliman had a nap, he composed a Chapter structure that was flexible enough to be used across the Galaxy. He thought big, he knew that in the vast distance of space there was no guarantee a Marine squad would have dedicated anti tank weapons units attached and available. He left knowing that a single Lascannon could make all the difference. But when he awoke, the Rift had warped reality, now tanks have wounds like infantry, single Lascannons are a waste of time and the Galaxy had shrunk to only 4' ×5' . So he adjusted his scope and Chapter structure from dealing with the entire Galaxy down to the size of a tabletop to suit the new reality. He realized specialist units perform better in game than flexible ones, he no longer thought about the big picture, and focused on gameplay. There's a not very hidden message there. Just my 2c.

Far from going away Legends should be better supported and integrated. Sadly I think GW is focused on the competitive scene these days. I miss when GW had the attitude that 40k was a 'beer and pretzels' game to be played with friends rather than tournaments being everything.

Love how it's a inspired by the old 2nd edition Grots. Only fitting given the theme of the set.

Legends is literally the lowest bar to cross for supporting casual games of warhammer 40k and should get more support, not less

... do we need gravis at all?

Limbo is fine. In fact I am extremely appreciative to GW for it. When Tacticals and Razorbacks go Legends ~75% of the units in my 16,000 point Marine army will be Legends. When the other rhino chassis vehicles do it will be >90%. Whilst I understand your opinion, I like having rules for casual games for my guys. It's an online resource which costs GW next to nothing to continue, and it doesn't negatively impact on anyone. Wanting it to go away seems like gatekeeping.

Ok, but Legends do exist. And because they exist, I want them to be handled to the same standard as they are in AoS.

Amazing that you're even saying something like this. Imagine if the sort of Primaris shake up happened to the Craftworld Eldar. Imagine if all the current designs started slowly getting phased out in favour of the current crop of Corsair kits or a new Ynnari aesthetic. Would you say the same thing to the people who like the old Aspect Warriors in that scenario? You act as if people being more discerning about the faction they picked years ago is some sort of insult pointed directly at you. You're entitled to your opinion, but often times your posts feel like you personally made it your task to make a "BUT I LIKE IT" type post every time someone expressed even the slightest bit of dislike towards a new release or even just a preference for an older design.

IMO Legends should simply be the place people finds rules for stuff that no longer has a model due to it being discontinued for whatever reason, heck I would even expand it to cover all shorts of models that are no longer a thing from previous editions no matter how old they are, it should be a rules archive so people that happens to have one of this old models has an official way of using them, not the death row it is now.

I'm not surprised the Firstborn are being dumped, if it wasn't for brand recognition I think the term space marine would have been dropped in favour of Primaris at launch and they would be reconned to always have been Primaris. But this is the reason I think that veteran players should seriously look at playing other editions and not just going with the official current edition treadmill nonsense. They are your miniatures and how you play with them is up to you otherwise you will be eternally caught in the cycle of get excited for new product, buy new product, put new product in the pile of shame and then get excited about the next new product which will get legended in favour of even newer new product. No one should be shocked by this by now.

On the one hand, I will be somewhat sad to see Rhinos etc go. (as in, I'm not going to ever stop running Rhino chassis tanks, box dreads etc. no matter their official status- to me, they are what Space Marines are; I've never bought a Primaris vehicle and I never will. Not because of "hatred" or anything silly like that, it's just a product that I have zero interest in). OTOH, it's been nine years. Things change and many, many products in this world aren't kept around for the amount of time that even the newer firstborn kits have had (whether we're talking miniatures, games or any other type of product). Of course, I feel there should be support for these kits, but I also think it is fundamentally an unrealistic expectation to feel like we're entitled to everything sticking around forever. That's just not how the world we live in works. However, if, like me, you're of the opinion that Space Marines have a fundamental identity (both lore- and looks-wise) that you're not interested in moving on from, remember that you can just not do that. Even if you can never, ever get anything but a pickup game, it's not like proxying and counts-as ïs not an option. I also feel like it should be said that yes, people get annoyed when things change, but before Primaris we had a lot of people complaining that things were getting stagnant in both the lore and the model range. You can argue that it was a "monkey's paw" kinda thing and this is not what people really wanted, but realistically speaking, it's simply not possible to please every customer group at the same time - and in the world we live in, new product will always trump everything else, so they pick the option they think will sell the most new stuff. Does it suck? Yeah, it kinda does, but it is a business to them and a hobby to us and expecting different is merely the second step on the road to disappointment. Finally, if you love firstborn, I sincerely hope you have what you need at this point, because it's not like there hasn't been (and still are) any opportunities to buy this stuff. That's not a dig at anyone who prefers the firstborn aesthetic either; I am firmly in the "we don't talk about Primaris" camp myself and I'm never going to start pretending hover tanks are actually as cool as Rhinos.

Here's the thing, I don't think that there is a Tactical squad shaped void. Back in 3rd-5th editions, a single lascannon could kill a tank so the firepower that a single Tactical squad could bring was significant. Now we are in a totally different paradigm and we can take (almost) unlimited squads of Helblasters or Ballistus Dreadnoughts. What this means is that there is little value in having a single special/heavy weapon embedded in a squad that is otherwise armed with anti-infantry weapons. Killteams work more by their special rules than because it is valuable to have ablative intercessors absorbing wounds. If you increase the price of Intercessor squads by 10-20 points and allow one dude to take a Lascannon, it is a nice callback but I am not convinced it really increases the value of the squad, particularly when most marine players take 1 squad at most.

Gretchin, but with a grenade this time.

GW has a business plan centered around constantly pushing new products, regardless of lore change or model invalidation. To legends they go, which is a nice way of saying we’ll forget about those models in a few years time. The player base that used to be, pre-pandemic, is not the current player base. That’s just from my own personal experience, playing the game, going to the game store, and going to some huge events like the Las Vegas Open. It’s expanded! We’ve got a whole new generation of players that don’t have the physical and mental baggage of editions past, and lore lost. As long as people keep buying, the machine will keep churning. I’ll pour one out for the homie devastators and tacticals that are no longer here. I’m also trying to get in a Zen state about editions and changes, because hobby is supposed to be fun. Sometimes the bickering, and concern over change overwhelms what the hobby brings me personally, which is an escape from reality and a chance to hang with friends.

It sure looks like you have things planned out. Good for you - I think it's a very healthy approach to the hobby. As an aside: As a hobbyist who was active during 5th/6th edition and skipped most of the changes of upheavals post 8th edition, I still struggle to adapt to the 'new norm' where many kits' availability is limited and the pace of turnaround is breakneck, given my progress. Back in the day, I never struggled to get the kits I wanted and the shelf-life of products appeared to be longer (or even indefinite). Now, things are clearly different: characters locked in boxes or available later for quite ridiculous prices, discount boxes being limited runs etc. And there's this inherent pressure to this: get things now with a discount or risk missing them out entirely or having to pay full prices. I find this "new GW landscape" quite frustrating. And it's great that I'm not in the hobby loop since I find myself very prone to these kinds of addictions :D It seems we have a very similar approach to the hobby. These are my thoughts and plans, too. I'm quite happy to get the new speeder, though. *** In terms of staying on-topic within this subforum, here's some actual work in progress. The botched squad markings after my first attempt: And after an attempt to refine them without resorting to painting them from scratch: I now regret not having taken a 'before' photo of the other pads, but here are the finished ones with the chapter symbol: These are also a great example of my limited imagination/foresight. Initially, I planned to paint the blue cross on top of the yellow stripe and... it turned out the that there wasn't enough contrast between the two bright colours. That's why I decided to put more work into these and paint a purple line/border to help set the crosses of from the yellow stripe. I think I got it right in the end but, frankly, I should've thought about it beforehand.

Field artillery kit-bash.

I think I'll go with gold! Thanks. Yellow for the regular squad members (as a role designation) and green for the sergeant, yeah. I sure hope that the yellow will look right. I quite liked how it looked as a tertiary colour on the shield Captain from the previous page - this has given me a confidence boost to try it out on larger surfaces. Here's a small update. I think I managed to get most of the armour and leather done. The idea for the backpacks is to keep the 'base' of the pack purple to match the armour and paint the top part/thrusters black. While it's probably not apparent from the photos (the output is quite similar), I'm looking for ways to make the painting process more enjoyable. I think for regular troops, I'll settle on relying on drybrushing for base of the highlights. However, with only a week left, I'm a bit concerned (and pessimistic!) about getting them done by the month's end for the 12 Months of Hobby vow.

That is definitely a take. Personally I have a better analysis; GW's "master plan" sucks.

I'm not going to argue with you if you're going to assume how I feel about this hobby. I wouldn't have bought any of the models I bought over the past 10 years (post 8th edition era) and I wouldn't be spending time converting the same miniatures if the hobby made me miserable. It's clear you're on the back foot because you're constantly making concessions to arguments people made in this thread, but you still somehow sneak in a snipe at people you see as detractors.

Ah yes, the new and improved Suppressors, Inceptors, Aggressors, 3 man Sanguinary Guard and so on. It truly was reflexive hate when I turned the Gravis captain I got in the Dark Imperium box and noticed that he looks as if he's suffering from excess fluid in his abdomen, the oversized Gravis power pack and the fact he was missing his backside. This isn't really about liking "horrible old models", it's a matter of design really. For example in terms of art and design I will prefer the Tactical Squad and older designs over the Intercessors and Mark X. They are fine models in terms of quality most of the time, but I dislike their completely uniform appearance. Massed Imperial Guard infantry have more personalization options per model than the premier infantry kit for the flagship faction. A lot of Primaris design was questionable, like releasing an Apothecary model without a narthecium. It took until the Blood Angels release to fix that. I forgot to mention the Storm Speeder and how it's an unsightly brick the size of a Rhino that replaced the equivalent of a flying scout car or light weapons platform. Talk about new and improved.

Moving us on a bit, since there's not really much more to be done. Rewards and You: All Players receive; XP +500xp Infamy +17 Inf Corruption +4 CP All Players who Completed Tertiaries: +2 Infamy Discretionary award: GM (D5) CP's for being terrible people: Varne + 3 CP Obadiah +3 CP Ukalegon +4 CP Kraggan +1 CP Crux'as +1 CP (for all that lying) Hagga +3 CP Alignment Shifts: Kraggan: Indulged in duplicity! -1 Khorne Alignment Indulged in Tzeentchian affairs! -1 Khorne Alignment Crux'as: Dedicated victories to Patron +1 Tzeentch Align Obadiah: Murdered Psykers +1 Khorne Align Murdered the Faithful/Pure +1 Slaanesh Align Varne: Picked nose +1 Nurgle Align Hagga: Faced guns with sword +1 Khorne Align, also -1 Intelligence Mourn: Obtained spectacular cloak and leopard print Y-Fronts +1 Slaanesh Align. Mithra: Healthy diet, +1 Toughness, but farts a lot -1 Fel. ++++++++++ Screaming and pointless pleading below. You can consider yourselves to have been extracted to the Razor and are now underway. Go ahead and finish any inter-party interactions, and once that is done, we wrap Part Two and the game drops into recess.

Yeah, it is a question of what Legends should even be. Is it a place to put units that are going away? If so, how much support does it need? If it is only temporary, why support it beyond initially putting rules there? Or: is it a place to put units that are staying in the rules but are not to be used in official tournaments? If so, what does support look like there? Is it less support than "mainline" units (i.e., maybe they only get a balance pass once per year, or it only gets updated for each new edition)? Or is it the same level of support, and in that case why move them to Legends at all? My impression is that people just do not want to lose the ability to play games with their units, ever. So, assuming Legends is a place for units that no longer get as much attention, maybe the right answer IS to put them there and then only give them attention once per year/once per edition.

Black Templars' strike cruiser Stormbreaker sallies forth into the stars.

This last page had largely been taken up by an off topic discussion between two members that were basically an ad hominem criticism and then an active response. What a member may think of another's posting or quoting habits has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Portions of those posts may have engaged the thread topic, but were not readily separable and there is no way to hide only part of the post. That said, the members are free to repost those sections which engage solely on the thread topic. Please constrain all further posts to the actual topic, that being a given video and the rumours discussed in it. Dr. R., friendly orange using moderator.

I like the new grots, but why are the ears so small now? Beside that, they look great.

Thanks for the support and positive feedback! In a way, I'm surprised that you've noticed the black stripe - I think it wasn't defined properly and the lighting in the photo didn't help. I'm impressed by your attention to detail! This is my usual approach to the hobby now. I usually either paint for around an hour before I go to bed or take a 20-minute break during the work day. Since we're quite avid Civilization VI players with my wife and spend afternoons playing the game in hot seat mode, I also sometimes squeeze in some painting between the turns, provided that I'm not at a stage requiring a lot of attention to detail. I've been trying to stick to it for some time now; however, April was a month full of (usually pleasant) disturbances from the routine, with some trips, holidays and whatnot. My current realistic hobby goal is to either paint a 5-man squad or 1-2 larger/character models in a month. I think I really should look into 3d printed pads/markings; then again, with years' of practice, I am quite confident with the Maltese crosses and - frustrating as it may be - trying out the regular role markings ultimately is fun. Oh, don't mention oil-washes I'm more and more curious and open to trying them out. The process of using them (requiring varnishing, drying, waiting) seems a bit annoying but the result's I've seen online are stunning. And I totally get your anxiety - given my understanding of the process, it seems that seamlessly fixing mistakes is quite difficult. *** In other news, I've gotta admit: I'm quite looking forward to the 11th started unboxing on Friday. Regrettably, at the moment I'm not excited at all for the starter. I probably needlessly have gotten my hopes up too high for some time: I optimistically thought that we'll get more of the old armour marks than I think we're bound to get. I sure hope that the proper reveal will stir something in me. Even if that doesn't happen, I should at least have some more clarity as to what I want to do with the hobby. Something that I badly need, to be honest. This constant content churn GW is doing at the moment is a bit too contemporary for my taste when it comes to a physical product. Sure, I'm here to blame for my poor time- and purchase-management, but I still have a Vindicator, Predator, Stalker and a Storm Raven to finish - just before they get axed, if the rumour is to be true. While I risk oversharing again, I have to admit this: with the rumours, reveals and painting progress, April was an interesting month that got me involved in the hobby way more than I thought I needed. I think that the underlying reason for this is that the new starter appears not to be what I expected. As such, I found myself reassessing my hobby - an engaging activity in itself. This was particularly interesting since I've been convinced that I have a good plan for this project and my future. I think I'll share more of my thoughts and plans after the reveal. Miniatures aside, I'm now interested whether GW will do something similar to AoS Spearhead game mode in 40k. But right now I'm preparing myself to take a definitive decision and convince myself to stop buying Primaris minis altogether, i.e. stop even considering it. Last year I only bought a second-hand Bayard's Revenge, but I've been eyeing kits. Transitioning to a completely no-purchase policy is a tough one. But I suppose that it's reasonable for a number of reasons. Purchase-wise, I might, however, move to kill-teams in the future.

Hagga: “Good man, Sapik,” Hagga did his best to ignore the psyker's hideously corrupted features. “Join Kraggan, and find Crux'as. I'm sure he could make use of your… abilities?” Entering through water-filled sewers into an enemy stronghold was no plan for any of the mortals. Better they assisted with the looting of the Bounty's resources, whether foodstuffs or weapons. Denying such supplies to the Imperium was the primary goal… but if they could steal some of it too, even a tiny fraction of the whole, it would fill the needs of the Razor's Edge for a long time to come. With that, Hagga nodded to the other Astartes and then descended into the filthy water. *** Rykaz emerged in the huge cistern, brackish liquid pooling around his greaves. He quickly checked his weapons, and gave Eska a light, reassuring thump on her back. The hound, her thick fur slicked back, regarded their surroundings balefully for a moment, then let out a wet gurgle, regurgitating a foul clump of organic matter from her throat. He looked around at the others. The mortal Tarh seemed even worse off than Eska, sagging against the great shell of his beast, but appeared to recover quickly enough. Somewhere along the way through the maze of flooded accessways and tunnels, they had managed to meet up with Varne. The filth and scum looked somehow fitting draped across his warplate… “Are you ready, warriors?" Hagga snarled. "We don't know how many Arbitrators are still inside this fortress, but however many they are, they cannot be allowed to hold this place until their comrades return from the wilds. Be aware, Ukalegon is already above us somewhere, probably fighting his way down towards us. We will link up with him, and kill every last defender within these walls. For the Blackheart, brothers!"

Yes, the Rat Ogres are perfect for conversion to Drukhari Grotesques. Unfortunately, I am running low on Talos parts. What’s that, I should buy another pain engine for the parts? Hmm…you’ve convinced me…

Sherrypie's quick and dirty baroque: so you like chiaroscuro? I like baroque aesthetics. Heavy shadows, stark lighting, deep reds and autumnal browns. Restricted Zorn palette and Blanchitsu, old masters and all that jazz. I am also profoundly prone to making due with what I've got within an arms's reach, whether that's a suboptimal shade of yellow or painting with a pine needle because I was outside at the time and it worked well enough (true story): don't get hung up on paint choices. These have been painted mostly with Vallejo Game Colors, but that's an insignificant detail. There's an AP tone and an AK ink in there as well. Any paint line you like will do, the general ideas won't change. Similarly, these BFGalaxy escort full of spindly little details were about the worst models to demonstrate this rough and "painterly" process with, but that's life. I'll think about it next time :D 1) Prime black. We're going to want those heavy shadows everywhere. 2) Build up the base by overbrushing successively lighter blends of grey + bone. The slightly blueish German Grey is here partly by accident from testing stuff out, but builds up to a darker finish than my usual Imperial ships under all the washes. For my otherwise pretty similar but warmer navy scheme, I'd replace the grey with a dark brown. 3) Block in the rest of the main colours. Bone for guns, yellow for engines and various bits. At this point I usually go over the model, trying to find some nice places for spot colours like heraldic fields, stripes and such to go. 4) Washes and details. My go-to liquid talent is Vallejo's Model Air series Burnt Umber, a slightly reddish deep brown that's runny enough to be used as a brush-applied wash straight from the palette. Agrax and similar washes do about the same. Similarly, my black-ish wash at the moment is Army Painter's Dark Tone, after one too many times that my Nuln Oil dried white. Works nicely for generous applications. With the washes done, it's time to start detailing things again. First with more bone, using fine edge highlights and finishing with sharp lines and dots of pure white. I do usually make another pass with more washes and edge highlights here, to soften the transitions a bit. The reds get a bit of orange blended in. The various little lights are white dots covered with fluo paints. 5-6) For engine flares, my usual workflow starts from white, putting yellow on the halfway mark, adding more orange, red and eventually umber as we get farther away from the heat source. I use fluorescent paints here to help a bit with the brightness. Ultimately, this is usually a desperate wrassle of trial and error full of Bob Ross quotes and happy little accidents, where I'm just splodging more bright stuff on one end and darker stuff on the other until it looks acceptable. One can always neaten things up later, but sometimes the sculpt is fighting you and it's just better to let good enough be. 7) For my bases, it's the same but just messier. Take a bad brush that's already hardened to abuse and stipple on some red, orange and yellow. These can be wet, it dries into nice nebulae shapes and is a fun way to use the last drops remaining on your wet palette. Put white stars on with a sharper brush. Now, alternating layers of fluorescent orange and red with pure white stars, build up the clouds until satisfactory. 8) For the scrolls, you could start from a brown base, but here I've gone the lazy route of just starting from bone. Some white towards the edges, a watered down brush of burnt umber in the folds and that's the basics down. With a fine brush, I then carefully neaten the outline of the scroll with black, highlight the sharp edges with white and jot down the actual lettering. When writing on models, I start from the middle letter of each word and try to fit the names somewhat neatly onto the scroll. If it doesn't work, no biggie, just cover it up and try again. And that's it. Matt varnish on top and they're ready for deployment. Hope this helps someone or at least amused you today :)

What would make everything a lot better is if Games Workshop could support Legends better than they currently do. Allows us to toggle Legends units on and off in the Warhammer app so we can build lists with them more easily. Make sure the rules are better collated and laid out in the PDF, etc etc They don't have to balance or update them regularly, but they could make them easier to access and enjoy.

Yeah, the bigger issue is the "deletion waiting room" aspect of Legends. This is definitely something that happens (see Yarrick), but not a good way to treat fans and customers IMO. Referring specially to the practice of swapping units in and out of the rules with no transparency or warning based on internal sales/development timelines. It is very corporate-focused, with customers as a secondary consideration.

I, bouargh, enlist for 12 MoH and for May pledge the following: - 5 Dark reapers plus their token/totem - 1 Yriel Should I work on more stuff, it will be for my plodding along vow... Pic later:

Chimera chassis has twin engines in it's sides. From Inferno#14 Imperial Armour Vol 1 (2nd ed)

Obadiah: The Tower of Echoes was an imposing building, as was so much Imperial architecture: a towering spire, wider at the base but narrowing as it rose, surrounded by a circular pile of mortared stone topped with domes and a few smaller minarets. Snarling and gibbering gargoyles lined the eaves. The outer walls were supported by flying buttresses that arced up 20 meters or more, and every flat surface was covered with graven images of the Emperor and his saints. The facility itself was encircled by an outer wall, no more than three meters high, though it was no serious defense. It featured no turrets, nor were there any guards walking a parapet. Few were the brave souls who wanted to actually enter an Astropathic Relay. The lone gate in the exterior wall sat on the southwest side, where both a road from parts westward and a path coming up from a small jetty in the river met. The approach had been easy enough; the fall of night had done much to conceal Obi and his companions, and the Arbites had fallen far behind them. They had a watercraft and a pair of skimmers executed a standard grid search over the crash site, but the bright lights made them easy to track. Obi walked in a deep crouch, his camo cloak pulled in tight across his plastron, about five meters north of the road. Two armed sentries stood at the simple gate in the exterior wall. They chatted amiably, barely paying attention, and the Mantis Warrior had considered killing them at a distance. . . but he wanted to make sure there was no one else out of sight to raise an alarm. His slow progress got him up to the wall without issue. He clicked his tongue into the vox twice, and got two clicks back from Tarh. He let his autosenses pierce the darkness in the direction he'd come from, but even his enhanced vision couldn't pick out the man's hide. Good. A short vertical leap let him get his fingers onto the top of the wall and he smoothly heaved himself up and over the wall. He dropped down on the other side, still cloaked by darkness and cameleoline. He peered at the gate, and sure enough the two guards at the actual portal were not alone. There was a sort of a guard house -- a small shack, really -- with an open door and as he watched, a silhouetted shape moved back and forth within. He slid Silence from its sheath and closed the distance. The guard from the shack stepped out into the cool night air and marched around to the gate, and he heard Tarh's vox-click in his ear as soon as he heard the new arrival begin to chat up the two other guards. A quick glance into the shack showed it empty of other people, so he slipped around the front. Silence flew from his grasp, and the monomolecular edge took the shack-guard in the temple with a wet thunk. Before the man even hit the dirt, a red flash from the near-distance snapped out and drilled smoking hole in the forehead of one of the guards. Obi sprang forward and grabbed the last man by the throat, choking off his scream before it could manifest, and closed the gauntlet's grip. The man's neck bent at a weird angle with an audible snap. He quickly dragged all three bodies into the guard house, retrieved his knife, and doused the interior light. "Advance," he whispered over the vox. "We're going in." The courtyard between wall and main building was open and poorly lit; only the main entrance -- wide, double doors of bronze carved in bas-relief of the Emperor -- had bright lamps set on either side of it. Silence clutched tightly in one fist, Obi crept to the doors. Flattening himself quietly against the wall, he reached up to the lamp on his side of the door and ripped it down with one quick tug. He was about to cross in front of the doors to get the second when Tarh's long-las flashed again out of the darkness and cracked the lamp-bulb. He paused a moment, waiting patiently, eyes never leaving the doors, until Tarh's smaller form coalesced from the darkness on the other side of the door. "Ready?"

All this proves to me is that it's about the friends we make along the way. So, when's the wedding?

I painted up a hippogriff for a review on Tabletop Battles (formerly Goonhammer). it’s a very nice kit. I built mine without instructions due to someone else having them. Managed it without any major issues. There are some nice features and they get a lot of detail on not that many pieces, so it builds reasonably quickly. I had a spare Death Rider torso, which I used as the commander instead of the Cadian you get with the kit. That will match my infantry (and cavalry) better. Review here: https://www.goonhammer.com/40k-centaur-hippogriff

I may be in the minority but I quite like Gravis. The 8th edition ones weren't great but the Eradicators and Heavy Intercessors look good to me. I like the helmets as they look like a cross between MkX and Terminator helmets.

Every GW "flying model" now days... I think if the head and arms are separate it may be a useful model.

The brutes are done. As is my vow I believe. I'm going to add eithersome myrmidons, urserax and/or a culexus assassin.

I think the Mk X helm looks good on Deathwatch, as they're slightly more "sci-fi" and "tactical" in my mind, but for everything else, I just can't bring myself to like it no matter how much I try. As for Marines in general, I think Primaris have good and bad points, design-wise (fluff-wise, I find them horrendous, but I can ignore that, so it's no big deal to me). For most of the things, like the bolt rifles, armour plates and knees, I have no problem with going "it's just Space Marines to me", but there are a few sticking points, like the neck guard (which is easily trimmable) and the "ankle bulb" (which is less eaily dealt with, but eaiser to ignore). Honestly, I think we'll end up seeing most of these design choices fade away as everything slowly morphs into one big "Space Marine" design melting pot. Some of the newer minis are among the best Marines they've ever done, but I still look forward to them blending more old design cues in there. As for the fluff and new units, well, 40K is a long-running franchise that only really exists to move product, so I think it's just common sense to accept that the "true" creative work has been done a long time ago and now the creative and artistic spark is going to have to come from oneself. It's like when my friends complain about Star Wars (or I complain about the Simpsons). I mean, yeah, it can annoy you sometimes, but trying to put one's finger on some big reason beyond "it's been running since forever, of course it's not great art anymore" is a fool's errand. Factor in nostalgia and one can be frustrated from here to eternity, if one does not accept that it's our own job to make it speak to us. But GW does provide some great raw material most of the time.

Obadiah: He tucked himself close in behind Hagga and basically followed him as the Executioner went on his killing spree up through the heart of the bastion. He did not know if Hagga was aware of it, but Obi fell into a curious pattern fighting around the bigger man. He kept Silence sheathed this time; the storm of heavy blade swings left no real room for him to engage with his blade. Instead, he relied on Fate's Eye. When Hagga's strikes carried him to the left side of a corridor, Obi flowed to the right. When Hagga dodged to the right, Obi slipped left. And whenever he had a clear line of fire, the bolter coughed and Arbites died. After the first few floors of this, Obi caught on to Hagga's sword-style and began to predict his movements. He would start moving before Hagga died, side-stepping into position and firing as the Executioner cleared his line. He could only imagine how odd the dance looked to those behind them. His pet was a different story, but thankfully the mastiff was short enough that he needed worry too much; his rounds punched the air above Eska. It wasn't a perfect dance, though. Lasbolts and hard rounds came down the corridor at them at almost every juncture and stairwell. Hagga caught the most, of course, as Obi was -- completely unintentionally, of course! -- using him as a shield, but "clear lines of fire" go both ways. Most of the shots that connected rebounded from his plate, of course, though a few did find the seams. The sting of ants to him, nothing more. When all the killing was done, he stood on the landing pad and watched his brother tearing apart the defenses. He could feel a light sheen of sweat across his skin, and his respiratory rate was slightly elevated. They'd been carving their way through the bastion at a near-breakneck pace, after all. He released the seals and lifted away his helmet. The cool air on his skin felt good, and the view of the semi-flooded, semi-burning city from this high up was actually quite impressive. He maglocked the helmet to his belt and stripped the spent magazine from his bolter. He reloaded the weapon even though the battle seemed over; one could never be too careful, after all. Hearts calm and breathing back to regular, Obi rolled his shoulders a little, then walked over to Hagga. He gave the other Astartes a playful punch to the pauldron to get his attention, then nodded at the red mess that used to be the anti-aircraft crew. "I don't think I've ever told you this, Rykaz," he said with a wry grin, "but I'm extremely glad you're on our side." Obadiah takes d6(4) Wounds during the battle.

AK-47,000’s for everybody! Ears too small. This is going to be a bizarre 3d printing niche offering. ‘Grot ear extensions’

Sapik: Sapik had been monitoring the vox while he waited in camp for the arrival of the friends. Just before news of the bulk hauler's impact hit the network, Atesh felt the most exhilarating, delicious, horrifying thrill build up and wash through him. Shortly later, he came to himself. He couldn't say he lost consciousness, exactly, but he definitely wandered from himself. He wiped black blood from his nares, changed his face rag, and looked for Rakash. Upon finding him, he exclaimed: "Rakash! Did you feel that?! Ooohhhhhhhhh all goes according to plan!"

Hagga: Hagga watched with something approaching amusement as the hauler raced towards the bastion. He looked away for a moment as sudden detonations erupted at the other end of the city. Good. Varne's demolitions team had been successful. He looked back… What the…? The hauler had sailed past its intended target entirely, and was now in the process of burying itself in the heart of the city. How…? How in the name of hell had Ressokov missed so badly? And how had Ukalegon allowed it to happen? Much of the city was now being destroyed in the throes of fire or flood, including the Administratum building and the Cathedrum, but this was still a bloody disaster! The Imperials had a structurally sound fortress that the Corsairs had no weapons capable of penetrating. It would be a rally point for all the defenders still in the city, and an anvil that the Corsairs would be obliterated against once the rest of the Imperials returned - and they would be on their way very, very soon if the Provost Marshal had half a brain… Then more immediate problems broke the Executioner's train of thought. A heavy rattle and clatter against the hull, juddering their flight. Of course. The Hydra that should have been dead seconds ago still lived. “Evasive action!” he roared. “Put us down somewhere in the city, below their firing arcs!” Even in his armour, he felt the drag of the pilots’ sudden manoeuvring, and had to grab at a handhold on the internal bulkhead. “We can drop you in the city, but there's nowhere to put her down, my Lord! It's too tight between the buildings!” Hagga grimaced, switching to his vox even as he turned away to hurry to the troop bay. ++Fine. Find us a flat roof, and hover as low as you can over it for a few seconds! Then get the hell out of the city until we call for you!++ Astartes were foot soldiers. The best foot soldiers in the galaxy. If they could get on the ground, maybe he could figure out a way to turn this around. He didn't know how yet, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to give it a try! “Mourn! Kraggan!” he yelled as he reached the bay, “get ready to jump! Eska, come here! Veni, throne-damn it!”

Varne "Sir, we've received the execution signal from the Razor," the young pilot's voice had a nervous edge to it as she craned her head round to shout at the passengers. Varne's helm turned to face her, having remained still as a minstorum gargoyle for the past several hours, making the three men in front of him start. The space marine simply nodded. The craft rolled and yawed sharply as it veered towards the western half of Harville. Varne scanned the brief glimpse of the cityscape he was afforded. Something has gone wrong. The flashing sirens of the Arbites were visible even at this height, before quickly being stolen from his view by another levelling shift in the craft's flight. The great dockyards now grew to fill his vision, and his autosenses adjusted to highlight the two largest northernmost locks which isolated the vast loading platforms from the giant river. He lifted his gauntleted hand from the grip of the autocannon and pointed towards them, the sappers craning in their harnesses to see. "Those are our targets," he growled. "as soon as this craft lands, you will dismount and calmly approach your position. There will be no violence until I give the signal. Once you are in position and our pilot confirms as much, I shall leave the shadowed confines of the craft to take up the final position. It is at this point that hell will break loose. You will remain hidden. Once I reach the eastern terminus of the second lock, I shall set the first charge. I shall then take position and provide covering fire whilst you simultaneously set your charges. There is a good chance that you will be ignored entirely in the panic. If not, I will kill your attackers." The formal Opal worker, Symon, turned back round, tears stinging the corner of his eyes. "Lord, how can we survive this carnage?" "If you are lucky, you won't," Varne watched the man's eyes widen, the surface tension breaking the droplets and cascading them through the patina of dust clinging to his cheeks. "However, I will hold the ramp of the Arvus for four minutes. Then we take off with or without you. I suggest you run as if a swarm of Tyranids snaps at your heels." The worker's wide-eyed expression passed between his fellow humans in confused horror, "wha- what's a Tyra-" "Silence," Varne's vox-emitter snarled, his scavenged, mis-matched armour looming over the man and the wet thunk of his tentacle slamming onto the deck inches from the quivering mortal. "Complete your task - or, ruin betide you, fail the Lord of Plagues." A short quiet descended over the passengers, nervous glances now written on all three of them as some form of peristalsis groaned and pulsed within Varne's leg less than a foot away. "Sir..." came the pilot's voice. She cleared her throat then continued, "E.T.A. thirty seconds." Varne's helm raised, his eye lenses again looking beyond the sappers and through the armaglass pane at the mess of industry that was Harville's dockyards. Good.

Goodness time flies. I couldn’t believe it had been 2 months since I last updated. To be fair I’ve been ploughing through some rather bland projects to clear the backlog before the next edition drops. Curse gw throwing out all the releases in the past few months. I’ve waded through the last of my scenery, namely the boarding actions and necromunda scenery, which has taken so many hours of trimming it’s been an endurance test! I had fun putting together the eldar corsairs and used it as an opportunity to rebase some of my Alaitoc still on small bases and sort through some harlequins, selling the old metals off. I finally revisited the ultramarines adding the new releases and converting some of the already assembled stuff with upgrades and spares. Next month hoping to round off a few outstanding chaosy bits before plunging headlong into 11th.