Blast from the past...

[Kage2020]

*coughs dust and pats dust off self*

 

It's been a while. I used to be heavily into the 40k setting but, for various reasons, I took a long break. Went on to other pastures etc. Every now and again I break out some of the old materials---most recently inspired to take a look at the Eldar (or Aeldari now, I guess)---just for the fun of it, but those times seem to have passed. *waves to old times*

 

As a means of getting my son away from the screen, I thought that I would dig up a couple of old hobbies that I thought he might be able to get into. One of those? Minis. I accidentally sunk close to $500 to get hobby gear, paints, minis etc. Then, horrified at myself, promptly spent even more money on a 3d resin printer and supplies because nothing says "fiscally sensible" then doing that. O.o

 

So I'm back to learn. First off it will be trying to paint these miniatures that are far more miniature than I remember them being. (Like, seriously: How do you see the bloomin' details let alone keep your hand from shaking like a scene from Blazing Saddles!?) Then how to play the 40k wargame or, if that doesn't work because it's too complex for my son, something a bit simpler (OPR?).

 

So, yeah. Hi, all.

 

(Okay, maybe I'll try and write something TTRPG for the Aeldari so that I can put them in a campaign somewhere. :) )

Edited February 8 by Kage2020

[Karhedron]

Wow, welcome back!

 

I remember you from the good old days of Portent/Warseer. Good to see you again, make yourself at home.

[Kage2020]

10 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

Wow, welcome back!

 

I remember you from the good old days of Portent/Warseer. Good to see you again, make yourself at home.

 

Thank you! :)

 

It's been a while. Portent/Warseer were from the TTRPG days and the times of things like "The Anargo Sector Project". With the release of the 40k RPGs and the general sentiment with the setting, there's little reason for getting back into that. On the other hand? Painting tiny little toy soldiers with my son? That sounds spot on---even if he at least at first forces me to do all the work. (Nothing unusual there!)

 

Anyway, this seems to be one of the few places that I recognise the name of from back in the day. Warseer, 40kOnline etc. seem to be... ah, very quiet. Someone on the "Discords" shared that this was still kicking and active, so I thought that I would come and say "Hi" in this new journey.

Edited February 8 by Kage2020

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

Welcome back, frater! Nice to see you again!

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

On 2/8/2024 at 7:15 PM, Kage2020 said:

*coughs dust and pats dust off self*

 

It's been a while. I used to be heavily into the 40k setting but, for various reasons, I took a long break. Went on to other pastures etc. Every now and again I break out some of the old materials---most recently inspired to take a look at the Eldar (or Aeldari now, I guess)---just for the fun of it, but those times seem to have passed. *waves to old times*

 

As a means of getting my son away from the screen, I thought that I would dig up a couple of old hobbies that I thought he might be able to get into. One of those? Minis. I accidentally sunk close to $500 to get hobby gear, paints, minis etc. Then, horrified at myself, promptly spent even more money on a 3d resin printer and supplies because nothing says "fiscally sensible" then doing that. O.o

 

So I'm back to learn. First off it will be trying to paint these miniatures that are far more miniature than I remember them being. (Like, seriously: How do you see the bloomin' details let alone keep your hand from shaking like a scene from Blazing Saddles!?) Then how to play the 40k wargame or, if that doesn't work because it's too complex for my son, something a bit simpler (OPR?).

 

So, yeah. Hi, all.

 

(Okay, maybe I'll try and write something TTRPG for the Aeldari so that I can put them in a campaign somewhere. :) )

 

Blaxing Saddles?? That´s all I saw at first.. One of my fav movies sicne I was real youbng missing alot of the jokes.. ("-Think of your secretary!"  )

 

Always nice when people return and bring their kids too. Hope you enjoy the hobby again.

[Kage2020]

22 hours ago, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

Always nice when people return and bring their kids too. Hope you enjoy the hobby again.

 

It remains to be seen whether the little dratsab will engage rather than make me do all the work and say something like, "It's nice that you've got a hobby, dad." ;)

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

How old was he? :)

 

Haha, but it IS nice that you have a hobby. Hopefully he joins in. Checked out clubs nearby, where you can play?

 

Edited February 10 by Wolf Lord Duregar

[Kage2020]

6 hours ago, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

How old was he? :)

 

Well, he's almost 10. If you don't mind, I'm going to stick with the present tense else my wife might get a mite miffed. ;)

(Just teasing. :) )

 

6 hours ago, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

Haha, but it IS nice that you have a hobby. Hopefully he joins in. Checked out clubs nearby, where you can play?

 

To be honest, I haven't really checked. I hear through the grape vine that there are a couple of game stores "near" me (as much as anything in America is "near" ;)), and I just found a "Warhammer" store that's close. But... I'm not sure that if I want to go to stores to game. Maybe it's just shyness or nerves or whatever, but I always gamed outside of my friend circle. The idea of going into a store and gaming with strangers seems... off-putting? Daunting?

 

That, and to be honest, I'm going to be using 3D-printed minis. That might be a douche move to make with people that have spent hundreds---maybe thousands---on their collection(s). That is if it is not out-right banned by the stores in question (barring GW policy on the matter). When it comes to the "hobby", at the moment I'm just collecting the minis that appeal to me and make me gush and go "Coooollll!" (like the daunting Belisarius Cawl mini).

 

I just don't want to annoy people and have a terrible personal failure that I really don't like authority figures and will poke them in the eye if given the opportunity, and that just never ends well. O.o

 

Hopefully I'm not going to get in trouble here? I'm going to be working to GW army lists/rules unless that's too complex for my son (in which case OPR seems the way forward). But the chances are that---with your patience---I will be posting for advice, criticism and, hopefully, some praise (eventually) on painting minis!

 

Edited February 11 by Kage2020

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

Ah yeah, sorry - got some Swenglish there. It kinda makes sense to sak that way in Swedish. but both works, sometimes i bring that into English though..

 

Yeah, I know that feeling. Never played in a store. As I did not have any that close that also had gaming tables. Always played in local clubs or at home. Which i prefer. Buddies, we know what we want out of it - and the coffee is close!
I have fond memories of my parents being away in the cottage for a week while i stayed at home and put up a 6x4 on the kitchen table and left it for days and invited friends.. Also had a little jack Russell, and she always had to be there, overlooking, ona  pillow in the sofa. i guess to check the opponents so they did not cheat..? ;)

 

But I totally get that feeling.

 

3D-printing seems commong now though?

Enjoy hobbying and play when ever and whereever you feeli like!

[Karak Norn Clansman]

Kage! A familiar face from Warseer. Your avatar is unforgettable. I was engaging in background discussions about Eldar with you at age 16, under another account name. You, for one, was surprisingly mild towards C.S. Goto's depiction of Eldar in novels, and your take on Eldar clans was closer to the internet version than the blood relative version of clans.

 

Welcome aboard, battle brother.

Edited February 12 by Karak Norn Clansman

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

Hmm, it rings a bell.. But not until now!

 

I miss good old Portent.. Warseer.. Glad for this too though, good old Forums.. Don´t know why people sort of switch to Discord.. I prefer proper threads for discussions.

 

I was Blood Claw over there, so proud of that, had the hotmail adress bloodclaw too but lost the passowrd.. :(

Edited February 12 by Wolf Lord Duregar

[Kage2020]

On 2/11/2024 at 10:19 AM, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

Ah yeah, sorry - got some Swenglish there. It kinda makes sense to sak that way in Swedish. but both works, sometimes i bring that into English though..

 

Heh. No worries on my behalf. I'm a native English speaker and, well, I speak bad England. ;)

 

On 2/11/2024 at 10:19 AM, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

3D-printing seems commong now though?

 

It is. I guess this was my way of checking whether it was problematic to discuss it and/or post images of painting attempts of said miniatures done to make them look like 40k colour schemes. While it might sound silly, I've seen oodles of different responses so... Yeah. Just trying to be a good boy. :)

 

14 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

Your avatar is unforgettable.

 

For that you can thank the artist "Magelord" for being cool enough to put it together for me. He did some really great work (including images of Space Marine progenoids) that I'm really sad that he never got to finish. On the other hand, he went through a career change and got a job he really wanted so kudos to him. 

 

I'll have to post the 3d printed version once I've finished some of the detail work on it. :)
 

14 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

I was engaging in background discussions about Eldar with you at age 16, under another account name. You, for one, was surprisingly mild towards C.S. Goto's depiction of Eldar in novels, and your take on Eldar clans was closer to the internet version than the blood relative version of clans.

 

I once made the linguistic faux pas of using the term "hack job" in trying to articulate the cutting apart of different bits of stuff and then assembling them together, generally in a way that is lesser than the parts. Unfortunately, the author in question not unreasonably had a hissy-fit and took it to mean that I was referring to him as a "hack" (not the intent). 

 

Goto, for me, was not any worse than most of the BL authors in providing context and bits of new material that could be useful in assembling an interpretation of the background. So, go them.

 

That and I already have a thing for the "little person", especially if they get put through the wringer. :)

 

And, yes, I did---and still---prefer the version of "Clans" that were not predicated upon blood relations for the simple factor that, depending on the level of control exhibited in a blood-related clan, they can intersect with the "internet clan". And, FWIW, it was the "clans" of internet gaming that originally turned me onto the premise. It struck me that while clearly kin-bonded groups could find their way onto a single Craftworld, the notion that people with different interests and things that they would want to achieve in the setting would make more fun.

 

That and I really liked some of Jez Goodwin's initial artwork for the Eldar Aspect Warriors that included some really fun tattoos that I thought would be great to reprise in the form of elective Clan tattoos. 

 

Errr, it's research when it comes from multiple sources---I'm not pilfering. Or it's an homage. Or something. :)

 

14 hours ago, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

Hmm, it rings a bell.. But not until now!

 

We can keep that bell un-rung. Heh. :)

 

 

Edited February 13 by Kage2020
Typo.

[Karak Norn Clansman]

Roger that, and neat point about the tattoos on Jes Goodwin's Eldar concept art. Glorious things.

 

I look forward to the 3D-printed version of your avatar. Do you have work in progress files or sketches of the progenoid glands and the other works by said artists, by the way? They are worth showing.

 

Haha, nice anecdote about hack job!

 

All of human creativity revolves around borrowing ideas from others. Originality is fine, but quality is where it is at most of the time: It's not so much about being the first to come up with an idea, as being excellent at assembling existing ideas into gorgeous creative constellations.

 

I am curious what plans you have for Warhammer. Background and story writing? Community projects á la Anargo sector? 3D-modelling and 3D-printing? Modelling and painting log? Collaboration with other creatives? Delving into concepts to develop e.g. Eldar further? And do you happen to have a link to a place where a compilation of all your previous works of note can be found (if not, then maybe something in that vein is worth posting on Bolter and Chainsword)? I'm all ears, and ready to follow whatever project logs and similar creative threads you may launch.

 

In case it would interest you to check out the works of someone you had lengthy discussions with on Warseer almost twenty years ago, it would appear that my own 40k background writing and artwork doodling has blossomed during the last years. If you do not mind, I will take the liberty to leave a couple of B&C links of potential interest, should you happen to be curious:

 

 

Descendant Degeneration (40k artwork and books' worth of background writings)

Project log: 40k modelling & painting done for others (including Austro-Hungarians in space)

 

And a couple of non-Bolter and Chainsword links:

 

Deviantart gallery (for all works outside of 40k, and including it)

Chaos Dwarf stories & some artwork (everything marked Admiral in the compilation link list)

 

I've never had a break from the hobby since getting into it in 2003. Instead, I've delved ever deeper, getting into the ultimate Warhammer Fantasy niche of Chaos Dwarfs and finding Chaos Dwarfs Online in 2012. And joining Chaos Dwarfs Online as someone already handy at sculpting and converting led me to start sculpting for casting (Admiralty Miniatures & sculpting tutorials), aside from writing a ton of Chaos Dwarf stories to flesh out their world with greater depth and width, and not least greater degree of both historical references and tie-ins to the wider Chaos.

 

When GW went from lazy to crazy following the Chapterhouse Studios courtroom affair and put WHFB in fallow in 2015, that saw parts of the Warhammer Fantasy community move into Ninth Age (T9A), for which I've doodled a great many historically based fantasy culture concepts. Byzantine Skaven, Ethiopian Dwarves, Inuit Dwarves, the whole shebang.

 

And after I worked myself into burnout in late 2019 through years of happy and stressless hard work with primarily my own creative projects, I was inspired by Luetin09's way of telling 40k background into emerging on a spree of 40k background writings and artwork doodling of my own. And now, having recovered from burnout and planning to put together one or more big printable PDF-volumes of all the 40k works later this or next year, I find to my delight spotting a familiar and quite revered face from back when I first discovered Warseer and the creative hotbed that is the wider Warhammer community. Somehow, it is like coming full circle in a jubilant fashion, akin to a triumphator after arduous conquests.

 

So life has been busy on my end, in a creatively good way. Please know that you and your works are not forgotten; on the contrary. Here's to hoping we'll see further more of your masterful works around on Bolter and Chainsword in the future.

 

Cheers!

 

@Wolf Lord Duregar: Blood Claw, got it! Yes, I remember your account name from Warseer. Nice to see you're around and kicking. Och tjena, för den delen! Heja Sverige.

 

PS. Kage, @malika666 is also going strong. Worth checking out his work. DS.

Edited February 13 by Karak Norn Clansman

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

Tjena.

I did lose that username.. maybe before it became Warseer, when it was Portent, but not sure.. :) Doesn´t bother me too much now but it did for the longest time, lol..At the end days of 2nd Ed I had what I finally felt was a pretty "perfect" SW force with 15 Blood Claws with Jump packs and 5 on Bikes 8with frag auto-launchers).. I loved thsoe things, hehe. But i used Grey Hunters too.. (I went back to them when "everyone" used Blood Claws in 3rd Ed instead.. )

 

Ah whatever, sorry..!

 

I haven´t check 3D-printing, rules here.. Thought it was totally okay but better safe than sorry, will read up on it!

Hope it is, would love to see your stuff Kage!

 

Ah, I did not have any bad memories about you, let the bell in my head ring! ;) I only remember the avatar and name after the reminder..

 

 

[Kage2020]

// Part 1 //

 

Sorry about the wall of text. Apparently I really wanted to talk about this. O.o

  

6 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

Roger that, and neat point about the tattoos on Jes Goodwin's Eldar concept art. Glorious things.

 

Aye. Though I have WD127, I am annoyed with myself for not picking up The Gothic and the Eldritch back in the days it was <$300 on Amazon. O.o

 

That was the thing that I loved about their art perhaps more so than other GW artists---it was the conceptual details that never made it to the minis that brought out distinct bits of flavour that never really went anywhere else in service of the setting.

 

6 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

I look forward to the 3D-printed version of your avatar. Do you have work in progress files or sketches of the progenoid glands and the other works by said artists, by the way? They are worth showing.

 

This forum---forgive me; an observation, not a complaint---is somewhat less friendly than others for showing inline images. I'll have to find another way of showing some of my premises. 

 

On the other hand, showcasing Magelord's excellent work is never a problem. I've attached his work on "Implant 19: The Black Carapace" that was going to be used in my Adeptus Astartes TTRPG supplement for the titular beings. This was pre-Dark Heresy and waaaaay before Deathwatch, and amusingly some of the concepts hashed out on the Anargo Sector Project---in this case the "Gifts of the Adeptus Mechanicus" and the "Powers of Ancient Armour" (which needs and needed a better name!)---and ultimately a version showing up in the core rulebook itself. I like to think that the genesis of the idea started at Anargo, but the themes are there in the background materials with Master Crafted Power Armour, the concepts of Machine Spirit (technological or spiritual), and the general tendency to ascribe metaphysical power to ancient devices.

 

Anyway, enjoy the work of Magelord. It's sad that they're never going to finish this series or any other works. (Well, until they retire, perhaps.)

 

For 3d version of my avatar, I'm going to say from the outset that I am no artist. One of the reasons that I love digital "art" is that I get to see it and quickly realise that it's not as good as someone elses work within a shorter period of time than if I were actually drawing it. Thus, in this case, I'm just using a widely-available anatomically correct skull that is broken into components for the purposes of resin printing and bringing it into Blender. After that, it's just making sure that there is enough geometry involved on both the skull "cap" (parts of the parietal and frontal bones) and the "cruciformed sword" icon* so that I can use the shrinkwrap mod. That and identifying some suitably malefic or otherwise infernal latin script to incise into the skull geometry, too. :)

 

* For those that didn't know, the "cruciformed sword" icon on my avatar is pilfered from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where it is the symbol of the group that protects the Grail. When it comes into what used to be arrogantly referred to as "Kage-verse", or the idiosyncratic interpretation of the setting, this was the symbol of an hidden, inner cabal of the Inquisition that was meant to replace the old Ordo Malleus with its 169 Hidden Masters back when GW, ala Gav Thorpe, "outed" the Inquisition into its current form. 

In some ways this is illustrative of my approach to the setting in general, which is to use the original materials as the basis and then find opportunities to layer on the newer materials to create a---hopefully---deeper, richer interpretation than what otherwise often becomes "rule of cool" or "style over substance". Of course, that was at the time. One hopes that things have changed now that GW has increased their profile and gone from success to success... 

 

6 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

I am curious what plans you have for Warhammer. Background and story writing? Community projects á la Anargo sector? 3D-modelling and 3D-printing? Modelling and painting log? Collaboration with other creatives? Delving into concepts to develop e.g. Eldar further? And do you happen to have a link to a place where a compilation of all your previous works of note can be found (if not, then maybe something in that vein is worth posting on Bolter and Chainsword)?

 

Given the above wall of text, I'll try and be a tad more succinct.

 

In short, I don't know that I have any "plans". My recent journey to this point was getting to a point in a current TTRPG project ('converting' the meta universe that forms the products Earthdawn, Shadowrun, and Equinox into GURPS, a generic roleplaying game system) where the hard stuff was done and now it was just grunt work of converting over powers, equipment etc. Still necessary, but less fun. 

 

Couple this with trying to get my son away from the screen and thinking that "toy soldiers" might be the way forward, delving into 3d printing and digital modeling, etc. and I just happened to open up some of my old "writings": The Powers of the Mind (psykers in 40k), Adeptus Astartes, the Inquisition, the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the Eldar sourcebook. The materials still held up really well, all things said and done, so after taking a glance at some cool sculpts to inspire me, I considered finishing off some of these materials if it didn't detract from the Shadowrun thing.

 

I certainly don't think that this is up to the scale of the Anargo Sector Project and, while I think something like that still has merit with what I understand of the current situation of the setting (perhaps now more than ever), I just don't have the time in my real life to be able to juggle that and other obligations.

 

On the other hand, as I did get some more "toy soldiers"---GW or sculpts of other creatives in the same style---I almost posted a painting log to the appropriate board, here, as a form of accountability. The two minis that I want to paint are sitting next to me on the table and I've managed to get my limited paint materials (etc.) into a box and that's sitting in the cat tree (of all places) right next to me so... Yeah, I might get that painting log going. Today, maybe, with the base-coated figures so that people can lend me their advice and expertise (I haven't painted minis in over three decades and things like eyes aren't working as well as they used to!).

 

Anargo can be found on various fora out there still, I'm sure. There is no central resource anymore, in part because of a failed move from hand-coding the website to trying to use Drupal.

 

I do have a Github that might be used and, now that I've transitioned career, I don't need a portfolio website so I'm giving real thoughts of converting that into a gaming one... Perhaps that will somewhat serve in that capacity in the long run. B&C for the short term, that for the long term? 

 

* * * 

Too long. Will have to multi-post. Sorry, mods!

 

 

Edited February 13 by Kage2020

[Kage2020]

// Part 2 // 

 

Here with more walls of text. Mea culpa. 

 

7 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

In case it would interest you to check out the works of someone you had lengthy discussions with on Warseer almost twenty years ago

 

Wait. Is this some form of revenge? 

 

Just kidding. I shall be certainly taking a gander more extensively than the skim through some of the sculpting tutorials that I just did. I try my hand (very poorly!) at digital sculpting of pre-sculpting, err, sculpts only because I know that I have no talent in this regard. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that.

 

About all that I've got to with my 3D Logo. Definition of "too many irons in the fire". Booooring.

 

7 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

Somehow, it is like coming full circle in a jubilant fashion, akin to a triumphator after arduous conquests.

 

FWIW, my skillset has changed somewhat back in the days from where I was just an archaeologist. Now as part of what I do I tend to work far more with digital assets of various forms. Adobe Creative Cloud is my friend, along with many e-learning authoring software etc. (Here's a quick character that I threw together for a TTRPG known as 2300 AD: Man's Battle for the Stars when another player in the game did something cool and I was trying to one-up them.) I do some publication layout, both print and digital, for some friends in both fiction publications and the TTRPG industry etc.

 

Suffice to say, I wish that I had this skill-set back when Anargo was live. I think that it would have gone much further. :)

 

7 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

PS. Kage, @malika666 is also going strong. Worth checking out his work. DS.

 

I was recently in contact with that kind gentleperson. It was actually from them that I have what is left of the Anargo archive.

 

2 hours ago, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

Thought it was totally okay but better safe than sorry, will read up on it!

Hope it is, would love to see your stuff Kage!

 

Wonderful. Thank you, Wolf Lord Duregar! :D

 

I did start that Work In Progress Painting thread. :)

 

Edited February 13 by Kage2020

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

Love that picture of the black carapce. I am into medicine by profession and strangely (?) I find it more fascinating because of that, even though I know that some stuff makes less sense than when i read it 20-30  plus years ago.. It is cool fiction and i love the bioengineering behidn Space Marines.

 

Especially when there are also flaws like in Space Wolves and blood Angels. it is much cooler fiction than any super hero stuff i´ve seen.

Also, this is kinda your thread, right? So by all means, please waffle on!

 

Edited February 13 by Wolf Lord Duregar
Typo

[Karak Norn Clansman]

You call that a wall of text? It's just a hedge of text! Bring it on. As always, I eat walls of text for breakfast, so fear not. All of our encounters on Warseer were lengthy and amiable 40k background discussions drilling for more depth in the setting. Even a Dwarf like me can find nothing in the Book of Grudges to take revenge over, dear space Elf.

Artwork details beyond the miniatures have always been a favourite of mine, and an endless source of inspiration in Warhammer. These days, GW is more capable of bringing many of the finer details from art into miniature form (think amulets on chains and the like), and one can tell they have made ample use of this capability. Of course, concepts that never went anywhere is of even greater interest, and a good source for further worldbuilding.

 

Speaking of walls of text in a good way, I can warmly recommend checking out @SpecialIssue's work here and here. (Background in spoiler tags.) It is exquisite Marine background, and I'm in the pleasant process of reading through it. You might also find it most appealing.

 

Quote

On the other hand, showcasing Magelord's excellent work is never a problem. I've attached his work on "Implant 19: The Black Carapace" that was going to be used in my 

Adeptus Astartes TTRPG supplement for the titular beings.

 

Oh gosh, of course! I stumbled across Magelord's Black Carapace piece some years back on Deviantart, and I found it familiar and a tad amusing to read that he had created it for you, since your avatar is the most distinct out of all those on Warseer. "Yep, this is Warseer Kage's alley alright. Mighty fine artwork from Magelord. And I hope that Kage is still going strong with projects like this," was essentially my reaction. Needless to say, I immediately saved the Black Carapace artwork, and some other of his work, for future reference. Glorious stuff! Good to hear that he is doing well, and fingers crossed that he eventually returns to finish this magnificent project. Another little full circle, for here you are.

 

As to the skull symbol: Aha, so that's where the skull symbol comes from! I have yet to watch the Indiana Jones movies. Strange to say that I haven't since it tick all the boxes for things I like in a movie, but somehow it hasn't happened yet (I did see some old young Indiana Jones flick set in the Great War, but that's cheap trash). Looking forward to the final skull version!

 

Quote

In some ways this is illustrative of my approach to the setting in general, which is to use the original materials as the basis and then find opportunities to layer on the newer materials to create a---hopefully---deeper, richer interpretation than what otherwise often becomes "rule of cool" or "style over substance". Of course, that was at the time. One hopes that things have changed now that

GW has increased their profile and gone from success to success... 

 

We have both always been of the same mind here. Ergo the lengthy brainstormings and background discussions on Warseer. There is such potential for depth in this fun and expansive setting, that was obvious on first sight when I opened my first White Dwarf.

 

My Descendant Degeneration writings and doodles here delve into this from certain angles, mainly with humanity and the Imperium. But often with a sledgehammer and definitely tongue-in-cheek, all written while grinning and asking oneself "how can we make this even more bonkers?" I've always been drawn to simultaneously exploring both the subtle nuances and depth possible in 40k, as well as the crazy exaggerations. To me, Donald Duck and Tacitus mix perfectly fine.

 

And I can promise you that some of the newer material from GW definitely lend itself to further deepening of the lore. New Necromunda background and certain Horus Heresy, or rather Great Crusade background do this beautifully.

 

Funny thing is that I regularly get compliments on Reddit in particular from people who say that my art and writings is true 40k, and that GW has lost its way. I often protest and point out that Warhammer is in a much better shape than one have any right to expect it to be after all these decades, and once my protestation was met with a protestation in turn, haha. The chap essentially said "No, your work is true spirit of 40k. GW has gone for glossy popularity with hero marines." As though Space Marine poster boys haven't always been a clever pull in the setting, with all of the really interesting stuff hidden like a hook inside the Marine bait for new hobbyists to discover.

 

Quote

Couple this with trying to get my son away from the screen and thinking that "toy soldiers" might be the way forward, delving into 3d printing and digital modeling, etc. and I just happened to open up some of my old "writings": 

The Powers of the Mind (psykers in 40k), Adeptus Astartes, the Inquisition, the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the Eldar sourcebook. The materials still held up really well, all things said and done, so after taking a glance at some cool sculpts to inspire me, I considered finishing off some of these materials if it didn't detract from the Shadowrun thing.

 

Please do. It would be fantastic to see. And when you do, I can help spread the word on all manner of relevant 40k sites on Reddit and Facebook. Got linklists aplenty. Of course your old material holds up well! Quality is timeless. Cheers.

 

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Suffice to say, I wish that I had this skill-set back when Anargo was live. I think that it would have gone much further.

:)

 

Nice to hear! And neat character card for Man's Battle for the Stars. And yes it would have. Count on it. Fingers crossed that you eventually find some time over, and decides to start up some smaller project.

 

My inner Dwarf finds it good that familiar faces like you and Malika are steaming on. Keep up the good work, and best of luck getting your son into this wonderful hobby!

 

Kind regards

Edited February 14 by Karak Norn Clansman

[Kage2020]

2 hours ago, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

Love that picture of the black carapce. I am into medicine by profession and strangely (?) I find it more fascinating because of that, even though I know that some stuff makes less sense than when i read it 20-30  plus years ago.. It is cool fiction and i love the bioengineering behidn Space Marines.

 

Aye. It was forensic archaeology/anthropology for me, so just enough to get me into trouble with living things. ;)

 

The shame of the Magelord art is that I only have to hand five more of their wonderful art, and only in low-res PNG (as you saw): Betcher's Gland, Melanchrome, Mucranoid, Neuroglottis, and the Progenoids.

 

I had tried to work with an Illustrator artist to get some of the elements redrawn (from long-standing permission with Magelord), but ran into the problem of people trying to do the minimum to get the maximum, i.e. any id*ot can put something into Illustrator and Image Trace. I mean, I'm one of those idiots. My goal at the time was to finish up with the Adeptus Astartes supplement as so much of it was already finished. I guess I would have to figure out how to wangle the Primaris in there now. :)

 

With that said, if I was intrigued enough to get that completed, you might be the one to run by things, @Wolf Lord Duregar (if you were willing, that is).

 

2 hours ago, Wolf Lord Duregar said:

Also, this is kinda your thread, right? So by all means, please waffle on!

 

Heh. It's also meant to be an introduction thread, so I'm probably on borrowed time with respect to Thread Drift. Maybe I can try and figure out the best place to start some threads to discuss these kind of things---assuming that there is general interest. One of the reasons that I eventually bowed out and began to work on other things was because the shift in sentiment was for official materials and the "letter of the (GW) law". Which is fine, just not as fun for those that like to live in the gaps (as it were).

 

53 minutes ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

You call that a wall of text? It's just a hedge of text!

 

Heh. Not really, but I'm also not sure of the character limit of the forum nor the patience of the people reading. But corrected noted!

 

54 minutes ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

Needless to say, I immediately saved the Black Carapace artwork, and some other of his work, for future reference.

 

If you happen to have anything other than the ones mentioned, above, then please feel free to share with me. They can go right in to the Adeptus Astartes supplement where they belong. :)

 

56 minutes ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

Good to hear that he is doing well, and fingers crossed that he eventually returns to finish this magnificent project.

 

TBF, it's been over a decade since I last heard from him, AFAIK he went all Jack Ryan.

 

56 minutes ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

Looking forward to the final skull version!

 

You and me both. As soon as I figure out how to get the geometry to work on the shrinkwrap. I'm a noob at all things Blender.

 

58 minutes ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

And I can promise you that some of the newer material from GW definitely lend itself to further deepening of the lore. New Necromunda background and certain Horus Heresy, or rather Great Crusade background do this beautifully

 

That's good to know. Back in the day I was still reading the BL novels on the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Recently I tried getting back into them with some of the Primarch novels and, most recently, with the recommendations from Reddit being that The Master of Mankind and Fall of Cadia were the "yardsticks to be measured by" or somesuch. And... they're really hard for me to get through.

 

If you have any recommendations of books that I can rapidly remind myself of the setting, including its newer materials, then please don't hesitate to do so. Preferably with the minimum out of literary pain as possible. (Gathering Storm II is currently my game-related reading, with Fall of Cadia being the novel-ish one.)

 

1 hour ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

The chap essentially said "No, your work is true spirit of 40k. GW has gone for glossy popularity with hero marines."

 

It wouldn't be a surprise. Aesthetic is such a difficult thing to nail especially for a brand that is at the point of trying to get their IP made into an Amazon show/movie. O.o

 

Oh, and no "spreading word" or whatever. It wouldn't be worth your time or the ding to your reputation. :)

 

Right, maybe a bit of Valheim before cooking for the fam and then---maybe---getting those washes put on those two minis. :)

[Karak Norn Clansman]

Fingers crossed some illustrator can help you in the future. And I'd love to see additions to cover Primaris and whatnot.

 

Quote

Maybe I can try and figure out the best place to start some threads to discuss these kind of things---assuming that there is general interest. One of the reasons that I eventually bowed out and began to work on other things was because the shift in sentiment was for official materials and the "letter of the (

GW) law". Which is fine, just not as fun for those that like to live in the gaps (as it were)

 

There is always interest, trust me on that. The trick is to be persistent and don't mind all the times when noone writes a reply. People still read and take note of your work. I've writtten so many Chaos Dwarf stories without replies, only to be hailed as the H.C. Andersen of Chaos Dwarf writing. Similar stuff with T9A brainstorming concepts (often a lack of people responding, but they read and they looked carefully at the drawings; later on a prominent T9A member said something akin to my style being similar to John Blanche, and that they were fortunate to have me onboard). And ditto for 40k. Plenty of examples there.

 

Think like a Dwarf. Steam on and do whatever you yourself would have liked to see. Never be disheartened. And post away without doubts. Be bold and doubt not. Sometimes, people will recognize your work, and sometimes they will contribute with good discussions. Not every time. But your work will still be seen.

 

There is always interest.

 

As for letter of the law, pah! You should've come over to Chaos Dwarfs Online. Peak freewheeling Warhammer creativity. The community has always been a creative hotbed, and is going strong after so many years of largely being left out in the cold.

 

And same here: There is always interest in community projects and your own interpretations and additions to the background. Never assume everyone is slavishly following the official background only. There is always interest in new ideas and takes. The trick is to to keep going, no matter the seeming lack of readership.

 

Quote

Heh. Not really, but I'm also not sure of the character limit of the forum nor the patience of the people reading. But corrected noted!

 

Many other forums have word limits set at 10'000, 20'000 or so words. I can't recall if I've ever hit the word limit on Bolter and Chainsword like I've done on other sites. And I've written very long background pieces for Descendant Degeneration that has hit the upper limit on sites which usually seems to take the longest imaginable posts.

 

As for patience, my advice is just write what you like. People who are willing to read long posts will still read it. If it's short, then that's fine. But long is fine too.

 

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If you happen to have anything other than the ones mentioned, above, then please feel free to share with me. They can go right in to the Adeptus Astartes supplement where they belong. :)

 

I have saved those available here in Magelord's gallery. They are all low resolution and sporting a Deviantart watermark.

 

This quote got wonky and refuses to cooperate, so the answer is baked into it by the will of unruly Machine Spirits: @A Vox in the Void

 

Quote

That's good to know. Back in the day I was still reading the BL novels on the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Recently I tried getting back into them with some of the Primarch novels and, most recently, with the recommendations from Reddit being that The Master of Mankind and Fall of Cadia were the "yardsticks to be measured by" or somesuch. And... they're really hard for me to get through.

 

If you have any recommendations of books that I can rapidly remind myself of the setting, including its newer materials, then please don't hesitate to do so. Preferably with the minimum out of literary pain as possible. (Gathering Storm II is currently my game-related reading, with Fall of Cadia being the novel-ish one.)

 

-   -   -

 

    Great question. I'm so busy nowadays that I only sporadically catch time for reading novels. But plenty of time to listen while working on projects, so I've got to start chewing through audiobooks soon and catch up on Black Library publications. I'm particularly out of the loop on newer publications, although I keep up with some stuff via friends and people telling me summaries and so on over on various websites.

    I have read Dark Imperium, and it had some fine and fun bits. I am not sure if I can recommend it as a place to catch up on events, though. It may not fit the bill.

    I can vouch for the excellent background writing in the first dozen or whatever pages in the new Codex: Leagues of Votann. The opening pages are some of the finest Warhammer 40'000 background I've ever had the pleasure to read, from the original Rogue Trader and onward. Just beautiful vistas and worldbuilding.

    Due to my lack of catching up on newer works, and since I've always been about the niches of all settings, I will give you some odd recommendations. I can warmly recommend Matthew Farrer's work, and not least his Enforcer trilogy. Farrer is always more cerebral than the other Black Library authors. One don't read his books for the story as such, but for the beautiful worldbuilding, so true to the spirit of the setting and so good at delving into it. Everyone who likes depth in Warhammer ought to read Matthew Farrer. Search for his name on the Black Library website. His short story Faces might be of particular interest to an Eldar aficionado like yourself.

    Angel Exterminatus is worthy of a mention. It might not be a good place to catch up on the setting, but it's a good read, almost poetically wrought in many places. I was very pleasantly surprised by it, especially after stumbling across roasting remarks against the author Graham McNeill from people disappointed with some other of his books.

    I'm actually tempted to recommend Luetin09's lore videos as a way of catching up on the setting, provided you have time to listen. I've always read a lot, but his video presentation is still one of the best ways to experience Warhammer 40'000 I've ever come across. Plus it's free on Youtube.

    Oh, and you may want to check out A Vox In the Void by @A Vox in the Void on Youtube. Fantastic way of experiencing the setting. Can't recommend his work warmly enough.

    Well, I'm always willing to help out masterful creative people to spread their work, should you change your mind. This is standard procedure with some artists. If I've got a reputation, then "spamlord" is part of the curriculum vitae.

 Cheers!

Edited February 14 by Karak Norn Clansman

[Kage2020]

And I thought as a noob I was just lacking the skills with the quote system. ;)

 

3 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

Fingers crossed some illustrator can help you in the future. And I'd love to see additions to cover Primaris and whatnot.

 

I think that it comes down to the fact that Magelord is a hard act to follow and I'm going to have to pay some "serious" money to replicate the artwork. *sigh*

 

3 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

There is always interest, trust me on that. The trick is to be persistent and don't mind all the times when noone writes a reply.

 

Ah, you're right: patience is the trick. I wish I had an abundance of it, but alas my creative process is fickle and demanding. ;)

 

3 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

I can vouch for the excellent background writing in the first dozen or whatever pages in the new Codex: Leagues of Votann. The opening pages are some of the finest Warhammer 40'000 background I've ever had the pleasure to read, from the original Rogue Trader and onward. Just beautiful vistas and worldbuilding.

 

I'll have to find that one, then. Plus, not-Squats are back to the era when I was last painting anyway so it should be fun.

 

3 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

I can warmly recommend Matthew Farrer's work, and not least his Enforcer trilogy.

 

I'm familiar with Farrer as is, apparently, my nick. I shall take a gander at the other recommendations, too. :)

 

[apologist]

Welcome back, Kage – yours is a name I remember from Warseer; good to see you back in the saddle, so to speak. Your approach of diving into the detail of the 'canon' and iterating and innovating from it does a great deal to add some depth to the fabric; it's a treat to see you back.

 

Looking forward to some more from you – but more than that, I hope your return to the hobby is fun for you and your son.

[Kage2020]

3 minutes ago, apologist said:

Your approach of diving into the detail of the 'canon' and iterating and innovating from it does a great deal to add some depth to the fabric; it's a treat to see you back.

 

Thanks, @apologist!

 

On this front, given the structure of the forum the only place that I found that seemed to work was the "Fan Fiction" section, so I posted this thread about the TTRPG, which includes the noted background elements, but also the "nuts 'n' bolts" of the TTRPG that I used as a mechanical substrate (as it were), i.e. the RPG that I use.

 

I'm a creature driven by discussion, so feel free to pop by and throw in your two pennies or other bit of smallest currency from the place that you hark from. :)

 

(FWIW, I feel that it will move swiftly from the basic one that shows up in all the others---psyker powers---into more background and evocative areas. As I see it, the game mechanic specifics are my end of at least part of the conversation, and the rest is the fun narrative/background that those should emulate.)

* * * 

And, on other notes, as much as I'm having trouble finding a Craftworld home for my Aeldari heart, selecting a Space Marine Chapter that tones down the religious overtones of the setting is also something that I'm interested in (no tactical preferences, here; purely aesthetic). Help a random person on the internet out, would ya? 

 

(I seem to remember Dark Angels because of the whole green colour with white 1st company was pretty cool. I also seem to remember that the whole cultural appropriation thing that they had going on was fairly uncomfortable, even at the time.)

[Xenith]

Welcome [back] to the forums! 

 

On 2/14/2024 at 11:48 AM, Kage2020 said:

a Space Marine Chapter that tones down the religious overtones of the setting is also something that I'm interested in

 

The reltively new Phobos marines have that tacti-cool aesthetic, and if it's more fluff based, how about the Mentor Legion, definitely more on the r&d and training side than religious fervour. 

[Kage2020]

4 hours ago, Xenith said:

and if it's more fluff based, how about the Mentor Legion

 

It is seriously interesting---I hesitate to say "hilarious" but that was the first word that came to mind---as this was the first Chapter that came to mind in part because it was one of the Chapters that I used "back in the day". I even like the fact that they, according to a fan wiki, are in "battle" with Biel Tan---presumably over branding rights. :)