M is for Marines

Back in the day... in the late 80s, an unimaginable time of high technology and booming finance heading towards a financial crash... oh no, wait.

Anyway, in the 1st edition of 40K, humanity's defenders, the space marines, were described as brainwashed super-soldiers chosen from the galaxy's finest psychopaths and murderers. They were recruited from the ranks of feral savages from primitive planets and gang members from industrial worlds.

So '80s.

Yep, way back when, Space Marines frisked punks spraying graffiti.

Nowadays... um...

Can you feel the Renaissance imagery?

Yeah, they're heroic angel-winged giants. I can't see these guys fining some dude for spraying "Space Marines go home". Draw your own conclusions as to why the emphasis has changed.

L is for Lady Malys

I'm painting my kabalites as members of the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue; their Archon is Lady Malys, who's described as wielding a crystalline sword and a razor-sharp fan. At the moment, I'm using a bog-standard Archon model, who seems quite blokey and is wielding a not very crystalline sword.

I found this conversion somewhere and it seems to be quite a good one, if a little boob-tastic. No fan though!

I is for Imperium

Imagine Dune, Star Wars, Tolkien, punk and 2000AD put into a blender and made into a wargame. That's 40K (the first edition at least).

The Imperium are the good guys and they are a bunch of fascist, xenophobic, miliatarists. Can you tell it was written by young men in the 1980s?

Nightmare fuel

I never noticed when I was a kid that the jaw of the Emperor of Mankind is distended in an eternal scream. Just as well.

F is for Finecast

Finecast is Citadel Miniatures' wonder material that is finer than metal and holds detail better, cooks your dinner and- no, wait, maybe not.
I have purchased resin miniatures before and been very impressed with them. Not so with Finecast.


Finecast is sort of a plastic/resin hybrid and (in the best cases) holds detail very well (like modern plastic minatures can). Its surface texture seems to take paint better than plastic, but it also seems to be quite grainy and often very pitted. In the worst cases (an Incubi boxed set I picked up recently) the molding seems not to have taken at all in some areas, leaving them rough and half-finished, with a tenacious pink goo on them. Bizarre.

I had really high hopes for Finecast, and when it works, it works well, but in the majority of my experience, it is an astoundingly poor product. I don't want this to be an attack on Games Workshop, but it is disappointing that one of the world's leading toy soldier companies has dropped the ball so badly.

Games Day 2012

Here's where I am at the moment: I've decided to get back into Games Workshop stuff.

OK, let that sink in for a moment.

Yes, I, who have been championing alternative mini manufacturers for ages, will now be courting the evil empire of Nottamun Town. The release of 6th Ed 40K has created a huge buzz at the games club in town, and I like a lot of what I have heard about this edition (I haven't played since 2nd Ed/Necromunda/Gorkamorka). To this end I have a new obsession (don't we all?) and it's collecting a Dark Eldar army. I've made a small start in buying the Codex and an Archon (generalissimo guy), and I've started making some terrain pieces.

The capstone of this new derangement was going to Games Day for the first time (hey, it's only taken me 20 years...). I had a great time with some of the chaps from the games club, and we oohed and ahhed at the new releases, Eavy Metal paint jobs, and display games just like every other loon there. We enjoyed ourselves but came away with plenty of thoughts on how the layout could have been better in the sales area. I splurged out (in my terms) on the aforementioned Codex, Finecast Autarch (what an interesting medium that is for minis!), some Purity Seal, and Liquid Green Stuff. Fascinating, I know. Oh, and the new White Dwarf.

So, wish me luck on my dark spiral into the grim warfare of the far future etc etc

Herewith pretty pictures: