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!

K is for Kabalites

The Kabals are the main movers and shakers of the Dark City of Comorragh, lair of the Dark Eldar. Centuries ago, these warrior bands overthrew the noble houses (although truth be told, some houses saw the way the wind was blowing and reformed themselves into Kabals).

J is for Jokaero

Jokaero are alien savant orangutans who make teeny tiny guns. You can't make this stuff up. Oh, no wait, they did.

Ook?

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.

G is for Grimdark

If you've ever encountered the word "grimdark" in relation to gaming, and wondered at its provenance, then wonder no longer.

"In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, there is Only War" - that's what 40K has promised right from its first edition, and it delivers it in spades. Our main point of identification and "way in" to this universe is through the viewpoint of the Imperium of Man, a totalitarian, human supremacist, superstitious, ignorant star empire. They are the closest we get to "good guys". Everyone else is against mankind, either through direct antagonism or total disinterest. It ain't Star Wars.

Having said that, the original team managed to put a lot of '80s British humour into the 1st edition (aka Rogue Trader), with such examples as the dark planet of Birmingham (whose inhabitants speak a language incomprehensible to all outsiders), the Inquisitor Obiwan Sherlock Closeau, and space biker dwarves. A lot of the humour has been eliminated over the last 25 years, and the canon has become more fixed and in many places is completely incompatible with what was published in sourcebooks and novels in the late 80s and early 90s.

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.

E is for Eldar

They're dead mystical

Due to the nature of the challenge,  I've had to do these the other way around from what you might ordinarily expect. Normally I'd define eldar before dark eldar, but there you go. Eldar are the 40K equivalent of elves: haughty, long-lived, pointy-eared humanoids with a great sense of style.

1st Edition 40K gave you the option of playing either mercenary Eldar or pirate Eldar, either way your troops were the crazed, psychotic outcasts of Eldar society (the first incarnation of the Dark Eldar, one might say). Later on in the lifetime of that edition, the incarnation of the Eldar that was to become their dominant image made its debut: Craftworld Eldar.

Ziggy Stardust and the Elves from Space

The Craftworld Eldar were hippy Vulcans with Celtic names and Egyptian symbolism. But... it worked. When I first saw them in the early 90s, these guys were brilliant.

Crazy warrior cults with sashimono? Yes please!

Rumours are that a new wave of Eldar releases will take place earlier this year. We wants it, precious...

D is for Dark Eldar

Although I've been interested in the WH40K universe for the last 20 years or so, I've never collected an army for the game before (I collected a couple of gangs for the spin-off game Necromunda. Ah-ha, a post for N!). So, upon my rejoining the 40K fold, I had to decide on an army to collect. Now, if I was sensible, I would have chosen either Chaos Space Marines or Dark Angels Marines (the two armies that come in the game's boxed set). That way, I'd be able to stick to one force, with one book (each army has an associated book with rules and background, honestly, this game is like a drug habit).

But no, I was seduced by the Dark Eldar. Here's why:

Lean, predatory, elfy, it's all good. The models are ah-bloody-mazing. Currently I have this set-up (I know it won't make much sense if you don't know the game):



+++ Dark Eldar 500 (497pts) +++
+++ 500pt Dark Eldar 6th Ed (2010) Roster (Primary Detachment)) +++

Selections:

Dark Eldar 6th Ed (2010) (Primary Detachment) Selections:

+ HQ + (105pts)

    * Archon (105pts)
        (Fleet, Independent Character, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
        Huskblade (35pts), Kabalite Armor, Plasma Grenades, Soul-trap (10pts), Splinter Pistol


+ Elites + (126pts)

    * Incubi (126pts)
        (Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
        Incubus Warsuit
        * 3x Incubi (66pts)
            3x Klaive
        * Venom (60pts)
            Envenomed Blades (5pts), Flickerfield, Twin Linked Splinter Rifles


+ Troops + (266pts)

    * Kabalite Warriors (125pts)
        (Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
        * 7x Kabalite Warrior (63pts)
            7x Splinter Rifle
        * Kabalite Warrior with assault weapon (24pts)
            Blaster (15pts)
        * Kabalite Warrior with heavy weapon (19pts)
            Splinter Cannon (10pts)
        * Sybarite (19pts)
            Splinter Rifle


    * Wyches (141pts)
        (Dodge, Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
        * Hekatrix (57pts)
            Agoniser (20pts), Blast Pistol (15pts), Haywire grenades (2pts), Plasma Grenades
        * 7x Wyches (84pts)
            7x Haywire grenades (14pts), 7x Plasma Grenades, 7x Splinter Pistol and Close Combat Weapon


Created with BattleScribe (http://www.battlescribe.net)


Basically, I have a general (the Archon) with 3 hired bodyguards armed with two-handed swords (Incubi) riding around in a flying chariot (Venom). On foot, I have 10 ranged warriors (Kabalites) mostly armed with rifles but with a couple of special weapons. The Wyches are gladiator-types armed with special grenades to use against vehicles.

A is for Archon

Of all the alien races that beset mankind in the 41st millenium, the Dark Eldar are perhaps the most cruel, or at least the most overtly so. Lithe elfin humanoids with pale skin and dark eyes, they lair within a conglomeration of cities on another plane of reality, using their almost magical technology to breach into realspace and raid for slaves, technology and their own enjoyment. The last reason is what sustains these decadent wretches, for they literally feed off the pain and fear of other beings, using it to stave off what they refer to as "soul-death", the continuous draining of their very souls by a god of Chaos that they themselves unleashed on the galaxy 10,000 years ago.

Foremost among the Dark Eldar are the Archons, powerful war-leaders amongst their kind. Leaders of the warrior sects known as Kabals, each Archon is a cunning and deadly combatant in his or her own right. They can be thought of as a cross between biker gang leaders, mafia bosses and fey monarchs. Most are either insane or paranoid; both are almost necessary qualities for these vile fiends.

I'm currently painting this miniature, and it is a fun figure, but it's been cast in the Finecast resin that Games Workshop now uses. I is Disappoint, kid. That's for another post.

In game terms, the Archon is an Independent Character (he can act on his own or join any unit) and can act as your army's Warlord (he gets a special trait that can aid your army in battle). You can outfit this evil nutbar with a variety of horrid close combat weaponry including a glowing pyramid that sucks out your opponent's soul, a sword that kills your opponent instantly if it hits, and other such lovelies. You can pop him in a troop-carrying vehicle to get him where he needs to be, and have him surrounded by weirdo flunkies such as ghoulish aliens, 4 armed snake guys, and a courtesan armed with enough poison for everyone.

Dusting off the cobwebs *koff koff*

Yeah... long time, no blog. I honestly have an excuse! I'm on a university course as well as a work placement connected to same, and the workload for this has meant that other writing has fallen by the wayside, even the meager amount that I normally muster for this blog. Hobby-wise, I'm wading into 40K; I have a copy of Dark Vengeance on reserve (the Chaos minis are the best that the Eye of Terror has seen for 20 years or so, the Dark Angels... hmmm...), 700 points of Dark Eldar are in various stages of construction/painting and I have loads of cardboard and Pringles tubes for terrain making (I have the classic GW book- gawd bless ebay!)

Razorwing - first 'unit' of the evil space elves finished.

In terms of RPGs, I haven't really done very much, having dropped the PbP I was running rather unceremoniously (sorry guys), and I haven't done anything in RL. I'd love to do some Flailsnails but I just don't have the time - I don't really know how people with kids are able to do it! Kyrinn of URUTSK fame has graciously involved me in a PbP in her unique and intriguing world, and that's been a fun experience. Let's see what 2013 brings...

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: