Picture: More Tau battlesuits.
First off, I'm still booking projects for November.
Now is the time to graduate from Fan to Client. If you love BTP you need to put us to work. Every week is a fight for survival.
There is still one slot open of the Armored Strike Force special, and two slots open for the Thousand Points special:
I am offering 35% off on cost of models for the next three armies booked (assuming you get the models through us-- an army is at least 1000 pts).
I am also extending the Evil, Hungry and Dead special: 25% off on painting if you give us Artistic License for a Tyranids, Necrons, Undead (of any stripe), Cryx, or Legion.
Combining these two is a real deal. I have a la carte price guides available on request. These are spreadsheets where if you plug in the numbers of each model it will calculate a total for you.
Now on to the day. I was up early as usual. I had one of my favorite treats: English Muffins with a thick slab of peanut butter and home-made apricot jam with a side of a tall frosty glass of milk.
My wonderful wife got the kids in their costumes and off to school. As I may have mentioned, she hand made them all from scraps and various other items. Quite impressive.
I got to work bright and early, but didn't beat Sarah to it. She was locked out for a little bit-- I had to call the accountants upstairs and have them open a critical door. We got to work straightaway; checking in with clients, unpacking, packing and so forth.
I had the fun privilege of spending a half hour at the post office writing checks for the various and sundry taxes that "eat out our substance" (re: declaration of independence), and paying an accountant a hefty sum to sort it all out for me (since a common free-man can't decipher the tax code without a degree and special training).
I have an Iyanden army on the block (or soon to be). I am still sorting it all out. You can see it here. It doesn't include the Avatar, though. Email me for details bluetablepainting@gmail.com
I also have an Imperial Guard and Chaos Space Marines army on the block. You can get a group deal on those.
I arrived home a bit early and crawled downstairs and passed out from exhaustion while watching the Colbert Report. My young son soon joined me, also sleeping on the couch. As the sun was sinking we put on our costumes.
One small problem: part of my costume was a long riding coat. I am near-deathly allergic to horse dander/hair, so I was pretty labored of breathing by the time we got home. Couldn't figure out why until Tamie put two and two together. The coat was borrowed from someone who rides horses in it.
Trick or treating was quite a delight. It was perfect weather-- the kids didn't have to wear coats over their costumes. The fall leaves, shooting the momentary breeze with neighbors and the three kidlings, cute as bugs and full of wonder. We made out like bandits.
Once home, it was baths/showers all around, then lazily watching Bridge to Terabithia. I thought the kids would be bored by it but they really liked it.
I don't talk much about it, but there are hideous pressures and stresses to own a business. I can't go into detail, but it's more than a human should bear. I am hoping for equilibrium by the end of this year. With a lot of hard work, I think it can happen.
Having said that, let me tie it into Mormon Cosmology. Earth life is a time to learn. There is no avoiding trials. I must taste the bitter to know to prize the sweet. No way around it. But things can't be all bitter. As trials go, I think I have it pretty light: manageable money problems. It's way better than other types such as health problems or marital strife. In fact, every part of my life is nothing short of a paradise: my family is healthy, my soul is at rest, my marriage is strong, and I absolutely love the people I work with. Each item has been a struggle. There have been bitter and terrible sacrifices.
I have a profound sense like my life is coming together.
Friday October 31 2008 Orange Monster
Voting
I had a good friend come by to pick up the toddler and bring us drinks, and some icewaters for the various old ladies about to faint from exhaustion.
As usual, I was loud and obnoxious and embarrassed my wife. Heh.
It took over an hour to get to the front of the line. I had my Dark Elves book with me. The bespectacled lady checking my ID said (in a Twilight Zone moment) "You play Dark Elves? I play Empire." Evidently her whole family are avid warhammer players. That was great, I hope they get in touch with me!
As for voting, it was a thrill.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs...
Guess who's going to win this election season?
Booking Projects for November
We are booking projects for November. They can get near-immediate attention.
I am offering 35% off on cost of models for the next three (now two) armies booked (assuming you get the models through us-- an army is at least 1000 pts).
I am also extending the Evil, Hungry and Dead special: 25% off on painting if you give us Artistic License for a Tyranids, Necrons, Undead (of any stripe), Cryx, or Legion. Combining these two is a real deal.
I have a la carte price guides available on request. These are spreadsheets where if you plug in the numbers of each model it will calculate a total for you. Email me at bluetablepainting@gmail.com I'm available for any matter large or small.
Fight for it
Here are a few interesting items for your consideration:
These are echoes of Ron Paul, in my opinion.
Let Him Do It With Simplicity
Picture: Walden Pond in Autumn.
As with many people, the stresses and worries of trying times has tested my resolve. And recently. Since my life is pretty much perfect in every way, I tend to blow business problems (eg slow sales) way out of proportion. But there is an undercurrent of peace that I've found. It's possible to have peace inside. There is an Almighty God. It's the peace of David:
32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him [Goliath]; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
--I Kings 17
I'm not saying I'm a "King David". And besides, he showed up with five rocks, not one. He didn't know how it was going to end.
Picture: Thoreau's modest home on Walden Pond.
I'm getting somewhere here. In these troubling times, I found some solace and guidance in this following talk by the Apostle L. Tom Perry.
Those of us who have been around a while—and Elder Wirthlin and I have been around for a long time—have recognized certain patterns in life’s test. There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity. When our lives turn in an unanticipated and undesirable direction, sometimes we experience stress and anxiety. One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic. Perhaps when difficulties and challenges strike, we should have these hopeful words of Robert Browning etched in our minds: “The best is yet to be”
As a side note, I actually met L. Tom Perry at the MTC in 1990. He's a mighty mountain of a man, and his hand is like a giant meat-paw, and his laugh is like rolling thunder. Presence.
A few comments about the talk: turns out that if Thoreau tried to do this nowadays (ie build a modest shelter to live in) the City would show up in short order to assess property taxes and/or to order him to tear it down for not being up to code and having the mountain of permits needed.
A man's not allowed to live anymore. I found this out talking to my friend Greg M. who helps developers get straight with zoning etc.
Also, I'm not sure how this works with a wife and four kids. A la my yurt idea from a few weeks back. Then again, the point of the talk isn't *go out and live in a hut* but rather live more frugally. There's a season to pull back.
And I'm like "Those were the FAT years" ?!?!? Well, crap, because I had to work my butt off just to stay afloat. Well, if troubled times are ahead, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a wild ride.
As usual, I make my disclaimer: I don't mean to be preachy (quoting bible passage is so irritating!) or to suggest that I'm better than the common man. Believe me, Ihave my share of faults and struggles. My only hope is that someone, even one person, is encouraged or uplifted. I get an email now and again that keeps me going, so thanks for those.
Sunday October 26 2008 Beauty all Around
Now Booking for November
We are booking projects for November. They can get near-immediate attention.
I am offering 35% off on cost of models for the next three armies booked (assuming you get the models through us-- an army is at least 1000 pts).
I am also extending the Evil, Hungry and Dead special: 25% off on painting if you give us Artistic License for a Tyranids, Necrons, Undead (of any stripe), Cryx, or Legion.
Combining these two is a real deal.
I have a la carte price guides available on request. These are spreadsheets where if you plug in the numbers of each model it will calculate a total for you.
Email me at bluetablepainting@gmail.com I'm available for any matter large or small.
Chaos Lord
Lizardmen February Release Schedule Rumor
LIZARDMEN STEGADON $40.00 FEBRUARY 09
LIZARDMEN SAURUS TEMPLE GUARD $25.00 FEBRUARY 09
LIZARDMEN KROXIGOR $20.00 FEBRUARY 09
TIKTAQ’TO, MASTER OF SKIES $17.00 FEBRUARY 09
LIZARDMEN BARBED RAZORDON HUNTING PARTY $25.00 FEBRUARY 09
LIZARDMEN SCAR VETERAN WITH ARMY STANDARD $15.00 FEBRUARY 09
CHAKAX, ETERNITY WARDEN $15.00 FEBRUARY 09
LIZARDMEN TERRADON $17.00 FEBRUARY 09
Second Wave Orks
First, a few special characters
These are supposedly due out in January 2009:
Ork Nob sprue. Lots of keen and unusual looking weapons on there. Should replace the current clunky pewter figures (five to a box).
The Grot box. You can see the body for the runt-herd to the middle left there.
The Grot kit all painted up. Is this the entire contents of the box. If so, I wonder how much it will be? I predict it will be a $22 kit like the other types.
Battlewagon sprue.
Battlewagon all put together. Larger than a land raider. I heard it is going to be $50. Booking for November
On the Block
Picture: an Empire Heavens Wizard converted from a bretonnian sorceress (hand and staff converted). This is one of many items I put up for sale today.
I am currently booking projects for November. We are under-booked. Projects can get immediate attention.
Wardemon from Ultraforge
Imperial Guard Rumors
Here's some tasty flotsam I picked up about Imperial Guard, followed by my own comments:
The focus of the new IG dex is troops and so is the only information I have regarding new Dex.
First of all Guard are now 4 points each, but this is the "Ground level" guard so to speak. They can have no Special weapons or heavy weapons at all, in all respects they are the new conscripts but with normal guard stats.
There are several types of Platoon as we have already heard, Heavy Weapons, Forward Team, Armoured Devision, Airborne
In addition, each platoon is able to include 1 supporting unit, and this will NOT count towards the FOC.
The supporting unit varys in accordence to how its platoon is organised.
Heavy weapon platoons may take 3 heavy weapons per squad (10 man squad) but no special weapons, these is a points increase per guardsmen but he didn't reveal these. The heavy weapons platoon may take a Fire Support Squad or a Standard Leman Russ. There is additional heavy weapons being given to the guard which are only avaliable in this Fire support squad and not in the main platoon squads.
Forward Team is able to take 3 special weapons (Flamer, Melta, Plasma, GL) but no heavy weapons, in addition they gain Infiltrate. Their supporting units include Veteran Squad and Sentinel Squad. The Veteran squad also gains Infiltrate.
Armoured division is mounted in Chimeras. They can take a combination of either 3 special weapons or 1 heavy and 1 special weapon. Their support units are Leman Russ Battle tank and Veteran Squad who must also be mounted in a Chimera.
Airborne I was not given much information about but I am guessing it is deepstrike and probably something revolving around Storm Troopers and Valkarey.
The reason Leman Russ are being included in the platoons as they want to push it being the main battle tank of the Imperial Guard and have it represented so.
Shawn's Comments (who cares?)
I'm going on record here saying that I predict that Storm Troopers will become Troops choices.
This generally seems in line with the army book changes GW is making: more options, and cheaper troops choices. This is a good business move since it make the game require a lot of models. This dovetails nicely with GWs move deeper into plastics. But Shawn, GW does a lot of plastics already. Well, haven't you noticed that even traditionally pewter figures are becoming plastic? eg the Lizardmen Stegadon. I think this is a good thing. I'm a huge fan of plastics.
I also predict the demise of the doctrines, similar to what happened with Space Marines. This will be thankfully accompanied by a widening of the list. A current problem is that the Guard have so many sexy tank options, but only three Heavy slots. It makes me sad.
I'd be glad to see Basilisks available as a squadron of three.
Firebase #7
All Hail Firebase!
Issue #7 is here.
This FREE online magazine is out of this world. This is what a gaming magazing should be.
Get it here.
Tuesday October 21 2008
Picture: a band of ferocious Orcs. These are from a game called Confrontation. They are one of about a hundred new items I'm putting up for sale in the coming days (unless I get a mass buyer). It's out with the old and in with the new! PS- there is actually an eighth orc with this one.
If you want to buy anything from the BTP for sale section you can also email me and set up Paypal. I do bulk deals and combined shipping.
I've decided that the wargaming content on this blog is seriously lacking. Time to step it up a notch.
I am booking projects for November. At this stage, projects can get near-immediate attention. I am very sad to have idled two painters. It's not helping that the media is running around and screaming the end of the world (unless it really is!). Oh wait, I'm doing that, too.
At this moment I am typing wearily. I just put the kids to bed, and I can hear them chirping and thumping like gerbils in their rooms. There is an apple core mashed into the carpet, and piles of unfolded laundry in stacked white baskets. I am nursing a tall and frosty glass of OJ.
At the studio today we unpacked all sorts of packages, and I got the painters set up with various projects for the week. Now, there are a few stragglers. I will be working on those tomorrow.
Monday October 20 2008 Wheels Turning
Sunday October 19 2008 Beautiful World
Hello all. I really have been slacking in my duties of maintaining the blog. I suppose I've been putting my efforts into the Morning Show.
This morning I took a walk around the neighborhood and put the macro on the camera to take pics of what I thought was beautiful. A little Photoshop and they turned out all right. I tried to get some shots of the multitudinous bees on various flowers but they absolutely would not cooperate.
The lens doesn't seem to capture what I see. I look at a tree turning yellow, wind shaking the leaves and I see a cloud of boiling amber, like something from another world. Not all the time, but there are moments...
Step by step, things are getting better, inside and out. Song of the Day.
For breakfast I had two English muffins with peanut butter and apricot jam, a quarter pound of bacon and a giant glass of frosty OJ. I settled down with the Chaos Daemons 40K codex and an episode of Stargate Atlantis and enjoyed an hour of peace with everyone else asleep.
At 10am the EQ presidency came over and we went over upcoming events, people in need, visits to make and so forth.
Then it was off to church. I recall many years ago it was an almighty chore just to get the single toddler ready. Tamara and I spent like two hours going over it. Now, with three kids, it seems so natural and easy. Well, not easy. It seems to get a little smoother every time. It helps that the two older kids can take care of themselves for the most part. Jonah tries to comb his own hair and the result is often quite comical.
I found everything to be quite uplifting and enlightening. Griffin is getting sick of nursery. I think he's getting a little old for it. Well, soon enough he'll be in Sunbeams. I'm grateful for church. I'm good friends with many people in the neighborhood that I wouldn't otherwise even know the first thing about.
As for the afternoon, all I can say is Blessed Day of Rest! I waited on Tamie, getting her whatever she wanted, and playing with the kids to keep them our of her hair. I also took a walk with the kids in the cool of the evening.
Tamie and I are watching an episode of CSI.
Some old, same old.
As usual, I would like to give an uplifting word to you, o reader (and you sure deserve it if you go this far!). Keep your chin up. The best is yet to come.
A Thought
Religion and politics should be discussed more. But I've decided not to bring up either today. Except to express this one thought: I am sometimes asked if I'm religious. I think that everyone believes in something, and perhaps just doesn't realize it, or doesn't categorize it as such.
A) The universe is a vast, cold, indifferent place where man has no more significance than an insect.
B) The universe is a wondrous and complex place, created by the Almighty and the soul of man has vast and significant place within it.
C) I don't know and I'm not doing much to find out.
All of these are statements of belief by my reckoning. Or at least perhaps a foundation for action.
Back to my walk around the neighborhood. Think of three cities, each where 100% of the inhabitants believe one of those three things. How do you think each city will look? How will the inhabitants behave? How will they govern themselves?
Well, I won't go any further than that.
As usual I am voraciously downing several books. While I was at the Halloween party at Josephus's house, I borrowed a few books. The First 2000 years, and An Enemy Hath Done This. Subject? You guessed it; religion and politics. As well as of course the various army books that I'm brushing up on.
I'm interested in hearing the discoveries of other politiconauts such as myself. I like it when people send me links so I can see different points of view.
Chaos Mortals are Coming!
I am glad to see the streamlining of the Marks. And also the magic items. Before, there were a ton of options, but no options. For example: if you took a Slaanesh-marked character there were like three options open to him because of the Mark.
Unlike many other armies, the Spearhead is actually a good start. Two of the spearheads would make a nice army. The only problem is that they are chock full of special characters. Maybe a spearhead and one each of the new plastics. Of course, that might not actually be less expensive.
I guess the new Chaos Warriors are actually metal. I thought it was a plastic kit. Well, that's all right, because the plastic chaos warriors kit currently in production is very nice. With an upgrade sprue they will be really keen, I'm sure. It's not like there's not enough Chaos bitz floating around. In fact, mixing in the new stuff from 40K chaos is likely to give all the variation ever needed.
Getting rid of Mark of Chaos Undivided and making the re-roll of Panic checks is monumental and greatly appealing. I think this is probably why the Hounds weren't made so they wouldn't cause Panic in other units (like in other lists, re Harpies in the Dark Elves list).
The name of the book is Warriors of Chaos, around 128 pages and writteen by Phil Kelly
New models in the first wave
- Plastic Chaos Knights (5)
- Plastic Marauder Horsemen (5)
- Plastic Warhounds (10)
- Metal Chosen Warriors with great weapons (assume two different boxes of 5, one with command)
- Metal Chaos Lord of Khorne on Jugger
- Metal Chaos Lord of Khorne on foot
- Metal Chaos Lord on Chaos Steed
- Metal Chaos Sorcerer of Nurgle
- Wulfric the Wanderer
- Sigvald the Magnificent
Coming up in febuary:
- Plastic Daemon Prince(!)
Spearhead box contains 36 minis and the army book:
-5 Knights
-5 Marauder Horsemen
-10 Warhounds
-10 Chosen
-6 metal characters (Khorne Lord on foot & Jugger, generic Lord on steed, Nurgle Sorcerer, Sigvald the Magnificent and Wulfric the Wanderer)
Battalion box is rumoured to contain:
-12 Warriors
-20 Marauders
-5 Chaos Knights
-10 Warhounds
There is supposedly a second wave due in the not too distant future, with models for the Forsaken, War Altar, a new plastic Chariots and possibly even more things.
How does this list combine with the recent Daemons of Chaos list and the Beast of Chaos list (due for an update in 2009)?
The new books are all stand-alone, so there will suppsedly be no option to use the other books. However, certain units and characters from the Beast and Daemon books are appearing in this one as well (ex: Daemon Princes, Chaos Trolls, Dragon Ogres...). Note that although some units from the Beast book has been appearing here, that does not mean that they won't show up in the Beast book. If you want to, compare how the Warhounds were in both the Hordes and Beasts books.
Army special rule
All units in the army can re-roll failed PANIC tests. This applies to all units and is a replacement of the old Mark of Chaos Undivided.
Marks of Chaos
- generally Marks appear to be getting cheaper and the effect is the same on pretty much anything. So a Daemon Prince gets the exact same benefit from the Mark of Khorne as a unit of Marauders. The exceptions are when the rules don't actually work for that model, or would give it a benefit it already had (obviously the standard Mark of Slaanesh would be pointless on a Spawn since it is already Unbreakable).
Mark of Khorne
- Frenzy (though not for Giants or Spawn)
Mark of Nurgle
- attacking models get a penalty of -1 WS and BS
Mark of Slaanesh
- (almost) Immune to Psychology
- Giants and Spawn gain the Always Strike First rule
Mark of Tzeentch
- 6+ Ward save (or +1 to your Ward save if you have one already)
- Wizards also gain a +1 bonus to cast spells
Magic items
Magic items are no longer mark-dependant, so you could give a Lord of Slaanesh the Axe of Khorne and a Collar of Khorne, if you wanted to. There is a pretty balanced selection of items, with more weapons (naturally).
Chaos Gifts
These are in ADDITION to the points a character can spend on magic items, very much like Vampire Powers work. Daemon Princes can get 100 pts of gifts, other Lords 50 pts and Heroes 25 pts.
Effects are similar to what you often find with Arcane or Enchanted Items. Nothing gives outright stats boost. As with magic items, what Mark a character has has NO effect on which items he can buy.
Eye of the Gods
There is apparently a table of chaos rewards that characters and units can get to roll on before or during the game. For example Chosen units supposedly start with a roll on this table, while characters supposedly get to roll on it after killing enemies in challenges and if they kill a Large Target. If you include a Warshrine then champions too can benefit from this.
2: Gain Stupidity (no extra effect if you have it already)
3: +1 Toughness
4: +1 Strength
5: +1 Attack
6: +1 Armour (max. 0+)
7: Nothing
8: Magic Resistance (3)
9: +1 Leadership
10: Cause fear (re-roll if already causing Fear)
11: Cause terror (re-roll if already causing Terror)
12: Stubborn and 4+ Ward save
Duplicate boosts are re-rolled. Effects last for the rest of the battle (sort of, see Warshrine).
Chaos Magic
There will be separate lores for the mortal followers of Chaos, they will NOT use the Daemon lores from the Daemon book.
Lore of Slaanesh
#1: Weak magic missile that also hampers movement
#2: Enemy units within 18" must take Panic tests
#3: Frenzy-spell (very similar to before)
#4: Titilating delusions (very similar to before)
#5: Make frendly unit cause Fear or Terror
#6: Entire enemy unit must pass Toughness tests or take wounds with no armour save
Lore of Tzeentch
#1: Magic missile. Better and easier than the old Red fire
#2: Enemy unit takes LD test, loses wounds equal to what they lost the test by
#3: Enemy army cannot benefit from the LD of their characters. Enemy wizards miscast on any double. Remains in play.
#4: Enemy unit attacks itself
#5: Upgrade any friendly model to an Exalted Hero. Remains in play.
#6 Infernal Gateway, cast on 15+. Does 2D6 hits at 2D6 Strength. On an 11 or 12 for Strength the unit is removed
Lore of Nurgle
#1: Sniper spell. Chosen enemy model loses a wound
#2: Friendly unit gains Regeneration
#3: Stone-thrower like attack. Casuses S1 hits with no armour save.
#4 Cloying Quagmire: All models in unit must take an Initiative test. Those who fail must then take an armour save. If they pass the armour save after failing the In-test, they die.
#5: Curse of the Leper. While in play reduces enemy S and T by 1 per turn. If reduced to 0 in either, they die. Remains in play.
#6: Rot, Glorious Rot! Every enemy unit within 18" takes D6 Strength D6 attacks with no armour save
Lords
Chaos Lord
- some new metal models (a generic one on steed and a couple of Khornate ones)
- heaps of options
Sorcerer Lord
Daemon Prince
- doesn't have the Daemonic instability rule and is instead Stubborn
- is not Immune to Psychology and does not have magical attacks
- can Fly and causes Terror as standard
- Marks actually DO something, unlike in the Daemons book
Heroes
Exalted Hero
- Toughness 4
- 20 pts more expensive than in the old book (for no real boost)
Sorcerer
- new metal model for a Sorcerer of Nurgle
Character mounts
Any character can ride any mount (though the god-specific ones require the appropriate mark and the same applies to chariots), apart from Manticores and Dragons, which are limited to Chaos Lords and Sorcerer Lords.
- Chaos steed
- Daemonic Steed
- Juggernaut of Khorne
- Steed of Slaanesh
- Disk of Tzeentch
- Palanquin of Nurgle
- Chaos Chariot
- Manticore (this was previously presented as a joke, but apparently it is true)
- Chaos Dragon - takes up extra Hero choice
Core units
- there was supposedly a rumoured cultist unit, but that appears to have been incorrect, or possibly mistaken for something else
Chaos Warriors
- the boxed set stays the same for the moment, but there is a new direct order upgrade frame
- all units get Chaos armour, not just Chosen
- normal Warriors get 2 Attacks (but are still "only" WS5)
- 1 point more than in the old book (for a much better stat line and with cheaper equipment)
- all units can get a magic standard
Marauders
- presumably the boxed set stays the same for the moment
- base cost 1 pt cheaper
- all the same options as before (and great weapons are cheaper)
- cheaper command options
- can get Marks of Chaos
Marauder Horsemen
- new plastic set of 5 models
- can get Marks of Chaos
- can re-roll pursuit rolls if they wish
- same options as before, but generally cheaper
Warhounds
- new plastic boxed set of 10 models
- only unit that does not count towards the minimum number of Core units in the army
- can buy a 6+ scaly skin and/or poisoned attacks
- were rumoured to not cause Panic in other units, but this turned out not to be the case
Special units
Chosen Warriors
- now a separate entry
- Weapon Skill 6, otherwise similar to Warriors
- start the game with a roll on the Eye of the Gods table (re-rolling Stupidity and No Effect, so they always get something good!)
- new set of metal models with great weapons
- can be given Marks of Chaos
Chaos Knights
- new plastic boxed set of 5 models
- 40 pts each, with stats equivalent to old Chosen Knights (i.e. 2 attacks, and chaos armour), though base S is now 4
- units start with magical weapons that also give them +1 Strength (i.e. 5 total) and may swap these for (non-magical) lances
- cause Fear
- there is no longer any Chosen knights, though normal knights get nastier since they (like the new Warriiors) have the profile of 6th edition Chosen
- can be given Marks of Chaos
Chaos Chariot
- new plastic boxed set at some point
- can be given Marks of Chaos
Forsaken Warriors
- apparently a unit of Chaos Warriors that are on their way to getting a bit too many mutations for their own good
- Movement 6, but Weapon skill 4
- D3+1 attacks
- Frenzied (bonus attack included in the D3+1)
- hand weapon and heavy armour ONLY
- Otherwise quite similar to Warriors, and only slightly more expensive.
- They are human-sized guys and come on standard 25 mm square bases. They don't skirmish.
- can't be given Marks of Chaos and have no command upgrades (actually no options at all)
Chaos Ogres
- start with heavy armour and can upgrade to Chaos armour
- can't get shields, but otherwise the same options as before
- can be given Marks of Chaos
Chaos Trolls
- base cost 10 points cheaper, but back to 3 attacks
- If they regenerate 2 or more wounds in the same phase they get a roll on the Eye of the Gods table
- can't be given Marks of Chaos
- troll vomit is now magical(!)
Dragon Ogres
- can have a champion
- base cost is a bit less and includes light armour, but weapon upgrades are more expensive
- can't be given Marks of Chaos
Rare units
Chaos Giant
- can be given Marks of Chaos (Mark of Khorne gives +1 S, while the Mark of Slaanesh gives Always Strikes First, the other two work as normal)
- 20 pts more expensive
- has a new special attack against big stuff (1/3rd chance) where it does D3 wounds with no armour save and the giant regains that many wounds (up to its starting number of 6 wounds). This replaces the Eadbutt attack.
Hellcannon
- considerably simplified rules
- only take up 1 Rare choice
- can't be Marked
- can't get Gifts
- now counts as a Monster & Handlers unit that has a ranged attack rather than a war machine (so if the crew dies, the machine has to make a monster reaction test on its own Ld of 4, for example)
- fires like a stone thrower (which may or may not mean it can move and fire, though at only 3" per turn that might not matter all that much)
- must pass a LD test each turn or move 3D6" towards the nearest enemy unit (presumably this works pretty much like a spawn) INSTEAD OF firing. It can use the Ld of the crew (9) instead of its own (4) if they are still alive
- can't spew ichor anymore
Spawn
- still 1-2 per Rare
- Mark of Khorne gives +1 S as before, while the Mark of Slaanesh gives Always Strikes First
Shaggoth
- noticeably cheaper than before and with a higher Strength
- weapon options are more expensive
- only take up a single Rare choice, not Rare + Special or Rare + Lord as previously
- can't be Marked
Chaos Warshrine
- Quite similar to the VC Corpse Cart in that it is on a chariot base, but moves and fights like a monster. May not be joined by characters.
- In the shooting phase, can give any unit within 12" a roll on the Eye of the Gods table. BUT you can only have one active blessing with it at any one time, so if you want to bless another unit you cancel out the previous one.
- lets champions gain rolls on the Eye of the Gods table if they kill enemies in challenges (normally only characters can do this)
Special characters
Archaon
- 685 pts
- reasonably similar to what he was
- Mount of the Apocalypse lets him ignore difficult terrain
- there is only 1 version and he is still on his mount. As the Storm of Chaos is being glossed over by GW as more than a little bit silly, there will presumably be no mention of his failure in it.
Galrauch (Chaos Dragon of Tzeentch)
- lower LD, so higher chance of not doing anything
- can't do anything on a failed test and makes half his attacks against himself (the other half against the enemy, if in combat)
Valkia the Bloody (Daemon Princess of Khorne)
- uses the head of a Slaaneshi Daemon Prince as a shield (reduces enemy attacks by 1)
- magic spear gives her S7 and killing blow on the charge
- NOT frenzied, but still has 6 attacks at WS9
- somewhat weaker than a true daemon prince, with one less wound, no ward save and only causing Fear
- works as a BSB for friendly units
- lets all units re-roll results on the Eye of the Gods table, if they wish
Kolek Suneater (Shaggoth Lord)
- second-oldest Shaggoth
- Strength 8 with 6 attacks and a weapon that does D3 wounds
- several 8s for stats
- 2+ armour save
- can call down a special lightning attack in the shooting phase, doing D6 S6 hits to an enemy unit
- attracts lightning spells cast within 12" of him
Sigvald (Slaaneshi Chaos Lord)
- has a mirror shield and can suffer from Stupidity due to looking at himself in it
- Leadership 10 and Stubborn
- he and his unit ignores terrain penalties
- only T4, but his armour gives him Regeneration and a 1+ save
- his sword gives him +2 A and always strikes first
Wulfrik the Wanderer (Undivided Exalted Hero)
- captain of a magical ship called the Seafang which he said around in. It basically allows him and a unit of Marauders to enter the battle from any table edge, similar to how Dwarf Miners work. Has no other magical equipment.
- can decide who accepts the challenges he issues (from those able to)
- gains +2 S versus one model nominated at the start of the game
Throk, The Troll King (Troll Hero)
- WS5 S6 T5 W4 A5
- 175 pts
- makes Chaos Trolls a Core unit, even if he's not the army General
- all monstrous units (Ogres, Trolls, Dragon Ogres, Warhounds, Monsters) can use his Ld (of 8), even if he is not the general AND they can also re-roll break tests
- his vomit attack (called Copious Vomit) does D6 hits at S6 and can also be used as a one-shot S5 breath weapon that also ignores armour saves
Scyla (Khornate Spawn)
- an old special characer from 5th edition
- re-release of existing model
- upgrade for a Spawn, but treated as a character
- faster than a normal spawn, higher WS, S, W and A
Vilitch the Curseling (Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord)
- when his opponent fails in an attempt to cast or dispel a spell, Vilitch gets the dice used and may use them during that magic phase (a failed attempt to cast gives him dispel dice, and vice versa)
- knows all the Tzeentch spells
Festus the Leechlord (Nurgle Sorcerer)
- a level 2 sorcerer that always knows Curse of the Leper as one of his two spells
- gives his unit a 5+ regeneration save and poisoned attacks
- makes his unit only pursue d6", but if they catch their enemies they gain double VPs
Stuff NOT in the new book
-cultists
-mammoth
-any sort of skirmishing unit
-any sort of flying unit
-any kind of generic daemon unit
-any sort of item that allows you to take units from the daemon and/or beast books
Lizardmen are Coming!
My comments and insights (who cares?) into the New Lizardmen
I've noticed a trend to open up army book selections. Meaning that Elites are turning into Troops, and Specials into Core. I think this is a very positive thing as it increases the options in making a themed army.
The book is supposedly out in febuary 9th 2009. It is not known who is writing it.
New models:
- plastic Temple Guard, 10 per box, £12 / $25
- plastic Stegadon, 1 per box with options for all three variants, $40
- metal Kroxigor, 1 model per blister, $20
- metal Terradons, 1 model per blister, $17
- Barbed Razordon Hunting Party $25
- Scar Veteran wity army standard $15
- Tiktaq'To, Master of Skies $17
- Chakax, Eternity Warden $15
Blessed Spawnings
These seem to take on a bigger role in the list. It is not know how they will work, if taking them makes a unit more scarce or if it will be like Marks of Chaos in that it's just an upgrade and doesn't change if a unit is Core, Special or Rare.
Spawning of Huanchi: +1 WS and move through cover with no penalty
Spawning of Sotek:
Spawning of Chotec:
Spawning of Quetzl:
Spawning of Tlazcotl:
Spawning of Tepok:
Spawning of Tzunki:
Army-wide special rule - Cold-blooded
Rumoured to change significantly, though this is still unconfirmed. Supposedly they roll the same number of dice as everyone else for Ld tests (i.e. 2), but any double counts as Insane Courage and will be an auto-pass regardless of any other factors (modifiers, outnumbered by Fear, etc.).
Lore of the Old Ones
- Slanns only
- spells all of the high cost / high effect type
Magic items
Charm of the Jaguar Warrior is dropped
Lords
Slann
- speculated to get a spell lore of their own
Saurus Oldblood
- may be mounted on a Stegadon
Heroes
Saurus Scar-Veteran
- may be mounted on a Stegadon
Skink Chief
- may be mounted on a Stegadon
Skink Priest
- may be mounted on an Engine of the Gods
Character mounts
Engine of the Gods (Skink Priest only)
- if it is anything like it was in the Lustria book it is a weaker Stegadon with a war machine-like weapon on top
- takes up an additional Hero choice
Stegadon
- any(?) character may ride a Stegadon
- takes up an additional Hero choice
Core
There is much speculation on whether there will be additional core units (ranked skinks or skink fast cavalry), though nothing confirmed
Saurus Warriors
- 1 or 2 pts cheaper
- scaly skin save is rumoured to be going back to 5+, like it was in 5th edition
Skink Skirmishers
- can get Spawnings
Temple Guard
- cheaper
- can get Spawnings
Jungle Swarms
Special
Saurus Cavalry
- 4 pts cheaper
- can get Spawnings
Kroxigor
- new set of metal models (was rumoured to be plastic, but that appears to have been wrong)
- get light armour in addition to their scaly skin
- can get Spawnings
Stegadon
- new plastic model
- moved from Rare to Special
Terradons
- new (metal) models
Cameleon Skinks
Salamander Hunting Packs
- moved from Rare to Special
- now use the breath weapon template instead of the artillery dice
- stats of the attack not known
- not known whether you can still form units of more than one pack (having a monsters and handlers unit with multiple monsters is a bit tricky ruleswise) or if you might, say, get 1-2 independant packs per Special unit
Rare
Ancient Stegadon
- somewhat altered stats compared to the regular Steggy
- has a different weapon than the bolt thrower the normal Steggy has
Barbed Razordon Hunting Party
- a new kind of dinosaur unit, also herded by skinks
- fires spikes that has a number of shots equal to the roll on an artillery dice, that roll to his using BS 4, not known if it ingores any of the normal to-hit modifiers
- when standing and shooting it gets two artillery dice worth of shots
Special characters
Lord Kroak (Slann)
Kroq-Gar (Saurus Lord)
Nakai the Wanderer (Kroxigor Hero(?))
Tenehauin (Skink Lord/Hero)
Tiktaq'To, Master of Skies (some kind of Skink on Terradon?)
Chakax, Eternity Warden (some kind of Saurus Temple Guard character?)
2 more unknown characters.
Rumoured rules
Often talked about are:
- Spawnings becoming more widespread and available to more units (like in the Sacred Spawning variant lists)
- Ranked Skink units (like in the Lustria book) and possibly with Kroxigors added (like in 5th edition)
- Skink Horned One Riders (like in the Lustria book)
- a separate Lore for Slann
- more mount options for Skink characters (like in 5th edition)
Warhammer Fantasy Coming Up
GW Release Schedule
Guess I won't be fleshing out my Lizardmen army! This is all lifted from www.belloflostsouls.blogspot.com
JANUARY:
2nd wave Orks
Plastic Gretchin, Stormboys, Nobz, plastic Battlewagon.
FEBRUARY:
Lizardmen
Plastic Stegadon to be availiable as a rare, special and mount option. Up to nine said to fieldable in one list. New kroxigors.
MARCH:
Apocalypse
Stompa and one or more Baneblade variants (Stormlord and/or Shadowsword, possibly others).
APRIL-MAY:
Imperial Guard
Plastic Stormtroopers, Valkyrie, Russ variants, more.
2nd Wave Daemons
Plastic Daemon Prince, new Seekers, rest of the named Daemons, possibly generic daemons and a Battleforce
Q3-Q4:
Necrons
All the stuff reported here.
Dark Eldar
New range by Jes Goodwin, Codex by Phil Kelley. End of the year, possibly bumped even later to make sure the army is done correctly.
Rumors brought to the community by Warseer's Brimstone and MoonlightSonata
Hi all, there is some Necron Scuttlebutt floating about out there.
Early word is that Necrons may be slated for the Q2-09 40k release slot. There is another codex scheduled ahead of them but there is conflicting data on what it is (currently bouncing around between IG, Space Wolves, Dark Eldar). The info reported so far is:
Removal of the C'tan from the Codex as fieldable units (they are still in the fluff).
The C'tan are to be moved over to Apocalypse where they will make an appearance as much more powerful single figures (possibly with attendant new oversized Forgeworld minis).
The big new HQ replacement for them will be entirely new tiered-level Necron Lords. Read the Apocalypse Necron background page for insight into what may be coming, but there is talk of Bronze, Silver, Gold, possibly even Platinum Lords.
Lords are said to have multiple special abilities and options, and certtain levels of Lords may re-arrange the Force Org chart for certain units, making different army builds possible. An example of an option was an advanced necrodermis, allowing the Lord to mimic his C,tan masters (and conveniently allow for the use of the existing C'Tan minis).
There will be Necron Lord named characters.
The rest of the army is described as getting a small number of new units, and having several existing units rearranged by Force Org category.
In general, the Necron army is desribed as being somewhat "buffed".
Ratonnians
A friend of the studio is selling this Ratonnian army. It plays using the Bretonnian list, but is of course rat-themed.
Giant Pool of Money
Lifeblood
I read this on Yahoo News this morning:
As the bailout bill rushed through Congress, Paulson stressed that the major aim was to buy bad assets, primarily mortgage-backed securities, from financial institutions. The hope was that taking those bad loans off the books would encourage banks to return to more normal lending operations and unclog credit flows — the economy's lifeblood.
Really? Borrowing money is the lifeblood of an economy?
Think about your personal finances. Is being able to borrow money the "lifeblood" of your economic well-being? If that answer is "no" then what is it?
What should you, yes you, the everyday common man do? Do research, get educated on financial stuff and then start voting for people who understand principles of sound money. Also, you must educate your fellow-man and your own children. This can be as easy as what I'm doing: posting it on my blog and forwarding information to other people.
Here's a good start
It is my belief that the leaders of the nation are not telling the truth.
What else can you do? Get out of debt and stay out of debt. Opt out of the system. Live within your means. And I mean really. Instead of getting a car loan, buy a car with cash. You can find service-able ones for as low as $500. Drive that hunk of junk until you can afford a better one. Cash on the barrelhead.
My current goal, on which I am focused like a laser beam, is to get rid of debt. I would sell all painted models that the studio owns at $0.38 cents on the dollar if I found a buyer. If you are interested, let me know.
- By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread.
- Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer.
Sunday October 12 2008 House of Cards
Letters Needed for Morning Show
If you have a question you'd like answered on our superlative Morning Show, please email that to bluetablepainting@gmail.com
We'll pick one or more good ones and give you a shout out (maybe!).
PS- don't forget questions for Sarah. I'm sure she'd like to get a word in edgewise once in a while.
Paint Fest October 2008
Picture: Imperial Guard chimera, the standard troop transport. See more pics.
My little camera ran out of batteries during Paint Fest today. For those not familiar, this is a chance for BTP artists, and some locals to meet and paint and talk and trade tips.
The day started early. Sarah and I were clearing up some basics at the studio-- getting packages going. I brought my young three-year old son with me to give mommy some breathing room for an hour or so. I took him across the street to he gas station store to get some gummy sharks, his favorite. When he's chawing on one of those, riding up on my shoulders, in the clear morning air, he's king of the world.
I packed up my paints, some Dark Elves and headed over to Angela's house. A respectable home in the suburbs, in what used to be farmland on the east edge of town.
Imagine a large dining room with a hardwood floor. There are a half dozen tables set up. One by one, people with food and paints show up. It's a smorgasbord of different models and projects. Models are passed around, and every now and then pods gather around a particular person to see a new technique or color combination.
We had barbeque: steaks, hamburgers, and hot dogs; and dutch oven potatoes, carrots, and onions. Swilled down with a ton of soda. It's good american fare. This is lunch, and later, dinner.
Renn is working on his Orks, and they are progressing slow but steady. He is really becoming quite an accomplished painter, too. I told people to bring models down to get pics, so you will likely see some of those later.
As the day lazily winds down, the hostess falls asleep on the couch, and one by one the paint kits are slotted into boxes and bins and hauled out to the car. The night air is icy cold and blowing strong off the himalaya-like mountains. It's supposed to snow in the valley this weekend.
I made some significant headway on my Dark Elves. Here's how my list is shaping up:
2x sorceress on dark steed
1x hydra and handlers
19x black guard
15x dark riders
1x hero type on foot
5x cold one knights
1x cold one chariot
1x hero type on cold one
2x reaper bolt throwers
6x harpies (converted flying spider demons)
1x assassin
I think that's about it. I doubt this is less than 2000 points. We've decided to play some Warhammer Fantasy down at the studio. It's a done deal, I've already put it into motion. My army is about a third painted already.
I don't have any pics, but I really agonized over the color scheme and finally came up with something that worked-- pale blue-green almost glowing armor with everything else dark. Today I tried again to use Joseph's techniques with odd color blending (ie using almost every color without it looking like puke) with a lot more success. Overall, I'm happy with how they look. But it's hard to tell until the army is all together.
The problem with Dark Elves is that they are... dark. There's not much opportunity for light/dark contrast. The army tends to all have one value, and there aren't many options. Hopefully I found a way around that.
I also have a great idea for an Eldar army color scheme. Really off the beaten track but still within the genre. Like the ghost warriors were. I'm trying to scrounge up models right now. No, I'm not going to tell you any more.
Anyway, I have a game set for November 9th with Mike Dunn. It will be 1500 points, Dark Elves vs Orcs, every last model painted up real nice. Today, we all went around and claimed armies. That's the best part, if you ask me.
I remember in 1997 how a few of my 40K buddies came by with grins on their faces and a Warhammer Fantasy book. I claimed High Elves, and the others Undead and Skaven. That was the beginning of the troubles (eg starting my game shop, up to present day).
I thank you, noble reader, for giving our company support and goodwill. I have no illusions: it is by the good graces of our kind clients that we exist from month to month. My heart and strength go out to young readers, whose minds are passing through electrical storms. Keep your chin up!
