Ultra Flashback

Now we go back in time!





Jay's Ultramarine army! Fully assembled and still ready to kick ass!

While at my folk's house today gathering some old scenery (of which you can see some in the background of this pic), I stumbled across my brother's old Ultramarine army. When we started out playing Rogue Trader: Warhammer 40,000 we started with me playing Orks and he playing Space Marines. He had two of the old RTBO1 marine boxed sets, one of which was painted as Space Wolves (see like, my whole blog) and the other as Ultramarines, his army of choice. I acquired it all since I painted almost all of it and didn't like the idea of all this work and nostalgia just going away. I cut my teeth on these guys, and my brother's Ultramarines were some of the 1st models that I painted that I was actually pleased with. It took me years to figure out the Space Wolves.

Jay (my brother) and I were living in England at the time. My dad was stationed at RAF Woodbridge/Bentwaters (two bases, but he worked at both during this time) however we lived off base. The Doctor and our friends were all into Warhammer 40,000 and we would scrape together allowances or work money or whatever to occasionally venture into Ipswich to visit the game store, War & Peace, where we would purchase Citadel Miniatures and other gaming products. At that time the Pound to Dollar conversion rate was not generous to us, so this stuff was really expensive to us back then (oh, if only we knew...). Yet, somehow, we managed to gather together some impressive armies which only grew bigger when we moved back to the States (and thanked the Emperor that 40k was big -and available!- over here!).

About a year after we moved back, the 2nd edition to Warhammer 30,000 arrived, and this army, Jay's Ultramarines, would achieve it's glory and earn it's laurels. Earlier this evening I sent my brother the pic above with a caption that said "guess what my next blog post will be about?" His response: "I'm guessing it will be about your orks getting their asses handed to them time after time, year after year?" ;)
LOL! Touche!

Anyway, enough of the background, on to the show and tell!

Before there was Codex: Ultramarines for 2nd Edition 40k, all I had to go by for any sort of paint guide was what little info I could figure out from White Dwarf.  There was a booklet that came with the Space Marine paint set that we had too, but it wasn't as helpful as it could've been, though I did wear it out! As the squad above shows, we figured out that Ultramarine squad Sgt's had red helmets. Although we had decals I was always unsure about what to do with them exactly due to the inability to put on the 'tactical' arrows on the right arm, as the studs were on the left. So these guys were never totally finished. Note the red skull on the leg of the sgt. And that is not an official missile launcher by the way, but I still like it! (it was from a Harrier jump-jet model that I had, and one of us thought that it would look cool as missile launcher, plus we needed another one, so we slapped on a com unit and presto!)

These chaps are from the 2nd edition starter box set. When the codex Ultramarines arrived we decided that he needed a Veteran Squad so we painted up there guys. It was probably the last squad of this group I painted for him. I really like how clean they look even still. Even the red guns don't bother me as much...

...as they do for this unit! Wow, that is some serious red. OK, these are not typcial devestator marine models, in fact they are from the Space Crusade game. They have a plug-in option for their weapons, so that they can swap weapons out during the game. Pretty cool concept, and one that almost carried over to 2nd edition 40k. The guy on the far left is the Sgt, armed with a heavy bolter. Yes, they used to just look like a big bolter, not the monsters that they are now. Next to him is a missle launcher (which looks similar to the rocket pod from the 1st squad in pic. 2), lascannon (way big! Especially compared to the Imperial Guard version of the time), a few regular marines (the Space Crusade one have bayonets), a conversion beamer (!), and an assault cannon. The 3 guys in the very back are the 2nd edition models included as unit filler.

Here is an example of the sort of things you could do with the Space Crusade minis. The Tarantula model has a remote that plugs into the pilot's hand, which also attaches directly to it for manual firing in the game. It's pretty cool.

This squad is much like the one in pic 2. I still like the orange missile launcher, and think this contrasts a bit less garishly than the red. Seriously, what was up with Games Workshop's mid-'90's red kick and how did we ever like it?!

The 2nd to last unit I ever painted for this army. I was still sort of figuring out how to paint flesh at this point. These are OK, but I would later learn to deepen the shadows a bit more for better contrast and definition. Still, these guys are pretty cool. Added bonus for having painted bases, which is something I was really leery of for a few years and it took me a while to figure out how to do them. Now, it's almost my favorite thing to do on a model.

Nothing says old school here like this pic! The original plastic Space Hulk terminators, the plastic Terminator Librarian, the original dreadnought and in the background, the Mk1 Landraider! The Librarian is worth discussing: in 2nd edition, psykers were incredibly powerful, and this guy used to kick some major ass! He alone brought victory to this army on more than one occasion against the likes of Orks, Space Wolves, Eldar, Genestealers and Chaos.

Also, I did not paint the dreadnought, it is how it arrived when I won a pair of them in an online auction. The other one was stripped down and repainted and you can find him in my Space Wolves gallery.

The rare mk 1 Land Raider

Ah.... This thing was such a pain in my ass when it hit the game table! LOL! Still, I really enjoyed painting it. I remember painting it in a single day (seriously) and I still think it looks alright.

The even rarer 2nd edition box

A note on the color of this army. We used the Space Marine paint set that came out in '89, and for some reason the base coat from that set has a way of darkening the Ultramarine's blue when layered over on top of it. The newer paints have a brighter hue for some reason and this army looks odd when held next to them. However, to see my point, I put our Land Raider on the box and you can see that the colors are fairly close. You can also see that ours is more kick-ass because it doesn't have fricking RED all over it!

Not included in these pics are the unpainted models, mostly special characters, and a whirlwind that I disassembled to strip and repaint.

This army hasn't hit the table since 3rd edition, of which Jay only played a few games. The total lack of psionics and the radical rule changes between the two editions just didn't excite him anymore. However, we have been talking about playing again someday, and perhaps it is finally time for him to return... in the meanwhile, I am thinking I might experiment with touching a few of these guys up and seeing if I can't bring the paint-jobs up to my current standard (which these guys are just base-coated when compared too) and maybe have them make an appearance down at Hobbytown for bit of a muscle flex. Da Masta Cheef thinks I should use the Forgeworld rules for some of this old stuff. After all, this Codex: Space Marine army is more likely to see the light of day than my Celestial Lions probably ever will! :)

UPDATE:
Oh, and I added up the current point value of the Ultramarines assembled in the first pic. Without the Devastator squad they are right at 1500pts. With the devastators (plus a few more wargear goodies) it comes up to 1750 points. That doesn't include his unpainted models, the whirlwind or the special characters. Impressive for a 20+ year army, huh?

Review: Farseer

Farseer by William King.  Despite my efforts to write these reviews without spoilers, naturally some are bound to occur even when describing characters, so, be warned, SPOILERS AHEAD! While recently reorganizing my paperback book shelf, I stumbled upon this book that I truthfully do not recall buying. Being self-contained, and by Bill King, I decided it looked like an interesting diversion while waiting for Pariah to be released and taking a break from reading the original Ian Fleming 007 novels.

Part of the attraction toward this book was that it was by William King, whose work on the Space Wolf novels, and Gotrek & Felix novels, as well as some very important and long lasting Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 background elements were undeniably crucial evolutionary steps in both world's post-'80s development. They still are! So a short self-contained novel by him seemed like a perfect morsel to munch on over these past autumn nights, right?

The story starts off in a very... how should I say it? "D&D module-esque" way. For those of you that have never played a classic D&D module, they tend to start off with all the characters gathering in a bar or tavern, somehow coming together awkwardly before being led by the nose on an adventure which usually climaxes at a specific destination point (castle, tower, dungeon, etc, usually this place is in a forbidden locale or is specifically forbidden) while typically being lured there by the promise of riches. We've seen this in movies and TV as well:  a half-drunk anti-hero is discovered, usually having fallen from a previous grace and fortune and now is wallowing in drunken obscurity to be plucked up by someone who desperately needs this anti-hero to "get over it" and be a real hero! Shit, I may have just gave away the 1st half of this book...

...because Janus Darke is that drunken anti-hero wallowing in drunken failure. A pathetic man who was once a powerful Rogue Trader, Janus is now an in-debt drunk wasting what little fortune he can find on bad gambling choices. The "someone" are the pair of Eldar characters you see flanking him on the cover: Auric, a Farseer and Athenys a..., well, I'm not sure, but she proves to be quite a bad-ass! I assume she might be an Autarch or some-such warrior who is no longer adhering to her warrior path. Never-the-less, I found her to be the most interesting if not the most under-developed character in this tale. So they find Janus Darke, and ask him to take them to the "forbidden destination", the planet of Belial IV, in the Eye of Terror. This plot structure is quickly established, and as a reader I thought the journey would be the bulk of the adventure as the characters navigate their way around the Eye of Terror etc.

Nope! Instead we have to deal with the fact that these eldar have chosen Janus Darke, and King is not going to let Janus off of his failure perch that quickly. Janus has to somehow retrieve his ship, survive his girlfriend Justina's attentions (hehe), and survive the gangsters who want him to pay off his gambling debts. All of this turns into some interesting hive world adventures, although I felt while reading this King could have developed the hive world on Medusa better, as it felt more like the descriptions you'd read of a fantasy port city than of an over-populated hive world. Regadless, all of this makes for a fun read, as you learn that Janus Darke is being hunted down by a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, Shaha Gaathon, who wants to possess Janus.

Although this all made for fun reading, my favorite elements of the books had to do with Simon Belisarius, Janus' partner and Navigator. I enjoyed reading how the Navigator house he belongs to has a centuries-old outstanding debt with Craftworld Ulthwe which the eldar have come to collect from him. I was also thrilled to read Kind's description of the journey through the warp and what it was like to make such a journey into the Eye of Terror. Players of the Rogue Trader RPG should read this passage alone as required reading before sitting down to play.

Another fascinating detail here was the history of Belial IV itself. King describes this shattered eldar crone-world through the eyes of Janus whose visions reveal to him (and us) the corruption, fall and destruction of the eldar race and this world and the birth of Slaanesh.  This is fascinating reading, and even if you find the rest of this book difficult to grind through, these parts are well worth it.

And without revealing too much more or touching on how this all ends, I have to mention Zarghan. Zarghan is a fallen Space Marine from the Emperor's Children Legion. The funny thing is that he's bored with constant orgies and other such silliness that his minions are involved with, but is totally getting his rocks off on wanton slaughter and inflicting pain in combat while blaring loud music into his ears. (..'Noise Marines: Live at the Palace of Pleasure'?)  He actually wonders if he would make a better khornate follower at some point, which makes for a far more interesting character than if he was a more stereo-typical Chaos Marine.

Despite how predictable I thought the book was starting out, I didn't foresee the outcome, but when some of the reveals occurred I found myself physically face-palming... ("Auric...rhymes with Elric...got it..."). However, over-all, this was a good book. Again, the most rewarding elements were the details on Belial IV, the history of the Eldar Fall and the birth of Slaanesh, and the final chapters of the book which are pretty much a dramaticly written massive blood-orgy of combat.

Did I like it? I did. But things really started to get interesting as the book was winding down. Clearly, and this isn't evident or obvious until the last few pages, but King was setting this up for a sequel, which never happened and I wonder if it ever will...

Was it hard to put down? Um...no, not really. I kept at it, but I didn't thrist for it like I did the last batch of BL books I had read.

Could I care about the characters? Janus, not so much. I felt that he was being protrayed to us as a bit of a dumb-ass jock-like character. In fact, looking back on it, I just don't see how this guy was ever a Rogue Trader in the 1st place! I just don't see how he got a crew to follow him, unlike Belisarius. Also, I am undecided on just how to pronounce his name: Is it JANus? Perhaps with a Nordic twist: YANus? Or something weird like JAWnus? I just read it as JANus and moved on. I was more concerned about the eldar characters, but more so because I wanted to learn more about Athenys. Auric was what he was: a Professor X in an eldar outfit.

Did the writer truly grasp how the 'world' of the 41st millennium works in the sense that it doesn't betray or retcon previously established (as I know it) lore? Or is this the work of a hack chasing a paycheck vs. establishing his mark on the ever-expanding 40k universe? Yeah, he's Bill King! However, this story did come off in places as a bit hacked. However, the story kept moving and even though it could've used more descriptive elements on Medusa, at least it didn't get bogged down in over-developed minutiae either.

Was I being talked down to? I didn't think so, but when the story focused on Janus, I couldn't help but want something horrible to happen to this guy. He reminded me of Jimmy Bond from the old Lone Gunmen TV show...

How predictable is this story? It starts off very predictable, until you realize that that you've ploughed halfway through the book and we haven't left Medusa yet! The most unpredictable parts weren't in the ending or climatic battle, but in which subplots were left unresolved. The ultimate fate of Justina remains unresolved, and well, clearly a sequel would be appreciated at some point.

Unused pic I drew for some 40K fanzines back in the '90s.



The Ravenwing SHOULD have Jetbikes!



Pic from the original White Dwarf article (illustrated by Pete Knifton)

There are rumors out there that the Dark Angels could finally get access to more Jet-bikes. As this rumor spreads throughout the various forums and rumor-mongers push and pull on this topic, I keep seeing readers commenting on how they think the Jet Bike should remain unique to the Master of the Ravenwing Sammael. I disagree, the fact that the Sammael model even exists hints, to me, that this was a step towards restoring the Ravenwing to it's original background.

Say what?

Yup, original. The Space Marine jetbike (the Mk 14 'Bullock' Jet-Cycle) was introduced at the same time and in the same White Dwarf article as the Ravenwing. A particular passage talks about how the Ravenwing Company made a sub-orbital drop with their jetbikes to engage and surprise the enemy in the relief of Rynn's World. In the last Dark Angel Codex, this background was slightly re-tooled and incorporated into the background of Sammael himself (accept now it's just him and him alone, and the 11 drop-ships are now reduced to a single Thunderhawk). This was White Dwarf #96. I want to also say that this was the 1st introduction (with exception to the scraps of info in Rogue Trader itself) to a lot of background elements that would later evolve into the larger story for the Dark Angels and perhaps even the Horus Heresy itself.



GW Catalog page. Note that an original plastic marine from the Imperial Space Marines boxed set was required

Here are the original stats just to blow your mind as to how awesome Rogue Trader was! Granted, it's been so long since I looked at these I can't recall what the 2nd set of stat's are, let alone the meaning of the abbreviations or the rules to use them! But the top row should be easy for you to figure out: the Jet-Cycle was FAST! (Yup, that's 300" a round! Only the Eldar Jetbike was faster!)

 

So, the Ravenwing were originally a Jetbike Company, and I for one would love to see them return. Not just because of the historical 'full-circle' this would create, but it would give the Dark Angels the edge that they lost when the other Chapters started to get new toys, and when the White Scars trumped them in the biker dept. And it would give me new toys! :) Besides, it seems silly to have the Master of the Ravenwing zipping along the battlefield on a Jetbike while his troops 'tag along' on their ground bikes. "Wait for us boss, we have to determine how to ford this stream! Emperor damit, he's over it and the next hill already..." Not to mention the logic in this from a leadership perspective. If you're the enemy and you wanted to perform a decapitation strike against the Ravenwing, just target the git that's flying around by himself! LOL

The 2nd generation of jetbikes. The pilots were the same as the ones for the ground bikes.

Looking around online, I have found that I'm not alone. There seems to be a small scattering of Marine Jet-Bike cults lurking about out there converting and customizing their own versions. There also seems to be quite a bit of excitement surrounding Forgeworld's Horus Heresy era Space Marine Jetbikes as well.

Original advert. And I used to think these were expensive back then!
I still say the xmas marine with the tankard would make a great Wolf Guard!

So, here's hoping the rumors are true and that we'll have some Dark Age of Technology goodies soon!

-Neverness

Image Copyrights respective to holder (Games Workshop) used without permission and for review purposes only

Rogue Trader Imperial Guard



The fate of all Imperial Guardsmen...

After our game this past Sunday, the Doctor pulled out his latest Imperial guard models. Let me explain the history of these models. He bought his 1st box of these models the week (perhaps even on the day) of release back in '89 in down-town Ipswich at our local game store (War & Peace) . The 1st few models he painted were based on the schemes found on the back of the box and within White Dwarf. This was a regiment that was tithed from a mysterious planet called 'Necromunda'. The 'Necromunda Spiders' they were called. 

The paint scheme was simple: Grey uniform, black flak jacket, Silver Helm, brown boots & belt, and brown pockets.

He painted only a few of these models back then, before moving back to the states.

Painted by the Dr, 1989 in Suffolk UK.

The fellow to the left is one of these models from that time. Complete with wing icon on the shoulder and squad numerals. It was this model that I wanted to copy. I spent a summer with him back in '94 and he allowed me to paint some of this models for him.

Painted by Neverness in '94

This was a squad that was based on the original IG list in White Dwarf and inspired by a piece of Paul Bonner artwork. The Space Marine back packs were originally 'Jump Packs' according to both Rogue Trader and the back of the original boxed set. The gear we refer to today as 'jump packs' were originally 'flight packs'. This is a squad of Imperial Guard with jump packs. Note that the Doctor was experimenting with some different base techniques back then, and this is one of the ones he intends to redo.

IG painted by Neverness '94

This is another group of Imperial Guard that I painted that summer as well. i think I would've painted them all had we more time. We're not sure, but it's possible that a few of these guys might've been painted by him. We're not sure, as our styles were sort of close at this point. Note the Sgt. with the 'Confrontation' sawed-off shotgun!

Painted by Neverness, '97-'98?

I painted these models at a later point, around '97 or '98. It was around this point that I started to gather some of these classic IG myself, ordering the female IG from the UK Mailorder. The Dr. allowed me to paint this one for him, as well as this IG Sgt.

Now, onto these newest models. Or rather, the latest models. The Doctor ended up making a strange deal with a guy we'll call 'Ford'. Over the past 10 years Ford had to paint a huge pile of models for him. The years weren't the deal, it just took him that long to do it. Ford was permitted to model these figs, with the encouragement to make them as dynamic as possible. So the Dr. provided him the bits to do it, as well as the newer style of Lasguns from the newer versions of the IG plastics. The only rule that Ford had to follow was to stick to that original paint scheme. He did very well we think:

I hope these picks give a good indication of the dynamic poses Ford came up with! But my favorite has got to be the one at the top of this article! That guy has to be the one in front! LOL

So in case you're wondering, yes, I have Imperial Guard. And I will be following this paint scheme as well. I hope to be able to show you some soon...

-Joel

Legion of the Damned

A friend of mine told me today that he plays "Pure old skool Legion of the Damned Space Marines." Which caused me to remember that I painted a squad of these back in '99! It was my summer project that year, and I got them done in time for Games Day '99. I had acquired a bunch of REALLY old RT era marines, and with nothing else to do with them (They just didn't fit in with my Space Wolves) I decided to paint them up as Legion of Damned.

Most of these models all have newer (2nd edition) style back packs. These were a bit bigger and look better on these older models. They're all variants of the 'beakie' style of armor, MKVI 'Corvus', that will always be my favorite.

 Don't ask what style of armor this is supposed to be, I'd say 'corvus' however that helmet is just weird. Worked out well for a Legion of the Damned guy though.

 These guys are just fuggly, and brutish . Plasma guy here is no exception.

 I like how the skull came out on the helmet of this one, and the heavy bolter in the back is probably my favorite of the bunch (he was featured in my 'other armies' post awhile back).









 Very old school indeed, still they haven't changed much, although heads are a tad bit more proportioned these days. The guy on the right was the first one I had painted and the only one with a bit a greenish caste to the flesh. I wasn't able to successfully repeat it though, so I left the rest of them all 'flesh' colored. Note that I added a plastic bolter to him to make it appear as if he was leaning on it.



 The Squad leader was the last model completed. The night before Games Day I completed the banner (on Holiday Inn stationary no less! Only the best for my models! LOL!).
















And here is the assembled group. And I have yet to use them in a battle! I just don't ever play regular 'Codex Marines',

 I hope you enjoyed that little bizarre trip down the path of GW minis of old. Yes the newer models are superior, but they just don't have character like these do!

Deodorant Tank parade on 4th of July weekend

Obviously 4th of July weekend was weeks ago, but as you might guess my schedule has prevented this update from being timely. During said weekend, I visited an old friend of mine in Cincinnati (we shall call him 'Doctor'), He was in the process of cleaning out a lot the extras and overstock that he has accumulated over a period of  2 decades of being in the GW hobby, and also working on his Dark Angels. While doing so, he noticed he had a lot more of the original Rogue Trader era Predator tanks than he thought! Which led to us discussing what the Iron Wing was supposed to be, and if GW were to ever elaborate on it, how they intended it to function etc. (The Iron Wing, BTW, was the mechanized vehicle arm of the Dark Angels, discussed only once - as far as I can tell- in early Epic materials), Then he pulls out the deodorant tank!

Yes, somewhere, he acquired this thing in a trade, we're pretty sure from an old HS buddy. The missile launcher on it's side is made from Legos!

On the other side we have an oddly place satellite /radar dish which appears to be the hatch from a Rhino tank, as are the handle in front of it.

The turret is an actual original Predator tank turret, only that it doesn't swivel and is therefore set up for fixed fire. This was the reason the Doctor pulled this out; he intends to break it back down and restore the turret back to a Predator chassis. He told me this after I got such a great kick out of this that I even offered to paint it! "No, I'm going to reuse that turret!"

Back in the early days of Rogue Trader, anything went! The deodorant tank was merely the poor-boy's quick option for vehicle that look 'sci-fi-ish' with just the right amount of imagination and bit of paint.

We also played Necromunda.

None of the models are mine, and most of these the Doctor also acquired in trades over the years. I played the Van Sars (in Xmas red) and he played the painted Orlocks. We spent some time setting up scenery and creating our gangs, and then we played. Here is my side of the field, with a Heavy (with a Heavy Plasma gun) hiding and in overwathc, with my Gang leader and the 2 juves.

He got in the 1st shot of the game, pinning one of my guys on the tower. Here's my guy on the high spire targeting his two gangers. This pic was taken for LOS purposes was never intended to be a blogging pic, but why not? He has a pic of the same situation from his vantage point (if he sends it I'll post it).

Here's my guy taking a shot at a target below. On another turn he'd throw a grenade through that window taking out a heavy and a his gang leader, an action that would force a bottle test which would end the game. The thing about Necromunda is, it's not ALL in the actual game, but the post game. We both did fairly well I recall, however next time we meet, he will be the one bringing in the giant-killer bonus! This is the 2nd time using Van Sar models I don't own to play this game, and I really need to commit myself to tracking those models down and painting a gang for myself.

-Joel

Space Wolves Gallery (part 3)

Who are you call'n VENERABLE?!!!

This bad-ass old School mini has been appearing in my army lists pretty much since the day I sealed him! He's old, but definitely has a lot of character. I got a pair of these over a decade ago (ebay I think?). I can not recall what color this one was, I just remember it was in a bowl of paint stripper within the hour! (The other one is Ultramarines blue, and I have left it untouched and gave it to my brother for his Ultramarines army). All of the Space Wolf Icons are hand painted, and the runes were done with a micron. I painted this up around 2000-2001.

I get a real kick out of the 'Taz' look these older Dreadnought had. I know there is a, mostly-dead, guy stuffed into it, and I have often wondered just how much of the guy is in there...any way, he's on the proper sized base, however, as time rolls on I'm less impressed with it. Rubble made from a chopped up sprue looks OK I guess, and the tube cut from a thick drinking straw does too I guess, but it's bit distracting. However this is the thin base from the Epic range, and the newer thick bases are a lot more appealing.

Those of you familiar with this classic model, will realize that the twin linked lascannons are not the ones that it came with. The guns provided for this model sucked (except for the missile launcher, it was cool). If you read my previous post (Space Wolves Gallery part 2) you'll know that I had an old Predator Tank that I opted not to use the lascannons, glued them together to look similar to the original Land Raider's twin-linked lascannons, and stuck 'em on 'Venny'. (note that I had painted 'Rex' on the model, but everyone else always calls him Venny... usually right before their Tyranid MC rips his Dreadnought CC off and beat him over the head with it, but I digress...), Back in 3rd Edition, the Spotlight was an extremely valuable vehicle upgrade, and it made sense to have it on a thing that was totting a twin-linked las cannon (I sometimes count it as a twin-linked Autocannon, I mean, who can tell right?). There was an awkward smooth spot on the top of the top cannon to allow for the swivelling effect of the sponsons on the original Predator kit. The spot light fit in that spot perfectly, and just ups the coolness of this model in my opinion.

Ok, how's this for old:

The kids are all going OMGWTF? when they see this little bastard hit the table. Especially when it starts throwing flamer templates about. This is the original RT era Space Marine Land Speeder. It even as the original hex flying stand! I have recently affixed that hex base to current scaled flying stand for both balance and game purposes, but I have yet to model it up. I painted this up right around the time I painted up Venny. (2001?). The 2nd edition version was bigger and had less of a suicidal-fast-moving-chairlift-with-guns -look about it -It had big metal plate in the front!

The banner is the from the '89 Space Marine Paint Set booklet. It's OK, the other side is smaller and has a black trim. I'm thrilled about that, but I've moved on enough to not let it bother to the point of wanting to redo it. Maybe when I do up the base I might redo it...

I miss the beaky marines, and want to see more of them! I think I make a crewman for Land Raider Crusader be a beaky.Note the old school Space Wolf Chapter markings on their shoulder pads. When I was scrutinizing this model recently, I remarked on how well those look on these guys. I'm seriously considering using them on my ground troops. Yes, I do have the newer 'blackmane' style icon on the sides of this model, and on other models, but I think it might mix well. Note the minimal usage of the pack markings on both the Landspeeder and the Dreadnought above. Where it appears here, I have placed a yellow runic number decal over it.

Hope you enjoyed this!

-Joel

Genesis

Finally, I'm creating a blog. This blog will serve as record for friends, acquaintances, and really anybody interested in following my hobby exploits. Primarily, for the current foreseeable future, this will mainly serve as a record of my model/miniature painting for Warhammer gaming. Currently my focus is WH40K but I occasionally dabble in Warhammer Fantasy (I have had blogs at Warhammer-Empire posted under 'neverness' as well. The primary inspiration for doing this blog is that I really enjoyed doing these at warhammer-empire and regret that I was unable to complete the blog I had started there. Mostly due to a re-focus on 40k for my part (and the ex takiing her far superior digital camera with her when she split, but that's toeing the TMI line.) which really doesn't have a big audience on that site.

Ok, a bit of background on me: I was properly introduced to Warhammer 40,000 while I was in 9th grade and living in the U.K. There my friend Trevor and his circle of friends had just got the 'Rogue Trader' hardcover and a box set or two of the original Space Marine boxed set. This was x-mas '88. By the end of that school year I had started my first ork army, which grew that summer as I saved up to buy some lead blisters (that's right, they used to sell figure made (mostly) of LEAD to kids! LOL) and not long afterward the first Space Ork plastics were released along with the amazing Ork books of the time. My brother, who is approx. 7 years younger than me, also got into these games, and he started an Ultra Marines army while I started a Space Wolves army, In fact, the Space Wolves were the first minis I ever attempted to paint. And all I had was the Space Marine starter set that only had 9 paint-pots in it! I still have (and sometimes use) these original models, and it's fun to see how my painting style evolved since '89. I'll post some pics soon! So, I'm still playing Space Wolves, Orks, and have collected many other armies that I intend to use this blog to inspire me to paint more.

'Old wolf' one of many painted to this...'standard'...back in '89-'90.

And the 'not so old wolf' painted around...'99?

BTW, another inspiration behind this blog, to force myself to get a GOOD camera! LOL
Hope you enjoyed, 'til next time,
-Joel