The Paint Pot: 1,000 point Warhammer Fantasy Army in one sitting.

Welcome to the Paint Pot, In this section we aim to cover everything to do with the practical side of scale models and war gaming from model building and conversions to painting and army lists.

To kick us off we had a meeting on a  rainy Saturday afternoon myself and another member of the extended group Sgt Longbeard met and set ourself a challenge of constructing a 1,000 point Warhammer Fantasy Army in one sitting.

Now before we begin a little more information on the Sgt Longbeard, he is an ex GW staffer and has been Role-playing and War gaming since 1985 when he first sat down and played  'Keep to the Borderlands' in the 1st edition Redbox D&D. Longbeard is somewhat of a dedicated collector and boasts a collection that only truly be described as 'Impressive'.

Picture courtesy of wizards.com

Now the Army itself, after some conversation it came down to two options - either an Empire army or a High Elf army, We set ourselves a few guidelines; firstly it will be completely out of the box with no after market parts or conversions and Secondly it would have to be tournament legal.

On what seemed like a flip of a coin we decided to go with the High Elves. First thing we did was grab the army book, a pen and some paper and started spit balling. First list we worked was a simple war band that included 30 archers, 30 Seaguard Spearmen, a Noble and Level 2 Mage totalling 960 point (we planned on filling the rest of the points out with some war gear) Luckily for us The Doc was in the room and he diagnosed our list as terminally stupid and so after a bit of treatment we had our final list.

• High Elf Army
• Heroes
• Noble with Reaver bow (attached to the archer unit)                                       95pts
• Level 2 Mage   With Caine's Ring of Fury                                                    135pts
• Core
• 15 Seaguard Spearmen    (with Musician, Standard and Hawkeye)               165pts
• 15 Seaguard Spearmen    (with Musician, Standard and Hawkeye)               165pts
• 15 Archers                      (with Musician, Standard and Hawkeye)               180pts
• Rare
• 2 Bolt Throwers                                                                                         140pts
• Lothern Skycutter                                                                                     120pts

                                                                                                          Total 1,000 pts

So after a few hours of messing around showing each other the new tabletop stuff we've found online and gentle disagreement over rules are points we came out with our High Elf army. We will be putting them to the test under the control of the Doc against Longbeards trusty Dwarves so keep an eye out for a Battle report in our After Action Report section.

But little did we know but while Myself, Longbeard and the Doc were dealing with the high Elves SabbatWolf was quietly sitting in the corner with her nose in the army book and as we were finishing the last models with a grin she presented an alternative 1,000 point army and here it is...


Heroes

• Handmaiden of the Everqueen with Reaver bow                                            120pts
• Level 2 Mage with Caines Ring of Fury                                                        135pts

Core

• 15 Archers (with Musician, Standard, Hawkeye and Light Armour)                195pts
• 15 Spearmen (with Sentinal, Musician and Standard Bearer)                        165pts
• 5 Ellyrian Reavers (with Bows, Musician and Standard Bearer)                     125pts

Rare

• 10 Sisters of Avalon (with a High Sister)                                                     150pts
• 2 Great Eagles                                                                                         100pts

               
                                                                                                           Total   1,000pts

So there you have it given the right motivation and a little planning you can get yourself a great starting point for an much larger army.


posted by Sero

Vintage Rhino MkI

We've all done it before, sitting at home, minding your own business, and before you know it, you've impulse bought something from E-bay.  It happens to the best of us.  Honest.

This time, Sero found himself the proud owner of a vintage Rhino, still on sprue.  So, following on from his last review of the classic Termie, it seems sensible to give his new purchase the Friendly Fire 'Pimp my 40K Ride' treatment.

So, here's the bad boy, in all its sprue-y glory, ready to be passed to the Mechanicus drones for construction.

the original complete Rhino Kit

What do we know about this vehicle kit....

• It was GW's first plastic vehicle kit, sale price of £5 each or 3 for £10 (damn you inflation busting price rises!)
• Release date sometime around 1989.
• First produced in the original bone white plastic, though this kit is a slightly later version in the pale grey instead.
• It was the core vehicle kit for Space Marines (huh!), Chaos Space Marines and 2nd edition Sisters of Battle, Imperial Guard and Squats.  Thus proving the usefulness of 'Standard Template Constructs' to both the Imperium of Man and a much younger Games Workshop company.  It was built into a number of variants using metal add-on bits until 2005(ish).  The previous Immolator was the last vehicle to use the chassis.

So, it is clearly a pretty iconic piece of kit.

In his article about the Termie, Sero asked; 'is it still cool?' and 'is it still usable today?'

Is it still usable today?

There is no way on The Emperor's Scorched Brown Earth that 10 Space Marines will ever fit in this vehicle, however that is still the case in the newer one (unless you turn the Marine's into mush and pour them in through the top hatch).  So, no real change there.

At a first glance, the vintage Rhino looks teeny-tiny compared to its newer, bigger cousin.  Comparing the two side-by-side, we can see that the width of the vehicle is less than a centimetre narrower than the newer version, so not as small there then.  It is a little vertically challenged though - just like the Termie.  It would definitely stand out if it parked up in the wrong Rhino park.

A side by side comparison of the old and new Rhino Sprues

Also, we must remember that the current production version of the Rhino is not a replacement for the older kit as it is actually a different mark of the vehicle.  The current kit the Mark III Rhino whereas the older, out of production kit is the Mark I.  Given the way the Administratum works, it could be possible that some backwater or less well supplied world could still be using the Mark I design.

Considering that there is a trend for gaming in the 30K era, the Rogue Trader/early edition revivals and gamers using early marks of armour, it would almost make sense to use the older version of the Rhino too.


Is it still cool?

Watching the boys go all gooey over this aged kit, this vehicle clearly evokes all kinds of nostalgia amongst those who remember it first time round.

It is obviously a more basic kit than the modern version and it has fewer twiddly details, but asking if the vehicle is cool is a bit like asking if a '68 Mustang is still cool.  Of course it is! No doubt about it.  The vintage rhino's legacy alone in terms of the classic imagery and place in the hearts of any gamer over 14 should guarantee its 'coolness' for many years to come.

It actually has an option not available on the current kit, with two different options for the front hatches. Thus allowing a level of customisability that the new kit doesn't have.  Serial non-conformists like me have to consider this to be pretty cool.  Sadly, it didn't come with an accessories sprue that the later kit has, though it does have the standard stuff like smoke launcher and twin-linked bolters (storm bolter nowadays).


So, although on a modern gaming table, this kit has clearly 'had its day' and would look a out of place side by side with the newer models, unless it is part of an army purposely using older designs and kits, this is still a cool vehicle and it's legacy will live on in the memory of long time 40K players.  If used for its original purpose in an appropriately themed army, it will add a level of depth and authenticity that the later version of the kit would not have.  In short, this kit is still cool and, in the right circumstances, it is definitely still usable today.

The next question is.... will Sero keep it in the box or will he build and paint it??


SabbatWolf

The war of tomorrow in 28mm..... Part 1

I've been a fan of Ambush Alley Games' rulesystems since the original Ambush Alley (I even paid out to have it printed and ringbound from PDF a couple of years ago). When Tomorrow's War came out it seemed to be the toolkit I was looking for – flexible enough to handle everything from Corporate Wars to Martian miners rebellions to Bug Hunts. But I was missing a few things; firstly, psychic rules. I like Psychics, be they Mass Effect style cybernetically enabled Biotics or Star Wars Force users. Secondly, I wanted more detailed aliens rules. Thirdly, I wanted to be able to do various Cybernetic horrors, like Shadowrun/Cyberpunk cyberzombies.

The supplement, 'By Dagger & By Talon', has delivered all of this, and more. It has also given us a fascinating 'master' race in the form of the Darghaur. First mentioned in Tomorrow's War and with 15mm minis produced by the granddaddy of 15mm SF, Ground Zero Games, the Darghaur are a brutal oppressor species, implacable and unknowable – even to those they enslave. In short, fighting species are preserved and weaker ones obliterated.

Even though the Darghaur themselves are only available in 15mm at present, I game mainly in 28mm scale. I do remember an inference on Lead Adventure and there was a poll on the Ambush Alley forum asking who would buy 28s, so there may be hope...

The most useful thing about this from a wargamer's point of view is the variety of models that can be used as the villains. Over the next couple of articles I'm going to walk you through a couple of the ranges I'm planning on using as Darghaur slaves....

First up; Heresy Miniatures Sharclons

I picked these up as new releases at Salute 2013. They're really characterful little guys, clearly not your standard space dwarf. Bulky, clearly heavily armoured and professional, but with no beards! I could see them being converted for Demiurg for 40k as an alternative use – the downside being there are only 2 poses at present.

3 merciless warriors on the hunt for their masters' enemies...

This shot shows the 'weak spot' on the back....

How to use them for TW?

The Sontarans (who the Sharclons are based on) are presented as a warrior race – huge numbers of clone soldiers deployed in en-masse, Soviet/WW1 style wave attacks to grind down the enemy through attrition. This background still works for Darghaur Sharclons, and makes them the perfect disposable cannon fodder for the unscrupulous commander. Given the initial high cost of the minis (make no mistake – they are chunky little fellers) and their clearly heavily-armoured nature, I feel a high armour value is warranted, at least D8, maybe D10. Tech level 2, at least. Weapons wise they are certainly at least tech level 2. But what about Quality? This could be a random factor due to cloning batches. I would certainly see the leaders being decent, but the line grunts maybe not so much. D6-D8 is my feeling. Morale would be high too, due to their disregard for losses and commitment to the cause!

I think you could do something characterful with the 'weak spot' on the back (as visible in the rear shot above). Maybe grant a +1 firepower to attacks made against them from behind (in GM'd games/campaigns, maybe award this knowledge once they've been shot at from the rear?)

The main issue for them is likely to be their inflexible weapon choices (at least until Andy sculpts some more, hint hint ;) ), but this is simply part of their character for me. I would like to add some vehicles for them. Originally the Sontarans used Dr Who dimension folding tech for their craft (not unlike the TARDIS's 'bigger on the inside' schtick (obviously a cunning trick to save the production some cash!). I think I'd like something a bit more conventional for them though. Given the shapes of their armour I'm thinking Scotia Grendel's Void Syntha tank might be a good match? I might get another of the officers to add an 'unbuttoned' commander to the top hatch and have a crack at sculpting a different right arm to lose the pistol.

Painting

The base colour is GW Dark Reaper with an edge highlight of Dawnstone on the armour plates. I then applied a Druchii Violet wash to the bodysuit and the deepest recesses between armour plates.

Following that I painted in the outline for the unit markings in Dawnstone, and then went over this with Wazdakka Red. The eyes were also picked out this way, and both unit markings and eyes were given a slightly thinned coat of Tamiya Clear Red (of which and blood effects in the next article) to bump up the shine.

Weapon casings were edge highlighted with Vallejo Model Colour Black Grey, and the silver is simply GW Leadbelcher with a Nuln Oil wash. The glowy power cores were done with a Vallejo Model Colour Fluorescent Green, highlighted with VMC Fluorescent Yellow and finally given a wash of Tamiya Clear Green.

I wanted high-contrast bases, so I went for a light sand colour (VMC Dark Sand), which I inked with GW Agrax Earthshade and then drybrushed back up with Dark Sand.

They won't win any prizes for painting, but I'm very happy with their presence. I have another two to finish up for this squad, and I'm looking forward to getting a couple of hours to finish them off.

My review verdict?

For those who like no-nonsense metals, these are pretty good! 3 parts for the infantrymen, (body, weapon and head) and 2 for the officer (body & head), with good-fitting parts. As I noted earlier, they're not the cheapest bulk soldier out there at £4 apiece (£3.20 while Andy's currently got his sale on), but they do have a particular character and I don't feel that's an unreasonable price for well sculpted minis these days. They are a joy to paint, and the large open areas would lend themselves to extra blending or freehand very nicely. These three were finished in about 6 hours, all told, and the quality of the sculpt shows itself there in my opinion. They are limited by the very small number of poses, but I hope that once Andy's got some of the Dragon backlog out of the way these will appear – I'll be picking them up as and when they do!

Score: 6.5/10 due to the tiny range. If there were more options, I'd push it up to 7.5 easily.  

Posted by The Doc

Tales from the Attic: An Introduction & Terminator Captain.

Hello and Welcome to Tales from the Attic, In this section we will be reliving the figures and games from our past. We will be digging through our bit boxes and figure cases, getting dirty in the lofts and attics looking for those forgotten gems and asking "do they have a place in our hobby today?" and "is this still cool?"

First thing we are going to be looking at is a classic Citadel Miniature from the days of Rogue Trader it's the Terminator Captain figure from the late 80s.

 

This figure has some pretty nice detail that stands up to today's critical eye and considering that the figure is nearly 25 years old I think that should be commended.  The scabbard does have skulls all over it which today is a hallmark of Chaos weaponry but we can forgive that.  He also has what i think is one of my favourite terminator crux shoulder pads from that era. 

One small issue is that compared to his modern brothers he's a little challenged in the height department but this is a very common issue with  vintage miniatures.

As it's a vintage miniature, i thought i should keep the paint classic. For this i got hold of the Warhammer 40,000 Compendium Book which was Published in 1989  and found a colour scheme from a chapter close to my heart - The White Scars all be it an Apothecary  (page 31 if you're interested )

So what do we need to do to make him playable in the current version of the Grim Darkness, well not that much.  The figure is armed with contemporary weapons, a Storm Bolter and Power Fist, and ignoring the Grenade launcher and the Sword he should be slaying heretics in no time! 

All that would need to be done is change the base to 40mm and he's good to go. He's readily available from all well known auction sites and you can get him for your army or collection for less than his modern equivalent.

For me, he does still have a place in our hobby and he is most definitely still cool.

Give this old timer a go he deserves it!

Posted by Sero

Paulson Games Mecha Front NorAm Raptor review (Part 1)

So, as a long-term mech-head (I'd be a member of MechAddicts Anonymous if there was such a thing!) I jumped at the chance to get a couple of these models in advance of the planned kickstarter. After pulling the trigger on the order, I eagerly waited about 10 days for the international post to arrive.

So, here it is;

Bags o'parts and bases!

Here's the parts laid out –

A note on bases - they look like the ones from Proxie Models – though I'm yet to confirm this - and if they are I'm favourably impressed. I've been hemming and hawing on whether to take the plunge and order some from over the pond (I always need more unslotted bases for GW figs, there never seem to be enough) , and after seeing these I think I will!

Look at all those parts!

Resin Quality – The parts are all cast in a good quality resin, light grey in colour. It feels more like Forgeworld resin than Finecast or Mantic's 'plastic resin', which is a good thing, in my opinion.

Score: 9/10

Cast quality – there's a lot of mould ventings, meaning very few air bubbles and a very clean cast. There is some mould slippage – very minor, but it is there and it's in a couple of noticeable areas, mainly along large flat plates, as you can see in the pics.

Mould vents on the back of the torso (from beneath)

The dreaded mould slippage!

Nothing a little liquid green stuff and sanding won't fix quickly, however. Overall though, the parts are very well cast and strong.

Score: 8/10

Components – The only thing that would complete the job would be cast-in holes for magnets, but I'm stretching here to find problems. Two lots of each the triple laser mount and two of the larger cannon. I will come out here and say that I really like the more realistic barrel size of the cannons.

Score: 10/10

Build time – once you've completed the usual resin cleaning (sanding, washing, filling, sanding again etc), these will build up very quickly with standard cyanacrylate super glue. You could pin them if you wanted, but I really think they'll stand up to normal handling quite nicely. Again, if you wanted to magnetise them, you'd be looking at a little more time but I doubt it would take long to do.

Score: 8/10

Final thoughts

In summary, I like these a lot. Given that these are both from the Nor-Am military forces, I've got a few thoughts on colour schemes in mind (one suggested on Dakka, an ace's black-and-flames hot rod style job, the other more strictly military) and I can't wait to get started and see how they look. I'll keep posing simple for now, but I have a few spare 15mm infantrymen from some other projects (of which news soon) who I might use to give a sense of scale to the bases. There are now a few weapon variants in the line, all of which, in my opinion, look great, and the NeoBloc (main enemy of the NorAm faction) light mecha has also now been added to the store.
As a fan of all things big and stompy, I am really looking forward to the kickstarter for these, and will be watching this line with great interest!

Overall so far – 9/10.

Get yours here - Mechafront
Next – Paint!

Posted by the Doc 

Welcome to Friendly Fire!

Hello, Hola, Bienvenue, Guten Tag, NuqneH, Howdy and Hi!

We are a small group of gamers, painters, roleplayers and modellers hailing from Liverpool, England and Friendly Fire is a place for us to share our collective geekiness with an unsuspecting world.

We have a wide range of gaming interests, from board games to computer games and World War I to Warhammer 40,000.  The boys have all been roleplaying since high-school (mainly Star Trek and WHFRP) and I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons since the mid-late 1980's.

Over time, we'll be posting updates to this blog about things we bought and/or painted, fun stuff we've found on the internet, stuff that we've built, battles and RPG adventures that we've played, books that we've read and anything else we want to share.

So, who are we...?

Sero - Our resident web-monkey and the guy with the best camera.  A professional graphics designer for the last 8 years and part-time Airsoft Marshall.  Sero likes to collect and paint miniatures that really tickle his fancy.  He also heckles from the sidelines when we have our wargaming days.

Cypher226 ("The Doc") - Now, here is someone who spends time collecting random factoids and other information, and it so happens that these pearls of wisdom collect into 'knowledge'.  If one of us is unsure about something in the universe of modelling and gaming, The Doc will have read something about it somewhere.  He also has an assortment of Warhammer 40K armies as well as cupboards, boxes and cabinets full of minis for other games or 'just because'.

Sero and The Doc paint at a rate of knots (compared to me anyway)!

SabbatWolf - Me! I have a habit of buying miniatures that I like and then never painting them.  I'm a real magpie, a hoarder extraordinaire!  I do occasionally paint something and will share pictures when I do.  I also have a couple of armies for Warhammer and 40K.

We should also have updates from the rest of our group as time goes by.

Thanks for stopping by, stick around and share our geekiness with us!

Posted by SabbatWolf