434 - Trucks, Halftracks and Other Impressive Things Afoot in the Blogosphere...

Hullo, All.

There are so many exciting things happening at the moment - especially with the new Guard Codex - that I felt I just had to share some of them with you. I hope you'll indulge some of these links, as they're worth it!

Firstly, THESE are starting to appear - thank the Emperor:


used with permission - Tabletop Fix.

 - Above is the version spotted by Tabletop Fix at Salute - it's by Zinge Industries [link] - and I'm pleased to note that we've already seen pics of a halftrack one currently being worked on by the very talented Karitas (please check it out):

This is just about the only thing that could possibly entreat me to buy this truck. Boy, it really does look better with wheels!

Secondly, there was a very interesting debate yesterday on Faeit 212 about the nuts and bolts of the Wyvern's shooting mechanic - in particular the prolonged awkwardness of shooting a battery of three vehicles at once, following the 'Rules As Written' approach.

It really is terribly convoluted and complicated.

The Faeit 212 discussion is worth a read [here], but the (mostly accurate) nitty-gritty is discussed in a far more straightforward way on Pins of War [here]. It's absolute bloody lunacy.
Fnally, please allow me to publically thank Karitas and Courtney H for yesterday - they know why(!) - and Zzzzzz for his centaurrific generosity. It's things like these and people like these that keep me coming back, y'know?

- Chris.

105 New Wyvern Pics

Evening, All.

I managed to get away from work early today, and (as it was a beautiful afternoon and Mrs. Drax was out) I decided to use the time to take some decent daylight photos of my wyvern conversion. I'm going to sit tight on my rules for it until the new Codex release, but see here for my initial thoughts. [For conversion details, track back through this.] Here's the main variant:

Here's the enclosed variant scout salamander:

...And here's the entirely useful wyvern annihilator variant (non troop-carrying):

You'll note the magnetised interchangeable hull/dorsal weapons - more details on these can be be found here. This last one's a photo of all the constituent parts:

Hope you enjoyed these better quality pics: more posts soon,

- Drax

087 Wyvern Complete...and some!

[12/03/09 - NB: I'm planning to update and consolidate all my 'Wyvern' stuff soon into one shiny new post with cleaner photos and my ideas for rules. In the meantime, working backwards through the posts with the 'wyvern' label will reveal the whole process - albeit backwards. Thanks for your patience and watch this space!]

Hey, all,

Great news - I've finally finished the 'Wyvern' conversion I've been working on...with variations on a theme and magnet fun too! For rules ideas, see here.

So here, for your enjoyment, are the pics of (a) the wyvern (with wyvern missile launcher), (b) an enclosed version of a scout salamander that I originally mooted to go with it, and - as an added bonus - a third option! Scroll down for more and an explanation (sorry about the pics - it's night time already).

The wyvern:
The salamander:

...And introducing the never-before-seen wyvern 'annihilator' variant (see below):

Here she is stripped down:

Here's a close up of the hull weapon magnetisation - the magnet's on the back of a bit of plasticard inserted behind the slot (I had to break the heavy bolter off once I'd decided to try this...the exact reason why I always use superglue rather than poly cement) and the weapons have lengths of paperclip either inserted in them (as with the rear-mounted grenade launchers from the standard wyvern) or glued along their base:

And here are all of the different components:

About the 'annihilator' variant:

Necessity is the mother of all inventions, and after playing a couple of games with my mechanised force, I was forced to the conclusion that the light vehicles were severely lacking in anti-tank capabilities, and this seemed a monstrous omission from the Guard's armoury. I didn't want to use my Leman Russ tanks in support, for fear they'd spoil the aesthetic, so I figured it'd be an easy enough field conversion to get rid of the troop-carrying capacity and install an anti-tank configuration.

Rules to follow soon, of course.

Hope you've enjoyed these conversions: Drax is a little chuffed.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

- Drax.

PS: Painting Points (see panel, left)= 20 for completion of the model, and a discretionary 10 extra for the two variants and magnetry. Hooray!

081 Mechanisation

Evening, all.

Just a quick post today. I might post a report of the weekend's last-minute surprise smackdowns against Mike the Merciless soon (when he sends pics), but until then, here are my light vehicles - those of the 1/24th Mech Inf and their accompanying support from the Cadian 144th Field Artillery. And my dog. The pics are slightly larger than normal, for your viewing pleasure:

I've just realised I forgot the sentinels. Oh well. Please note that the wyvern and one of the optional chimera turrets are not fully finished: sorry about that.

- Drax.

080 Wyvern Progress With Magnets

This is my first proper attempt to use magnets: apparently it's been a success!

Quickly then, here's the Wyvern as she is now - not much change as I've been concentrating on other things, but the flash in the pics from before showed me that I needed to paint the Dark Angels Green on a little more evenly, so I've given her another (slightly thinned) coat:

And I've made the grenade launchers detachable:

Here you can see the detail of this - these magnets are so damned strong! The grenade launchers (converted from the ball-mounted lasguns) had the ball mounts cut off and a pin inserted about 4mm in. This is plenty enough metal to keep them well and truly stuck to the magnets.

If you're wondering about the red stuff, it's because I paint the north pole of each magnet red to limit the chance of magnet-to-magnet confusion.

So there you go: happy Drax!

Plus, Mike the Merciless called yesterday: he's driving down for a visit and a game - yay!

- Drax

079 1st Draft Wyvern Rules

Comments will be most welcome!

Here at last are my ideas for rules for my Wyvern variant. I've been thinking and tweaking and tweaking and thinking, and this is what I've come up with. I've never played a 'pick-up' game, so agreeing rules for cool stuff beforehand isn't usually a problem. Not that I get to play much.

That said, I like Koloth's ideas (see 'comments', 075) for 'counts as' rules...

Basics:
Points: 120
Stats as Chimera
Transport: 6 troops

Wargear:
Hull-mounted heavy bolter; turret-mounted Wyvern missile launcher; P-M heavy stubber (turret) - plus any additional wargear from the IG vehicle armoury.

Options:
-- A command squad may fire grenade launchers from the two ports for free.*
-- The wyvern missile launcher (see below) may be upgraded to an AA mount for 15pts, losing its barrage ability.

Special:
-- Wyvern missile launcher. This acts exactly as a missile launcher, but it may opt to fire twice in a turn (counting as a single weapon). It may fire only eight missiles in a game. It is not twin-linked.
-- Barrage. If firing frag missiles, the launcher's targetry systems enable it to engage without line of sight. This works as a barrage weapon, using the stats below.**
* This is simply to reward me(!) for the work I'm putting in to magnetising some grenade launchers for the lasgun ports! It's free because I hardly ever keep my troops in their rides for long, they could only fire one at a time anyway, and the wyvern's purpose is to provide medium-range support (i.e. further than 24").
** Obviously, whilst firing barrage shots, the wyvern may not fire any other weapons (it won't be able to target the same unit). Also, barrage counts as 'pinning' too.

MY JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THE POINTS COST:
-- I like the model and I want to be able to field it;
-- It has only 8 discreet shots per game - assuming it lives long enough;
-- It's only BS3;
-- Compare prices: a basilisk (very powerful long range ordnance) = 100/125 pts. A manticore (tremendously powerful but with only four shots) = only 145pts. A medusa (with 2xT-L long-barrelled AA autocannon) = 200pts, but it's a gleaming anti-aircraft unit, and overpriced anyway. Therefore, reduced shots = reduced points cost;
-- I've taken a chimera, less 6 troops' transport capacity; less 6 lasguns, and added points 30pts for two missile launchers plus extra points for the stubber (they're overpriced anyway) and its (limited) indirect fire capability.

Incidentally, the indirect fire capability was originally going to be the same as on the FW support sentinel, but (a) I only have the trial rules, and (b) I don't know how that'd work in 5th. Plus, indirect krak missiles seem maybe a little too powerful for Guard...
Any thoughts, please? - Good or ill.
- Drax.

075 Glad Tidings of Great Joy I Bring

(Or 'Frosty the Arilleryman - Redux')
[NB: Please see below for anti-frosting tips]

Good news! FIRSTLY, comrade Koloth has finished building his Wyvern after my design - and it's come up a treat! View this and his other models over at: http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm190/SentinelV/ or by clicking on his name, above. Koloth is, officially, an awesome person, and I'm jealous. I'll start back on mine again soon.
SECONDLY, great news! If you remember poor old Frosty the Aritlleryman, commander of my basilisk/griffon 'Ubique', then you'll remember that he got well and truly coated with 'frost' from a spray-varnishing incident. AFTER lots of friendly advice and hints from you lot, I fixed him. In the end, I figured, "Ah, sod it - I'll just strip it and start over," so I plunged Frosty himself into a tub of surgical spirit (rubbing alcohol) and Lo! The frosting disappeared! Fearing that the remaining paint would just drip off anyway, I removed him and blew him dry - and he was fine!

The next day I painted surgical spirit onto the rest of the vehicle with a broad brush and that - likewise - was fine. All was a little tacky for a day or so afterwards, but it's absolutely great now. The only lasting and noticeable difference is that the transfers have had to be removed. Some peeled off when it frosted, but others I had to scrape off. They'll be replaced soon.

Pics below. 'Ubique' as she was:
Then as she was frosted:

And as she is now. Note the front panels on the port side, which I left frosted for comparison; also, this aquila transfer wouldn't come off:

Plus, of course, a cute picture of Cadfael on Christmas day:

FINALLY: Bad news about Ron, over at FromtheWarp: he's quitting the blogging. Thanks for all your efforts and help, mate, and good luck with stuff! NB: This is no longer the case - Hurrah!(Feb '09).

Here's a little song, just for fun:

Frosty The Artilleryman

Frosty the Artilleryman
Had a bright new grey jumpsuit
With an intercom and two shoulder pads
And a stormbolter to boot,

Frosty the Artilleryman
Was a sad old tale they say
‘Coz his new paint job, so crisp and clean
Got frosted one cold day.

It must have been the weather
Or I shook too little time
But when the varnish had dried out
He was covered in a whitened rime

Frosty was rescued
By a dip in surgical spirit
Now his tank is looking good as new
So he’s glad to be back in it.

Cheers, especially to Koloth,

- Drax.

063 Wyvern: To Obscurity and Beyond!

Afternoon, All.

I'll keep this fairly brief: Three things this week. Firstly, a little more progress on the Wyvern variant (or 'MSTTD'). I've mostly finished the bulk of the main paint job - mostly the details to get done now, although I still have to finish the lasgun ports at the end. I've decided to block them off, but if I can find my magnets I may yet have a little fun with that:
You'll note the blue-white-blue flash to complement the other 2/24th light vehicles: IN OTHER NEWS: my old mucker and erstwhile opponent Mike has started his own blog - and admitted his healthy (if misplaced) fear of guardsmen with plasma guns. Check it out: I didn't realise he was so good a painter, so I'm excited to see more of the same! Here's his landspeeder:

AND FINALLY, this Thursday just gone was Thanksgiving - that most American of holidays that we get to celebrate here in the UK thanks to Kate's awesome cooking. We had some mates and colleagues round to our little cottage, and Kate made no fewer than 21 dishes! Wow! Highlights included: (American-style) apple pie, pecan pie, key lime pie, pumpkin pie, homemade stuffing, poor man's brulée*, sweet potato pone and some marvellous biscuits and gravy**. Kate even bought a turkey joint for us meat-eaters - the veggies had a autumnal lasagne. All homemade and simply delicious! Here we are about to tuck in (Drax is at the back, grinning; Kate took the photo):

Hope those of you Stateside had an enjoyable holiday with your nearest and dearest - sadly we don't get time off work over here!

Now go and look at From Obscurus With Love.

- Drax

* Sweetened, mashed sweet potatoes with a marshmallow crust baked on top. Sticky!

** This is an American thing. Their 'biscuits' are like savoury scones that you eat with a thick, rich gravy.