New IG Thoughts

So I just picked up the new IG Codex this afternoon.

I'm not going into a point-by-point overview of the thing because others have already done it (and have done it better than I probably could have), but I have some thoughts and a blog, so I might as well use them.

For the most part, I like the new codex. It has some cool new stuff, and it actually does seem...fresh? Do I dare to actually use a cliche marketing term like "fresh" for the first time in my life? Hmm...at the very least it has that New Codex Smell.

I was never a huge fan of doctrines, so I don't really care about their omission, but I do like that a select few can be bought as upgrades for Veteran Squads without them affecting the composition of the entire army.

The characters and advisers are interesting (boy are there a lot of them!), and their respective special rules and limitations on what units they can be attached or upgraded to is an interesting touch. There might be one or two that I might consider using, but it seems like a delicate balance to not let an army list become a "Who's Who" in Imperial Guard special characters.

That being said, I kind of like the idea of Sergeant Bastonne and a Grenadier Vet Squad insertion force being Valkyrie-dropped to harry the enemy's backfield or contest an objective. A tough little nut of a self-contained, carapace armored, Ld 10 order-machine that could be hard to crack. Eh, maybe...

They really chopped the Leadership legs out from under Vox-Casters. With cheaper troops (therefore more troops), I can see why they made IG a little easier to break, but not being able to count on senior leadership from across the battlefield kind of hurts. The Commissar changes don't help this either - Stubborn is fine and dandy, but a Commissar won't take over a unit and lend his Ld value after he executes the officer? Ouch. Although I do like the idea of Commissars as upgrades for units rather than the hierarchy of unit assignment in the previous list.

(Edit: I think I'm wrong about the Commissar not taking over a unit - confirmation, anyone?)

New IG Codex

*cough*sputter*choke*

Hadn't seen all of this in one place before - looks like I'll have to do a major overhaul to my list.

IG Codex Rumors

Is it just me, or is anyone else worried that people will start bringing some way too powerful vehicles to smaller games?

Objective Received

There have recently been a flurry of objective markers being shown around the blogosphere, so with the afternoon off and this piece sitting unpainted on my shelf, I decided to gussy it up and take it out on the town.


Made from a variety of bits including a resin piece from the basing kit, various Cadian plastic bits, and the Praetorian wounded figures (glad I finally found a use for those!).

I personally like objective markers that tell a story, and there's something about the plight of this lone and injured Guardsman that makes me want to go grab that objective!

New Blog

Hi, all.

First a quick update on the Tantalum 5th.

Progress continues on scratch building and sculpting. What I thought would be an easy week finishing up a longtime dream project has stretched out considerably - not because it was more work than I thought, but because I got the scratch building bug, and am now working on three big projects simultaneously (with one more in the planning stages - yikes!). If I can remeber to do it, I'll post some WIP pictures in the coming week.

The big news is that I've started a second blog for a new army - Exorcists Space Marines.

Yeah, I know...a second army when the first isn't done...whatever. Go to the new blog - Rites of Defiance - and I'll explain why there.

Be a Conductor

Lost a couple of weeks of sculpting to some very unfortunate things happening with the day job (thanks economic crunch!), so I'm only about halfway done with the new project. I did get a couple of hours work in yesterday, and overcame a major stumbling block in the build design. Which got me to thinking...

I've done some pretty extensive conversions and semi-scratchbuilds over the years, but as one of the first real models I've taken from nothing to something I'm intending to cast, well, it's been an eye-opener. At the very least it's given me a greater appreciation of what the GW design teams do, and how they do it. Sure, from what I've heard, there's a lot of CAD designing that goes on in the GW workshops, but the majority of their products are hand-designed. And seriously, it's a lot of work.

So what have I learned? One rule: Be a Conductor. Not an Engineer.

Consider the operation of a train. There are two main positions- the Conductor, and the Engineer. In simple terms, the Conductor oversees the general operations of the train, and ensures that everything runs smoothly. The Engineer drives and maintains the specific mechanical operations of the train (since Engineer also refers to a technical/mechanical designer of machinery, I give myself bonus points for making a clever analogy). Anyway...

The point I'm trying to make here is that it's very easy to be an Engineer and lose yourself in the technical design of scratchbuilding something like a vehicle - get too bogged down in the mechanical viability of the design and you run the risk of not only over-designing the thing (adding a lot of tedious, tension-filled time to your build), but also of losing the "flavor" of the initial idea. Most of the vehicles/equipment/weapons in the game would never work in real life anyway, so there's room for you to breathe.

Of course, you can swing too far in the Conductor side of things and create some ridiculous stuff in the name of style, but I think 40K is pretty forgiving of the majority of wacky ideas. Remember the original dreadnoughts? How about the first sentinels? Yeah - if the initial designs of those can be based off of a peanut and and egg (respectively), I think you can relax on whether there's enough horsepower in your engine size to drive a 30-ton war machine.

So be a Conductor, not an Engineer - the train will get there on time.

Quick Update

Just got some fresh plasticard/styrene sheets/whatever today, and will finally start on a new..."something"...I've been wanting to scratch-build for a long time. I won't say what it is, but I'm hoping that I'll have a master built by the end of the week and ready for casting.

Photos will follow...

Inform Me!

This is just a general shout-out to see if there are any good Inquisition blogs out there. If you have, or know of, any links to some decent Witchhunter or Daemonhunter blogs, let me know. Thanks!