Pangloss' Miniature Wargaming Blogspot

Malifaux - The Guild

2010-09-12T07:07:00.001-07:00

I was originally put off Malifaux by the aesthetic of the game - it looked too cartoony. BUT everyone seems to be playing it at the moment so I thought that I would try and paint up a box of minis to see if I could try and overcome what I didn't like about the look of the game.

I decided to go for The Guild and bought the Lady Justice boxset. I've spent this week, among other things, painting it up, and I'm pretty happy with the outcome:

Ultramarines: The Movie - EPIC FAIL

2010-08-28T01:22:00.000-07:00

I've returned to the blogosphere (more on that tomorrow). What has brought me back is partly the need to comment on the trailer for the Ultramarines film that was released a few days ago. In many ways I'm reiterating and expanding on what others have already said: that it's not very good, looks low quality, that codex should go back to square one etc etc.

* The Pictures: We've known since the first teaser trailer that the quality of animation on the film was going to be poor. Everyone seems to be comparing what we have seen to the intro movie to Dawn of War very unfavourably with some reason. What Codex has produced so far is indeed below par and a complete letdown, even for those of us who weren't expecting Avatar-like graphics. Really, though, did we really expect anything else? The budget for this film is no doubt way below Avatar [sic] as well as most computer games. If you want decent graphics then GW would have to either stump up more cash or try and get a major studio to make the film - neither of which is likely to happen (remember when GW were sniffing around Dreamworks almost a decade ago?). Without a decent budget to do it properly, GW should really just leave it to the fans (for example, this and this).

* The Story: One common refrain seen across the blogosphere and on the comments for the clip, is an acknowledgement that the imagery is poor, but that the story will in some way save it. The fact that Dan Abnett is involved is, in some way, seen as a saving grace. Leaving aside the debatable quality of some of Abnett's work (notably Legion), do we REALLY expect a decent story? Just look at 99.9% of the Black Library's releases, including the audiobooks. It's all bolterporn with, in the case of the audiobooks, the only thing to signify different characters being that they have differing levels of gravel-ness in their voices. Equally, who is the film pitched at? Unless GW are insane, it will be pitched at their core audience: 8-14-year-old fanbois, who just want to see bolterporn and 'cool stuff'. Anything approaching an interesting story (at least for adults) is never going to happen as the core audience wouldn't want it. The story is going to match the imagery - it's going to be basic fodder to milk the fanbois

* First this and then...: Another response is that this is just a way of generating interest in the fluff, and once it becomes a success, a mainstream company will become interested in 40K and make their own high-budget release. Again, this doesn't appear to make sense: which Hollywood company (that wasn't already interested) is going to watch a poor 70 min piece of bolterporn that is just released in specialist outlets and think 'wow, we should develop this'? It's never going to happen. This is GW's only chance to make a go of it

Again, as I said waaaaaay back in the day when the project was unveiled, I'm willing to stand corrected on this, but....

One Month without GW and Counting (and some Flames of War)

2010-06-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Using considerably less willpower than I thought it would take, I've managed to avoid buying any GW products (even my secret weapons: babab black and devlan mud washes) over the last month since my post/moan about the price rise. This has to be the longest that I have gone without since I got back into the hobby about three years ago, and considering how much I often spent every month it feels like a major milestone. Of course, I havent saved any money as I have sublimated my desire to buy GW plastic crack into buying FoW metal/resin crack.

Last week, I also had my first go at FoW - three massed tank battles against Russians at 2,000pts (i.e. lots of Panthers & Panzer IV Hs versus T-34s). It was fun, and the rules (or at least the basic set we used) began to make more sense on the table than just reading them in the rulebook. My next goal is to build up an infantry list, maybe with some planes as part of divisional support.

1500pts of Imperial Fists Completed

2010-05-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

In record time (at least for me), I've completed the 1.5k gold Imperial Fist army that I began just over a month ago. I would have completed it faster if I hadn't got distracted by painting up my FoW Panzer list and generally got disillusioned by all things GW-related with the news of the price rise.

The final list is:

Captain Darnath Lysander (200)

Troops

5 Scouts (Missile Launcher & Teleport Homer) (100)

5 Tactical Squad (Powerfist & Razorback) (190)

10 Tactical Squad (Powerfist, Flamer, Missile Launcher & Rhino w Storm Bolter) (240)

Elites

5 Terminators (storm bolters) (200)

Fast Attack

Land Speeder (Heavy Bolter & Multi Melta) (70)

Ultramarines: The Movie Trailer: WAS THAT IT???!!!

2010-05-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

After much hype and speculation, a trailer for the forthcoming Ultramarines film was released today on the official site. The production company had been previewing loads of shots of what the weapons are going to look like (cos, hey, that's all we are interested in, right? forget plot, characterisation etc. Just give us a nice bolter and we are happy. er....)

Well, my initial reaction is that even the diehard fanbois are going to find it hard to say anything overly fanboi-ish about it. Clocking in at just over a minute, the majority of the trailer is John Hurt narrating (with his AMAZING voice) and then a shot of a hagged-looking Ultramarine....and that's it. really.

Aside from the fact that the trailer doesn't really give you much at all, the CGI marine looks really poor - about on par with the one on the start of Dawn of War intro movie from back in the day (in fact the guy on the trailer looks like his grandfather).

I'm always willing to stand corrected, but my guess is that this is shaping up to be bad, really bad.

Getting Started with Flames of War

2010-05-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Further to my plan in the last post to diversify the wargames that I play, I've decided to take the leap into playing Flames of War with a German [sic.] Panzerkompanie. I've spent the last week or so painting up StuGs and Panzers and getting my head around the basic rules for moving and tank/tank and tank/infantry shooting, although the assault rules and rules for artillery still have me fumoxed . The 2 gamers that I play 40K regularly with have gone for US and Russia, which is helpful for battles :-)

It helps me think about the basic rules for FoW in terms of 40K:

Phases --> Steps: The phases in FoW are called Steps and operate in an identical way to 40K. The only real difference is that FoW adds a Step prior to movement - the Starting Step - in which you can do things like rally troops or try and get crews back into tanks if they have bailed out during all the shooting.

Experience and Skill: An interesting new (at least to me) twist that FoW adds to the mix is the emphasis on how the experience of the troops impacts on the game. Various features of the game, such as the ability to avoid getting shot, motivation to get up while bullets are flying around etc., are determined by the relative experience of the troops in question. So, for example, veterans can work further away from commanders than conscripts; fearless troops are more likely to pass motivation tests than reluctant ones etc. (even with my dice rolls)

Movement: is again recognisable from playing 40k: you move a certain distance determined by your mode of transport, you can run at the double rather than fire (although this, luckily, isn't determined by a dice roll), and get bogged down. The two main differences - at least for me in my simplified version of the rules - is that you can dig in rather than move (and thereby get a better cover save) and that troops have to remain within a certain distance of their commanders (which, again, is similar to the synapse rule with Nids). There are also some cool rules about vehicles getting bogged down and how you can try and get them out and back into the action.

Shooting: One of the things that I always struggle with in 40K is remembering the WS, BS etc tables (although I know that BS is always worked out from a total of 7). FoW has a much more streamlined system based on the ability of the guy at the dangerous end of the bullet to avoid getting hit by it. Another major difference is that a platoon can split its fire between multiple targets rather than everyone just blasting away at the same opponents. The best thing, though, for me from a narrative view of the game is that if a platoon gets pinned down they have to pass a motivation test to get back into the game or stay with their heads down.

Tanks! Tanks! Tanks!: I've left the best to last: with FoW its possible to field a list of just tanks (which is fortunate as I'm not getting my head around the assault rules very quickly). Tanks attacking tanks works in FoW in roughly the same way as in 40K, but rather than just having glancing or penetrating shots, you also have the potential for crews to bail out, wait until it's safe and then get back in.

Anyway, speaking of tanks, here are my platoon of Panzer IV Hs:

And my two potential 2,000 pt lists are:

Option A (1985 pts)

2 Panzer IV H

Platoons

5 Panzer IV H

5 Panther G

4 StuG IV

Option B (1980 pts)

2 Panther G

Platoons

4 Panther G

5 Panzer IV H

4 StuG IV

ANOTHER &%*$£^ GW Price Rise???!!!

2010-05-10T23:32:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like it's that time of the year again: the time when GW hike up their prices. Since I got back in the Hobby in 2007, there have already been two rises and this latest one will mean that, for example, Terminators will be 2 quid more, codexes £2.50 more and a Monolith will be £37.50!!! (All this in spite of a pretty large rise in profits). Couple this with GW's awful attitude to fans - i.e. no official forums, no incentive to buy online rather than in stores, hyperactive lawyers, generally ignoring veteran gamers etc. and it feels to me like a line has been crossed. I'm going to keep playing 40K, but will try as long as possible to resist GW by:

Not Buying New: I havent bought new at a GW store for probably a year anyway; buying instead either online via Maelstrom Games or if I need it NOW buying at the Wargamestore. I'm going to try (famous last words!) and not buy anything new from GW, buying either alternatives (see below), painting other types of minis (see below), or secondhand from ebay. This means, at the very least, that my plan of painting up some Tomb Kings has probably gone out of the window lol

Find Alternatives: Rather than just painting GW minis or using GW products, I'm going to also try and find alternatives. For example, I'm really liking the look of the Greatcoat Troopers by Wargames Factory, and I'm sure that there are enough different mini companies out there to keep me occupied. This will also mean that rather than feeling that I have to paint up 1k or 1.5k of minis, I can just paint individual minis that I like the look of. I'm also going to start replacing my GW paints and washes with Vallejo ones (which are cheaper and contain more paint) as they run out.

Diversify: I've found myself drawn more and more recently to playing Flames of War. So, as well as painting other types of minis, I'm going to diversify into that as well - collecting a small German Eastern Front army in tribute to Cross of Iron.

Let's see how long I can go cold turkey for...

More Imperial Fists

2010-04-27T11:13:00.001-07:00

Using the montana gold spray for undercoat is REALLY helping me whizz through my Imperial Fist army (so much so, in fact, that I'm dreading going back to my old school approach on my Guard army). In just a couple of days since my last post, I've managed to get the basic coats on a razorback and a 5-man tactical squad:

The painting highlight for me, though, has been painting the interior of the razorback. I've always sealed them up, but I saw an article in an old White Dwarf where someone had painted the inside and not sealed the roof, so fancied giving it a go:

Gold Imperial Fist Terminators

2010-04-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

Back when I painted my Salamanders army, my initial idea was to paint an Imperial Fist list. The test mini that i painted looked dire, though, and so I opted for the green of the Salamanders. This week I decided to have another go with them - just on an initial 500pt and then 1k list - after listening to the Dark King audiobook, thinking that it would be good practice in painting lighter-toned minis. I then had the brainwave: why not paint them in gold like they are described in the fluff? Using a combination of Montana Gold spray and GW shining gold drybrushed, I have painted up 5 termis as test models and am pretty happy with the result. They are bright but with the washes etc. they still look like I have painted them (for better or worse)

My initial list is:

Captain Lysander

Elites

5 Terminators (powerfists & powersword)

Troops

5x Scouts (missile launcher & teleport homer)

5x Tactical Squad (4 bolters; inc. Sergeant with powerfist)

Razorback (T/L lascannon)

10x Tactical Squad (flamer)

Rhino (stormbolter)

Fast Attack

Land Speeder (multi-melta & stormbolter)

I HATE metal minis :-/

2010-04-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

On his soapbox again...

The last two days, and the last two that I have painted (namely Kharn and this Commissar), have really brought home to me how much I really hate painting metal minis. I appreciate that metal minis have more depth to them, but I really find them a pain to paint and I've yet to paint one that I dont think I could have done a better job of if it had been in plastic.

In interviews, Jack White from the White Stripes always says that one reason why he uses cheap guitars that barely stay in tune is that he likes the idea of struggling against the medium to produce his art. I feel like this about metal minis, but I don't like the struggle. at all. Leaving aside the issue of having to pin large models or that even superglue is not sufficient in some cases, the main issue for me is undercoating. With plastic minis, I can just put on a thinned black layer and then its ready to go. With metal, it's another story. If i put on thinned paint (after washing the mini in hot water and letting it dry) it just doesn't work, staying on in places but not in others. Even when i spray it, i find that the paint still doesnt stick everywhere (there are places on the Commissar where it was beginning to chip off by the second highlight). In fact if you look closely you can see bits of silver shining through on the finished one (or is it just my imagination?!)

The result of all this is that I'm constantly struggling against the mini to get paint to stick and in places paint over cracks rather than do nice detail-y things that I would do with a plastic one.

If anyone has any solutions, I'd love to hear them. I know people who say that they just put an undercoat on, that they have never had a mini chip ever etc etc. A GW employee once told me was the secret was to wash the mini in washing up liquid; that didn't work at all. Another told me to put three layers of spray paint on. I did it and ended up with a mini that looked like the michelin man, albeit black, and I had to spend a day stripping it back. Either that, or could GW pleaaaaaaase release all its minis in plastic??

1,500pts of Khorne CSM Completed

2010-04-17T11:30:00.001-07:00

Another Saturday, another army finished off - this time my Khorne CSM army that I began back in September. It started off as just 1k, but then grew via 1.2k to bang on 1.5k, with the recent addition of Kharn the Betrayer:

Daemon Prince (wings & warptime)

Kharn the Betrayer

Troops

10x CSM (2x meltaguns; Aspiring Champion with powerfist)

Rhino (T/L Bolter)

10x CSM (2x meltaguns; Aspiring Champion with powerfist)

Rhino (T/L Bolter)

9x Khorne Berzerkers (inc. Champion with powerfist)

Rhino (T/L Bolter)

Heavy Support

Predator (T/L Lascannons & T/L Bolter)

2x Obliterators

2x Obliterators (back after internship with Nurgle)

I'm really happy with how the army has turned out, although the Daemon Prince was a REAL pain to assemble. My only real concern was how the Kharn turned out. I don't know if its my old issue of not liking minis painted too red, or because i experimented by putting a layer of varnish between the undercoat and the rest of the paint, but it just doesn't seem to look right to my eyes:

The plan next is to finish of my Guard army, taking it to 1.5k as well.

Vendetta Gunship Complete

2010-04-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

One of the things that got me into the Guard was that I loved the look of the Valkyrie model. I didn't have much room for one in my 1k Guard list, but in my move to 1.5k I now have space for two of them as Vendetta gunships carrying Veterans:

2,000pts of Nurgle CSM Completed

2010-04-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my Nurgle CSM army on and off since November, and have managed to reach the 2k level (twice the number of points that I initially envisaged). I also have the Nurgle defiler ready, but will probably flog it on the bay of e as I've never found defilers to be that useful - aside from being able to draw fire.

So, working upwards, my 1.5k list (well, 1497) is:

Daemon Prince of Nurgle (wings, Mark of Nurgle, warptime)

Troops

Squad Cytoma:

7 Plague Marines (inc. Plague Champion w personal icon, 2x meltaguns)

Rhino (T/L bolter)

Squad Babesiosis:

7 Plague Marines (inc. Plague Champion w personal icon, 2x meltaguns)

Rhino (T/L bolter)

Elites

5 Terminators (with chainfists)

Land Raider

Heavy Support (on internship from Khorne)

2x Obliterators

The 1.75k list adds an extra squad of Plague Marines (Squad Pestula), and adding Typhus (and meltabombs to each squad of Plague Marines) takes it up to just under 2k:

A Thousand Sons - wow.

2010-03-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I bemoaned how I was getting completely bored by the whole BL Horus Heresy series. Well, after reading A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeil, I may have to re-evaluate.

A Thousand Sons is easily the best book for me in the entire series, if not the best BL book that I've read. To recap, it covers the downfall of the Thousand Sons; how they come to earn the ire of the Imperium for their use of magic, how they are censured by the Emperor and ultimately come to lose his favour and, ultimately, how both their legion and their planet of Prospero is decimated by the Space Wolves. What I particularly liked about the book was, in many ways, what I have found lacking in the previous books in the series, namely:

*I felt for the characters. One of the bad things about the series so far as was I couldn't really feel for the characters and found them a bit (well, a lot) one-dimensional: Horus is good (albeit a bit bland) -> Horus gets injured -> Horus sells the Imperium down the river (after falling for some pretty weak persuasion) -> Horus goes bad. Even in the Fulgrim book (also by McNeil), you never really got a sense of struggle with him and his whole descent into Slaanesh-iness, while tragic and more powerful than Horus' descent, felt a bit lacking. With ATS, I really got a sense of the tragedy of the Legion's fall from grace. More than this, I really felt sorry for the noble Magnus and the way in which, while trying to do good, he ultimately sowed the seeds for his (and his Legion's destruction)

*I loved the references. McNeil's writing was full of nice little nods and references to philosophical and occult ideas that - while possibly lost on much of the BL readership - made me smile. References to Plato's Cave, Alhazred from the Cthulhu Mythos, egyptology, ranks in magical orders abound, and certainly add spice to the plot.

*I loved the measured use of bolter-porn. There had to be battles, but it was really kept to just 2 places in the book - a short skirmish at the start and then the big battle at the end. Even here (in the latter example) the whole battle was tempered with pathos, though, rather than just being 'big guy shoots stuff up and then some more and then some more)

Let's hope that the rest of the series lives up to where ATS has taken it...

Orks: Third Time Lucky

2010-03-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of years (since Black Reach to be precise), I've begun painting and then flogged two 1.5k Space Ork armies. I always start with the best of intentions, but somewhere during the process of painting up 180 boyz, I give up and then flog the lot on ebay.

On recent trip to the wargame store, I saw that they were flogging the Ork Megaforce at a 20% discount, and was thereby lured back into all thinks green.

Learning from past mistakes, though, this army will differ from past attempts in several ways, I am:

*only going to paint up 1k.

*going for a fast attack-based army, with only 40 or so boyz.

*going to go for a brighter colour-scheme than in the past, when I would literally douse them in badab black wash. This time I'm going for a lighter skin tone with a thraka green wash, lots of browns, and, pushing the boat out, lots of reds and yellows (for speed freaks).

(I'm also going to try and sell the stuff I don't want from the Megaforce - 9 of the bikes and the lootas - and reinvest the cash in the minis that I do want)

I've painted up one troop choice and a trukk and am happy with how they have turned out:

The first troop choice (11 Slugga Boyz with a power klaw-wielding Nob in a Trukk) and the now-infamous patio

My plan for the initial list is going to be:

Warboss (cybork body, bosspole, 'eavy armour, power klaw)

Big Mek (Kustom Force Field)

Troops

11 Slugga Boyz (& Nob w power klaw & bosspole)

Trukk (red paintjob)

11 Slugga Boyz (& Nob w power klaw & bosspole)

Trukk (red paintjob)

18 Slugga Boyz

Fast Attack

3 warbikers (plus Nob w power klaw & red paintjob)

3 warbuggies (w T/L rokkit launcher)

Heavy Support

Battlewagon (big shoota, armour plating, deff rolla, grot riggers, red paintjob)

Meanwhile my Guard army is still in progress - only 1 more troop choice, a PCS, Vendetta, & a Chimera to go and then I reach the 1.2k milestone.

Gearing up for more Combat Patrol: 500pts Chaos Space Marines

2010-02-28T06:11:00.001-08:00

I'm gearing up for (hopefully) another round of Combat Patrol this week, this time fielding 500pts of my Khorne CSM army:

Squad 1 (150pts)

7x CSMs with Meltagun & Rhino

Squad 2 (200pts)

8x CSM with Flamer, Aspiring Champion & Rhino)

Squad 3 (150pts)

7x CSMs with Meltagun & Rhino

Combat Patrol: Imperial Guard Vs CSM (and Chaos)

2010-02-26T11:06:00.000-08:00

"Prepare to die for the Emperor!!"

Had my first real go at Combat Patrol today, fielding 500pts of Guard Vs CSMs and Chaos using a couple of the missions from the tournament over in Philly. I forget the exact results, but I know I definitely one won (wiped out Chaos in 3 turns), got hammered in one, and drew in another. Hopefully, next time I can try out a CSM list and maybe work though all the Philly missions.

My main thoughts on the games generally were:

*500pts: This was a nice level to play at with each game taking about 50-60 mins (albeit at a relaxed pace with lots of chatting). What I especially liked about 500pts was that it focused your attention down on each point that was on the table and made you think more strategically rather than trying to spam with more units or multiple units for the same job. When i lost a 10 man squad in one combat round, that was over 10% of my army gone.

*Autocannons and multi-lasers, yay: Leaving aside my meltaguns on the CCS and PCS, the stars of the show were really the 3 autocannon squads and the multi-lasers on the chimeras. When the CSs managed to hit anything, they were lethal, it was just a case of rolling those 5s and 4s. The Chimeras were also useful with their multi-lasers, although I didn't really exploit their transport potential, typically using them as either mobile gun platforms or circling them like wagons.

*Scout Sentinels, boo: The sentinel didn't fare so well, aside from being a nice speedbump, tying a squad of CSMs up for a round or two of combat. It will be going on the Bay of E in the very near future...

*Orders: 'First Rank, FIRE! Second rank, FIRE' is a GREAT rule.

*A New List: The sentinel is going to have to go and be replaced with a special weapons squad with 4 flamers (making up the points by reducing the number of meltaguns to 3 in each CCS):

CCS (3x Meltaguns, Boltgun) 82

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

Troops

PCS (3x Meltaguns, bolt pistol) 62

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

10 Troops (Grenade Launcher, autocannon) 65

Special Weapons Squad (3 flamers) 50

Imperial Guard out on (Snow) Patrol

2010-02-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

"Look, someone is taking our picture! Look sharpish, lads!"

I woke up this morning (as an old bluesman might say) to find a lovely blanket of snow outside, so I quickly gathered up my 500pt IG Combat Patrol army and got some pictures of them before it all went. The pictures came out a bit darker than I would have liked, but I love the look of the snow. The snow was deep but not compacted so the Chimeras started to sink down.

All things being equal, I'm hoping for two gaming outings this week - one with my Daemons and one playing Combat Patrol with my Guard.

Sisters in Battle: Looking to Interview Female 40K fans

2010-02-18T00:37:00.000-08:00

Feeling inspired by some really interesting (and at times somewhat fraught discussions over female 40K players), I've decided that the next stage of my project looking at 40K fandom would be to interview some female gamers regarding their motivations and experiences.

As with the fanfiction part of the project, I'm looking to interview roughly 20 people either by email or PM. Everyone who takes part will also receive a £5 voucher for the UK online GW store (or £5 via paypal, whatever is easier) as a way of thanking you for taking part.

For more details or info, just drop me a line

Combat Patrol: Thoughts on Missions

2010-02-16T07:22:00.000-08:00

I've really buzzed off the discussion that has emerged from thinking about Combat Patrol. I think I will have a go at the rules that Joe posted over at his blog once i get my initial 500pts of Guard finished (only one more Chimera and a PCS to go):

CCS (4x Meltaguns) 90

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

Troops

PCS (4x Meltaguns) 70

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

10 Troops (Grenade Launcher, autocannon) 65

Fast Attack

Scout Sentinel (autocannon & smoke launcher) 45

The next question is what missions to play. Obviously with just one, maybe 2, troop choices it will be difficult to play multiple (3+) objective games. So what options are there?. My first port of call is going to be the scenarios currently being played over in Philly. Looking through the old 4th edition rulebook, 3 scenarios look also useful: Rescue (p. 190); Sabotage (p.206); and Ambush (p.206)

A Quick Post: A Muddy Chimera

2010-02-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

Will post some more thoughts on Combat Patrol later. In the meantime, here are some pictures of a Chimera that I've just finished. I painted it and thought 'hmmm, this needs more' so i ended up experimenting with weathering and battle damage:

More Thinking About Combat Patrol

2010-02-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who replied to my last thread on combat patrol, it has certainly helped to further develop my thoughts on how it could be brought into 5th edition.

Thinking aloud, and attempting to bridge the various ideas that have been floated, howabout:

*Points. The first question is whether we stick at 400pts, move up to 500pts or maybe even go up to 750. I like the idea of 400pts because it keeps it fast, something that you can get an army together for in pretty quick time, and because it forces limits on what can be fielded. Then again, while it works well for my Guard army, my CSM, Nurgle and Salmanders would struggle to field much of any use at that level. Maybe the solution here would be to keep 400 as an ideal, but keep it open so that it could go up in increments to 750? (just like a standard game is 1.5k, but can go up to X). By keeping a cap at 750pts, CS retains a distinct flavour that is different from the 'standard' game and missions.

*HQ. The 400pt (or 500 or 750) limit combined with the wound rule would mean that uber-powerful HQs could not be fielded. Practically and fluff-wise, it would make perfect sense to field, for example, a 10-man CSM with the Aspiring Champion as the HQ. I also like the idea that PAGE suggested that your HQ should be the mini with the highest leadership score.

*3 Wounds to 2. Is there a way of including a 3 wound character, but amending their stats (and points) so that they have 2 points?

* HS & FA. The more the points creep up to 750pts (or even lower for my Guard) the possibility of bringing in some HS comes up. Is it possible that the 'less than 33 AV' rule would automatically rule out most HS anyway? I can't think of a single HS vehicle that would be allowed through on that, but of course there are also such units as Obliterators or Devastator Squads. Maybe the solution here would be to say no HS? In terms of FA, I can see that if we are ditching the organisation charts, upping the points and emphasising the fluff then FA would be even more central a part of each army. Could a case be made for fielding a completely FA army?

*200pts limit: I still think that this is overly restrictive, especially. if we are including troops and designated transport together.

So pulling all this together, I'm wondering whether the following is doable:

*Stick to 400pts where possible, but have the option of going up to 500 or 750pts

*Leave the HQ choice open, albeit with the various restrictions in place. You can either use a separate HQ choice or have part of your troop choice (i.e. the Aspiring Champion) as the HQ. I think the 'no unique characters' rule should stay, but is maybe also covered by the wound rule.

*Remove the suggested 200pts limit, esp. if we are potentially moving up to 750pts.

*No HS, tanks are already covered in the '33' rule, but a general 'no HS' rule would cover the rest.

*All FA? Is it possible to work out an 'all FA' list?

*Wounds. Is it also possible to work out a rule of thumb to work out how to make a 3-wound character into a 2-wound one?

Thinking about Combat Patrol

2010-02-09T23:20:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a fair bit about 40K Combat Patrol (AKA 40K in 40 Mins) recently, especially since I started my Guard army as CS would be a great way into starting to game with them before I reach 1k, 1.2. or 1.5k. Combat Patrol was part of the 4th edition rules, but was ditched from 5th edition arguably because GWs current emphasis is on bigger games (i.e. 1750pts is the new 1500pts, Apocalypse, War(hammer) of the Ring) rather than smaller, skirmish or narrative-based ones (i.e. LoTR SBG, Mordheim, Inquisitor, Necromunda).

The rules for combat patrol are pretty straightforward:

*Armies are no more than 400 points

*You must have at least one Troops choice.

*You may include a single HQ choice, but no more than one.

*You may spend remaining points on anything else in the codex

*No model can have more than 2 Wounds.

*No special or Unique characters.

*No model can have a save better than a 3+ or 4+ Invulnerable.

*Vehicles cannot have a total Armour Value greater than 33.

*No Ordnance weapons.

There are a few other optional rules such as you have to operate on WYSIWYG and that once your force is down to 50% you have to start taking leadership tests.

Several sites and blogs contain extra rules or refined rules or even attempts to update the original rules to make them fit better with 5th edition realities. An interesting example of this, and the blog that inspired me to write this posting, are the updated rules posted over at The Realms of Equinox. These take the initial rules and update them in several interesting ways, most notably:

* upping the points from 400-500

* restricting the number of Elite & Fast Attack choices to one each respectively

* an express ban on HQ, Heavy Support choices and Monstrous Creatures

* No single choice should cost more than 200pts

I've posted some initial thoughts on this, but my more detailed reflections would be:

*One Louder: I'm not convinced of the merits of upping the points to 500pts. I agree, as I said above, that the general move in GW is to reduce points for units and up the points for games (to sell more plastic crack), but I think the strength of CS is the way that it forces you to think within limits.

* You Can Stay At Home: While I can see the logic of restricting some elite choices and Monstrous Creatures (would Terminators be on a patrol?), I'm not sure about a complete ban on FA, HQ & HS. For example, it would fit within the fluff for a Marine patrol to comprise of at least one speeder, a Guard patrol to have sentinels etc. (in fact, one site has rules for a sentinel HQ). Equally, for HS & HQ: sure, you can try and include a turbo-charged HQ choice (Ahriman leading some Thousand Sons), but that is going to chew up points quickly and most likely break the Unique character or invulnerable save rules. By leaving it open, you are implicitly forced to take a low-level HQ choice (i.e. a bog-standard SM captain for 100pts minus the frills), which is, of course, more fluffy anyway. The 'No HS' rule is also, again, already covered with the AV rule

*I Need My Wheels: I don't think I will be fretting too much over the 'no choice over 200pts' with my Guard, but I would seriously struggle with this with my Marines and CSMs. Again, it would be fluffy for them to be travelling around in a rhino, but this (10 marines in a bog-standard rhino) would easily go over 200pts. 10 CSMs just walking around with meltas, a powerfist, and flamer would also push it over (esp. if they were Berzerkers). I think it makes more sense to, again, keep this open: so you want your troops to be 10 marines in a rhino? OK, but that is going to eat into your 400 pts and mean that you can't take, for example, Vulkan or Marneus Calgar (or much else for that matter)

My own sample Guard List (under the existing rules) would be:

Company Command Squad (4x Meltaguns) 90

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

Troops

Platoon Command Squad (4x Meltaguns) 70

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

10 Troops (Grenade Launcher, autocannon) 65

Fast Attack

Scout Sentinel (autocannon & Smoke Launcher) 65

The next question would be what missions would we play? The original rules just have annihilation, but there must be more (hopefully) fluffy ones that could be devised, covering, for example, ambushes, scouting etc.

Imperial Guard Project: Over half-way there

2010-02-07T06:13:00.000-08:00

Managed to do quite a bit of painting this week, finishing of my 3rd 10-man squad and a platoon command squad. I'm now hovering around 610pts, although Im going to repaint 300 pts of that (my 2 Leman Russes) once my spray-gun arrives.

Progress has been slowed a bit, though, by the general lack of Chimeras around. GW are releasing a new version in March and so at the moment you can't get one for love nor money in stores or online, and all the ones on ebay that (don't look they have been painted by a blind chimp armed with emulsion) are going for over 20 quid inc postage.

My main project this week was putting together the first PCS:

On the list they have 4 meltas, but I just modelled them with what I liked the look of.

Really impressed myself with this one - esp. the gold braid and the medals.

Inspired by my recent reading of Mechanicum, I also painted up a Forgeworld Techpriest and Servitor. Also really impressed myself with these, although I'm still getting used to the red as it is a much brighter shade than I'm used to using:

40K Fan Projects: A quick Update

2010-02-07T01:51:00.000-08:00

This week has been a pretty hectic week for my 40K fanstudies project. I heard back from Popular Entertainment Studies that they didn't want my fanfiction article for their first edition. I was half expecting this as I knew that it didn't fit in the theme for that edition, but I thought I would try anyway.

Better news came back on my W40K fanfilm article. Transformative Works and Cultures finally accepted my third draft of the article (the first two had admittedly been a bit rushed), and hopefully it should be coming out in 2011.

This year I'm planning on presenting the papers based on the 40K fanfilm and fanfiction projects at the Far West Popular Culture Assoc and at the Popular Culture Assoc/American Culture Assoc. Conference in St Louis

I've also done a fair bit of painting too...

Pretty Disappointed with the Horus Heresy

2010-01-31T01:05:00.000-08:00

I promised a less picture-intensive blog and here it is.

I've spent the last 3 months or so (among other things) devouring the BL Horus Heresy series and my general sense is one of disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the first four books in the series are great reads with lots of action - especially Galaxy in Flames and Fulgrim - but after Fulgrim I really got the sense that they were dragging the series out (although I appreciate that they are trying to do 'meanwhile at this time' and cover the history of the other Legions). Leaving that to one side, my general gripes with the series are:

1. Two Dimensional Characters (to say the least). I appreciate that the audience for these books isn't going to want pages and pages of existential discussions of the sort that you would find in a Dostoyevsky novel, but some actual character depth would be nice. In the series characters are very much painted as 'good' and 'bad' with little or no shading or exploration of motivations (the nearest that you get to this is the decline of Fulgrim, but this could have been explored a lot more). Arguably the worst sin of the entire series is that you do not get any real exploration of Horus and his motivations for switching sides. The scene where he becomes corrupted by Erebus, falls and then essentially sets the Imperium on a crash-course for implosion is handled in (correct me if I'm wrong) just a one chapter. Even then, the way that it is described is pretty superficial: another blogger described it well when he said it was like he was getting sold a used car rather than betraying all his principles, his father etc.

2. The Covers. I know that this is not a major issue, but why is it that the cover image of each book invariably has nothing to do with the contents of the book itself?

3. Back of a napkin/beer-mat plots. Once you get past the first books in the series, the plots become to feel like they have been sketched out on the back of a beer-mat and then passed on to the author with a request to 'spin this out to 150k words'. Two of the books in the series: Flight of the Eisenstein and Battle for the Abyss are nearly the same story - a chase through the warp. Arguably the worst two books for this, though, are Legion and Mechanicum. Again, I appreciate the respect in which Dan Abnett is held around the 40Kverse, but I defy anyone to not be able to summarise the plot of Legion in one sentence (my attempt would be: through a long and convoluted series of events, a member of an underground Cabal finally manages to tell the Alpha Legion about how the Horus Heresy will unfold). Equally the general narrative of Mechanicum is interesting, but it feels like the author realised that he was about 50k words short and so put the whole plot about the serpent in there for padding. I may ultimately be wrong on this, but I don't think a serpent trapped on Mars will be a defining motif of the series if it ever ends.

4. The Dark Angels Books. I don't think that I am saying anything too controversial when I say that the two Dark Angels books in the series are perhaps its weakest elements. Apart from the desire to draaaaaaaag the story out, I cannot for the life of me think of any reason why Descent of Angels, Fallen Angels and whatever the next book in the Dark Angels series could not have been done as one 400 page book. The first two books could easily have been made into one book and told the same story without the padding (and don't get me started on having a lead character who is called, at least when I speed-read it, Lionel).

5. When will we leave the Istvaan system? I know that the more books BL can sell, the more money they make, but, really, it would be great if they could move the main action from Istvaan back towards Terra (come on, guys, its been almost 6 books now!)

My only hope is that once the series is over, BL publishes a decent (say, 1,000 page) synopsis of the whole story with none of the padding.

Re-done Armoured Sentinel

2010-01-30T07:42:00.000-08:00

As I said in the last post, I wasn't 100% happy with the paint-job on the armoured sentinel, not least because it didn't match my 2 Russes. Soooo, I've added a layer of khaki to it and now it looks at least a bit better:

More Guard (and Rolf)

2010-01-29T06:20:00.000-08:00

OK, the highlight of my week has to be:

As well as meeting Rolf, I've spent this week working some more through my Guard project. My plan is (still?) to build up a 1k list and then see how i like it and then maybe upgrade to 1.2 and then 1.5k. My initial list (painted items in red) being:

Company Command Squad (4x Meltaguns) 90

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

Troops (2)

Platoon Command Squad (4x Meltaguns) 70

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

10 Troops (Grenade Launcher, autocannon) 65

Platoon Command Squad (4x Meltaguns) 70

Chimera (Multi-laser & heavy flamer) 55

10 Troops (Grenade Launcher, autocannon) 65

Fast Attack

Scout Sentinel (autocannon & Smoke Launcher) 45

Heavy Support

Leman Russ 150

(Kudos to Ravendove over at Librarium Online for his advice)

Anyway, on with the new pix. First up are the second troop squad:

I equipped this squad with a pile of flamers because I loved the look of the mini. It's not codex-legal, so they will just be proxies for lasguns.

Inspired by the really nice comments that I've had about my previous Guard paintjobs, I really pulled out the stops for my mortar squads, trying to have each one tell a story in a way. They wont be included in my 1k list, but hopefully I should be able to work a few into the 1.2k list:

And finally a scout sentinel (again proxying an armoured one for a basic scout):

TBH I'm not 100% sure about this one. The colour-scheme is a bit dark and I'm sure I could do a better job. I'll either hawk it on the bay of e and build the one that came in the second battleforce or try and redo the paintjob somehow.

EDIT: Since the first version of this entry, I've now finished the 2 Russes:

And finally a couple of shots of the lead tank:

The plan for this week is to paint either a Chimera or the PCS - or maybe redo the Sentinel.

Imperial Guard Project: 65pts in

2010-01-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

Painted first 10 of my IG this week (65pts), with 10 more about 80% done

My aim is to have my first platoon finished by this time next week.

I have some more to keep me going lol

The Guard Project Begins!!

2010-01-15T11:53:00.001-08:00

One of the simple, albeit not cheap. pleasures in life has to be opening a 40K battleforce box.

I came home from work yesterday to find the first of two that I have bought from Maelstrom Games had arrived, officially signalling the beginning of the Guard Project.

My plan is to try and paint up 500, then 750 and then finally 1.2k points over the next few months, using them as an opportunity to work on faces/skin, lighter colours and new basing techniques.

The only downside to the project so far is that, as occurred with the CSM project, the Guard project has also been cursed with bad ebay purchases. I bought 2 Leman Russ tanks before Xmas and they also arrived this week. However, one of them is missing half its treads and some other bits and bobs, meaning that I have enough bits to make 1.5 at the most. I'm currently haggling with the seller over a refund or more treads.

On a related note, I've completed an initial draft of the W40K fanfiction project article. More about that, though, next week...

Daemon Prince of Nurgle Completed

2010-01-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

Finished it in about a week of tinkering. The can on his back was a REAL pain to stick on and in the end I had to pin it in 2 places to get it to stick. Overall, I'm giving this a 6.5 - 7/10 for the paintjob. I'm pretty sure that I will revisit it down the line and redo it:

Finishing Off Chaos

2010-01-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

This week has been a fairly productive one. I've finished my Chaos Spawn (proxies for Fiends) and my Apostate Preachers of Nurgle, almost finished my Daemon Prince of Nurgle, and written almost 2,000 words of my W40K fanfiction article (which, for me, is a lot of words to produce in a week).

All things being equal, I'm hoping to finish off my DP next week along with my last squad of Plague Marines, by which time my Cadian boxset should have arrived.

Time for pix:

First up, the Apostate Preachers. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, although it was touch and go at several points - Calthan Brown is a strange colour. I'll probably run them as a second HQ choice in my Nurgle CSM army - Chaos Sorcerer with familiar and Warp Time and Nurgle's Rot

Two squads of Spawn/Fiends ready to go, and some detail-shots of my favourite ones:

Pinkie Brown - evil all the way to his core

Dallow

Spicer

New Year, New Decade, New Army: The Guard

2010-01-01T03:49:00.000-08:00

Well, after mocking them, Ive finally been tempted over to try some Guard this year. My plan is to work up 500pts for skirmish games, and then up to 750pts. I can't see myself going over 1k with them, but who knows.

I'm just working out colour-schemes: Khaki or camo?

My initial list is going to be essentially the Cadian Battleforce plus a tank:

Platoon Command Squad (Power Weapon & Heavy Flamer) 60

Troops (1 Platoon)

10x Guard 50

10x Guard (Missile Launcher & Plasma Gun) 80

1x Heavy Weapons Team (Autocannon) 65

Fast Attack

Scout Sentinel (Lascannon) 50

Heavy Support

Leman Russ (Lascannon, Sponson Heavy Bolter & Stubber) 195

2010 Gaming Resolutions

2009-12-31T08:52:00.000-08:00

I never keep resolutions, but here are some gaming ones for 2010 anyway:

*Finish my Chaos armies. I need to finish my chaos armies. It's only a matter of my Daemon Prince of Nurgle, 4 more spawn, and 7 more plague marines and then all 3 are finished to 1.5k.

*Try and play more games. I want to try and get out and play more games - at least 2 a month. Linked with this, I need to try and get my head further around the rules (esp. close combat)

*500pts of Imperial Guard. My project for spring is to get 500pts of Guard up and on the table for some skirmish games.

*More Work/Fun. I also need to get my 40K fanfilm article sorted out and published and finish off my fanfiction article and get that out there as well.

*Develop my Painting. I especially want to get more into highlighting, detailing faces, and to start doing more interesting things with basing.

*Blog More. Finally, I will try and do one blog post a week.

Happy New Year!!!!

Second Soul Grinder Completed

2009-12-27T12:55:00.000-08:00

Just 4 more Spawn/Fiend proxies and my Nurgle DP to complete and my Chaos Daemons are ready to go.

Nurgle Defiler

2009-12-24T04:17:00.000-08:00

I had a defiler lying about that i got off a friend that had quite a bit of paint on it and some bits missing. I was thinking of putting it on ebay for a tenner, but had a brainwave at about 3am a few days ago about converting it to a nurgle defiler for my 1.5k Plague Marine army. I'm pretty pleased with the results:

Another Nurgle Rhino Completed

2009-12-19T15:05:00.001-08:00

Had an evening free, so finished off my third (and final) Rhino for my projected 1.5k Plague Marine army:

Loving the idea of all the nurgle-y stuff seeping out of the door lol

Just have to now paint up my Daemon Prince of Nurgle and 7 more Plague Marines and then I have my 1.5k done and ready to game

40K Fanfiction Research: More thoughts on 'More of/From'

2009-12-19T02:30:00.001-08:00

I'm beginning to firm up more the (admittedly not written-in-stone) distinction between 'More of' and 'More From'. I think it makes sense to situate the stories on a continuum ranging from 'More Of' stories through 'More From' to 'More Than' in terms of their relative degree of transformation of the canon.

More Of: Stories that offer us 'more of ' the 40K universe: focusing on war/grimdark (bolter-porn of Ultramarines V Orks), extending exisiting narratives (see below) or the stories of existing characters. I would also include within this attempts to write in a self-conscious BL style (maybe for publications, maybe for security).

More From: attempts to situate a story within the W40K universe, but to tell a story different than the typical BL-fare (what I termed 'Refocusing the Camera' below)

More Than: (thanks for Sholto for suggesting this) where the author rejects the canon and attempts to tell a different story (the whole Horus Heresy was just a dream and Horus wakes up from a nightmare a la A Thief in the Night) or where they try really skew the canon in a different direction. Im guessing that humour could also be fitted in here as the author seems to be saying 'forget all this grimdark, lets have a laugh at it all'. I would also include stories here that tried to re-read non-40K stories through the lens of 40K. Possible examples:

Calming the Daemonhost by Dan Pickens (Disney's Beauty and the Beast re-read through W40K)

Harry Potter and the Embrace of Chaos by Solvdrage (HP/40K crossover)

The Emperor's Key by Mountain King (Buffy/40K crossover)

The Estate Agent from, well, quite literally Hell by Pip (40K comedy)

Primarchs by Lastie (a comedic take on the Primarchs)

It's All in the (Chaotic) Family by Vyce Dryke (another 40K comedy)

This is all pretty fluid though still...

40K Fanfiction Project Update (and some pix)

2009-12-14T03:59:00.000-08:00

My project looking at 40K fanfiction is just over a week old and is really going well (thanks especially to all the people who have taken the time to let me interview them). So far, I have interviewed 13 or so people out of the 20 that I had planned. The plan for the remainder of the interviews is to ask 4-5 different exploratory questions based on themes that have come up so far.

I've spent this morning beginning to make sense of the interview data, but the initial themes that have come up are:

**The role of Canon.

What i have found so far supports the idea that male fanfic authors tend to stay within the canon ('adding to'), rather than engaging in more transformative forms of writing. The 40K authors, in other words, would appear to want to produce 'more of' rather than necessarily do 'more with' the canon (i.e. transformative forms of literature). This would seem to be reproduced in both explicit ways (i.e. forum rules and critique of stories on fanfic sites) and implicitly through ideas of what George Herbert Mead might call 'Generalised Others': unstated ideas of what 40K fans/fan-authors 'out there' would think if they read one's story.

**Creativity & Originality.

Nevertheless, the authors emphasise creativity and originality in their work and in that of others. All the authors that I have spoken to articulated what made good and bad 40K fanfic, and invariably 'bad fanfic' was characterised as being poorly written, badly plotted, poorly characterised battle reports ('bolterporn' or 'warporn' as it was labelled by two interviewees).

**How to be Creative/Original in Someone Else's Universe.

Although the authors were keen to fit their work into the 40K canon, for them the canon has sufficient space within it for originality (in other words, staying within the canon and being original/creative are not mutually exclusive). Three spaces in particular were highlighted:

*Another Time, Another Place (Extending the Narrative): First, the 40K universe is vast and stretches across a wide historical vista, most of which has not been filled in through the Black Library books or GW codexes. The Horus Heresy novels, for example, take place in the 31st Millennia, two thousand years after the Great Founding and ten thousand years before the 41st Millennia that gives the game its name. While the millennia prior to the Horus Heresy are sketched out in broad brushstrokes within places such as the official 40K rulebook or the Space Marines Codex, it has not been officially fleshed out by GW/Black Library in novel form. On one level, fanfiction authors can set either their stories within one of these huge historical gaps (see, for example, fanfic by Nopoet set it 20th Millennia) or in a part of the 'contemporary' universe not explored in GW/BL novels.

*Refocusing the Camera ('Recontextualization' - Jenkins, 1992): On another level, 40K fanfic authors can shift the level of storytelling from the 'heroic' universe-level explored by the Black Library - of, for example, the great heroes, Primarchs and destiny-changing battles of The Horus Heresy series - to the 'little stories' or unnamed characters that don't make the headlines (see, for example, The Imperial Guardsman's Journal by Brannick, the 'letters' sent home from Imperial Guardsman Marun to his mother by Consadine or nefarious activities in one hive on one hiveworld in the vast universe). This is a standard practice for (female) fan-writers in other fields, who shift the focus away from the lead characters onto neglected (and often female) characters - such as Lt. Uhura or Nurse Chapel in the original Star Trek series.

*Exceptions Prove the Rule: Thirdly, fan authors can explore exceptions to the canon; simultaneously acknowledging the canon while moving away from it. Compare, for example, the description of a standard forgeworld with that found in the published story Phobos Worked in Adamant by Robey Jenkins (Planetkill, 2008).

*No Slash.

In his book on Star Wars fandom, Will Brooker makes the point that no one that he spoke to had ever heard of Slash fiction and that, indeed, he had to raise it with them (despite the fact that it dominates in academic discussions of fanfiction). This was my experience as well. While elements of the 40K universe could potentially be read in a Slashy or generally erotic way, I found little or no evidence of this among the fanfic writers (like Brooker I did not raise it unless the interview touched on adult content in the 40K universe). This is not to deny that there is erotic 40K fanfic (such as Succumus of Slaanesh by Firewind or A Sign of Loyalty by Grakul). It is clearly in the minority though.

At this point we get a bit more speculative, and I'd like to explore the following more in the remainder of my interviews:

**Why this emphasis on 'colouring within the lines'?

If you are writing a book for the Black Library then there are obviously limits to what you can write about due to what fans will accept/what will sell and what is suitable for age of the perceived audience (No Slaanesh Orgies Please, We're Under 16). But, if you write fanfic then the universe is really your oyster. So, why does most fanfic not push the boundaries more (i.e. engage in more transformative re-imaginings of the 40K universe)? Several reasons are possible:

*Mansauce? First, 40K is (to use one interviewee's term) 'mansauce' and they may be pretty happy with the universe thank you very much and not want it tampered with (i.e. they really just want 'more of' what they already have and like). Henry Jenkins has argued that female fanfiction involves women watching sci-fi and attempting to refocus it to fit in with their own interests and concerns (he uses the phrase, shifting it from a 'space opera' to a 'soap opera' to describe this). Men in contrast don't have to do it as the shows already explicitly cater for them. Equally, 40K does not have to be refocused/subverted to appeal to their (male) interests.

*The Constraints of the Universe? Second, the nature of the Universe as filled out by GW/Black Library means that certain issues cannot happen - i.e. why no emotional space marines? They dont have them. Why no sex? the role of celibacy in the 41st Millennium. Another interesting point raised by a few interviewees is that the 40K universe is not built around close character relationships per se, like Buffy, The X Files, The Professionals etc. Rather, the main character of the 40K Universe is the Universe itself, and, as one interviewee said, "you cant write slash fiction about a universe." If characters (and the relationships between them) are the beginnings of slash (i.e. the Kirk/Spock relationship, the 'buddy-show' format of the 1970s) then this is not possible within 40K fanfiction.

*Desire for Publication? Third, a few interviewees have said that they think that the ultimate goal of writing fanfic is to get noticed and then published by the Black Library. Their fanfic is, in other words, a calling card or a foot in the door (as occurs with fanfilm). If that's the case, then it's understandable why an author would want to display their mastery of the 40K canon, rather than wanting to subvert or challenge it with images of touchy-feely Space Marines.

**Why not 'more from'?

If fanfic writers are happy to look at exceptions, why not look at existing stories differently? (i.e. 'more from') To give an example, we know that Space Marines don't feel emotions within the canon, but what would happen if they did? To give an example, in the BL novel The Flight of the Eisenstein, Solun Decius is injured and infected with Nurgle when he is stabbed by Grulgor. Throughout the remainder of the novel, as Decius becomes more and more Nurgle-y there are fleeting references to his commander, Nathaniel Garro feeling some professional blame for what transpired, but neither these nor Garro's feelings at having to kill Decius at the end of the novel are explored. Officially, of course, as a Space Marine, Garro wouldn't feel anything. Also, there isn't a lot of interiority in the series (i.e. characters musing and reflecting). BUT a story could, while accepting that is true in the canon, still explore this in as an alternate take on the situation.

**What is 'more from'?

What potential ways could be seen as 40K fan-authors attempting to get 'more from' the canon? Some possible examples could be stories where the 40K characters come to life (the old Indian in the Cupboard trope), such as 40K: Toyhammer by Rouge Psyker or Mini Hammer by Reg Mage Neko. Or you could include stories that take characters from one area and try and show them in the 40K world, such as Michael Khale's take on Blackadder in the 41st Millennium.

Well, this is where I am so far - lots of ideas coming together and a few more bubbling up. I also need to track down some more comedy 40K stories to see how they take on the grimdark of the 40k universe. While I'm doing some more thinking, here are some pix of the weekend's painting:

Two shots of the first Soul Grinder for my Chaos Daemons army...

and two shots of my Plague Marines and transports

FTW Collaborative Post: My Worst Painting...

2009-12-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

I tend not to have any minis around for very long that I dont like the look of. I usually put stuff that I'm not happy with on ebay and use the money to buy new stuff. This means that there is no real 'chain of improvement' in my painting: from early mishaps to where i am now. I sometimes regret this. I wish sometimes that I had kept the first space marines that i painted when i got back into the hobby last July. It would be good to see the improvement.

So, In answer to the collaborative post, my answer would have to be "...are no longer in my possession". Having said that, rummaging through my painting box I did find my Blood Angels captain, which i suppose is technically the worst example of my painting that I currently still have.

I bought the mini as part of the first Black Reach boxset last year (I've probably bought about 3 more since then). I flogged the rest of the minis early this year, but kept this - no idea why. I can't think of a single thing that i like about it. Everything that i did with it, i now know how to do better; from highlighting to painting skin etc etc. Even the base isn't very good. The cloak has greenstuff on it when i was experimenting with making a cloak for a homemade Vulkan for my Salamanders.

Hopefully there is a big gap between him and Typhus, which is the most recent mini that I've painted.

LOTS of Pics - 9,000pt Game, Nurgle etc etc

2009-12-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

A BIG photo update for the weekend.

First some shots of the 9,000pt game i played with Rob and Ian earlier in the week at the Wargamestore:

The Salamanders arrive via drop pod

The state of play at the half-way point. Lots of speedbumps for tanks, but still everything to play for (check out the old skool landraiders, rhinos and predators)

The endgame - a draw

and now for some Nurgle:

Firstly, here is the big cheese himself, Typhus. I've been reading The Flight of the Eisenstein this week, so I felt suitable inspired to paint him up last night and this morning. I'm really happy with him - especially loving the purple & yellow pus dripping all over him.

More details on the purple and yellow pus. The top of the termi armour looks really great: nice and festering. Speaking of festering, here are my plaguebearers:

I just have 6 more to paint to make 21 in total.

Again, I'm really loving the dried blood on the weapons and on their bodies.

More coming soon...

Looking to Interview Warhammer 40,000 Fanfiction writers

2009-11-26T05:09:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to bridge the worlds of work and play, I've decided to write an article for eventual publication in an academic journal on the phenomenon of W40K fanfiction. Over the last decade or so, there has been a growing body of scholarship on fandom and fanfiction in particular. However, most (if not all) of this has focused on the types of fiction that female fans write and no one to date (as far as I am aware) has paid much attention to what males write.

For the project, I will be looking to interview as many fan-authors as possible on their reasons for writing among other things. The interviews will probably take about an hour and will be recorded for data analysis (any responses will be kept confidential and anonymous). I'll try and do as many face-to-face interviews as possible, but I'm suspecting that the majority of the interviewing will take place over the telephone.

Everyone who takes part will receive a £5 GW voucher as a way of thanking you for taking part. You will also be given a consent form to fill in to show that you have agreed to being interviewed (if you are under 18 this will also have to be signed by a parent/guardian)

For more details, just drop me a line

Second Nurgle Rhino

2009-11-15T00:33:00.000-08:00

You *know* when you've been Nurgled!

I went to town a bit on this one lol :-)

New Project: 1k Nurgle CSMs

2009-11-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

A return after a short break, with an idea for a new project/army: 1k nurgle CSM:

Daemon Prince (Mark of Nurgle, wings, warptime) 175

Greater Demon 100

Troops

7 Plague Marines (Champion, power weapon, 2x flamer) 163

Rhino (Havoc Launcher) 50

7 Plague Marines (Champion, power weapon, 2x flamer) 163

Rhino (Havoc Launcher) 50

4 Obliterators (2 squads of 2) 300

1001 pts in total.

Pictures of the project so far:

The Rhino:

First plague marine squad:

CSM 1000pt Project Update: Complete!!!

2009-10-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

After a weekend burst of creativity, I managed to finish off my 1k of CSMs last night. In total there are 1049 pts (counting the Terminator Lord as a Daemon Prince with wings). I might get the DP down the line, but at the moment i can't be bothered (plus I'm always saying that I don't want to paint another metal mini):

Daemon Prince (Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Lash of Submission) 155

Troops

10X CSMs (Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, 2 meltas) 210

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

10X CSMs (Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, 2 meltas) 210

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

9x Berzerkers (Skull Champion w Powerfist) 229

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

Heavy Support

Predator (Sponson Las cannons) 130

The plan next is to take them up to 1.2k and then 1.5k by Xmas. A friend has given me a Defiler which would take my army up to 1.2k easily (running it with 2 close combat weapons). After that I will either go for another 10 CSMs (if for no other reason than I love painting them), another Defiler or maybe even another Daemon Prince. I'm edging towards another defiler though at the moment. I've also bought some Bloodletters on ebay last night for a tenner that I might use either for this army or a daemon army down the line somewhere.

CSM 1000pt Project Update: All Vehicles Now Painted

2009-10-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

The three rhinos and predator of my 1k list are now complete. All things being equal, I will paint the last 10 CSMs and then I will have my 1k force ready for their first game (and hopefully expansion up to 1.2k)

CSM Project Update: On the Final Stretch

2009-09-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

I now have only 330pts of the CSM project left to paint (The predator that I bought on ebay arrived today almost TWO WEEKS after I paid for it). The plan is to repaint the first rhino this weekend, do the predator the week after and then finish off with the last 10 CSMs.

In terms of costings, the whole 1k project cost me £97.44, not including the bases from Dark Art Miniatures. If I factor in the 30 urban bases, it would probably come in at around £105 or so.

White Dwarf is Boring

2009-09-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I did when I got back into the hobby last year was buy a copy of White Dwarf. As I'm also a bit of a completist and wanted to re-immerse myself, I also bought the previous 6-7 years worth of back issues on ebay. I also even bought second hand the only copy of WD that I had when I was a kid (issue 101) for sentimental reasons.

Recently, though, my love of the magazine has begun to wane and I've essentially stopped buying it as a default thing every month (although I did buy the last one to read about Space Hulk)

This is why I found this thread over at the Hogs of War interesting. The blogger has a subscription and he is going to review each issue so we know what we are potentially getting before we open up a copy in the shop and/or part with cash (I think another blogger is doing this, but I can't remember who).

So, why have I given up on WD? Well, several reasons really:

1. It's a sales catalogue. We all know this. I'm not saying anything new. WD is a sales catalogue, designed to promote GW product and make us all lust after it. This is fine and dandy, but I really want more from a magazine than just 'look at this!'. Also, the articles are contrived - all saying how great the new mins, rules, codex, book (basically any GW product) is and why YOU should want it (i.e. 'well, Jervis, I'm glad that you asked me about the quality of the moulds. Let me tell you...").

2. Battle reports are boring. I often liken battle reports to reading other peoples accounts of having sex. I'd much prefer to be playing a game or even watching people I know play than reading about people who I have never met playing games (games that in principle might never have even happened). The only reason I could see myself reading it is to glean tactics, but I can never figure them out from battle reports anyway.

3. Get the same for free from fans. Most, if not all, of WD content can be found on blogs and forums - often ages before it's covered in WD. There are also quite a few fanzines that, although not as professionally produced as WD, literally drip with fan love but which are also honest in their reviews. I'd much prefer to read an online zine or a pdf release that has loads of typos, bad photos etc. if it feels genuine and has a real honesty to it.

4. Narrow Content. Looking back a way, WD used to be much more diverse in the types of articles that it used to have. Not so long ago, you got articles on RPGs, Necromunda, Battlefleet Gothic etc. Now, all you get is 40k, Warhammer and War(hammer) of the Ring (even LoTR SBG has been sidelined). I can understand them wanting to support the core games, but some scope would also be nice. They might even get people interested in non-core games.

5. Recycled Content. Linked with this, there is a SERIOUS amount of recycling going on in the painting articles. The general ethos with them appears to reflect the belief that either there is a rapid turnover in players or most players have no long term memory for how to paint faces, space marines etc etc. Also, linked with 3, most, if not all, of these kind of tips are available online in forums and blogs

Ultramarines - The Film

2009-09-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

News is bubbling up that there is a W40K film in production. Ultramarines, according to the publicity blurb, is to be produced by the London-based company, Codex Pictures (the people behind the Lego BIONICLE films) and "will use CGI and state-of-the-art animation production techniques". It should also clock in at around 70 mins (and will, I'm guessing, most likely be released straight to DVD and sold in GW stores).

I am obviously excited about this, not least because of my interest in W40K fanfilms and fandom generally. My excitement, though, is tempered with a fair bit of pessimism as W40K fandom has been here before. Back in 2001, there were news reports that GW was in discussion with Dreamworks to produce a £25m film. The subsequent project, Bloodquest, however never made it off the starting blocks - allegedly being pulled because GW needed the cash to fund buying the rights to produce miniatures for the LoTR films. All that remains from the project, at least in the public domain, is a trailer for it over on youtube. My fear is that the project will either run out of money or, based on past form, GW will pull the plug on it before the project really gets going.

CSM 1000pt Project Update: 664pts painted - Khorne Berzerkers

2009-09-27T09:35:00.001-07:00

Spent the weekend painting 9 Khorne Berzerkers, taking my total for the project to 664pts. I debated for a while about whether to paint them in standard red armour or paint them to match the CSMs. In the end I decided on red out of tradition and because it matched up well with the CSMs colour-scheme anyway.

I just have 10 CSMs and the predator to paint up and then I have my full 1,000pt army ready to go. All things being equal, I think this week I will redo the first rhino to match the rest, next week I'll do the last 10 CSMs and then do the predator last (assuming it has arrived by then).

On a related note, paypal have agreed with me that the CSMs that I bought a few weeks back on ebay were duff and that the guy who sold them to me has to refund me and pay for return postage (as I requested right at the start). Looks like someone will be getting negative feedback...

TUTORIAL: How to make you vehicles look like they have spent 10,000 years in daemonic flames

2009-09-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post this, as it may be of interest to some how I did my rust/burned rhino.

Stage 1: start with a rhino (or other vehicle)

Start with the basic chassis. I sprayed this with basic black spray from a hardware store. Citadel paints work great for this and really crack well.

Stage 2: cover it in glue

I know this image looks dodgy (lol) but drop splodges of glue on the section that you want to damage first. I used citadel glue as it smells nice (!!) and I've always found it works well for this. Leave it to dry a little and then start to smear it around using your index finger, tapping areas to make it bubble and crack. One thing that you might notice is that the citadel glue goes a bit wispy in places and creates trails of cotton-wool like fibres. These are a pain at first, but come off easily.

When you have finished a section, it should look something like this:

and when you have done the whole vehicle it should look something like this:

Stage 3: stippling boltgun metal

For the first layer of paint, take an old tank brush and load it up with boltgun metal. Clean most of the paint off the brush so a drybrush amount remains and then stipple (i think that's the right word for it) the paint on gently so as to not obscure the detail below. Work in small areas and then extend outwards. Leave the tracks until last and just drybrush those as standard. It should then look something like this:

Stage 4: random stippling of tin bitz

Next stipple tin bitz randomly. Use a standard-ish amount of paint and try to cover most, but not all, of the vehicle. It should then look something like this:

Stage 5: washes

The best bit :-) Take Devlan Mud and Gryphonne Sepia washes and douse the model in them, ideally so they are runny and mix into each other. Depending on how much you use, leave the vehicle a couple of hours for them to soak in.

Once its dried, add another wash of sepia in selected areas. It should then look something like this:

Stage 6: weapons etc

The final stage involves painting any weapons etc. that you want to add to the vehicle in the same way (minus the glue), and then affixing them. If you wanted to go a bit mad with it, you could maybe melt some edges a bit or add mud to the tracks.

It's then ready for use:

CSM 1000pt Project Update: 395pts painted

2009-09-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

After a series of stop-starts, work on the heart of the CSM project has been continuing apace for the last week or so after the battleforce arrived. I now have 395pts of the 1k painted up, leaving 600 or so points left (or 10 more CSMs, 9 Khorne Berzerkers, a rhino and a predator left to do).

I'm in the midst of painting the rhino at the moment, and will paint a step-by-step blog on painting it in uber-rust. I think I might also redo the rhino on the right to match the army colour scheme better.

I really like the colour scheme of the tactical squad, and I thought that i would experiment a bit with them and mix up standard CSM bits with some possessed limbs and torsos. Each one has a bolter in their right hands, but their left hands might be a demonic claw or whatever.

Finally, I'm not sure whether CSMs are meant to be cute or not, but if they are, i think this one is - although I wouldn't fancy meeting him down a dark alley lol

The CSM Project begins in earnest

2009-09-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

Yay! the CSM battleforce box has finally arrived! I'm not proud to admit that i did shake the box several times before opening it and savoured the weight of the plastic therein. I decanted the lid of the box like it was holding a fine win (i know im stretching the similes here) and just pored over each sprue in turn.

Yikes

I've already painted up 5 of my CSM rust marines and they look really great. The scheme is black undercoat followed by drybrushes of boltgun metal and tinbitz, then devlan mud and sepia washes doused on them (the mini is basically drowned in it). Finally, once they are dry, a final splodge of sepia wash finishes the job off. Will upload pix when its brighter.

My plan is to paint 5 more to make a squad up and then do the second squad, the rhino, Khorne Berzerkers and then the predator in that order. I'm also planning to do a bit of low-level customisation on each one by mixing the possessed and standard CSM sprue parts together so, for example, I can have each marine with a bolter and then some sort of demon bit on his other arm, add a demon head rather than a CSM head etc etc. Each demon bit will be done in a red Khorne colour-scheme. I'd love to do nurgle, but wouldnt know where to begin and i have 4 shades of red paint lol.

The Rust Rhino is complete

2009-09-11T04:31:00.000-07:00

Thought that i might do something a bit different with the second rhino. I've done battle-damage before on other vehicles, but i really got carried away with this one. The idea is that the rhino has been hit with something hot and fiery (possibly also a bit demonic) and/or has really seen some action over the last 10,000 years.

Inspired by the look, I think I might do my CSMs as heavily rusted as well.

Finally, a closeup showing bullet holes:

CSM Project Update: First Rhino Completed & Update on the Challenge

2009-09-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

The CSM project has gotten off to some false starts, and aside from the Terminator Lord, I have yet to really begin painting proper (Maelstrom promise that I will have the Battleforce in 2 days). Having said that, I have been working on my first CSM Rhino (of the 3 that will eventually be in the 1k army list) and have it ready. I swapped it for some LoTR minis from a friend and it was already in great shape, but I wanted to add some rust and battle damage and generally redo the black paint.

The initial challenge has broken down essentially because I have realised how hard it is to buy decent second-hand minis on ebay. Most of those listed have either been resprayed so many times that they are just like hunks of black tar or are generally knackered. So, I'm trying now to bring a 1k army in at under 100 quid, buying from resellers to try and keep the budget down. The army list is:

Chaos Lord (Mark of Khorne, Power Weapon) 115

Troops

10X CSMs (Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, 2 meltas) 200

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

9x Berzerkers (Skull Champion w Powerfist) 229

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

10X CSMs (Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, 2 meltas) 200

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

Heavy Support

Predator (Sponson Las cannons) 130

(994 points in total)

(115 points painted)

On a related note, I've completed the revisions to my Damnatus article and just sent it back to TCS's editors. continue.

Damnatus Article Update

2009-09-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

The editor from Transformative Works and Cultures has been in touch with a list of revisions for my article on Damnatus. The referees liked it (yay!), but they wanted me to tighten up the argument in some places and sort out some formatting errors (created when I transferred the document from Mac PAGES format to RTF)

The CSM Project? Is it cursed by the Lords of Chaos??!!

2009-09-07T05:08:00.000-07:00

20 CSMs arrived today that I bought off ebay. Most are unpainted, but they have been stuck together horribly, have guns missing, stuck upside down etc. etc. I'll try and return them for a refund or put them back on the bay, and hopefully some 10-year-old fanboy will take them off my hands.

On a brighter note, I swapped some LoTR minis for a chaos rhino from a friend, and the Chaos Lord is now complete aside from the base (not sure yet what type of basing to use)

Hopefully the CSM Boxset from Maelstrom wont be much longer...

What Should Games Workshop Do?

2009-09-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

A really interesting post over at Sepulchre of Heroes, with some ideas about what they think GW should do. I've already posted some thoughts over there, but for my money:

1. Codexes. It's really frustrating when you have an army that has not had a codex for ages (i.e. Eldar, Necrons etc.), not least as every time a new codex comes out for an army it's so turbo-charged (to encourage purchases) that it makes the older codexes harder to cope (i.e. the new Guard codex where you can field 50 Guard or something as one troop choice, 5 tanks per HS choice etc). I appreciate the logistics of this, but it would be nice if codexes could be re-balanced when new rules come out rather than just turbocharging the latest codex as a way of selling boxes of the latest minis.

2. Prices: GW is an expensive hobby to get into. I was in GW once and some kid came in with his granny and he wanted to get into it. The sales guy said 'well, you need Black Reach for 50 quid, basic paints and brushes for another 10-20, clippers for 7 etc etc etc'. His Gran said 'have you got any magazines he can have for free?' lol. The good thing is that you can buy (variable quality) minis off ebay, or new from resellers at a discount.

3. Support for Lord of the Rings SBG: It's a real shame that, now that War of the Ring has come along, GW aren't (according to the rumours) going to support the SBG any more. Of course, it makes more business sense to support WoTR (SBG 500pt games = not many minis sold but 5,000pt WoTR games = LOTS of minis sold), but, for my money, WoTR is a poor gaming system, aimed at uber-powergamers.

4. Bitz: One of the major barriers for me getting into conversion is the lack of bitz available. Unless I am going to buy job lots on ebay and try it's impossible. I recently wanted to try and make a Vulkan He'Stan conversion until I realised that it was cheaper to buy the mini than buy 4-5 different ones for the conversion pieces. I can't see the problem of GW stores stocking bitz that you can by individually for conversion. They don't like the idea of fans using bitz from other companies in their conversions, but often this is the only way

5. A 40K Film: I would also add that they need to get their act together and either make a 40K film or at the least remove the ban on the Damnatus fanfilm being released.

6. Rewarding Loyalty: GW need to also have some way of rewarding those who purchase from stores regularly. If I buy, for example, from Maelstrom Games online, I get the minis cheaper (10-15%), free delivery and money back towards future purchases. If I buy online from GW I get free postage if I'm lucky, and the stock is at the same price as the store. If I buy in the store I get nothing. I'm willing to stand corrected on this, but GW is perhaps the only store that I know of that doesn't have seasonal sales, 2 for 1 offers etc. The nearest we get with them is battleforces. Again, it reeks of bleeding the fanboys dry.

That's just my two-penneth...

CSM Project Update (AKA The Rules Go Out Of The Window)

2009-09-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Frustrated that after over a week of the CSM project I still haven't painted a single mini, I gave in today and went to buy the Chaos Lord from down at Hobbycraft.

I've been working on it a few hours and it's about 1/3 done. I'm particularly impressed with the cape (and also how devlan mud on black acts as a type of glaze). Hopefully, I can finish it tomorrow.

(ps yeah, I know I'm odd, but I always paint minis before assembling and basing them)

a bad start to the CSM project :-/

2009-09-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

The second-hand Khorne Berzerkers that i bought from ebay from 13 quid have arrived and are dire. I bought them are resprayed ones, but it looks like they have been sprayed with tar. Also, the legs and bodies in some cases are standard marines with Khorne heads attached (like they have just swapped sides lol).

Then to make it worse, i opened up the large drybrush that just came from the (usually brilliant) Maelstrom Games

Hopefully I can return them both for a refund.

Fanstudies and 40K/GW Related: Thoughts on Fandom

2009-09-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

While I've been waiting for my various Chaos Space Marine bits and bobs to come in this week, I've been reading more fan studies stuff and thinking about what I mean by W40K fandom. Looking through the various books there is no clear definition of what is meant by 'fan' or 'fandom', and where definitions are proposed there is either no agreement about what they mean or they are so broad as to be able to encompass anything. The best we seem to get is either 'well, we all know what it means' or, as Matt Hills does in his book, Fan Cultures, a rejection at any attempt at definition.

That said, recurring themes, though, in the attempts at definition are:

1. fandom is based on consumption (i.e. buying objects associated with the interest)

2. fandom is about interacting with other fans (online, through blogs, face to face, at conventions etc etc.)

3. fandom is about creativity (writing fan stories and films, drawing etc)

4. fandom is about emotions (having an emotional engagement with your interest)

5. fandom is a form of community (a collection of individuals linked by their shared love of X)

6. fandom is about resistance (fans creating their own culture in opposition to mass culture)

7. fandom is intense (watching shows over and over again, reading and re-reading books)

So, I thought I would turn the question on its head or at least turn it around. Rather than trying to impose a top-down definition of what W40K/GW related fandom is, I thought it would be better (and certainly more interesting) to ask players themselves what it means to them to be a fan. In other words, and I hope this doesn't sound a silly question (because it isn't) - what makes a 40K/GW related fan? Are there particular levels or degrees of fans?

Fan Studies and W40K/GW Related: More Thoughts on Canon

2009-09-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

The more I think about it, the more I think that what I'm terming 'The Gaming System' is the GW/40K equivalent of the canon within fan studies discussions. As per the last post, I'm including in this three inter-related elements, all of which are copyrighted under Games Workshop's IP Policy (Rules, Background/fluff, and miniatures), and which provide a standard frame of reference and resources for fan creativity.

This allows comparison between GW fandom and other forms of fandom, such as for example the ways in which fans appropriate images, sound and footage to produce their own fanvids/films. It also provides a useful starting point for examining the various tensions may occur between what fans want to do and what rights holders would prefer them not to do.

To give some examples, taken from the clearly titled What you can and can't do with Games Workshop's intellectual property page from GW's site. Fans are asked:

1. Not to "Create, distribute, or use any material that is not consistent with the functionality, atmosphere, and parameters of the Warhammer universe as created and owned by Games Workshop". This is similar to the situation in the early-1980s where Lucasfilm began to take a very dim view of various erotic stories that were circulating among fans. One of the key themes in fan studies is the ways in which fans can appropriate content and (rightly or wrongly) take it in directions completely away from where te rightsholders would prefer it to be (i.e. re-reading Star Trek as homosexual relationship between Kirk and Spock)

2. "Please don't use one of our registered trademarks as part of your web domain name. This right is reserved for GW companies and formal licensees only."

3. "While we are likely to be happy for you to create your own desktop themes based upon our IP, please do not use our trademarks in those themes. In other words, do not use our logos and symbols, but please do draw your own version of a Wood Elf or Tyranid."

4. "We encourage fellow hobbyists to show off their painting skills by taking photos of their miniatures and putting the on the site. Please remember to correctly credit the IP - "miniature © Games Workshop 2003. All rights reserved. Used without permission - model painted by xxxxxxx""

5. Fan Fiction: "Please remember to use the correct trademark disclaimer somewhere on your site, zip file and/or document. We would also ask that at the top of the material you state something equivalent to the following: "Death Ravine" an unofficial story by K. Roundtree derived, without permission, upon the Warhammer intellectual property owned by Games Workshop Ltd.". This cannot be sold, though: "We cannot allow users to make and or sell derivatives of our copyright protected material or our trademarks on the café press or any similar websites."

6. Fan-created Rules Supplements etc: "There is no need to stick precisely to the published rules. However, if you are thinking about making your own Codex for your Space Marine chapter (in addition to following the other guidelines in this policy), please avoid making it look official as this may confuse gamers and amount to a challenge to our trademarks. Also, do not copy our official publications or documents."

7. Conversions: "Please do not combine our intellectual properties with IP owned by any third parties.". See the discussion over on Santa Cruz Warhammer's blog on this

8. A blanket ban on all fanfilms: ".... due to the nuances of the law in some territories, we cannot allow any unlicensed movies to be created which are based upon our intellectual property."

9. web comics: "We would probably not take issue with anyone creating a web comic based upon our intellectual property - but as with forums, keep in mind that the hobby is for people of all ages. Please be careful of the language used and the topics discussed. We would strongly recommend that you avoid any topics concerning illegal behavior, obscenity, or libel."

10. fonts: "Unfortunately, GW cannot allow third parties to use our trademarks without properly crediting our ownership, lest they be damaged. With fonts, it is difficult, if not impossible, to use the marks and credit Games Workshop as rightful owners. Accordingly, do not use our IP in relation to fonts."

11. screensavers "As is the case with fonts, GW cannot allow third parties to use our trademarks without properly crediting our ownership, lest they be damaged. You may only create screen savers if it properly credits our IP. We would also remind you that you cannot alter or change our trademarks in any way."

12.animations: "We would probably not have a problem with anyone creating animations based upon our intellectual property - as long as there is no commercial connection to that creation. Again, please be careful of the language used and the topics discussed."

13. fanzines: "...if you are thinking about starting a fanzine, please do not use our trademarks... Importantly, if you are creating a solely GW-focused fanzine, do not sell your fanzine and do not obtain any sponsorship."

14. avatars: "If you want to use avatars and similar monikers, create them yourself and credit the origins of the IP in your message sign off."

15: Tattoos: "we cannot allow tattoos as an acceptable use of our IP as a third party necessarily has to perform the 'service'"

Chaos Update (costings)

2009-09-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

To buy everything new would cost £104.65 for the individual boxes:

10 CSMs £19.55

9 KBs £17.60 (for 12)

1 Lord £7.85

2 Rhinos £35.20

1 Predator £24.45

(or £74.40 for the boxset and then everything else on top)

So, the plan is still to try and get the whole thing in for under 50 quid, trying to get as much as possible second hand or from resellers.

OK - I cheated :-/

2009-08-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

I admit it. The challenge is less than 24 hours old and I have broken the rules. Ive now spent 54 quid in total, 41 of which I have just spent on the Chaos Space Marine battleforce from Maelstrom Games:

The plan is to keep 10 CSMs and the rhino and then flog the rest back on the bay of e, using the money (hopefully) earned to buy a second rhino and a second-hand predator AND hopefully come in under the 50 quid budget!!!

The updated list is now:

HQ:

Chaos Lord Mark of Khorne, Power weapon (115)

Troops:

10X CSMs Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, 2 meltas (200)

Rhino Transport (35)

9x Berzerkers Skull Champion w Powerfist (229)

Rhino Transport (35)

Heavy Support:

Predator with Assault Cannon & Sponson Las cannons (130)

744 pts in total

An initial 750 Pt Chaos Space Marine List

2009-08-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

OK, Day 1 of my CSM 750pt challenge. I've spent 13 quid and begun to work out my list:

Chaos Lord (Mark of Khorne, Powerfist) 130

Troops

10X CSMs (Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, Icon of Khorne, 2 meltas) 240

Rhino (Daemonic Possession) 55

9x Berzerkers (Skull Champion w Powerfist) 229

Rhino (Daemonic Possession) 55

Which leaves me with 41 pts to play with to get to 750. I'm thinking of dropping the daemonic possession, but that would only free up 40 pts and I can't buy much heavy support for 80 pts (i.e. a basic Predator)

Fan Studies and W40K/GW Related

2009-08-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

My aim in these series of ongoing posts is to think aloud about how W40K and GW fandom in general may be understood in terms of debates within fan studies. To date, as far as I am aware, no one has done this.

The best way to begin would be to outline Henry Jenkins work on ‘textual poaching and then show how this has been used by Rebecca Bryant to understand roleplaying games (RPG). Using this as a starting point, I can then sketch out how these ideas can then be applied to W40K/GW fandom (to be developed in subsequent posts)

The canonical text within fan studies is Textual Poachers (1992) by Henry Jenkins. In the book, and in his subsequent work, Jenkins has sought to reject the negative cultural images of fans as ‘cultural dupes, social misfits, or mindless consumers’ (2006:40), and reframe them as marginalized subcultural groups actively appropriating media texts in order to re-read and transform them to serve their own particular interests and social agendas. For Jenkins, one does not become a fan by merely regularly watching a particular programme, but rather “by translating that viewing into some kind of cultural activity...” (ibid., 41), such as, for example, joining a discussion forum, writing stories based on the programme, collecting, attending conventions or going on ‘fan pilgrimages’ to locations used. Fandom is thus inherently active; an active, productive engagement with a media text as opposed to, for example, merely ‘watching a TV show’ or ‘knowing a few songs by that band’.

In her article, Dungeons and Dragons: The Gamers are Revolting, Rebecca Bryant makes a case for reframing the emerging scholarship into RPGs, arguing that they have more in common with forms of fan creativity than (as they are often linked with) computer games. In particular, she argues that the gaming system within RPGs operate in a similar way that, for example, a particular TV programme’s canon does for fan writers - providing a basis for creativity, a common frame of reference around which fans can improvise their own meanings, express themselves, tell their own stories etc. Aside from being an interesting theoretical move (essentially claiming RPGs for fan studies from the mass of turgid debates among mainly Scandinavian LARPers about whether, and to what extent, RPGs should be considered as games or narratives), Bryant’s article provides a useful foundation for trying to think about W40K and GW-related fandom through the lens of fan studies.

Thinking aloud, if we were to look at this, there are three issues that need to be covered first:

What is the Canon?

As an initial starting point, there would appear to be two main (albeit inter-linked) contenders for this:

Fluff? At its most basic level, the background ‘fluff’ (i.e. the W40K) universe as expressed and developed through codexes, White Dwarf articles and officially-sanctioned (i.e. Black Library) would provide one aspect of the canon. On one level at least, it is this that provides the narrative background to the games we play, the models we construct, paint etc. - otherwise it would be just moving bits of plastic around a board and rolling dice.
Rules? Following Bryant, the published rules could also be seen as part of the canon. Unless we play completely using house rules, the published rules provide the frame of reference around which gaming takes place. We may argue about rules or interpret them differently, but the published rules have a canonical status within each gaming system - otherwise, again, we would just be moving bits of plastic around a board (and maybe rolling dice) without having a gaming context.

Both of these could be put under the umbrella term: ‘the gaming system’. This would include both the abstract rules (AP scores, morale checks) and the ‘fluff’ which provide the context for games. The gaming system is, of course, Games Workshop’s exclusive Intellectual Property - despite how much the rules are similar to other systems or the fluff is allegedly inspired by other sources.

Fandom Vs ???????????

There is no clear or agreed-upon dividing line within fan studies between fandom and more general viewing. Does the fact that I have watched all the series of the X Files make me a fan, or do I need to have taken part in internet forums on the series, written fan fiction, read the related books etc etc? I need to give some thought to whether there is a similar dividing line within 40K/GW fandom, and if so what it is.

What Forms of Fan Creativity?

This is a slightly easier question. Again, as a starting point:

Collecting. One dividing line between casual and fandom in W40K could be size and number of armies collected (multiple 5k armies vs a couple of minis passed down from an older brother)
Painting/conversions
Fanfilms: In contrast to other forms of fandom, there is not much W40K fan film. The majority of clips on youtube are short fanvids, or at the most primitive stop-motion animations. The most ambitious W40K fan film is ‘forbidden film’, Damnatus.
Fan fiction: This would range from producing house rules, rule supplements and fan-codexes through to fan stories (see Black Library forum thread on fan fiction)
Gaming Clubs
Attending Tournaments/Conventions/Games Days
Forums/blogs

TBC

Coming Up

2009-08-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Over the next few weeks/months, I'm going to use my blog to do two main things:

First, I've decided to put together a small (500-750pt) Chaos Space Marine army, so I will use the blog to keep up with here I am - hopefully tracing their development from bits of plastic through to battle-winning heretics. The challenge that I've set myself is to try and (a) build the army up complete from second-hand/bay of e purchases and (b) to try and bring the whole thing in under a certain budget (30-50 quid). This may necessaitate a bit of wheeler-dealering; buying boxsets for one item and then flogging the rest back on the bay of e.

Second, I'm going to use the blog as a way of linking my academic interest in fan studies with 40K. When I'm not painting, my day job is as an academic and I have recently become interested in debates in fan studies. As no one - as far as I can tell - has looked at 40K from a fan studies perspective, it would be interesting (to me at least to do so). Rather than starting with trying to express my ideas formally, I will use the blog as a way of 'thinking aloud' about how various issues in fan studies intersect with 40K and other parts of the GW universe. This may be of interest to players. Hopefully it will and we can have a conversation.

I've already written a bit on this - an article on the German W40K fanfilm, Damnatus, that was banned from being released by GW back in 2007 - and hopefully if that article is published, I can develop the ideas raised here as well.

EDIT (31/8) First batch of Chaos incoming: 1 Chaos Lord & 17 Khorne Berzerkers for 13 quid

Space Hulk Thoughts

2009-08-29T07:55:00.001-07:00

I was initially excited when I heard on the forums that GW were going to re-release Space Hulk - not least because, according to the rumours - you were going to get a pack of terminators and genestealers in the box for around 50 quid. Well, the game has been released and it's nearer 60 quid. I came within an inch of buying it when i saw the box and all the blurb on the GW site, but I've decided to hold off due to cost (I could have handled 50 quid, but psychologically 60 quid seems too much) and because (a) the minis (although they look great) can't be used in a standard game without converting them and they are in Blood Angels colours (so cannot, I believe, be played with the current SM codex). I'm also not convinced about how 'limited' an edition it is. Even if it is 'limited', there will be copies on the bay of e in a couple of months/years when the kids want to get rid of them.

About Me

2009-08-29T07:23:00.001-07:00

I first got into painting minis back in the 80s when I was a kid (and the minis were all metal). I was always too poor to buy minis and paint then so i just used to paint the same 20 or so minis over and over again (as i recall they were the Games Workshop Lord of the Rings box and some general fantasy creatures). I swapped the lot for my first guitar when I was 16.

[fast forward a couple of decades]

I got back into painting and started playing 40K last July on a whim and have been painting and playing ever since (as well as playing LoTR). I've painted up a LOAD of minis in the meantime, most of which Ive sold on to buy more (inc. two complete 1.5k Space Orks and Tyranids). At the moment I'm playing Salamanders in 40K and playing a variety of armies in LoTR (mainly Rohan, Easterlings, Uruk Hai & Dwarves).

I like painting plastic minis, hate painting vehicles, and keep promising that i will never paint another metal mini (but always keep painting them). I love playing LoTR SBG, but am pretty cynical about War of the Ring (AKA Warhammer of the Ring).

1.6k of Salamanders are Complete

2009-08-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

I've been working on 1.6k of Salamanders for a few months now and thought that they would make a great introductory post as I'm really happy with how they turned out:

HQ: Vulkan He'stan

Elites: 3 Dreadnoughts (Brothers Iccio, Adso & Adelmo)

Troops: 4 Tactical Squads

Transports: 7 Drop Pods

I've enjoyed painting them although I'd forgotten how much i hate painting vehicles (esp. drop pods). Luckily i already had some assembled and I was able to buy a couple more fully assembled, but not painted, from the bay of e for only a couple of quid more than they would have been new (more money but none of the hassle of assembling). I also love the bases, that I got from over at Dark Art Miniatures