Space Marine Primaris Aggressors Unboxing Warhammer 40k

 

For the last post of the year we check out the Primaris Aggressors!

Merry Xmas!

 

Falling out of love with GamesWorkshop

Ok, so I've been back on the plastic crack for around 18 months now and I still love building, painting and playing  Warhammer 40k. Don't think that will ever change, however, recent events have made me look closer at my dealer and I didn't like what I started to see.

Paints:

It wasn't till I bought a batch of Vallejo paints that I realised how bad GW's paint were. Initially, I thought it was because my paints were old, like 10years+ old but then I bought some new pots of the same colours to top up my stock and found no difference in the quality. On the plus side, they can really last if you don't use em and look after them.

Lets be clear though, my issue isn't with the paint so much as it is with the design of the pots and a quick Google about this issue will show you that I'm not on my own. When you start using other brands you really do notice the issues with them.

You would think a business that has been around since the 80's and has changed the design of it's pots 3 or 4 times (off the top of my head) would actually have a design that really works. Instead, they have a design that keeps you coming back for more. Why? Those big open pots of 'painting from the pot' encouragement. I didn't realise how much paint I was actually wasting, even with a wet palette, when using the GW pots and how much it dries out if you paint directly from the pot. Yes, I know painting from the pot is a big "no!no!" but sometimes I'm lazy lol. Fortunately, Vallejo paints encourage me not to! lol

Businesses and products can have differences, it's what makes the economy go round. So what's the problem? Well I guess my issue with it all is that GW clearly doesn't listen to their customer fan base. As I previously said, a quick Google search came back with a flood of posts and articles around this subject so if they did listen, they would certainly know about this issue. The only conclusion I can draw from this, is that GW want it this way for whatever reason, perhaps to get you (and particularly people starting out) to buy more pots quicker than you would with other brands.

Space Marines:

It's all about the Space Marines and some Necrons (but mainly Space Marines). Really GW, there are other factions in your game that hasn't seen any much needed attention in many many years. Obviously, Space Marines are the cash cow.

#PaintingWarhammer:

This one has always baffled me. A quick search on Instagram brought back 1.7 million results for the hashtag #PaintingWarhammer. Yes, I know you need to tag @WarhammerOfficial as well now but really? GW can't be a little proactive in showing off what their customer base does with their products? There are some old products on the GW website that have no customer photos along side them and then there are others which have loads. Guess it's just down to flavour of the month.

Armies On Parade:

Armies On Parade moved online this year due to the pandemic so here was an ideal opportunity to reach out to what is a MASSIVE community and encourage more people to get involved and also show some appreciation to it's fan base. 

Instead, the first part of the hour long Twitch event was spent showing of the works of their own staff. Was this really necessary? All power to the guys that did these great pieces of work, they are fantastic and I don't mind saying that I would love to be as talented and on this level but isn't this about your fan base? Shouldn't this have been about engaging with your customers?

The whole thing (even with covid in mind) was poorly done. It should have been an ideal time to make a better online presentation of it all. Even if it is only for one year, it wouldn't be too much trouble to knock up a webpage to display all the thousands of entries you've received to at least give some recognition. I can say this because I'm a web application developer by trade, this isn't a coding issue, just a bandwidth issue. They have armiesonparade.com so it's not like they don't have a place to put it but even this domain wasn't well advertised, I simply stumbled across it whilst writing this.

The physical stores:

I quickly stopped using the local GW Store for one simple reason. They never had what I wanted in stock. They were helpful enough and willing to order whatever I wanted but let's face facts; it's much easier and cheaper to order from an independent stockist online so why would I bother to order via the store?

The App:

This is the biggest head scratcher of them all, so poorly rolled out I'm amazed it's still available. Don't get me wrong, I actually wondered from the start (when I began playing again), why GW didn't have an app of it's own for 40k. With so many rules around the game and the building of armies it was screaming for an app.

When it finally came out I was excited to see what it had to offer and the answer was, not much. The contents of books I had to pay for initially anyways, the core rules which were free online already (and initially linked to a google drive pdf!) and the main part of it, the BattleForge option, was not available.

After a massive delay it was added. Slow and full of bugs.

The age of pencils is over according to the release statement. News Flash for you GW, it was over about 20/25years ago, nice to see you're finally catching up. Really can't see me paying a monthly sub of that price for something I'll rarely use when I need to buy the book anyways.  Personally don't see the point of the book if I just use the app and vice versa. I'm sure the army builder will be really handy for creating your armies but I'd rather do it manually or use a 'certain piece of freeware'. 

At £3.99 a month and twice as much as the AoS version, what are you really getting for your money? Honestly, just a different way of doing something you've already shelled out cash for. Their subscription model is clearly set up to avoid the charges that come with adding the app to both Google Play and the Apple App Store. You have to wonder if the Wh40k app will disappear like the recent Fortnite game did at some point in the future?

The simple answer to all this would have to been to make the app a mobile responsive web application so it wouldn't need to go up on either Google Play or the Apple App Store. One code base. I really don't see what the advantage is over it being an app, if your offline, you can't log into the app anyways so it can't be for the offline capabilities. With it's response times, I'm pretty sure it's calling an external data source for the info.

Does your IT Director actually have any experience with this kind of thing or is he just a mate from down the pub who can code a bit of HTML?

Finally:

On the up side, other businesses like Vallejo, will take advantage of GW's short falls and I dare say at some point a new product will come out that will take the mantle from GW. There are some positives to GW and some things they do really well but that's not what this post is about.

GamesWorkshop will always be my first love but just like in life, as you grow, someone new will come along and steal my heart if you don't show some love back. Relationships are a two way street.

Starting out: Dry Brushing

 

Learning how to paint miniatures? New to miniature painting? Just want to learn the basics?

This video will show you the basics of highlighting using the dry brushing technique.

Starting out: brushes

 

Want to learn to paint miniatures? New to miniature painting? Just want to learn the basics? This video will show you the basics of the main tool of the job, the brush!

Updated: Jakkob Bugmansson XI Warhammer Commemorative Series

 

Here he is! Check it out as we unbox Jakkob Bugmansson XI Warhammer commemorative series!

Update: he's all painted!

Drilling the Barrel!

 

I've always been in two minds about drilled barrels but now I've got a little hobby drill I'm sold on it and think it finishes off the mini perfectly.

I got a great little hobby drill of Amazon for around a fiver which came with 48 bits:

Wish I had got one sooner! Now all I need to do is go back over all my Blood Angels and drill their barrels! Not sure if I should do my Necrons but we shall see!

Necrons - My Entire Army

Still in lockdown, still busy with xmas coming up so I thought I would share my entire Necrons, thoughts?

• • Configuration

    • Dynasty Choice

      Selections: Dynasty: Sautekh

  • HQ

    • Illuminor Szeras [8 PL, 160pts]

      Selections: Eldritch Lance, Impaling Legs

    • 
      
      

    • Lord [5 PL, 100pts]

      Selections: Resurrection Orb, Staff of Light

    • Overlord [6 PL, 100pts]

      • Tachyon Arrow and Hyperphase Glaive

        Selections: Hyperphase Glaive, Tachyon Arrow

      • 
        
        

    • Overlord [6 PL, 125pts]

      Selections: Resurrection Orb, Voidblade

    • Plasmancer [4 PL, 70pts]

      Selections: Plasmic Lance

    • 
      
      

    • Royal Warden [4 PL, 75pts]

      Selections: Relic Gauss Blaster

    • Royal Warden [4 PL, 75pts]

      Selections: Relic Gauss Blaster

    • 
      
      

    • Skorpekh Lord [7 PL, 130pts]

      Selections: Enmitic Annihilator, Flensing Claw, Hyperphase Harvester

    • 
      
      

  • Troops

    • Immortals [4 PL, 85pts]

      Selections: Gauss Blaster, 5x Immortal

    • Necron Warriors [12 PL, 156pts]

      • 12x Necron Warrior (Gauss Flayer)

        Selections: 12x Gauss Flayer

    • Necron Warriors [6 PL, 130pts]

      • 10x Necron Warrior (Gauss Flayer)

        Selections: 10x Gauss Flayer

    • Necron Warriors [6 PL, 130pts]

      • 10x Necron Warrior (Gauss Reaper)

        Selections: 10x Gauss Reaper

    • Necron Warriors [6 PL, 130pts]

      • 10x Necron Warrior (Gauss Reaper)

        Selections: 10x Gauss Reaper

  • Elites

    • C'tan Shard of the Nightbringer [18 PL, 350pts]

      Selections: Power of the C'tan: Antimatter Meteor, Power of the C'tan: Gaze of Death, Scythe of the Nightbringer

    • 
      
      

    • Canoptek Reanimator [6 PL, 110pts]

      Selections: 2x Atomiser Beam, Reanimator's Claws

    • 
      
      

    • Cryptothralls [2 PL, 40pts]

      • 2x Cryptothrall

        Selections: 2x Scouring Eye, 2x Scythed Limbs

      • 
        
        

    • Deathmarks [4 PL, 90pts]

      • 5x Deathmark

        Selections: 5x Synaptic Disintegrator

      • 
        
        

    • Skorpekh Destroyers [5 PL, 105pts]

      • Skorpekh Destroyer (Reap-Blade)

        Selections: Hyperphase Reap-Blade

      • 2x Skorpekh Destroyer (Thresher)

        Selections: 2x Hyperphase Threshers

  • Fast Attack

    • Canoptek Scarab Swarms [2 PL, 45pts]

      • 3x Canoptek Scarab Swarm

        Selections: 3x Feeder Mandibles

    • Canoptek Scarab Swarms [2 PL, 45pts]

      • 3x Canoptek Scarab Swarm

        Selections: 3x Feeder Mandibles

    • Canoptek Scarab Swarms [2 PL, 45pts]

      • 3x Canoptek Scarab Swarm

        Selections: 3x Feeder Mandibles

    • Canoptek Scarab Swarms [2 PL, 45pts]

      • 3x Canoptek Scarab Swarm

        Selections: 3x Feeder Mandibles

  • Heavy Support

    • Annihilation Barge [6 PL, 125pts]

      Selections: Gauss Cannon, Twin Tesla Destructor

    • 
      
      

    • Doomsday Ark [10 PL, 190pts]

      Selections: Doomsday Cannon, 2x Gauss Flayer Array

  • Flyer

    • Doom Scythe [10 PL, 200pts]

      Selections: Heavy Death Ray, Twin Tesla Destructor

  • Lord of War

    • The Silent King [23 PL, 3CP, 450pts]

      • Szarekh

        Selections: Sceptre of Eternal Glory, Scythe of Dust, Staff of Stars

      • 2x Triarchal Menhir

        Selections: 2x Annihilator Beam

      • Warlord

        Selections: Warlord Trait (Szarekhan): The Triarch's Will

      • 
        
        

Total: [166 PL, 3CP, 3,216pts]

Blood Angels - My Entire Army

So, with the new Blood Angels Codex Supplement coming out (I'm eagerly awaiting mine!) I thought it was a good time to review my entire army and share it with you!

Unbound Army (Faction) (Imperium - Adeptus Astartes - Blood Angels) [178 PL, 3,067pts]

• Configuration

  • **Chapter Selection**

    Selections: Blood Angels

  • **Chapter Selection**

    Selections: Blood Angels Successor, Flesh Tearers

• HQ

  • Captain [5 PL, 90pts]

    Selections: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Master-crafted boltgun, Power sword

  • Captain in Terminator Armor [6 PL, 115pts]

    Selections: Storm bolter, Thunder hammer

  • Chief Librarian Mephiston (Primaris) [8 PL, 155pts]

    Selections: 1. Speed of the Primarch, 3) Null Zone (Aura), 4) Psychic Scourge, 5) Fury of the Ancients, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol, Smite, Vitarus, Warlord

    
    
    

  • Gabriel Seth [8 PL, 160pts]

    Selections: Blood Reaver, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades

  • 
    
    

  • Librarian Dreadnought [9 PL, 180pts]

    Selections: 1) Veil of Time, 2) Might of Heroes, Chapter Command: Chief Librarian, Furioso fist, Furioso force halberd, Meltagun, Smite

  • Librarian in Terminator Armor [6 PL, 110pts]

    Selections: 1) Veil of Time, 2) Might of Heroes, Force axe, Smite, Storm bolter

  • Lieutenants [5 PL, 90pts]

    • Primaris Lieutenant

      Selections: Frag & Krak grenades

      • Neo-volkite pistol, Master-crafter power sword and Storm Shield

        Selections: Master-crafted Power Sword, Neo-volkite pistol, Storm shield

        
        
        

  • Primaris Chaplain [5 PL, 85pts]

    Selections: 1. Litany of Faith, Absolver Bolt Pistol, Crozius arcanum, Frag & Krak grenades, Litany of Hate

  • 
    
    

• Troops

  • Assault Intercessor Squad [5 PL, 100pts]

    • 4x Assault Intercessor

      Selections: 4x Astartes Chainsword, 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Heavy Bolt Pistol

    • Assault Intercessor Sgt

      Selections: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

    • 
      
      

  • Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 140pts]

    Selections: Bolt rifle

    • 6x Intercessor

      Selections: 6x Bolt pistol, 6x Frag & Krak grenades

    • Intercessor Sergeant

      Selections: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades

  • Tactical Squad [10 PL, 195pts]

    • 8x Space Marine

      Selections: 8x Bolt pistol, 8x Boltgun, 8x Frag & Krak grenades

    • Space Marine Sergeant

      Selections: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades

    • Space Marine w/Heavy Weapon

      Selections: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Missile launcher

    • 
      
      

  • Tactical Squad [10 PL, 215pts]

    • 7x Space Marine

      Selections: 7x Bolt pistol, 7x Boltgun, 7x Frag & Krak grenades

    • Space Marine Sergeant

      Selections: Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol, Power fist

    • Space Marine w/Heavy Weapon

      Selections: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy bolter

    • Space Marine w/Special Weapon

      Selections: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma gun

    • 
      
      

• Elites

  • Aggressor Squad [6 PL, 135pts]

    Selections: 2x Aggressor, Aggressor Sergeant

    • Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Grenade Launcher

      Selections: 2x Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets, Fragstorm Grenade Launcher

    • 
      
      

  • Dreadnought [7 PL, 125pts]

    Selections: Multi-melta

    • Dreadnought combat weapon w/Storm Bolter

      Selections: Storm bolter

  • Reiver Squad [5 PL, 90pts]

    Selections: Bolt Carbine

    • 4x Reiver

      Selections: 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Special issue bolt pistol

    • Reiver Sergeant

      Selections: Combat knife, Frag & Krak grenades, Special issue bolt pistol

    • 
      
      

  • Sanguinary Ancient [7 PL, 125pts]

    Selections: Angelus boltgun, Encarmine sword, Frag & Krak grenades

  • Sanguinary Guard [17 PL, 165pts]

    • Sanguinary Guard

      Selections: Encarmine axe, Frag & Krak grenades, Inferno pistol

    • Sanguinary Guard

      Selections: Angelus boltgun, Encarmine axe, Frag & Krak grenades

    • Sanguinary Guard

      Selections: Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol, Power fist

    • Sanguinary Guard

      Selections: Angelus boltgun, Encarmine sword, Frag & Krak grenades

    • Sanguinary Guard

      Selections: Angelus boltgun, Encarmine sword, Frag & Krak grenades

    • 
      
      

  • Terminator Assault Squad [9 PL, 76pts]

    • Terminator Sergeant

      Selections: Lightning Claw (Pair)

    • Terminator w/THSS

      Selections: Storm shield, Thunder hammer

  • Terminator Squad [18 PL, 266pts]

    • Terminator Sergeant

      Selections: Power sword, Storm bolter

    • 6x Terminator w/PF

      Selections: 6x Power fist, 6x Storm bolter

    • 
      
      

• Fast Attack

  • Land Speeder Typhoons [6 PL, 120pts]

    • Land Speeder Typhoon

      Selections: Multi-melta, Typhoon missile launcher

    • 
      
      

• Heavy Support

  • Baal Predator [8 PL, 155pts]

    Selections: Baal Flamestorm cannon, Hunter-killer missile

    • Two heavy bolters

      Selections: 2x Heavy bolter

    • 
      
      

  • Predator Annihilator [8 PL, 175pts]

    Selections: Hunter-killer missile, Twin lascannon, Two Lascannons

  • 
    
    

Total: [178 PL, 3,067pts]

Feel free to comment and let me know how I can improve things!

Motivational Monday?

 If anything, I could use some motivation today.

I have a mound of stuff I wanna do, however, life gets in the way. Decorating, kids, work etc. 

That being said, the other twin has perked up with the knowledge of the Death Guard Codex changes that are coming soon and looking at the article on Warhammer Community they are being brought inline with the Space Marines. Wounds are going up to 2 from 1 and so are Attacks.

Like Death Guard needed a hand! I've always lost to them. Sodding disgustingly resilience....

Well, I am talking pre-Necrons New Codex so I may still wipe them when I play against them next!

Talking of Necrons, I have bolstered them recently with a squad of DeathMarks and a Doomsday Ark which I'm eager to try out. Admittedly, I was trying out my Airbrush on the Doomsday Ark and it didn't go to plan and stay with my usual colour scheme for my Sauketh.

Everything else I try to add to my Necrons seem to be sold out, Necrons Lokhust Heavy Destroyer comes to mind...

Blood Bowl Second Season Edition

 

Blood Bowl Season Two Edition is out and we take a look in the box!

Lockdown Extended...

 So next Wednesday we come out of lockdown here, only to go back into Tier 3 which means I still can't get a game in! 

Frustrating to say the least.

So what's the alternatives? 

1) Playing with the kids!

I tried and to be fair, my 7 year old enjoyed the basics of moving and shooting. As soon as you start introducing more of the rules though it soon got overwhelming for him.

2) Playing with the wife

Yea, this is a none starter (for me at least)

3) PC Games

There's been a lot of games over the years, still got Death Wing on my PC. Thought about jumping back on Eternal Crusade but it really wasn't going anywhere last time I played.

4) Table Top Simulator

This one sounds a good possibility, though it does depend on the guys I play with having it as well lol Will have a look into it and let you know.

So what's everyone doing to get their fix?

Blood Angels: Mephiston

 

My Blood Angels army has always needed a good Librarian so it had to be Mephiston who would fill this gap. For some reason though, I've always been nervous about getting him and painting him, he's one model that I always wanted to paint really well. As well as it is painted on the GW website.

Sadly, this was not to be. It looks good in my hands but up close I made a lot of mistakes. The face highlights went on real thick for some reason. I often struggle to get the right consistency, often I water it down too much but in this case it wasn't enough.  The highlights on the cloth don't show up enough in the picture, so I wonder if I did the variations enough? The blue gems (?) on his head I just couldn't get right at all.

I need to go back and finish off the gems, sword handle and other bits when I get chance.

That being said, my paint range isn't that great, I really should buy new paints and they are Citadel paints so they are in those crappy pots which dry out the paint lol Bad workman blames his tools right? lol

It's nearly xmas!

 Christmas is around the corner but my wife should note that it's not December yet so you can't put the decorations up! She will though lol

Games Workshop are bringing a bunch of new stuff out just in time for the festive season as revealed over on the Warhammer Community website. As previously mentioned, this includes the new the BattleForce box sets:

Not only that, it also includes the new Blood Angels Codex Supplement (yay!), Blood Angels Dice (yay!), Blood Angels Datacards (yay!) and the Blood Angels Combat Patrol box (Dear Santa....):

Not only that, there is also a newDeath Company Intercessor kit and a Assault Intercessor kit:

And it just keeps coming, as the new Gladiator Implusor is also going on pre-order along with all of the above!

I need another job to go along with my day job lol Time to write that letter to Santa...

Space Wolves: Ragnar Blackmane

 

From unboxing to fully painted finished model, the other Twin is looking forward to getting this one on the battlefield! Really like what he has done with the base on this one, what do you think?