New Recruit

He didn't have a head in the game reported upon below. Not only does he now have a head, but a name and full color as well!

40K Novels Starter Kit

I am still relatively new to the 40K hobby. I found myself drawn initially to the background of this miniatures game set some forty thousand years in the future. Eventually my interest in the lore led to the gaming side of the hobby, but my heart still lies with the rich and varied universe created by Games Workshop and fleshed out by a host of authors over the years. Below you will find brief notes on the novels I have read in case you would like to dip your toe into the waters of 40K "fluff" courtesy of The Black Library.

Double Eagle by Dan Abnett
Mr. Abnett is one of the most prolific writers in 40K-land. His Gaunt's Ghosts and Ravenor/Eisenhorn series helped define the Imperial Guard and Inquisition, respectively, and his writing style is dynamic and colorful. Double Eagle follows the only aircraft fighter group in the Imperial Guard and is a side story of Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series. I am a fan of fighter planes from our world (anyone who has seen my house and the multitude of warbird models that dangle perilously from my ceiling would concur), so I devoured Double Eagle in one glorious sitting. Abnett writes the air battles like a forgotten conflict from World War II, with herculean bombers lumbering through flak towards their bombing targets and fighters dogfighting each other both in the air and on the ground. This was fantastic introduction to the world of 40K for me, and there was nary a Space Marine in sight.

Angels of Darkness by Gav Thorpe
This is THE book for the Dark Angels, one of the most sinister of the "good" Space Marine chapters. The Angels hold a terrible secret from the rest of humanity: roughly half of their number turned traitor and the remaining members will stop at nothing to keep that fact hidden. Thorpe's book shows that things can rarely be taken at face value in the 40K verse. This was another quick, satisfying read.

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
So begins Games Workshop's most successful series to date: the Horus Heresy.  The Heresy is the defining event in the history of 40K, the time when half of the Emperor's Space Marine legions turned against him and basically set all the pieces us gamers get to play with.  And who better to start off arguably the most important fluff ever than the man-god Dan Abnett?  Horus Rising describes the first events that lead to Warmaster Horus' first steps towards Chaos and away from humanity.  It's a good start to an epic series.

False Gods by Graham McNeill
McNeill is kind of the other "elder statesman" of the 40K authors, having fleshed out the most famous of Space Marine chapters with his Ultramarines series.  Here, he continues the groundwork laid by Abnett in Horus Rising and shows the further machinations of Horus' fall to Chaos.

Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter
Ugh.  What should have been a fitting end to the first arc of the Heresy novels falls flat on its face because of unreadable prose and insipid dialogue from Mr. Counter.  Read a synopsis online instead of subjecting yourself to this affront to the eyes.

Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow
This is where you start getting the same events of the Heresy from different perspectives.  Flight of the Eisenstein follows the Death Guard legion and more specifically the group within the Death Guard that refuses to follow their brethren to treason.  This is easily my favorite of the Heresy novels so far.  The story and writing aren't exceptional, but more importantly they are very solid and Nathaniel Garro is my favorite Heresy-era character (sorry Loken fans).

Fulgrim by Graham McNeill
The fifth Heresy novels centers on the Emperor's Children legion and their Primarch Fulgrim.  Naturally, good guys turning bad are the order of the day.  The planning and execution of the Dropsite Massacre is also detailed.  As interesting as all of these "alternate views" of the already-covered events are, I wish GW would just advance the story already.

Salamander by Nick Kyme
My buddy was raving about this book (since it covers his Space Marine army), so I had to give it a go.  I was skeptical, because our tastes don't always mesh.  It doesn't pain me too much to admit that he was right.  Salamander is yet another Space Marine book this time following the coal-skinned, red-eyed warriors of Vulkan, the Salamanders chapter.  Good characters make for good books in this line, and Mr. Kyme creates more than his fair share of quality characters among this particular band of Space Marines.  The author also has a rare gift for depicting battles that seem to use the rules of the tabletop game without coming across as hokey or unrealistic.  I anxiously await the next entry in this series.

Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier
And now for something from the evil side of the 40k 'verse.  Lord of the Night follows a Space Marine of the Night Lords, one of the Traitor Legions.  This book is dark.  There's no doubting that lead character Zso Sahaal is EVIL.  But he is also AWESOME.  I equate this book with The Devil's Rejects film, stories with unrepentantly despicable characters that somehow capture the audience's attention if not quite sympathy.  This is my favorite 40K book so far.

Whew, that took a while.  I just finished Lord of the Night tonight, and I plan on starting on it's semi-sequel Soul Hunter in the next couple of days.  I am quite enjoying my current trek through The Black Library.  I've been lucky in that I've enjoyed almost every book I've read (Galaxy in Flames being the only stinker so far).  I'm impressed with how varied the stories and perspectives can be.  Yes, the Space Marines get the large share of the fiction devoted to them but they also make an effort to spice it up from time to time.  Warhammer 40K is a big universe after all.

Now about that Ork novel...

Battle Report Orks (1000) vs Blood Angels (1000) Total Annaliation.

Heya crew.
Quick recap of our first test game.
Meske had his beautiful orks
3 mobs each with a klaw
biker squad 2 klaws
Mech shock
7 loota squad.
5 storm jet pack guys.

I had
2 razor back 5 mans with assault cannons, storm raven with multimelta assault cannons and hurican bolters 7 man death company with 2 power weapons chaplain and dreadnought with magna grapple.

1 blood angels squad got red thirst.  Meske went first split forces I hit to far right.  We were playing total annaliation so kill points.  Moved my razor up the right flank and shot 8 shots killing 4 orks and causing a moral test which he failed and used his boss poll killing and ork and testing again..which he failed again and ran. 

His turn failed his test again and guys ran 5 inches towards board.  His jump pack guys never showed up.
His guys start moving towards my razor backs.  He shoots 1 freaking rocket, rolls a 5 to hit, rolls a 5 to pen, and then rolls a 6 on the pen chart killing one of my red thirst guys....fabulous.  Shock attack gun can see so moves.

Raven shows up and like an idiot I go for the middle of the board and move up towards his guys.  Bikers are in front of me so I blast at them with everything....doing 1 wound.

Lootas open up with 21 strength 7 shots and get a pen 5 on the raven down it goes.
Death company gets out and does what the death company does....kills the biker squad.

Meske shoots the shock attack gun at my other razor and deviates.
Meske charges my DC guys with a huge ork squad...DC kills 6+ and laughs at all the attacks back at them...untill the nob kills 4 with the klaw....ouch.  Chaplain attacks and hits, but doesnt wound with 4 dice...come on.

My turn chaplain attacks back and rolls 5 1's....yeah thats nice.  DreadNought charges in and causes 13 wounds....yeah say good night gracy.  Orks take the last remaining squad and take out the chaplain and 1 DC guy, only to get overran by my assault troops (the furious charge is lovely).  Razor back shoots and kills the mech.

All his boys are dead, mech is dead and bikers are dead...just lootas alive.

Oh his storm boys showed up finally on turn 5 and deepstrike mishap I place them in a building on the other side of the board...snicker.

Orks are fun to play with and can be overwhelming with their numbers. Large mobs with klaws are brutal.
Shock attack gun is fun....and dangerous.

Blood angels were fun, and bloodclaws are the cats meow.  Death Company is so beefy its not funny....but was weird after combat having to run straight towards the next guys....can be kited if not careful...even with a chaplain leading them sadly.

Check the Video for pictures.

Grrr...

Let's hear it for shitty matte varnish giving everything a white sheen...ugh...

 

Ruh-Roh!

Hmm...this certainly doesn't look very "Orky"...

Light er up!

Well my dive into LED world is on it's way.
100 LEDs of different colors...check
24 gauge insulated wire (50 feet)...check
10 cr2025 cell batteries...check
10 cell battery holders with leads...check
60-80# drill bits set...check
soldering roll(1.5m) check
soldering gun...check
dremel ...check
50feet of .25mm and.50mm fiber optic single strand end light cable...check
glue gun....check

only thing now that I need is vision and some ideas!!!!
All of this cost: 80-90$

so a big investment overall...let's make some magic!

I'm going to be sooo sick of yellow...

I slapped together the remaining acceptable parts I had to make five more 'Ard Boyz. Nothing fancy on these, really. I cut all the horns off the helmets (now I wish I had done that to some of the already-completed ones...), replaced fantasy style weapons with guns, chain saws, a pair of power axes and stikk bombs. I left the head off of a couple of them in order to make the painting easier. I'll have to order a few parts from eBay to complete the squad of twelve. Then they will need something to ride in. :)

Finally...Heavy Weapons Boy Done

Took me for-frakking-ever, but here's the finished 'Ard Boy with Big Shoota/Rokkit Launcha options. I'm not sure what I'm going to do next; I may venture into some Space Marine territory for a bit. We shall see...

Another one joins the fray...

One more 'Ard Boy down, and a group shot of the ever-growing squad.