Malios

Hahaha. Touchè about the battlescribe friend. Well played. I'm surprised GW's legal team haven't tried to crush battlescribe yet again since the 40k, AoS and Warhammer+ apps went live. They cease and desisted pretty much everything else.

Honestly, this hobby needs another large competitor in the ring. So step away and try other gaming systems. Let the nostalgia go and see what other companies have to offer. Then come back as one of those niche, Blanchitsu types :p

If I was to get back into 40k with my Blood Angels, the codex, rulebook, blood angels supplement, chapter approved and mission pack would cost me $383AUD. $383 dollarydoos. And that's before models are purchased. For $383 dollarydoos I can purchase multiple 300 point armies for Infinity with all necessary tokens and markers, or even an entire Infinity Sectorial. And the rules are free on their Army app. And I can use whatever bases I want and whatever terrain I want. For $383 dollarydoos I can purchase two mega army collections for Kings of War which includes the rulebook. And use whatever bases I want. And use whatever terrain I want. For $383 dollarydoos I could almost purchase two ready to go starter armies for Bolt Action with the rules included. For $383 dollarydoos I could purchase two complete themed Malifaux gangs. Once again their rules are free on their App. And I can use whatever bases I want. And use whatever terrain I want. For $383 dollarydoos I can purchase two fairly well rounded ASOIAF armies. Once again, the rules are free on the app. Hell, for $383 dollarydoos I could purchase an Infinity Action Pack with a 300 point sectorial army ready to go and commission Angel Giraldez to paint them to a tabletop standard for me. Even Kill Team has a $257AUD buy in just for rules, tokens and tools before models get involved. That's the price of a Bolt Action Army and your choice of tank. Yes its a case of comparing apples to oranges in a market full of fruit... But thats why I think rules should be free, or a quarter of the price they are now. Its one of the reasons I walked away from 40k (persisting here coz I'm awestruck by the hobby blogs and keeping my foot in the IP with Necromunda)

Where to start... - Re-do my 3rd edition Dark Eldar army with the modern kits, but convert them to more of a Corsair or outer Commorragh region theme. Lots of individualised conversions etc. - 1 chaos gang for each god in Necromunda - 1 of each Necromunda gang - Really go deep into Inq28 / Inquisitor / Inquisimunda teritory and re-visit the late 90s era grimdark that got me into 40k in the first place - 1 of each warband type for GorkaMorka, including Muties and Diggas and Necrons for the endgame campaign. - Actually paint up and convert The Deff Skwadron - A splinter warband of the Emperor's children inspired by the audiodrama Perfection, where they look like perverse, angelic monsters with over-exaggerated efforts to be beautiful and perfect. ( Once again targeting down that Inq28 route) - An Angel's Vermilion or Angels Encarmine force where each Marine is individualised. - I go in cycles through the decades where I buy Orks then sell Orks. It's a love-hate relationship. And non-40k projects: - The Dreadfleet army of Count Noctilus - Grimgor Ironhide's Immortals from the Storm of Chaos - A Skaven Army from Clan Rictus - A Har Ganeth themed Dark Elf army compatible as a daughters of Khaine army for AoS

I've been in and out of 40k for multiple editions across several decades, so I'm pretty confident in saying this: 40k and most other GW games are extremely unbalanced. Codex creep has always been a thing. Min-maxing broken or cost efficient units has always been a thing. New models being more powerful to push their sales isn't new either. 40k was always supposed to be a fun game to push sales, not a fair one: alot of hobbyists forget that. But, this unbalance isn't new: 40k has always been unbalanced. It's the price of GW being a miniatures company who tacks on a game to sell their miniatures rather then a gaming company who uses miniatures to sell their game. The real crime is paying so much for the rules to play 40k and relying on third parties like ITC to try and "balance" the game when other companies with modern, intuitive rulesets do it for free, or at highly affordable rates. You don't realise the unbalance and flaws in game design as much until you play other gaming systems and see other ideas in this hobby. It's why I laugh when people talk about 40k competitively (but respectfully refrain from commenting 90% of the time): if you really want a more balanced or more competitive experience, try Kings of War, Bolt Action or Infinity instead.

Even compared to the more established competition, there is no disputing that GW's products are still amazing quality. And plastic! You don't know how much of a blessing plastic is to work with until you come back tonit after playing with resin and metal for a prolonged time. I just wanted to acknowledge that first. I still keep my foot in the door with Necromunda / Inq28 and Gorkamorka as a hobby project (yeah I'm one of those hobbyists now), but I'm happy to admit that I jumped ship to other gaming systems like Infinity and won't look back. The reason for the jump was multi-factorial: * Price, as an Australian hobbyist especially, was a significant factor. I don't need to elaborate further. * GW are still selling kits that are 20+ years old and charging an arm + a leg for them. $54 AUD for 10 Catachan models, when back in 2000 you could buy 20 of the same sculpts for $40. And you need to spend a minimum of $216 AUD to fulfill your mandatory requirements for an average game of models whose sculpts are 20+ years old (yes you don't have to and can go with the slightly newer Cadian shock troops who are only 17ish years old for the same price). Yes its a testament to the quality / iconic nature of the sculpts, but GW not retiring these kits and factions hurts their game systems alot too. * The insistence by GW that you have to purchase rules and codexes. As a space marine player, I would have spent $254 AUD just on codexes since 2017. That doesn't include core books, chapter approved 2018 - 2021, chapter-specific supplements or a subscription to the warhammer app for your army builder. And honestly, the errors and need to FAQ the codexes despite that price is... Yet another flogged horse. In comparison, Corvus Belli have an app that's free for Infinity that includes your army builder and links to a free wiki site for rules. So the money you spent just on rules can almost purchase you an entire sectorial of Infinity miniatures. The money you'd actually spend on your 40k army then buys you a second army to introduce your mate to Infinity and a table of dense terrain to play on. * I've been in the hobby for 21 years. GW's gaming systems haven't changed that much in 21 years. Seeing what else is out there made me realise that there are gaming systems with different ideas. Some of those ideas are actually better ideas. The ARO system used in Infinity. The random activation mechanic introduced in Bolt Action and later adapted by Star Wars Legion and half of the tabletop games out there. These more... Interactive... gaming systems flow smoother then GW's aged back and forth play. * Concurrently, GW's hobby systems haven't changed much either in 21 years. Their paints have changed manufacturer and names a few times, and have also exponentially increased in price (and in my opinion their base and layer paints have dropped in quality.) In comparison, 3rd party hobby brands like vallejo, Scale 75 etc are price matched as an industry and often half the price of the GW equivalent. The quality of these brands are often better too pending personal taste, considering they don't just cater to wargamers. * I'm also moving away from Black Library slowly. Its obvious that bar a few diamonds in the rough that black library are books written to a release schedule these days rather then to explore the potential of the IP that is both 40k and AoS. Many of the recent books, particularly the eBook versions, feel significantly overpriced for whats essentially a miniatures catalogue as a result. So yeah... in the end I jumped ship and have decided to vote with my wallet. Multiple reasons why, but price was a significant one. [Edit] I'm happy to acknowledge that I'm not really GW's target demographic these days though: I was their demographic during the dark kirby era, which might explain alot!

Its not fair to compare apples and oranges. Comparing 40k to AoS is a similar concept: both have different design philosophies and marketing philosophies. AoS releases smaller army ranges because those armies have a limited size and sales shelf life. They're also new to AoS The fluff will write them out eventually, or evolve them accordingly with time to keep sales turn over. The annual general's handbook supports that notion. 40k in comparison has 30 years of miniatures and faction development and bloat: there are a broad spectrum of kits pushing 20+ years old still being sold (termagaunts, eldar guardians and dire avengers, catachans, some chaos marine heroes, legion upgrade kits etc) because GW won't drop them. The hysteria when primaris marines were released and the imminent fear of 25 years of space marine collections becoming redundant for example. As for Chaos (and to get my post back on track), I'm one of a minority who was disappointed that GW crept backwards to the concept of Legions as defining chaos' identity in 40k. I truly despised the 3.5 codex for setting that expectation amongst the community, even if the narrative is swinging back that way with the daemon primarchs and wayward sons suddenly caring about their legions again. The difference for me from their loyalist counterparts is the individualism of chaos marines as they strode the path to glory (or damnation.) The concept of broken warbands from the rogue trader + 2nd edition era personified this. But, times change. Design philosophies change. Community expectations change. I need to get with the times. For Chaos' sake I hope they get atleast something to reflect a faction just as diverse as their loyalist counter parts. If it has to be a legion that identifies that character, then so be it.

Path of the Dark Eldar showed the Dark Eldar as they are: arrogant, suspicious but also naive. Andy Chambers did a fantastic job at world building but the depth of his characters made the books what they were. The paralels between the different Dark Eldar characters and the attention to detail appealed to me as a Dark Eldar fan. Morr the Incubus was a particulay well written character simply because his vindictive sense of honour was such a contrast to the back-stabbing opportunists all around him. "Thanks my archon,' said Morr, 'for the gift of vindication."

The next squad is complete.

Its been a busy couple of weeks. With the second squad almost completed, I decided to stand one of the primaris next to one of my older 30k Alpha Legionnaires. Its amazing how a larger base really emphasises the scale of the Primaris compared to the older marines on the old 25mm bases. I must apologise now, the photos were taken from my Samsung Galaxy S5 so they're not the best quality. Regardless, enjoy! [A new breed of hero alright.] [edit] And a few more happy snaps with different lighting to highlight the red and the blue slightly differently. [Front View] [side View] [Rear View]

As a health professional, I fully concur with the above advice! Clinical masks and dust masks are designed to stop dust particles and bacteria, not atomised paint. (Secretly I laugh at the ladies in the nail salons who wear the clincial masks when they're spraying enamel and acetone based products: they're not doing themselves any favours.) Always where possible airbrush in a well ventilated area: if you are unable to do this, ensure you have paint and or chemical grade respirators. Inhaling paint fumes has some terrible effects long term decades later. On the topic of health when airbrushing, I concur with the above point about investing in a quiet air compressor. Prolonged exposure to industrial or workshop air compressors while hobbying is a quick way to make yourself deaf (and get visits from the police for noise complaints.) If you insist on using a loud, industrial air compressor (they're cheaper and often have larger air tanks, especially if you already own one) then use the extra $$ that you saved to buy the correct hearing protection. From this point, I have three bits of advice. The first bit of advice I have is to buy the correct paints because it makes life 1000 times easier when airbrushing: airbrush paints have to be alot thinner then brush paints due to how the airbrush works to deliver the paint. Citadel unfortunately make terrible paints for the airbrush (including their air range) wheras Vallejo, Tamiya and AK Interactive have entire paint ranges dedicated for use through an airbrush. Don't fall for the trap of thinning down citadel paints: there are better paints for your airbrush. Further on this, try to match your paints with thinners of the same brand: ie Tamiya x20A thinner for Tamiya acryllic paints. AK thinners for AK Interactive paints. Vallejo thinners for Vallejo paints. Yes you CAN use different brand thinners for different paints (and yes, it is possible to use other things to thin your paints like ammonia based cleaners), but it can have varying results which can ruin your good work and potentially your airbrush. For best results, go brand for brand and airbrushing will have one less hurdle for you to jump over. Also get into the habit of cleaning your airbrush regularly: if you don't clean it properly, it will break. Simple as that. Using the correct airbrush paint and thinners with the correct airbrush cleaners will do wonders for the longevity of your airbrush compared to other methods like thinning citadel paintbrush paints with windex. The second bit of advice which is probably the most important is don't be afraid to start with a cheap(er) airbrush: statistics prove that you'll most likely break your first airbrush simply from learning and making mistakes. Better that its a $70 airbrush then a $350 airbrush that you're breaking. Aside from feeling less upset when you break them, don't be fooled by price alone when it comes to airbrushes: expensive airbrushes are not always the better choice for a beginner in airbrushing. Cheaper airbrushes do have some advantages for the less experienced: For starters, cheaper dual action airbrushes are more forgiving. Most cheaper range dual action airbrushes like the Iwata Neo come with 0.5mm needle tips. Yes this is wider then most high performance airbrushes which are generally .35mm to .2mm in size so you won't be able to highlight individual fingers on a space marine, but its still plenty small enough with the right trigger control to conduct your zenithial, modulation or pre-shade techniques on 28mm miniatures. The 0.5mm needle size in cheaper airbrushes is also more forgiving for beginner-level users as you learn to mix and thin your paints: if your mix of paint to thinners is not absolutely 100% accurate, it will still probably work through a 0.5mm needle airbrush (albeit with not as much control) where it will dry needle or clog up a more expensive airbrush with a smaller needle diameter. Cheaper airbrushes with the larger 0.5mm needle are also more handy for metallic paints for the same reason: the larger, metallic pigment without a really good ratio of thinners can be really difficult at first to use through a more expensive airbrush. The other advantage of a cheaper airbrush is the same as buying a crappy car: if you can learn to drive in a bomb and do it well, its really easy to drive a flashy car with all the bells and whistles. If you can learn to control your trigger really well in an Iwata Neo, then controling the Iwata HP's trigger will be a breeze. The next most important recommendation I have is to attend a beginner's airbrush workshop which focuses on two things: trigger control and troubleshooting the airbrush when it stops working. These are the two largest hurdles that deter hobbyists from airbrushing when they go wrong and learning both of these things will both save you alot of frustration and costs from replacing broken airbrushes. Once you build up your confidence and develop your experience, you can then delegate your cheap(er) airbrush to your base coating brush or metallic / lacquer brush and upgrade to a better, more expensive airbrush with a smaller diameter. Personally, I run two different airbrushes myself: an Iwata Neo that costs $70 and the Iwata High Performance series which costs $250+ (all prices in AUD). Due to the high humidity, tropical climate in Northern Australia, I actually find myself using the cheaper Iwata Neo more often then the far superior HP airbrush. The humidity plays havoc with the paint on a good day and the larger needle size in the Neo helps mitigate that problem with the right trigger control. Tl;dr, Don't cut corners in health when airbrushing. Invest in air brush paints and thinners to make life easier. Try to match thinners and paints brand for brand for best results. Clean your airbrush regularly and don't be afraid to buy a cheap(er) practice dual action airbrush with a 0.5mm needle. More expensive is not always better at the beginner / inexperienced level.

This thread's a great inspiration. Keep up the good work that you're doing mate.

I suppose you could look at it from a few perspectives. The prime drive of genestealers as the apex xenos vanguard is their uncanny ability to survive. They can: * move lightning fast with strength far greater then humans * Survive in the vaccuum of space (and likely warp space during transit on space hulks) * have claws that can rip through terminator armour and hands with thumbs to manipulate objects * tough skin that contains acid blood * can lie dormant for very long periods of time (centuries and possibly millennia through the void) * Can evolve with time to suit their conditions: scything talons. Tendrils instead of jaws. Yrmgrl genestealers for example. But most importantly, * Can replicate with most species in the galaxy to produce more genestealers. Their only weaknesses apparently is that they have a rampant metabolism and that they're (arguably) unaware of their true purpose: to infiltrate sources of DNA, attract the Hive Fleet and rinse and repeat. Now, as GW and Black Library have elluded to in different ways, Genestealer Cults don't die away if their hierarchy is killed: So long as a single cult member survives, be they purestrain or hybrid containing genestealer DNA, the cult can begin anew again. In your context, would they gain some degree of autonomy back? Maybe. Are they truly free? Probably not. A neophyte hybrid or infected human brood brother survivor from a botched cult uprising may not be aware that his/her desire to lie low and live the good life may just be his altered genes instigating the genestealer prime directive of infiltrate, attract the hive fleets and rinse & repeat. He/she is conditioned at the gene level to love their offspring which will eventually give birth to a purestrain... then the cycle begins anew once more. This is what makes the genestealer such a scary weapon of the Tyranid arsenal: unless the cancer is completely destroyed, it will come back. The terror knowing that the Tyranids are capable of this and more really does make them the borg-style villains of the 40k setting.

If their squad designation is marked on their shoulder in codex pattern, you could use the knee pad to mark their company symbol I suppose. A loose tie in to their primogenitors with a blood drop on their knee.

Unfortunately, the test squad was an absolute disaster. The pre-shades went on well, the tamiya clear red coat went on brilliantly. Then I sprayed the gloss varnish on in preparation for the enamel oil wash.... ....and the clear red got stripped away!! I'm not 100% sure what happened as there's lots of variables. The gloss varnish in the rattle can could have been too close to the miniature or too thick and ate away the paint. The clear red paint could have been pre-thinned previously by myself before adding more thinners again this time. The humid weather could have messed with stuff. Either way, the result was a disaster with the red paint being stripped away into a blotchy mess. But, considering that the Gloss varnish is enamel based and its too much work with too little gain to strip off, I simply made the decision to write off the squad as a test squad to try new things and invest in a new squad of primaris marines later (with the Death Guard getting a good codex, it won't be too hard to find them second hand I don't think). Despite the set backs, I'd learnt a bit from this squad in do's and don't do's for next time. Huge shout out to Brother Dracul for the Angels Encarmine decals designs: I'm glad how the decals turned out. Don't be fooled by the pictures as the light box is doing most of the work (next time I'll borrow the wider lens rather then the narrow lense in order to show the whole model in focus rather then specific points of the model): [The Squad] [Primaris Intercessor] [Primaris Intercessor] [The Squad with different camera settings and surface] Regards, Malios