Project Chem-Dogs: Part 8

I realised something this week. If I finished off the command squad I was doing, made up those Ogyrns, and built my second tank as a Leman Russ Demolisher, I'd have a 1000 point force. Not a complete army, but that felt like a natural stopping point. I still had ideas, and stuff I wanted to, but maybe the weekly format was no longer needed, and a break was called for. So, with that in mind, I'm going to talk a bit about the three units I worked on this week, with an aim towards wrapping things up in part 9 or 10. So lets look at what I was working on this week. In between being very distracted.

The Platoon Command Squad, (plus two random arsonists,) was probably the most routine of what I did. I’ve largely got the hang of infantry now, although in the name of convenience, I opted for pre-made facemasks and helmets. The squad was cobbled together from old Cadian, Iron Brothers, and Stargrave sprues, and was visualised as the staff counterpart to Big Fi-Fi's gang. The main difference was the presence of a mortar rather than a lascannon, both as a timesaver, and to allow this squad to be more of a backfield unit, assisting my mortar teams. These went OK, but the recast plasma pistol is a bit naff.

 

The second tank, a “Battlecat" EDIT- Battledog, I've been confusing them, this time, was put on the back burner, as I awaited a Baneblade waterslide transfer sheet. I did not want to do this. I still do not want to do this. Water transfers suck in a manner normally found in manual gear boxes or woprk-related social events, but it was looking to be the only option. I’d tried cheap stencils and paint pens, and while this method shows promise for Orks or Gaslands, I needed something more precise here. Once I got the transfers, I started putting the tank together on Sunday, and started experimenting with those transfers on the Monday. The tank got within a hair’s breadth of completion in time for my Tuesday cut-off, but I had to hold off on weathering until I was sure the transfers would behave themselves, as they needed weathering too. I think I've got it now, but why rush headlong into a mishap? As for why I went for a Leman Russ Demolisher, rather than a vanilla Russ, or the current flavour of the month, the Vanquisher? Well, the thing about the Demolisher is that if you need something killed to death at pointblank range, its hard to beat a Demolisher. Plus I could field this as a Tank Commander, if I want to later on.

The Ogyrn Squad is something I picked up mainly as a fun concept, which I could also acquire cheaply as a loose sprue. These are Wargames Atlantic's Landsknecht Ogres, a primarily fantasy themed kit, but they also have guns and such for sci-fi purposes. I figured that if I spent some time filing down the fancy trousers, and building things back up with green stuff, they'd fit my theme well enough. This was a bit if a learning experience, and I might try doing some of these as Bullgryns next, once I've got my eye in. I didn’t get nearly as far with these as the two above, but hopefully I’ll have them presentable by my next update.

 

 

Up next: the home stretch, and maybe an analysis.

Custom Toy: ROTB Optimus Prime (Core, Voyager)

Something that I could probably do an article on are the "core" release toys from Rise of the Beasts. These mass market toys were part of the wider merchandising push, and were often noted for their relative simplicity and lower costs. Collectors had of course gravitated to the "more screen accurate" Studio Series releases, or like myself had checked out of the whole business, but completionists soon began to take note, especially once things went on sale. The voyagers, including today's subject, have been quite well received. A sleeper hit, almost. I picked this one up a few weeks back, and found an honestly good voyager that won me over. I was put in mind of that FOC Prime from years back; its probably not the best version of what it is, maybe has the feel of budget squeeze in places, but its definitely doing an awful lot right. I mean, the original asking price was £30, the Studio Series version is £35, and I’m not necessarily convinced that the Studio Series is doing a good enough job to make the cheaper one redundant. Its more accurate certainly, but not perfect either, and someone with both needs to the Pepsi Challenge. In any case, I got this for 12 quid, which is “just roll the dice” money for something like this, so maybe I’m being too kind, but it is fun.

As to why this isn't a something that exists article? Well, I don't feel like watching that cucumber sarnie of a film again, and it's hard to put an interesting spin on "Optimus toy is good actually, yes, I know we get one every month or so, trust me.". There are however two flaws; a simple swivel neck made worse by everything else this toy does well, and the abundance of grey plastic. I can however fix that last one. So, this is a custom toy article... enjoy the novelty.

Now, I approached this task in much the same way as I would weather a gunpla. Applying paint to a Transformer toy is non trivial matter if course, they aren't designed to be painted outside of the factory, the plastic resists taking paint, and you could accidentally gum up something. I judged that with the lightest of drybrushing and washing I could work with the plastic as is, and make the toy less grey. This meant a make-up brush and Vallejo Chainmail in robot mode, and Dark Gunmetal for his gun. This was then followed by the old stand by, GW's Nuln Oil. Once that had dried, I converted the toy into truck mode, and then gave the newly revealed bits, like the roof and grill, the same treatment. I picked out the tail-lights in blue, before using a very light drybrush of Zandri Dust to conceal some mishaps on the wheels, and make a few bits look dusty. I don't know how lasting this paintjob will be, but given I'm working with the plastic, rather than against it, its probably fine. At worst, it would make things look newer, I suppose.

Job's a good un.

 

 

Project Chem-Dogs: Part 7

Following on from a long-awaited delivery, this week has seen me having three things on the go.
1) Finishing the Catachans/Cadians I'd built with grenade launchers by mistake.
2) Building two flamer guys to correct the above, alongside a second Platoon Command Squad I’d been wanting to do, for batch-painting purposes.
3) A tank, which will be our focus today.

Now, if you're doing Imperial Guard, you're doing tanks. With enthusiasm. Its just a given. Its like being a fire fighter, and wanting ride on the fire engine. This is not a judgement, just an observation. So I knew that I was gonna need a few, but i was mindful of cost, and not being sure if which ones I wanted. What I ended up doing was to order two of Ramshackle Games' tank range, in the knowledge that it would be about a month before I got them, there would most of the possible gun options in the box, and I could make final decisions later on. Then a balance update happened which changed the math on the assorted Leman Russ units. Ultimately, I decided on two of your bog standard Battle Tanks, although only one would be complete in time for the Tuesday cut-off.

As models go, the "Battlecat", is fairly typical of Ramshackle Games' output, offering an inexpensive proxy for the vast majority of Leman Russ variants. I had actually considered magnetising those weapons, until sanity reasserted itself. This is a low budget resin model, and attempting such a thing proved impractical with the tools I had. Also, while a model of this size is more resistant to shattering than some resin pieces Ive worked on, its not exactly in the Goldilocks Zone for the material either. Its big, heavy and will need a lot more finishing than your average plastic kit. And possibly the hot glue gun. On the plus side, I received more sponson weapons than I was likely to use for the foreseeable future, and I could easily make completely new additional turrets in lieu of magnetisation. I used the spraycan method here, priming it first, masking off the tracks, before spraying most of it green. Weathering was much the same as the Sentinel, although I ended up going a bit further than I had originally intended on that. I found a few mistakes/oversights late it the process, and concealed with with rust and muck. The crew-woman was prepared separately, and is a Cannon Fodder head atop an Iron Brothers body. The hull lascannon and its mount is out of the bitzbox, with a green stuff tarp. The HK missile another resin bit, I think from those Orky robots I did a while back. I’m not entirely happy with the “T42” number I freehanded, and subsequent feedback has confirmed that, so I’ll probably repaint it. I loathe transfers, so I’ll try stencils first.

I also managed to fit in my first two games if 10th edition this week, at a mere 500 points a side. My opponent was a gracious fellow whom was similarly rusty, whom promptly, as the Americans would say, handed me my ass. I made the mistake of approaching things like an Ork in my first game, but as my foe actually was Orks, that ended poorly. We had time for a second game, which was a lot closer due to my brain turning on, even if I conceded by the end. My foe deserved those two victories, nice guy, and you know, Megamind meme, learning from your mistakes. In the second game, I had a better handle on my synergys, and perhaps my load-out was not ideal for use against the new Green Tide. Initial thoughts? Mortars good, but Sentinel guidance is mandatory. Infantry blobs can grind down ork units, but you need to add force multipliers. The autocannons where a bit underwhelming here, heavy bolters would have been a better call. Orders good, detachment rule has its moments, but is limiting. Here's a couple of pictures from the day.

 

Up next: probably finishing the infantry I mentioned in 2), the other tank, with an eye towards a 750/1000 point list

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Air Raid is Something That Exists

War for Cybertron Air Raid’s wiki picture

Ah yes, the continual March of Time. Ever dragging the nostalgia window forwards to your eventual demise. As I've discussed before, 2012/13 wasn't a brilliant time for Transformers toys, as budget cuts kicked in and the bayverse had lost its shine. Around this time, The Fall of Cybertron video game had been released to general acclaim, but the tie-in toys were patchy, prompting a cottage industry of third party substitutes and add-ons. That was 11 or so years ago, so it now counts as nostalgia to think about. While the FOC line has largely been supplanted by the conceptually similar Siege, and the more recent Studio Series Gamer Editions, but it was influential in its way. The FOC toys were notable for their use of Retooling, foreshadowing Combiner Wars and modern Legacy toys. And this wasn't merely new heads either, it meant additional accessories too. Air Raid is one such toy. 

Given that Air Raid, is, well, called Air Raid, you'd probably think was he a jetformer of some description. Possibly a seeker repaint, and in the context of being an Autobot, part of the Aerialbots sub-group. He may very well be an Aerialbot, and he is a retool of a Decepticon mould. It's just that the base mould was Shockwave. He has wings, he flies a bit, but Air Raid's altmode is described as “Cybertronian mobile artillery”. Its a weird direction to go, not least because this toy is a legally mandated name-swap too. That's more a discussion for robot mode, but here its evident with the colours, burgundy, gold, silver and metallic grey. Its not a bad look by any means, with things being retooled significantly along the centre line. It has a different character from the Shockwave version, not least because of the additional sword weapon that folds out into decoration or wannabe control surfaces. What is less great is the remnants of Shockwave they didn't change, most notably a piece of faux kibble on top, and the cannon barrel is neglected. By the standards of Cybertronian altmodes, subset of Transformers that look like nowt specific, Air Raid tends towards the middle. Clearly alien, not a Siege style cop-out, but not something noteworthy in form or function. Its a gun with wings, one integrated weapon, one externally stowed weapon, a spare 5mm port if you need more gun, and an upsidedown Autobot badge. Its adequate, although the colours do look great. There's a lot more visual interest than the source material. It does however need landing gear.

 

 

In robot mode, I find there's more to talk about with Fireflight. What? Oh, yes, this is meant to be Fireflight, not Air Raid, but they couldn't secure the name. This is why the toy has absolutely no resemblance to the Air Raid from the preceding video game, and why it was cheating for me to use the wiki image I used above. But I didn't know that at first, and in my defence they did rework Optimus Prime's design completely in-between games. Fireflight is something of interesting one here, in that they've gone a few steps beyond a mere head replacement, but there's still a lot of Shockwave there. The head for example is a stylised take on the G1 version and sits like an ornate helmet atop a mess of cables. His chest plate is new, but otherwise retaining the thick-torso/thin-limbs look of the original. Sculpted detail is otherwise unchanged, but paint applications do help differentiate things here as much as with the alt mode, and he does have wings. The new weapons are of course a highlight, although the more I think about it, the less they seem to fit. Replacing the modular gunarm is a modular bladearm affair with a very large cutting edge and two small gun barrels inherited from the previous version. This didn’t immediately impress me, as the completely new components on this toy seem to be red translucent plastic painted over, thus foreshadowing some of the more worrisome of early 2020’s Transformers, but I digress. My example seems entirely fine with respects to cracking, but as a combined unit it feels a touch impractical given the overall dimensions and build quality. Splitting it up makes for a nicer pair of weapons, granting a rather large blaster with a fearsome blade attachment. The other sword is however immediately lovely; 9 out of 10, no notes. You can combine the accessories for an even more elabourate weapon, its a very modular set, but I've neglected to photo it here. Meanwhile articulation is a bit basic and smells of cut corners. The arms have some decent motion due to the transformation, but there's nothing in the waist, and the lower-legs aren't great. or indeed visually pleasing. Its no legacy deluxe is what I'm saying, although it does have a spring-loaded Dramatic Head Reveal, light piped eyes, and can certainly flourish its swords a fair bit.

I went back and forth with myself when writing this article. There’s two discussions to be had, the base mould, and what was done with it. As a case study in retooling, FOC Air Raid nee Fireflight, is very compelling. Play value is superior to the original, the colour choices are striking, its clearly a different character, and there’s the sort of trivia about the whole process that I enjoy as a collector. As a base toy? Well, the Fall of Cybertron line had recognised weaknesses when it was new, and you can count on one hand the few toys that have aged gracefully. The base mould is mediocre by modern standards, not bad certainly, but a waist joint would have meant so much here. That said you have a toy that is distinct in both forms, has more weapons that it can sensibly use at once, and absolutely is not skimping on the paint applications. So, its something that exists, and exists loudly.

 

Project Chem-Dogs: Part 6

Part 6. Time for big concepts but small model counts. Yes, the brass. I made my first Officer. Well, an Officer in a Platoon Command Squad.

Platoon Command Squads are a unit with a bit of history in the whole "army composition" thing. The idea of leaders having a bodyguard is pretty common, of course, but with the Guard you tend to see squads of five as the default. This is both thematic and practical, as the Astra Militarum puts a big focus on the command structure, and the Officers in question are always very squishy. In times past, the basic Troops unit for Guard was a small army in its own right, having two squads of 10 and a command squad as the bare minimum. I mean, 25 pairs of boots isn't a bad number for a typical and feature complete marine force, is it? For a horde army, its a bit middling though. This incidentally is why that old Cadian BattleForce I got wasn't viewed as a great deal at the time, IIRC, it wasn't a lot. As a combat unit, the modern Platoon Squad functions as a general purpose support, with a diverse selection of synergies involving the order system, various specialist equipment, and merging with other squads. The latter is relatively new to me, but you can bolt such a unit onto a big squad of soldiers, thus maximising buffs and granting the otherwise fragile command squad some protection. A blob squad, basically.

I'd initially planned to piece these together from leftovers, like an Iron Brothers Mortar team and some Stargrave Mercenaries, but I’d had a bit of a rethink since. I like the Wargames Atlantic stuff more, and I’d found a reseller doing single sprues that helped with the gender ratio of the army. I was also thinking more about how best to use these in a blob squad. So my first Platoon Command was gonna be Cannon Fodder ladies with an officer based on the Les Grognards sprue from the same company. These scifi French guys were another candidate for this project due to them having heavy weapon and cavalry kit, but they ultimately weren't the vibe I went for. Their slightly more "fancy long-coat” look was however a decent fit for a Chem-Dogs officer, presumably rank has some benefits, and so it was.

 

The officer in question, "Big Fi-Fi", would be the point where I abandoned subtlety, grafting on a resin robot arm from Ramshackle Games, and a plasma pistol. This is probably over the top. It is over the top. We can no longer see the top. But we have a lot of women in this force with bionics, and I don't want there to be any possibility of an opposing player not realising whom is running the show. In so far as lore justifications are needed, Lt Fiona Myers suffered critical damage to her augmentic arm, and hurried for a replacement lest she be "retired". A nearby Techpriest was then quickly convinced/threatened/horses-head into providing a replacement. Thus Fiona received a generous and completely voluntary donation of an arm formerly belonging to a combat servitor, and she hasn't looked back. Some Catachan weirdo keeps sending her Cease & Desists, though.

 

The comms operator and heavy weapon team are also highlights I feel. I was running low on vox units, so I made a mould to make more. This is always an imprecise process, but I leaned into it. I replaced the antenna with bits of paperclip, and compensated for lost detail with putty. The lascannon needed a touch more creativity as I had already used all the stands, and I needed to create a carriage for it. Using the bulky cabling and battery as reference, I built one up from toy car wheels and assorted bits, before adding a recast trigger and a bit of putty to round things out. I was struggling a bit for space on this one, and I eventually need to figure out a good way to have crew actively firing these, but it works. Painting continued in the now usual manner, which look good, although rougher than I would have liked. I may have used too much dark grey. I’d also ran out of grass tufts, and used some old flock instead for the bases.

 

I also worked on the last ten Cadian/Catachans, in-between the "drying" steps of the above. There's not a huge amount to say here, except this was benefiting from experience, and these had a similar vox unit to the above. These weren't quite finished in time for the Tuesday cut-off, but I got most of it done, and I didn't feel like rushing. I however do wish that I'd remembered that Catachans can't have grenade launchers, so these will probably be actual Cadians this time. With those now assembled, I now have a basic 500 points force for 40k and a solid Xenos Rampant force. I did make a rare attempt to play, and I have found a sparing partner, but our dairies have yet to line up. On the subject of things that didn't quite come together in time, I did receive some Ogryn proxy models, and I've also received my tanks. Between these deliveries, and the bits I have to make another Command Squad, I can start thinking about the next 500 points.

We'll see which I feel like doing first.

Transformers: Earthrise Airwave Is Something That Exists

While I have both emotional baggage and philosophical objections in relation to the Earthrise line, there were bits of it I enjoyed. I'm predisposed to like the more oddball aspects of any given Transformers series, and these usually aren't the Primes and Bumblebees. Airwave is one such example. I recently took him out of storage, and having recently done a write-up on Magneous, I felt a retrospective was in order. Which would end being released much, much, later.

 

The 1989 Transformers Airwave Micromaster Playset

Airwave is a Modulator, and an example of Earthrise’s play pattern, the A.I.R Lock system. This was a spin on base playsets, the idea being that you could build up fortifications and roads for your toys to fight over. Airlock toys are usually identified by a specific connector on ramp pieces, which actually meant the gimmick had an uncredited introduction in Siege with Astrotrain and Omega Supreme. While examples of the gimmick were found at every pricepoint, deluxe Modulators such as Airwave were the banner bearers for it, an evolution of the Weaponizers from Siege. These were technically G1 characters, but not really. Most were based on Micromaster playsets, upgraded to have robot modes, but taking the name of the Micromaster that oversaw the playsets, whom were omitted, and shuffled into exclusives. The whole Airlock thing is basically forgotten these days, except as a minor feature of larger toys, and there's several reasons for that. First off, Hasbro only ever made two actual Modulator moulds in the deluxe slot, with Fasttrack being a Siege throwback. They honestly needed more, and maybe they should have been backwards compatible with Titans Return toys, whom had done something similar. Then came the matter of the little guys to go on the playsets, and this is where things objectively get a bit pants. This meant the Micromaster two packs, which were deservedly unpopular, and the new spin on Battlemasters. They took a pricepoint that was about little dudes that turned into weapons, and made them turn into transparent bits of road. Did it work out? Of course it bloody didn't, and even if the Pandemic hadn't kicked us all in our collective teeth, the idea was half-baked from the outset.

So, with Airwave here, I'm kinda writing about the best Modulator mould by default. It's a very small group, with a few exclusive repaints, and Ironworks had a few QC issues, but I admit there's not much in it. I'm starting with the robot mode here too, rather than the altmode, as he technically has 4 of those. So, robot mode. Airwave's robot mode look seems to have been made from whole cloth, not unusual by itself, but he is definitely unusual on his own terms. He resembles the love child of Shockwave and Seaspray; the former in the face and gunarm, the latter in colours and general dorkiness. Airwave has long legs, a torso like a pizza oven, decepticon badges for shoulder pads, and head with a mouthplate and 3(?) eyes. Keen-eyed readers will also recognise some minor pieces reused from Siege Brunt, specifically the hips and a flip-up peg on the chest. As a robot, its fairly distinctive, but also a little anonymous, which is kinda what you want for a potential army builder like this. Articulation is OK, but not great. There's ankle tilts and such in those lengthy legs, but the arms end up limited by the forearms interfering with the elbow swivel. He's a bit of a marmite, maybe? But its not without charms. 

 

 

Some unpegging and reassembly later, you get this airport setup, evocative of the original playset. Here the pizza oven chest finds use as a building or terminal, with his forearm gun now a control tower. The legs have folded out for a substantial runway, although, in what's gonna be a recurring weakness here, the arms are just kinda there being orange. Otherwise this fits well with any tiny jets you may have, and makes the best case for being a static location of what we're looking at today. 

 

The gun emplacement by comparison is kinda weak. Its got the form factor and appearance of the G1 version, but how you get there is radically different. The orange arms are sticking out and there's no obvious place for a Micromaster or ramp to get involved. It's also reliant on joint friction, so your mileage may vary. Moving swiftly on. 

 

 

The tracked aircraft carrier form is undoubtedly a highlight of the toy. The left arm comes good as the front end, those legs become a believable flight deck, tiny castor wheels come into play, while the torso passes muster as superstructure. It's not a great roller, but it is more clearly something than any preceding weaponizer and such. As other people have commented, it's like if Metroplex was a deluxe, and it's pretty good.

So, in conclusion, is Airwave worth your time? I'd say yes, for the most part. This toy was dealt a bad hand from the start. It's strongly connected to the failed Micromaster toys, which is a mark against it. It's also a substantive deviation from the G1 toy, and while I feel that's a net improvement, G1 accuracy is overdone, some may disagree. Less subjectively, colour choices do highlight weaknesses in the mould, and the toy may well have been better off with its hands switched. A big orange fist towards the front of an altmode breaks the illusion, ya know? Despite all that, there are good ideas here. Airwave is fun, that counts for much, and there's a few recoloured versions knocking about if that appeals.

Oh right, the armour thing that isn't in the instructions? But was in the instructions for Hothouse? OK, let's take a look at that too. I honestly didn't realise that this was thing until researching this toy, and maybe it has a bit of the fan mode about it. It is however something that exists. 

 

Project Chem-Dogs: Part 5

So, by part 5, I realised that spent a month-plus doing infantry, and it was time to mix things up. I had some tanks on order, but these were at least two weeks away at time of posting. So this meant the Sentinel, and if I'm totally honest, this was the one model I was least interested in. It was part of that old Cadian battleforce box, and while I will rarely reject a giant robot, its not usually an Astra Militarum selling point. Further research would reveal that these chicken walkers had more appeal than I thought, and I am currently pondering ideas to scratchbuild my own versions later on.

 

Sentinels have actually been around since 1st edition, but I don't recall seeing any in person until GW got really into plastic kits circa 3rd and 4th edition. Whereas most Guard vehicles tend to be more big tanks and bigger artillery, this AT-AT expy is more on the sci-fi end of the spectrum. Its historically been pitched as a scout and an infantry support platform, on the lighter side, but there's been numerous varieties over the years. As of late 9th edition, i.e. very recently, they received a new kit and a bit of a glow-up. Sentinels nowadays impose more on Dreadnought territory and benefit from many synergies and stratagems. I opted for the classic Scout variant as it provides buffs to my mortar teams.

 

As a build, thisis an older style, one runner kit, which means its fairly simple, but with a lot of spare guns. I think its one of the first production runs, as the instructions refer to individual regiments like the Steel Legion. The legs are something you have to feel out, like yer ma, as these are posable with guide pegs, but they aren't quite robust enough to hold their weight without glue. I used plastic cement while finding the pose, before using super glue to make sure. As this would have an exposed pilot, painting it would be a matter of sub-assemblies. I’m visualising the Chem-Dog vehicle pool as consisting of A) old stuff nobody else wanted, or B) stuff the original owner didn't notice was missing until it was too late. As such the pilot would be be in the same orange as my infantry, but the walker would be a stock military green. The latter was gonna be a the classic "spraypaint it green, then go in pick out pistons etc with metallics" technique which is not how I normally do things, but a consistent finish is desirable here. I mulled over the weapon selection for a bit, as while the chainsaw and HK missile were a given, the main gun was more debatable. I didn't necessarily want to magnetise it either, I had hopes/plans for the leftover guns, and so went back and forth on it a lot. Eventually, I opted for a plasma cannon.

Painting went quite well, I feel. The HK missile didn’t play nice with the red I was using, so I painted it over grey, but otherwise this approach bodes very well for the tanks when they turn up. Otherwise, I made a start on a Platoon Command Squad, and the prep-work for the last squad of Cadians/Catachans. This involved some recasting of vox units, as well as green stuff, but I think I’ll save that discussion for part six. 

Up next: The remaining infantry and hopefully the first 500 points.

Blog Status Update: So, why no Ork Codex article?

Eh, good question.

So, this post got started when an internet friend rightly called me out for not posting any Ork projects. I am, of course, currently working on Project Chem-Dogs, when I could be doing one of any number of Ork things. New Codex, new possibilities, and all that. Its a fair question to ask. Well, there's a number of reasons, and its not just because I'm working on a guard force, something which I've always kinda wanted to do. One aspect is simple budgeting, I'm trying to control my expenses, I’ve actually flogged stuff to fund my recent projects, and £35 RPP for a rulebook when I'm not actually playing just now? Its hard to justify, and I can probably wait a month or so.

More deeply, while I love my Orks, I don't feel I can take them further with my current skill level. I've done basically all the units I want to, at least twice, and I'm just not into Beast Snaggas, which is the only aspect of Orks I've not dabbled in. The new codex doesn't actually help with that. Its been massively well-received, and from a game design angle I can't fault it, but there's nowt to get my teeth into, and its possibly due a nerf in 12 weeks. There's no new modelling angle to explore, and I don't think I can add to the discourse*. On a related note, as part of their ongoing ForgeWorld cull, a number of my recent projects are no longer allowed in matched play, which is disappointing. Not that I play anyway, but I do like my models to be game legal, and nobody likes building a model only to have it invalidated by rules changes. Again.So, on balance, I've lost units and modelling options with the new codex. I don't recall using a monkey's paw. On the plus side though, I'm pretty confident that when I do eventually pick the codex up, I'll have a good time, and a Dreadmob is very much within my means.

Anyways, what does this mean going forward? Well, being an ork player is a state of mind as much as anything else, so I'm going to try to direct that energy into other projects. Orks will likely become an occasional feature of the blog, possibly as part of Gaslands and such. They will return in time for Orktober, and by then I will hopefully have a fresh angle and maybe some new skills.

So, less Orks now. More Orks once inspiration hits, and the dust has settled on the new rules.

 

* It does amuse me to see how the Adeptus Custodes codex released at the same time prompted fanboy tears because they weren't overpowered any more and now feature girls. SHOCK HORROR. I digress, but I wanted to mention that somewhere.

Project Chem-Dogs: Part 4

Right then, part 4. I worked on some Heavy Weapon Teams, and another Infantry Squad this week. I did a brief double-take when I realised that I committed myself to an entire army where each individual model has some green stuff and/or kitbash work. That's something I honestly wouldn't have attempted in decades past, but given that I seem to be producing at least one legal unit a week, its not wearying me as yet. Hell, I did three for this update.

 

So what are Heavy Weapon Teams/Squads then? Well, its time for another lore/usage discussion. Heavy Weapon Teams are one of the more distinctive aspects of Guard, going for the borderline realistic option of a gunner, loader and weapon on a single base. Most other 40k factions don't do that, although Aledari Guardians have their own take. Its been a bit of a barrier to completing Infantry Squads for people, if I am totally honest, as these are often sold separately in a "hot-dogs are sold in packs of 8, but the buns are sold in packs of 6" kind of inconvenience. Infantry Squads really do need the dakka. Dedicated squads of three teams are another issue. Putting three big guns together is justified from a concentration of fire perspective, but its markedly easier for a foe to damage them. A heavy weapon in an Infantry Squad of 10 can absorb 9 wounds before loosing function, where as the Heavy Weapon Squad equivalent starts loosing guns at two wounds. As Guard are an attritional force at the best of times, the team of three option can be unpopular for that reason. The heavy weapon is often more important than the guy firing it. If that sounds like a callous disregard for human life justified by game mechanics, well, welcome to 40k! You ain't seen nothing yet! 

 

With that in mind, I opted to make a squad of Mortars, and a squad of Autocannons. Mortars sidestep a lot of problems by being indirect fire, thus keeping them behind the lines and out of sight, while Autocannons are a solid generalist weapon. I will likely go onto build more of these teams as this project goes on, as to swap into squads as needed, but this seemed a good place to start. In terms of build, the mortars were stock with Cannon Fodder crew, while the Autocannons used Cadian crew, but two kitbashed guns. The Chem-Dogs are reputed to strip weapons off vehicles that have ran out of fuel, so I worked that in here, with one plastic Sentinel Autocannon and a white metal one that turned out to be the precursor to that very same gun. I also took the opportunity on both to use surplus putty to add details like tarps. I did however make the mistake of preparing bases with wall filler before attaching models, which made painting much easier, but gluing them on tricky.

 

 
Ultimately the heavy weapon units came out OK, not perfect yet, still learning, but definitely acceptable, and quick. As for the infantry Squad, I did them up to match the first batch, so I could field them as one big unit. These were initially done in-between the above drying, which meant progress was slow, followed by a foolish rush once the big guns were done. Final assembly had a few issues too, like having to make a second batch of heads, the aforementioned basing issue, and replacing the arms on one. Nothing I couldn’t fix, but I wasn’t pacing myself properly. Otherwise, I went for the elephantine mask style, with a few resin heads leftover from the Iron Brothers. I managed to start painting these on the Monday, and got them done bar touch-ups on the same day. I still need to go back and tidy up a visor, but these turned out fine.

One thing I did realise while working on the squad though was that I’d been using an obsolete pdf of the Index list, and this led to a further realisation: Guard units with Heavy Weapon Teams have non-standard model counts. Because its two dudes/dudettes on a base, that can have some interactions with the Blast rule. Interesting? Probably not, But its something that may make a difference in actual gameplay.

 

Up next: I'm gonna build that Sentinel, I think. For a change of pace. And probably only the one unit this time as I have a busy weekend.