Deffrolla, Rollin', Rollin', Rolllin'

GW are releasing the extras sprue for the Battlewagon kit and it's been long awaited. This is an extras sprue so you do need the kit first and this maybe a new approach for GW. Amongst the goodies on it is the cabin kannon seen on the cab of the truck. More obvious is the Deffrolla.

Now wearing my Mekboy hat I'd have to say that the roller is far too weedy and should have been at least half as big again. The hydraulic arms are also on the puny side. I would have hoped that they used the Forgeworld one as a base model but it doesn't look that way. Still this kit even with the upgrade sprue is still half the price of the FW version. Not only that it has a multitude of options available to the Warboss wanting to get the boys across the battlefield better with the plastic kit even though the FW version looks more heavy duty.

D-Day Battle for Sword Beach, Normandy

Price Increase Ranting

Before I start I am not going to be bitching and moaning about some price increase rumours.
With GW doing their what seems to be annual price increase the fan websites were full of people complaining about how unaffordable things are and how totally unrealistic the hobby is becoming. The rumours, as usual, were rife and some were saying their so called well informed "contacts" told them things were going up as high as 40%. Which I admit was alarming at first.
However this proved not to be the case with most things increasing by a small margin. Unfortunately the LOTR guys took the heaviest hit. But overall happiness was restored as the fuss died down and the promise of new kits on the horizon was anounced.
Some people blame the global recession others raw material costs such as pewter increasing and others new plastic moulding technology. Whatever the reason these things happen and it's out of hands to an extent. The only real reason for the likes of GW to drop their prices would be either a huge drop in sales or the opposite end of the spectrum cheaper mass produced manufacturing to meet high demand. Neither of which seems a reality at least in short term future.
This isn't just a GW issue though it applies to other miniature companies as well such as Privateer Press, Battlefront, Rackham etc.
Face it folks this can be an expensive hobby if you try and buy everything at once or you choose a large horde based army. If you are new there's no way anyone can just go out and buy an Apocalypse force. The idea is to build up your collection gradually. If necessary look through your army and sell off your units that are just gathering dust then sell them off to buy new units.
I'm tierdof hearing bleat on about how unjustified the pricing is on the net. Likewise the two local gamers who recently bailed up the shop assistant at my FLGS and basically had a go at him regarding the price of everything and how they were getting priced out of the hobby. Shame on you!. Nobody was forcing them to buy new stuff and we all know that the new things are a great marketing gimick. Though older models work just as well on the battlefield.
So my advice is ignore those chatroom doom and gloomers. Don't believe anything price wise unless it is official and in black and white. Ask yourself do you really need that new squad or tank? when in reality all that's changed is some basic cosmetics? Lastly if you cannot honestly afford it then in reality leave it on your wishlist it and save up until you can.

Bald Heads

Since the new Imperial Guard codex came out I have been looking for some bald heads for my Penal Squads. While browsing through the net I came across these from Hasslefree Miniatures in the UK

http://www.hasslefreeminiatures.co.uk/range.php?range_id=60&PHPSESSID=556847e6400ce0be6cbbd52a900094ff

This is a small friendly family run company who make wargaming miniatures and conversion bits. I ordered two lots of the male heads for my convicts and they arrived yesterday.

These are all metal and quite nicely detailed with each face having it's own individual expression. I plan on using these on Cadian guard bodies with Wardens taken from the Catachan Group. Photos will follow as soon as I start assembling them.

Auf Wiedersehen Pet.. sort of

Well my panzers were gathering dust in the corner of the room for Flames of War. So I decided to sell them off to make some space. The good thing is about the FOW stuff is that it holds it's value nicely and can sell especially well sometimes if painted.

So it all went except for my Tiger tanks because the sale fell through. Needless to say nobody wants to face 7 Tiger Tanks so I thought I'd sell them off too a second time arournd.

Now I thought that was it for me and Flames of War. It's not that I don't like it it's just finding time to play that, Fantasy and 40k amongst family life can be hard.

So I thought until I went to a local Normandy game organised by my FLGS for D Day. This inspired me again. So now I'll have a Festung Kompanie, which is an unusual force and one with only limited options. This will make fielding it still enjoyable but specialised in a way that it can't grow very big. So will only take up a small amount of space :-)

Hydra Flak Tank - Forgeworld

It's been a couple of years now since I sold my Hydra platforms and I have regretted it numerous times. Still nobody said that this hobby is cheap!

Anyway with the new codex out and the mobile version being included for a bargain 75pts intead of the old FW 200pts how could any guard player resist. Needless to say I ordered one from Forgeworld.

So here's a shot of mine in the process of being built. Barry the guardsman is there for scale and trying to look brave with his flashlight um I mean lasgun.

As you can see they are fair sized gun barrels on the autocannons. I have used rare earth magnets to hold them on because from past experiance they are prone to bending or worse snapping. Still It is a nice looking model and as usual Forgeworld detaling is fantastic.

The Downside of the Imperial Guard

Yep, it's easy to think some of your loyal guardsmen have gone AWOL if stored in foam trays. That's the downside of bayonets :-)

Cheap Punisher

Mmmm I like the look of the Leman Russ Punisher but won't be paying $105 for the privalege. On top of that I'm a little disapointed on the barrel details. Still that's the price you pay for injection moulded plastic. Good to see options will be available in the kit.

Anyway this aside I've decided to convert my own kitbashing and Plasticard as per usual. I came across these nice 1/35 scale Gatling guns and plan on mounting them on a Leman Russ I have floating around. The tank itself hasn't been made up yet so hopefully I've got all the parts otherwise it too maybe recieving a bit of converting itself.

In the mean time here's a picture of the guns I plan to use. Depending on their size I'll mount either one or two of them. They're resin kits.

Where Did May Go?

Wow that whizzed by!

Gaming was pretty busy. The guard codex came out and I spent most of the month carrying out repairs and upgrades on my loyal Cadians.

Being extra keen to try them out I gave them a go against Frank's Ultramarines and sorted out a rushed list on the night against his battle hardened tournie army needless to say I was dealt to but not detered. My Primaris Psyker earned a paint job, I like this guy!

The club's planning a Fantasy Tournament in October so I bought a couple of Marauder Horsemen box sets to bolster the core choices. I keep thinking that the rider legs and horses could be a nice start for some Rough Riders and that's a conversion for the future.

I made up my Vultures and Vendetta. They looked like they could do with some noseart so the Vendetta got the typical shark's mouth from some 1/ 48 scale Phantom Wild Weasel transfers. This kind of lends itself ironically to the wild weasel aircraft. The Valks got a scantily clad woman each and I'll paint names on them like WW2 aircraft.

I played two more games with my guard. Firstly against Charlie's Templars and beat them comfortably. Then on to Hamish's new Orks which was a close fought battle but the guard leaders escaped the greenskin assassination plot making it a win to the Guard. My new Collossus had it's first run against the green tide and did pretty well before being taken out. It's actually a FW Bombard but the same weapon and I'll downscale the Russ armour to a Chimera.

New Guard Codex

The new codex has been out a little while now and I have to say I quite like it. It's great to see the old characters of the past such as Nork, Straken and Marbo back. Not only that they've packed it with firepower making it a treadheads dream come true. After all the guard are supposed to have the biggest and most guns in the game. Foer a while they were out gunned by the likes of the Tau or the Space Marines but this has now been sorted.

Gone are the doctrines but these never really worked that well in my opinion. Replacing them are the orders system which is a lot more in keeping with the command structure and theme of the guard. If only I can remember to issue them!

I like the gunships and these are pretty deadly especially on lower armoured troops (take that orks!).

I'm even looking at rearmouring some of my Russes with Forgeworld turret options they once had. I'm sure Forgeworld will do pretty well from this codex. The general consensus from most guard players seems to be it's the best one yet that we've had!