Graham McNeill's "A Thousand Sons"

When i first started playing 40k back in '92, it was Chaos that ensnared me. This was before there was a Chaos Codex and the only army list was in the black dex and the only fluff was I had available to me was in the main rulebook and bestiary. I remember a single page at the back of one of those - or was it Dark Millennium, I'm sure someone with a better fluff recall than me knows - was a story about the Thousand Sons casting a ritual to bring Prospero into the warp. It was pretty cool and it enamored me of them. Fast forward to the present. I bought A Thousand Sons on Sunday, and have been reading it ever since. Those of you who know me, are thinking, "but Chris, why didn't you finish it on Sunday?" While I do read pretty fast, usually that entails me focusing everything on reading a novel to the exclusion of all else. Also, while I do speed read, I'm finding that some of the savor is disappearing when I don't take the time to enjoy a novel. So, here I am on Tuesday night and I've just finished my reading. This was a good novel, better than i could have hoped despite the fact that its twists were unsurprising. The story of the Wolves destroying Prospero is one of the more fleshed out tales within the Horus Heresy; and this novel covers a period from right before the Battle of Ullanor through the Council of Nikea and on to the Destruction of Prospero. It is only in the expanded detail of Prospero and the Thousand Sons that makes the novel worth reading and a read to thousand Sons fans.. It's a great read, and I'm only saddened by the fact that I will have to wait so long to read Prospero Burns.

On a side note, in writing these reviews, I'm doing my best to leave out any spoilers, but if anyone has any advice feel free to let fly.

Land Speeder Storm

This is the second Land Speeder Storm I've built. I opted to only model the driver and gunner for the Storm, utilizing the other scouts for other modelling projects.



Currently, there isn't any iconography added to the models, though I plan to either use water slide transfers or freehand to add numbers and Ultramarine symbols.



I plan on leaving the heavy bolter on all of the Land Speeder Storms I build in the future - juts like this one - to keep the speeders inexpensive points wise.



I did freehand the Ultramarine symbols on the scouts however, though as they aren't attached to any squads I left off any squad number markings.

Disciples of Caliban Iconography

Friday morning I had a bit of an epiphany in terms of my Disciples of Caliban. I've been trying to freehand the chapter symbol for a couple of weeks. However all of my attempts have been pretty disappointing. This is when I realized that this isn't the way I freehand the Ultramarines icon.




As you can see from the pic above, I basically drew a stick figure of the icon, and then painted astronomicon grey over top. Then I touched it up with dark angels green. Then painted skull white on top, following up with more dark angels green touch up.



The bigger version on the Master's back banner came out pretty good as well. Although because of his head crest, it's kind of hard to see.

Andrew Dembski-Bowden's Soul Hunter

Soul Hunter was a good read. Far better than Blacktide. I always maintain that a good BL novel will make you want to build an army themed around the book. This is definitely one of those. Without giving away any spoilers, this novel seems to take place before the 13th Black Crusade. It builds upon Lord of Night, yet only briefly mentions the Talonmaster and some of the Night Lords character from that novel. It also involves the Black Legion, with an interesting cameo by Abaddon that depicts him quite differently than he is in the HH books and some of the fluff. The rumors I've heard say this will be the first in the trilogy,if so I can't wait.

James Swallow's BlackTide

I just finished reading James Swallow's Blacktide. This is his fourth Blood Angel's novel and follows chronologically after the last - Red Fury. These books have all been entertaining reads, and this one is no different. Let's face it, I don't expect a Nobel or Pulitzer from a BL author, even the esteemed Dan Abnett (he might be able to pull of a nebula one day). If you are a fan of the Blood Angels and haven't picked up this series you should do so. If you are also a fan of Fabius Bile, pick up Red Fury and Black Tide, those books are quite interesting in regards to the Primogenitor of Chaos Undivided. There are some parts where I found it a bit much, but maybe I am starting to get tired of the cookie cutter villainy of some of the Black Library - and here I'm not referring to Bile. It's amazing that a sub genre that is less than a decade old is already so clique filled. Still, it is good recreation and will definately pass the time.

Ultramarines 2nd Company

For my birthday, I took the time to take some pics of my 2nd Company. I'm going to try to photograph a company a month, so I can both show the models off as well as look at areas that can be improved.



One of the first things I've realized is how dated the landspeeders look in comparison to the rest of the army. For one thing, the speeders are from my original 2nd Company, and have been held over. The yellow is too bright and needs to be brought back down to the golden yellow of the rest of the company. Also the blue needs the right highlighting and shading, same for the skin tones of the



Below is a nice slide show of the pictures of the rest of the army. Four of the tactical squads were taken from Assault on Black Reach, with some minor conversions for varieties sake. The other squads are built from tactical, devastator and assault squads.



Looking at these pics, I'm sure the dreadnoughts could use some touching up as well. Hope you all enjoy.

Captain Agemman

Besides showing off current models I've finished working on, and discussing new books I've just read, I would also like to show off my vast Ultramarines army. Readers of Huronbh's blog may know I own almost the entire Ultramarines chapter, only a couple of vehicles to go really. From time to time I am going to show it off as well. As you can see from my new avatar picture, the first pic is of a lone terminator. This is my conversion of Captain Agemman of the Ultramarines 1st company. It's based off of a Blood Angels Captain in terminator armor that Huronbh made. It's definitely one of my current favorites, though it does lack some of the details I originally envisioned. But that is what retinues are for.



The model was assembled pulling bitz from various places. The head is the alternate for Sicarius, the combi plasmagun is an option from the librarian in terminator armor, the banner is from one of the metal space marine veterans, his legs, upper torso front piece and power fist are from the terminator boxed set, the back of his terminator armor and cloak are from the chaos lord in terminator boxed set, the shoulder pads are dreadnought leg armor, and finally, there are a couple of brass etched Ultramarine pieces from the Forgeworld brass etched sheet.

Possibly be another post tommorrow, depends on how my birthday goes.

Disciples of Caliban

One of the projects I've begun is a small army of Disciples of Caliban. My arch-nemesis HuronBH loves to use Cypher and the deathwing formation whenever we play large point 40k games, so I figure it's time I counteract his fallen with a chapter dedicated to hunting Cypher.



To start out with, I bought a DA master and a DA veterans box. These guys are still work in progress, but for the most part done. For one thing, I haven't decided how to base them yet. For another I'm having a deeply philosophical debate internally on how to handle their chapter symbols. The desire to hand paint them is strong, but the laziness in me is leery of the time it would take to learn to draw and free hand to a degree I can accept. On the other hand, there is the possibility of printing decals, though I would have to find someone to do it for me. So for now, they shall remain chapter badge-less while I try to decide.

Skyshield Landing Platform

Today I finally finished my Christmas present from my wife. A Skyshield Landing Platform for 40k. I've had this model in a somewhat finished state for about three weeks now, but between working late at night and Call of Duty there just hasn't seemed like enough time. Not to mention a general malaise about delving into our basement. Three days couped up in your house by 24+ inches of snow, with only snow shoveling for a break changes your mind though. Below is the finished product:



It looks pretty cool to me, I used a liberal coat of Gryphonne Sepia to add a rusted look to the model. Some streaking of boltgun metal add to the effect, though the under side doesn't have as much. This was an interesting model to build, and a nice break from all of the space marine kits I usually make. I intend to take some pics of my painting table next, to show off what kits I am working on next. Though which will get done next is anyone's guess.

Rynns World

Rynn's World is the first in a new series of books from the Black Library. This novel details the legendary battle of Rynn's World when it was invaded by orks. One of the most interesting aspects of the novel is the contrast between Pedro Kantor and Alessio Cortez. Kantor represents the view of those space marines who look upon the citizenry of the Imperium as their charges, to be protected and as the reason for the existence of the space marines. Cortez represents the space marine who looks at humanity and sees weakness, often undeserving of his aid. Another aspect of this book is the general sense of complacency that pervades Rynn's World and the Crimson Fists. Their lack of preparedness and belief in the invulnerability of the Crimson Fists is what allows a single fluke to almost completely destroy a world. I found this to be an enjoyable read, and one that any Warhammer 40000 fan should read.

Beginnings, Books and Warhammer

For a long time now, I have been claiming lack of a personal computer to forestall a friend from blogging. Today I remedied that situation - happy early Birthday to me - and figured I would give it a go. Mainly I'll be posting about books - highlighted through the above shelfari bookshelf. Check the site out, feel free to browse through my shelf, it doesn't have everything I've read on it yet, but eventually it will. I'm not currently reading anything either, having not seen anything demanding I buy it at the store, and a blizzard hovering over the DC Metro area has stopped me from taking that trip to the main branch of the library in my county. I will also post pics of modelling projects as I complete them and possibly some work in progress shots. I don't consider myself to be a great painter, but I like to think I have a high tabletop standard (as opposed to competition standard). Anywho, I'm also going to see about making a gallery of models I've done, including my massive Ultramarines army, and some work in progress stuff. More to come tomorrow. Cheers for now.