MKIV Death Spectres Apothecary

I debated a while about what to do with the MKIV Apothecary. Perhaps now, knowing about the Forge World Horus Heresy products coming out I would have changed my mind, but in the end I decided to do a small Death Spectres army. Especially after the conversion of the Sicarius model I did.

The apothecary was built with the Forge World kit, but I ended up using a resin base because I didn't notice the Forge World piece for the apothecary to stand on. Otherwise, the model is straight forwardly built.

I painted the model using the new GW paints, with layers of Ceramite White and White Scar for the main body. The metal was a layer of Leadbelcher, a wash of Argax Earthshade and then a layer of the old Chainmail. The bone was done with Zandri Dust, Argax Earthshade, Ushabti Bone and Screaming Skull. The red is Mephiston Red, Evil Sunz Scarlet and Troll Slayer Orange. After all of the painting was done, I used Testors Dullcote to seal the model, then Applied a Death Spectre's water seal transfer. To apply the transfer, I applied a coat of Decal Set, applied the transfer and then a second coat of Decal Set. Once it was dry, I sealed the model again with Dullcote.

Shadows of Treachery

Shadows of Treachery is the latest Horus Heresy short story anthology from the Black Library. Fans should know that three of the stories within are reprinted from other media. First off, the limited edition stories of "The Lightning Tower" and "The Dark King" are brought back for mass dissemination. For detractors of the audio dramas, you can be happy to know that "Raven's Flight" has been transcribed into short story print form. I have had a signed copy of the limited edition stories since they came out back when Games Workshop still had Games Day in the US in Baltimore, MD. I also enjoy listening to the audio books while I paint, so I was able to skip these three stories. That left "The Crimson Fist," which is the recounting of what occurs to the Imperial Fist expedtion to Istvaan when it becomes becalmed in the warp and stranded in the Phall system. Also, "The Prince of Crows" is a novella picking up for the Night Lords after the battle between Lion el'Johnson and Konrad Kurze on Tsugualsa. Just for the new fiction alone the book is worth it. The Horus Heresy series continues to entertain me, with moments of awesomeness scattered amidst the general coolness of it all.

Angel of Fire

For a long time I debated with myself over the format in which I wanted to read Angel of Fire. For one thing, the kindle format is cheaper. However, the process of putting Black library works on a Kindle is a pain in the posterior. After a lengthy amount of time, I decided to buy the hard cover of the past weekend. Angel of Fire is an early campaign of Macharius on Karks IV. On that world, there is a cult of the angel of fire, who sits on the right hand of the Emperor and dispenses judgment. What follows is a novel that starts out a little slow, but quickly picks up momentum with all of the action of a Warhammer 40,000 novel. Overall, a great read, pick it up if you haven't yet.

Dark Vengeance

The latest starter set for Warhammer 40,000 has arrived, and it is called Dark Vengeance. This starter set is another leap in plastics innovation as big as the jump from Battle for Macragge to Assault on Black Reach. When I first saw the White Dwarf with all of the Dark Vengeance pictures in it, I new I would have to get the limited edition so I could have the Chaplain. Before I got the kit, I was pretty down on the cultist models. However, having built them, I like almost all of them - still not a fan of the ex-commissar cultist. At the other end, I love the Dark Angels Terminators, characters and the Chaos Space Marine Lord and Chosen. The poses and weapon choices for these models are just great, as is the overall detail. The Hellbrute has cool elements to it, but as I built it there are just some details that lowered it for me. For one, I'm not a fan of the fact that it has toe nails. Claws would have been cool, but not toe nails. The bikes and tactical marines are pretty middle of the pack as well. My biggest disappointment was the reuse of one of the Terminators and one of the Chosen. Overall great kit, impressive detail on the models and a nice mixture of unit choices.

Butchers Nails

For a long time I put off picking up Butchers Nails. Not for any particular reason, I just waffle a lot on the format in which I am picking up the Black Library product lately. This audio drama opens with Lorgar and Angron on a mission for Horus, yet for some reason they are about to go to war against each other. Angron has been pushing Lorgar by using excessive force against Imperium worlds they have passed on their way to the Ultima Segmentum. The focus is mainly on Angron, and the butchers nails in the back of his skull. These are the psycho surgical augmentations that increase the rage in the World Eaters and drive them into a berserker fury. In Lorgar's mind, they are killing Angron, but nothing can be done about it. This was a good audio drama, with good peaks at both Primarchs, and some hints as to how aspects of the Horus Heresy story arch is advancing. It is not a must buy, but it is pretty good.

James Swallow's Fear to Tread

James Swallow continues to write well crafted fiction for the Black Library, and Fear To Tread is no exception. This novel is fast paced and well executed, with interesting characters that are well developed and show thoughtfulness on Swallow's part in creating a legion that reflects it's present through the various chapters founded from it. There were a lot of "wow" moments in the novel, the end especially; and as the greater arc of the Horus Heresy unfolds I feel myself becoming more and more pulled in. I think when the series is finally done, there will be certain books that form a linear link and are must reads. This one is one of them.

Imperial Armour Aeronautica

When stopping into my local Games Workshop the other night, I was lucky enough to find that the store had a copy of Imperial Armour Aeronautica in stock. The manager was holding it for someone else, but that person was gracious enough to let me have it. Which is how I can write this review. There are three parts to the books. The first is the rules, broken down by army, for all of the Forge World flyers, anti-aircraft vehicles and anti-aircraft stationary weapon systems. The second section has the fluff for the Scourging of Kerrack, which is a small version of the campaigns in any of the other IA books. The third part are scenarios and rules for playing the Scourging of Kerrack as a campaign. The rules are what they are, and I am too new to 6th edition to make any judgement calls on them. But the other two sections are well done, and being a fighter jockey, I'm exciting to wrangle someone into playing the scenarios. Like all of the IA books, it is not a must have, but worth it for the collector, and flyers fan.

Eldar Altansar Autarch

One of my first 40k armies was Alaitoc Eldar, otherwise known as Ultramarine Eldar. For a while now (since the Eldar codex came out) I have been pondering an Altansar army. For some reason I just couldn't come up with a concept, theme or strong motivation to build the army. Luckily the new Allies rules make build an ancillary force pretty appealing.

Altansar is primarily red and black, so the main armor of the Autarch was painted with Khorne Red, Wazdakka Red and a highlight of Mephiston red. The Reaper Launcher and the Hawk wings were painted black with Abaddon Black, P3 Coal Black and Codex Grey.

The Swooping Hawk Wings were based on a night flying scheme from the Second edition Codex Eldar, and with the black in the color scheme, I thought that would be a nice way to tie in any future Swooping Hawk models.