TSoL Episode 22 and Wednesday Workshop

Episode 22 of 'The Stuff of Legends'  podcast is now live. This episode we go over some hobby progress  and follow up on the new Orks codex in the games played. To cap it off, Chuck goes over the rules for the upcoming campaign at Legends. As always you can find and subscribe to TSoL through iTunes at the link below, or download the show from the direct link.

But wait there's more! This Wednesday 7/9/14 Ian Mccarson of inked eyes studio will be hosting a workshop on miniature basing techniques at Legends Comics and games in Cupertino CA. There is no fee to attend but you will need to bring your own paints and brushes if you want to participate in the workshop tutorials. Things kick off at 6PM and we expect to go till at least 8PM. Some come on by if your interested in making your minis a little more dynamic.


iTunes Link
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stuff-of-legends/id832274658?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Direct Download
http://stuffoflegends.libsyn.com/

Cheers

-Scott
BH SeniorWeirdboy

Warhammer Wednesday/More dakka

Not sure if everyone was aware, but we are all stilt basking in the radiant heat of a new edition release of 40k, you know for the three of you who don't have internet connections or eyeballs that may still be un aware. To be honest I have not been diving head first into the rules and I have yet to get a game in, I have been letting the internet handle picking out the minutiae rules wise and use the time I save doing that by reading up on the fluff and painting. That being said its been a busy week, both hobby wise and at work, so I don't really have much to offer in the way of an in death look at 7th other than the book set is quite well done and doesn't feel flimsy and I love the fact that I only have to carry two books in my bag now (rules, codex) There's a lot of crunch in this new edition, so I don't expect to be seeing any substantial reports for at least a month or two when everyone has had time to really play it out.

Hobby stuff:
Like I said, this week was a busy week for me hobby wise and a slightly expensive on, s you can see below I decided to round out my armor and throw an extra Baneblade into my collection (I have two now plus a shadow sword) being a guard player you can never have enough tanks, this was especially true when I played an apocalypse game with Chuck (also pictured below) and fellow commander Bill (not pictured) That game made me realize two things, one; I didn't have all my armor painted to match my over all theme and two; I needed more tanks on the table. So I went over to Legends and picked up the Hammer.

Last Wednesday was also the first official Warhammer Wednesday over at Legends, which I initially thought I would have to head up myself to drum up some interest but as it turned out I didn't have to do much, by the time I showed up, there were already several people getting ready to play, unfortunately one group didn't get their rule book order in in time to get a copy before they all sold out, but two fine gents Rick and Mike stopped by to get an unbound game they both looked like they were enjoying the new rule set and getting a chance to play unbound.

 



Unfortunately I didn't get to spend much time next door, but we had some 40k action going on in the overflow space as well, next time I will try to have some more tables set up in the main store for Warhammer Wednesday (which will be on the 11th) Feel free to come and play anytime, the table in the main shop is usually open and if need be the overflow/table top room can be opened if there is a large group that wants to play.

Ok confession time, this article was supposed to come out/be written last Thursday, that obviously didn't happen, but it did give me a chance to finish up assembling and priming most of the Russ's and the bane blade I have been stripping, sniping and assembling and priming since Wednesday night, the end result was totally worth it though, I am also going to try to batch these guys with my airbrush  and give my new spray booth a whirl sometime next week.

That's all I have for now, going to be at Legends today/tonight. The escalation league has re-set to 500pts now that 7th ed is out. We will be recording the podcast tonight as well, so keep an eye out for the episode to drop tonight or tomorrow.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stuff-of-legends/id832274658?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Batter Fluffer

Thoughts on Unbound

 

 

Everyone seems to have their own two cents to put in on the latest edition of the 40k rule set and with the confirmation of one aspect of it I decided it was safe enough to take a stab at providing some perspective on the matter.

 

To be clear, this is not a rant nor is it a speculative piece I am simply providing some observations based on what we know (which is still very little) about the new ‘unbound’ lists option. There has been a lot of talk about percentages and side boards, but nothing has actually surfaced to confirm either of those rumors, so I will only focus on unbound for the moment.

Apocalypse now?

Yes and at less than 2000 points, on demand whenever you please. The initial heming and hawing about the prospect of your opponent being able to field impossibly brutal lists was tempered by the fact that not everyone is going to play unbound all day every day. Much like apocalypse, this is just another aspect of the game that could allow for a greater range of freedom when making a list, I have been using this example a lot lately but as you may be aware I am the owner of a 26 sentinel strong army that has no practical or competitive purpose other than to feed my varied and eccentric tastes in this hobby. Previously there was no way in hell I could feasibly squeeze more than six into a 1750 list, with 7^th I could actually field a decent and possibly balanced mobile infantry force (in theory anyways) I have seen quite a bit of negativity towards this aspect of the new rule set, but really this won’t change much day to day play, unbound is just another way to work more models, or use the models you have in a game without having to invest much or worry about making to perfect list. In that regard I think that unbound also targets new and younger players who are not quite used to the math hammer side of the game, or just want to play a game with “cool” models.

Unbound also solved another mystery that I had been pondering on regarding supplements. For awhile a lot of people were wondering why there has been such a deluge of extra army books as of late, my theory is that this all falls in line with GW’s plans for 7^th and the new list building structure. Want to take an allied force? Double down on your profits by releasing two books under one codex, Demons and CSM or CRS, IG and MT + INQ and so on. Again this is just me postulating on why this may have been structured as it is, I know GW is a publicly traded company, but not every aspect of the rules is geared towards sales so there’s still a fair amount of grey area with my theory.

Is this going to be a WAAC paradise, I don’t think so. Echoing what a lot of the older community has been trying to drive home for the last 20 years, it’s about talking to the guy/gal across the table and deciding what and how you are going to play, I have walked away from plenty of games because they just didn’t sound like fun and I don’t see why this would be an issue everywhere else. At tournaments, at least for the first year anyways I can see this as being doubly true, it sounds like GW has also introduced a check and balance system to even things out, but with no further details I really don’t care to delve too much into that area.

All in all I think its shapeing up to be a fun edition, hopefully GW got over their Vista moment with 6^th (sorry it was fun but there were issues) and are back on track with 7^th, are people going to complain, yes, are people going to leave, yes. That’s fine if you don’t enjoy the game anymore you certainly should find something else to play that you do, but please don’t read a bunch of speculative articles on the internet and declare that you’ll never play again before actually getting a few games in, it makes us all look quite silly.

 

Cheers

-Scott

BH Senior Funksmith

Hobby Progress/KR Review

I preach the word of Carl.

 

This week has been quite the toasty one, despite my workspace having an identical atmosphere to an easy bake oven I did manage to get some hobby time in this week. As you can see by my highly advanced project tracking system I finished all of D’s guard commissions for the month. With that out of the way I have had more time to work on my sentinels I decided the best way to go on this project was to break everything down into squads of three. Not counting basing I have managed to clear six of them since Monday, after getting my jungle funge layering system down its gotten a lot easier to crank these guys out, basing is still going to be a bit of a chore, but as a whole they have been coming out pretty consistently painted.

My army grows.

One of the first ones I did up out of the set.

 

I heard you like sentinels...

Aaannndddd more sentinels.

 

Random sniper, why not.

Oh yeah, did I mention I finally broke down and bought some soft blue foam, and if I didn’t upgrade my kit soon I would have keep running with my old set up (battle damaged army sabol bag filled with packing peanuts, old large GW figure case) add to that I have been doing hobby demos and taking pictures for the Escalation league over at Legends, I basically looked like a Sherpa every time I went to the shop. So I decided I try there auto fill app for my guard stuff and picked up a single case with no bag. Let me start by saying there are plenty of reviews for KR floating around out there that go into great detail about their product, this will not be one of those, as a matter of fact “just plain awesome” pretty much sums up my experience with KR so far, everything about this product is plain and functional with little extra ornamentation or frill and I mean that in the most positive manner. I have seen other more expensive options that simply add nothing more than extra flair and decide its worth double the price, KR on the other hand doesn’t bother with overly specialized options, they make a simple highly modular product that is designed to fit your needs and there has yet to be an issue with my purchase that really stands out as a negative, I do kind of wish they had a tray that was half troop half heavy weapons squad ( as you can see above I found a work around) but other than that everything seems well designed and optimized. You can cram a lot into a single case and not just troops (though I hear you can cram over 200 into a single hard case) I managed to get two troop choices (about 60 pieces of infantry) plus armor and HQ’s into one case, and there was no wiggle and no loose minis jangling around during transit.

I cut plugs in half so I could put more infantry in the empty slots.

For comparison here’s a few shots of the cores for my other bags (SABOL and GW) GW’s foam comes closest, but it’s still a far cry from the quality and softness of KR’s trays, GW’s trays are soft but much more dense and springy, with a little give, KR by comparison is quite soft and malleable almost plush to the touch with enough density to keep everything in place, but also has enough give to make sure that piece that’s just a little too wide can be made to fit without fear of damage.

 

Sabol sad to say represents the old school, pick n pluck was the norm 7-8 years ago, but now feels quite dated (KR does offer pick n pluck style trays, which do still have their uses) Compared with the more modern purpose cut foam trays from companies like KR and Battlefoam this stuff just doesn’t stack up. The foam itself has very little give and does not feel that far removed from those little bits you used to get in the GW metal single packs. Still though I use it for over flow and I will never get rid of my army carrier bag (It has far too much character to throw out, and it doubles as a cooler) So sadly I can no longer recommend them, or most of their product line, they do still make a quality and consistant product, but there are better evenly priced options out there now.

That’s it, for now anyways, I plan to get another batch of sentinels done up tonight and maybe another sniper or medic, but for the most part that’s all my hobby progress for this week. Before I sign off though, a quick shout out for the stuff of legends podcast. This Sunday we will be recording episode 13, we’ll be going over escalation news, some of the 6.1ed stuff that’s been bubbling up lately, and I review my first issue of WD visions. You can check out all the previous episodes of TSoL here.

Cheers

-Scott

BH Senior Adjunct Sommelier  

New hobby video up

I woke up Sunday morning and decided that I was going to start doing a video series on the basics of getting into 40k in a no nonsense format. The end result was me hastily zip tying a video rig together and trying to get movie maker to sync properly to my camera (it didn't) But I managed to get the above video out, I do plan to re do this once I have had more time to sort out the kinks in my presenter/recording seat up, so I apologize in advance for the quality.

This video is meant more for newbie than long time hobbyists, so if you know what your doing there wont be any surprises in here.

Feedback is greatly appreciated, as I mentioned I plan to do more of these in the future, so if you have any experience doing this sort of thing, or just have a few suggestions hit me up in the comments, or shoot me an email at bayhammer@gmail.com

Cheers

Scott
-BH Senior Funk Master.

Astra Militarum: Magis et minus,

 

When I was talking about the lore section on the show, I found it difficult to articulate exactly what it was about this codex that felt different from its predecessors. After I had a bit more leisure time to sit down and really go through both books I think I have been able to formulate a more accurate response to my original thoughts on the background and lore section. The biggest difference between the new Astra Militarum codex and the previous IG book is that the formers composition and tone seems to focus more on the here and the now and the future of the universe, rather than weigh the reader down with the details of the past. True, there are a fair number of articles in the new book that are taken from the last codex (there’s entries in the 5^th dex that go all the way back to 3^rd) but they compose and preface it in such a manner that it tends to drive the narrative forward, rather than just let the details hang in the middle surrounded by the inevitable grim dark future of emptiness and death that awaits humanity.

It feels like GW has turned back the clock from two minutes to five, the 13^th black crusade is just now happening, and while the overall theme is still an empire in decline, they have given themselves a little more wiggle room when it comes to future editions, and the expanded universe, some aspects of which they have subtly woven into this new edition. The first couple of pages reads like the extended version of the back cover of a Black Library novel, there’s a much heavier focus on narrative in this codex than in 5^th and it shows, in 5^th it was more “yeah you command a lot of guys and tanks, so use a lot of guys and tanks if you want, it’s cool” Whereas this time round they have such gems as “Squads of desperate men battle impossible odds , with nothing but faith and courage driving them to hold the line” and prefacing that section with a paragraph that focuses heavily on the grandiose dehumanizing scale on which the organization operates. They pulled the campaign map from this edition as well, effectively removing most of those events that were not noted elsewhere from the record, this was an odd move, while it did allude to battles of other non Cadian regiments, it did not really detract much from the main story, it did however show dates that went beyond the new timeline, so rather than re write it they just scrubbed it all together. The real shame in this is that new players will loose that quick and easy glance at the universe that most of us older players have grown accustomed to (I think it is still in the rule book though)

Other than that though, the fluff area is pretty much a copy paste affair from the last two books, with a few subtle entries removed, or re shuffled out of the first twenty pages or so. Over all I think GW did a good job with the codex, there could have been a bit more don to update the background, and yet again I see the same art work that I have been seeing for the last ten plus years (now in color!) I think in this edition you are getting a lot less to build on, a few pictures, no camo scheme guides (in the print edition anyways) and the same model photos we got from 5^th. After all that though, I can still say I was pleased with this edition and even though it was very subtle I do like the new emphasis on narrative that the new codices seem to be leaning towards, and now with the supplements that are supposedly in the works, we might get to see some of the gaps in this codex filled in later by future mini dex releases. I do hope that this is the case, and GW will release some more flavor back into the army, but I’ll reserve my thoughts on that matter until I get the product in hand, for more thorough review before lambasting any perceived money grab by GW.

 

Cheers

 

-Scott

BH Senior Jam Master

Hobby Progress: More IG

Another week cleared, another batch of minis done. Yet again I found myself painting D's imperial guard (117th, The Inheritors) So I did up a few special weapons teams, and another previously enjoyed lick. I have to say I really enjoyed working on some of the older independent characters/stand in models from this project, there's just something about the older mini's that's really fun to work with, even if they don't have rules anymore, a lot of these guys make great counts as models. Enough with words, time for the fancy stimulating imagery with our snazzy new logo.

 

Straken was a blast to paint up (buns of steel that model has) I was also very pleased with how the Vostroyan officer (he was supposed to be Chenkov) turned out, I think the reds pair well with the basing. On the Cadian officer I used GW's skin technique for the first time, super simple and done in three layers. Finally, who doesn't lover Schaffer.

 

Again I found myself trying a new GW endorsed method of painting. Rather than go with my traditional moo cow splotches, I tried their tiger streak approach, much cleaner.

 

Old school medics, so much fine detail on that model, used the new GW blood and gore technical on the transfusion packs, old RT guardsmen is featured because why not.

 

My own little slice of paradise.

 

This week is all about storm troopers (the old ones) so keep an eye out for my follow up post on those guys, oh I also finally broke down and bought an airbrush last weekend, so I expect to regale you all with tales of misfortune and great reward in the area as well in the near future. That's about it for me, oh don't forget to tune in to The Stuff of Legends next Monday, the next episode (I think) is all about hobby progress and how to get more into the hobby side of the game.

 

 

Cheers

 

-Scott

 

BH Senior Pit Master



 

 

 

New TSoL episode up.

Episode 11 of "The Stuff of Legends" is now live. You can grab it off iTunes or get a direct download from the link below.

This week I joined Chuck, Ian and fellow guard player Bill for an overview of the new Astra Militarum/Tempestus comedies that came out over the last few days/weeks. We also go over Zone Mortalis and what Chuck has been up to behind the scenes for the escalation league.

iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stuff-of-legends/id832274658?mt=2
Download
http://traffic.libsyn.com/stuffoflegends/SOL_11_1.mp3

Thoughts, comments and general feedback are always welcome.

Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Paddler

New IG release extras.

There are a few un announced (but kinda obvious) goodies that are launching with the general Astra Militarum release, nothing to mind blowing, see below for a quick breakdown.

Astra Militarum Catachan Defense Force $165
Officio Prefects Commissar $21
Bullgryns $47
Astra Militarum Cadian Defense Force $165
Astra Militarum Hammer of Cádia $330

So a few interesting bits to walk away with from this one, looks like battle forces are done with, now we get defense forces or other similarly themed box sets(again not a shocker as they have already done this with other armies) Looks like the rumors about a plastic commissar are playing out (god help them if its finecast) Bullgryns are a little pricey, but for the supposed punch they pack it might be well worth it, and you probably are getting 4-5 per box. Hammer of Cádia is more than likely another mega force full of bullgryn, scions and plane Jane guard with tanks and chimeras. Everything looks pretty par for the course and in line with GW's latest release scheme, I am a little intrigued by the new commissar blister, as so far its the only model that hasn't seen much face time, customization options out of the box would be nice, but we shall see.

Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Space Lord

Hobby Progress

Everything this week so far has been gear towards my upcoming Zone Mortalis throw down with D, which promises to either be a match up for the ages, or a quiet game in which two gentlemen trade jests over the others intimate nocturnal proclivities with livestock. Either way I am super pumped to finally get to play a ZM game for the first time, and really my first 40k game in the better part of a year (watching YouTube tutorials to brush up as I write this) I got a fair amount of stuff done this week, so bear with me while I itemize everything below.


First up is the sentinels, a couple of days ago I posted up a quick shot of the three that I actually managed to get painted. Here are the rest of the horde, all of which are now primed and ready for painting (did I mention a good part of my week was spent hovering over a bucket of simple green swill)

Thursday It got cold again, so my model priming efforts were shut down effectively for the evening, though I did manage to get these two guys done up for Sundays game (I also found out I was a bit short on special weapons squads, so I also put in a sizable bitz order on Ebay (more on that later) I do enjoy coming up with new ways to paint plasma effects but its still a pain to find one that looks right.

 

 

 

Today was a good day for hobby progress since the pin vice set I ordered off Amazon arrived this afternoon and I was able to drill out some of the gun barrels on my Contra Catachans (now known as Rick & Steve) which I also managed to get done up in decent time.

 I will say for $6 they are not bad, they have none of the polish that a dedicated hobby vise does and they were literally covered in grease when they arrived, but for the money they do a decent job, but they were clearly meant to be shop tools and they are not as precise as a GW/Xacto/Tamiya option, still though, hard to beat that $6 price tag.

                                  

Tetanus included in every bag!





Sgt. Steve

 

Spc. Rick

 

That's about it for me this week hobby wise, I expect to get a ton of pics from my ZM game tomorrow so keep an eye for that post in the near future, hopefully I'll start playing more games in general going forward, especially with the new guard codex dropping next week(you probably won't see me for a few days after that) Over all though its been a productive week, and I got to clear a few things off of my Trello.


Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Dance Commander

P.S.
Almost forgot to mention, I will be making a guest appearance on the Stuff of Legends podcast Sunday, we are going to be talking about photography, and how you can use in the hobby and other fun topics. They don't have a dedicated landing page for the podcast, but I will post a link once its released.

New IG tank Pics

 

 

 

 

Update: Well GW beat me to the punch on this one, oh well they still look quite pretty.

A fair number of quick snapshots of the new IG tank (read: Hydra and hydra sans barrels) have been floating around already, so enjoy a slightly higher resolution offering. I really like the new plastic hydra kit, but I think they could have done more then just taking the barrels off and calling it an SPG. Over all though the quality and design are top notch and I can't wait till these kits are released next week.

On a gaming note, Zone Mortalis this weekend! Expect lots of pics and bro fitting in the very near future.


Cheers

-Scott

BH Senior Brew Master.



Breaking! New IG Release dates.

Update: It looks like 'Orders' cards will be coming out around the same time as well.

I have gotten my hands on a few small tidbits on what the release schedule for IG might look like for the next couple of weeks, take with a grain of salt as always, but since we are basically at the release stage I don't see why GW would change things.

-Plastic Hydra April 12-14
-Cadian Armored fist (tank squad) April 12-14
-IG Codex (Astra Militarum) April 12-14

So it looks like the next two weeks are going to be back to back guard, I think there is a novel launching along with the regular kit and codex, but I don't have any details on that.

Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Evil Twin

A bad knightmere

 

For no other reason than I simply like sentinels, I have amassed enough to field an entire auxiliary force of nothing but imperial walkers. Thanks to a trade I made with 'D' for painting his guard, I am now the proud owner of about 20x sentinels. As of this writing they are about to go into their perquisite simple green bath for the night.

Cheers

-Scott
BH Senior Hornswoggle Dance Commander Jr. Senior Editor

Brushing Up

Skip down to the bottom if you don't like wordy intros.

Things have been hectic over the last couple of years, not to say that I haven't had plenty of opportunities to get some hobby tome in, I have had plenty of side projects on the back burner (D's Guard, my eldar) The release of 6th edition really took a lot of the wind out my sails in terms of motivation to actually sit down and play/paint, but as with all addictions, eventually you have to re-lapse after some traumatic event pushes you off the wagon. The release of the Eldar codex/Iyanden was what started the slow burning fuse this time, the second was the guilty feeling I got when ever I looked at my painting station, lonely and buried under a year and a halves worth of clutter that had accumulated around it. After clearing everything out a week ago and checking BoLS revealed that there was a new guard codex in the wings. What followed was a "if you give a mouse a cookie" series of events that eventually lead to my return, if in a somewhat limited capacity.

The kick things off I started reading into a lot of the new guard rumors, this got me to wanting to finish up D's guard regiment that I started on over a year ago to trade for a massive collection of sentinels (doing a whole list of pure sentinels) I am just now finishing up his infantry squads, so soon I will have a large amount of walkers to strip/build, I have also liquidated my Space Marines in a trade for a new knight titan and some other goodies. Needless to say there will be plenty of 40k in my future going forward.

Circling back to point zero, this means that yes I have worked up a bit of motivation to blog again. What this does not mean is that I will not be doing so with as much zest and zeal as I once had. I started this blog with the idea that I was going to be the spark that ignited the west coast 40k scene, and while that didn't quite happen, I am happy to say that there have been many other individuals who were there to pick up the torch. Over the years I got to meet so many great people who shared a passion for the hobby, and I got to see a community grow from next to nothing due to the support of some of those great people who were there when life forced me to move on to other things. The guys over at Legends have really blown me away with everything they have been really growing the group over there, Chuck who I met not to long ago is a fantastic artist and event planner who's work continues to blow me away. I have to give a big shout out to Carl and the whole Independent Characters cast for really doing an awesome job of representing the west coats wargaming scene (there are others, but I really have to hand it to the IC guys for putting on one of the most professional programs in this region) To all of you and everyone else how contributes to the community Yu have earned my eternal respect.

Now that I have finished with my award acceptance speech, let's put a bow on things shall we. Yes I am going to start posting again, but the format will be a little more intimate, less strategic, more casual updates and musings, you will see me pop up elsewhere, the shop, various podcasts ect, but for the most part I am going to start treating this more like a journal than a news platform like I used to.

This may be the start of something new, it might not be, but I am tired of it not being anything at all.

Cheers

-Scott

What Can I paint in 24 hours?

A question I never thought to ask myself un till yesterday morning when I started out on this mind numbing adventure. This all started last week when I heard that there was going to be a large Apoc game over at Legends. Well needless to say work and classes have been keeping my hobby time minimal (4-5 hours a week If I am lucky) So I set off to do several weeks worth of painting in the short span of one day (and then some, I kinda passed out after my third 5 hour energy after having made the mistake of sitting down on my awesomely comfortable microfiber couch to watch Cheech and Chong's next movie for a small break.) That being said let me just spill some wickedly touched up pictures down there for you good people to click on (24 hour paint bender with 3 hours of sleep has left me with no subtlety) enjoy.

This big guy took up a majority of my time, though most of the prep work and base coating was done the day before. I am quite pleased with how the fire turned out on this guy.

Again now subtlety here, everything in frame I painted in the course of the day (for the life of me I cant f

And last and quite literally least, ladies and gentlemen give it up for the B team, shakin it on the side lines because I simply just could not go any further (my thumbs now hurt when I try and open my paints)

And now the sad part of our story, I arrived at the shop only to find D and Dan where the only ones who showed up, what followed was a quite enjoyable but sevearly cut back game which topped out at 20k points, rather then the 200k I was expecting, rather than bi!#$ch and moan I quietly (and not so quietly) took out my rage on Dan's poor Imp guard, which where mercifully tabled down to the man (I even took out some scenery, that rock had it coming) So needless to say it was a fun game and I tip my hat to Dan who once again took a beating with a smile on his lips and a snappy comment for every tank D and I blasted into void space. My hat however does not tip to brother Ian who not only was unable to show for the game but apparently had done nothing to actually organize it. You sir will feel the full fury of my sass cannon once I have eaten and slumbered.

Cheers

Scott
BH Senior Zombie

GW Finecast release backhands retailors

Just a little tidbit I picked up this week. For the initial release of finecast GW is basically handing out table scraps to all the independent retailers (they can order up to three models for each item out a of a list of 50 sku's) Most of the inventory allocation is going to be for GW's own retail stores and the web store. Not to far out of the ordinary, however the little nasty part kicks in here. Independent retailers wont be able to order any of the new finecast models for at least 3-4 months based on what I am hearing, so you can look forward to empty rack spaces and no juicy web retailer markdowns (though I hear WCC has manged to get their hands on some)

Comparatively this is not as bad as the euro embargo or that Australia business but it dose hurt retailers in the short run, and in some ways hurts GW aswell, those of us who want to buy on the cheap will wait the 3-4 months for retailers to get them, slashing GWs initial launch numbers if only by a little. The biggest problem I have though with this is that your FLGS is left hanging in the wind on carnifexs, incubi, and basically every cool badass you would want in your army for the next few months which means...you have to go through GW to get your fix, at retail price. It would seem that GW is taking back the reins rather brutally and this may be setting a precedent for future release practices.

I ask myself, are the corporate overlords to blame, or was it our own desire for cheap web deals that eventually did us all in. The answer probably lies somewhere in the gray area just off screen. That aside the moral of the story is, if you want that Tharka to head up your kan mob grab him now before the zero hour, or be stuck in HQless limbo till Christmas.

Cheers

Scott

BH Senior Editor.

P.S.

This is not of course confirmed so take it as you will, I have not spoken with anyone from GW directly on the matter and things do change.

Happy New Year: 2010 a year of progress

The magic hour draws nearer and the guys all wanted to get one last post in before the ball drops. Rather then run through everything we are just going to to a quick recap of everything that made 2010 a great year for 40k and Fantasy. First off the updates, not just Dark Eldar, Space Wolves, Blood Angels and not to mention the slew of new kits to go with them. In 2010 we saw two dead armies be reborn (BA and DE) and got a ton of new all plastic kits to go with them. Its been a year of progress, with new codices and new kits the community had its fill of new material and new possibility's. There where also the new modules for Battle Missions and Spearhead. And then of course there was the sensational release of Fantasy 8th edition and the waves of new skaven (including the awesome island of blood set)

But not all was good. we saw price increases and scandal (well at least in the Oakridge store) With no official word on weather 2011 will see another price increase or not a lot of gamers are growing weary of the constant price fluctuations, who knows what the new year may hold for us.

For the most part how ever the community has never been stronger. With fresh faces and new talent being brought into the fold and new blogs and webcasts starting up all over 2010 has been one of the best years for growth in terms of the net community.


But the web community is not the only place we have seen growth. Our own gaming group over at Legends Games has exploded, from a couple of us meeting on the weekends and wailing on each other has grown to well over thirty people with a core of about ten regulars. We also started our increasingly popular play for paint tournament series over at the shop. With regular events and games we have seen our small group of gamers grow into a small community.

As for the store we have gone from this
To this...

We also saw the holidays go off with a bang, with Legends first annual "Seasons Beatings" tournament. Seven of the stores top generals and Seer's battled it out for the top spot.


This year also saw my transformation from a relatively casual hobbies into a "professional Painter" I went from the occasional unit to having a full workload with waiting list. D has yet to let me live down the shame of turning into the one thing I love to hate on the inter webs (mostly eBay) Which brings me to the post I should have made a few days ago, but thanks to a blizzard and several shipping delays I couldn't do so until tonight.



Yes tonight I finally got a light box, nothing fancy, but the best part is its compact and stows away easily. So expect more (hopefully decent) photos of future projects. Also I just had to break this thing in (and considering how bad my last botched light tent attempts)


Well that's about it, so tonight raise a glass to the emperor or the ruinous powers and drink deep, but have a toast for all of us to, from the guys down in the trenches to the Fly Lords of Terra. From all of us at Bay Hammer have a happy new years.


Cheers

Scott
BH Senior Editor

GW Glue: The sillines continues

So the other day the shop received its weekly order and while rummaging around the latest shipment of plastic crack I happened to notice something a bit odd. GW appears to have changed the plastic glue bottle to the old super glue bottle, why they did this is beyond me as the previous bottle already had problems with clogging so anything with a narrower tip just screams wasted minutes spent with a tac nail trying to de gunk the damn thing. The reason I bring this up is because Jawaballs posted a rather decent blurt about GW glues, I myself use them mostly because I just seem to acquire them while working on projects or commissions but I have to say that I do not care for them or the price. I have not tried the new bottle out but one might assume that the new bottle and narrow aperture may mean they thinned down the mix to be less like 4 day old hair gel. What do you think about the numerous design changes GW has gone through with there hobby supplies this year?

Cheers

Scott

BH Senior Editor

Eldar Craftworld Ulthwe 23000 points worth

Here it is, the big show. D has been slaving away for the past six months on what is possibly one of the most impressive Eldar craftworld collections I have ever seen. Now I know there are probably a few people out there that say "mines bigger" D has extended an open challenge to anyone who wishes to throw down (with a cash prize to be determined) But in the mean time we hope you get some enjoyment out of this post. They may not be that outdated but Eldar don't get as much love as they used to in past so we love to see new eldar players come in and enjoy the collection which rotates out every week in the front cases, anyways I am dragging this out, enjoy some detail shots after the jump.




The scary thing is that the collection is still expanding with each passing month. Below are some pics of D's work in progress projects.


Cheers

Scott (Posting for D)
BH Senior Editor