Dark Eldar: Haemonculus conversion

Terminate with extreme prejudice. 

With it being Halloween here in the United States, I thought it would be suitable to share my latest conversion for my growing Dark Eldar force. Pain and cruelty, as well as the notion of evil are synonymous with the Dark Eldar. In fact, they sustain themselves through the suffering of others (who else can say that?). But nothing in the Dark Eldar army captures these elements so fundamentally as does the haemonculi. Butchers as much as they are artisans, these fleshsmiths practice all manner of occult rituals, surgeries, and experiments, trying to distill down pain and torment, as well as craft marionettes of bone and sinew. I have long wanted to include one of these maniacal geniuses in my Dark Eldar army, and went as far as purchasing one of the finecast ones from the last Dark Eldar release. The model was so rife with bubbles and miscasts, that I put him aside, doubtful if I would ever return to him. So I was quite excited to see the release of a plastic haemonculus with the new codex, and quickly got one of them and set to work on him.  

Infinity: Operation Icestorm unboxing and review

Moving into third edition, Infinity continues to maintain its characteristic anime-inspired art direction.

I have been collecting and assembling Infinity models for well on two years now and I have not played a single game of Infinity. Despite my best intentions, I still have never dredged up enough motivation to read and learn the rules for the game (despite them being free online…).  I think this is finally going to change, now that they have released a starter boxed game, Operation Icestorm, containing all that one needs to play.  Fortunately, it comes with a set of starter rules, designed to introduce the rules to new and veteran players alike, since it is the first exposure anyone will get for the new third edition ruleset.  I preordered a copy of the box when it was first unveiled at Gencon, and am happy to report that it has finally arrived!

Putrid Blightkings: Impressions

Grandfather Nurgle is proud.

Since its release, Brian Nelson’s Nurgle Chaos lord has been a key component to countless imaginative conversions.  In particular, it has been championed by the Inq28 crowd to make everything from daemonhosts to weapon servators (JRN’s daemonhost and Migula’s weapon smith, are excellent examples).  It is not difficult to understand why the model has received so much attention, it is both hideous and majestic in its corpulent, rotting splendor, dripping with vile ichors and donned in corroding metal.  It was also one of the first plastic character models Games Workshop released that, while multi-part, was intended to be assembled in one way.  By restricting the the posing, they were able to produce models with astounding depth, with parts layering on top of another (Malifaux plastic miniatures excel in this, as well).  As such, I was very excited when the Putrid Blightkings, a whole unit of foetid servants of Nurgle, much like Nelson’s model, were unveiled.

Dark Eldar: 7th edition codex review

The Dark Eldar are the latest army to advance into 7th edition, complete with a Raymond Swanland cover image.

Since the release of the new Dark Eldar codex, the internet has been abuzz with the complaints of angry Dark Eldar players.  Much of this consternation and anger has been focused towards the actual rules in the book, with detractors claiming that it was a shallow and superficial update.  While the book brings the Dark Eldar into the 7th edition, each unit received only a bare minimum of attention, with most units being virtually identical to their previous renditions with minor point cost adjustments and, in some cases, the trimming down of special rules.  And instead of adding a few new units (like the Ork codex), they simply removed some, including almost all the special characters, like the much loved Baron Sathonyx (and Duke Sliscus who I just converted…), and, to the shock of many, even Asdrubael Vect (most assumed he would be the book’s Lord of War, but instead they did not get one). Having read through the book, I can confirm that all of the anger is founded in reality, though anyone who has been following this blog for awhile will know that it rarely tends to dwell too heavily on the rules side of Warhammer 40k. So, this review is more to delve into the imagery of the book. If the rules are a bit underdone, surely the presentation is still top notch? Games Workshop has excelled at that for years. After all, the 7th edition rulebook was one of the most impressive books that Games Workshop has ever released (excellent printing, binding, image curation, etc).  I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, despite Games Workshop’s pedigree, the art direction in the new Dark Eldar codex mimics the rushed nature of the new rules much more than it does the quality found in the new core rulebook.  I would like to use this post to talk about what makes me say this, and comment about the new 7th edition codex format.