Ultramarines The Movie Update

The latest Ultramarines Movie newsletter came out today, and it had some cool nuggets of nerdy treasure included.

First up was more concept art.  Back in December an image of the Codex Chapel Entrance was released.  I liked it, but it wasn't much.  More has been revealed.  I love the fact they actually did concept art for something as small as a bolter pistol.

There was also a video and article about the Facial Capture technology being used for the animation of the movie which looks really good.

Man, just the idea of concept art for little things like Bolter Rounds (not to mention the crazy cool details like the "For the Emperor" on the casing) gives me hope they are doing right by this movie.  I highly encourage checking out the pages and seeing what they are up to.

Chaos Rising Unit Profile: Ork Wierdboy

The Dawn of War 2 Community site has updated with the unit profile for the Chaos Rising Ork addition, the Wierdboy.

As an Ork player in the tabletop version, this is the most exciting of the unit profiles.  I mean they're all good, but the Wierdboy hits close to home for me.  I'm especially looking forward to Warp Vomit and the Foot of Gork.

You can read the entire update here.

40K Neotube - 1-27-09

In an ongoing effort to keep myself on task with updating the blog, I have started a new regular feature called 40K Neotube.  Basically if I find a cool, humorous, entertaining, or otherwise noteworthy 40K video, I post it.

This week I start with MiniWarGaming.com's "Secret Warhammer Project Revealed?

Painting Party and Skirmish reports

Saturday we had another painting party/gaming session.  It was our first time with our new recruit James with us, and while we didn’t do a lot of gaming, we did have a productive time together.

If you haven’t done a painting party, it’s just a great way to really reinvigorate the painting process for everybody.  We can see different statuses of the various works in progress.  We can discuss and talk about all things 40K, and hobby specific topics at leisure while making progress on our minis.  For our group of players it’s something we really have come to look forward to.  We have lots of fun, we pick up different tricks, and we do a lot of smack talking.  Steve says he envisions us as a sort of 40K version of the Marvel Bullpen from the 1970s.  I just think we all have a deep addiction/passion for 40K and combining all that into one room just makes for a dynamic day that is quickly becoming not just a staple, but a key component in our gaming group’s makeup.

Chaos Rising Unit Profile: Eldar Wraithguard

The Dawn of War II Community site has posted another unit profile for the upcoming Dawn of War II expansion Chaos Rising.  Today they feature the Eldar Wraithguard.

Like the Tyranid units before, I haven't done a whole lot with the Eldar in the game, so I'm not totally up on all their units.  These guys look cool, and I totally dig the Wraithbone ability to allow regeneration.

Check out the complete unit profile here.

I think I better get all the painting done I can now, because I can see a serious drop in my production come the release of this game.

An Inquisitorial Inquiry About the Inquisition

So last week there was buzz over at Bell of Lost Souls that GW was pulling the Inquisition.  Witch Hunters and Daemon Hunters were both being pulled.

Today I noticed that while the armies are still available, the Codexes have been pulled from the books section of the Games Workshop site.

So what's the deal?  A lot of people are thinking that the Codex: Witch Hunters and Codex: Daemon Hunters are being replaced with a Codex: Inquisition that combines the two of them.  Some people think that the Inquisition has seen better days and are gone.  And some people are still asking for their Dark Eldar codex to be updated.

Honestly can the Inquisition be gone?  It's a vital part of the fluff, there are plenty of Inquisition novels out there.  I was thinking of doing a Daemon Hunters army as my next army (although my choice for my next army after Orks changes a lot, and I'm nowhere near ready to start looking for something else), so I hope that the Codex: Inquisition option is what's in store.  I just know that it'll be a sad day in the 40K universe if the Inquisition is no longer a playable army in the game.

**Edit**  BoLS listed rumored miniature releases for 2010, and Grey Knights, Witch Hunters, and Daemon Hunters were juicily inserted around tender morsels of 40K goodness like a new Ork Dread (/drool) and Dark Eldar love (which I'm not holding my breath for).

Chaos Rising Unit(s) Profile: Tyrant Guard and Genestealer Brood

The Dawn of War II guys have posted another unit profile out at their community site.  Today it's a double dose as the Tyranids are getting two new units:  The Tyran Guard and the Genestealer Brood.

Tyrant Guard:
The Tyrant Guard is a new unit, but also a replacement unit.  It will replace the Tier 2 Carnifex that was included in the "There is Only War" update last summer.

The Genestealer Brood:
An entirely new unit, the Genestealer Brood is an infiltration melee unit that will allow Tyranids to find areas of biomass.

You can read the entire list of abilities and what not here.

God I can't wait for this expansion.

A New Year, A New Way To Paint

As my army has grown, and my slow plodding progress in painting hasn't picked up speed, I've started to get worried that I'm going to burn myself out before I finish my Ork army.  I'm not speedy, and I'm probably marginal with my skill at best.  That's not to say I don't enjoy painting, I do.  However, I got Assault on Black Reach, an Ork Trukk, a Killa Kan, and another set of 20 Assault on Black Reach Ork Boyz over the holidays.  Combine with that my Stormboyz I'm almost done with and my Nobz and Warboss I hadn't started yet, and you can see where I would start to feel overwhelmed.  I want to spend time making my Warboss, Killa Kan, and Ork Trukk look really good, but I'm afraid I'll either never get to the Boyz, or the Boyz will take so much time I'll never get to the other pieces.

So I decided perhaps I should attempt a quicker, although not necessarily simpler painting method.  So after researching and getting an understanding for it, I attempted the Dip Method of painting.

Chaos Rising Unit Profile: The Librarian

And coming in from the Dawn of War II guys is this:  The first unit profile of the new units coming to DoW2 with the Chaos Rising expansion pack.  First unit profiled?  The Librarian.

Can I get a Hell YEAH?

The Librarian, for those who don't know, is the defining unit of the Blood Ravens.  Since the chapter has no knowledge of their origins they prize information over everything.  This has brought them an inordinate number of Librarians compared to other Space Marine chapters.  The Librarian is key to the Blood Ravens, and god bless Dawn of War 2 for all they did right, not having them in the original game was one of the few things they did wrong.

The Librarians look to be a pretty potent addition to the Blood Ravens, and secretly I'm hoping their inclusion in Chaos Rising means we'll get our own bit of potent knowledge relating to the origins of the Blood Ravens.

You can read the entire unit profile over at the Dawn of War 2 Community Site.

The Birth of a New Gamer

It seems entirely fitting, this post I'm working on.  A year ago this month I started this blog.  Something to chronicle my growing fascination with Warhammer 40,000, and to chronicle my growth as both a fan and a participant.  So it seems awful fitting that I can now say I was actively involved in the birth of a new gamer.

Anybody who has read some of my battle reports knows there is a small cadre of guys I play 40k with.  We have e-mails to discuss things, and some of us even chat daily about the game.  We all love the fluff, and the game mechanics, some of us really enjoy the painting, and I really enjoy writing about the game.  We're still fairly new to the game, or at least the 5th edition rules, so we're learning but we're having fun.  There have been 4 of us, Steve, Chris, Jason, and myself.  Chris has played for years, but he's more familiar with older edition rules.  Steve is the one who got me into it introducing me to Dawn of War and just sort of needling me to continue to get into it.  Jason was the most recent convert, and while I had a small part in his coercion, er I mean conversion to 40K, that was mostly a Steve thing.  Now to our small group, we can add James.

James is somebody that Steve and I have known for years, having all worked together at a now defunct high-end retail store (all in the IS department).  Recent events transpired to bring James and I back to work together.  It's been cool, but the best part is I was able to help convince him to pick up Dawn of War II.  Having used Dawn of War II to introduce James to the 40K universe, Steve and I began to really push the tabletop.  And as James had more fun with DoW 2, and heard Steve and I discuss 40K tabletop and 40K fluff, his interest grew.

Oh sure he had doubts and reservations about being able to paint.  But thanks to the internet, we were able to show him that yes there are some serious kick-ass painters out there, but there are guys who just make their minis look decent, and some people who just don't paint at all.  And after feeding him some fanzines, and giving him access to codexes, James eventually picked the Tau as his first army to build.

James has his first batch of figures to paint (box of Fire Warriors), and thanks to his artist fiancee he has a bunch of nice painting supplies.  So he's all ready.  And for once I can talk about 40K and not sound like a goober.  But knowing James.  Soon he'll know more about the game than me, and I'll be back to sounding like a goober.  So I'll enjoy it for now.

And I'll also say welcome to 40K James.  May your Tau warriors find their mark against every race...except the Ork, and may the Greater Good be served by your army, except when Mork 'n Gork decide to take 'em down.

Now for a 6th person so we can get back to an even number...