New Tutorial: Parchment & Purity Seals

I've been to too many stores and seen too many people just paint their banners and purity seals with Bleached Bone and leave it at that. We can all do better, especially when we want to paint better than the tabletop standard. I think it's the little details that really help to bring the models to life and make them look great. To that, I posted a tutorial to help everyone get more detail out of their purity seals and other parchments. Head on over to the How To page and check it out!

Review: Older GW Codices

While I was visiting my friend in California, we went to a flea market at his local game store. In my last post, I talked about going there and meeting Carl and Geoff from The Independent Characters. What I hadn't said was that, while I was there, I found several codices from previous editions.

In these older books, one can see older models and really see how the game has developed over the years. Stuff like this really helps me decide how to paint an army. Seeing the old Ultramarines from the third edition codex is what helped me decide on the color scheme that I'm using now. I like it a whole lot better than the newer scheme with black weapons and gold everywhere. These older codices also have "model showcases" that aren't in the newer books. In the old Codex: Chaos Space Marines, I found a few converted minis that I'd never seen before. Codex: Space Wolves has a really nicely painted bike squad just inside the front cover. Codex: Dark Angels has a fantastic chapel diorama just inside the inside cover of that book. While the models aren't as good as the ones from today, there are some fantastic ideas and great ways to get inspiration for the hobby that just can't be found in the newer codices.

Also, the older codices are full of stories and background material that isn't in the newer versions of the game. This is my favorite part. The fluff that comes from these older codices sometimes doesn't match up completely with what's currently in print, but it clearly shows the evolution of the universe and of the game itself. In some of the xenos codices I picked up, I read a few stories of Imperial scientists researching things that, in the current editions, are known fact. And if you look closely, you may even read something that you never knew before.

To me, older codices add something to the game that I can't get from the newer editions. If I ever come across an old book that I don't have and isn't in print anymore, I'm probably going to buy it on the spot. If you want to get heavily into the Warhammer 40,000 background then I suggest you keep an eye out too. They're hard to find, but well worth it.

Vacation to California, Met IC Podcast

On Wednesday, my wife and I left for a vacation to California to visit my buddy and his fiancee. He's an avid 40k gamer, so we went down to Game Kastle, his local gaming store, and played a game. My Ultramarines managed to beat his Tau in a game of victory points. It was a little close at the end, but after not playing a game for as long as I had, I think I did pretty well.

Ultramarines Devastators searching for Tau targets.

A few days later, we went back down to the same store for a flea market they were hosting. While I was there, I ran into Carl Tuttle from The Independent Characters, my favorite podcast! It was one of the highlights of the trip so far. I got a picture with him and Geoff, and then showed him some of my Ultramarines. For those of you who listen to the show, Carl is starting an Ultramarines army for his painting challenge, so I thought it would be neat to show him my army.

Left to right: Geoff, myself, and Carl

On the topic of Ultramarines, I'm reworking my entire Ultramarines army. In a few days time, I should have all new army lists posted. I think they're going to work a whole lot better than what I currently have. Keep checking back to see what I've come up with.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I've started working on my third (and final) Ultramarines Tactical Squad. I'm taking pictures after each step. Shortly after the squad is completed, I plan on posting a step-by-step tutorial on painting Space Marine armor using my techniques. Now that the Titan is done, producing tutorials is my main focus. Every squad I make should produce another tutorial or two for the How To page. Keep checking back; new content is on the way!

The Titan Walks

Ladies and gentlemen, it's finally done. Canis Rex, my Mars Pattern Warhound Titan, is finally finished after about nine months of constant work. There are new pictures of it posted in the Other Models section right along with all the other ones I've posted. Head on over and check it out!

Not content to rest on my laurels, I've already moved on to my next project. Right now, I'm working on my third and final Ultramarines tactical squad. But more importantly, I'm taking pictures of every step as soon as I finish it. When this squad is done, I'm going to use the pictures to make a tutorial on painting space marine armor the way I do. Stay tuned, everyone. The tutorials are finally on their way!