Friday 23 September 2011

Nice day for a Lasgun wedding!


Hello!

Col. Gravis is getting married tomorrow! If you fancy leaving him a comment to wish him well/good luck/mock, I'm sure he'll appreciate it!

Lets hope the Bride's father is packing a hot shot lasgun, because Rob's definitely taking the pith*.

Tim
(One of Col. G's best men/bodyguards/tormentors)


* apologies for this joke.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Advert - Praetorians For Sale!

Just a quick post, a friend of the blog, Ralph, is currently in the process of selling his quite sizeable Praetorian collection on eBay. The lots include plenty of basic infantry, special and heavy weapons, characters - and those Praetorian Ogryns I did as a commission for him some time back!

If your interested in acquiring some reinforcements, or even a whole new army do take a look at his auctions HERE.

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Oh Noes! Sub-Par Units!


I recently read a comment on BoLS about how Ogryns are not being taken in Imperial Guard lists because they are sub-par when compared in the grander scheme of things, and more specifically compared to other options in the codex.

First off, lets get it straight, they are indeed 'sub-par', as are various units across just about all of the army lists out there. Its a fact of the game that there are basicly always going to be better all round choices, or better choices in countering the 'meta game' of the time.

So whats the problem?

Well, contray to what some very loud and often self important voices imply out there on the forums and blogs, not every game is a tournament game. By far the majority of games that I, you, and just about everybody else out there plays are far more casual. Such games are not a matter of life and death, they are not Olympic sports, it does not matter at the end of the day if you win or lose, and, get this, at the end of the day nobody really cares *that much* about your win/loss record with toy soliders. What matters is you've spent some time enjoying your hobby, hopefully with friends, or at least in a fun atmosphere with someone you don't know so well.

At the risk of starting to sound like one of Jervis' Standard Bearer articles its really far more about the experience, then it is about the result of playing. So, if you like a particular model, knock yourself out and put it on the table, think a particular theme is fun but worried that by turn 5 you'll have nothing left, who cares? Give it a go, if you think it looks cool, you need no more reason! Take a look at your codex sometime, and I bet there are units in there which you've always passed up either because they are 'sub-par' or because you simply don't have enough points after you've taken the all singing, all dancing, no brainer choices. How about next time you put together a list for a evenings casual gaming you take two or three of these largely ignored units or models first, then put in a bit of the bread and butter, rather then the other way round?

I'm sure there are some people who will look at my little rant here and put their head in their hands, or perhaps come up with a counter argument as too how its a game, and a game is about winning. Yes your right, but simply, thats not the only thing its about, because our hobby is a rich and diverse one as long as you don't take winning too seriously.

Monday 12 September 2011

More Sculpting Projects for Release

Aside from the Life Guards I've a few other odds and ends that I'm working on, with plans for release through my friendly local gaming store, The Iron Haven. So here is a quick preview of what else I've been working on, amongst other things. Sorry the picture quality is'nt brilliant!

The first two are nothing too exciting, merely modified versions of the Praetorian Roughrider components. These include a modified torso, without the Aquilla emblems, ideal for creating dress uniformed troops.


As well as modified Cavalry Legs, now with combat trousers and boots.


It does get better though, how about Military Officer caps, or Mordians to you an me?

Saturday 10 September 2011

The Life Guards - Mk2 Praetorian Storm Troopers (Part 1)

Anyone who has been following this blog for a while might well remember the Storm Troopers I started to convert years ago, with this chap being the poster boy.


The original squad, which are now long gone, were converted from plastic Cadians, Praetorian heavy weapon gunner torso's, and various other bits, all with some of my earlier sculpting work. However, the germ of the idea, and the original inspiration behind them, the British Regiment of Life Guards, has stuck in my head ever since - it was only a matter of time until I came back to them.


That time has now come, my idea for the project was to do them as complete sculpts, rather then as one off conversions. Originally I planned to do them in a similar vein to the Roughrider conversion kits, intending to create various components, but in this case so they could be combined with GW Cadian bits for complete models. However, the success and experience I've gained from the success of the Roughriders has lead me to a change of plan. I'm now going to build them as single piece miniatures, with a variety of poses, and with drop in weapons. I'll use them myself, and again have them cast up to put on sale.

I'm a sticker for making them uniform in appearance however, so the first stage is to sculpt a master dolly. This dolly I'll have cast up in a small quantity, which I'll then use to create a small selection of poses, before sending these off for casting in turn. Several people have been asking for progress shots, and I really wanted to post some anyway, so here is the dolly in the early stages. The putty is still drying in fact! I've been working on the armour first, which is proving tricky to get just right and symmetrical, however as this first shot shows, I think I'm just about there with the breast plate. Next up, I need to work on the basic shape of the back plate, before adding the tunic and trousers, back to work!

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Roughriders For Sale - Restocked!


Just a quick heads up, after running out of Roughrider kits, as I know at least a couple of your discovered I've now restocked and they are available again!

More details HERE

Friday 2 September 2011

The Hive Victorium Regiment of Life Guards

5th Company, 2nd Battalion

1st Squad, Chimera Transport