With a few unexpected (however anticipated) turn of events at work, my odd hours have not afforded me time to play 40K. I have, however, managed some hobby time and I'm really excited about some of what I accomplished.
First up, I removed all of the 1/16 magnets that I had initially inserted into my space marines' for easy weapon swaps. It was obvious the minute I hit the table top with these models two years ago that the magnets WERE NOT strong enough to hold an arm, or weapon, to a torso. They were strong enough, however, to produce a lot of consternation and grown man tears- let me tell ya. It got to the point that I would just bring sticky tack and use it to hold the darn arms and weapons together.
Silly.
When I first began playing I wanted everything to be modular in order to save money as well as obtain the most choices from my models. When it was obvious that the 1/16 magnets were not strong enough (and figuring out what options I liked, and didn't like), I glued many of the arms/weapons together. Then 6th rolled around, and I wanted to experiment with different combinations all over again. I pulled apart all of the glued arms and weapons and set about replacing the 1/16 magnets with 1/8.
Each marine and arm alternative have a 1/8 magnet, now. No more tears. No more frustration, and most importantly no more sticky tack! Learn from my lesson, guys and gals: Avoid anything smaller than 1/8 when magnetizing limbs and weapons.
--
I'm in the process of kit bashing plasma and melta combi-weapons- I have A LOT of plasma pistols that will do nicely. Likewise, I have a ton of metal melta guns that will work as my combi-meltas'. I purchased quite a few of the individual packs from GW back in 09' when they were 6 bucks for a pack of five and Gee Dub offered free shipping for orders over 15 bucks...those were the days!
--
I've built and magnetized a Drop Pod following Ron's guide at 'From the Warp'. Fantastic guide, by the way; the only trouble I ran into was with regard to the engine piece. When I carefully glued the five rectangular fittings to it, there was apparently enough glue to seal it together (prohibiting the weapon mount from rotating in a 360° radius). Oh well, I have another to put together, so I'll avoid that mistake the next time.
--
I have been putting an Imperial Bastion together over the last couple of weeks. There is a base, or foundation, a central portion where the emplaced bolters set, and finally the battlements where the gun emplacement resides. The foundation was a bear. Perhaps it was just my particular kit, but those darn pieces did not fit properly, and had terrible gaps that will require a green stuff treatment before any paint can be applied. I'm going to reinforce all of the joint and seams with JB Weld just for good measure: I just don't trust the adhesive bond of CA glue- I've had the pieces separate at the joint already...
While writing this post Chaos launched this week, and it sounds like Phil Kelly did not disappoint. I prefer Kelly's approach as opposed to Matt Ward, as Kelly seems to compose with a finesse absent in other 'dexes. Kelly provide Chaos players with a lot of choices in the form of units and upgrades. In turn the player isnt pigeon holed into taking specific models, or adopting one or two specific builds. I'm not a big fan of Chaos- in fact, I have always accepted Chaos and Tyranids as Public Enemies #1 and 2 of the 41st Millenium (i.e. my Loyalist forces). Though I have no intent to collect or play a Chaos army, I'm happy to hear so many Chaos players are satisfied with the new codex so far. Overwhelmingly, people want to play zombie hordes! And we all know who does Zombies awesome-sauce for a pittance! Based on the wording of the codex, there seems to be some debate as to whether one can take 10 zombies, or 35. I hope that GW quickly FAQs the rule, and clearly allows players to take a horde of Zombies.
Off topic and referring to Zombies: I finally got to view the season 2 finale of 'The Walking Dead'. My DVR had, for some reason, only recorded the first ten minutes of the episode. Comcast finally made the series available On-Demand. I really like the tension that the group is currently in. I don't like the apparent direction that Rick's character is taking. I'm hoping that is the overwhelming stress of everything coupled with having to kill his best friend that has overloaded his character to the breaking point. I think that is why Shane was so important to the dynamic of the story; he was Rick's counter-point. Where Rick was hopeful, and positive and fighting to maintain the humanity of the group, Shane was a survivalist, a Darwinist, and even an Anarchist. The vacuum caused by Shane's absence seems to have pushed Rick into a darker place than before. I'm confident in the writing staff, and I can't wait to see what direction is taken. It looks like Daryl's brother will return this season, among other things, so I can't wait!
First up, I removed all of the 1/16 magnets that I had initially inserted into my space marines' for easy weapon swaps. It was obvious the minute I hit the table top with these models two years ago that the magnets WERE NOT strong enough to hold an arm, or weapon, to a torso. They were strong enough, however, to produce a lot of consternation and grown man tears- let me tell ya. It got to the point that I would just bring sticky tack and use it to hold the darn arms and weapons together.
Silly.
When I first began playing I wanted everything to be modular in order to save money as well as obtain the most choices from my models. When it was obvious that the 1/16 magnets were not strong enough (and figuring out what options I liked, and didn't like), I glued many of the arms/weapons together. Then 6th rolled around, and I wanted to experiment with different combinations all over again. I pulled apart all of the glued arms and weapons and set about replacing the 1/16 magnets with 1/8.
Each marine and arm alternative have a 1/8 magnet, now. No more tears. No more frustration, and most importantly no more sticky tack! Learn from my lesson, guys and gals: Avoid anything smaller than 1/8 when magnetizing limbs and weapons.
--
I'm in the process of kit bashing plasma and melta combi-weapons- I have A LOT of plasma pistols that will do nicely. Likewise, I have a ton of metal melta guns that will work as my combi-meltas'. I purchased quite a few of the individual packs from GW back in 09' when they were 6 bucks for a pack of five and Gee Dub offered free shipping for orders over 15 bucks...those were the days!
--
I've built and magnetized a Drop Pod following Ron's guide at 'From the Warp'. Fantastic guide, by the way; the only trouble I ran into was with regard to the engine piece. When I carefully glued the five rectangular fittings to it, there was apparently enough glue to seal it together (prohibiting the weapon mount from rotating in a 360° radius). Oh well, I have another to put together, so I'll avoid that mistake the next time.
--
I have been putting an Imperial Bastion together over the last couple of weeks. There is a base, or foundation, a central portion where the emplaced bolters set, and finally the battlements where the gun emplacement resides. The foundation was a bear. Perhaps it was just my particular kit, but those darn pieces did not fit properly, and had terrible gaps that will require a green stuff treatment before any paint can be applied. I'm going to reinforce all of the joint and seams with JB Weld just for good measure: I just don't trust the adhesive bond of CA glue- I've had the pieces separate at the joint already...
While writing this post Chaos launched this week, and it sounds like Phil Kelly did not disappoint. I prefer Kelly's approach as opposed to Matt Ward, as Kelly seems to compose with a finesse absent in other 'dexes. Kelly provide Chaos players with a lot of choices in the form of units and upgrades. In turn the player isnt pigeon holed into taking specific models, or adopting one or two specific builds. I'm not a big fan of Chaos- in fact, I have always accepted Chaos and Tyranids as Public Enemies #1 and 2 of the 41st Millenium (i.e. my Loyalist forces). Though I have no intent to collect or play a Chaos army, I'm happy to hear so many Chaos players are satisfied with the new codex so far. Overwhelmingly, people want to play zombie hordes! And we all know who does Zombies awesome-sauce for a pittance! Based on the wording of the codex, there seems to be some debate as to whether one can take 10 zombies, or 35. I hope that GW quickly FAQs the rule, and clearly allows players to take a horde of Zombies.
Off topic and referring to Zombies: I finally got to view the season 2 finale of 'The Walking Dead'. My DVR had, for some reason, only recorded the first ten minutes of the episode. Comcast finally made the series available On-Demand. I really like the tension that the group is currently in. I don't like the apparent direction that Rick's character is taking. I'm hoping that is the overwhelming stress of everything coupled with having to kill his best friend that has overloaded his character to the breaking point. I think that is why Shane was so important to the dynamic of the story; he was Rick's counter-point. Where Rick was hopeful, and positive and fighting to maintain the humanity of the group, Shane was a survivalist, a Darwinist, and even an Anarchist. The vacuum caused by Shane's absence seems to have pushed Rick into a darker place than before. I'm confident in the writing staff, and I can't wait to see what direction is taken. It looks like Daryl's brother will return this season, among other things, so I can't wait!
