Army Revelation: Why my Salamanders are no longer Space Wolves

Recently I've been questioning my decision to use my Salamander as a ‘counts-as’ Space Wolves. I'm not sure if it’s the fluff side of my shining through or if I'm just getting tired of being associated with ‘those people’. You all know the one or two of them, those who have a generic Space Marine army that jumps from Codex to Codex, capitalising on whatever the new hotness is at any given time. I'm not saying that there’s anything wrong with that from a legal standpoint, but it does seem to be a little unethical at times. It wasn't until I started preparing for a Kill-Team Tournament that Mark from Project Circle was organising (despite my keen desire to play, it was one I didn't get to attend), that I came to the realisation that I could no longer use my Salamanders as Space Wolves.

It’s true what they say that when one door closes, you notice the window that is slightly ajar. Upon coming to this realisation, I remembered the 30-odd Deathwatch Marines that are currently assembled and undercoated and sitting on one of my ‘To-Do’ shelves. These were built for the previous Space Marine Codex, the one that used the Trait System that allowed you to customise your Space Marine Chapter (a grand idea if you ask me), using the trait that gave all my Marines True Grit (back when that existed too). Since then they've been sitting on my shelf, gathering dust and remaining a very uninspiring Black (ironic really since the colour of their armour really isn't going to change much). I've decided that these guys are the perfect way for me to field a Space Wolves army without actually having to buy yet more marines. So without further ado, I give you... my Death-Wolves!!!!

Unfortunately the pic above is a little anti-climatic, considering the vast majority of them are still WIP. But on the upside, it does give me a brand new army to work on for the arrival of 6th Edition. Considering their highly customised load-out and the large concentration of Power Weapons within the 30-odd Marines, I'm considering a Logan-Wing build as a means of representing their 'Elite of the Elite' status which is fitting for the army. With that, I’m off to paint some more Deathwatch!


Catch you all later



Trev

Salamander Update – Green Relics

I’ve been working in getting a Dreadnought painted for my Salamanders Army for nigh on a year now, and I’m happy to announce that I’m finally making some progress. After starting these arms at the beginning of the year, I’d managed to paint the Assault Cannon pretty quickly, but stalled terribly when it came to the close-combat arm. I couldn't decide how I wanted to paint the fist and spent hours pouring over photos of mini’s searching for something to give me inspiration. In the end I went with something I feel is a little generic, but perfectly suiting for my first Dread.

With the arms painted, I get to move onto the main body of the miniature which presents a different challenge entirely. Considering the sheer amount of detail that can be found on just the legs, the sarcophagus itself will be time consuming to say the least. On the upside, it will mean that the fellow will look nothing less than stunning when he hits the table in his Drop Pod, followed by three of his closest friends.

With the arms done, I've decided I’ll move onto the legs next and get them out of the way as fast as I can. Once they are done, I can move onto the upper body and have a bit of fun with the painting process. I'm hoping that I can incorporate a little bit of freehand flames into the chassis so this Relic of aeons past will really stand out. As it stands, I have much to finish yet:

Catch you all later

Trev

Team Challenge Results

As I mentioned in my previous post, last weekend saw a group of us from Kingaroy Wargamers travelled down to Toowoomba for a 750 point 40K Team Challenge against the boys from the Darling Downs Gamers Club Inc.  The format was a simple - two players per team, with each team playing two games each.  With our two teams chosen, we drove down early Monday morning; quasi-fresh faced and eager to do battle (perhaps fresh faced was an overstatement as two of our team members had pulled extremely late-nighters before-hand).  Our line-up was as follows:

Mark – Blood Angels

James – Tyranids

Ryan – Chaos Space Marines

Me – Space Wolves

The day before we’d decided on who would make up each of the teams and I was decided that Mark and James would combine their Marines and Nids into a Power-Armoured Godzilla force, while Ryan and I combined our forces into a venerable combination not seen since Pre-Heresy times.  I’m sure Mark will no doubt go over his experiences over at Project Circle, so I’ll be running down how Team Marine performed.

Game I – Eldar & Necrons

Our first game was the Auto-Tie mission using the Spearhead Deployment.  Our illustrious opponents were highly skilled players and had made the most of their combined 1500 points.  Utilising the historically-proven tactic of Divide and Conquer, they worked well to separate our forces before systematically tearing them to shreds.  While this was a tough game, I was able to learn a good deal (including the potency of the Rune Priest’s ability to dispel Psychic Powers on a 4+.  Take that Eldrad!). Overall it was great to see four painted armies going at it hell for leather on the table-top.  Ryan and my rolls for most of the game weren’t particularly spectacular, but them’s the breaks I guess.  With a tabling by turn 5, there really wasn’t any place for us to go but up in the next game. 

My Librarian - Man of the Match after cancelling
Eldrad's Pyschic Powers 9 times in a row

Game 2 – Dark Eldar & Orks

The second game saw us playing an Annihilation mission using a modified Dawn of War deployment (2 Troops and 1 HQ for Each player) and upon winning the roll off, we took up a strong position inside a chunk of ruins that dominated the centre of the table.  With the vast majority of our armies on the table already, both our opponents decided to walk on in turn 1.  This gave us the time we needed to set up a couple of kill-zones and prepare for the onslaught of Xenos.  The Orks had both Gazgull Thrakka and Snikkrot in their 750 points as well as a crap-tonne of Orks to make up numbers.  The Dark Eldar were toting a fairly mech-heavy list with a flyer, two Ravagers and a Venom.  The vast majority of the fighting was done in the centre of the table, with the entire Ork army and the Dark Eldar Archon and her Incubi bodyguard slamming into Ryan’s Chaos.  The centre turned into a meat-grinder as Bezerkers and Chaos Marines fought tooth-and-nail against the Xenos, killing a swathe of Greenskins before they were overwhelmed. Kharn was torn apart by Gazgull who eventually died at the hands of Ryan’s Dreadnought (which was killed at the same time by Gazgull).  The survivors were shot to pieces by my Salamanders who were then set upon by Snikkrot and his Band of Kommandos. The stalwart warriors of Nocturne managed to hold their own against the Orks, setting them to rout before gunning them down.  With only my Salamanders left to face the Dark Eldar, they hunkered down and weathered the storm of Dark Lance fire until the last turn.  As the kills were tallied up, Ryan and I had managed to win the game by a single Kill-Point, closing out the Tam Challenge with a Loss and a Win. 

Dread and Vindicator were men of the match surviving 6 turns
of Dark Lance Fire from 2 Ravagers

As the dust settled, the scores were tallied and the result for the day was a draw but a win for all – a fine end to a fun day of gaming and merriment.  Next time I'll be sure to take a harder list and get some more practice in. A big thanks to the guys for hosting us at Battlestation, they have a great set-up there with some awesome players to boot.  I heartily encourage everyone to stop in and say hi next time you’re in Toowoomba and put your skills to the test.  I promise you won’t be disappointed. 

Catch you all later

Trev 

Achievement Unlocked – 5000 views!!

This week saw the Triple Helix Project reach its first major milestone, with the site receiving over 5000 views.  This is amazing to me, because it means that people are taking time out of their very busy lives just to visit my site and see what I’m working on, which is very humbling indeed.  I thought I’d take a bit of time to highlight the articles that have done the most to contribute towards this lofty milestone.

1. How to Build a gaming table in 2.5 years... or three days
2. Salamander Update - Blood Claw Revisited
3. Terrain Update - Anti-Tank Warfare and Barricades!
4. It's not easy being Green...(pt 1)
5. Mordheim Update - Accessories are your friend!

Once again, thank you to everyone who has ever visited my humble blog and a bigger thank you to those of you who continue to return.  It is only through your efforts that this has been possible and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for my little chunk of the Internet.  On that topic, what would you like to see more on the Blog?

Catch you all later,

Trev

Mordheim Update – The Butchers of Bakers Quay

It’s been all hands on deck for the last couple of weeks as my hobby time has been divided amongst a plethora of projects spanning multiple game systems.  My interest in Fantasy has been revived after a couple of very entertaining games, encouraging me to focus more attention on getting my Warriors of Chaos army painted and based.  Additionally, I've been asked to participate in a Team Challenge that will pit six of our Kingaroy Players against the best and brightest of the Darling Downs Gaming Group (The Emperor alone knows why I was selected, perhaps they need a tea caddy?).  This has encouraged me to re-evaluate my Salamanders and reinvigorated my interest in getting my half-painted projects completed (Dreadnought anyone???).  

This has meant that my up and coming Possessed Warband hasn't been receiving the attention that is deserves.  Since my last article, I managed to finish painting the two Swordsmen I started for my Middenheimer / Norse Warband and also found some time to model a group of Darksouls I've recently brought into the fold – The Butchers of Bakers Quay (or just Butchers for Short).  These unfortunates were some of the hardest hit during the fall, finding themselves used as meat-puppets for the Daemonic forces that ran rife through the streets of the Mordheim.  This trio were a group of brothers who working as timber cutters near the district known as Bakers Quay.  As the comet struck, all three were possessed simultaneously, snatching up their two-handed axes and setting upon any an all unfortunates who crossed their path.  By the time they reached the Quay, they were coated in blood and gore; their axes slick with the blood of their friends and co-workers.  Then the slaughter really began.  In an orgy of daemonically fuelled violence, they cut their way into each building and dismembered everyone inside.  After the Daemons were forced to leave their hosts, the brothers continued their bloody work, lost in the dark and twisted maze of their insanity.

As can be seen above, the group of Henchmen have been modelled wearing soon-to-be Daemonic masks while wielding their signature two-handed axes.  In the case of one of them rolling ‘Lads’, I’ve given one of them a swanky Elven Axe head.  While not much use at the moment, once I give the would-be hero ‘Strongman’ and an Ithilmar weapon, he’ll be more than ready to terrorise the populace once more.  I’m hoping to run them in tandem with my ‘Crushers’ – Brethren armed with Hammer and Mace – Cutting down the big things (and any Str3 things with parry) with their Str 6 attacks while allowing the Heroes to follow through and mop up any survivors.  At a minimum cost of 50gc each though, it will be a couple of games until I can save enough coin up to field all the brothers at the same time.    That said, having to play several games of Mordheim so I can gain access to some awesome warriors is certainly no trial. 

Catch you all later

Trev 

WoC Update - Marauder Bases Finished!

As well as working on new and exciting models for my Warriors of Chaos, I've also spent some time adding snow to the recently completed Marauder unit and movement tray. For the most part, this is a mindless task that is at times frustrating and tedious , despite the fact that is makes the unit look awesome. Admittedly the smooth edges of the movement tray are the most labor intensive as they must be scored with a file / sandpaper to ensure the glue is able to take hold. Two layers of snow are sufficient to provide a solid coating of white that does not allow the colours underneath to bleed through (this can also be further enhanced by painting the first coat with a layer of white paint).

With the second unit of infantry completed, the army is beginning to take shape. With some effort and a little luck, this army may be ready in time for Trickster's Blade (hopefully). Only time and the liberal swish of the paintbrush will determine if I speak the truth on this matter, or if my words are merely boasting. Either way, here's a peek at my current WIP.

Catch you all later

Trev