Musings of a Green Man

There have been a lot of cults in the real world that have been obsessed with death. There are even jokes that being of Irish descent means that you automatically end up inducted deeply into the biggest death cult in the world. Certainly, conversations with the Irish side of my family will inevitably become focused on recent deaths and the dead of numerous generations back. As such, the idea of death cults have long fascinated me. With my squat army in construction, I've been looking at the mythology of the Duardin from Warhammer Fantasy, since there's a huge amount of deliberate overlap (why develop a separate culture when you can just import most of it?). I've been wanting to add some Ambots, as a squat version of Ogryn, since the models were released, because having big androids just feels right. Ogryn/Bullgryn units are some of the best close combat units in the current Codex, and are even better accompanied by a Ministorum Priest, who will increase their Attacks to ...

No, this isn't a post about the inclusive representation of alternative lifestyles in the hobby. That'd be a very long and involved post. Nor is it about alternative models to represent factions within major intellectual properties. It's instead about the opportunity to use a bit of lateral thinking with how to depict special rules or ways to have units in a style that fits the army. My specific examples are 40k, Imperial Guard, since they're ones I'm actively working with. The Vostroyan relic, The Armour of Graf Toschenko, gives a boost to toughness and a 2+ save. This is essentially Guard Terminator armour, especially combined with the Invulnerable save most officers have as standard. That Invulnerable save is much the same as the save Space Marines get from Combat Shields, so, why not have an officer with a Combat Shield? On the subject of shields, the Mordian relic, Order of the Iron Star of Mordian, gives a uniform save against any wound. Sounds like a dec...

Socially, being a geek and a gamer is far less of a stigma than it was even just 20 years ago. There's still some bias against us in some fields, and from some quarters, but, compared to yesteryear, it's minimal. However, again, I'm digressing on a tangent. This post is about prices in hard currency. A lot of people bemoan the rising cost of miniatures, particularly singling out certain big companies. These arguments tend to ignore the fact that the price of magazines, comic books, books, technology, food, and everything else has also increased in price by a similar amount. In actual fact, compared to 25 years ago, in many ways, miniatures are a lot cheaper in real terms. 20 years ago I was a student. I had £45 a week for food, stationery, printing, clothes, drinks, transport, books, mobile phone, miniatures, and all other incidentals. Nowadays, £45 would be a struggle to get by on, with the essentials needed covered, and no spare money for music, a mobile, travel, book...

The idea of priests in the midst of conflict has fascinated me for many, many years. Maybe it's a Northern Irish thing. After all, i grew up with images of clergymen caught up in Bloody Sunday and numerous other violent events. I grew up with Presbyterian firebrand Ian Paisley often seen on the news manning barricades, attending twelfth night bonfires, etc. Maybe it's the result of growing up watching MASH, with Fr. Mulcahy an integral part of the 4077th. Maybe it's something else altogether, like my starting into the hobby with the Genestealer Cult. I noticed recently that I have a bit of a habit of having clergy in my forces. My 17th century Berlin force had 5 priests among 200 or so models. When it became the basis for my Empire army for Warhammer Fantasy, i added a few more. My Imperial Guard from 1999-2003, which was about 200 strong, again had 5 priests. My space marines have over a dozen chaplains, including 2 on bikes and 3 in Terminator armour. And so it go...

Today sees the pre-order release of the latest Gotrek Gurnison figure by Citadel, his first appearance in styrene. Gotrek grew out of a character in the play tests for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and, over the years, and 30 years' worth of novels, novellas, short stories and audio dramas, he met, or his stories even introduced, almost every major character in the World That Was. Thanquol became a running nemesis. Felix Jaeger went from a young buck looking for adventures that he could turn into stories, since he was an author, to a middle aged veteran, with more stories than he could ever write. Through all of this, Gotrek continued to be the best, or worst slayer dwarfs had ever known. He slew trolls, giants, dragons, daemons, some say even gods, and still refused to die. The world ended. An apocalypse literally tore the planet apart in a magical explosion. Still he kept going. BoLS, Spikey Bits and so on have coverage of the rules side of things, and can comment more meaningfu...

The most expensive part of the gaming hobby, in general, is buying the models. As such, there's a growing tendency to look at a points to currency ratio. Basically, this is a question of how many pennies, on average, you're paying for models, per point they cost in-system. To use an example, the Cadian Storm Troopers box costs £20 in the UK. This can be used to make 10 Conscripts, at 40 points, or a 10-man squad with flamer or grenade launcher and vox, at 48 or 51, or a veteran squad, with a vox, 2 flamers and a grenade launcher, for 70. Using the set for Conscripts, is 50p per point,  the infantry squad with vox and flamer, 39p per point, or the veteran squad 29p per point. Obviously, you get better "value" the more experienced and better armed the squad. In contrast, the push-fit Cadians are £6 for 5, so 30p per point, if used as Conscripts or Infantry, 24p as Veterans. On a similar note, a couple of options that are remarkably cost effective, in the grand scheme ...

...this is completely unrelated to yesterday's post. I first encountered the term Primaris in 40k when the second edition Codex Imperial Guard rebranded the Sanctioned Psykers from first edition, that had been dubbed Astra Telepathica Prime Psykers inthe Black Codex as Primaris Psykers. The model that came out to represent the option was, in 'Eavy Metal at least, wearing a snazzy, purple, ankle length coat, much like those i have worn myself for 16 years. For years this was about the only use of the term in-game, even when, in the first half of third edition, when there were no Sanctioned Psykers in Imperial forces, apart from Librarians. Then we got the Rhino Primaris, a command Rhino available only from Warhammer World (and now, presumably, the Citadel in the USA). So, 2 uses. Then eighth edition came around. Suddenly we were bombarded with an ever increasing number of Primaris Space Marine units. Having been used to using the term "Primaris" as short hand fo...

I have, sitting, primed and awaiting paint for over a year now, a bunch of Primaris Space Marines. Once I finish my current painting batches (WWII Heer, autumn 1943, Operation Barbarossa, and squat self propelled guns), i need a change of pace, and the simple heraldry of marines seems a welcome change. The problem is that I'm far from sure how my Chapter, The Holy, Secular Brotherhood of the order of the Nephilim (there's a joke in there for Latin scholars, and another for occultists), or The Nephilim, are a Dark Angels successor, and the way that these outsiders will be integrated into the Byzantine anachronism of the First Legion's organisational structures, and the mysteries that they all hold dear has largely been glossed over. The Unforgiven have ancient secrets that are kept from the general Imperium, some of which are even kept from certain parts of the Chapters, because you can't be too careful. I can't imagine my recalcitrant Order, who still use vast numb...