Just the FAQS, Ma'am

Hopefully, everyone knows that the good folks at GW release Frequently Asked Question PDFs or FAQs from time to time, where the designers give rules judgements to rules questions and situations that people commonly ask about. They also take the chance to correct typos and misleading statements in codices while they are at it.
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That being said, I have noticed since I have played and moved around the country that the FAQs are handled a little differntly depending on where you are. The first hobby shop I ever played at, the FAQs were considered on par with the rulebook and always applied. The same can be said for my garage games, FAQ=rules. Then when I played in N. Carolina, the FAQs could be used but only if you had a printed copy on you. I figured the store could have just printed them off and put them in a binder, but I guess it still makes sense and keeps the players engaged with their army and with GW. Then I played at a store in Massachussets where they said that the FAQs were merely rules suggestions and should be taken with a grain of salt and not as a rules decision. Finally, here I am in Michigan, where the local club has House Rules regarding mostly the Space Marine codices and how the wargear works for Black Templars reflects the way it works in C:SM, which makes sense and hopefully GW follows suit to a degree.
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Wheh, if you are still with me after that block of text, my question is "How does your local shop/club play? FAQ or no FAQ, or store FAQ?"

What is this!? 40k Cards?

I bought a bitz box online that a guy advertized as "Everything I own" which was pretty good when it arrived, but he really must have been serious as I found these Horus Heresy Cards wrapped in their original packaging shrinkwrap and all. I opened them because I wanted to see what they are ... and they seem to be a card game involving the legions and heroes from the Heresy, including Saul Tarvitz ... as interesting as these cards are, I don't really have a use for them, but I don't know if they are worth anything to anyone. Do any of you traitors, heretics or imperial lapdogs know anything about this card game? Please leave any info you can in the comments.

Emperor's Champion Update! Getting close to finished!

Alright, so this model is still a few hours from completion, but it is coming right along. There are a lot of colors and shades involved in it, many more than I would have first believed before I sat down to paint this, my first Black Templar model.

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So far it has been fun to paint, with areas that I washed, some drybrushing and some layering as well, it really is encompasing all of my basic techniques. I know it pales to some of the stuff that is out there, but once it is touched up I think it will make quite a centerpeice for my friend's army.

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Like I said it is still a way out from completion and need some highlighting and clean-up work to do before it gets based, but with that being said, feel free to offer you comments and critisism!

Emperor's Champion Commission update

I am working from the top down on this model and have gotten most of the major work out of the way for the standard. If you look closely, you will see that the banner wrapped around the reaper is freehanded with the first lines of the ACCEPT ANY CHALLENGE ... vow "O, Emperor, ever rejoicing at bloody wars; fierce and untamed" The ever rejoicing is assumed to be lost in the wrap, but the rest of the prayer continues and is present finishing with the word untamed upside down in the front following the wrap of the banner. Fear not, the shield has more work to come, but I think this is a good start for painting a really well converted model. As always, feel free to comment.

Emperor's Champion Commission Underway!

Well, I am finally painting this Emperor's Champion for a friend of mine. I am taking it slow because this comission is very cool and I will more than likley face it on the table quite often, so I want it to look extra awesome. Now the initial work has mostly been done to the vow standard that he is carrying. I wanted to hit the whites first as it is easier to touch up the blacks later.

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For the wings, I basecoated the skull white (GW) and washed them with two coats of Gryphonne Sepia(GW). The banner was based skull white then painted Ochre Yellow (Artist Pigment Brand). The banner then received a single coat of Sepia wash to add depth to it.

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My next moves on the Vow standard are to re-black the spots that were accidentally hit with whites, then paint the shield white, then paint half of it red, then freehand a Templar symbol that I have yet to decide on. Wish me luck and as always, feel free to comment!

Games Day stirs more talk of Chaos Legions!!!

According to BoLS' sources at Games Day Chicago, there is talk of the Chaos Legions book and models in the works. Now. I hate speculation, but I do love to speculate, so I am trying to wrap my head around how a Legions book would work. Would it just deal with the specific legions of undivided CSM or all the traitor Legions including the dedicated ones .... OR .... would it be a replacement for Codex CSM in which we would see the Hero Hammer 40k-type module of Codex Space Marines come to the fore (ie Alpha Legion Special Character allows all CSM to outflank ect.).
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While that gives us something to chew on thought wise, I would like to explore what would be nice to see for the "Forgotten Legions" of the CSM.
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First, the Alpha Legion; I would like to see them receive not only an army-wide improvement allowing them an outflanking or infiltrating ability for non-tanks, but I would also like to see them bring in a unit similar to scouts, these could be their cultist-type infiltrators. A more devious way of doing that would have to involve the assasin hidden in the enemy unit trick from Fantasy, but I don't think that would go over well with the masses.
Finally, since there has always been a question of Alpha Legion's allegiance, I think they should be restricted from having Demons.
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Next, the Iron Warriors, a big favorite in the previous codex due to the heavy firepower they bring to the table. A return of the basilisk would be cool and so would Lords that can equip servo harnesses and maybe troop choices that can rock either two heavy or two special weapons.
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The Nightlords were never really popular, but I think they could be awesome in a re-vamp with jetpack equiped CSM as troop choices and options for entire bike armies.
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Finally, the Word Bearers. The easiest ideas for them would be the ability to summon deamons per the Daemons codex, have fanatical cultists and of course have a Dark Apostle (evil Chaplain) HQ choice.
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Anyway, that is all the speculation and thoughtfulness I have in me for now. I am heading out to possibly play my first game of Planetstrike tonight. Wish me luck and as always feel free to comment with your own ideas for the LEGIONS!

Nurgle Vindicator returns from Goatboy, blows my mind!

Well, my Vindicator came in the mail from Goatboy over at http://www.fullofmonkey.com/ and of BoLS fame and I must say that it is even better than the photos that he sent me. This will help give me a large peice to tie my army's paintjob to as I create a new daemon prince and redo some PM squads.

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If you have a big conversion that you just don't have time to paint, check out http://www.fullofmonkey.com/ and take a look at their rates, they are pretty reasonable.

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Aside from plugging the painter, I must say that I was not entirely sure about the bloody approach to Nurgle, what with all the red, but once I got the model in my hands, I had to admit that it looked amazing. As always freel free to comment and if you are near Lansing, MI you can come out and see it OR maybe even play a game of Planet Strike (I haven't tried it yet).

Black Templar Emperor's Champion Conversion for Commission!

Here is a Black Templars Emperor's Champion that I have converted to match the look of a EC I saw on an Ebay sale by a seller named PlutoPokes. Anyway, this peice is now a commission I am making for a friend that I play with at Evolution Games in Lansing, MI.

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Basically, I used a torso, head, sword arm, pistol holster and gear from a Black Templars Upgrade set, added some Templar logos that I press molded with a GS mold, added a Standard Bearer arm from the Space Marine Command squad sprue and finished the model off with the standard from a WHFB General and some laurels from an old bitz box.

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The conversion is fairly simple, all you need to do is gather the parts for the model and assemble them. I bought almost everything I needed exclusively from Hoard O' Bitz on Ebay.

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My next move will be to add a Backpack from an old EC I have lying around and painting the model.

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Keep your eyes peeled for the finished model and as always, feel free to comment!

Deathwing Dreadnought in the works (Forgeworld Chappy dread)

I am working on a new Venerable Dreadnought to wrap up my Deathwing. I am using the Forge World Chaplain Dreadnought because I thought the overall look and the wing pattern fit well with the DW. I primed the model white, then washed it in Sepia wash. I used Shining Gold on all the gold trim and I stll have quite a bit of work to do. I look forward to finishing the torso this weekend so I can pump out the weapon arms. My Deathwing will be wrapped up soon, as the only model left to be painted will be Belial (Lysander conversion). I can hardly wait to put a Fully painted DW Army on the table!

New bitz from Chapterhouse studios! The return of the Salamander Drop Pod!

Chapterhouse Studios now has its Salamander Drop Pod vehicle accessories back out with new and improved panels. Their Web site also has some teaser photos of a Lion shoulder pad, which makes me wonder what else may be in the works over there! Check out their site and their online store for yourself at www.chapterhousestudios.com

Stillfrosty - still converting Awesome minis (White Scars)

Once again our good friend Stillfrosty has managed to amaze us with his conversion talent and incredible dedication to an army once he has his teeth sunk into it. If you like these photos, take a trip to his Web site, www.stillfrostyconversions.com and check out some more or peep his 'Ard Boyz lists, maybe even check out his world famous Kroot conversions. Have fun!

Dark Future is back with goodies. Pics of my Nurgle Vindicator painted by Goatboy!

Greetings Heretics, Xenos and Imperial lapdogs! I have arrived safely in Michigan and must say that I am impressed with the gaming scene here. I have a Awesome Hobby shop a block from my house called Evolution Games (more on them in a future post). While I am busy moving into my house and have limited posting time (for the moment), I figured I would show off a little something Goatboy from BOLS has been working on for me. This vindi is something I put together over the course of a month and is covered in bitz from various models (and editions) and also has about 14 hours of GS sculpting on it. Goatboy sent me this photo as an update and I figured I would share it with youall! Not only did he finish this model very quickly, but he also kept me updated every step of the way. He also takes great studio photos of your model like this one and to top it off, you get this quality of work for an incredibly reasonable price (he seems to like vehicles). Check out his work and the work of the other artists at www.fullofmonkey.com the next time you are looking for some commission work!