Happy New Year from the DFG crew!

The whole DFG would like to extend a hearty Happy New Year to the blogosphere, including our readers, our workers and all the great bloggers out there that make up this community. We will save you all the long list of thank you's until January 12, our two year anniversary. Look forward to us starting the year off right with some serious conversions, hobby articles and local tourney coverage.

The year ahead looks great with tons of opportunities for us to grow as players and bloggers with monthly tourneys, more contests, Adepticon and a ton of commission jobs! We want to share it all with everyone out there and make efforts to get our fellow bloggers, especially the new guys, some more looks as well.

Have fun tonight, drink deep and enjoy yourself, but do it safely. Until next year,

Team DFG

Tau Rumors: Examining the Latest Chatter!

As I made my rounds on the Internet this morning, I was intrigued by some Tau rumors that I found at Warhammer Tau. At first the rumors seemed to not be a real big deal, but then the old Shas 'El in me started thinking about the broader picture of what these small rumors could mean for Tau in 5th edition. Let's take a look at these rumors ...

Bound In Blood: 2500 Doubles Tournament!

Jan 22, Dark Future Games brings its first tournament of 2011 to Evolution Games in Lansing, Michigan: Bound in Blood. Bound in Blood will be a 2500 point doubles tournament with a slight twist ...

Building the Warrior-sized Lash Whip from Bits

 Old School here with a quick hobby article for the lash whip hopefuls out there. When I looked at making my lash whip/ bone sword tyrnaid warriors, I already had some black market bone swords, but I really didn't want to invest in flimsy resin lash whips and I didn't want to carve up any rippers to make some per other tutorials (though I think those are the best looking ones), so I dove into the bitz box ...

A Couple Nid Lists I'll be Testing

Old School here - While I was traveling the interwebz in search of blogs with Tyranid content for a resource article, I came across Mid-Life Gaming Crisis and discovered some lists that seemed like fun that I would like to try out. They had a few features I am familiar with and some that I would like to try out. Ghostin, the blog author was looking to playtest them and thought I'd lend my hand in a little third party testing (with a little proxy). With that being said, here are the lists ...

It Came From The Forum's: Chrono's Hive Fleet Absolution

 Old School here to take a look at the amazing tyranid conversions and paintjobs fro Chrono at The Warhammer Forum in this edition of It Came From The Forums! First up is the Swarmlord. What can I say about it ... it is just incredible in terms of paint effects and the overall impression of the model. Chrono's Hive Fleet Absolution has one awesome looking swarlord to marshal the hordes into battle, but that's not all, let's take a look at Chrono's Tervigons ...

Killzone Updates: A Much Needed Improvement!

Old School here to say one last merry X-mas for the year and also to welcome in Operation Killzone's updates, which in my opinion, after reading them, were a much needed improvement ...

Merry Christmas from Dark Future Games!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and readers from all of us here at Dark Future Games! May you find yourself among family and friends this Christmas and may you have a safe and happy holiday! Please remember that there are some out there standing guard in hostile parts of the world this day and raise a glass or say a prayer for them.

Thank you all for making this blog so much fun to write for! If anyone out there has some Christmas wishes for improvements they'd like to see at DFG, let us know. We have been debating a bunch of features and would love to hear what our readers would like to see!

Legion of the Damned Sergeant Commission

 Old School here to show off a commission I did for a friend as part of a much more epic scale Legion of the Damned project. This is the Sergeant that comes in the blister pack rather than the one from the box and I have to say that after handling it so much and working with the details, it really is one of my favorite 28mm GW models ...

Tyranids: Blogs You Need to Read!

Are you a Tyranid player or prospective Tyranid player, but noticed that there really isn't very many places to go on the web to read solid tyranid advice? Where do you go? Forum Army list boards? No, don't sink to that level ... let the forums have fluff and Project Logs, they are good at that, but let the bloggers have tactics and army list discussion. I have prepared a list of great places in the blogosphere I read frequently (and sometimes many times over) when I am trying to up my game ...

Heading to Adepticon? Beers on us!

Alright, just kidding, the beer isn't on us, but by now, many of you have already registered for Adepticon and many already have their rooms booked in either Lombard or the surrounding area. With that being said, the full DFG crew will be heading that way, along with nearly the entire A-list of players from our local area and we are excitied to play some new blood. We have members participating in Killzone, the 1850 Championship, nearly all the combat patrol tourneys and four of us are on the waiting list for the Team Tourney - not to mention the various classes we have signed up for while we are there.

Right now we are in the process of selling our blood for bitz trading and beer money (literally for a couple of us) and we look forward to meeting as many great people from the blogosphere as possible and hopefully even get a chance to hit the tabletop with as many of you as we can for a game or two. So, the question remains - Are you coming to Adepticon? What are you playing in? I am interested to see how many of us from the blogosphere will be in attendance. And of course, If you want to catch a game or drink a beer, we are always down!

New Hellpit Abomination Model = Possible Tervigon, Talos or Greater Daemon Conversions!

 Old School here to share an upcoming fantasy model, so disgusting that it will have 40k Chaos and maybe Tyranid players writhing in joy: The Hellpit Abomination! Let's take a look at what it could be used for in 40k, why it might be awesome and finally, I'll throw down some links to other Skaven models that are coming soon from GW ...

Salamanders Winterbreak Update: Vulkan He'stan

Just a quick update on the salamanders project. Vulkan is completed! I'm sure I'll do minor tweaks here and there and playing with color blends to make it a little smoother but here is the finished project.

Here is a 360 of him:

Salamanders Winterbreak Update: Terminators

So I rolled off the assembly line the first wave of salamander stuff for the winter break project. My goals for the army are pretty simple: 1. Look awesome. 2. Be fluffy. 3. Don't look "fresh off the parade deck" like OST referred to.

It Came From the Forums: Metal Fingers' Incredible Sculpts and Paint! Daemons, Orks, Marines

 Time for another edition of It Came From The Forums. This time we are looking at the work of Metal Fingers at Warseer. This artist (the only word for this level of talent) has some really amazing sculpting and painting skills, so let's take a look at some photos ...

Doom of Malan'tai and possible Grotesque modela from Gw alternative suppliers

Old school here to show off some upcoming models from a couple of the places we shop. First up is the upcoming Doom of Malan'tai from Chapterhouse Studios. I think it is a decent stand in until the rumoured gw model arrives next August, but as of now the model has yet to be released. For more info visit Chapterhouse Studios in the Places We Shop tab above. sorry can't link easily from the phone.



The next model is the bio terror from Parson Games which looks like a WarMachine model, though it is hard to tell how big it is. It may be a good stand in for grotesques if the size makes sense. For more information, check out Parson Games in our Places We Shop tab. still getting used to blogging from the phone, but it can be convenient. I don't know about the bio terror, but I think there is a little promise in the Doom from CHS.

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Getting Ready for a Doubles Tourney: Building a Power Couple!

Old School here to talk about doubles tournaments, so grab your buddy, snuggle up and take a walk with me as we look at what goes into a successful doubles team and let's have some fun while we do it ...

Secret Weapon Miniatures Releases New Bio Sword (great news for Nids)!

Old School here to help get the word out about Secret Weapon Miniature's latest release - the bio sword. These swords come in both monstrous creature size (large) and infantry size (small). They really have a great feel and look like they would fit well with any of the tyranid models that can take boneswords. Here is what Mr. Justin had to say:

Ironclad Dread Conversion

After retooling the list I needed an ironclad. I love these guys and was really excited to get on on the table again. So I picked one up a few days ago and just finished the conversion work to make him fit in with the heavily customized salamanders army.

I wanted to make the center sarcophagus part different. I combined bits from the venerable dread kit and the skull piece is from the defense line kit (the one with 2 twin auto cannons). With the use of a seam scraper, dremel and plasticard it didn't come out half bad. There are still a few big gaps but I'm over it. I have to keep on my mentality of my previous post about having too much on my plate. I have this whole flippin' army to paint before January 7th and last thing I need to do is toil over tiny cracks I'd only be concerned about if I wanted to enter it in a big-boy competition.

Tyranid Harpy WIP! Carnifex + Malanthrope

 Just because I know everyone loves to stare at bare plastic models, I want to show off another creature I am working on for my Nids: The harpy. Basically, I went for a smaller build due to the fragility of the creature itself. The codex can say what it wants about these being the size of trygons, if they don't have trygon stats, I am not building them to that size. With that being said, onto the WIP ...

Banner Contest Winner Announced!

 Old School here to announce the winner of the DFG Banner Finals. After another three way tie with our authors picking their respective favorites, I started contacting other bloggers and associates of ours, including Meatban, The Judge and the wise Seer K ... and the scales finally tipped in one artist's favor: Fartbush.

Banner Contest Final Entries! Look Upon Their Greatness!

 Old School here with the final entries from the Banner Contest finalists and the final banners are looking awesome. Let's waste no time here, first up is Muffin with his final banner.

Putting teeth in your list

We've been talking about death star units and I thought we can talk about teeth units. I'm talking about units that are in your lists that aren't death stars but aren't push overs either. These are the in between units that you can depend on for killing when needed but do not necessarily leave a swath of death and destruction in their wake the way thunder wolves do.

Black Templar Commission (pic heavy)

Just a couple of pictures of some Black Templars I just finished up for a local commission. Enjoy the eye candy. One day...someday...we'll be doing commissions on here and these are all level 2. As for now, business is steady enough locally to put a couple bucks in our pocket.

There are tons of photos, so keep reading to see more ...

Pics of the Completed Leviathan Mortis from Dreamforge - Counts as Titan!

 Looking back to the WIP shots we ran of the Dreamforge Leviathans last month, it is time to check out the completed Leviathan Mortis from Dreamforge Games web site! (note the classic, pose-able middle-finger action on the giant powerfist! lol) Let's take a look at some photos ...

Deathstars: Can your shields repel firepower of this magnitude?

Well, last night I saw the beginning of a fight for the ages: a Bear riding Wolf Lord and his Thunderwolf buddies facing off against a Warboss and his nob squad of ultimate cheesiness.  I was pretty sure that how it was going to end when I left (only one assault phase in, but there were only 4 wounds worth of wolves left on on the field).  It did prompt me to think about Deathstars - those mass of killy-ness that you fear hitting your lines and rejoice when you see them die.

Everyone has seen at least one example: wound-allocation optimized Nobs, bike and foot mounted Seer Councils riding the Fortune/Doom train, maxed out Nob bikers with a 3+ cover and FNP, Thunderwolf cav with Stormshields and a couple Thunderhammers, Skarbrand and his Bloodcrusher buddies, an Archon and Drazhar leading Incubi off a fast Raider...

Ok, so I know its been talked about.... but

Ok, so I know its been talked about a bit. Especially by our local Samsquanch Monster, but also by other Space Wolf players who were disappointed in the fact that they can not use the Leman Russ any longer with their new codex. After looking at a list on mi40k.com's forums in which had some Vindicators I thought...

Target priority

Its not just for Imperial Guard!


Choosing your targets carefully should be a priority for any 40k player. Having a strong sense of target priority shows a commanders matured 40k skills. Being able to recognize and manage the threats your opponent presents before the dice are even rolled and models are placed set the pace for your game and your control over the board which, mixed with some luck, will win you the game.

Tuesday is B Dub Day, Black and white banners that is!

Old School here with Tuesday's banner. This great banner from Fester was a fan favorite and is another that included a model from our prior work and naturally appealed to ly giant ego! For the next 24 hours, this banner will fly at Tue top of our blog. Thanks again Fester. If you want to see more fester or if you are one of the six people on the internet who haven't see 3++ is the new black, then go check them out ... I'd hyperlink, but there are just some things my phone can't do, so check my blog roll if you'd like to follow a link to one of the blogs I consider an everyday, must read.

Drop Pods: How many do you take and why?

Old School here with a post from the road. Tonight I want to talk about drop pods and the quantity folks take them in. I am a big fan of single pods in armies, dropping disruption, distraction or destruction, such as the Logan bomb, sternguard, ect. Cvinton, on the other extreme likes to mount his whole army in pods.

Monster Monday Banner!

Old School here with another banner from the contest. Monday belong's to Daniel from Colors and Eagles This banner really strokes our egos as it included a giant Super Daemon painted by our own CVinton on comission to one of our local players (deathbringer). This banner will fly at the top of our blog for the next 24 hours just for you, Daniel. Feedback is of course welcome for this great peice of work.

Combi-Melta Conversion Video by CVinton

Old School here posting this video for CVinton. In the video, he basically uses his dremel as a lathe. The first time I saw him do this, it really blew my mind, so I asked him to post this. We had some serious issues with Youtube, so the video is a little wide in the column, but I think you can get over it once you see it, I did. Feedback as always is welcome!

Sunday Banner for the Chaplain!

Old School here to announce Sunday's banner in honor of those who participated in our contest! What better day for a banner from a Chaplain than Sunday! For the next 24 hours, The banner designed by Chaplain Aerion of Team Snake Eyes will fly at our masthead. Check out their blog, they are friends of the DFG crew and hopefully we'll get some pick-up games with them at Adepticon! Great work Aerion!

Defeating the List Tailors!

I think most of us know these guys. The guy who asks for a game, then asks what army you are running and then hits you with a list that was tailor made to stomp your face in. These people are the list tailors and they love to talk about their victories, despite the fact that they are only good at beating down take-all-comers lists with lists made to beat them ...

Tyranid Tactica: The Tyrannofex - so misunderstood

Old School here to talk about the often misunderstood Tyrannofex. First however let me say thanks to 6inchmove for the photo. I recall when the new Tyranid codex came out, after many of the old nid players were done ranting, folks began to talk about the tyrannofex and how it was too expensive for BS3 and a poor weapon skill. Many of those folks continued to dismiss it on the unit v. unit basis, comparing it to other codices' staple heavy support units like long fangs, broadsides and more.

The truth is that it isn't terribly accurate, only hitting half the time. Even then, without AP1, you aren't garaunteed to actually take any tanks out of the fight (go ask a dark eldar player how their dark lances have been doing, yeah, that's why heat lances to the codex!) - "So why not just take Zoanthropes and be done with it, OST?" Well because there is more to this giant than a big ass gun and like any other tyranid unit, it functions best with synergy ...

Banner Love to Give: D6 Saturday!

To honor all the entries made in our Banner Contest, DFG is going to let every entry in the contest ride on top! First up is this classic Black Templars image! I have always loved this image and it will make a great banner for D6 Saturday! D6 and his blog (site?) can be found here! Check it out!

If you haven't heard about the results of the banner contest, check out the link on top of the middle right column to find out about our epic tie and the resulting finals (BTW, still haven't heard back from you, Muffin!)

An Inquisitor's Thoughts: New Grey Knight Rumors

Hello, everyone. My name is Inquisitor Lord Vogrin, and as you might guess, I play an Inquisition army. I have forces from Grey Knights to Imperial Guard, from Sisters of Battle to Officio Assasssins, from Stormtroopers to Exorcists. I’ve enjoyed playing with a mix of 3 different codexes on the field (and it’s certainly confused one or two of my opponents), but it looks like that may be coming to an end with the rumored release of Codex: Grey Knights early next year.

As you may have seen, a whole batch of Grey Knight rumors just hit the internet, thanks to Tasty Taste at BloodOfKittens.com, and Old School invited me to start my posting here on Dark Future by sharing my thoughts on the possible path our new codex will be taking.

Rumors and my thoughts follow. Note that I have re-organized these somewhat from the order they were originally posted. Warning – this is going to be long...

The Rise of the Plasmacutioner....

Alright, so everyone knows that Leman Russes are amazing, and everyone knows that plasma guns kill things... So why is it that people seem to fight the idea of a Leman Russ Executioner (Or as we at the local FLGS the Plasmacutioner)? I personally think the problem stems from people's concept of what the tank itself can do, on-top of its point costs. So lets delve into this wonderful machine for a moment and think about it ...

The DFG Banner Contest! We Have A ... 3 Finalists!?

 Old School here with news from the trenches in the banner contest. Not only did I play in an extremely tough game of 40k last night with my Drop Nids squaring up with Lord Solar Steve's Gun of the Guard, we also had a bit of tough decision making to do regarding the banner contest ...

Are You a Builder or a Collector?

Old School here with a question and some thoughts on building lists and collecting models. There are two seperate terms to some, but not always mutually exclusive.