Wow, it’s been a few months since I’ve been able to write an update. My apologies. My wife and I took a trip to the east coast, I finished out one job and then I changed jobs about 6 weeks ago. The last two months have been a whirlwind. I played about 5 games in all this time, 3 of which were a team tournament; more on that later. I guess, then, it was unavoidable that I got sick last week. Turns out it was a good stimulus for my hobbying.
February was a good month for me for Kickstarters. I received 3 shipments, completing my Frontline Gaming/Tablewar Megamat, Tablewar Mini Case and finally, my Chapterhouse Studios Defense line sets. Both Tablewar and Frontline Gaming were spot on, or darn close on shipment timelines.
If you want to see some of the other designs you can checkout the already funded CHS kickstarter here. Continue reading
Here is a status update shot on Splinter Fleet Syvyys. Syvyys is Fenrisian for abyss, as it was the Space Wolves who first encountered this suspected Leviathan splinter fleet. These lurkers are “tabletop” quality, but far from done. Since I’m trying to get enough models painted to start playing games with my Tyranids I’m painting to this level and then I’ll come back later and finish off the details. To the right you can just make out some of my older Tyranids that I picked up already painted about 3 years ago. They will get the update treatment once I have enough of my new models painted.
Continue reading
I did a little painting and basing today on two Zoanthropes and a Venomthrope. These are the first lurkers from my yet to be named splinter fleet. I think they’re turning out alright. Now I just need to paint another 297ish models, and put the finishing touches on these models.
For the 2014 Independent Character’s Hobby Progress Challenge (HPC) I’m slowly working on my new Tyranids. I will eventually go back and repaint all of my old Tyranids too, but I have enough in front of me to last the whole year. This year’s HPC uses a 1K Zone Mortalis list for the February through June installation and 1K of expansion for July through November.
I’m not sure why, but I’ve really been struggling with a paint scheme for my Tyranids. I don’t like to paint models the same as the book models. I like to find my inspiration elsewhere. I keep coming back to one image that really suits the mood and feel I want out of my nids. Here is the lictor that I think exemplifies what I’m after, or at least what I think I’m after..
Update: 7:43 am
The Tyranid Vanguard Infestation dataslate is now up for pre-order on Black Library. More info just in from Eddie at GW Digital:
“The Tyrannic War Veterans might have their work cut out for them next week though, as book one in a brand new Tyrannid Dataslate trilogy is released. The first instalment, Vanguard, deals with the insidious first wave of Tyranid attackers. It contains new background, missions and five new Tyranid formations to use in your games. You can pre-order a copy now, ready to download a week today.”
Also, Eddie says we can have multiple formations in a single Tyranid army:
Updated: 9:03 PM PT
Just an hour ago, Eddie, announced on the Games Workshop: Digital Editions Facebook page that we’ll be seeing 3 data slates for Tyranids incoming in the near future:
“We announced in this month’s issue of White Dwarf that, starting later this month, the first in a trilogy of new Tyranid Dataslates will be released. All three of these are going to have new datasheet formations for Tyranid armies to use, and if you’re a fan of Genestealers (I know i am, far to many games of Space Hulk in my teenage years), I think you’re going to like the first installment in the trilogy.”
Zone Mortalis board at Warhammer World
I’ve been aware of the Warhammer 40k-based game, Zone Mortalis, for about two years now. Zone Mortalis is a rule set created and maintained by Forge World and it reminds me of one of my all-time favorite games, Space Hulk. I would say that if you wanted to recreate the feel of Space Hulk using your existing models and rules, and play something other than Blood Angels or Genestealers then you want to try Zone Mortalis.
If you want to get straight to the meat and potatoes, so to speak, then the rules are freely published on the Forge World website here:
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/z/ZM6thUpdate.pdf Continue reading
This year LUMP plans to take part in what’s become a very popular contest, the Independent Characters (IC) Hobby Progress Challenge (HPC). The IC Hobby Progress Challenge aims to get more people in the community to field painted models. What started as a small challenge a few years ago has blossomed into a pretty large group of challengers this year. The rules are relatively straightforward and are summarized here:
http://www.theindependentcharacters.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=5962
To quickly summarize, each participant creates a 2000 point list that they plan to paint over the year. That 2000 points is split up into two 1000 point forces to be finished over each half of this year. From those forces, you are expected to then paint a unit every month. The more units that are painted on time, the more chances you have to win a prize. Further entries are given to those that complete the whole thing in its entirety. One restriction this year is that the first half needs to be Zone Mortalis legal. Zone Mortalis is a new way to play 40k from Forge World, and for the most part this simply means that vehicles can’t be chosen.
