So How's GW Doing With Adeptus Titianicus?

Photo visualization of GW's rollout plan to support the new Adeptus Titanicus.

So, I've been painting quite a lot of 19th century/Franco-Prussian War stuff for a while - and loving it - but it's fun to take a break.  I thought it might be fun to look again at my Adeptus Titanicus collection, and work on some improvements...that would start with some new weapons for the Titans, or maybe a couple of the new Cerastus Knights...this pointless rant is the product instead...

Many fans of the Horus Heresy, 30k and Epic were very excited to see Games Worksop's re-launch of Adeptus Titanicus last year.  Certainly I was. Anxious, yes. But on the whole, good stuff.  The new models are really striking, great kits.  The rules are excellent, a reminder that GW can really put excellent rules out there.  The game looks cool, and is great fun.

But there was also a lot of trepidation for many fans - there certainly was for me. The new scale, the eye-watering prices, all limiting the audience of the game.  And GW itself seemed to be half-assing it when it came to getting the game out there in the first place. The combo of models and weapons in the original box was a let-down (only one weapon load-out for the Warlords, etc). The game itself seemed to take forever to get to market. GW only seemed to be releasing this game because some unseen power was forcing them too, and doing the bare minimum needed to support it.

But hey, once it got out there, if would be out there!GW would surely get behind the game, muster its formidable marketing and product release engine, and get things moving, right? Right?

Let's see how that has been going...

Late last year, there was the fiasco where they tried to force you to purchase an entirely new Warlord Titan just to get some of the new weapons for the Warlord Titan kits.  This episode inspired one of their most tone-deaf responses to fan furor I have seen from them - and with GW's standards in this regard, that is saying something.

Wow - that spin will make you dizzy...

But hey, give them some credit, right? They did listen (after getting ventilated online, but still), and pledge to make the new weapon sprues available separately.  It did happen - a month or more later than promised - but it did happen, so you wouldn't have to purchase an entirely new Warlord Titan just to get a broader weapon load-out for the new models in your collection.  Great, right? Except...

If only I could some new weapons for my Warlord Titans...

Hope you got em' while you could!

Hey - maybe I can try those new Cerastus Knights while I'm waiting for new weapons for my Titans? That seems like fun! I just need those command terminals to run them in the game...oh...too bad this has been the case for two months or so now:

Only the temporary lasts...

Well, at least Forge World is releasing more weapons! That has to be good news, right? I mean, the exchange rate conversions are pirate-level, and I dislike working with resin, and the quality control at Forge World is bonky at times, but they are nice guys and will certainly stock the new weapons for my Warlord Titans, right?  I can't wait to work on these while the other stuff gets stocked up...

Oh rats...maybe I can get that other one...?

Nope...

For f*ck sakes, GW - are you guys serious about this or not?

It's not like there are no models out there or anything. The original Warlord (and the "new" one) are out there, so are the Reavers and Warhounds. And you can fill you boots with terrain (at least for now).  But the funny word "Titanicus" is in the title of the game for a reason - the game is built around the Titans.  Nobody is running around wishing they would release Adeptus Terrainicus. The different weapon load-outs of the Titans are an integral part of the enjoyment of the game.  Somehow it's been almost a year and you still can't get a full suite of weapons yet...I'll paint the buildings and stuff at some point, but I want to work on the Titans...stop trying to make me buy more super-expensive Titan models just to get more weapons. 

I'm sure there are a lot of good people trying to do the best they can. It's just a hobby. These are first-world problems. And in business, stuff happens, right? But maybe you could divert 5% of the energy used to issue new deamonic whackadoodle stuff and actually get your act together on Adeptus Titanicus?

And so, back to the 19th Century for now!

A Trade And Another Hound For The Titan Pack

"Lucius Pattern" Warhound Titan for Adeptus Titanicus - a 3D print model. 

Some more painting desk progress for GW's rebooted "Adeptus Titanicus".  This is another Warhound "scout" Titan. Its size and combat role are similar to the Warhound I posted earlier this month, but you will note this model looks a little different - and that's because it is! This is a "Lucius Pattern" Warhound model.  The "Lucius Pattern" is a variant in style only - its function and game stats are identical to the current, more classic "Mars Pattern".  It "scouts" (LOL), and is the quickest and most maneuverable of the God-Engines in the Titan Legions. 

WIP photo - about 3/4 finished. You would never guess I managed to smash one of the legs while putting this together!

This is not a GW model, but rather a 3D print courtesy of my great friend Curt! He dropped the components off during a visit to Winnipeg a couple of weeks ago, and I hurried to get the model assembled and painted.  It is sporting loyalist colours of Legio Gryphonicus. 

Curt gave me the parts for this model in a trade. I painted up a "Mars Pattern" Warhound for Curt in exchange (see below). Since the trade model for Curt was a loyalist, that left a loyalist "hole" in my assembly of Warhound models.  So this "Lucius Pattern" one was designated for the loyalist collection on my shelf. I do try to keep some parity between the opposing forces in my collection... 

The Trade In

Here are some photos of the "Mars Pattern" Warhound I painted for Curt.  He wanted an engine for his Demi-Legio Cerberus, so I tried my best to match his colours.  This was armed with turbo-lasers and a plasma blast gun. 

"Mars Pattern" Warhound Titan - designated for service with Demi-Legio Cerberus, deployment to the Regina sector. 

Curt will no doubt pop this sucker to a higher level, but I  hope he is pleased with his new addition!

I do not come close to the dramatic groundwork Curt likes to use on his Titans, so he is probably going to have to work this model over a bit - but I hope it serves with honour in the ranks of Curt's collection!

The Lucius Pattern Warhound

With the trade done, Curt duly left me the parts, and I got to work!

Vulcan Mega-Bolter and plasma blast gun, a useful combo in the Adeptus Titanicus game.

The "Lucius Pattern" used to feature in earlier Forge World sculpts of Titans. Back when there was still an official "Epic" game, Forge World supported with some products, including "Lucius Pattern" Reaver and Warhound Titans - designs which matched the very last metal Warlord Titan models GW ever made.  The "Lucius Pattern" Reaver was a dreary looking affair, but the Warhound, on the other hand, was quite cool.  In particular, the techno-hound shape to the head is brilliant - it looks industrial, to be sure, but somehow it still evokes the feeling of a loyal, devoted hound, on the scent of a target, in the company of a loyal master, ready to serve. 

The new Titanicus launched months ago, but the Warhounds were nowhere to be seen, and stayed that way until recently. Being clever, innovative and impatient, Curt managed to score 3D print designs required to create some of these models for the new "Adeptus Titanicus".  They look AMAZING, so I'm quite thrilled I was able to snag one for my own collection - particularly in light of the fact that a 3D printer is something I will never own, touch or bother with myself.  It will be cool to have this touch of variety in my own Titan collection. 

Legio Gryphonicus decal visible on the lower leg. 

3D prints are certainly interesting, and I am quite fortunate to have a couple of great friends who are messing around with the things to create some neat stuff. There are still some flaws and challenges that come with 3D printed items which, in my view, still hold them back from being totally "ready for prime time" (or at least, on the 3D printers that regular people can buy).  The main issue would be the little print lines which you can still make out on the surfaces of the model.  There are also some surfaces (ones which seem to touch the 'plate') that come off quite rough, even after some extra preparation.  3D printed stuff requires a fair bit of extra preparation compared to the more conventional plastic models. 

What I cannot fault, however, is how much these 3D prints can bounce back from near-catastrophe with a bit of super glue.  In the preparation of this model, there was a disaster which involved the model falling from its base, hitting the floor, and shattering!  I was furious at myself, of course, but some superglue fixed everything right up. Phew!

Love the animation of the legs in this model. 

Even with the issues of lines and rough edges, the 3D printed stuff out there in the hobby world continues to improve all the time. You do see a lot garbage being put up for sale (to give an example, there has been a rash of WW2 stuff advertised on TMP's front page recently which looks just awful) , but the core of it is really starting to take off. 

Furthermore I find it is the creativity, speed and agility of the people out there with the printer devices and the files to use them to be truly impressive.  They certainly put the indolent, dim-witted buffoons of an entity like GW to shame. While the cartoonishly incompetent GW "marketing" folks shelter in their own mental Maginot Line with their lawyers, the people who truly enjoy and support the 30k/40k setting are out there churning out brilliant, creative stuff at a rapid pace.  I mean, look at this model! It may have some flaws, but it appeared so soon after "Adeptus Titanicus" launched.  Meanwhile GW, a shareholder corporation with large (not infinite, I know, but quite large) resources, has barely managed to get its own Warhound kits to market months after the re-launch of the core game.  Are the GW kits nicer? Sure, definitely. But GW's analogue business pace is laughable and out of touch with the pace and passion of those who truly sustain its products.   

And then there is the story of the pending upgrade/extra weapon kits for the Warlord and Reavers...but that is best left for another post...

Poor thing...doomed to be fighting for the "Emperor"...so sad...

Returning to the subject - as I said, I'm quite pumped to have one of these!  Many thanks to my friend Curt for providing the model.  I hope the fellows at the Fawcett Avenue gaming tables will enjoy having it stalk around the battlefield in some doomed effort on behalf of the so-called "Emperor"...

GW's 30th Anniversary Space Marine

30th Anniversary Space Marine Figure from GW

So, we'll kick this off with the disclaimers. Yes, it was a rip-off.  Yes, GW still managed to make it a partially bungled experience.  Yes, it was a plastic figure.  Yes, the plastic figure was oriented in such a way as to make any conversion you might want to attempt much harder than necessary. Yes, GW is generally run by a pack of rectally-oriented clowns who give both the hobby and capitalism bad reputations...

This was not encouraging when I first tried to order online...but it all worked out in the end

So with all that fan-boy bile out of the way, I just have to say I still absolutely love the GW 30th Anniversary Space Marine figure. A testament to my enjoyment of the setting. And my stubborn idiocy, perhaps, but I'll focus more on the first part.

Odd arrangements on the sprue...

...but it comes together nicely!

GW never likes to make it easy to like or support them - this exercise was a good example of this tendency.We had been told the figures would be available in-store only.  I dreaded a fanboy mob, but hey, I was keyed up, so a group of us deployed to the local GW retail location, only to find that five minutes late might as well have been hours late. All of the figures in the store were spoken for not even minutes after opening!

But fortunately GW had apparently misled its own staff, and the figure would, in fact, be available online as well (which makes sense because it's a plastic figure, and the idea that you couldn't run enough of them to sell to every fanboy willing to pay $35 for one over a weekend is hilarious, but I digress once again).  So I set my clock to order at the appointed time.  The initial screens were not encouraging (see above), but it all worked out eventually.

Trudging to battle with a funkified combi-weapon of some kind

The sculptors killed it with this figure - great job, I love it

Bottom line is that I was able to order one online, it arrived in due course, and I finally found a break from a recent period of intense time at work to put it together and paint it. And it's a fun little model.  I generally find GW to have an, at best, tepid regard for it's own history, so I was stunned to see GW even bother to acknowledge this anniversary, much less do so with such a nice figure, with a figure that would have all of us (or maybe just a dork like me) running to our copies of Rogue Trader to find these old castings in the photos.  That was a genuine surprise.

Remember these guys from Rogue Trader??? Awesome!!

The plastic is very well done.  The model is a beauty.  I painted him up as a Crimson Fist because it just didn't seem right to paint him any other way (although I do want to do one of these for the Sons of Horus some day).  The only downside? I used the stupid oversize 32mm base (the new standard size for Space Marines).  Looking back, he would have been better on a classic base, to fit in with the rest of the lads I have painted for this Chapter.

But at the same time, this really is not a gaming figure - more of a collector's item for the shelf.  Maybe he'll join a 40k game some day, but really he's just around to guard the gaming shelf and for fun.

Crimson Fist decal sitting awkwardly on the shoulder plate

Nice details on the backpack/power unit, and I love the handy extra-dangerous-looking "utility blade"

Was a lot of fun to paint this fellow up

I know a couple of the other guys scored their own anniversary models, so I look forward to seeing them painted up too.  And who knows? Maybe we'll figure out a way to get this guy involved in game.

I hope everyone else out there has as much fun working on this figure as I did - despite GW's best efforts, you will really enjoy it, and whatever I think of their rollout, here's hoping they continue to explore their own history for other cool figures.

And I hope someone out there mocks up the gun this guy is carrying, because a squad of guys carrying them would be just awesome...

Rogue Trader Anniversary Figure - Finally Painted!

Rogue Trader 25th Anniversary figure...painted two years later (ahem)

As I mentioned with this recent submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, time sure flies!. The 25th Anniversary of "Warhammer 40,000 - Rogue Trader" seems relatively recent to me, but it was actually in 2012, just about two years ago.  In keeping with GW's sure-fire tin ear and clueless lack of self-awareness, the company celebrated this significant anniversary with a special White Dwarf featuring Gandalf on the cover. But they also released a special figure to commemorate the occasion - a figure inspired by the Crimson First leading a doomed last stand from the cover of the rulebook.  These were limited edition models issued at the time and I picked a couple up because I am a shameless fanboy, and I love Rogue Trader.

Will always love this cover!

He's pretty close to that dude in the middle...

This has been sitting primed since February 2012…thank goodness for Curt's painting challenges that encourage to get these kind of projects finished!  For whatever reason I have been on a Rogue Trader kick during this painting challenge, and this figure was the latest.

The scenic base has...you guessed it..skulls! Three of them!

You have the option of mounting it directly on the scenic base beside the standard, or mounting the officer on a smaller base separately.  I went with a separate base for the Commander, leaving the banner to be a piece of scenery, and objective or terrain. 

Why use that plasma pistol, when you can chuck an Ork head at the enemies of the Emperor?

It's a really, really nice figure and a nice souvenir. GW, though, it can't take two steps forward without taking one-and-a-half (or three) back.  The problem in this case? The figure was made of "Finecast" instead of proper metal. Finecast is not new anymore, but this is the first Finecast figure I have worked with. "Finecast" combines the issues of resin with the floppiness of soft plastic - all of the price of gold, a combo only GW could master. I was pretty concerned based on what I was reading about Finecast online, but fortunately I was spared many of the more serious problems (holes, deformed casting etc) this crap medium seems to present to many other gamers.  

The banner literally flopped around while painting it, but you can't fault the detail

Although I was lucky, I can see why people think Finecast sucks.  The detail on the figure is really something, but the banner in particular was tricky to paint as Finecast has all of the tensile strength of a wet noodle - even my 8/0 brush caused it to bend! The experience did not pump me up to seek out other Finecast figures, although GW seems to be out of the metal business so more and more of its products are cast in this medium. Let's hope the rumours I have seen online are true, and that Finecast is truly toast.  Resin figures are bad enough - Finecast can just rot.

Bring on the Red Star Orks!

Anyway, for all that nerd rage, the figure was still fun to paint and I'm glad to have it done.  The sculpt is very loyal to the inspiration of the image on the Rogue Trader book cover, right down to the ominous Ork head being waved around in his right hand. As I continue to build up my little collection of Crimson Fist troops this fellow will fit right in.  Dallas and I have been pondering a Rogue Trader game for a while, so who knows? This guy could get capped very soon on the table.  Would be fitting if he went down in style, as the fellows on the old Rogue Trader cover do.

GW - Is There A "Duh" In "Digital"?

"Brazen Claws"? There's an app for that...

Is there a "duh" in "digital"? Maybe we should ask GW.  Like many gamers, I receive regular GW emails about products etc., and the latest breathless missive informed me that GW is "going digital".  I was excited for half a second to think that GW had finally come up with some kind of useful app that would be helpful for gaming.  Considering the iPad had been on the market since April of 2010, and tablet products are common accessories these days (I'm a notorious curmudgeon about Apple and I was still blown away by it - my cynicism was completely pwned by the design skills of Apple) I thought it was about time that GW got on the bandwagon.

My iPad has been quite handy for gaming (Conscript Cam will no doubt savour this admission on my part, as well he should). While I enjoy "Angry Birds" and any number of other time wasting games, it was not long before I was cramming every gaming PDF I could on to my iPad, so I could have them handy while gaming.  I'm not here to proclaim the death of books, etc. etc. I quite enjoy paper books, and enjoy well-produced rule books and hope they continue for a long time.  But it has been very useful to have charts, stats lists etc. available for quick and easy reference.  My copy of the "Tomorrow's War" rules is a digital one, just to name an example, and it is very useful to have it in electronic format on the tablet reader.

Places like the Wargames Vault are offering more and more rules for download.  Even just having the rules in an electronic format is quite handy, and game companies have yet to start to explore the tools that a digital app for gaming might provide. 

"Um, do you have your paper rulebook, because this actually says nothing about the 12 special rules that apply in this situation..."

GW had a great opportunity here, particularly 40k, with its points-driven "armies", scenarios that are functionally the same and separated only by small details, and endless byzantine layers of special rules in its various game products should be a prime candidate to exploit the opportunity presented by tablets like the iPad.  You could have an army builder app.  You could have an app with a handy list of all the tiresome special rules in 40k to help smooth over the games. Just imagine all the cool stuff.  You could even have a dice app or something for iPhones - just give it a shake! Like I said, I was excited for half a second...

But it didn't take long to lose the excitement - in fact, it was gone by the time I was halfway through the marketing email.  Out of all of the initial "offerings", just one is a Codex. The other is a painting book (handy, but again, is that really what is needed up front?), and then some "scrolls".  A distinctly underwhelming initial offer of product.  The digital "opportunity" as a GW player would be to have to carry fewer books, not need books AND my iPad just so I can try and "legally" use some scroll or whatever in a Warhammer game.

Watch out "Plants vs. Zombies" - here comes the Great Cave Squig!

Of all the initial products, the only interesting one (and of any use for gaming) might be the codex.  So I looked it up on the iBook store. The Codex is for sale for the light sum of $49.99 US.  This is actually more than a paper codex - a small amount more, but still more.  A bold attempt to deny the actual economics of how digital publishing actually "works".  If any company would expect you to pay the same or more for a file over a print equivalent, it would be GW, right?

The other GW files are much less expensive than the codex - the "scrolls" are only 99 cents. That is still 99 cents more than they are worth, as they ad very little to the gaming experience. What do you need a scroll for???


No doubt the Space Marine i-Codex has some sort of alleged interactive benefit, which GW could allegedly claim would justify it being more expensive than the paper book.  This is hilarious. If GW thinks I am going to pay MORE for an electronic codex, they have another thing coming. I'm not saying it should be free, or just 99 cents, but charging the same price as the print book, never mind slightly more, points to a rather fundamental misunderstanding of digital economics.  Like every other business which has tried to tame the digital medium with this type of denial/defiance, this approach will serve only to drive more business toward the "waters off Tortuga", where GW has actually been "digital" for years.

GW is hardly the only business to have seen its commercial assumptions blow-torched when applied to the reality of digital mediums. And I can imagine Apple must be a challenging company to deal with - after all, has anyone else managed to push a company like AT&T around? Charging almost $20 for individual figures is one thing - that debate is a spirited one, and who knows how it will play out in the long run. But if GW really thinks that "going digital" means another chance to toss off overpriced stuff, then it is another troubling sign that the geniuses behind "145" are calling too many shots.