DOE - D'oh!

The DOE Gunship from Khurasan - frustration awaits...

As the Green Bay Packers rightfully hammered the pretenders in Houston tonight I thought, since I was busy clearing the decks on 15mm sci-fi, that I would try and complete an acquisition that had been hotly anticipated for some time - the 15mm DOE Gunship from Khurasan's sic-fi near future Nova Respublik faction.

This model had been hotly anticipated, and the seemingly endless amount of time it took to arrive from computer drawing to actual model available for sale makes it "exhibit A" in my case to figure retailers that showing greens/renderings on a "coming soon" basis is actually a means to create frustration more than sales...

All that aside, who doesn't want a "Space Hind"?  The Soviet Hind attack helicopters are iconic pieces of kit.  A sci-fi version for the cool Nova Respublik? Sign me up!!!  When they were FINALLY available for sale I ordered right away...too bad, because I should have thought this through...

First of all, the model is a blizzard of parts.  This is not a simple or intuitive kit to put together.

And for all of the detail, there is NOTHING about the model designed to accommodate any sort of flying base in any way.  I find this oversight to be quite bizarre - this is, after all, meant to be a gaming miniature, used on a gaming table. It will need a flight base, so it can "fly" over the troops on the table.  As a VTOL craft, preferably some kind of base it can detach from - but failing that, some kind of flying base.

But this model was designed with none of that in mind.  I find this baffling, and very surprising coming from a solid outfit like Khurasan. You can build it with the landing gear down if you like (which you can see in the pictures through the link), but other than making the model useful as terrain or an objective, this is not useful for gaming.  I want this thing cutting across the table lighting tanks and troops with rockets, not sitting in a revetment waiting for the rebels to get it...why this was not more thought out, I don't understand.

Some might say "well, you can just use tools to rig it up yourself".  That is true, but I don't WANT to have to bother with drills and tools and other silliness just to put a 15mm wargaming model on the table.  Companies that assume you should just do that as a matter of course make me nuts. How is it that every rocket launcher, gun pod and sensor was so thought out, and the flying aspect of basing the model was not?

I drilled a little magnetic bit into the bottom of the craft.

To try and find a way around this I drilled out a hole for one of those round magnetic pieces I have seen the guys use on "Wings of War" planes.  I am trying to find a way to mount the counter-magnet into one of the GW flying bases.  I have not figured it out yet.  On the plus side, I have developed a number of new swear-word combinations today.

This is how I generally feel when trying to work with magnets, drills and other silliness

But at least I have a start on the magnet thing.  I figured I would at least get the model finished and painted, and then sort out the flight stand.  WRONG.

As I said, this model is a blizzard of parts.  The DOE is a twin-tailed VTOL gunship, with a fin/wing at the back between the tails. The picture up at the top, replicated again below, shows where this fin should go, and also shows how it does not fit - not even CLOSE.  This isn't a matter of green stuff - this is a part that is not even close...and it is a key part.

The tail wing bit is not EVEN CLOSE to fitting where it should - it should join to each tail fin, but there is an ample gap on each side.  And yes...I use my thumb nail as a paint palette...

I thought perhaps I had not mounted the tail pieces snugly enough to the body, but this still does not cover the distance. So suffice to say, this DOE is going nowhere for now.  D'oh!  This "breakdown" appeared on the third step of assembly - I didn't even get to all the small wings, sensors. rocket pods etc. Grrr!

I have to figure out some kind of bodge for this tail fin...I'm sure this is some kind of fluke, or maybe a sign of a new product, as generally I have seen nothing but top quality from Khurasan.

This model is beautiful, and I would love to get this thing on the table. I commend Khurasan for coming up with this and getting it to the market. I am sure it took a lot of work.  But I wish they had thought it through a little more - as in, how will this thing actually get out on to the table top? And I urge caution to all out there who are thinking about getting one of these things.  On the other hand, if you are like me, you had been waiting for so long, you probably already bought one...in which case, I wish you better luck that I am having!

Clearing the Baffles - 15mm Sci-Fi

Reinforcements for the Control Battalion

As I go from project to project, I often leave some unfinished chunks behind.  In fact, I always do.  Early this year I got started on some individually based 15mm sci-fi stuff.  I did some more early in the summer.  From there I dove into my Golan Heights Project.  But there was still a stub of painted 15mm stuff - nearly all Khurasan.  Thanks to Canada Post I hit a delay on my Golan Height project, and filled it partly with some 28mm sci-fi stuff, but the primed-but-unpainted 15mm bits were nagging at me, sitting there on my painting pile every time I sat down.  Since I am still at a gap with the Golan Heights project, I decided this would be the weekend to clear the baffles, go "Crazy Ivan" and finish off a bunch of that 15mm stuff.  Here are a few pics.

I started with some of the Control Battalion (pictured above).  They are sci-fi favourites of mine for sure - I wish very much that Khurasan would make some 28mm castings for these...oh well.  Khurasan had, late last year, added some new codes to the Control Battalion range - a different pose for the SAW gunner, some RPG-type anti-tank weapons, mortar teams and a couple of new regular trooper poses.  I did a couple of each.

Control Battalion fire team - the SAW is on the left, and the RPG-type weapon is second from the right 

Another fire team for the Control Battalion 

Mortars to help keep "control..." 

Looks to be a heavy calibre mortar...

I have about 20 individually-based Control Battalion troops in all - plenty of models for a game of Tomorrow's War.

Up next was the Federal Army.  I had two more fire teams' worth of primed Federal Army troops, so I finished those off too.  These have rocket launchers instead of melta gun-type weapons as their heavy support weapon.  They also sport some of the alternate SAW poses for the Federal Army, including one of the female troopers.

Federal Army troops - finally finished after sitting on my paint table primed for months 

Federal Army fire team 

The model on the right is a female SAW gunner

I know have a very healthy reinforced platoon-sized force for the Federal Army, about 35 models.  Way more than enough for a Tomorrow's War game.

Up next were some power-armoured Corporate Marines.  These are multi-part 15mm models from Khurasan. I had high hopes when I ordered them, but these are far from my best work.

Power-armoured Corporate Marines from Khurasan

I have to say I found these models disappointing once I actually had them, and this is a big reason they sat for months on the painting table until I forced myself to finish them this weekend.  Assembling Multi-part 15mm infantry is not something I would recommend to anyone for a relaxing time.  These were a pain in the @ss to put together.

The sculpts were a disappointment too. Intended - I believe - to represent a more "realistic" take on sci-fi power armour, these are some of Khurasan's weakest sculpts - and I am a Khurasan fan boy! These models leave you wanting more - or at least they did for me.  To compound the challenge, I struggled with the paint job - just couldn't come up with much of a scheme, so I settled for a grey to generally match the corporate marines.  Didn't turn out that great.  Not terrible, but not great.

Big back packs all around

Armed to the teeth with...something....

I found the weapons in particular to be very disappointing.  What are they? They don't look like anything. Or at least not like weapons.  They seem to be sort of blasters, sort of...speakers? DVD players? I'm not sure...anyway, the field for cool power-armoured troops is still wide-open in 15mm, as nobody has a particularly strong entry...

For my next post there will be some Nova Respublik armour...

Sons Of The...Sludge? 28mm Kolony Ferals

Productive citizens here - nothing out of the ordinary at all

While finishing off my Frank Hammond 28mm sci-fi models, I came across some primed-but-not-yet-painted bits in my 28mm figure pile - a pack of "Kolony Ferals", sinister dystopian troops from the collection of Pig Iron Productions.  These models are from the HQ pack, containing one, er, "NCO", a rifleman, a support gunner and an...elder?

An NCO, veteran of many...sludge encounters

Sludge Militia has access to the latest in sludge-wear

Like the other Pig Iron models these castings are very, very bulky figures.  No breeze will knock these over on the table:)

I'm sure the..."helmet" helps to ensure accurate shooting under sludge conditions...

The Kolony Ferals are great figures.  They look very spooky, without looking absurd.  These are what Chaos Cultists should look like, as opposed to the current shark-jumping sculpts emerging from GW Kaos Komedy Konstruction plant.

This gunner dude looked particularly spooky

The Elder in particular really captures the eerie feel of these models.

The Elder...you can see the glue drying under the grass tuft - I was too impatient to get the pictures taken

His cloak is covered with sludge-affirming markings...

I'm sure that head gear is comfortable

The downside of these models? These are the only four I have...I think I ordered them as an experiment or something, a slight character addition to the ranks of the TruKom rebel faction.   It would be neat to add enough of them to play a game of Tomorrow's War or Bolt Action, but for now, these guys will have to wait on their own.  It will be a little while before I add any new Pig Iron stuff.

Mr. Peanut and other Rogue Trader Oddities

A couple weeks ago I ran a poll on the blog to see what type of Dreadnought readers wanted to see in my Howling Griffons army. Well, the overwhelming winner, with 73% of the votes cast, was the original Rogue Trader "Mr. Peanut" style walker.

This suits me, so off I went to eBay to find some suitable models... and ended up with three. I only got two left arms in the deal though, but that's OK since I was planning on updating the weapons loadouts anyway. I'd gotten some rare earth magnets at Lee Valley Tools suitable for the purpose, so on those went...so when I run I'll have a choice of two lascannons, a missile launcher, a multi-melta, or another CCW.

Just waiting for some 60mm bases from Hoard o' Bits for these. They *barely* fit on 40mm bases but I'd like to try the aesthetics of the larger ones and if LCF ("looks cool factor") is maximized, that's what I'll use.

Next up is another vehicle for the Griffons. Since I got the Razorback turret for one of the Rhinos I figured I'd be unlikely to use the Predator turret, especially if there were no opportunity to mount sponsons. Then I happened across a set of Rhino track pieces on the sprue, with no chassis... so I figured that even with my minimal scratch-building skills I could cut up some plasticard to make the chassis. The bitz box supplied the requisite parts to finish the model - front doors, sponsons, hedge cutter, etc.
 

 

 Some dollar store chain wrapped around the spiky hedge cutter, and it will be ready for primer.

I wasn't happy with the way I'd based the Landspeeder and it repaid my lack of faith by falling apart and smashing the model to pieces. So after I stuck it back together I raided the spares bin again with a view to basing the model the original way - on a clear hex-base. Much more stable and aesthetically acceptable, not to mention historically accurate ;-)

Cheers,

Dallas

Battle Report - Binary Outing for Binary Petroleum

Newly painted figures get ready for action earlier this week

A couple of weeks ago, in one of my many hobby distractions, I started in on some excellent 28mm near-future sci-fi models courtesy of Frank Hammond. I had finished the models this week (there are 24 of them in my initial batch) and Dallas was kind enough to get them involved as part of our regular game this week.  For fun we used the new Bolt Action rules - intended for WW2, they adapted quite easily to the science fiction setting.

These old 40k Storm Troopers bolstered the Frank Hammond troops

For a scenario we decided to pull the good, hard working folks of Binary Petroleum - last seen in our 6mm FUBAR games - into the 28mm setting.  A group of character models would represent a well-meaning Binary Petroleum survey team, set upon by some FuturKom Motor Fuzileers.

The FuturKom Legions - an awesome collection from Dallas

FuturKom motor pool - note the dreaded T-620 in the foreground...

My Frank Hammond troops were blended in with some vehicles and additional bits from my 40k collection - one of the main reasons I had applied my blue paint scheme to the infantry was so I could merge them into my large collection of Imperial Guard stuff.  In all we had three infantry squads with APCs, one marksman, one MBT and an officer.  One of the squads, represented by Imperial Guard storm troopers, was an elite veteran team. The Kommulists had a near-identical lineup - three squads in APCs, a T-340 and the dreaded T-620! The Kommulists had extra armoured power in contrast to our better infantry.  Dallas took command of FuturKom and I rolled with the PDF forces.

These 40k characters represented a Binary Petroleum survey team...I find they match up well with that role

A BP representative gives an on-site interview...

The members of the BP survey team were spread across the table as objectives, and the goal was to try and capture as many as possible.  Once the game ended, Dallas and I would roll a D6 for each survey team member recovered - whoever rolled highest would recover the valuable survey data as to which areas of the verdant colony world were ripe for transformation into tar-fuel pits.  Oh - and some of the survey team members would maybe be saved too, which was BP's "official" goal...

This BTR-700 was no match for the main gun on my tank - too bad this was the only thing my tank managed to hit...

The T-620 commands all before it - the power of Kommulist industry...

The game moved at a good clip - Dallas and I each moved to grab some team members, but Dallas was more efficient with his movement.  I had some early success punching holes in his APCs, but he was able to knock out my tank before I could get to his (I blew key rolls to help that along...) and this would put the balance of firepower toward FuturKom for the rest of the game.

PDF fire-teams open up on the Kommulists

I didn't help my cause by getting my APCs all bottled up near the middle of the table.  Sure, my infantry had cover, but they couldn't get anywhere useful.

This APC was knocked out and made for a bit of a traffic jam for me - and a good back drop for a live hit from the reporter

Motor Fuzileers under fire - note the "rescued" BP survey team member being spirited away in the background

Still, we got our licks in.  Two of the FuturKom squads were lit up, and we took out all of their APCs.  On the other hand I lost an entire squad, two APCs and a tank.  By the end of the game Dallas had recovered three survey team members, and I had "saved" only one.  It was a win for FuturKom.  I'm sure the Galactic Central Policy Committee has already reviewed the information as to which areas would make the best spots as they plot "Grozny 4"...

Burning BTR in the centre of the table - see how Dallas squeezed that APC along the table edge? Darn it!

Bolt Action showed once again to be the current "it" rules.  They adapted very well to our setting and allowed for a quick and efficient game.  They are miles beyond the current edition of 40k in terms of quality, enjoyment and representation - I recommend you give them a try!

Meet the new Dwarf... same as the old Dwarf?

There's been a lot of hype from GW about the "new" White Dwarf. New look, new content, new design sense, more pages and (of course) a new price - a 10% increase to $11CAD.

So what's the verdict? Some good, some bad, and a great deal of "same as before"...

Hobby veterans will recall the origins of White Dwarf in the late '70s, as an omnibus role-playing game magazine with a smattering of miniatures content. One might easily come across an article about Traveller, a scenario for Paranoia, or a discussion on AD&D... "house organ" it most assuredly was not. Of course, the main business of Games Workshop back then was as an importer, licensed producer/distributor, and retailer of role-playing games and materials. It was only later that GW became synonymous with the Warhammer brand of tabletop wargame and the Citadel (and Marauder) miniatures produced to play them with, and that WD became a "GW content only" house organ to promote Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Lord of the Rings, Specialist Games, etc.

All of this is to say that the new WD must be judged against 35 years of history, but also against the more recent past (i.e. the September WD)... which has been dire. So leaving the issue of comparison aside for a moment, what's the new WD all about?

Well, it's bigger for one thing, weighing in at 150 pages, against the old size of 120 pages. The cover has an attractive satin finish with a glossy illustration, and features a new logo, all of which gives an increased perception of quality. On the inside we get photos of the production and editorial crew and an upbeat editorial about the new WD and the "thrilling" state of the Games Workshop Hobby (tm). Okaaayy...

On to the content. This is where the rubber meets the road. For all the hype, is the Dwarf really different, or is it a facelifted version of the little person we're all familiar with?

Let me answer that question this way: the first 50 pages are essentially a catalog. We see pictures and breathless writeups about the new Chaos models, including a gratuitous plug for the virtues of Finecast ("the level of detail on [the model] is astounding... a feat which would have been impossible had it been cast in metal") as well as some "offer expires while you wait"-style hype ("Be warned... they are available only on limited release and will surely sell fast. Seriously, if you want them, act right away"). Where have we heard THAT one before... *cough*Dreadfleet*cough*

There are some cool bits snuck into the section, namely the detailed description of the bits upgrade packs available for the new CSM and some nice detail shots of new Forgeworld stuff, including the Spartan tank and Heresy-era Marines. The Black Library gets its share of promotion as well as the digital codices and other junk available from the Apple bookstore. Not relevant to me as I don't own an iPad... Two pages are devoted to the "full release listing" inmcluding, for the first time in recent WDs, prices listed in multiple currencies. this is both helpful and rage-inducing, since the Canadian dollar pricing is on average 20% higher than the US price, despite the fact that the C$ is trading today at over $USD1.01... that means that GW MSRP is over 20% higher in Canada, on a constant-currency basis. The other annoying thing about much of the photography here is that the pictures are shot against a red background, apparently with a filter that turns everything red. For example, the picture of Abaddon on page 35 looks like the painter has put red highlights on Mr. A's blue Daemon sword. Pretty sure that's not the case.

After the ads comes the real content, and it seems improved. There's a nice 6-page feature on a reader's large Skaven army. As I collect Skaven myself I enjoyed this. And speaking of "collecting", following this piece was the most ridiculous Jervis Johnson piece I think I've ever read (and yes, that includes his loving homage to rulers and templates from a recent "Standard Bearer" column).

After being treated to a full half-page shot of Jervis' fizzog (and sadly he's no Bethan Beynon-Hughes in the looks department) we get to the article... which is about GW's new views on army list limitations in codices and army books (you know, the old "0-1" or "may include one [name of unit] in the army per 1,000 points"). This new view can be summarized as follows:

"All too often the only effect [army list limitations] have is to stop a player using some of the models in his collection, without having any real impact on enjoyment or verisimilitude."

"We've minimized army list limitations (and encourage you to do the same in your house rule games) because the GW hobby is a collecting hobby, and we don't want to stop you from buying more cool GW stuff."

Wow. Insightful. And I mean that literally, because I think it's probably the first time I've ever actually read from the horse's mouth that GW considers commercial aspects (i.e. selling you more models) in their game design. It's probably self-evident to anyone who thinks about their business, but I'd like to maintain the self-delusion that rules and army lists are created to foster interesting and exciting game play, rather than to drive the commercial side of the ledger. Oh well.

After this we have a pretty decent battle report between White Scars and CSM (16 pages). I enjoyed some of the analysis from the peanut gallery of tactics used (or not) by the players, I think that's something a bit different in a WD batrep. Also there was a discussion of army selection which was somewhat interesting. Then there's a discussion of the age-old debate - "balanced force vs. Death Star" - in the context of Fantasy Battle. This was interesting too. Following this there is a neat section on the Horus Heresy, with discussion of the novel series, Forge World's new models, and of course, the first Primarch to be released in miniature - ANGRON. I think the model is pretty cool but realize that opinions may differ on this one. Let me just say that any prejudices against the ridiculousness of the current Chaos range should not apply to the Heresy era :-) Chaos had not yet warped the armour and equipment of the Traitor forces into the weird forms of the 41st millennium... which should give some comfort to those (Greg, I'm looking at you) who are... "unenthusiastic" about skullz 'n' spikez...

Then comes Blanchitsu!! Dunno about you, but to me John Blanche = 40K. This man's visions are the stuff of nightmares, but the kind where you wake up and go "that was sooo cool." We're treated to four pages of John's sketches, miniatures, musings and collection of weird artifacts. Excellent piece, should have been 4x longer.


"Parade Ground" gives us six pages of photos of models from hobbyists' own armies. A nice feature. "Kit Bash" focuses on the Ork Bommer plastic kit and some conversions, ranging from "oh that's rather nice" to "why'd he bother with that." The next feature, "Battleground", showcases one of the nicest battle boards I've seen in awhile, the "Urdek Refinery" featured in the new 40K rulebook. This has some nice detail photos but a WIP would have been nice to see. The "Paint Splatter" section is a pale replacement for "'Eavy Metal Masterclass" but as I didn't personally derive a whole lot of utility from "how to paint" articles, I'm not as exercised by this as some.

Jeremy Vetock's two-page column seems a replacement for the old "Standard Bearer" piece and it's essentially an editorial about how Jeremy likes to play scenario-based games on nice terrain. Shock!! Interesting though because of its diametrical opposition to the view in Jervis' column in this issue, which is that "our games in the purest form boil down to 'my collection vs. your collection.'" Discuss...

Following this is a bunch of stuff that we haven't seen in the WD for awhile and/or has no business being in a hobby magazine in the year 2012. Peep this - a full-page ad for the GW facebook page; a page on "[store] birthday celebrations", a page describing what an independent stockist is (!), a full-page "I want a Store" ad, full-page Grand Opening ad for two stores, full-page "Where to Buy" advertising the GW retail store chain (as an aside: does anyone not know what a GW store is? after all, if you're reading the WD you're either a) standing in a store or b) at home after having bought it in a store or received it via subscription) and best of all, ten pages (!!) listing, in small print, EVERY GW store location and independent stockist IN THE WORLD. I'm sure this was a feature of the old WD that customers were clamouring to see return :-] 

Hidden away at the back behind all this crap (and a full page ad for Subscriptions) is some good content: some stuff about games GW staff are playing, a neat Zone Mortalis gameboard and... "In the Design Studio" - this is some good stuff. Jes Goodwin concept art is always nice to see. Some new Forgeworld images and news back there too. The magazine is rounded off with the Hobby Calendar (not going there) and the Lord of the Rings content hinted at on the cover - which amounts to a full page photo of Gandalf from "The Hobbit". Underwhelming.
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So that's the new White Dwarf! Some good (Blanchitsu!!, cover quality and layout, Battle Report, Forgeworld content, In the Design Studio, Army Spotlight, Horus poster), some same (tons of ads, much of it unnecessary), some bad (crazy red filters on photos, STORE LISTINGS!?!?!)

The bottom line for me in judging the quality of a magazine is, "will this be good to read in the bathroom."  seriously, I don't need stuff in the magazine that is not quality time-wasting material. Two pages on how great the service is from GW mail order? Not relevant. Ten pages (!!) of store listings in small print? Don't care!! A full page devoted to telling me that GW is on facebook? COME ON!!!

I guess lastly, I note that I promised some comparisons. The last issue of WD I bought before this one was the August issue, and here are some comparative statistics:

Page count:

• August: 120
• October: 150

Page Count (Ads)

• August: 41
• October: 54

Page Count (Storefinder/Events)

• August: 5
• October: 10

Actual Content as a % of Page Count:

• August: 61.7%
• October: 57.3%

SUGGESTIONS:

• Try more actual content - it would be great to have some insight into the in-game capabilities of new models in terms of hard stats, instead of stuff like "[they're the] hardest-hitting elite infantry unit in the Chaos Space Marine army!"
• Please don't use crazy filters on miniature photography. We like the photos to reflect what the model actually looks like, without weird effects.
• Tell us more about the design philosophy behind army lists and game rules. Show us more of what the Studio is working on with regard to future plans.
• Give us articles on conversions and terrain building. Give us features on readers' armies and how they got the way they are.
• GIVE US MORE BLANCHITSU!!!

Anyhow, if you made it all this way, thanks for reading this whole article and hanging in until the end ;-)  I suspect we'll get the usual love bombs dropped in the Comments section about how we are GW haterz but so be it. The fact remains that I've spent more on GW over the last year than on all other game stuff put together. It's just that very little of the stuff I've bought (other than Forge World stuff) was manufactured in this century :-) 

Cheers

Dallas

ps The 300-page 300th issue of Wargames Illustrated with the limited edition retro cover arrived in my mailbox today... cost: $10 plus shipping. Hmmm....