Games Workshop - Dreadnought Attacks FAQ

Undoubtedly many of you have seen the faqs being issued by Games Workshop via their Warhammer 40000 facebook page. Generally, I'm delighted that GW are providing faqs for their publications in this manner. It's something the game has needed for a while, and will continue to need as the complexity of the rules and force organizations continues to grow.

Think you're a nerd? My daughter has this on her baby-grow!

However, scrolling to the end of the latest Space Wolves faq, I was met with a surprising and somewhat disappointing 'house rule' for the number of attacks on a Dreadnought stat line.




Before I start complaining bitterly (and believe me, that's what this article will most likely devolve into - feel free to jump out now) let's reminisce a little. Back in the days of 5th edition (actually, 4.5 edition if you had that dodgy pdf download rulebook - does anybody else remember that?) times were simpler. They were heady days of 500 point battles, modest miniatures collections and making the attempt to use whatever you had that was actually painted.


Back then, Dreadnoughts and their equivalents were a pretty big deal on the battlefield. There's only so much you can fit into a 500 point CAD that can even glance a Dreadnought or stand a decent chance of wounding a monstrous creature. Many times these battles culminated in a miniature 'clash of the titans' as Dreadnoughts, Carnifexes and Talos Pain Engines tore eachother apart in the middle of the field. In these clashes, there was only one possible outcome. One combatant would be utterly destroyed; the other would stagger away, horribly damaged, but usually functional enough to be the deciding factor in ultimate victory.


The point I'm trying to make is that, in a one on one scrap, these things were relatively balanced and that made them tense and exciting. The dreadnought would lumber forwards, chipping a wound from the Carnifex with it's assault cannon. In return, perhaps the Carnifex would glance the Dread with it's bio-plasma. Who would get the all important charge? And would it be enough to seal the fate of their opponent? Much trepidation and nail biting ensued as the dice were rolled and the fate of the vanquished party was sealed!


Now, with the sudden enhancement of your average Dreadnought, these types of battles are no longer so balanced, nor, exciting. Four or five power fist attacks will make mincemeat of most monstrous creatures and your average walker stands even less of a chance. A Space Marine Dreadnought charging into a Carnifex or Helbrute looks almost comical as the Dreadnought emerges victorious with perhaps a couple of scuffs to his paintwork. Meanwhile his 'towering opponent' is just a pile of scrap metal (or gooey Tyranid chutney).


Changing the balance of a unit within the game (even one that is considered to be underpowered) can have far reaching consequences. Maybe in these days of super heavies and D-weapons, these types of things are insignificant. But, for me at least, this change damages the cinematography of the game. It takes away what should be an exciting and fluffy tabletop moment; and for that reason alone, it can only be a bad thing.

Skitarii vs Necrons - Battle Report

Just over a week ago I managed to get in my first game with my fledgling Skitarii force.

It wasn't quite like this....

Those of you that may have followed the construction of this army, in its brief history, may know that it was destined for a battle against Blazmo's Necrons. (The infamous Blazmo of http://tabletopapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk/) Well, said battle took place last week and since our encounter; Blazmo has been kind enough to write it up as a short battle report.


You can check out the batrep here, together with pictures of Blazmo's gloriously painted Necrons and my woefully unpainted Skitarii.

Tabletop Apocalypse: How to be a Better Painter - Basics

A great little painting article from Blazmo, busting some painting myths and giving some useful tips. Well worth a read.

I.......I can't even......

Tabletop Apocalypse: How to be a Better Painter - Basics: The road to success, or sometimes even decent results can be long and arduous. In this series of articles I'm going to share some tricks...

Skitarii - Test model

Following my previous post on my ill-advised foray into the wold of the Adeptus Mechanicus, I am proud to present my first painted Skitarii.

The first Skitarii - Ready to die for his machine overlords

I tried a few different colour variations before settling on the above scheme. Initially I tried painting the cloaks yellow but they just looked like they were wearing raincoats! In the end, a green-blue hue is much more satisfying, complemented by brass and rakarth flesh with pink for the lenses and other small details. I can't wait to have a few more finished and to make a start on the Onager Dunecrawler from the box set.


A few more images of the completed build and test painted model below for your amusement.

Side shot - Pink purity seals for extra purity!

The Onager - MOAR heavy stubbers!!

Love this model

If only the other nine were painted too





Skitarii - How many projects is too many?

Yet another 40k temptation I've failed to resist! Last weekend I went and got myself the 'Start Collecting Skitarii' box set.

Why must you tempt me so!?

For those that have missed out, these 'Start Collecting' box sets are a fantastic deal (in so far as anything made by Games Workshop can ever be referred to as a 'deal.') For £50 you're getting around £78 worth of miniatures and all wrapped up in a formation you can actually field to boot!


Despite the savings, and the beautiful models (I love that Tech-Priest Dominus!) I have serious misgivings about introducing yet another project into my cluttered, overcrowded and mostly unfinished hobby life. This marks the fifth Warhammer 40k army for me along with a small collection of Infinity Nomads, some random Space Wolves (half of the Stormclaw box because why not?) and the hazy dream of a Khorne Berserker-biker army that never really materialized into anything more than a bunch of ebay purchases that hide under the bed.


Other considerations are starting to come to the fore as well. I am rapidly running out of storage space for my miniatures collection, so potential purchases are often weighed against the amount of room that they will occupy on my, increasingly groaning, shelves.


Inevitably, any plans I have made for past projects tend to spiral wildly out of control. As my Night Lords collection shot past the 3000 point mark I swear I heard each and every unpainted miniature cry out 'Get a hold of yourself man! We were only ever supposed to be a 1000 point skirmish force!!' I have reconciled myself to never reaching the end of my collection of Tyranids and my Dark Eldar, though limited in scale, require a punishing amount of time to paint to the standard I have set. So with all of this in mind, what possessed me to add another army to the hobby pile?


As I was in the midst of my hobby crisis. Desperately wanting to build and paint Skitarii but trying (and failing) to force myself to paint Night Lords someone told me: 'I say go for it with the Skitarii - I mean life is here to be enjoyed and it's not like they're expensive or anything.' This really put things into perspective for me. Even if they just become another unfinished project (who really finishes their hobby projects anyway?) I will enjoy the process of building, converting and painting them. The games they are involved with will be fun, or at least give me a story to tell. Undoubtedly I will learn new painting and modeling techniques as I go (every army I have collected has broadened my skills in ways I hadn't imagined).


With that firmly in mind, I ordered the box and have set about building and painting them with very pleasing results so far. To finish this article I'd like to come back to the question in the title. How many projects is too many? Is there even such a thing? I'm still not sure, but I fully intend to enjoy searching for the answers.

Betrayal at Calth - Power Sword Painting Tutorial

Following my previous post on my Betrayal at Calth Night Lords Terminators I received a request to walk through how I painted the power sword. Ever the obliging fellow, I have provided below for your delectation. You're welcome.

Not the best weapon for fighting terminators though.....

The first stage is to basecoat the sword in Abaddon Black. Simple enough. It's worth noting that I've used Citadel paints exclusively throughout this tutorial.




Next, paint the power feed and hilt in Boltgun Metal (I don't know the new colour but I'm sure someone can correct me).




Now, wash those metallic areas with Nuln Oil.

Finally, highlight them with Mithril Silver (again, old colour, sorry!)


Now for the fun part, painting the power field. I've found that there are two approaches to this depending on the desired final effect. Painting a hard, jagged pattern gives a more lightning-like, electrical look. Painting more rounded shapes leads to a more fiery, magma-looking feel. As I was using a red palette here, I've opted for a slightly more curved pattern.

Nice model, bad lighting.

Anyway, the first stage is to paint the desired pattern in Mephiston Red. Make sure it's sufficiently thin to give a smooth flow from the brush and so that it doesn't dry claggy or raised from the blade. I find it looks best if this is painted radiating outwards from the power source and moving towards the blade tip. If you can concentrate the lines nearest to the power source, so much the better. Don't worry if it looks a little rough at this stage, things will tighten up as we go.

Once this is done and you're happy with the shapes, it's time to paint a second line of Blazing Orange inside the first set of lines. This shouldn't be too hard, providing the red lines aren't too thin. If you're struggling, try widening out the red layer slightly. Again, make sure the paint is sufficiently thin.


Now for the tricky part, painting the final set of fine lines in Yriel Yellow. These need to go inside the orange lines in the same way as before. With the yellow, try to get the thicker lines in the areas where threads join and go finer along the length of the threads. Keep at it until you've got an effect you're happy with, and remember, thin your paints!


Finally, give the whole thing a layer of Ardcoat for a nice glossy finish. This really sets off these power weapons and makes them stand out to the eye.


Hope you found this a useful guide. In the words of many a vlogger: Like if you like this, subscribe if you want to..........comment if you own a keyboard?

Tyranid Dimachaeron - Painting progress

So, a couple of Christmasses ago, I was lucky enough to receive a Tyranid Dimachaeron from Forgeworld. It's one of my favourite Tyranid models and enormous to boot! The scale of the model made it a bit intimidating to paint though and it's languished in storage for far too long.


Anyway, on a bit of a whim (because that's how hobby stuff happens) I decided to paint it! I'll be following my usual Tyranid paint scheme so that he fits in with the rest of my steadily growing force.

Part way through paint - base coats nearly done!

Whether he'll see any more action on the tabletop is debatable because these things are just so powerful! I manage more than my fair share of wins with my Tyranids already, so adding a killing machine like this might start costing me friends!

Found this exceptionally difficult to photograph.

Over the past week or so I've stormed on with the painting and really made good progress. Unfortunately, things have slowed down over the last few days, but he's so close to complete I simply have to push on and get him over the line.

Current photo - Just details to finish and the base to tidy up.

Sadly though, I seem to be coming down with a bad case of Victory is Vengeance (Horus Heresy book 3 - Massacre) so the itch to paint some more Night Lords is coming on strong! Will the next update be the completed Dimachaeron? Or will the Night Lords Terminators pip him to the post (pun intended). I for one am on tenterhooks!