Project Orks: Part 3 - 'Ere We Go!

First, let me start with an update. Unfortunately due to illness, I was unable to complete much of the planned Orks for August. As a result, I ended up not even attempting to do those planned orks, and will put them into the schedule for later, which is one of the reasons that I left some open slots at the end of the challenge, as I knew there may well be some slack that needs to be picked up as real life gets in the way of that.

As a result, I will modify the original schedule, in Part 2 - Da Kunnin' Plan! to reflect this adjustment.

In the meantime, now that my vision has returned to normal, a side effect of the illness and something that took longer to clear up than hoped, I will be giving a crack at getting September's scheduled models complete.

Well, there is only effectively a week left in September to paint, so I guess I better get cracking.

'Ere We Go!

September's plan is to paint a unit of 10 Ork Nobz and a Weirdboy.

Here is the starting picture.

Note, these are as they were received in a trade, with primer and first base coat on some of the Nobz. For consistency, I will be re-priming them.

I'm currently prepping my house to sell it, so this will truly be a challenge as I try to squeeze them in. I will be painting these in the evenings, or as time permits. Hopefully it will be something that can be done in my downtime over the week.


Related Articles:
Project Orks: Part 1 - Mustering Da Waaaagh!!
Project Orks: Part 2 - Da Kunnin' Plan
Project Orks: Part 3 - 'Ere We Go!

Links:
Games Workshop
The Freebootaz
The Custodes
The Independent Characters

Forgeworld New Release: Mk1c Deimos Pattern Rhino

Forgeworld are at it yet again. This week's Forgeworld Newsletter saw the announcement of some more excellent models that will be available for pre-order at Games Day UK 2011. Most noteably is the addition of the Rhino Mk1c Deimos Pattern Rhino.

Mk1c Deimos Pattern Rhino

This, along with the new Mk1 Land Raider that I blogged about last week brings the "old school" of 40K Space Marines one step closer to completion.

At this rate, Forgeworld looks like it's on track to actually do a Mk1 Predator, as I suggested they might do in that previous post.

So far, I'm really liking all the retro projects they are doing for Space Marines, and look forward to see what they do next.

Links:
Games Workshop
Forgeworld

Copyright Notice: Original photos and images used for this article are owned and copyright by GamesWorkshop PLC, and used without permission, for the express purposes of distributing hobby news, freely promoting the hobby, and the free exchange of hobby related ideas. No challenge is intended.

Games Workshop Mystery Release Revealed: Dreadfleet!

Hello readers!

A few months ago, I revealed that Games Workshop is issuing a mystery box for sometime in September/October. At that time, details were very sketchy, and instead of posting rumours, because there really was nothing to post, and I tend not to post rumours, I decided to do a little speculation. Personally, I was hoping and thought it would be a new Special Edition Bloodbowl, for a variety of reasons.

Well, for the last few weeks, Games Workshop has been hinting at this new release and what it might be. Finally, today Games Workshop revealed on its website what the Mystery Release would be. Unfortunately, my conclusion after my speculation was...well...wrong...

Instead of a new Special Edition Blood Bowl, Games Workshop presents Dreadfleet! An undead pirate fleet game, written by Phil Kelly, and based in the Old World of the Warhammer Fantasy setting.

Games Workshop's Dreadfleet, a game of fantasy naval battle.

This game will be available for only a limited time, much like Space Hulk in 2009. So, if this strikes a chord in you and has piqued your interest, make sure you pre-order today and don't miss out. Be sure to check out the Games Workshop blog page and pre-order page (links can be found at the end of this article) to see a whole bunch of pictures, including 360 degree pictures, as well as a video, and close ups of the models and sprues.

Now. What do I think of this?

Naturally I am disappointed that my speculation was erroneous, though it was still fun and I still think it should have been Blood Bowl for all the same reasons. Note that in that article I didn't even mention Man O'War as a possibility because I thought the range and support required would be too vast to consider such a game. However, I have always loved Games Workshop's Man O'War game, and though it might just be riding on the coat tails of Spartan Games' Uncharted Seas, which many are speculating inspired this release, the look of this new game really does remind me a lot of Man O'War. Or more correctly, Man O'War Light, because there are no expansive fleets available for every race, where Dreadfleet has a very small selection of ships available, with only 10 large ships from different races, and not all of the races represented.

Having said that, if you still play Man O'War and are looking to expand your fleets or get sea monster and dragon tokens, islands, etc, this might just be the ticket... that is if the scale is appropriate. At first glance, the large ships might just fit in well with Man O'War fleets, but the smaller support ships appear vastly smaller, and more like tokens than actual vessels.

Ultimately, this was meant to be a one off self contained game, and that niche target group is obviously accounted for by the limited quantity being released. Will this do as well as Space Hulk? Or will it become just a footnote in the history of Games Workshop games? Will these models be suitable for Man O'War, or Uncharted Seas? Only time will tell. But I can tell you this, if I can scrounge up the money to buy it, I'm getting myself a copy pronto.

Related Articles:
Speculation: Games Workshop September Mystery Release?

Links:
Games Workshop
Dreadfleet Blog
Dreadfleet Pre-order Page
Spartan Games

Copyright Notice: Original image used for this article owned and copyright by GamesWorkshop PLC, and used without permission, for the express purposes of distributing hobby news, freely promoting the hobby, and the free exchange of hobby related ideas. No challenge is intended.

Forgeworld New Release: Proteus Land Raider

Well, it's been said by a friend of mine that Forgeworld does know how to excite the 40K community, and the newest Land Raider edition to their line certainly does exemplify that seemingly cerebral connection they have with us old timers as well as getting the younger generations who have only ever heard of the original plastic Land Raider, but never actually held one.

The new Proteus Land Raider, available in limited quantities (along with a bunch of other new awesome goodies that can be seen here) at the 2011 UK Games Day, is Forgeworld's answer to the question of "How do I get an original style Land Raider that I won't have to tear apart, strip onerous coats of paint off, then rebuild, add detail, replace the missing and broken components, like the lascannons and such, without busting the bank too much?"

Forgeworld's Land Raider Proteus

And boy do they do it in style. The new 'old school' kit from Forgeworld harks back to the day of the original Land Raider not by suggestion, but by near replication, then improving upon the original design, and adding loads of extra detail. At 85 Pound Stirling, this isn't a cheap kit, but considering how much original plastic MK1 Land Raiders are going for these days on e-bay (some of my latest experiences were for over $150 US) this seems like a fairly decent price - especially considering all the additional detail and the fact it's a brand new kit without the requirement of salvaging the old kits if you happen to get lucky enough to find one for cheap.

Games Workshop's original plastic Land Raider

I would love to see one side by side with the original plastic kit for scale comparison, but this one definitely appears to be larger, more on the scale of the current Land Raider kits. I would love if it was close to the same scale as the original Land Raider, as it would mean I could field old and new without visual scale differences. However, just by looking at the side door and sponson details, I'm certain it's longer, if not taller.

Now, how will this affect those of us old grognards who own one or more of the originals, and are looking for more? Well, if it's bigger, and you want consistent scale, you will either need to keep scouring the internet for old plastic kits and rebuild them, or you can replace the old kits with new.

With the price point of this new kit, and the shear awesomeness of the detail, I can see a couple things happening. 1. The cost is low enough that there may suddenly be an increase in cheaper MK1 Plastic Land Raiders. 2. The cost is high enough, but it's also desirable enough that people will forgo the plastic kit in favor of this kit, potentially driving prices down on the old kit as there is lower demand for those models.

Of course, that's a very narrow view of the impact this model may have on resell value of the original, and there will always be variation due to changing demand, collector completionists, quality of the used models, amount of work needed, etc.

So now I face a dilemma myself. I currently have a plastic MK1 that I got in a trade from a good friend. I have managed to disassemble it, and that was a hell of a chore. And I'm getting ready to strip the paint off it... but now I wonder if I should continue and build it stock, (the damaged guns do require replacement unfortunately) or do I wait, get a new one, and then either sell the original or upscale it to match?

Because this was a trade from a good friend, my heart wants me to restore it as much as possible, then add detail. But doing so definitely puts me in a situation where I need to scour for more of the old kit if I want that consistency in my army, or just keeping it as a display piece, or a one off for that army...which I'm not opposed to at all. Though the theme of that Space Marine army is that it has a lot of OLD kit. Bless Forgeworld for their retro looking view finders!

Regardless of what I decide to do, I love the new Forgeworld version and must have at least one, and it has been added to my wish list!

What's next? Perchance old school rhino hulls and old school round turreted predators? If so, I'm all for that!

Games Workshop's original plastic Predator

Links:
Games Workshop
Forgeworld

Copyright Notice: Original photos and images used for this article are owned and copyright by GamesWorkshop PLC, and used without permission, for the express purposes of distributing hobby news, freely promoting the hobby, and the free exchange of hobby related ideas. No challenge is intended.