Pegasus Hobbies is a California company that makes a variety of products, and among them are a few terrain kits. I am writing today about the two sets of cacti that they produce, code numbers 6507 and 6508.
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Terrain Guide: Pegasus Cacti
About my Imperial Guard: Cadian 17th Regiment – Part 2 – Sly Marbo
It didn’t take long for me to deviate from the plan I laid out in my last post. I figured I could finish a whole elites choice by painting one model. So I pulled out Sly Marbo – the one man army. I think he came out pretty good.
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He has been used in one game. He didn’t die but the only thing he did was take out some Gretchin Zzap guns. In retrospect it might have been better to ignore the Zzap guns and place Marbo closer to the fighting as all the Guard scoring units were easily eliminated without the Zzap guns.
After actually playing with the new Imperial Guard I descided that putting heavy weapons in your normal infantry squads is a mistake. Especially with the lascannons I have in my squads. 20 points is way too much. So added to the queue are eight standard lasgunners to replace the four lascannons in my squads. Then I can simply alter the squad markings on the lascannons to move them into heavy weapons squads.
Besides that I’m still pounding away at my Hardened Veterans squad. They are getting close to done. Assuming nothing comes up they will be finished this weekend. I’ll be sure to post pictures for you to see.
-the Goat
Terrain Guide: Rock Outcroppings
Our next terrain article is focusing on another terrain feature that is easily made with polystyrene foam: the rock outcropping. These line-of-sight blockers can be any shape or size depending on whether you would like to model a single boulder or the side of a mountain. They also fit well into almost any type of terrain: woodland, desert, lava field, arctic, etc.
For this article I will be creating a base stone for an arch and a couple of other smaller outcroppings that I have made earlier. The techniques described are the same for creating outcroppings from scratch, just skip the sketching of the bottom of the stones.
Since creating rock outcroppings is a more advanced project than making the basic hill, I would recommend practicing with your selected cutting tool prior to trying to create your real model. If you will be using a hot wire cutter, set the wire on a setting where it does not melt the foam too quickly.
Rock outcroppings also take a bit of artistic talent to come out correctly. To get yourself ready, browse around for some pictures of rock outcroppings on the internet and find some that you would like to mimic in foam.
The technique that I have chosen to paint the finished rock shapes is NOT a realistic one. There are other ways to finish your rock to appear more natural in color, but are much more time consuming and require even more creative aptitude. Sticking to the simple approach allows for the creation of a themed set of terrain that looks good on the tabletop and is easily replicated if you require additional pieces later in your gaming career.
As is the case with all of the terrain articles on this website the step by step pictures show a particular type of terrain, but can be modified to create any terrain you would like to simulate. Just substitute your colors for the colors shown, if you are not sure what colors to use you can leave a comment and we will get back to you with a recommendation.
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Modelling Guide: Imperial Guard Valkyrie Vendetta
This is a step by step guide showing how to convert the new Imperial Guard Valkyrie model into a Valkyrie Vendetta gunship. The conversion uses plastic parts from other Games Workshop model kits. Here is a picture of the finished product:
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Terrain Guide: Sloped Hills
For the first terrain article on Battlebarge I wanted to start with something simple: the basic hill. Well, almost the basic hill; call it the basic hill MKII.
Everyone has seen, or maybe even created for themselves, the basic hill. A piece of pink or blue foam insulation from the local building supply or home improvement store cut into an oval shape and finished with some grass / sand / snow simulating material. A must have for everyone’s stash of gaming terrain, but usually a little boring. The slope is too steep for models to stand up correctly and the oval shape is unrealistic. This article will hopefully remedy the boring hill situation.
Even though the step by step pictures show a sandy desert terrain, the guide can be used for any terrain you would like to simulate. Just substitute your turf color for the desert turf. In the guide I have included links to Woodland Scenics since I have used those products for years. Let me know if you have any other sources for good landscaping materials.
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Inside the Hobbyist’s Studio: Magnetizing Bases
This is the first in a series of articles I intend to write regarding various projects I am working on while waiting for instead of actually playing games.
Today’s article will be about how I am currently magnetizing my bases. I make no claim that this is the best way, it is simply the method that is working for me now until I start tinkering with a different method.
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Tactics: I hide behind you, You hide behind me, We both win
In the table top war games we all play, there is a fine balance between making the rules too complex or making them too simple. Personally I tend to favor more simplified rule sets, because I think streamlined rules make for a better playing experience. But with simplified rules you also find more game situations that are counter intuitive. I have heard this phrase many times, “It makes no sense at all. But that is what the rules say.“ This is the story of one of those situations.
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When good figures go bad
If you play these games long enough then eventually you will have to deal with a new codex that makes one of your figures or even entire units obsolete. For me this just happened with the new Imperial Guard codex. Here is a picture of my second edition Warhammer 40K Cadian Imperial Guard Lieutenant model:
Do you see anything wrong with him? Yeah, that’s right, Imperial Guard commanders cannot take shotguns anymore. So this model for which I paid Games Workshop money and spent time painting can no longer be used in their game.
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The Thunderhawk Debate
Simple question: how many Thunderhawks are there on a Space Marine Strike Cruiser? For me, this question comes up roughly quarterly and the debate in my group generally lasts for hours.
Let’s define the parameters of the debate shall we?
First, how many Space Marines on a Strike Cruiser? Battlefleet Gothic tells us it’s a single Battle Company. So, How many is that? 100? 106? Not so fast! How many Veterans are assigned to this Battle Company Captain? How many Scouts? What about ships company? Again, Battlefleet Gothic tells us that each ship the Chapter operates has “some” Space Marines assigned as a liason. How may is that? While these “ships company” Marines are technically on the ship, they won’t act as part of the Battle Company.
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Concept Critiques
Now that the big tournaments of the year are over, it’s time to start new armies!! Below are pics of the three current armies under development. Please critique the paint schemes (colors - not ability please! Remember, these are concept figs!)
