Weekly Finds

She Who Thirsts by Jeff Vader from The Convertorum - Can easily imaging that monster as being a Hellbrute conversion in someone's Slaanesh army. Can see more over on Iron Sleet, including some descriptions.

Weekly Finds

The Diva by Jeff Vader from Officio Convertorum - The blue skin helps link this miniature to Diva Plavalaguna. It's interesting to imagine that this is a slaanesh worshiping xenos instead of just another daemonette.

Plague is Coming by Kouzes from Blog de Kouzes - With identical miniatures in the Dark Vengeance box set it is tempting to do some simple conversion like these. Another take on the cultists from the Dark Vengeance box set can be seen here.

Weekly Finds

Maze of the Minotaurs by Midian from Bolter & Chainsword - Some great poses with a simple, yet effective paint scheme. I particularly like how Midian has gone about adding in some Space Marines firing with their left hands, such as the guy on the far left in this picture.

Metals by Volomir from Volomir's Blog - Some useful advice on the theory behind painting metals. With the abundance of paint brands such as Citadel as well as the development of washes and glazes, it is very easy for the average hobbyists to produce a decent table top standard. For some pretty pictures and more useful advice, should take a look at Forge World's Model Masterclass Volume I and II...

Step-by-Step of Slaanesh Party by Roman from Massive Voodoo - Although I can't see myself collecting a Chaos force any time soon, this post offers some great inspiration.

White Dwarf - March 2013 Chaos Daemons

This month's White Dwarf review is by Stahly from Tale of Painters. With half a year of the new styled White Dwarf, it appears that they have corrected some of the problems the previous incarnation suffered. This isn't to say there isn't room for improvement. Or that all of the content is great. As some of the Tale of Painter comments pointed out, the absence of 'Eavy Metal tutorials is sorely missed. Hopefully the new approach continues to be upwards... but this is Games Workshop.

Weekly Finds #122

This year is passing by quick... my twenty third birthday is almost here, still haven't gotten my license, painted a miniature with a brush OR set a date for the wedding. At least there are ten more months to go...

The Itch of the Butchers Nails by The Damned Artificer from The BnC - These brushes are just brilliant. It would be so awesome if someone like Secret Weapon Miniatures or Masquerade Miniatures actually made a silicone brush of these for us mortals.

Champion of Tzeentch by John Blanche from Spiky Rat Pack - It is by John Blanche... do I need any more reason to include it?

Weekly Finds #114

A new year is upon us. I've managed to slowly pluck away at some of the miniatures I got for Christmas. And of course I continue to be baffled by the lack of intelligence some individuals have when presenting to Emergency Departments. I guess some things never change. Much like the amazing work hobbyist produce and share on the interwebz...

Dark Eldar Feathered Nightmares by Lucky No.5 from Eye of Error - The quality of this Dark Eldar Coven continue to amaze me. Not only are the wings stunning, but so is the glow effect. I also enjoy reading the short blurb with each of these posts...

Building a better Typhus by Tyler M. from Mengel Miniatures - The fourth and final instalment in this stunning conversion. It reminds me of a similar conversions I saw many years ago in White Dwarf. That conversion featured Typhus without a helmet and he only carried only decapitated head if I remember correctly.

Commission Helbrecht by Lil Loser from Lillegent Studio - The contrast between the warm and cold colours works well for this miniature. I actually prefer this colour scheme to the usual portrayal of the High Marshal. And it is another look at Black Templars with a warm black as opposed to the usual colder recipes seen.

Glory of Slaanesh by Karol Rudyk from Cool Mini or Not - I must thank Volomir for featuring this jaw dropping miniature in his monthly Do Not Miss. The prominent use of red and black is a nice change from the typical colours associated with servants of Slaanesh. Another of Karol's Daemons of Slaanesh can be seen here. With the unpainted sculptor here.

White Dwarf 392 August 2012 - Chaos Daemons

Inside this month's issue:

Chaos Daemons rules update booklet - In this month's White Dwarf you will find an exclusive 16 page booklet containing new rules and background for all of this month's new Daemons miniatures. Does this mean there has been a shift in the mindset of Games Workshop with them releasing miniatures and rules without a new Codex? Or is the Chaos Daemons AND Space Marine Stormtalon just exceptions?

Daemons - Simon Grant takes a look at the Chaos Daemons, the foul servants of the Dark Gods that threaten all of reality.

Modelling Workshop: The Warp Forge - Some of the Studio's hobbyists have got hold of the new Daemon Kits. We take a look at what they've made with them.

Eye of the Warpstorm - In the first of this month's battle reports, the Eldar and the Dark Eldar ally against the Chaos Daemons.

Battle Brothers - A look at how allied detachments work in Warhammer 40,000, as well as showcasing several different uses of them.

The Librarians of Tzeentch - The bickering Blue Scribes are often called Tzeentch's Librarians. Mat Ward tells us more about them.

The Siege of Saphery - In our second battle report, Andrew's High Elves takes on Simon's Daemons at the gates of the Tower of Hoeth.

Arena of Death - We put some of the recently released plastic heroes into the Arena of Death, to see which is the best in Warhammer.

You'll also find full details of all the latest releases and news, plus a directory featuring all of the hobby activities in your local area.

The Lord Inquisitor - Trailer

I've been following this project for a while. The quality of the animations is just mind blowing. It puts Ultramarines: The Movie to shame...

... let's hope that Games Workshop realize how good this is and doesn't try and stop it.

White Dwarf 376 April 2011 - Grey Knights

Inside this month's issue:

The Masters of Titan: In a round-table discussion with the sculptors of the new miniatures, Andy Hall unveils the Grey Knights in all their glory. Catching up with Codex author Mat Ward, Andy also discusses their origins and development.

Green Invasion: He's Back! Jeremy Vetock graces this issue with an in-depth look at the Waaaghs! of the Warhammer world, including some of the lesser-known, but equally destructive ones.

A New Alliance: Simon Grant discusses allies in War of the Ring, with ideas and practical advice on the pros and cons of seeking aid from beyond your borders.

Games Day & Golden Daemon 2010: Andy Hall is your guide on a tour of last year's Games Days from around the world, featuring a gallery of all the Slayer Sword winners and highlights from each event.

A Light in the Grim Darkness: This month's battle report pits the noble Grey Knights against the insidious Chaos Daemons. Kevin Chin honours his sworn duty to hunt down and defeat Tom Hutchings' daemonic incursion on the planet of Skyraak.

Standard Bearer: In this month's issue Jervis takes a look at the heart-rending part of games development, which he refers to 'Murdering Your Darlings'. This is a simple mantra that can be just as appropriate for army lists and fanfiction. However, some might say that Codex: Dark Angels and Codex: Chaos Space Marines got the short end of the stick as a result of this mantra. 

'Eavy Metal: A showacase of the new Grey Knights by 'Eavy Metal. 

Citadel Hall of Fame: In this month's issue Alan Merret nominates Aly's Dwarf Daemon Slayer. I can actually remember thinking how ridiculous those miniatures looked. But in a good way. Dave Thomas' Garagrim Ironfist has to be my favourite of the range. Being naked makes him the most ridiculous of all the Slayers. 

Modelling Workshop: Grey Knights: Matt Holland and Chad Mierzwa show you ow to get the best poses for each of your Grey Knight squads, as well as demonstrating how to paint them. 

Army Workshop: Flesh Tearers: Hobby masters Duncan Rhodes and Nick Bayton unveil their new Flesh Tearers army for all to see. This includes a four step guide on how Duncan went about painting the army.

You'll also find full details of all the latest releases and news, a directory featuring all of the hobby activities in your local area.

Dawn of War II Retribution Trailer

Saw this over on the Bolter & Chainsword. Figured that some of my imaginary friends may be interested in the DoW series. I've never gotten the chance to play any of them for a number of reasons. Looks interesting...

... and the FAACs can go slit their wrists if they have a problem with khorne daemons fighting alongside Noise Marines.

Hall of Honour - Corflich Loatheheart

Below is one of the Sagas that was written some time ago by Adam Troke. I'm assuming it is Adam Troke... article has his name on it. This one has Dark Eldar in it...

When the Murderval of Chaos was defeated upon the Eldar world of Lohiac, Ssair the Gleamling was in a serious Predicament. The Dark Eldar had denied the Daemons entry to the webway, and left the host bloodied and humiliated. With the Ssair's power and influence waning, it was unsurprising that a rival should seek to gain prominence in his stead - this was Corflich Loatheheart, a beautiful and cunning Daemon Prince sworn to Tzeentch.

With the deft manoeuvring so typical of Tzeentch and his minions, Loatheheart duped the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh into yielding power of the Murderval into his stewardship on promises that it would be returned once it had claimed its millionth soul for Tzeentch. Of course, the oaths of a Daemon Prince are a dubious thing and it was not long before Ssair found himself imprisoned within the Impossible Fortress, the Murderval fully under new management.

The first act of Corflich was to strike out against the agri-world of Dortun, where the populace were eradicated in three nights of bloodshed and debauchery. Upon the Tau sept world of Vior'la they stole away three hundred Fire Warriors and deposited them within the Garden of Nurgle, much to his delight (and their short-lived horror).

Grandest of all his schemes was the vengeance that he enacted upon the Eldar survivors of the battle of Lohiac. A band of Dark Eldar, enacting a precise and deadly raid deep within Imperial territory were mortified to find a raid upon the death world of Raith. The pickings were not quite as the Dark Eldar had expected, however, as they arrived to find the Imperial Guard garrison already slaughtered to a man. Sensing a trap they quickly turned to depart but their escape was blocked by the shimmering host of the Daemonettes. Vengeance for the Murderval's thwarted plans on Lohaic was taken in full as scores of Dark Eldar were cut down and dragged screaming into the Realm of Chaos.

The Archon leading the Dark Eldar force was finally run to ground within the thick jungle of Raith by Loadtheheart, who swooped down from the trees to pluck her up like a bird of prey. Disarming her in a short and bloody fight, and having broken both her arms and legs, Loatheheart delivered her quailing form to Slaanesh's Palace of Pleasure, a token and tribute from the new master of the Murderval.

- Adam Troke in Corflich Loatheheart

Disclaimer - Content taken from the Games Workshop website without permission and will be removed if requested.

Daemon versus Demon

Curis from Ninjabread gives a lesson on Daemonology or is that Demonology...

The Changeling was sculpted several years back, and was only released this Summer with the plastic Wave 2 Daemons for marketing reasons. However, he did feature in both the Daemon books for Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 - released way way back in the May of 2008, and has been a playable character for some twenty-seven months with no official model. However, as he could adopt any form a lot of players used any other model they saw fit - a lot like back in 1996 when Warhammer 40K's second edition Chaos Codex said Daemon Princes could take any form. Cue scores of players claiming their coke can, Homer Simpson toy or polystyrene offcut was a Daemon Prince.

Wish I could teach this history in schools.

On a tangent, have you ever wondered what the difference is between "Daemon" and "Demon"? Both spellings crop up in Games Workshop lore - why? Well my good friend Shiny Happy Turpin put this question to our Lord and Saviour Jervus at Games Day. He gave a three-sentence answer, which I've elaborated into a small essay using my bookshelf full of Latin reference books . (I suspect this is how his Standard Bearer column is written too.)

The Greeks believed in divine supernatural being called δαίμονες - which transliterates straight into the English alphabet as daimones. Oops, that gives us neither spelling. Well, the term δαίμον was imported into Latin as daemon, and only really crops up with real frequency in later Latin authors like the Venerable Bede and T. Maccius Plautus (though Pliny the Elder used it once). I digress...

Δαίμον becomes daemon in Latin because the αί characters are what we linguists call a diphthong, or gliding vowel - formed by two adjacent vowels. The sound αί made in Greek was identical to ae in Latin - both cases it's two letter representing one sound. So in time ae, being one sound, became represented with just one letter - æ. With this we develop English words like dæmon, mediæval and archæology.

Wind forward the clock some more, and printing presses and typewriters come along and this super-rare æ character causes problems. It's fairly uncommon (unless you published lots of articles on mediæval dæmon archæology) and so it finds itself dropped, and sometimes it switches back to the component a and e (like archaeology), and sometimes just the e (medieval). Generally people prefer just the e as it's simpler, and the more modern a language gets the simpler it gets. But people use ae when they want to conjure up an olde worlde atmosphere. Both are equally valid spelling and pronounced the same.

So this brings us to the modern day, where a fledgling young Games Workshop in its formative years sometimes use the modern spelling demon in some places, and daemon in others. It's a time when the left hand of the company doesn't really know what the right hand is doing, and parts of it are licensing their artwork to hair metal bands, and others are painting minotaurs with replicas of Mona Lisa. Only as time goes on and the Games Workshop setting and mythos crystallises they decide to stick to what things were called in the past. So the Golden Demon is spelt one way, and Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos the other. It's just a case of tradition.

Here endeth the Ninjabread lesson.

- Curis from Ninjabread in Project Change XXX - The Changeling

Hall of Honour - The Geonide Crusade

The Geonide Crusade -

Geonide is a planet worthy of note due to the scientific research being conducted within the mile-high laboratory facilities that dot the planet's surface. Brilliant Adeptus Mechanicus minds work feverishly upon such important projects as new propulsion drives for the Imperial Navy and the latest laser technologies. Then there are the classified projects involving artefacts and relics of bygone eras. Whatever the work, all is done with the interest of furthering the cause of the Emperor. However, underlying all this approved research is the possibility that someone might dig into heretical subjects outside the boundaries set by the Imperium.

Open rebellion in Geonide's major cities erupted without warning, taking a heavy toll on the populace and priceless research facilities. Before long, the true cancer behind the unrest was revealed to be a newly formed coven of latent psykers tainted by the lies of Chaos. These rogue scientists had been used as puppets to unleash the unholy energies of ancient warp drives to open a rift in reality.

Within a year, 75% of the population had fallen to the warping influence of Chaos and an army of twisted humanity marched alongside cavorting Daemons and creatures most-foul. After exhausting all methods to reclaim the world, Exterminatus was finally called for and carried out by the Inquisition elements ever-present during the campaign. However, they stayed their hand while brave the Black Templars successfully retrieved invaluable artefacts, research documents, and important Imperial personnel from being swallowed up by the ruinous powers forever.

Crusade Veteran
Veteran status was difficult to earn during the course of the Geonide Crusade as it was only given out to a select few within each company. Generally, the ranks were awarded only to warriors who were part of Inquisitor-led raids with the aim of slaying Greater Daemons in a rather up-close and personal manner. A black "X" on a white background located on the left knee pad indicated such individuals.

Crusader Seals
Crusader Seals were quite prevalent during the Geonide Crusade. It was rare to find a Templar on the battlefield with less than five affixed to his armor, weaponry, backpacks, or other wargear. In addition to Crusader Seals, Purity Seals were administered by the Inquisition and Chaplains on a near weekly basis in an effort to preserve the sanctity and uphold the resolve of those Astartes involved.

Blessed Censors
Within Crusader Squads during the Crusade, three to five Initiates were almost guaranteed to have these Blessed Censors swinging from rear of their right shoulder pads. Filling the air with purified incense, these censors were believed to drive off lesser creatures of the Warp and affect the performance of those warp entities caught within the choking fumes.

Geonide Crusade Badge
As is the case in nearly every Crusade, a unique badge is designated to signal that a particular Initiate is involved in its operations. Here it is worn on the inner corner of the right shoulder pad as opposed to the standard leg application. The reason for this break in tradition is unknown. These badges often help to identify who's who when diplomatic or other duties call a warrior from the battlezone.

Disclaimer - All images and content taken from the Games Workshop website and will be removed if requested.

YouTube: Strictly Average

Who doesn't love YouTube? Me. You don't count your just a thought. Meanie. All those music videos, hilarious screw ups and movies. Well it seems some bloggers are more advanced than the rest of us. You have the guys over on The Painting Corps doing tutorials. The guys on The Beasts of War doing product reviews. And our very own Brent has been YouTubing...

Who doesn't love that voice? Anyways, below are a couple more Battle Reports featuring the much beloved Brent...

... Pretty purple and kitchen bench ...

... and Brent's first YouTube video. It has Black Templars and swearing. Naughty Brent. Brent is cool. For more of Brent's voice here is his YouTube Channel.

White Dwarf 368 August 2010 - Daemons

Going to go through all of my White Dwarf magazines and listing their content. Start it off with this month issue since Games Workshop has the details up on their website...

Inside this month's issue:

Chaos Daemons - Daemonologist extraordinaire Adam Troke examines the diabolic pacts of the Chaos Daemons and interviews the sculptors of the new plastic kits.

The Power of the Warp - Cunning tips and shrewd strategies are laid bare in Phil Kelly's tactica for Warhammer 40,000 generals.

Harbingers of Destruction - Mat Ward provides a fresh tactical insight for Daemons of Chaos generals to use in their games of Warhammer.

Heroes of Legend - The Lord of the Rings expert Simon Grant offers a detailed tactica for the Heroes of War of the Ring.

Realms of Chaos - John Blanche waxes lyrical on the often strange and always stunning artwork of the Daemons of Chaos.

The Winds of Magic - The Warhammer world is a place where magic flows freely. In this feature White Dwarf's Andy Hall looks at the Lores of Magic and their unusual practitioners.

Modelling Workshop: Twisted Landscapes - Scenery gurus Mark Jones and Chad Mierzwa have unleashed their awesome hobby prowess to build us a scenery set for the Daemons of Chaos.

You'll also find full details of all the latest releases and news, a directory featuring all of the hobby activities in your local area, and this month's Standard Bearer, in which Jervis talks about how to add a narrative to your games

- Games Workshop website

Classic Chaos Space Marines - Advance Order

Worshippers of Chaos have spilt the blood of many enemies for their dark patrons for thousands of years. And it appears their sacrifice has resulted in some new miniatures to add to their warbands. Original commentary by Andy is below with my own thoughts...

Last Tuesday the Chaos Gods spewed a host of new Daemon models into the material realm, and today they've deemed us worthy of a second helping. First up are Khorne's elite cavalry, the Bloodcrushers, which are now a multi-part plastic kit. Next, Tzeentch's most powerful sorcerer, Kairos Fateweaver. Finally, the gods have clubbed together to create two new Bitz Packs - one pack of Familiars and another containing some classic Chaos Space Marine miniatures.

This is the first time we've ever had a model for Kairos. In Warhammer he's the most powerful magic user a Daemons of Chaos player can field, and in Warhammer 40,000 he allows all nearby Daemons to re-roll their saves. I'm sure he'll be a regular sight on the battlefield

Also available to advance order from today are the two Bitz Packs listed below. The More Famous Familiars set is full of characterful models you can use to personalise your Chaos units, add to dioramas and use as Familiars. I've also listed the original Familiars pack in case you fancy combining the two. There are about 3 miniatures out of the dozen or so that I can see myself liking. And for 40+ AUD that isn't really worth it on a student budget. For Warhammer 40,000 players Traitors of Chaos set is great for adding Aspiring Champions to your units.

For ten thousand years the Traitor Legions have waged a relentless war against mankind. Sworn to the service of their foul gods and determined to crush the weakling Imperium of the false Emperor, the Chaos Space Marines will not rest until they have overthrown the Emperor and defeated his servants forever. That is from the little description on the product page.

Who doesn't think that Emperor's Children Space Marine looks cool? Not me...

Disclaimer - Images taken from the Games Workshop website and will be removed if requested.