Tuesday 1 September 2009

Warhammer 40k Amongst Other Things

My son is getting started in the hobby and already has a few minis for his Orcs and Goblins but is now thinking of doing an Imperial Guard army for 40k, although this has changed to Orks, Tyrannids, Tau and then back to Guard about 5 times so far so not sure who he'll decide upon. If/when he does decided it will probably be the motivation I need to get cracking with my own 40k army - The Angels Exemplar. The only thing I'm wondering now though is whether to make them loyalist marines. Mostly rules wise. I love drop pods a huge part of Imperial Marines imagery and I love the idea of a Sikandar led Terminator force. I'm currently considering whether the upcoming Space Wolves codex might allow me the best of both worlds. A more barbaric form of Space Marines who still get access to all those cool things and I can convert the chaos minis and imperial minis to represent the Angels Exemplar who may become less a force dedicated to Chaos and more a force dedicated purely to the tyrannical and piratical nature of Sikandar.

I really like the idea that Sikandar having wrestled control of the chapter decides he's going to build his own empire of super-humans to rule over the weaker human race (Huron obviously a major inspiration here) and so begins to consolidate power as well as making raids on other chapters to steal their gene-seed banks to help strengthen his own armies and weaken his enemies. If the Space Wolves can still have the Wolf Guard (?) characters and unit leaders then this would also represent the nature of the Angels Exemplar now where a few marines are banded together under the might and strength of an exceptional marine and that's how they're squads are formed. Not sure, this is kind of a brain storm that I'm typing as I go!


Anyway, expecting to get Space Hulk in a few days and can't wait. My son and I play Space Crusade regularly and so Space Hulk will represent an exciting change of pace to that. I've not had a chance to teach him the game as I sadly don't have my own copy anymore so jumped at the chance to order this new one and the minis look awesome!


My son had a game of fantasy where he borrowed my WoC and played them as a mono-Nurgle force against Orcs and Goblins against another young lad that goes to my gaming club. Clearly the Warhammer Gods did not like this switch of allegiance and punished both my son and the minis. My son got absolutely thrashed in the end in part to some very unlucky dice rolling on his part and an obscene ability to roll 6s on demand almost from his opponent. The minis also took quite a bashing sadly when left in the care of a young boy so I have quite the fun gluing session ahead of me. The Marauder regiment seemed to suffer the worst amount of breakages but at least one of the chaos knights has pretty much disintegrated :s

He also had a game of 40k Space Marines vs. Tau against the same opponent. My son played Tau and lost but it was his first experience of 40k so he was always at a disadvantage, particularly with an army like Tau. Still he seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself and as I say I may have lost him to the grim darkness of the far future... ;)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My local GW teased me with my instore order copy of Space Hulk tonight but wouldn't let me pick it up until Saturday - sighting embargo and what not. I missed out on Hulk when I first got into the hobby but have played a few games of Space Crusade with a mate so we are both looking forward to it and the mini's.

It's always nice to hear that the next generation is preparing to take the fight to the Xenos, the Heretic and the Daemon, although I am a bit put off by this talk of befouling oneself with Tau.

Your ideas on the Space Marine army are interesting. I play a vanilla Codex chapter, but with the advent of expansion kits (ie the older Space Wolf gear, Black Templar and Dark Angel kits), I have been toying with diversifying into something similar - not quite down the path of starting a fallen chapter, rather a band of misfits/dregs from failed chapters who have the sanction of the High Lords to carry on together as a combined force.

I will be interested in seeing how your germ of an idea progresses.

Elazar The Glorified said...

Thanks for commenting Rogue Pom! Yeah, since I've posted he seems more intent on a Guard army now so I think he will indeed be taking the fight to the Xenos instead of beside them!

The more the germ grows the more I'm liking the idea. The force would need every mini to be converted. No imperial connection and no chaos connection but I could plunder parts from all over. Sounds like the sort of overly ambitious 40k project I've been looking for!

Like the idea of a misfit chapter of marines. Would allow you to create a very diverse looking force but at the same time to create a unity throughout.

As for Space Hulk and Space Crusade - if you like Space Crusade I reckon you'll love Space Hulk its much better for head to head gaming and the frenetic pace makes it all the more exciting. My copy is coming via my local independent who is a member of my gaming club so get a decent discount on it. Getting exceptionally impatient for it and now my son knows about it he is too! Lol :D

Elazar The Glorified said...

Sadly my local independent didn't get the allocation he'd expected so I've had to place a last minute order elsewhere and now cross my fingers. I assume GW have plenty of stock still so hopefully the finger crossing is an over-reaction! :D

Anonymous said...

My local GW got in over 20 boxes of stock with 5 games per box plus the ones that were in store ordered so I am thinking that it will not be as limited release as originally stated - more sell sell sell until the interest dries up.

Elazar The Glorified said...

They must be just limiting the indies then, sound marketing strategy by GW I suppose! :)

noeste said...

From what I've heard, the GW-stores got a set of games - probaly depending on their profit/month and customer base - I know the one in Copenhagen got 90. They also had a bunch of games at some shed in England or something, for the mail order, but now that they're labeled as 'sold out', I think there's no more left, than the boxes in the stores.
When I left the local GW store this afternoon, they told me they had aprox 20 left or so.
However, there might be stores who got plenty games left, I don't know, really.

I do hope your order got through, Elazar! I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed for you *smiles*