Malcador Infernus revealed

Instead of sending only the final piece of the Christmas Jigsaw, Forge World has sent an image of the completed tank. Named the 'Malcador infernus', the business end consists of a fairly substantial flamer. Some of the comments I've seen around the forums suggest that this weapon may even be a Titan-grade flamer like the Inferno Gun. Either way this weapon is sure to have a devastating effect.

I like the look of this tank, as it is thoughtfully engineered. For instance the cockpit is offset, such that the crew's view would not be obscured by the heat haze this weapon is sure to generate when fired. Since the weapon is not mounted on a turret, the tank would have to engage its target head on, allowing for the trailer, which I'm assuming would store the weapons's fuel (perhaps liquid promethium), to be shielded from most frontal attacks. Protection of the trailer could be enhanced if several Malcador Infernus tanks rolled into battle in formation abreast of one another with heavy vehicles covering their flanks. An advantage of having the fuel stored externally on the trailer, is that if hit, the resulting blast may not be as devastating to the vehicles' crew and structural integrity as had the reservoirs been mounted on the chassis.

There is already talk of players wanting to field Ork and Chaos variants of the tank so I am looking forward to seeing some heavily modified versions of this model next year.

Forge World Christmas Jigsaw

Recently I subscribed to the Forge World newsletter. If you've not heard of them before, they are a sister company to Games workshop and produce a wide range of resin pieces for upgrading and customising your Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 miniatures. Last weeks newsletter contained the first piece of the Forge World Christmas Jigsaw, which once completed will give a sneak preview of a model to be released some time next year. The first piece was of a piece of equipment being dragged behind a vehicle like a trailer. From the first piece it was difficult to determine the size of the piece or even the faction to which the vehicle may belong to.

Today's newsletter has however shed a lot more light on what this mystery vehicle may be. Piece 2 provides a better sense of scale and indicates that the 'tank' will most likely form part of the Imperial Guard arsenal. I'm not too clued up on pre-heresy technology of the Imperium, but this looks as though it may represent something from that time.

I took a few minutes to put the two pieces together in PhotoShop and this is what I got

From the looks of it, we'll get a chance to see what the whole vehicle looks like this time next week, unless of course there is a massive dozer blade that fits onto the front of this, or the next few pieces to be unveiled become tantalisingly small.

Free eBooks soon to become normal eBooks

--EDIT--
Sorry you're too late.


Just a quick heads up. Black Library announced via Facebook, that today is the last day to download their series of free eBooks here. So do as Black Library's post says and 'Go download them before it's too late."

To give you an idea, you can save the equivalent of £28.50 just by downloading the four novels and magazine. Plus the first CD of the audio book Horus Rising is available (it is a much larger file, so watch out if you have bandwidth restrictions).

Ultramarines: a Warhammer 40,000 movie

In a weeks time the first feature length movie set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Ultramarines has been 'filmed' using CGI animation entirely. As the name suggests the plot revolves around the 'most courageous and the most unswervingly-loyal' Space Marine Chapter.

The script was written by Black Library author Dan Abnett, who also wrote the graphic novel that comes with the special edition of the movie, which may be pre-ordered here.

Apart from the movie DVD, the special edition contents include an embossed steel case, extra DVD of features including the making of the movie and a hard back graphic novel.

To further whet your appetite here is the synopsis of the story published on the Games Workshop website a while back:

"Captain Severus, a revered veteran warrior with a considerable reputation, has received an urgent request for assistance from the remote backwater planet Mithron. Mithron has only one site of strategic importance, a shrine defended for countless generations by a full company of Space Marines from the Imperial Fists Chapter. What dreadful fate could have overcome them that they ask for help?

Leaving the bulk of his company on Algol to prosecute the war against the nightmarish Tyranids, Severus sets off for Mithron with only a ten-man squad for support. Ultima Squad is a raw, untrained band of Battle-Brothers, all recently promoted from the ranks of Space Marine Scouts and thirsting for glory. Mithron will be their first taste of action as fully fledged Ultramarines. Severus, with his Sergeant Crastor and his apothecary Pythol, knows they'll need to keep a careful watch on the recruits.

On the tough and unforgiving surface of Mithron, Ultima Squad discovers that a terrible battle has taken place. The shrine has been attacked, and some great evil has been unleashed. As unseen dangers close in around them, the recruits have to mount a tense and deadly insertion to find any surviving Imperial Fists, and the reason behind the distress beacon.

For ambitious new recruits Proteus and Verenor, competitors for their captain's approval, the reality of the task ahead becomes clear. They want a glorious first taste of combat as fully fledged Space Marines to prove they are worthy of selection. But this mission is a savage fight for survival and, if the Ultramarines fail, events on Mithron will threaten the fate of millions of densely populated Imperial worlds starting with their fortress home of Macragge..."

From the teaser and trailers it looks like a worthwhile first venture into the movie franchise, despite some likening the animation to be no better than that of the Dawn of War series. While the animation may not have cost millions, like other feature length films, from what I've seen it'll get the story across just as well as well.

If I pre-order Ultramarines, it wont necessarily be for the state of the art animation, but rather to simply hear the story that is being told and to support the project so that they may be encouraged to create a second instalment.

Recon. Report #1

This morning I decided to be impulsive and stopped by my local Games Workshop supplier with the intention of buying a Space Marine bike. I had decided that instead of waiting till I've saved enough for the Assault on Black Reach (AoBR) box set, or I was on holiday and could get the paper marine going again, that I would buy a Space Marine bike as my first model as they are relatively inexpensive.

Space Marine bike with twin-linked bolters

The stockist however had other ideas, as they had neither the Space Marine bike, nor the Space Marine Scout bike, which I had considered as a back-up purchase. They did have the Chaplain on a bike set though, but I didn't buy it. I plan to rather use a model of Cassius as my Chaplain, which they didn't have either. Taking the limited product range as a sign, I will save my money till the next time I take a wander past the store. They did say that a new shipment is coming in soon, so maybe I'll be able to officially start my army then.

Last two eBooks & bonus audio book

I skipped posting about last weeks free eBook from Black Library because I had too many other things demanding my attention. But the penultimate free eBook, released on 25 October, was Trollslayer by William King.

Unlike the previous two novels released, this one is set in the Warhammer 'Fantasy' realm and is the first part of the Gortrek and Felix storyline. I have never actively read a fantasy book since having left secondary school. Now, having Trollslayer I had planned to change this. Well at least that's what I thought...

This Friday The Black Library released Honour of the Grave by Robin D. Laws as their free eBook. This novel is also part of the 'Fantasy' realm and while I like most trolls as much as the next person. I like dead things more. A lot more. In fact I even made skeleton costume for Halloween this year (which was the first time I actually dressed up for the event). Halloween was never celebrated here in South Africa while I was growing up, with the exception of the odd late night horror film on T.V. This year however, shopping centres seemed to have gone mad with Halloween decorations. I'm convinced there were more vampire, witch, pumpkin etc. decorations around now than there were rabbit and egg decorations around Easter time.

But enough on that. For me the title Honour of the Grave evokes more interest than simply Trollslayer. Honour of the Grave is open to more interpretation and having not even read the blurb about the book I want to read it. Trollslayer simply says to me, "there are trolls in this book, they will be slain." While I'm sure this is not the entire plot of the book and that it is a fine piece of literary work, I'll be reading the one with the catchy title first. This doesn't mean that I don't intend to read Trollslayer, it just means that I don't intend to read it immediately.

Prior to releasing these two eBooks, The Black Library also made the first CD of the audio book, Horus Rising available. The book was penned by Dan Abnett and this version is read by Martyn Ellis. I've tried listening to it while in bed, but as I've been getting to bed past midnight every night for the last few weeks, I haven't actually absorbed any of the story yet. I'll make a more committed attempt to get through at least the first chapter in an evening once I've had a few good nights sleep.

Black Library launches digital magazine

Continuing with their free eBook Fridays, the Black Library released the first issue of the Hammer and Bolter. I had quick 'page' through it, and looks like an interesting read. It's packed with short stories and excerpts of novels from both the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universes, plus there is an interview with Nick Kyme, author of the Tome of Fire Trilogy.

In the interview Kyme mentions being busy with Fall of Damnos, an Ultramarines novel to form part of the Space Marines Battle series. In addition he has plans to tie up the loose ends and finish his Salamander trilogy with Nocturne, and has ideas for a Horus Heresy novel.

Of the few Black Library authors whose work I have read (and need to write reviews about), Nick Kyme has got to be one of my favourite. I'm looking forward to the release of these titles in the near future.

Second free eBook

The second free eBook from the Black Library was made available for download earlier today. I haven't even started with the first one yet, and with the new one being Graham McNeill's Nightbringer, it will probably be a while before I read First and Only.

Nightbringer is the first novel of the Ultramarines series featuring the heroics of Captain Uriel Ventris and his men, and I intend reading it before the other eBooks in order to get a better feel for the Ultramarines.

Free eBooks from Black Library

On October 8th, The Black Library launched its new digital catalogue by making the eBook of Dan Abnett's First and Only available for free download (see here).

The Black Library plans to release an eBook for free every Friday until November 5th. In addition, all the novels and audio books previously released, will also be made available as digital downloads in the future.

Happy reading...

Mission aborted

While initially I thought I'd have at least a week while away to work on this project, it turns out had only a few hours a day, for three days. Despite the short amount of time spent working on the project I managed to get most of the backpack, bolter, breastplate/ cuirass and pauldrons completed.

I'm going to consider these few bit a test run and start the project again from fresh once I have done the following few things;

• figured out how to print the guidelines on the components of the model,
• bought some more 160gm paper, a decent pair of scissors, a craft knife, some glue and a bunch of wooden clothes pegs,
• and my printer cartridges arrive.

When I printed the templates there were none of the guidelines shown on my computer were visible. This gave me the idea of trying to make the armour without too many 'sharp' folds, therefore achieving rounder looking final product. This approach however made lining up bits extremely difficult, especially for the pauldron trim, which I managed to break on both occasions.

While away, I was able to borrow my families stationery. But now that I'm back in another city I don't have that privilege. A craft knife is one such example and may prevent me from wrecking the pauldron trim again.

I can't start again until my cartridges arrive due to not being able to actually print the templates out.

Several valuable skills regarding papercraft were learnt during this little foray into the hobby, and they shall all be applied during the construction of Paper Space Marine Version 2.0.

Progress Report: Day 1

About two and a half hours of today were spent cutting and gluing together bits of 160gm card. Since this is my first attempt at papercraft I decided to start with the relatively easy looking backpack. The main portion, as well as the four vents were completed and set aside to dry. I then moved on to start the spaulders/ pauldrons. Here's a look at what I have so far:

Wire frame highlighting pieces completed to date.

In the next day or so I hope to finish the nozzles of the backpack and the trim of the pauldrons. I'll upload a picture or two of the actual model too.

What the paper marine will look like

Today I finally finished customising the texture file for my paper marine. All in all there there were only eleven modifications (see picture below). Despite these being only subtle differences, it still took quite a bit of time to get right. In the end, I used portions from other textures from several other chapters provided with the original download, and made a few 'free hand' modifications too.

Default Salamander texture (left) & my custom texture (right).

I've included pictures of the wire frames generated by Papakura Viewer so that you may see the differences between my texture and the one supplied, and so that I could show you what (I hope) the final model will look like. The only additional change I intend to make now, is to swap the shoulders around.

Guess it's time to find some paper and print my marine...

Paper Space Marine

I'm still saving up to get my first box of miniatures, but have this to keep me busy for the meantime.

It's a 146 piece papercraft model of a Space Marine. That's right, a 3D model of a Space Marine made entirely of paper and glue. It even comes with plans to make a bolter and chainsword!

Since the instructions came with 170 different chapter colour schemes to choose from, I have started a little poll (on the right hand side of your screen). As the model featured on the other website is of an Ultramarine, I thought that I'd let you (and anyone else who happens upon this site) help to decide on which chapter I should build. The poll will run until 31 August 2010, which is when I leave for 'holiday'. My plan is to build a model of the winning chapter during the 3 weeks I'm away and keep you updated on the process. Depending on how that one goes I may try make a second one when I get back in late September.

So feel free to vote as many times as you like, as well as post any suggestions in the comments area below. Any suggestions I like may be added to the poll and will receive a bonus point when I tally up the votes next month.

Information Gathering

I've been doing a bit of background reading on the Ultramarines and their chapter history, and came across this book on painting Space Marines. There are plenty tutorials around the internet that can teach you to do just that, but on page 78 of the book is a picture of this fellow:

Veteran Sergeant Altarion

This figure has a few pieces, such as the ornate shoulder pad and sculpted breastplate that I haven't seen before. I'm currently trying to find out where they come from, so that my veterans and commanding officers will definitely stand out in a crowd.

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REFERENCE

Wood, A. (2004) How to Paint Space Marines. Games Workshop, Nottingham. 97pp.

The Smurf Connection

Many players and websites often refer to Ultramarines as Smurfs. I am still unsure if 'Smurf' is meant as a term of endearment or an insult, but it does seem to depend entirely upon which faction the person using it favours.

For those unaware of what Smurfs are, they’re little blue creatures created by Pierre Culliford (Peyo) in 1958 and were the stars of several comic books, feature length movies and a T.V. series that spans over 400 episodes, to name but a few accomplishments.

Your garden-varirty Smurf.

The most obvious similarity between Smurfs and the Ultramarines is that the predominant colour of an Ultramarine power suit is blue. A more subtle similarity is that troops of the Ultramarines may re-paint their helmets white once they have attained veteran status, matching the traditional headgear of the garden-variety Smurf. On the other hand, a sergeant may have a helmet painted red to denote his superior rank within a squad.

A Tyrannic War veteran (Right) & Sergeant Chronus (Left).

The leader of the Smurfs, Papa smurf, too wears red so that he may be easily distinguished from the other Smurfs amongst the village (and on the battlefield).

Papa Smurf looking rather smug after a successful skirmish.

Possibly the most obscure link between the Smurfs and Ultramarines ever dug up, is that the official Smurf website only names 13 of the multitude of male Smurfs, while Utramarines were the thirteenth Space Marine legion formed during the first foundation.

Thus 'Smurf' is probably a suitable way of describing a member of the Ultramarines.

A New Recruit

Recently I decided that I needed a new hobby. Something that would allow my creative side to run rampant, something I could do on my own or with others, something that wouldn't cost the earth. After sitting around my living room with my house mate for a few discussing possibilities such as model aeroplanes, trading card games and the like, I finally considered starting a collection Warhammer 40,000.

I've been looking around the Games Workshop website and several other blogs to get a feel of what I may be getting myself into and have come across some incredible customisations and paint jobs. The quality of which I can only hope to be able to match in a few years time, especially since I've never tried may hand at painting on such a small scale before.

Warhammer 40,000 seems to fill all my prerequisites; I'll be able to build, paint and customise my own legion of warriors, I can sit and paint on my own or head down to the local supplier for a 'quick' game or two, and I'll be able to do it all without breaking the bank... Wait that last bit's lie. After having a look at what's available and compiling a wishlist, it seems I may have to sell my first born child to a horde of gypsies to pay for it all. And that's when I saw the boxed set, Assault on Black Reach, released to coincide with the release of the fifth edition.

Screen shot of the contents of the box from Games Workshop website.

It looks great! It has a relatively small price tag, provides a starter army for two separate factions (Space Marine & Ork), condensed rulebook and all the other odds and ends (dice, templates, etc.) needed to play. All in all, a relatively decent looking deal.

Now that my appetite has been whet, and I more-or-less know my starting point for getting into the hobby, I await my next pay-cheque so that I may get get hold of a box and get started.

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In this blog I intend to keep you updated and informed on how my planned army is coming along and hopefully show off some of my paintwork in the future. In the meantime, I'm playing around with possible paint schemes for an as yet unidentified band of Orks and what will almost certainly be another Ultramarine squad. Hence the name of this blog.