Salamanders' Chaplain

Here are some photos of the Salamanders' Chaplain which was really fun to paint. Normally I find small details difficult to paint consistently, but the model looks great and so this didn't bother me. Tried a few different painting methods (using some of the techniques listed in WD357, namely the shoulder pad and the crozius arcanum) which seem to have worked well and the washes were invaluable for the many scrolls.

The Chaplain will lead my assault squad and with all the special rules he comes with, the squad assaults with 14 attacks, with re-rolls for failed hits, 6 of which ignore armour saves and the squad is fearless. Brilliant!

Assault Squad and Salamanders' Army

Here are the finished assault squad I was painting up. Used a thunder hammer and storm shield from an old terminator for the sergeant (actually a terminator I bought for the original Space Hulk!). Armed another of the SMs with a plasma pistol. Never used one of them before so it will be interesting to see if they're worth it.

Here is my Salamanders army as it stands and it's only taken a year to get to this point! Honnestly though, despite being a collector for years, I have rarely ever got around to completely painting an army but determination, and this blog (as well as the helpful comments from readers) have helped to spur me on. I also feel my painting skills have improved (obviously still have much to learn!).

The list for the above is as follows:

HQ: Space Marine Captain - boltgun, power sword, artificer armour, hellfire rounds

ELITES: Terminator (x5)

ELITES: Dreadnought - extra armour

TROOPS: Tactical squad (x10) - flamer, missile launcher, sgt. has chainsword and melta bombs

FAST ATTACK: Assault squad (x5) - plasma pistol, thunder hammer, storm shield, melta bombs

I've got another tactical squad to add, a command squad (an old Blood Angels' Honour Guard with the iconography removed) and a chaplain to lead the assault squad (which I'm going to work on next).

Since this is the first 'proper' Space Marine army I've collected, I'm not really sure what I need to add to the list. I was thinking about the ubiquitious rhino but then what?

Space Marine Commander completed

Here is the finished commander. Two posts in one day! Can you tell it's the holiday?

WIP Space Marine Commander

Here are some photos of the SM commander from AoBR. Reasonably pleased with it so far.


I looked for some inspiration regarding the cloak - since the army are Salamanders I couldn't have the ubiquitious red cloak for fear of the christmas effect.
In the end I went for a dheneb stone base, thraka green wash, highlighted with rotting flesh and finally bleached bone. The result was the photo below.

I felt the cloak was a bit bare so I decided to add something. What it is, I'm not entirely sure. I can't tell if it's ruined the model or if it's ok. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. What could I replace it with if it is rubbish?!

Salamanders' dreadnought

In the midst of all the Space Hulk excitement, I managed to make the time to finish painting up the dreadnought from Assault on Black Reach.

I quite enjoy painting up vehicles and large creatures - they don't seem to take as long and the details are easier to paint!

Also did a small conversion for my second tactical squad. I want to make the sergeant stand out so I'm giving him a storm bolter and a power fist. Since being equipped with a power fist doesn't confer any extra attacks with another close combat weapon, it seems a waste to merely leave him with a bolt pistol.

All I did for the conversion was to take a bolt pistol arm from the tactical squad sprue and chop of the bolt pistol. I then took a storm bolter from one of the AoBR terminators and took that off and attached them. The only other issue was that the ammo feed pointed in towards the body (it was from the right arm of the terminator and this was on the left arm of the sergeant) so one quick slice later and some glue re-attached it the right way around.

Currently have an assault squad, command squad and tactical squad to finish. By the time that's done, Space Hulk will be released and I will be reverting to Blood Angels.

Space Hulk: first play through

Went to my local GW store today and they had a copy of Space Hulk to prepare for the September 5th release. As a result, I was lucky enough to play the game and understand the rules, both as Space Marines and the genestealers.

The game mechanics are similar to the 1st edition with a few (important) additions.

The Space Marines have 4 action points (AP) and the genestealers have 6. Space Marines can also randomly pick command points (CP) (from 1-7) to add to any actions during a turn. They also have a time limit of 3 minutes to move, shoot and complete their entire turn! The genestealers have no such time limit.

It takes 1AP to move and fire, open a door, turn 90 degrees and start a close combat action. It takes 2AP to go on overwatch and this enables the terminators to fire at a moving genestealer (during the genestealer turn), once for every square they move. It also takes 2AP to move backwards one square.

Storm bolters roll 2D6 and kill on a 6. If the terminator stands still and fires (sustained fire), the second shot kills on a 5 or 6. Bulkheads can also be destroyed on a 6 although the chainfist can automatically destroy a bulkhead for 1AP.

The terminator armed with the heavy flamer is one to protect since a number of missions require rooms to be set on fire. The flamer template is placed on a tile and also ignites every square around it. This can kill genestealers on a 2+ and remains on fire until the next Space Marine turn. Very handy for limiting genestealer movement but the ammo is limited to 6 shots!

The thunder hammer is great rolls 2D6 and forces the genestealer to lose 1 attack. Similarly, lightning claws roll 2D6 +1. The standard attacks for terminators in 1D6.

Similar to overwatch, terminators armed with close combat weapons can go on 'guard' (for 2AP) which means they can force genestealers to re-roll one attack.

The genestealers have 3 attacks in close combat and whoever scores the highest kills the other. The terminator captains have +1 in close combat and can force a re-roll.

The broodlord is stupidly hard - it requires double 6 to kill with a storm bolter and has a similar rule in close combat.

The librarian has 20 psi-points which can be used to cast psychic powers or be added to dice rolls (much like might in LOTR) and is therefore one to protect (but is also one of the only Space Marines who can take on the broodlord).

The game was brilliant to play - the mission we played involved the terminators trying to burn two rooms (which housed barely-alive techmarines which the genestealers were using to breed more genestealers). It is really hard to win as the Space Marines simply because the 'stealers are neverending. The randomness of the blips is good, both for the Marines and genestealers and the game hinges on every dice roll.

I cannot wait to get my hands on it now! Will be playing more Space Hulk over the next few weeks prior to the official release.

Space Hulk Revealed

So it's finally been revealed. Possibly the worst kept secret, but it's what everyone's been expecting and it looks awesome.

The one issue? Strictly limited edition. And aren't they going to be worth something in a few years!

12 Terminators including a librarian and 23 genestealers including a broodlord. The fluff on the GW website says there are deadend tunnels too - I wonder if there's going to be an element of surprise (similar to Heroquest) where the full layout of the map isn't revealed straight away. Not entirely sure how that would work without a gamesmaster but we'll wait and see.

The minis look awesome, the board is similar to the old editions - let's just hope the rules are like the 1st edition and not the 2nd.

I've already pre-ordered mine - I suggest you all do the same.

Now, where's my cup for those command points...

Space Hulk take 3?

Back in the day I used to play a lot of Space Hulk. And I mean a lot. That and Tyranid Attack were the beginning of my foray into GW. Simple to understand, great minis (well, the genestealers, not the terminators particularly) and quick to play, they got me hooked from far too early an age.

I didn't bother with the Second Edition, despite the fact the minis were much better than the First Edition, because the rules were simplified far too much (similar to the 3rd Edition 40K rules I believe) and also due to the fact I was still enjoying the expansions - Deathwing and Genestealer.

Now it seems that the rumour on the grapevine is that a Third Edition of Space Hulk is being released. Whilst it's difficult to find the fact amongst the fiction in the rumours, the basics will be the same but some are suggesting there will be 2 metal minis - a broodlord (or in my opinion, even better would be a genestealer patriarch - remember the version of one sitting on a throne?) and a Terminator Captain or librarian.


Some of the rumours (and I think this is where it gets a little far fetched) have suggested that the new edition will include 3D terrain. The implications of making this are tremendous and far too much for a £50 boxed set. Aside from 3D doors (which were the classic card and base in the original), I doubt we will be seeing a 3D space hulk anytime soon. The picture below is of a 3D Space Hulk board and it's huge, each square had to be 2"x2" in order to allow for the new size terminators and genestealers.

What this whole rumour (and I hope it's true) seems to suggest is that there is a huge market for the old board games that GW used to make. From Man O' War (of which I've already written about) to Warhammer Quest and Tyranid Attack, these games provided an exciting and worthwhile aside from the main systems. It is a shame GW felt the need to stop these.

The final rumour I've heard which is of the most concern is that the Third Edition of Space Hulk may be limited edition and there might not be enough to go around. If this is the case, whilst being a clever marketing ploy by the GW, they should understand that there will be many, many gamers, myself included, who will be desperate to get their hands on this new edition and they will have to face a demanding public if there are not enough published!