Epic Armageddon and Specialist Games update

It's been rather a long time since an update for various life related reasons which need not be mentioned here. As a result, I've rather neglected 'the hobby', but I'm pleased to be back with a vengeance. I'm mooting joining a gaming club (which I've never done before) so that I don't have to rely on the odd one or two friends who fancy a game so I can get some regular experience. With that in mind, I've purchased the Forgeworld book Monsterous Arcanum and the rather spectacular warpfire dragon. I'm going for a dark purple colour scheme with very few colours otherwise, just some extreme highlights. Considering it's a resin/plastic hybrid, it came together very easliy. I greenstuffed the gaps and undercoated it black. It has currently had a few washes of naggaroth night. I will update when I've taken the time to do more!

In other news, I have now managed to purchase my own copy of Warhammer Quest (after months of deliberating!). I was also surprised, and rather pleased, at finding all three treasure packs inside (something not mentioned on the listing). I think I could open up my own Specialist Games shop now that I'm the proud owner of this, along with Necromunda, Warhammer Quest, Space Hulk (1st and 3rd editions), Dreadfleet and Mordheim.

My current flight of fancy is Epic Armageddon and I'm building up a good collection of Eldar and Space Marines. I have recently purchased the Forgeworld Epic Warhound titans and will show some images once I've assembled them and given them a coat of paint.

A you can see from the images, the troops are mostly accounted for - I now need to build up the vehicles. What you can't see in the images above are the Forgeworld wave serpents which will be transports for either the guardians or some of the aspect hosts. I hope to update much more regularly now, as long as my searches for Epic Tyranids don't bankrupt me!

GW Limited Editions?

I've been getting a bit of an Ebay bug recently looking out for classic GW products. I recently sold my copy of Man O War and I fancy using the profit to purchase something from the specialist games range. I know I'm not the only one who can't stop myself from searching for those really hard to find minis, like Epic Tyranids, Necromunda gangers etc. etc. Oh and looking at just how much another copy of Warhammer Quest will go for (there is one currently selling for £102 with 7 days remaining!).

With the Games Workshop's limited release of Space Hulk last year, it's had me thinking about how else they could make some easy money (which is important in the current climate) but also please thousands of gamers. Would a series of limited releases over the next few years not become a goldmine for the GW? Whilst I'm not an expert on the profit/loss margins, I'm certain that they made an absolute killing on the Space Hulk release last year. £60 sold a few thousand times, in full knowledge that all the sets would be sold with the limited edition label, with no need for additional releases (such as extra minis etc.) - it was surely a win-win situation for our favourite games manufacturer.

With that in mind, I've come up with a few suggestions for the Games Workshop which could both make them money but also satisfy the cravings of many a veteran gamer.

1. Warhammer Quest: whilst I never got into this when it was released (1995), I did like the premise (a much better version of Heroquest, a classic from the late 80s!) and the fact that a number of individual characters were released to add to the already huge game. It currently sells for over £100 regularly on Ebay and a limited run by GW (perhaps with a few of the additional character sets) would be a certain winner and, in the spirit of causing the least impact on the now three system GW.

2. Necromunda: now I know that the gangs can be purchased from the GW website, but the release I'm thinking of here is the original boxed game - in particular, the brilliant urban scenery which accompanied it.

Again, complete box sets go for £70-80 on Ebay and this would be another surefire winner. Whilst it's probably more lucrative for GW to push the selling of the Imperial Sector and other 40k terrain kits, the romanticism of the Necromunda box set would surely be much more appealing. They could even include two new gangs (Escher, Van Saar or Delaque instead of Goliath and Orlock?) to ensure they sell within a few days.

3. Tyranid Attack: now this might seem like a bit of a left-field suggestion but I remember being more impressed with this than some of the Space Hulk campaigns because of the seemingly endless map (there were 6 board tiles and when the first tile was empty of troops, it was rolled around to the end creating an almost never-ending map).

Furthermore, not only were there genestealers with the game but tyranid warriors with ranged weapons! And the tyranid minis themselves were huge (to my adolescent eyes) compared to the scouts who were fighting against them. This game could be released in exactly the same way as the recent Space Hulk game - no additional support or minis would be required and it would be another lucrative sell for the GW. I can also see many gamers using their tyranid collection to add to the game (imagine the impact of a carnifex or hive tyrant?!). This could be done because the board tiles in the game were much larger than the cramped Space Hulk corridors.

4. Mordheim: as with the Necromunda suggestion above, my suggestion here is for a re-release of the original boxed game with the brilliant scenery which was included. These regularly sell for over £40 on Ebay and sets of scenery alone sell for just as much suggesting that GW are really missing a trick by not stocking the game any more.

5. Epic: Armageddon Tyranids: this suggestion is probably the least likely to appeal to the Games Workshop but again, would be unbelievably lucrative. For reasons unbeknown to many, almost as soon as the Tyranid minis had been released for Epic 40,000 (in 1998 if my memory serves me correctly), they were shelved, as was the entire system (to be replaced by Epic: Armageddon in 2003).

The epic scale tyranids are now the most sought after and expensive minis I have ever come across. The tyranid titans like the heirophant and dominatrix are quite readily available and sell for about £30 but boxes of the rank and file troops sell for upwards of £50. Even a small run by GW would sell out almost immediately and since they offer no support for Epic: Armageddon (other than selling minis), they wouldn't need to start following a tyranid release. As is the theme running through this list, it would merely serve to satisfy the craving of many veteran gamers and would make them a shedload of money. They could conceivably release an army box set (as they did in 1997 with Space Marines, Orks and Eldar) which could bring costs down.

This list probably sounds like the desperate ramblings of a GW addict but the Specialist games of old were some of the best things GW have ever produced. Look at the current Forgeworld advance orders of the Badab War (which Epic: Armageddon Swordwind is based upon) - the ability to create SM armies which are different to the norm, those which hark back to some of the GW classics, are sure to have great appeal.

I know I've missed off a number of GW games which have a huge following (Man O War being the most obvious - but since no minis are currently available, I dismissed it as being too much effort for GW to consider bothering with, oh and Gorkamorka) but the list is an attempt at being cost effective and therefore a viable option for the next few years. I am going to send this list to GW (or maybe just Jervis) and wait for a reply. Maybe, just maybe, one of my suggestions could be realised.

Epic Armageddon Space Marine Army Almost Finished

Here are some pictures of my EA Space Marine army which is almost finished. The pictures don't seem to show it too well but there is shading and highlighting on the minis - honest! The longest task were the shoulder trims but they unify the army (aside from the obvious yellow). 'Why Imperial Fists?' you might ask, no other reason than there was a guide to painting them in the Epic 40,000 boxed game and I've never painted up an Imperial Fists army.

With the various upgrades, this force comes out at 3175 points (using the standard SM list on the GW website). It gives me 8 activations each turn in a game of Epic Armageddon which is good enough to react and adapt to most situations.

As can be seen in the image above, I have yet to finish the vindicators and obviously, the bases of the troops need to be flocked. I'm undecided as to whether to base the tanks. It will avoid unnecessary wear and tear but I like the tanks as they are at the moment, so I'll decide at a later date.

The assault formation has some simple conversions using paper clip wire to lift some of the marines off their bases.

I've yet to play an Apocalypse game and whilst if the opportunity arose, I would not say no, the sheer amount of troops that you can field in an EA game more than make up for the lack of Apocalypse games (and it's considerably cheaper!).

Ork Overload

Just a few bits and bobs. I bought a few Epic Armageddon pieces from ebay including an Ork Gargant and two gunfortresses. This has taken my Epic Ork army to 2500 points, which will prove useful for the Planetary Empires campaign I intend to run.

The red gunge on the gargant is the basecoat leftover from the previous owner (and apparantly gallons of superglue!). I used white spirit and nail varnish remover to get rid of most of it but the corners and nooks have proved difficult, as you can see. Thankfully, the gunfortresses only had a white undercoat, which will be must easier to paint over.

The other thing I've done (inbetween holidays) is to prepare some Ork nobz in mega-armour. This was the first attempt at pinning metal minis and it seems to have been successful - the proof will be once I've painted and then glued them. I plan to use this technique with other 'heavy' metal minis (old chaos knights etc.).

I'm now really looking forward to getting my hands on the new Planetary Empires set - 40k campaigns ahoy!

Epic Armageddon

I've taken a break from the Salamanders for a moment to consider where I'm going with them. With Gw being all about Apocalypse at the moment, and me not having the money, space or time to play an Apocalypse game, I've been thinking about how to push into campaign play whilst being able to have an Apocalypse style game. My solution? Epic Armageddon (EA)! I've dug out a copy of Epic 40000 (ebay is great for old GW games) and starting painting up a Space Marine force (and an Ork one waiting in the aisles) which can be inserted into a campaign to enable a huge meeting of armies. Forgeworld have some brilliant Epic minis which I will add in the future to the current force. Whilst the new 40k stompa looks great, logistically I've not the patience to paint it (nor the necessary paints) or the space to store one of them, but with EA I've got 3 already and a gargant on the way. Similarly, I'm keeping a good eye on ebay for a SM titan, either a warlord or warhound titan. It's quite refreshing to be modelling in 6mm scale because even my humble 4'x4' gaming table enables a huge amount of epic troops. The differing ruleset to EA is also good - it's taken me a good few weeks to understand exactly how it all works (the post on BOLS was invaluable) and a few practice games have shown me the basics (and some glaring tactical errors on my part!).
Rumours from WD have recently mentioned a way of using the Mighty Empires set for 40k which would be great for my campaign thoughts. I'm looking at a potential Eldar army to add to my Epic minis because of the superb titans available (and will also be a substitute for my 40k Eldar army). My fiancee labelled me a 'whore-hammer' the other day for dipping in and out of so many GW games - but in my defence, there is method in my madness.
I've also been scouring the internet for any local gaming groups, but there don't appear to be any. Does anyone know of any way of finding them?