Unexpected Heroes

This post by Admiral Drax got me thinking about the Imperial Guard.

Like all armies out there, the Imperial Guard have their basic troopers with the "base" stat line for the army, some elite troops with slightly better stat lines, and "heroes" with the highest stat lines.  There's always been something about that that didn't seem right to me with respect to the Imperial Guard.

Grey Knights

(Note: All these pictures are taken either from GW's website or from a mass e-mailing)

I've been awaiting the arrival of the Grey Knights with anticipation.  Although I'm not really in a position to start up yet another army right now, I'd been looking forward to seeing what the new models were going to look like.  I had heard rumors that the new Dreadknight was "hideous", but it was hard to tell from the one blurry image we got.  Then I got the standard press release e-mail from GW.

My initial response to this was...eh.

Nothing really to write home about here, either.

Or here.  Although I have to stay this obsession with really wide stances for terminators lately to make them seem bigger is bordering on ridiculous.  These guys are in serious danger of groin pulls...

But I wanted to see a little more detail so I went to check out GW's website.

This is a small image, but I like the sword on the Dreadknight a heck of a lot better than the hammer.  And since the model's plastic, that's a big plus, so I'm already imagining all sorts of conversion work I could do on this guy to give him a really dynamic pose.

The Grey Knights themselves are pretty cool, and I like all the options that are available.  The move to plastic is a good one.

Same goes for the terminators...

...which can get pretty complex.

I'm not all that impressed with Lord Kaldor Draigo though.  I mean, the model has tons of great detail--the shield is amazing, but...  I just think that in a horde of baroque Grey Knights, this guy just isn't going to stick out all that much.

In the end, I'm pretty impressed with the new offerings--I'm really tempted to pick up the Dreadknight at some point.

Brazen Claw Command Group Part 1

I'm getting very close to finishing my Brazen Claws, so I figured I'd post progress on them as I go.

This model is a conversion of a Terminator Captain which will serve as my Chapter Master. The original model had a storm bolter and power sword, I think it's only fitting that the Chapter Master of the Brazen Claws be armed with Lightning Claws...

Sawed off parts of the plastic lightning claws and parts of the metal arms of the mini.

Supergluing the lightning claws in place was pretty easy--now I just need to fill in the gaps with green stuff.

Snow Day

Two feet of snow on the ground, at least, and yesterday we got another six inches or so, with another six or so planned for this morning.  Rather than drive to work in a whiteout, I took the day off.  Fortunately, my condo complex has landscapers, do I didn't have to do shoveling other than digging the car out.

A benefit of a snow day is that I have some some to paint up some miniatures, so I was able to do up these two guys yesterday:

I know that two isn't much, but I guess I paint slowly. I'll take what I can get.

The Miniatures Disease

It's been six months since I've bought any miniatures, a fact that shocks and awes me. Due to various other factors, I've had to put down my paintbrushes and do other things for three months.

But recently I've been able to get back into the game, albeit slowly. I've painted a pair of miniatures, and I'm approaching completion of my Brazen Claws company--a long term project.

When I spent those three months not painting, it was easy to forget about it--or rather, I'd think about 40k, but not too deeply. Yet as soon as I started painting again, I started thinking about it. New projects to work on, new ideas for armies.

I still have many projects to complete, and a mountain of miniatures still in boxes unpainted. But I can't help but think of new things I want to do. It's amazing how quickly the addiction consumes you once you get back into it.

• I still need to complete my Brazen Claws.
• I still need to complete my Ork Land Battleship.
• I still have my Space Hulk minis to paint
• And tons of other miniatures lying around....

And yet, I see a picture like this:

The new Shadow Spectres from Forgeworld, and I want to start making that new Eldar Army I've been dreaming of for a while.  The theme of the army is very ghost-like, and as such the Shadow Spectres would be a perfect fit.

And then the Grey Knights are coming out soon, which is exciting...

And to top it off, I still have lots of ideas for my Warhammer and LotR armies too...  Sigh.