more marines for the chapter

so last night i decided to pre-order the new forge world terminators, as well as 2 more squads worth of chapter pads so squads 2 and 4 will be carrying the chapter's colors proudly.  I'm really excited about the new terminators since they incorporate designs that would fit them into the look and feel of the 4th's power armor.

bitz order update

So little update on new conversion parts i ordered for the battle company.  I ordered new bitz to suitably modify my 2 command squads (on-foot plasma squad & biker squad) to make them stand out more as veterans, additional rifles for all the tactical squads, my 4th tactical squad,  a pait of KP tracker dials, some blip tokens when playing Zone Mortalis games, a conversion kit to make my 3rd land raider (a prometheus in MK2B style) and the colored text are orders for others that wished to join my order placement.

March 18th:
Litko Games Order:
Casualty/Damage Token Dials (2) (Material: Translucent Red)
Reanimation Dials (2)
Scanner Blip Tokens (Color: Fluorescent Amber)
Ebay Order:
Forgeworld MK5 Heresy Armour (10 models)

March 20th:
Anvil Industry Order:
Pair of Medieval Pauldrons (4 Pairs)
Spartan Torso (3)
Praetorian Torso (1)
Fusion Backpack (medieval) (4)
Medieval Shield (1)
Spartan Shield (3)
Spartan Helmet with Crest attached (8)
Widow Maker Assault Rifle (18) 
Widow Maker Assault Rifle & Scope (5)
Widow Maker Assault Rifle & Grenade Launcher (5)
Widow Maker Assault Accessories: Drum Mag (6)
Battle Axes (5)

March 25th:
Chapterhouse Studios Order:
MK2B Conversion kit for Space Marine Land Raider
Conversion Beamer Weapon and Harness Kit

Battle Company: 3rd squad is born

so i got the conversion bits to make my 3rd tactical squad, and here's a few pictures of the models with their primer coats on them already:

Battle Company: Anvil Industry bitz arrived

So i got home early from work today and was doubly rewarded by finding that the bitz i ordered from Anvil Industries for Tactical Squad 3 had arrived today.

so let's take a look at the bitz!

The postage stamp was too shiny and cool not to share:

So these are the Assault Rifles, which i had purchased 2 sets of 5:

 Here's a size comparison to a Games Workshop bolter:

 Here's the set of 5 Renaissance torsos:

 and i ordered 2 sets of 5 Medieval storm lord legs:

The legs turned out very nicely, and i might invest in more in the future for when i decide to model a few squads exclusively for Boarding Action/Zone Mortalis games.  the photo's couldn't pick it out, but those tubes on the back of the legs are in fact ribbed power lines.

Overall, i'm very happy with the detail and quality of the pieces they mailed me, and i look forward to the next time i purchase from Anvil Industries again.  Check them out in my Link Picks section on the right of the page

Battle Company Update: Transports

Got a little more work done on the transports for my tactical squads. here's the results so far

The drop pod in the middle has ChapterHouse Studios "Heresy Doors" on it.  they're a set of plates you glue onto the existing doors on the drop pod.

Closeups of the rhinos:

The first two have been magnetized so that i can remove the searchlight and place a Hunter-Killer Missile there instead:

Greenman Designs templates arrived

This morning i recieved my shipment from Greenman Designs, so i'm gonna do a little product review of the items i purchased today.

Here's the kits i ordered:
[quick measure template]

[skull template set]

[space marine vehicle templates set 1]

[turn counter]


The color i chose to order mine in is fluorescent orange, which you can see has a very nice look to it.  when looked at from an angle, the cut edges 'glow' orange, just like the official Games Workshop ones do in green.  Being that orange is one of my favorite colors, i'm very pleased with that effect.

The fluorescent templates are also transparent, again, like the Games Workshop ones.  So they're just as easy to view what models are underneath them.

The markings for measurements and descriptions on the vehicle templates are very easy to read in person as well, so there's no mistaking what they're for.

The shipping was pretty quick and showed up in a reasonable time frame as well; They shipped the templates on Feb 19th, and they arrived some time on March 9th, so almost 3 weeks all in all.  Compared the usual wait times between 6-8 weeks, that was very fast.

Overall i'm very happy with the product and can't wait for a chance to use them in a game.  If you guys reading this like the templates too and would like to check out their online store, the link is on the right in my Link Picks section.

Link Review: My Battle Report

So today's review is about My Battle Report.

This site allows you to make an auto-updating signature banner that tells your win/tie/lose score, and gives you an overall percentage rating of how often you are victorious.

The Banner itself is pretty simple; here's the one for my Space Marine chapter, the Red Scorpions:

 

As you can see, it places a shield to the left showing what codex your army uses.  When you make a new army on the site, it will ask what codex your army is based off of. this will change the colors of the shield, and the scrolling text on the parchment overlapping the shield.  Then, it places your screen name, and the name of your faction, in this case Red Scorpions, into the top of the W/T/L box.

So now we've gone over the design, let's go over how it works.

As i said before, it automatically updates the banner to show your newest stats.  This is handy if you have multiple sites you log into that allow a signature, because you won't have to go to each one and update the text to your current battle score; My Battle Report will do that for you.

When you goto the main page where it displays your army banner(s), there's a button beside the banner that says "add a new battle."  Clicking this will open a window overtop of your banner asking for the following details:

Personal Details

• Outcome (win lose tie)
• Your Leader (HQ Choice)

Opponents Details

• Real/User name
• Opponents Army (dropdown list of codexs)
• Opponents' Army Name
• Opponents' Leader (HQ Choice)

Battle Details

• Mission Type
• Deployment Type
• Total Points
• Total Turns
• Optional Link to a typed/video BatRep
• Date the game was played

 After you enter all of this, it will auto-update the banner and all the signatures you have it pasted into, to reflect the new battle details.  and if anyone clicks on your banner, they have the option of seeing a list of all the games you've played, where it'll show all the information you've typed in a nicely laid out design.

If you like to keep track of your game results, then i really recommend this site for you.  it's very easy to use and it's nice having a detailed record of all the games you played somewhere other than in your head.  check em out in My Link Picks on the right of my blog! My Battle Report.

Link review; Secret Weapon Miniatures

so tonight's review is for Secret Weapon Miniatures.

This company mainly specializes in very detailed resin bases for our models.  They also make a smattering of conversion bitz, some hobby tools, and basing materials.  I'm going to focus on their bases tonight since that's what i've purchased from them.

The bases come in a nice resin casting, much like Forge World uses, but with none of the annoying miscasting we're familiar with. (my guess is he visually checks the bases in each batch before mailing them out, since he's still a small enough company to do that sort of fan service.)

The bases are very detailed, and super nice to paint, and come in 3 main styles;
 40K's Beveled style:

Warmachine's Round Lipped style:

 And Display Plinth style:

He also sells them in a nice selection of sizes to meet the needs of any model or gaming system;
20mm, 25mm, 30mm, 40mm, 50mm, 60mm, 120mm, 95mm*120mm Ovals (Trygons/Storm Ravens, anyone?), Bikers/Cavalry, and Objective Markers.

Since most of you readers are probably 40K gamers, i'll just focus on the beveled edge bases.  There's a total of 18 styles as of the writing of this review, plus a 19th choice; Hollow Blanks.


As you can see from the category image, the core of the base is hollow, so that you could mount your model and any skulls, or dead trees, etc, into the base, and then fill it with Clear Effects to make it look like the mini is standing in a pool of water.  Or if your creative, you can mix some coloring into the clear effects and make swamp water, or blood! *muahahahahah!*

Back to the 18 styles.  To save alot of typing, i find pictures are always better, so the following is a gallery of the different base styles they cast, all in 40mm sized bases for easier viewing:

Steel Invasion

 

Bone Fields

Blasted Wetlands

Alien Invasion

Ruined Temple

Urban Rubble

Urban Streets

Urban Invasion

Flight Deck

Steel Plating

Iron Deck

Trench Works

Flagstone

Desert Basin

Desert Mesa

Desert Sands

Desert Wasteland

Runic Mountain

So that's the gallery of his designs, which you can see is a nice variation, and the other sizes of bases are all designed differently as well, so one pack of 40mm, 25mm, and 60mm bases each, will all be different; he doesn't randomize the bases that get put in your order, so the styles you see in the photo are the exact ones you will receive when you buy a pack of bases.  

And that brings me to the pricing.  Out of all the sites i've looked into, this is by far the best for both cost, and the quality of product you're paying for.  a pack of 10 25mm bases, or a pack of 5 40mm bases, or a single large oval 95x120mm base, all run for $10 a pack.  60mm bases, which there's 2 different styles for each theme, sell for $5 a base.  Biker bases sell in packs of 3, for $6.  He also does combo kits, where you get 20 (2 sets) of the 25mm bases, 5 (1 set) of 40mm bases, and 1 of each (2 total) 60mm bases, for $36.  That saves you $4 if you're planning to buy those sizes anyways.

As i also mentioned before, they sell some nice accessories as well.  One of these, being spent shell casings.  These come in packs of 50 shells for $7 to $9, depending on the weapon type.  they make shells for Bolters, Infantry-Held Heavy Bolters, Vehicle-Mounted Heavy Bolters, Dreadnought/Infantry Assault Cannons, Vehicle Assault Cannons, and Shotgun Shells.  they're all made to be the correct size that you can glue one into the ejection chamber on any of these types of guns and it'll sit in there perfectly.  And then of course, place a few extras on your bases to show the model's been firing away.

There's also a few Terrain pieces he's recently added as well that look worth mentioning, such as the 10 Gothic Tank Traps, 3.5" tall Power Generators with glowing power rods, or the 5 Jersey Concrete Barriers.  

Overall, my opinion of the products and the customer service is very satisfactory.  The product is excellent, and i think i might just order some more from them again in the future.  They were also very fast in sending out my order, and none of the bases i received, (i had ordered the ruined temple bases combo kit) had any flaws at all.  It's very nice to order resin products that don't come bent, miscasted with missing sections, or annoying bubbles.

So check em out in My Link Picks on the right of my blog here, and see if you'd like to buy something.