forge world's releasing what? sonuvabitch.

on black friday, i received the last component of my csm havoc autocannon conversion: the ammo belts.

like a kid at x-mas, i tore open the envelope, did some clipping, filing, and pinning, and finally had some pretty cool looking autocannon conversions.

the very next day forge world releases this:

yep. that's right. autocannon conversion kits. and i have to admit, they're damned sexy looking. 

i still like mine better! pics coming soon.

images property of forge world.

we do what we must, because we can...

it's not often that the concept of toy soldiers and real, honest-to-goodness science and academics gets bandied about around here, but it looks like ian cross, a political policy student at w&m working on a master's degree, is looking to complete a study on the american wargamer and political preferences.

if you're interested, you can take the survey here. since this an academic survey, please only take the survey once.

ian says there will be cake for everyone that participates.

chitag and catan

this past weekend was chitag (the chicago toy and games show), and it was packed full of interested kids and adults wandering about checking out games both old and new. i was on hand helping out chicagoland games and mayfair games.

the highlight of my day was playing a giant-sized version of settlers of catan. unfortunately, this version isn't available for purchase, but they hinted around the fact that if enough folks asked for it, mayfair games might produce a limited run. sounds like a perfect opportunity for kickstarter to me...

enjoy the pics!

here is the board just after the first couple of turns.

kent, one of dice dojo's helpers, explains the basics of settlers to a young interested gamer.

roll of a 12 and that's going to be two wheat for the white player, and one for the red...

winner with the longest road (2victory points), the largest army (2 victory points), a chapel (1 victory point) ,  3 settlements (3 victory points), and a city (2 victory points). 

havoc conversion wip

i'm working on the second part to the "angry conversions" series, but in the meantime, i figured i'd share a couple of pics of the havocs as they are progressing. i've gotten all of my bitz except for the dragon forge ammo belts, but they should be in soon.

enjoy!

angry conversions part one: the plan

i’ll be the first to admit that my relationship with games workshop is not what would be termed a healthy one. their sometime inconsistently written rules, inflexible formats, infrequent and confusing erratas, and disregard of hobby goodwill occasionally drives me to swear “never again, goddammit.”

but like the protagonist from a lifetime television movie, i keep coming back for more.

and an entry in the chaos space marines codex is yet another example of how gw is pissing me off yet again: csm havocs.

and here are the reasons for my ire:

• havocs, as heavy weapon troops can customize their loadout, but the box set only gives you one of each heavy weapon: lascannon, missile launcher, heavy bolter, and autocannon. i loves me some autocannon. i want four in a squad. this means spending $180 if i purchase only csm havoc boxes.
• if the models were still plastic, it wouldn’t be that much of an issue as i’d have plenty of customization options adding the extra models into other squads. but they’re finecast models now. meaning that even if i were purchase four boxes of havocs, all of my models are going to lack the dynamic posing that the plastics gave us hobbyists.
• and finally, i would also be able to order extra havoc autocannons through a bitz service if the models were injection molded plastic, and no one’s moving finecast csm autocannons on ebay.

so i’m putting my skills as a hobbyist to work. if i am going to spend a lot of money on csm havocs, they are going to be original, and look bad ass.

i want you...

...to serve papa nurgle!

i’ve already started a death guard force using the forge world conversion kits, so i want to keep that look, but i also want to play with it a bit. i want this squad to look like it’s part of the original death guard legion and to get that thirty-first millennium look, i’m going to use maxmini biohazard backpacks.

i love the way these backpacks look.

i’ll have to add a bit of green stuff here and there to get the pestilential look just right, but a light touch combined with a bit of drilling, cutting, and some clever painting should make it pay off.

for the autocannons, the plan is to use the chaos heavy bolter as the base mechanism for the weapon, and convert it up with the defiler autocannon barrels, and dragon forge’s ammo belt.

big guns need big bullets. large caliber dragon forge ammo belts

the shopping list for my conversions looks like this:

csm heavy bolter bitz x 2 - $7.98 (i’ve already got two in my bitz box)

csm defiler twin-linked autocannon bitz x 2 - $13.98

maxmini biohazard backpack set x 2 - $16.98

dragon forge ammo belt x 1 - $6

forge world death guard conversion set - $35

csm squad - $37.25

total: $117.19 (a savings of about 35% even with the forge world kits!)

that’s the plan. the second part of this series will focus on converting up the autocannons.

the csm havoc image is property of games workshop, used without permission
the death guard image is property of little mens
the maxmini biohazard backpack image is property of maxmini
the ammo belt image is property of dragon forge 

don't hesitate, visit maxmini and dragon forge for more cool stuff.

tomorrow is important...

...so make sure you know where your polling place is and know the issues on the ballot beyond the big ones. the small, local races have more impact on your day-to-day life than who's sleeping in the lincoln bedroom.

also, a lot of pundits are predicting large voter turnout, so remember that as long as you are in line, the polling place must remain open. it is the law.

real americans vote.

"welders, or for full employment after the war" - ben shahn, 1944