Craftworld Alaitoc - Assembling a Warhost Pt1

In September of 1988, I'd just turned 13, and was in the 3rd year of my time at High School.

By this time, I was in the wargaming hobby, but had yet to buy myself an army, but with the release of that month's White Dwarf, that was to change, and a life long obsession with one particular race began...

White Dwarf 105 for me, is in many ways as important than the now classic White Dwarf 127 (more of that later).

From the moment I saw the cover, with the beautiful Dave Gallagher artwork, I knew I was hooked.

A hoed figure leaping over a stern faced clown with a skeletal-clad warrior hiding the foreground? All the colours, contrasting with the death-like figure, weapons blazing at an unseen enemy... this was an army I wanted to find out as much as I could!

The article on the Harlequins began to tease at the fate of the Eldar, the fight between the Laughing God and Slaanesh, the god created by the excesses of the Eldar Race in ancient times, how the Harlequins told the tales of the doomed race through a dance, which whilst beautiful was both tragic and deadly...

It also told of the Craftworlds which the Harlequins visited, the immense space ships upon which the remaining Eldar lived their lives, floating across the galaxy, desperately trying to avoid the fate which befell their ancestors.

The Army its itself was a thing of great fun  - as was the case with most armies at the time, it made for brilliant skirmish level forces, with each Troupe member having a role to play (plus extras which haven't made it into the modern day such as the Great Avatar, the Warlock and High Warlock), and was fun to use.

However, a spark was lit in me- I wanted to know more about the Craftworlds - who were these Eldar?

White Dwarf 127 gave us the answers.

Much has been written about this seminal issue, by writers greater than I - and I strongly recommend you visit Gav Thorpe's Blog for an interview with Jes Goodwin to read more on how the Eldar came to life from the main designer himself.

Needless to say, from both the artwork, the models, and the accompanying stories I was hooked - a doomed race, living life by a strict code in order to avoid repeating its past, the colourful Aspect Warriors who fought alongside the rank and file of the Guardians, the Farseers and Warlocks, and the Godlike Avatar... here was my army.

The question was, which Craftworld would I choose?

Shortly after the release of the Aspect Warriors and the army list, Games Workshop released a new set of Eldar Guardians - a hybrid metal / plastic kit, this made adding Guardians to your army quite simple.

Both the box and the accompanying White Dwarf article used a scheme which I was familiar with and liked - blue bodies, yellow helmets, which was to become the colour scheme of the Craftworld Alaitoc.

I chose this colour scheme to be my own, and now, over 20 years later, I still use this scheme - here's some of the units that I currently have in my army:

Classic Eldar Guardians, used in my current army as Storm Guardians - the arms and weapons are plastic, the bodies metal - a real pain to build, but so full of character!

A Farseer and Warlock Conclave.  The Farseer and several of the Warlocks date back to 1990 when I bought them, stripped and repainted recently.

Wraithguard - a relatively new plastic kit, one that's full of character and a joy to build and paint!

War Walkers - I've also got a squad of three of the original metal Walkers to add to the army shortly!

Vyper Attack Bikes - fast and deadly!

Wave Serpent Transport 

And a variant of the Wave Serpent - this was the original Forgeworld Kit before Citadel released the all plastic Kit - I prefer this one I have to say, and wish I had more of them!

Forgeworld Hornet light attack skimmer - very much like the Vyper, the Hornet is fast and packs a punch!

I'll be showcasing more of the units, and the stories behind them in coming posts - in the meantime, please let me know what you think of them, and your favourite Craftworld!

Rolling the Dice...

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.
Warhammer 40,000.
Necromunda.
Blood Bowl.
Dungeons & Dragons.
Ludo.
Monopoly.
Craps.


The one thing that ties all of these games together is the use of dice - polyhedral lumps, either numbered or 'pipped' to denote a randomly generated number, between a range decided on by the number of faces the die has.

I've collected hundreds over the years, from tiny 4 sided dice to large, almost spherical 30 sided dice, all for use in my various games.

Just some of the Polyhedral sets I own - primarily produced by Chessex.

Apart from the polyhedral sets I seem to buy on a monthly basis, my main source of dice is Games Workshop.  Handily, what GW tend to do is bring out a set of faction - specific dice each time a faction is refreshed, or an edition of the game is released.  

GW Released dice - some of the nicest themed dice around!

There are a few things I look for in dice sets that I'm going to use in regular play:

• Are they of a good quality?
• Are the sides readable at a distance of 2 feet?
• Is the pack they come in durable?
• Do they roll 'true'?

You'll notice that I put rolling 'true' at the end of the list - this is because the majority of dice do roll true (i.e they're not badly weighted), or at least true enough as to not be a problem in casual gaming (we're not on about casinos here after all)- there are plenty of blogs out there cleverer than me who have opined at length about the rules of probability and the effect weighting dice has on that... so I won't get all Math Professor over that side!

So, here's a few sets from the last few years of GW, alongside their relative pros and cons (as I see them):

Harlequin Dice, 2014:

Presented in a tin, with a poly insert, these 10nr,  16mm 6 sided dice are translucent, with pips for 2-6 and a Harlequin icon in place of the Nr1.  The dice have a sheen about them in the plastic which gives a colour changing holographic effect to the interior, as if the dice are shimmering (which is in keeping with the Harlequin hold-field technology).

PROS: The tin is hardwearing and nicely presented, the shimmer effect is beautiful

CONS: There's only 10 of them - it would have been great to have a full tin, rather than half a tin full.  it would have been nicer to have the icon on the 6th face, rather than the 1st to denote a great success rather than failure, the poly insert feels a little cheap

Eldar Aspect Dice, 2017

Presented in a plastic pot with a removable lid, these 20nr 10mm 6 sided dice are bright bright green in colour, with numbers on each of the 6 faces, alongside the icon for the Eldar Striking Scorpion Aspect Shrine.  A set of dice was released for each of the Aspects, including Dire Avengers (deep blue), Dark Reapers (black), Swooping Hawks (grey blue), Fire Dragons (orange) and Howling Banshees (bone).  The pot is great for carrying the dice around, if not a little snug (the rounded sides of the pot doesn't allow for a uniform 'cube' to be fitted in the pot). 

PROS: There's 20 dice in a set - which is enough to cover their use as shooting and wounding dice for Eldar, they're colourful

CONS: Because there's an icon on each face, the number is smaller than it could be, making them a little difficult to make out at a distance

Daughters Of Khaine Dice, 2018

And so on to our last offering in this brief run down - the recently release Daughters of Khaine dice set.

The dice are presented in a hinged cardboard case, decorated with the artwork from the Daughters of Khaine Battletome, with a plastic lidded insert.

The dice, 20nr 16mm dice are split into two colours, a deep, marbled midnight blue and a pale white marble.  The dice have stylised pips (in pale blue and red), with icons on both the 1st and 6th sides.  

PROS: The dice are some of the nicest I've seen in terms of colour.

CONS: Hmm... the use of icons on both the 1st and 6th sides is a little confusing, and I think in terms of actual game use will take some getting used to in terms of which is which. The packaging is also the poorest of the lot, feeling throwaway, rather than to be used as storage of the dice. The card is quite thin, and the plastic insert flimsy. I can see me decanting these to a dice bag long term, which is a shame.

I can only assume that this change in style, between the use of the pots (which came in two sizes dependent on whether they contained 10mm or 16mm dice) to the cardboard slips is down to a refresh of design, or the use of a different manufacturer, to ensure that more dice sets can be made available (the older dice sets were notorious for being scarce, with some fetching 3 and 4 times their RRP on Ebay).  If this is the case, then it's a good trade off.

Of course, the new Daughters of Khaine dice didn't come alone.... 

But more of these in a future post!

Necromunda - Painting House Orlock!

Following on from my last post, I've now completed the first 10 House Orlock!

The kit itself is great. Easy to put together, with enough options to make several load outs (and plenty more should you be in the converting habit..which I am), Games Workshop have crammed so much into one sprue it's unbelievable!

The Orlock Sprue (front and back)

The instructions in the box allow you to build the 'recommended' gang layout, and also gives the various optional builds as well, and are well laid out:

So Many Options!

Painting:

As noted last time, I've gone with a paint scheme based on the style of AKIRA - specifically, the character of Kaneda.

The colours used were:

Jackets and fatigues: Mephiston Red, washed with Carroburg Crimson, highlighted with Evil Suns Scarlet and Wild Rider Red

Undershirt and sash: Ushabti Bone, washed with Seraphim Sepia, highlighted with Flayed One Flesh

Boots, Shoulder Pads: Forgeworld Corax Black, washed with Nuln Oil, highlighted with Mechanicum Standard Grey

Metals: Leadbelcher, washed with Nuln Oil and highlighted with Ironbreaker

Bases: Leadbelcher and Screaming Bell, washed with Agrax Earthshade.

All in all, they were very easy to put together and paint! 

Next up: House Goliath...

Necromunda - Bitten by the Bug!

Ah, new games..!

When the first Necromunda came out, I was in my early 20's, and loved it. I still have some of my original Orlock gangers, now stripped back from the frankly appalling paint jobs I gave them!

The original packing for the Gangs back in the 90's...

What remains of my 1st House Orlock Gang!

For those who don't follow the various games from GW, Necromunda is a skirmish level war-game, which can be played on a board (the Underhive) or on multiple levels (the Spires) giving a huge range of tactical options to the players.

Each player takes control of a Gang - of which there are six - chosen from the Noble Houses of Hive Primaris;

Escher - Mistresses of Poison and Drugs
Orlock - The House of Steel
Goliath - the Forgebrutes
Cawdor - The largest, and poorest House, religious fanatics
Delaque - Masters of intrigue and spy craft
Van Saar - Techno lords

Of the six, I've always gravitated to Orlock and Escher - they scream 90's metal bands to me, all leather coats, studs and BIG HAIR!

So, I've bought the main box, which contains both Escher and Goliath gangs (enough to start both), but this past weekend allowed me chance to purchase the new Orlocks early... a chance I didn't pass up!

The new Orlocks!

Flipping through different schemes, and looking at the minis, I wanted to paint mine in a way that would make them stand out a little.  Whilst I was looking at them, and browsing the internet, a film from 1988 was playing in the back ground... one of my all time favourites..

AKIRA.

An animated movie, based on a 2000 page Manga of the same name, AKIRA tells the story of a gang of biker youths in Neo-Tokyo, a hive of gangs, unrest and strange goings on... it was settled - I'd be painting my Orlocks to match the head of the gang - a youth named Kaneda:

Character study of Kaneda by Katsuhiro Otomo

In uncharacteristically short space of time, I've now got a fully painted gang! These have took me a little over 12 hours to paint, and I've enjoyed every minute of it!

The whole Gang! Love the Harpoon gun!

The Gang Leader - showing the 'pill' detail on the back of the jacket

The plan is to buy a 2 box when they're on full release to add in more weapon options, and then another box when the trailed weapon expansion packs are released.

In terms of building the minis, they're great to put together - there's enough scope to convert the gangers in multiple manners with little difficulty, and I can easily see ways to swap parts with the Cadian Imperial Guard kits, to allow for even further customisation.

Now to choose which Gang to tackle next - or do I do the Hired Guns?

New Year New Army - the 1st 1000 points painted!

In every project there are milestones - and this years #newyearnewarmy project (Word Bearer Chaos Marines) has reached a pretty good one quickly!

Starting on New Year's Day, I've now painted 1000 points of the army, which has been great fun.

There is:

Lorgar (Daemon Prince):

Squad of 5 Chaos Marines:

Squad of 10 Chaos Marines:

20 Cultists:

6 Raptors:

A Forgefiend:

Along with a few partially painted units, I took on my friend Josh's Dark Angels yesterday for their first ever fight..

The Mission was 'Secure and Control' - each player places an objective marker in their deployment zone (which in this case was the 'Search and Destroy' version - table quarters). Suspecting Josh would be taking fast Ravenwing units on the whole, I knew I had to deal with those as quickly as I could... 

Which worked for a few rounds as I tied up his Ravenwing bikers with the Forge Fiend, and wth the assistance of some deep striking Oblitorators (yet to be shown here) I took out most of his Land Speeders... 

Problem was, even with a few bikes left, he was still able to reach my objective by turn 6 whilst I languished trying to take out his units that had dug in!

So unfortunately it was a 4-2 loss to me (my points came from First Blood and Linebreaker, Josh's from Linebreaker and Capture the Objective).

Still, I learned a few things, got a taste for the army and I'm looking forward to our next tussle!

First squad of the army done! 

They're relatively easy to paint:

Armour:

Black undercoat

Khorne Red basecoat

Carroburg Crimson wash

Squig Orange edge highlight

Trim:

Leadbelcher Base

Nuln Oil wash

Ironbreaker edge highlight

Horns:

Rakarth Flesh base

Agrax Earthshade wash

Ushabti Bone highlight

Lenses:

Sybarite Green

I then added script using Ulthuan Grey.

The bases are:

Mechanicum Grey base

Agrax Earthshade wash

Screaming Skull drybrush

All nice and easy, if not the quickest way to paint them!

Building the Word Bearers - Week 1

'It's called treachery, Roboute. It works very well'

The months of planning were beginning to show signs of progress.  Men and materials moved from surface to ship, the Dark Gods having calmed the storms that lashed the world for millennia.  

Lorgar turned to look out over the preparations, seeing for himself that even after thousands of years of depredation, of worship to the true Gods, his sons were still the masters of the martial skills ingrained into their very being, serried ranks of men clad in crimson, bone and steel, Apostles interspersed between their lines, checking on devotional scripts carved into the armour,  awaiting their boarding slots.  None of the bickering, petty machinations of self styled Warlords here, just the most devoted followers of their Father.

Week one has seen me planning the first 1000 points to be painted. This is always a little nerve racking, as I can't take all the toys I want, but have to make sure I cover all tactical bases!

With the Word Bearers, it's pretty easy to pick in some cases - lots of infantry, little in the way of heavy armour was always the Way of Lorgar... but with the inclusion of Daemon Engines, this can be rectified...

So I've chosen, based around the Battalion Force Organisation Chart (to make sure I get the Command Points - they're so useful):

HQ:

Daemon Prince (Lorgar Himself)

Dark Apostle (which I'm going to use the Forgeworld Zardu Layak model for)

Troops:

20 Chaos Cultists (Champion, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber, 17 Cultists)

10 Chaos Marines (Aspiring Champion with Power Fist, Flamer, 8 Marines)

5 Chaos Marines (Aspiring Champion with Power Fist, Flamer, 3 Marines)

Heavy Support:

Forgefiend (Ectoplasma Cannons)

Fast Attack:

6 Raptors (Champion with Lightning Claws, 2 Meltas, 3 with Bolt Pistol & Chainsword)

The first to be painted was of course, Aurelian himself - Lorgar, Daemon Prince of the Word Bearers Legion...

The Forgeworld Model is stunning - it oozes arrogance in the stance, the superior outlook of the devoted man intent on purifying the galaxy in the name of his father, the God Emperor.  To change this into the Daemon Prince he becomes was pretty easy - a head swap with a Khorne Champion, the inclusion of a Possessed arm and a change to the back pack to give it the more flared vents of the Chaos Marine....

In terms of painting I used the Word Bearers Red as the base for the armour, with gold trim.

Up next is the first squad of Marines!