Horus Heresy Review: Anacharis Scoria - The Xanophane Tyrant

Good afternoon true believers and purgers of heretics,

Today I will delve into the rules of Anacharis Scoria, one of the founding fathers of the Dark Mechanicum, whose descent into techno-heresy began long before the Age of Darkness. At its outbreak he was already imprisoned away on his home forgeworld of Xana, and his release during the tumult of the Horus Heresy allowed him to set up the very first hell-forge and begin the long round to damnation that saw sentient metal beings of great predatory skill and saturated in evil take form. His darkness permeated all around him, each construct moving further from the holiness of the sacred machine spirit, guided over by the Omnissiah.

Anacharis Scoria, the Xanophane Tyrant, The Fallen Master, Lord of the Nine Cohorts, The Apostate Magister. His titles precede him and forewarn those that stand against him to beware. And so they should as his rules are utterly ruthless and dare I say he is the Dark Mechanicum's equivalent of a Primarch such is his power! Lets get on with discussing it shall we...

Unit Stats

Anacharis is pretty much a beast in all regards. His base stats are pretty damn good, but when you couple them to his equipment and special rules, all sanity books a long holiday, flips you the v and doesn't come back for a long long long time.

WS  BS  S  T  W  I  A  LD  Sv

  5      5    5  5   4  5  3   10    2+

So 5's across the board for WS, BS and S and T. So he will be hitting on 2's for shooting and he will be hitting the average schmuck on a 3+ in combat and all other foes of his caliber a 4+. He doesn't have many attacks but this is somewhat (i.e. completely) off set by some of his special rules. If you think his stats look good now, wait till you hear what his equipment can do.

Overall - TI will point out now that he is in excess of 250 points and below 300 (just split the difference), so you are paying a heavy amount, so you should be expecting something good... Read on to see how good!

Special Rules

What rules doesn't this guy have!? Lets see here:

Eternal Warrior
Adamantium Will
Stubborn
Battlesmith
Cybertheurgy
Patris Cybernetica
Feel no Pain (5+)
Independent Character
Relentless

What a list! But we aren't done... In addition Anacharis also has rules called The Rite of the beast, Homonculex and he has a fixed warlord trait (and if you take him he has to be your warlord).

The Rite of the Beast - An additional cybertheurgy power that has a -2 modifier to pass. This is cast on the whole unit instead of 1 battle automata and it grants re-roll to hit in assault as well as +1 to intiative, move and charge distances for the powers duration. Ouch! So in a legio cybernetica army you can pump a monstrous creature up to I5!!!!

The Homonculex - An odd one this, it represents a test bed automata for Scoria's newest ideas. It allows you to take an Artalax battle automata at normal cost that then also gains paragon of metal and rage for FREE. However if Scoria dies then this also dies and counts as destroyed. Shouldn't be a problem really...

Warlord Trait - Forbidden Protocols - Allows all battle automata in the same army to run and make sweeping advances (usually they are unable except within certain criteria) but if outside cortex controller range they MUST move towards and attack the closest enemy. Normally that rule only applies if an enemy is within 12" and they are outside cortex controller range. Now it just kicks in if they are out of cortex controller range. Paragon of metal model still unaffected.

Equipment

Oh boy, this is where things get serious... So what do we have, we have a mechanicum protectiva, a cyber familiar, a machinator array, a cortex controller and 2 x Archaeotech pistols. Plus the Vodian Sceptre.

So in terms of survivability, the machinator array gives Anacharis +1 toughness so he is T6! It also grant 2 additional strength +1 AP2, armourbane, shred unwieldy attacks in close combat. And has a built in flamer and meltagun that can be fired instead of his pistols if he wants.

The mechanicum protectiva grants him a 4++ that is boosted to a 3++ with his cyber familiar. So we are a T6 2+/3++ monster right now with 4 wounds AND eternal warrior...

Archaeotech pistols have the following profile: 12" S6 AP3, Master crafted - not bad at all!


But the real deal is the Vodian Scepter, this thing CAN kill primarchs, I shit you not. The Vodian Scepter is two-handed so limits the attacks on the charge or defensive, melee (duh), AP2 and the special rule Entropic Destroyer.

Entropic Destroyer: You see the Vodian Scepter doesn't have a strength value, simply whenever Anacharis HITS then EACH hit automatically causes D3 wounds to the target model or unit. Or if its a vehicle a single hull point is dealt out. BUT the real juice about these attacks that actually make this metal monster capable of taking a Primarch down is the fact that IWND and FnP rolls CANNOT be taken against these attacks. Only invulnerable saves are allowed and these wounds won't be coming back...


The only option for Anacharis which will take him up to 315 points is the Xanthanite Abeyant. This grants Anacharis +1 wound, +1 attack, IWND, move through cover, very bulky, hardened armour, AND an additional photon thruster (48" S6 AP2 heavy 2, lance blind gets hot) which can be fired in addition to his other weapons.

You are already pumping a lot of points into this guy. TAKE IT!

Utilisation

Honestly for the points you are going to spend on this chap, considering his rules as a leader of a cybernetica cohort, you need to take him with lots of battle automata. And because of the cost of that (points wise), he's going to be hard to fit into a sensible army at anything lower than 1850. Which is good! This guy IS like a Primarch, he is designed for the big battle of the Age of Darkness 2500-3000 points is great for him!

He wants to be in combat with that Vodian Scepter, mulching through units like nobodies business. To that end I would put him in a dedicated close combat unit such as Domitars or Artalaxi. If you stick him with 2 x Domitar, then not only do you have them as a wound soak but then in a Legio Cybernetica Cohort AND using Rite of the Beast these guys will put out 8 attacks on the charge at INITIATIVE 5! Which are S10 AP2 attacks that they are re-rolling to hit on 4's mostly. AND then he himself has 5 attacks on the charge which with the best rolling will give you 15 AP2 wounds that ignore FnP and IWND. At initiative 5. But then he also gets a further 2 x S6 AP2 shred/armourbane attacks at I1!

You can see how this guy can wreck everybodies day. He can also restore wounds on that unit with both cybertheurgy and also a 3+ battlesmith roll. With Anacharis, you should go big and bold, take the Abeyant option and run him full tilt at the most upsettingly expensive unit your opponent has and take it out. His attacks can even deal with hordes on a good roll, there is little he cannot destroy and as I said, even Primarchs will get a run for their money out of him!

Peace out,

Rob

Death Company and the Domitar(s)

Dear all,

Today is just a quick hobby update with a few pictures of the final 6 Death Company having been base coated and washed, so now just waiting on final highlights, gems, OSL and basing. I also found time last night to fully prep 2/3 of my Domitar models, so they were duly dunked in soapy water and given a wee bath with toothbrush scrubbing before being trimmed off the flash.

Tomorrow I will be reviewing Anacharis Scoria, one of the founding fathers of the Dark Mechanicum and also an extremely potent force on the table top, so I hope you enjoy the pictures for today :)

Peace out,

Rob

Horus Heresy Review: Emperor's Children - The Phoenician - Fulgrim the Illuminator

Hey today,

Today is the end of my Emperor's Children review in the Horus Heresy. We discuss the Primarch Fulgrim, one of the most tortured tales I feel in terms of the fallen primarchs. A man possessed that slew his best friend, the agony of this betrayal cutting through all the lies that had predicated his fall to chaos, his folly recognised this moment of weakness allows the full possession of his body by the warp. Forever remembering the betrayal of a brother.

Primarch Special Rule

Primarchs have a catch all special rule "Primarch" which grants them Independent Character, Eternal Warrior, Fear, Adamantium Will, Fleet, Fearless, It Will Not Die and Master of the Legion (so obviously can take rites of war.

Stats and Equipment

The Primarchs all differ in their base stats to reflect there particular physiology and upbringing that has ultimately led to their style of warfare. Fulgrim's stats are as below:

WS   BS   S   T   W    I    A   LD   Sv
 8       6     6   6    6     8   5     10    2+


The notable aspects here are his high WS and I which will give him the edge against most everything except other Primarchs that are close combat orientated, but he will do very well against many other weaker Primarchs such as Alpharius, whose own skills do not revolve around direct combat engagement but force multiplying, as an example.

Fulgrim has krak and plasma grenades as standard wargear before you get on to his unique wargear: The Gilded Panoply, The Blade of Laer, and Firebrand.

The Gilded Panoply is Fulgrim's armour that provides a 2+ save and a 5++ invulnerable. Which is not particularly striking compared to other Primarchs that come with a 4++ as standard. HOWEVER in assault (not just a challenge), the invulnerable save of the armour increases to a 3++ due to the immense skill Fulgrim possesses as a swordsman.

The Firebrand is simply a master-crafted volkite charger with the shred special rule. This isn't anything special but its still a decent weapon that can cause a good amount of wounds against whatever foe Fulgrim is about to charge.

The Blade of Laer is a S:user sword with AP2, rending, specialist weapon and two-handed. The main issue with this sword is its use of the wielders base strength. This means that against most Primarchs Fulgrim will wound on a 4+ and against a Castellax Battle Automata he will wound on a 5+! Its two-handed/specialist weapon nature matters very little when considering his special rules as detailed below.

Overall Fulgrim has OK wargear (when considering he is a Primarch) but that is more than made up for by his excellent close combat orientated stats and the accompanying special rules he has. Do not be fooled by his low strength as a barrier to wounding tougher opponents.

Special Rules

Finally the rules of Fulgrim, that truly announce him as both a close combat master himself but also a multiplier of this aspect of his Legion.

Sire of the Emperor's Children - Fulgrim has the crusader special rule to make him faster at getting into combat and he must always issue and accept challenges in combat BUT this is only mandatory if the candidate for the challenge is WS5 or higher. So no worries on petty sergeants getting a fist in at him.

Additionally ALL Emperor's Children on the battlefield, including Fulgrim, gain +2 to combat resolution. Meaning you need to, at minimum, beat EC units by 2 to gain a draw. But then consider the rules discussed in previous sections that allow EC to count draws as a win in combat. Therefore with Fulgrim on the field you need a decisive victory of 3 or more in combat to route any EC unit.

Finally this rule allows the re-rolling of reserve rolls for any EC units that are entering play, whether successful or unsuccessful.

Sublime Swordsman - This is the special rule which actually enhances Fulgrim's invulnerable to a 3++ in combat. But its real power is that it grants Fulgrim extra attacks equal to the difference in his initiative with his opponent. So despite having a two-handed weapon, on the charge against a regular marine Fulgrim will have 5+1+4 = 10 attacks!!

Strategic Planning - This does not strike you as the greatest rule at first, but considering all the other shenanigans that the EC can play it has great strength to it. It allows Fulgrim to choose his Warlord Trait from either the Legiones Astartes standard traits OR the strategic traits in the 40k rulebook.

This gives Fulgrim, as a Primarch, an excellent malleability of command and allows you to adapt to your opponent in much the same way the Alpha Legion can, just to a lesser extent.

Synergy with the Legion: Glory in Combat

Fulgrim is one of the simpler Primarchs to use in games of 30k. He is designed to be in combat against almost everyone! Additionally he provides such fantastic bonuses to a legion that is already geared towards combat that ideally you want ALL your legion in combat.

Obviously this does not mean you should throw tac marines at a Dark Fury squad but it does mean that in any given even fight, YOU have the edge with better initiative on the charge AND a guaranteed +2 to your combat resolution with Fulgrim around.

Fulgrim works best in a highly mobile force that is dedicated to close combat. This means making good use of Phoenix Terminators as well as Platine Blades (preferably with jump packs). I don't think you should play EC if aggression is not your by word in playing 30k or 40k. Fulgrim needs to be face to face with his foe, standing proud and arrogant over their bloodies corpses.


Overview

I really like Fulgrim as a character and think he will be a fine addition to every EC army in 30k. If he doesn't enhance the army you have chosen to play as EC then I can't help but feel you are playing an EC army that goes against their fluff quite heavily. I am in no way saying you shouldn't play that army however!! Just don't be surprised if you don't get as much out of the Primarch that he can offer army styles that really run off the EC special rules that really match the fluff!

Next up in this series of Legiones Astartes reviews I will be doing Sons of Horus :)



Peace out,

Rob

Horus Heresy Review - Domitar Battle-Automata

Afternoon all,

A review of the Domitar Battle-Automata which is on my mind today as I started cleaning the sprues up to build these guys last night because I wasn't in the mood to paint. Lovely models that should be very fun to put together and pose.

Unit Stats

The Domitar is the bigger brother of the Castellax and shares much with it. It is a monstrous creature that can be taken in units of 1-5 and with a stat line to match as you an see below!

WS  BS  S  T  W  I  A  LD  Sv

  4     3    7  7   4   3  3   7     3+

In comparison to the shooting focussed Castellax with a BS4 the Domitar is clearly intended for combat with a WS4 and a BS3 so you want to get it stuck into something as quick as possible. Additionally it also comes with Atomantic Shielding granting a 5++ versus ranged attacks and a 6++ against attacks in close combat. The Domitar also has an extra pip in strength bringing it to S7 though given its fist based armaments I'm not sure it matters all that much!

As with all battle automata poisoned fire and fleshbane will be ignoring its high toughness, BUT it has the Cybernetica Resilience special rule which forces successful poisoned or fleshbane wounds to be re-rolled. This is nice against fleshbane but HUGE against poisoned weapons with 4+ being the most common form of poison, so reducing those wound by half again on average!

Overall - The Domitar has much the same strengths as the Castellax but its has special rules and equipment that truly define it as a close combat dedicated monster as you will see below.

Special Rules

The Domitar has 2 very useful rules up its sleeve that truly engender it to close combat fighting. These are Crusader and Brutal Charge. Crusader is as the rulebook of course and just ensures that you have an extra level of mobility with these chaps that can not only help you get into combat but also help you sweep an opponent after you smash them (because you will).

Brutal Charge on the other hand is a Domitar specific rule that grants you D3 hammer of wrath hits on the charge rather than the usual 1. In a unit you roll once and multiple by models. Couple this with the native S7 of the Domitar and you will be wounding bike mounted space marines on a 2+ as standard, lovely!

Equipment

The Domitar has two close combat weapon (the additional attack is already figured for in the profile above) so you will generate 4 attacks on the charge. This is not all that impressive with your WS4 but couple it with your D3 hammer of wrath hits then you can potentially put out a world of hurt with your Graviton Hammers.

Graviton Hammers - S10, AP2, Concussive, Wrecker

Concussive helps ensure any T6 or eternal warrior characters you can take a wound off will be striking after you and wrecker helps you mulch down any fortifications, building or vehicles nicely. S10 is a god send here and will allow you to double out any T5 creature or lower.

Additionally the Graviton hammers force anyone that has charged you to count as making a disordered charge. This would strip away lots of bonuses beyond the additional attacks for charging such as +1 initiative in a Baal Strike Force detachment.

Finally the Domitar also has a single missile launcher mounted on there back with krak and ignis missiles. Ignis missiles are S5 AP6, small blast, ignores cover. Great against Orks but not much else!? You can however add flakk missiles for 5 points. Given you won't take many Domitars because of their near 200 point cost I would probably chuck this on for 5 points because yes.

Finally you can also upgrade the Domitar to have a search light and frag grenades. Take the frag grenades as you NEED them, to make this beast worth its points.

Utilisation

The Domitar on the charge will produce 1-3 S7 hammer of wrath hits and up to 4 possible S10 AP2 attacks will land. These will land at initiative 3, UNLESS you take them as part of a Legio Cybernetica Cohort (as I am) which will grant the monster I4! So striking at the same time as most miniatures and before any power fist wielding sergeants. Though it is worth remembering that they will generally hit you on 4's and still require 3's to wound you, so you still have fair survivability. Its power swords in abundance that you need to worry about as a weight of AP3 attacks WILL kill you.

The Domitar is a prime candidate for paragon of metal. This will grant the Domitar IWND for potential to return wounds and also grant rampage which as you are on your own will more often than not come into play, granting you additional attacks and damage.

However it is worth noting that for similar points you can take the Arlatax Battle Automata which is essentially a jump version of the Domitar. I will cover this beast in a separate post for you to make a comparison. The Domitar IS a good choice however, but either taken one as your paragon of metal or go big with these guys as bodyguard for a close combat Archmagos.


Peace out,

Rob

Army Overviews - models to paint

Hey Gang,

Today I just wanted to show you a few pictures of my assembled and painted armies. I have finally got round to finish my unpacking after the house move and its always nice when I have all my minis out rather than half packed in boxes for games. I also just wanted to run through what I currently own that is left to paint for each of these armies as I was cataloguing that as I unpacked just for my own info so I can tick them off!

Mechanicum

So you've obviously seen a lot of these recently so I'll get them out of the way quickly! 

To-do:

2 x Krios Venators - these kits have arrived and they are LOVELY! Very excited to prep and undercoat these guys.

3 x Domitar Battle-Automata - You may have recalled I only ordered 2 of these and that is because due to an error in my order I got 3! Huzzah! These kits are also lovely and I am very keen to put some cool conversion ideas into practise with these. 

Death Company

These guys have been around longer than any of my current armies and I am so close to the end!!

To-do:

6 x Death Company - These guys are almost finished in their base coating and the end is nigh!

Sell 1 x Baal Predator - I'm just not quite happy this one came out so I am selling it for extra hobby cash!

The Red Angels

A much smaller contingent by far than the Death Company but they should be nicely bolstered by what I have left to do with them.

To-do:

5 x Vanguard Veterans - These will be alternatives in a CAD or I can run them in the Archangel Strike Force fromation.

10 x Scouts - These are leftovers from my Black Templar army that I have decided to give over to the Blood Angels as minimal tax troop choices.

5 x Sanguinary Guard - These were converted many moons ago now but I am still keen to get them painted up and on the table. Difficult to run without a CAD which as the motivation for the scouts really!

1 x Drop Pod - This bastard is needed to make the furiouso dreadnought viable and I am loathing finishing this. But hey ho it'll look good I hope!

1 x Chaplain - Again a model that has been converted for a long time and even has some base coat on it... I just haven't had the motivation, but it will be done!

1 x Librarian in terminator armour - The librarian specific to the blood angels, also part base coated, same as the chaplain it will be done!

The Dark Angels

My goodness I put a lot together very quickly and then just fell off them! But rest assured they have not been forgotten and I am lining models up to do in small batches of 2-3 for these guys. Though first up I have to clear a couple of big things...

To-do:

1 x Dark Talon - This guy has been 1/4 done for some time but I keep thinking its a bigger job than its actual is. I want to get the Ravenwing painted up first to give me the option as taking them as Ravenwing strike force. 

1 x Sammael - Already undercoated but also put off as a big job that probably isn't going to be that much work. An excellent multiplier for the Ravenwing and a near must take too. 

3 x Ravenwing bikers - These are the three bikers from the Dark Vengeance set so no complicated modelling to undertake!

5 x Deathwing Terminators - Again just the 5 that come with the Dark Vengeance set, I think I can whizz these out fair quick once I get the paint layers down in my mind. 

15 x Tactical Marines - This is just a duplication of the Tac marines that I have already painted so that I can run dual Death Company. 

5 x Lascannon Devastators - Same as the other Devastators they will have sternguard torso/legs and they will look boss for it!

3 x Company Command/Veteran Squads - I have a couple of boxes of Dark Angel Veteran boxes and want to make Command Squads out of them, as well as make a veteran squad out of left over bits. 

1 x Contemptor Dreadnought with dial Kheres Cannons - This is making use of the Contemptor from the Betrayal at Calth box that I don't fancy for my Alpha Legion. 

1 x Interrogator Chaplain - Seraphicus from the limited run Dark Vengeance that is very close to being done but just fallen by the side!

2 x Company Master - Both are from Dark Vengeance and I haven't had a chance to have a play around with them yet.

1 x Librarian - Another Dark Vengeance push fit model that I want to try and convert for some extra identity. 

1 x Drop pod - this is in bits but needs to be put together and finished off for a squad to ride into.

Things to buy:

This is the only army on my list that has a too buy section as I really want to boost the vehicles of the army. Mainly this is too add to the manoeuvrability of the army but also to take advantage of the full company free transports formation.

4 x Razorbacks - I want these with a variety of options so that I can have the extra fire power but also for objective grabbing with 5 man tac squads or Company command squads as they will have objective secured in the demi-companies. 

2 x Dreadnoughts - I want these just for the chance to model them as I feel they really fit the Dark Angels very much.

Overview and other things

So that's the run of my armies that are currently under way already. Obviously I still have the Alpha Legion lurking in the back ground but they will be dealt of in a separate post. In other news I also got my standing from the tournament I attended the other weekend, despite only playing 4/5 games due to illness I managed to rank 27/60 which is my best showing ever and also is a TO-DONE as one of my other 40k addict challenges was to place in the top half of a tournament! So that tournament has really fulfilled a lot of long term goals for me :)

Thats all from me today! I hope you have enjoyed a little flit through my collection today!

Peace out,

Rob

Horus Heresy Review: Emperor's Children - Lord Commander Eidolon

How do!

Today, we leave the loyal souls of Saul Tarvitz and Rylanor the Unyielding and descend into the worship of madness and pleasure. Lord Commander Eidolon (just for you Nick :P), always so condescending of the more reserved Captain Tarvitz, readily accepted his Primarchs descent to chaos and worship of their new patron - Slannesh. 

Stats

                                                           WS  BS  S  T  W  I  A  LD  Sv

Lord Commander Eidolon            6     5    4   4   3  5  4   10    2+

Equipment

Lord Commander Eidolon has artificer armour as you would expect, and iron halo for a 4++. Eidolon also has an Archeotech pistol (which is better than nothing certainly), a master crafted Thunder Hammer, frag and krak grenades and a sonic shrieker (-1 WS to your opponent).  Eidolon also has the option of a jump pack for an additional +20 points.

Special Rules

Ediolon obviously has independent character as well as Legiones Astartes (EC). In addition to this he also has Master of the Legion as you might expect as the exemplar of the EC. In terms of unique special rules he has three. Warlords Pride, Thunderous Charge and Death Scream.

Warlords Pride - Eidolon is always your armies warlord unless Fulgrim is present. He then also has a set Warlord Trait:Coordinated Assault - Eidolon and all friendly units within 12" add +1 to their charge distance.

Thunderous Charge - Any turn that Eidolon charges he strikes at initiative (6 on the charge! 7 in a challenge on the charge!) despite wielding a thunder hammer!

Death Scream - Eidolon's Sonic shrieker has an in built attack that is an assault 1 template S2 but also rending, pinning and one use only. Its ok as an additional attack that might pin your opponent before you charge but at strength 2 without poisoned or fleshbane don't expect too much.

Overview

Eidolon has some fantastic rules that buff his wargear tremendously and also fit in perfectly with the fluff of the EC. His price point with his jump pack puts him at 205 points which makes him expensive but good value when used correctly. I would personally go for the jump pack option as this allows you a lot more flexibility in positioning Eidolon for the charge.

This is the key aspect of playing with Eidolon, you NEED to get the charge off to take advantage of his I6/7 thunder hammer (and therefore S8) attacks. These will ID any toughness 4 models, factoring in his 5 attacks on the charge and the -1WS from your sonic shrieker, you should expect to be doing 2/3 wounds on the charge to a character. With a 4++ as the most prevalent invulnerable you might face you SHOULD kill a low-mid level multi-wound character in a challenge on the charge.

His warlord traits also plays into getting those charges off. I would go big with Eidolon and stick him in a Palantine Blade Squad with jump packs for some serious close combat power, though I would be tempted to add a primus medicae for FNP or another independent character to tank wounds on their invulnerable.

That's all for Eidolon today, next up in this Emperor's Children review is the Primarch himself Fulgrim.

After this series of reviews I will be attempting to do the entirety of the Taghmata Omnissiah codex, though I will intersperse that with Legiones Astartes reviews as well as a new Legion review. Stick in the comments which legion you would like to see next and I'll pick the one that gets most mentions :)


Peace out,

Rob

30kplus40k - Year 1 - In review

Afternoon everyone,

With the recent Birthday of my blog I wanted to have a little review of the whole year and also discuss a little bit of "re-branding with you guys". 

Armies - The New

So the past year has seen something of a tumultuous change in both my armies and my approach to the collecting/playing hobby as a whole! There have been many fine new additions to the roster of armies which includes:

- The majority of my Death Company Army

- The Mechanicum (30k)

- The Fallen Dark Angels (40k)

- The Alpha Legion (30k)

Now whilst the Alpha Legion hasn't really been built yet, it is something I have invested heavily in, with everything required for it having been bought and semi-prepped for building. This army should see light of day in the next few months certainly. 

The Death Company are almost complete, with the last 6 marines sat on my desk with basecoating beginning on them! Hallelujah!! This will be quite the event for me as it has felt a looooong time in the coming and I think will be my first truly complete army! Even though the mechanicum sort of pipped them...

Speaking of the mechanicum, though they were complete as an army for the tournament I have always had designs to expand them, whereas once the last 6 Death Company are complete there will be no more!! I had a parcel arrive from Forge World yesterday which contained the recent reinforcements for my mechanicum and I look forward to doing a good old unboxing for those soon!

The Dark Angels were very much a spur of the moment purchase due to an excellent deal on eBay. I really enjoyed motoring through them but they have fallen by the wayside a little. With the advent of the Death company completion nearing I am hoping they will wheedle their way into my work schedule with the odd model here and there whilst I steam ahead with 30k armies.

Armies - The Fallen

Sadly it has not all been the new and the shiny this year and I have said goodbye to a few older armies as well as half finished or not even started projects. 

- The Night Lords

- The Black Templars

- The Militarum Tempestus

- The Dark Angels (30k)???

The Night Lords and the Black Templars were wonderful armies from a time when I bought what was cheap and what was pretty. This meant huge amounts of work cleaning up miniatures and huge amounts of work to make them fun to play on the tabletop. Sadly both have since been sold to fund the hobby and tax bills respectively! 

The militarum tempestus was another army that was really well converted by myself, but had such a tricky scheme and high model count that I simply couldn't keep up with in tandem to other projects. Plus I was worried that it would lose all support from GW with its codex being neither here nor there! And thus they were also sold. 

Finally I have my 30k Dark Angels project. I am ashamed to say that I received several bad reviews of my conversion of various facebook groups and forums and this has somewhat consigned them to the wayside and I am finding it very hard to get back up and going with them... Thoughts here would be most welcome my friends!

The Brand of the Blog and Viewing Figures

So has you can read about (much like everything else useful!) over at The Burning Eye, a blogs name is an important part to consider when starting it up. I never thought I would become so involved with my blog when I began it and thus paid little heed to the principles that Nick sets out. 

So my URL is 30kplus40kequalsinfinity@blogspot.com and this I can deal with (as I can't change it)!! But the blog title as it appears on my page is something of a giant mouthful that makes it hard to quickly convey. 

I have been considering altering "From the Horus Heresy to Infinity and Beyond" to simply "30kplus40k", which mirrors the fact that my foray into infinity was oh so short lived and its also a lot snappier. It also matches the first part of my URL so they tally up nicely. 

What say you lot on this idea?

In terms of viewing figures, I am very happy to report a nearly continuous month on month increase, with a slight blip in february, though that is nicely accounted for my a drop in posts and a shorter month. March 2016 pulled in close to 12'000 views and my eventual aim is to reach a steady state of 15-20'000 views a month at this time. Plenty of work to do and not something I expect to reach anytime soon, but I feel setting the bar high here can only be a good thing!

Overview

In general my hobby collection has gotten far larger rather than smaller, though with the possibility of removing 30k Dark Angels from the mix this will make my plastic count a little more manageable. The biggest changes in my hobby as actually been the article nature of my posting, with Horus Heresy Reviews being a large part of my bread and butter viewing figures. I have also really tried to step up my painting game which is starting to pay dividends both in others admiration but also my personal satisfaction with my armies. 

As I have said before, the blog itself has precipitated a lot of my hobby improvement, as feedback from the blogosphere has been tremendous in its encouragement and advice. I often find comments that the blog network is not what it used to be odd. Not that I doubt the sage words of older folks (Mr Weston :P) but that I have found it to be a thoroughly strong, deep and kind community. So I an but imagine how good it was in yesteryear!

Anyway that is all my rambling on the first year of blogging. I do hope you stick around to hear me chatter on about the second.

Peace out,

Rob