Tabletop Teacher

We're into the last week before 8th edition hits, and Warhammer TV has posted up the first of the starter box tutorials. The video is below, but I just wanted to highlight a neat little detail in the instructions: The colour coding is new, with yellow parts being where you put the glue, blue parts having different options, and green parts having different poses on the minis. Whilst I can't say if this is a new policy, along with full colour instructions, or if this is just for the Dark Imperium starter kit, as a teacher I approve of the steps taken to make the process of making these models easier. You may be thinking that this level of support isn't needed. You have never encountered an 11-year old who's just realised he has to make his own toys. During build sessions at the club I frequently get questions like where to put the glue, and this booklet is going to make those sessions easier. Here's the full video: Until next time! Thanks for re...

This battle report is courtesy of Unknown, who left it as a comment on my breakdown of the Thousand Sons in 8th Edition . Thank very much for leaving it there! Unknown: I ran Magnus, Ahriman, 1 Exalted Sorcerer on disc, 2 x 5 man rubrics. He ran Eldrad, a hemlock fighter, 3 warlocks in 3 small units with the cannons, and 2 walkers. Turn 1  His impressive amount of weaponry took out my poorly positioned Ahriman I wanted to bait shots to avoid losing Magnus, but should have used my Exalted Sorcerer instead. His hemlock removed two of the rubrics from 1 squad, and a poor roll on battle shock took another, but he couldn't smite me through my wall of denial. My turn 1 I advanced, set the exalted sorcerer and the remainder of the marine squad to work on the hemlock, then advanced Magnus, who lost his chance to charge Eldrad due to the boxcar denial versus Warptime. Sites are a unit of his and 5 of 6 versus the hemlock. Turn 2  He unleashed everything versus...

I'm slightly annoyed I have to do this as my hit count has suddenly jumped to over 1000 hits a day, but I'm taking this weekend off. We've just had internal exams, and I'm current;y neck deep in Physics papers to mark. Unlike some subjects, there are a lot of questions I can zip through (calculations, graphs and diagrams) but then some where I need to really read and think (e.g. Just what does this person mean by the density collapsing under negative temperature? Can I give that a mark?) Also, it's my birthday this weekend. Happy birthday to me. Birthday cards and Physics tests...  That right there is a genuine Bugman's Brewery postcard send to me as a birthday card from a family member who perhaps understands nerds a little too well! I also got Star Wars cards. Good year! That post card though... I wonder if it's limited edition or not. The date is 2003, so I wonder if someone has sent me a better birthday present than they intended! Either ...

Have to admit, I stopped collecting Grey Knights a good long time ago. And by that I mean second edition. But I've always kept tabs on these Shiny Super Space Marines, mostly because I never grew out of my teenage Paladin Phase. Paragon until the day I die. But let's find out what they will be like in 8th Edition! Grab yourself a cup of tea first, this could take a while... HQ Kalador Draigo We might as well start with the biggest ball of cheese. The weirdly referentially named Draigo was the most polarising character ever created in the Wardian era of Mary Sue development. Known for stabbing demon Primarchs in the heart, and possibly undergoing a Quantumn Leap style quest through the warp, his table top presence was no less feared. He's been downgraded to merely really good in this edition. Huzzah! His best two features are his re-rolled failed to hit buffs and his really good sword. The Titan sword allows him to hit at Str 8, and with a -4 ...

One of the weird choices I made was to collect Harlequins before collecting Eldar. My reasons were not based on the models or their stats... I was attracted by their lore. I've always played Bards in Dungeons and Dragons, and the idea of an army of the spoony clowns was just too good an opportunity to miss! My experience with them has been similar to everyone else's: Everything goes well, and then the enemy hits back. The rules for 8th Edition Harlequins have dropped over at Warhammer Community , and since the Grey Knight reveal is taking an age to sift through, we'll start with this. HQ Rampant speculation, but since the Troupe Leader is now missing from the Troupe data sheet, we can quite safely say that Harlies have an HQ. About time really. Troops Are your Troupes. The data sheet below is... well, stunning really. Yes, you read that correctly. Four base attacks. on each Player. Ouch! But the Toughn...

Tired of your Prosecutors and Harlequins falling over? Here's a quick tip. Something that I predict to be a problem for the new flying Inceptors is going to be the top heavy nature of the model. Harlequins and Prosecutors are the same, as they are either flying on a strand of parchment or leaping off of one slender leg. As a consequence, they fall over if someone breathes heavily in their direction. Some people like to glue pennies or other heavy coins under the base. Whilst that's not a bad idea, another way is to glue on some larger, heavier stones when you texture your bases with sand: Harlequins with stone weighted bases Prosecutors with stone weighted bases You don't need that many, depending on what stones you use, and can be cheaper than pennies. All this was in my sack of mixed aggregate for basing anyway, and some of the larger ones I collected on my way into work. The models stay upright, and the extra weight makes them feel a lit...

It's taken me a while to get around to this, even though the reveal (and leak!) has been up for a few days now. Thousand Sons were a project asked for by my half-dozen twitter readers, and so I wanted to do them justice. So... are the Sons of Prospero any good in 8th edition? The answer is... hey are solid. Well balanced. I think. We've had the rubric Marines for some time now, and I'll discuss them later. The leaks we've had, and the reveal over at Warhammer Community confirm, Magnus the Reds stats and Ahriman's abilities. Since these two are the aces of the 1K Sons, we'll start here. Magnus the Red From Miniwars.eu As you can imagine, he is a beast. His Gaze of Magnus has turned from a D-strength beam to a better version of smite, doing d6 as opposed to d3 Mortal Wounds, and 2d6 on a roll 10 or more. As he also gets a +2 to Psychic casting, he has a decent chance of getting that 2d6 damage, and with some lucky rolls will basically just r...