Wrenchit the Gobbo By Wm Curtis Combs

Ok, normally I wouldn't share something like this, it is from a friend and avid Ork player in Ca., But this was just too good.... I present the first chapter of Wrenchit.


                             Wrenchit the Gobbo.


It was cluttered and dark under the boss's work bench. it smelled of old engine oil and squig grease...Wrenchit was hiding from the boss. he felt safe here after breaking the boss's new spanna. " I'z dedd eff da Boss finds me" he thought to himself remembering the boss's promise last time..Wrenchit herd his name screamed outside in the junkyard and a shiver ran down his tiny spine.. "WRENCHIT!! YA WORTLESS GIT!!! WARR Iz YA!?!".....Suddenly a huge filth covered hand grabbed him by his head and yanked him out from under the table..." IF YAZ GONNA HIDE YA OTT NOT TA HIDE N DA SAME SPOT!!" were the last words Wrenchit thought he would ever hear...." Right here Boss " he squeaked...Wrenchit was lifted high in the air and dropped, his stomach rising to his throat. Then with crushing impact the Boss's boot met his backside..Wrenchit sailed through the shop and out into the junkyard, Landing hard on his back and skidding to a stop in a pool of muck. As he stood up he was rocked in the head by the broken spanna..." Gess I souda hidd dat" Wrenchit thought...Smiling to himself he yelled toward the shop defiantly " Tankx Boss fer not kill'n me"...The Boss appeared in the shop doorway. A single shot rang out.






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Case by Chuck Williams

The mother of all kitbashes, by Isotope99. (Click for full-sized bad-assery)
Let's start out with an assumption. I believe we can safely assume that if you listen to my podcast or read
this blog, you love wargaming. It's not only a game, but also a means of artistic expression. Personally, I
find modelling to be a very "centering" process that I imagine is similar to meditation for some. I sit, relax,
slow my breathing down (it keeps your hands steady!), and try to get little tiny hands onto little tiny arms.
Fun, right?
When I was a young man, everything was metal. So conversions were a big deal. Even a head swap was a
rigorous process involving complicated cuts, and often there was bloodshed. But today, with the
development of the very advanced plastic kits by GW, a conversion, or kitbash (the proper term for
making something original out of commercially available plastic kits) is an exceptionally easy thing to
do. So let's do it!
But why would I want to convert something?
I suppose that is a fair question. My answer is simple. To be different. People like to be different.
Personally, I love being different. The automobile customization industry is a multi-billion dollar
industry. Why does someone put new rims on their Honda? So it doesnt look like everyone else's Honda.
Sure, some gearhead will say "because they are lighter, and make the car faster", but most people aren't
gearheads. A fancy paint job on a car doesn't improve performance at all, but there are lots of custom
paint jobs in the world. Face it, being different is cool. That's why you play wargames. Because you like it,
and to hell with the people who don't get it.
OK, I get it. But how do I do it?
We can really get into conversions in the next chapter. But why don't we start with something simple. A
head swap. This is the easiest thing you will ever do, especially with modern plastic models. Every one of
you can do this, if you can build a model, you can head swap. So, start with a cool model that has an ugly
head. It doesnt have to have an ugly head, maybe you're just doing this to be different. For me, I'm using
the new Warhammer Chaos Lord. A lot of people hate his head because of his pouty "duck face"
expression. Personally, it doesn't bother me, but let's move on!
Getting A-Head
Sorry for the pun. I should be punished for that. :) Unless you play in a GW store (and why would you?),
there's no rule that says you need to have a GW head on your model. Personally, for this model, I used a
head from Anvil Industries in the UK. But there are dozens of companies all over the world you can use,
including Victoria in Australia, and Secret Weapon Miniatures in California. But if you are sure you want
to use a GW head, you don't have to go and buy the whole kit to do it. There are plenty of bitz retailers on
eBay. Games Workshop has done everything they can to shut down the bitz trade, but there is a market for
it, and the companies seem to be doing well for the most part. So however you choose to move forward,
you'll be doing a head swap in no time.
I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by explaining how to do the head swap. If the scale is right, it
should be simple. It may require some cutting, or putty to make the join happen right, but we can save
that for another chapter.
Finished Project
So what do you think?


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GW's Stock plummeted. By Warhamster77

  Ok with the financials being all over the interwebs, and most of us having read tons of articles on this subject, the question on everyone's mind is what now?
While I am a long way from a financial expert, I have gleaned that the majority of their stock loss is from licensing.  Namely video games licensing. As most of us have played their video games, they never really translated well from the table-top.  For me the table-top is my love, whether it is GW, Battletech, FoW or even PP.  If we continue to see a decline in GW's stock, then we should worry that they might be going under, or trying for the rumored merger with a certain toy company. They had a lot of questionable fails this last 2 years which I am sure contributed greatly to this decline, the absolute failure of sales in their Hobbit line, the dismal sales of the Fantasy game, and massive disappointment that has accompanied at least three codexes.  All table-top games though will suffer if GW fold's up shop.  And it will just be a question of which company decides to step up at that point.

Tools of the Trade by Rick Morang

Here I have a selection some of my sculpting tools.  I mostly use these to texture any Green-stuff that I use to fill gaps in models.  Or in extreme cases to do some additional sculpting on models like I did on the bike fairing for my female Farseer on her jetbike. The needle in the pinvise I predominantly use to poke the hole open on dropper bottles like Vallejo or Reaper paint bottles.

Some of my cutting tools. The exacto blade needs no explanation as it is in every ones tool box.  The triangular blade is from my machining days, it is used to scrape mold lines, imperfections and burrs. The Micro chisel is from Mission Models and is an awesome piece of equipment.  I use the small rounded blade to scoop out channels for small wires.  I use the flat blades to re-scribe panel lines, remove excess sprue, or get inside where an exacto can't reach. 

I use various pin-vises each with a drill bit that I use commonly, either for pinning, drilling out barrels, or a recess for placing magnets.

these are machine grade drill bits, ranging in size .0098" to 3/16" .  The smallest is smaller than a human hair and requires a very steady hand, as it is very easy to break.  The double end mill I utilize to flatten the bottom of a recess for magnets so that the 1/4" magnets I use have a better grip on the material and hold longer.  The 1/16" end mill is used for the same thing with a 1/16" magnet.  These two are very sharp and will turn your fingers into hamburger if your not careful.  Never use gloves if you use them in a machine, as you will lose your finger(s).

Some of my specialty tools.  The first left to right , is a 4 flute carbide drill, I mostly use this in some of the more stubborn metal(pewter) or to make a pilot hole for my 1/4" drill.  The red handled one is called a deburr tool, I use this to make hatch holes slightly larger all the way around.  This allows a uniform cut in making holes bigger without using a big drill.  The blue handles one is called a countersink.  It allows me to start a drill hole, or to countersink(bevel) a hole.  The last one is a treasure.  It is a magnet application tool made by Corsec Engineering,  http://corseceng.com/, it is awesome!

Here I have two of my tube cutters, one for plastic, and the blue one for brass rod. And of course some cutters. I also use a variety of  sizes in wire cutters which can be bought virtually anywhere.

Here is my variety of cuttoff saws. Each is used for different things, the smallest has 32 teeth per inch, and the largest has 52 teeth per inch.  The curf on these saws is a mere .003" so I lose very little detail when I have to cut something for conversion work.

Basic measuring tools.  A movable compass, a traditional set of draftsmans calipers, and a set of graduated machine calipers in .001 graduations. I can't tell you how many years I have had them, but I would feel lost without them :)

And some more of my specialty/special use tools.  The brass hammer I made, 2 of 9, and wow do I use it alot.  The parallel scribe next it I use to scribe lines for different stuff like tiling.  The red handle burnisher I use to place mask on models for very neat lines along cloaks, or striping on Tau vehicles. The are many uses for this one.


On a whole these are the common tools(to me) that I use nearly every day on nearly every model.  What I didn't show was the various files and sanding tools that I use, I will write that article soon. :)  I hope this was informative and  instructive. 

Death Watch by Nikki Kolls

While I have been playing 40K for a little over a year now, I only recently got to experience another side of the 40K universe – Deathwatch. While I am not normally into RPGs, my friends really seemed to have fun with it and always had fun stories of all of their heroic, and not so heroic moments. I decided not to join at first thinking I wouldn't be able to get into it, but slowly found myself being drawn into it as they fought on other worlds against various enemies. Mix in the stories of guns jamming at the worst possible moment and of heroes carrying their fallen comrades and I knew I had to give it a shot.

So I decided to buy the core rulebook and some dice and create a character. I rolled a Space Wolf of course – Bran Thunderbrew the Rune Priest. I rolled my back-story, stats, and filled in my character sheet the best I could without really knowing the core mechanics. Back-story complete, I built and painted my model in the Deathwatch black and magnetized all of his weapons. I read more of my core rule book and talked to a few friends about it. I was ready to go! Or so I thought.

My first mission had finally come. I had my character and brought my ‘Nids for the group to battle against. I was feeling pretty confident as my friend set up the battlefield.  We rolled for Initiative and took our turns. And then that confidence was gone as they asked “What would you like to do?”

I realized I had no clue.  I had no idea and 10 of my friends are staring at me to come to a decision. At that moment I didn't remember anything I had read and had no idea what the options were. I was told 3 different pages to turn to for reference. Between moving, actions, shooting, psychic powers, and skill checks it was so very different than anything I was used to. Add in all the math involved with these different actions and my brain was mush. I was a little overwhelmed and in all honesty, getting pretty frustrated.

Thankfully my friends were able to nudge me in the right direction and we were on course for our mission. After destroying some gargoyles and termagants, we were able to explore a wrecked aircraft and find the pilot. Brother Algrim Fangson carried the pilot back to his aircraft and supplied him with his grenades, and we were off to fight the horde of Hive Fleet Omnomnom.

As we begin to pick off the horde I started to remember more of my spells and weapon damage. This was just in time as we had to bust into a building surrounded by genestealers. After nearly killing another battle brother, I was able to actually kill one of them and help in the final parts of the mission as we raced back past the wrecked aircraft. The mission ended with a bang as the wrecked aircraft exploded, taking the Hive Fleet with it.

While it started off a little frustrating, I really did have fun with my first mission. I realized that I have a lot more research to do and cheat sheets to make, but once I’m more comfortable with the rules for my character, I think I’ll really enjoy it.  I feel that while the mission-based RPG limits a lot of character development, it does help someone like me who does not have the RPG background.  It gives me a goal to reach with my team, but also allows for me to build a unique character and have his decisions influence the end result.

In the end, I recommend Deathwatch for those who enjoy the 40K fluff even if you don’t think you would enjoy an RPG. While it does take a long time to set up and learn the rules, it makes for some great    stories with your friends and offers a new way to enjoy the hobby. I’m glad I decided to give a shot and hope to have more stories of my own in the near future!

-          Nikki Kolls

Ravenwing Command by Scott Sullivan

I've been playing for just over a year after the Dark Vengeance box set was release with the onset of 6th Edition.  Before picking it up I looked into the fluff of the different armies and really liked the secretive nature of the Dark Angels, so the box set was well worth the price.  Since then my army has expanded exponentially to include over 50 terminators, 30+ bikes, and at least 4 squads of marines.  There is also a slew of support, vehicles, and other fun units to be thrown into the mix.

                I've been running a Ravenwing army on and off for a few months now and have been really enjoying how they play, even if I don't have a high win percentage with them.  They have a good intimidation factor with the number of T5 models on the field, at the cost of model count though.  Their ability to move quickly and hit hard is a huge appeal to me.  They can shoot and assault with reckless abandon them run out of combat giggling as their opponent wonders what just hit them.  In recent games I've really been focusing on using a Ravenwing Command Squad with Banner of Devastation.  I have also started to implement a Ravenwing Darkshroud into my list.  The way these two units work with the rest of a Ravenwing force is great and will be expanded upon further.  I don't profess myself as a tactical genius so I tend to make silly mistakes quite frequently, but I tend to have fun in the process, which is what I enjoy about the game.  Without further ado, I shall delve into my thoughts of these two units.

                Let's start with the Ravenwing Command Squad.  It is a squad of 3 Ravenwing  Black Knights that can only be unlocked by taking a HQ unit on a bike or Sammael.  To run a Ravenwing force, Sammael  is truly your only option, but I digress.  Black Knights come with TL Plasma Talons on their bikes which really outperform plasma guns at shorter range due to the TL aspect of them.  To get the same effect you would need a level 1 Librarian on a bike with Divination and have to get the psychic test to pass.  It's doable, but you still won't get the same volume of fire as you would with the Black Knights.  The Command Squad has the ability to add two more bike to the unit to bring them up to five total, which really helps increase the survivability of one key member in the squad, the banner carrier.  The banner carrier is the soul of my army and what it's built around.  It forces me to stay within a small area but it adds so much additional support with the Banner of Devastation.  If a unit is within six inches of the banner carrier it gains the Salvo 2/4 rule.  This is amazing on bikes as they are relentless and not counting as moved for shooting means that each bike in the unit will get 4 shots from its twin-linked boltgun.  For a full squad, that's 24 shots, four times the amount of a standard squad between 12 and 24 inches, and twice as many shots as a unit between 1 and 12 inches.  It's very important to keep this unit alive so I'm going to start trying out keeping an apothecary in the unit for the Fell No Pain he would give them in case of a wound.

                Last game I added in a model that I was very apprehensive about since they FAQ'd the rules on it very quickly, the Ravenwing Darkshroud.    It does exactly what it sounds like, it shrouds the area in darkness giving any unit within 6" of it the Stealth rule.  Unfortunately it no longer gives the Darkshroud itself Shrouded.  The great part of this is that the cover save stacks onto the Jink save that the bikes get for moving, effectively giving them a 4+ cover save just for moving and staying close to the Darkshroud.  For units with the Skilled Rider rule, this gives them a 3+ cover save!  I kept this centered behind my Command Squad and gave every unit in my army a +1 to their cover save for nearly the entire game.  This was very beneficial as my opponent had quite a bit of plasma and melta which was ignoring my  armor saves.  In addition to this effect it gives any unit that is in an assault within 12 inches a +1 to their assault result.  This manage to keep one of my units in assault even those they lost a model and my opponent didn't that phase.  I was very surprised at how well that ability performed with the rest of my units.  I realize that it won't be beneficial against flamers and other weapons that ignore cover, looking at you Tau and Eldar, but I have other units in my arsenal that can put the pain into them instead.

                I feel like I will continue to use the two units in my Ravenwing army and possibly expand to a second Darkshroud in the future for large point games so I can spread them out more effectively to maximize coverage.  They Command Squad will be beefed out to the full 5 man unit and keep that wonderful Banner of Devastation.  I'm going to try to keep track of how the army performs and try to develop my tactical skills to help them really be the fearsome force that they appear when on the table.

The One Guy

That One Guy

So we have all herd of that one player that no one wants to play. I think a lot of this has to do knowing what type of player you are. In my opinion there are three types of players.

You got the tournament player (Kenny Hill, Mike Stanford). These types of players want a clean game by the rules and are going to bring a hard list. Their not dbags for running hard list its just that’s the type of game they want to play. To see who can be the best general around. As a general statement tournament players will know the rules the best and will in force them the hardest. This helps keep up good practice for when it comes time to play in a big event. Some players will find this off putting it is not meant to be but good practice will make good TOs later down the road.   

The next type of player is your Fluff player (Gregg Etter, Rick Morang). These types of players want to make a story out of the game. Lots of league play or lists that are not optimized but if you saw the army on the field or read about them in a book that’s what it would look like. The Fluff player will know the rule set but, will let some little things slip just to make a better game. These types of players are for a lack of better words what GWs target players are forging the narrative and what not. You will see a lot of fluff players calling out what they say is cheese a list thou. This is where the tournament player and the fluff player will start to fight if they don’t understand what type of game that they are going to play.

The last type of player is the Beer and pretzels player (Luci Breed, Cliff Shelton). These types of players are just looking to have fun. They may or may not be a bit lacking on the rules. Or may know the rules and not care because they like to play the game a different way. Beer and pretzels players have a lot of problems with someone who is looking for a clean game. Lots of these players are in the game to just sit around a table and BS for a few hours while playing and if the rules fall to the wayside so be it.

 Now I play all kinds of players. And I have seen all kinds of fights that didn’t have to happen. People being labeled a rules Nazi or a cheese player. There is no right or wrong way to play but you do need to know the type of player or game that you are playing. I think that if you know what type of player you are playing that it will stop a lot of that whole that one guy label but you will have to have an open mind to how they play the game.

Sarge