40K OSR? (6)

The latest update on the possible 40K OSR. What's that? Some potential definitions here.

Feel free to use Colonel Kane's 40K OSR logo - eyes right - if you identify with the concept, especially if you're putting out new ideas.

If you do, please credit Kane and think about adding Tales from the Maelstrom to your blogroll, for reasons that will be clear; there's an excellent rogue trader bridge crew up at the moment.

It's a varied week, with a good mix of rules, fiction, modelling and suggestions.

• Master Bryss at Rules Manufactorum has encouragement and a full example - disciples - for creating new troop types.

• Ricalope has his Quadruped at Ricalopia, a fast armour-hunter with rules.

• Lantz announces the four-strong writing team for the AdMech FanDex.

• One of the team, Commissar Carrie at Inquisitork has been productive, putting out two new instalments for Radical - Rain and Resurrection - this week, with a new menace, well-adapted combat and some strong language.

• At Warp Signal James S also wrote some background for key characters, heroes of Iybraesil, inspiration for some painting.

• Back to the adeptus mechanicus with Mordian 7th Regiment's battle report over gorgeous terrain; the set-up and advice on the same was here.

• There's more great terrain in the first part of a battle report with an alternative approach to deployment from Brian at A Gentleman's Ones.

• Staying with battle reports, Warpaintguy played his first games with Orks, using Killzone no less, three battles altogether.

• Over at Warpstone Flux jabberjabber has the last of the five horsemen of Chaos, with Slaanesh, Tzeentch and the icon bearer now complete.

• Rictus at Recalcitrant Daze has a converted Trojan recovery vehicle.

• Apocalypse 40K shows a conversion of a current rhino to the original pattern, a potential kit, and plans for an Epic space marine lander in 40K.

• CounterFett at All Things Fett has a suggestion for an alternative to the standard terminator design, borrowed from Dust Tactics.

It's worth mentioning too that Von has moved GAME OVER to Wordpress, and the new address is http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/. His week takes in the key events, first the Blogger outage and then the Games Workshop news - his discussion of new army choice gave way to a decision to limit GW gaming to the Specialist Games.

At Galaxy in Flames too Big Jim too tells us he'll be playing some Battlefleet Gothic.

You might also like to know that Miniature Wargame Conversions has compiled a list with links to online activity inspired by the dissatisfaction with GW's behaviour.

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40K OSR? (5)

Warhammer 40,000 we know, but an OSR?

It can be an Old School Renaissance, an Other School Renaissance, even an Optional School Renaissance, or something else entirely. How about a Review, a Revolution, or another 'R'?

There's this 40K OSR logo now too thanks to Colonel Kane at Tales from the Maelstrom. Feel free to use it if you identify with the concept, especially if you're putting out new ideas.

If you do use it, I'd ask only you credit Colonel Kane and give some thought to adding Tales from the Maelstrom to your blogroll, for reasons that will be clear if you visit. Check out the rogue trader conversion up now.

This week we're a day late of course, but all good things...

• Almost no new mechanics this week, with just Big Jim at Galaxy in Flames and his house rules for large games...

• ... and arguably Mik at Mik's Minis with rules for the Sons of Minos for Deathwatch. Have a look at the converted team, with an early techmarine.

• Lantz has been as busy as usual, showing us at The Magnet Pro a titan tech priest conversion and a batch of ad mech miniatures painted by Mr. Lemon, including two gants, a unit of praetorians and some characters. Re the comments to the first, C'nor is on the case with the non-Chaos daemons.

• Commissar Carrie will be providing material for Lantz's AdMech FanDex, which is good news, as the latest instalment of Radical shows.

• At Craftworld Iybraesil HurricaneGirl has a story of her own, one featuring a radical tactic and illustrated with a pic of the original land speeder.

• On old pics, Unite All Action looks at the origins of Ghazghkull in White Dwarf 134 and wonders what can be learnt from older armies. I get a buzz out of that final photo I just don't get today; I think it's numbers and space. There's also a painboy using more original battlewagon kit parts.

• Re the past, Hungry Ghosts at his Chaos Squat blog has a look at a pre-Rogue Trader sci-fi ruleset from GW, Spacefarers.

• Back to writing briefly, Auberon at Digital Waaagh! yesterday published an interview with Dan Abnett, one of several big names in the series so far.

• And modelling again, to Rictus at Recalcitrant Daze, who's now working through a massive Orkified stormhammer, maybe my favourite old Epic superheavy, and some renegade rough riders on steeds of Slaanesh.

• On the subject of big Ork vehicles, John Lambshead at John's Toy Soldiers has scratchbuilt chinork transport, otherwise available from Forge World.

• For a big vehicle full stop, take a look at Gotthammer's stunning phantom titan at Collegia Titanica, inspired by Tron. He's also just posted two names using Tolkien's Quenya, as well as some 40K haikus.

• Back to Chaos, at Warpstone Flux jabberjabber is putting together a lord on horseback for each of the four powers - Khorne and Nurgle so far.

Linked with this is a wild card for this week, the Miracle Workers rules for Mordheim at Liber Malefic. Possible inspiration given the links between game worlds and systems. Also a wild card is CounterFett's suggestion at All Things Fett for alternative marines.

So what have I missed?

Maybe you've seen more new rules out there, or another variation of some kind? Maybe you posted something? If you have OSRy material to share, don't be shy - just leave a link. Put the logo up too if you want to, or just do things your way.

Update: Rictus at Recalcitrant Daze has now put up the first on a converted Trojan.

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PROTOSTARS!

It's been a long time since the last PROTOSTARS! so here's another great gaming blog with far too few followers for the quality, The Dark Workshop, home of Cursed13.

What are the highlights? 

> a superb guide to basic hobby tools for modelling and painting

> two excellent hobby tutorials, the first on using an airbrush and compressor, the second on building a lightbox, as well as good advice for press moulding decorative elements

> subtle modelling, especially the posing and converting for these Blood Angels space marines and this space marine captain, not forgetting those simple Eldar wraithbone bases

> solid painting, not least on this Dark Angels chaplain, these Space Hulk terminators and this crashed lander

> more terrain: a defensive wall with an electrically-operated gate and these etched stone columns for a desert-themed table

> the detailed creation of a balanced character for 40K, Captain Alessio Cortez, and a space marine chapter, the Void Ravens

As can be seen, illumination awaits in The Dark Workshop.

The earlier PROTOSTARS! - six more great blogs:

• A Field Guide To Doomsday
• ix
• Confessions of a 40K addict
• Super Galactic Dreadnought
• Fire Broadside!
• Blighty Waaagh Boys, including the intro to the series

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PROTOSTARS!

A new PROTOSTAR!, a gaming blog of such quality it deserves 113 followers rather than 13. I'm not superstitious, but we do need to get it off that number.

The attractions then, and they are many.

Terrain-building - an excellent tower, designed for sci-fi, but close to Orthanc in design, and part of a larger outpost, as well as a stunning Gothic cathedral tower, a Tyranid reclamation pool, sci-fi containers and a superb modular hill. Pages of inspiration, advice and pretty pictures, and downloadable plans too.

Red planet - getting a good red planet tabletop, a technique also suitable for many a battlemat, and basing miniatures in the style.

Painting - a superb and thorough Tervigon tutorial, but with much for all, especially painters of Tyranids, pulp aliens and monsters, and stranger creatures in general.

Miniatures - classic 40K space marines and their wargear as well as classic Epic-scale models including titans - a Warlord, a brace of Warhounds and a Reaver (mentioned here before) - and examples from two topical space marine chapters: the rejuvenated Dark Angels and the Ultramarines of movie fame.

And if you want to know more about the blogger, here's a post with a surprising but satisfying blend - ninjas, D&D, Blood Bowl and LARPing.

The moreish Confessions of a 40K addict. You might develop a habit.

Don't forget the previous PROTOSTARS!

• Super Galactic Dreadnought
• Fire Broadside!
• Blighty Waaagh Boys, including the intro to the series

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Compliments, complements, earth and Mars (2)

Here be musings inspired by the earthy and unearthly landscapes a few posts back.

You might have noticed that Ork miniatures are often shown by Games Workshop on an orange-brown desert landscape and have matching bases. A lot of players seem to do the same. I've always assumed it's because of Gorkamorka, a great game in which Orks fought for scrap on a remote planet after the space hulk they were travelling on crashed. It was a desert world and if I remember rightly, the colour change was first seen then.

Of course, colour theory may have played a part too. Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel are called complementary colours and these provide great contrast for each other. Orks have green skin, which means they will naturally look better on certain backgrounds, tending towards the red. Who says GW isn't smart? When it comes to design they know what they're doing. You can easily apply the same thinking, whatever the dominant colour on a given miniature. Unless the colour is octarine perhaps...

I was reminded of all of this recently by a discussion at diceRolla on a Raptors test model. The update in the next post and something seen at A Gentlemen's Ones then set me thinking more deeply about miniatures, landscape and roleplaying. I saw that rather than the base being an extension of the miniature and a link with the tabletop, the miniature is actually an extension of the base, and the base is a part of the game world.

This is definitely a subject big enough for the next part of 'When lives co-world'. It'll be along just as soon as I condense my thoughts. If you have any, I'd love to hear them.