Tyberos Part 2

And here is Tyberos, the Red Wake, all glued together and awaiting the primer. I like the pose and sculpt of the miniature overall. Although I was sorely tempted to do some conversion work on this miniature, I am glad that I haven't. In particular, I was sorely tempted to do something with the lightning claws and replace the blades with something a touch longer and more menacing. However, the hooked nature of the claws is nice and I'm sticking with them. Onward with the painting, as time allows!

Tyberos

I have a number of projects going on all at once on the worktop. This particular one may be a little surprising to my long term readers, but non the less, here is Tyberos. Also known as The Red Wake. 

The image shows how Tyberos arrives, fresh out of the blister pack. This is clearly a mould that is now aging. With that said, the lines and details are crisp enough and I'm glad to have got hold of the model now, rather than allow it to go out of sale or availability. 

As for the plans: this miniature will be used in 30k, rather than 40k. And the legion might just be a novel one. More later on these dubious plans. 

New Horus Heresy Boxed Set?

Over this weekend, there have been rumours flying around about a new boxed set for the Horus Heresy game. Usually these rumour crop up every couple of months with people claiming to have some kind of inside knowledge or scoop, which, although they might be accurate, always strike me as assertions of some kind. This time it is much better. There are actual photographs of the miniatures being used in play, likely from the box itself. I won't link to them or display them here as I'm not the copyright holder.

However, they look great!

Ranging from what appears to be new Mark 6 armour (yes please: love some new Alpha Legion alpha mark 6 marines please!), a new contemptor (already got several, but surely one more won't hurt, right?), a plastic spartan (hell yes!), coupled with cataphractii (could be good if they're new sculpts?) and characters maybe (not sure at all), this set appears very legitimate and exciting.

For a long time, I have felt that Horus Heresy once again needs to be brought into line with the existing edition of 40k. Without that connection, there is less impetus for gamers to play each other from 30k to 40k (certainly I've enjoyed those battles very much indeed!) and I'm optimistic that the new release might be done alongside a "version 2" of Horus Heresy to update all of the rules. 

In terms of the Black Books, we have been hearing for a while that there might not be any more. Certainly with all of the legions being published, I only see room for Xenos armies (Orks, Eldar, etc.) for crusade purposes, and perhaps support for the Siege of Terra (come on, give the Emperor some rules?). Or maybe something about the scouring? (Although Book 9 does a bit of that I guess). So the release of a new version is a good way to re-invigorate the Horus Heresy scene to my mind. Despite repeated rumours of the death of the sub-game, I have always felt Horus Heresy is the premium version of the game for the veterans and collectors that is (arguably) better than 40k in a number of ways. Therefore I'm hopeful that this represents a good way forward to forge new links between 30k and 40k and simultaneously promote both. 

Equally, I've ever been the raging optimist!

Spoiler-Free Reading Order for Horus Heresy Books

Today, I wanted to link and amplify a flow chart produced by the fine people over at Black Librarium. 

This is the link to follow: https://imgbb.com/5Mr7rDV and a low resolution preview can be seen in the image below. 

At its core, the basic idea of the flowchart is that the published order of the Horus Heresy books does not necessarily follow the chronological order in which the action or events happen within the epic series. The reasons for this are obvious enough: many writers contributed collaboratives over many years to a wide variety of aspects of the series to make it the amazing achievement that it is today. 

This particular flowchart caught my attention since there are a number of ways of following the action: this might be chronological, or based on a faction that you are most interested in, or a zone of the conflict that piques your attention. 

For me, the obvious appeal is the comprehensive nature of the flowchart, with the very minor caveat that some of the more minor and tenuous links are not noted. It really does a nice job at illustrating the complexity inherent with the writing project over many (actual) years and provides a good way of looking at what to read beyond what Black Library itself recommend. It therefore scores a huge two thumbs up from me. 

Horus Heresy Review: Saturnyne Pattern Aurox Armoured Transport

Background.

The Aurox is to the Imperial Army what the Rhino is to the Space Marines. The design philosophy of both are incredibly similar: they needed to be able to be mass produced, and to be able to be repaired and allow for additional load outs in the field. 

Beyond that, this is the standard transport solution for the troops of the Imperial Army, Solar Auxilia, as well as the Cultist armies in 30k.

Strengths. 

I regard the points cost of the Aurox as cheap and cheerful and therefore an asset not to be over-looked.

Weaknesses.

In a case of "you get what you pay for", the Aurox is not well armed or armoured in the grand scheme of things. These transport boxes will blow up regularly, and that's just to be expected.

Builds.

The Aurox comes in two baseline flavours: one for the Solar Auxilia and one for everyone else. The only difference is that the Solar Auxilia get the Explorator Adaption upgrade included, and have slightly more options. 

Aurox (Solar Auxilia) with multi-laser (35 points).

I kind of like the multi-laser, but by all means keep the heavy stubber instead, or take the heavy flamer. The extra armour is a nice optional upgrade here. 

Aurox (Everyone Else) with heavy stubber (25 points). 

Not much to say here. The heavy flamer is tempting against some armies, but otherwise stick with the heavy stubber.

 

Alpha Legion Praetor Bits

A new month brings some new miniatures to assemble and paint. The first of which is this fine looking fellow that I've been wanting to get hold of for quite a number of months. 

This is the Alpha Legion praetor in regular power armour, fresh on the sprue. The bits are very nicely sculpted indeed, and I'm more than pleased with the clear level of detail inherent in them. What is slightly less pleasing to me is the sheer number of bits involved. 

I'm not a huge fan of having these individual sculpts with the hands detached from the arms; doubly so for this double handed weapon pose. I acknowledge that this is nothing new though, and all of the plastic range does the division between arm and hand these days. But getting two arms joined to the weapon in the correct pose is challenging for hobbyists who are newer to the game when using resin. 

Regardless of this, my plan is actually to use these bits as a conversion. I'm going to do away with the arms slowly unsheathing the power sword. Instead, I'm wanting something a bit different. More on this plan at a later point, but for now, enjoy seeing the bits for those who have not seen them before!