Perturabo, Primarch of the Iron Warriors: Impressions

'From Iron cometh strength; from strength cometh will; from will cometh faith; and from faith cometh honour.'

Any of you who have been following this blog for a little while know that I get pretty excited whenever Forge World releases a new Primarch model. I was particularly impressed with the fantastic Guilliman release, and would have been content to wait a while before the next.  But Forge World was feeling generous, and during their Open Day earlier this month (July 5th), they revealed their next, the Hammer of Olympia, Perturabo of the Iron Warriors.  Even more amazingly, in less than a week he was already up for sale on their website!  Perturabo marks the 10th Primarch released by Forge World (they are over half way done with all of the Primarchs!?), and the third (and possibly final) one sculpted by the talented Edgar Skomorowski.

Horus Heresy Weekender 2014: Mortarion and Vulkan Impressions

"For within each frail human body is the will to grasp the stars and walk a path unto eternity itself."

People had pretty high hopes the Horus Heresy Weekender event two weekends ago.  And with all of the stellar models being released for the Horus Heresy in the last two years, it is obvious why.  The Heresy has always been a fascinating story, detailing a civil war of galactic scale, pitting brother Space Marine against brother Space Marine.  It was where some of the most iconic Space Marine Chapters came into being and where each were shaped by their own enigmatic and god-like Primarch.  When Simon Egan first showed his vision of Angron of the World Eaters, I was stunned with how effectively he captured the savage magistry of the gladiatorial fighter, exceeding all of my expectations.  With this release, Forge World showed to the world that they were capable of undertaking the herculean task of sculpting models for figures that hold a mythical status in the imaginations of most Warhammer 40,000 players (or at least the ones who have been playing for awhile).  It also began the slow, excruciating count-down until the next Primarch was sculpted.  Initially the task fell solely on the shoulders of Simon Egan, but quickly Edgar Skomorowski began sculpting some, as well. Even with the second hand and a span of two years, only 6 of the primarchs have models (of the 12 with rules).  Because of this slow release schedule, Forge World events like the Weekender have had the added excitement that they are often where the next primarch model is revealed.  This year’s Weekender event was no different, but instead of revealing one primarch and showing a glimpse of the next in some half finished WIP form, they showed two new primarchs!  Mortarion the Reaper Primarch of the Death Guard was unveiled and for sale at the event.  Unexpectedly, Vulkan, the Promethean Fire and Primarch of the Salamander Chapter was shown in all his fully sculpted glory as well!

The Unforgiven: Deathwing Command Squad Banner Bearer

Never Forgive, Never Forget was never so fitting.

One of my biggest accomplishments of last year was starting to assemble a unit of senior members of the Dark Angels’ Inner Circle to serve as a Deathwing command squad. I was extremely happy with how the first two members of the squad turned out, and it really inspired me to start planning the next members of the squad. There was still one element of the unit that continued to give me pause (which was part of the reason for not beginning to build the squad earlier), and that was how I was going to make a banner bearer. I always liked their traditional banner with a broken angel reaching to the sky, and was hoping that the new plastic box would give me a workable version of it. As it turned out, they did to a fashion, but the plastic banner was designed to be mounted on top of one of the terminator’s bodies, admittedly reminiscent of the old metal model, but just not suitable to be held aloft in the unwavering hand of an intrepid hero. With this disappointment, I knew I had to come up with something different. I had long considered some of the plastic banners included in other kits, such as the Space Marine command banner, but they all seemed very rigid and intractable.

Lorgar Aurelian of the XVII Legion

"All I ever wanted was the truth."

Gamesday UK has just passed, and what an exciting time it is to be in the hobby!  True to recent form, Games Workshop had little to do with what made it exciting, with Forge World completely stealing the show.  Much like last year, they revealed a whole host of wonderful looking models (with only a few disappointments), primarily focusing on expanding the Horus Heresy range.  With Ferrus Manus just being revealed a few weeks ago, I was shocked to see another completed Primarch when pictures started flooding the internet Sunday night.  No rumors or hints suggesting who was next, simply Lorgar Aurelian of the Word Bearers!