Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 29: Mortarion heralds a wave of new Death Guard releases

The Death Guard are here!

We spend this episode talking about the new and upcoming Death Guard models. We devote a significant amount of time discussing their Primarch, Mortarion, and how we feel that he is the strongest model in the range, not not suffering from many of the severe anatomical issues of the rest of his legion. The majority of the rest of the episode is spent analysing the new terminator models, particularly the Deathshroud terminators. We lement at their lack of of abdomens and awkward leg attachment, but think that they will still be excellent for conversion opportunities.

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 17: Roboute Guilliman and questions concerning Space Marine Anatomy

Loyalist Primarchs in 40k...

We begin this episode by talking about some of the new Tzeentch releases before shifting into discussing the third Triumvirate boxed set, including Roboute Guilliman, Cypher, and Grand Master Voldus. We spend a lot of time pondering the egregious anatomical issues of the vast majority of current the Space Marine models, and how they were remedied by Simon Egan with his series of Primarch models. We finish out the episode talking about our current work to build a better proportioned true-scale Space Marine.

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.

Roboute Guilliman: the Avenging Son Impressions

‘A capacity for the theoretical is admirable, but a stomach for the practical is priceless.’

As the dust settles from the grand reopening of Warhammer World last weekend, there is a lot to be excited about. The excitement primarily stems from the models that Forge World unveiled, including the long awaited, and utterly cyclopean, Warlord Titan!  But this post is focusing on another God of War that was revealed to the world this weekend. Although only a fraction of the size of the Warlord, this next model is no less mighty, perfectly defining the Emperor’s noble ambitions at the onset of the Great Crusade. I am speaking of course of the next primarch from Forge World, Roboute Guilliman the Avenging Son of the XIII Legion (thanks Recalcitrant Daze for the excellent pictures from the event!).

A look back: The miniatures of 2014

It is hard to argue with the notion that 2014 has been a remarkable year for hobbyists, one which has seen the release of a huge range of fantastic miniatures. Similar to last year, we thought that it would be appropriate to go back and take a look at some of our favorite models released over the year. Fortunately, it was not just a single company that dominated the scene, with Games Workshop, Forge World, Wyrd, and Corvus Belli, each releasing a host of excellent models.  Without further ado, we are going to go through each of the aforementioned companies and talk about some of their standout models for the year and select our favorite.  Finally we will reveal our overall favorite model of the year.  Now to the models!

Konrad Curze, the Night Haunter: Impressions

"It is better by far to be an object of fear than of respect, for one is a truth of the soul and the other an illusion of the mind."

In terms of model releases, in the last two years, I have come to look forward to and anticipate one thing above all others, and that is the release of new Primarchs from Forge World.  These models are the distilled vision of each of their respective legions, and some of the most iconic characters in the 41st millenium.  If asked three years ago if I thought these characters, legends in 40k history, could be effectively produced as models, I would have said "no" without question.  How could anyone encapsulate all of the lore and myth that has been cultivated over 20 years since their creation?  Thankfully, I was proven wrong by the work of the incredibly talented Simon Egan (as well as Edgar Skomorowski), who not only harnessed all the creative energy surrounding these characters, but also added some of his own personal vision to the characters.  This year has been a good year for Primarch releases, seeing the release of Horus, Mortarian, and Vulkan.  After Vulkan was unveiled at the Horus Heresy Weekender in May of this year, however, word about the next Primarch was scarce.  It was a painful five months of nothing until Warhammer Fest (Oct 11-12th), where another of the Emperor’s sons was revealed, the King of Terrors, Konrad Curze of the Night Lords.  But even this was only a single cropped image, so the wait continued.  Finally, in the first week of December, the Night Haunter was released and shown to the world in his terrible splendor.

The Genesis of a Space Marine: Unboxing Vulkan and musings on a conversion

Another Primarch, as impressive as the last!

By now it is probably not a surprise to anyone that I am a huge fan of Forge World's primarch models (http://betweenthebolterandme.blogspot.com/search/label/Primarch). I have written about them at length on numerous occasions, and eagerly await each new release.  Despite my inherent urge to collect all of them just for the sake of having a complete collection, it is not very practical.  For single models, they are very costly, and often require a  significant time investment to assemble and fix their casting issues. Furthermore, inherent in their nature, they are all from different Legions.  And no matter how fanatical about the models, I simply cannot collect a small army for every Legion such that each Primarch has a place.  To get around this to some capacity, I considered trying to use some of the models for conversions, but their cyclopean scale made me hesitant and I shelved the idea, waiting for some inspiration to push me past those initial musings.  That inspiration came when Migsula of Legion of Plastic, unveiled his newest project, the Vlka Fenryka.  Taking what he learned from his Legion project (creating a true-scale Alpha Legion army), he set his sights on the Sons of Russ, and set out to create a band of warrior-gods from the 13th company.  Unlike his Legion project, which he restricted to only plastic, he has fully embraced Forge World and has begun to create warriors using some of the Primarch models.  And while a talented modeler like Migsula dabbling with some of the finest miniatures in the world is exciting by itself, it was the stream of posts that followed (along with the accompanying discussions in the comments section) talking about his artistic vision, that set my imagination racing and rekindled my desire to use some of the Primarch figures as a basis for conversions.

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!

Ferrus Manus: Unboxing

Ferrus comes with the most pieces yet of the Primarchs!

Frequenters of this blog might already know how impressed we were Simon Egan’s third primarch model, Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands, selecting him as our favorite model of 2013.  Although I spoke at length about various aspects of the model when he was initially unveiled, I never actually did an unboxing to show off the components of the kit like I did with Fulgrim.  Although I have had the kit for a little over a month now, I had a few issues with some of the components not being cast well.  Having just received replacement parts in the mail, I decided now is a good time to show everyone the kit and to talk a little bit about Forge World’s excellent customer service.

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!

Ferrus Manus: The Gorgon Primarch of the Iron Hands

Glory to the Tenth Legion!

Perhaps I should stop being surprised by it,  but every time Simon Egan releases a new Primarch model (or any model for that matter!) I am stunned.  The level of seamless detail he is able to achieve, without weighing his figures down, is astounding.  This is only magnified in an age where so many miniature companies are transitioning into designing their models completely via computers and 3D printing the results.  His newest model is no exception to his excellence, and could quite possibly his best Primarch to date, which is quite a statement considering how magnificent Angron and Fulgrim are.  Now the Gorgon Primarch of the Iron Hands, Ferrus Manus has a model!

Fulgrim the Illuminator: Unboxing

Fulgrim unboxed!

Since his reveal a few months ago, I eagerly awaited the opportunity to get my hands on Simon Egan’s latest Primarch, Fulgrim the Illuminator.  I was very impressed with his first Primarch model, Angron the Red Angel, and wanted to see how his next compared.

Having just received Fulgrim from Forge World, I wanted to take a few pictures and show you all of the parts and do a few quick comparisons to Angron.  Enjoy!

Fulgrim the Illuminator Revealed!

At long last, the next Primarch is here!

This weekend was an exciting one for those of us who play Warhammer 40,000.  The highly anticipated Horus Heresy Weekender event took place in Nottingham, resulting in a wealth of new information (and models!) from Forge World’s vision of depicting the epic civil war that set brother Space Marine against brother Space Marine across the known universe.  What I was looking forward to most, however was the full unveiling of Forge World’s next Primarch, Fulgrim the Illuminator!

Fulgrim the Illuminator, Forge World's latest Primarch

Who better to define a Primarch's image then John Blanche? 

The Primarchs have always held a sort of mythic status in my mind, steeped in mystery and conjecture.  An unknowable quantity that was only spoke of in whispers, like all the best elements of Warhammer 40,000.  So when I heard models were being made, I was pretty skeptical, because unless the result was utterly spectacular, it was likely to add a level of finality to these figures that I would rather leave to my own imagination.  But as luck would have it, Forge World gave this herculean task to arguably their best sculptor, Simon Egan.  And the moment Forge World revealed their first Primarch, Angron the Red Angel, I (and I imagine most of you) craved to see the other’s rendered with the same magnificence.