Director speaks about Ultramarines movie

I must say, this gets me excited for the prospects of this movie. Like the previous interview with Abnett these guys are trying to stress how important it is to live up to the fan's expectations and deliver a movie that feels authentically 40k . Should be great.

Paintin' Up Space Hulk: Genestealer Test Batch

Finally found some free-time and the motivation to paint some 40k, and two Space Hulk Genestealers are what were produced. In my earlier Space Hulk post I had a Leviathan theme, but the method I had was just not as effective nor fast enough for me to want to continue it. So I started from scratch and came up with this theme which was fast and painless. Normally I'm not into speed-painting or anything, but when it comes down to it, I just need some table-top quality models to make Space Hulk more visually thrilling and that's what I'm doing. All but two of my Terminators already have their armor painted red and it's only a matter of time before i finish them (though I want to put the base coats on the 'Stealers first just when Pat or Alex and I play a game it'll look at least semi-decent). Anyways, here's the pics, let me know what you think!

Astro Mag: Help 'em out!

For those of you not familiar with The Astro Mag, it's a quarterly 40k e-zine started by myself which I lead for five issues until real-life kicked in and I stepped down after Issue 5 in July. Since then there have been a number of hiccups in Issue 6 and Consadine, who is now the head-honcho of the Mag, has decided to wait for a January release in order to shove more articles in and get some Christmas-y stuff in.

So why am I posting this?

Consadine and the guys are looking for more articles, pictures, artwork, comics, whatever to make Issue 6 the most epic of 40k e-zine issues ever! If you have ANY tutorials, editorials, critiques, home-brew rules, cool pictures (especially 40k-related Holiday pictures!), artwork or whatever that you would like published in the mag and read by 10,000+ hobbyists just email them to theastromag@gmail.com! It's really that simple. The idea I started and left behind was to make this a strictly 40k-online-community run magazine. Sure, only a handful of people are responsible for the final product, but all the articles come from various forums and blogs submitted by hobbyists or requested of outstanding hobbyists. The magazine literally happens because of you! If you have any questions about the mag or submitting stuff, you can either drop a comment or email me.

Also, don't forget to check out the Astro Mag's blog to make sure you're up to date on what's happening!

-Kevin

(Side note: I've been working on my Space Hulk stuff again. Hopefully I can get some stuff done before Winter Break so Alex, Pat and I can have a colorful game of Space Hulk!)

40k/Blogging Desktop Wallpapers

So yesterday I was doodling in my notebook during a two-hour Calc lecture and got a cool idea for some Desktop Wallpapers. Since I'm at home for the weekend (I was dragged home by the girlfriend for a party yesterday) and don't have my codices with me, I decided this would be a nice filler for my Army Mojo stuff until I get the Tau army list up next week.

So first I made a Terran Forge Wallpaper which, admittedly, I'm not too fond of. I'll end up redoing it eventually to make it look less crap. Then I contacted Ron at From the Warp to make sure I could use his logo and, with his blessing, created a cool FtW Wallpaper.

Here they are, and at the top of the page there is a link to "Wallpapers" which will be updated as I create more over time. I am definitely going to do an Astro Mag one and if you guys have any suggestions just let me know!

From the Warp


Terran Forge

Mojo List #3: Imperial Guard

Ok, as I'm getting back into the swing of things at school I'm starting to free up some time for 40k and the first thing is list number three for the Army Mojo series, Imperial Guard! I remember when the codex came out not too long ago, Alex and I poured over it and looked for really cool things you can do. Here is, what I believe, would be a very effective list:

HQ
Company Command Squad - 150
+Carapace Armor, x3 Plasma Guns, Medi-Pack

Elites
Psyker Battle Squad (x10) - 180
+Chimera Transport with Extra Armor

Troops
Infantry Platoon - 230
- Platoon Command Squad (x5 Close-Combat Weapons and Las-Pistols)
- Infantry Squad 1 (Grenade Launcher, Mortar)
- Infantry Squad 2 (Grenade Launcher, Mortar)
- Infantry Squad 3 (Grenade Launcher, Mortar)

Veteran Squad - 185
+Grenadiers, x3 Melta Guns
+Chimera Transport

Veteran Squad - 185
+Grenadiers, x3 Melta Guns
+Chimera Transport

Heavy Support
Leman Russ Battle Tank Squadron (x2) - 320
+x2 Heavy Stubbers

Basilisk - 125

Basilisk - 125
Total = 1500pts

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The idea behind the list is to totally neutralize the enemy by pinning and constant morale checks. The Basilisks and Mortars pound on infantry squads to try and pin them or force them to fall back with the Psyker Battle Squad zipping around the field lowering leaderships to make the former squads' tasks easier. The Veterans have a pretty clear objective: tank-hunting and late-game objective grabbing. The Battle Tanks provide some more pie-plate support and can act as barriers to protect the considerably weaker Basilisks. The idea behind the Company Command Squad is to take full advantage of their BS of 4 by providing deadly mid-range fire-power while staying in range of the infantry squads (allowing orders to flow smoothly as well). The Medi-Pack and Carapace give the squad extra survivability as they will have a 4+ armor save plus a FNP save. Finally, the Platoon Command Squad is equipped as a defensive mechanism. In case a deadly close combat squad is closing in on the mortars, they can throw themselves into the fray to protect the troops for at least one more turn which can be invaluable.

So what do you guys think? The lack of mobility in the Infantry Platoon should be sufficiently counter-balanced by the high chance for pinning and the three Chimeras annoying the enemy's front-line. Next up is Tau!