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Oldhammer Devastators

When you run a business you can get very busy, I’ve recently noticed that I have been neglecting the blog. So it’s time to recitfy and restart . There will be regular posts and updates about painting and gaming projects in the store. As well as articles and other things.

The store has a collection of Space Marines from the 1st edition of Warhammer 40,000. They form part of the store display armies and are painted as Dark Angels. Back then the Space Marines models wore what is now known as MK VI or Corvus armour. The Dark Angels had a black colour scheme with red markings instead of the green they are now known for. The original colour scheme is referenced by the Horus Heresy game, which is set around the early period of the Imperium, which is about 10,000 years before the main game.

Here is the Devastator Squad added to the Dark Angels RTB01 army. It was actually painted before the assault marines and chaplain, but gets posted now for some reason. This squad is the first painted to get sergeant and veteran sergeant markings. These take the form of helmet stripes and the Veteran Sergeant gets a rank badge on his power fist.

The squad makes use of plastic Imperial Guard heavy bolters and lascannons, from the weapons sprues available at the time. You may have seen the lascannon marine before as it was part of the second tactical squad painted. That squad is now equipped with a missile launcher. Their lascannon now forms part of the devastator squad.

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How to start Kings of War

Kings of War is a fantasy battle game played with miniatures. You collect and command an army of your favourite fantasy figures against an opponents collection of fantasy figures, in a variety of scenarios across different fantasy landscapes. The action takes place on the world of Pannithor, which is the setting for the fantasy games produced by Mantic including Dungeon Saga, Vanguard and Armada. While it may be new to a number of people it does contain familiar elements, such as Dwarves, Elves, Undead and Dragons.

In order to play Kings of War you will need a Rulebook, Army list and of course models. You will find your army list in either the Core Rulebook or another publication called Uncharted Empires. Between both books there are twenty-six army lists so there is much to choose from. A review of the game has already been completed here.

Starter Sets

Uniquely there are two starter sets for Kings of War. Shadows in the North and War in the Holds. Both boxes contain the rulebook and two starting armies of Nightstalkers and Northern Alliance for Shdows in the North. Goblins and Ratkin for War in the holds. Both are great value and can be the perfect introduction for new players.

Books

There are two versions of the rulebook. The Hardback edition which contains the rules, army lists, maps and the background stories to world of Pannithor. The Gamers edition, which is a soft cover book that just contains the game rules and army lists. If you are have an existing collection of miniatures you may prefer to get the book instead of the starter sets.

Other books to consider is Uncharted Empires and Clash of Kings. As mentioned before Uncharted Empires is a book the contains twelve more Army lists for the game. Clash of Kings is an annual publication which has rules updates and new content for the game. While it is not strictly necessary to own Clash of Kings in order to play and enjoy the game, many existing players in the Kings of War community will be using the updated rules to play, particularly in tournaments.

Miniatures

The Army Boxes are excellent value and contain a good variety of troops, to start your collection. They can compliment an existing army or be the beginning of a new force. If you have decided that the armies in the starter sets above are not for you then grabbing one of these with a rulebook can be a great way to start.

There are a good number of miniatures manufacturers and it’s really easy to incorporate your existing collection of miniatures into the game, or to collect an army for Kings of Kings of War outside of Mantics own brand of miniatures. Fantasy miniatures have a number of existing shared concepts, that although each may be unique they are recognisable. You’ll find that figures from Dwarves, undead, elves, orcs and various periods of human history to name but a few are perfectly usable in Kings of War.

Of course it will be up to you how they fit in and which miniatures to use. The army lists in Kings of War and Uncharted Empires should have you covered. For example the “Kingdoms of Men” army list in Uncharted Empires can fit in many figure collections of historical periods from ancients, through medieval to early renaissance. Likewise you’ll find Mantic own miniatures suitable for other fantasy battle and role playing games.

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More Undead and Better Pics

Firstly it’s the Revenants, you may have seen them before… These are the first mantic miniatures I ever painted. A great set with many options on the sprue. I decided to go with a green theme to match with the shields. The metallic green armour represents the fact they wear magic arms and armour, which continues in death .

Every Kings of War game I play using undead, I include this unit. I learned they have much staying power due to their high defence, though lack the killing ability of other undead units. It would be nice to increase them to horde strength.

Next up are the Skeleton Phalanx. I kept the same shield design as the Revenants , because the skeletons served the same order in life as they do in death. Again built using Mantic plastic skeletons. A great set with many options.

Next are the zombies. I went for a non-naturalistic look here, and took time to experiment with The Army Painter strong tone wash. While they don’t quite fit the theme of the skeletons, they are great models and fulfil a role in the army.

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Imperial GCPS

While preparing to run a few games of Deadzone I noticed a similarity of the GCPS faction with the Imperial Guard. With that in mind I decided to use that excuse to paint up a few oldhammer Rogue Trader Imperial Guard.

The tall chap with the shot gun is a conversion using more modern pieces. As is the sergeant who has a modern chainsword. A quick and fun side project with added benefits and expansion potential.

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Oldhammer Jump Assault

I have been adding to the Oldhammer Space Marines. Nothing speaks to the nature of the Imperium more than a Chaplain. The model is a conversion from a number of different ranges. To honour his origins, I decided to add a mohawk to the skull helmet.

Father Eduardo

I took part in a recent Oldhammer Challenge on twitter, and used it as an excuse to make an assault squad. A the time of Rouge Traders release there were no plastic chainswords. Right now period plasma pistols are difficult to come by. So I made the decision to use modern weapons, but kept the period bolt pistol arms – of which there are many. The Jump Packs are from Max Mini. They are much larger than the metal ones from the time, though still in line with many illustrations from 1987-1992.

The model I actually entered was a homage to an original Rogue Trader metal model “Brother Romero”. He is in the middle at the back.

Models from

Citadel

Jump Packs from Max Mini

Mohwak from Warlord Games

Painted using Deco Art Acrylics and The Army Painter.