eBay Auction: Promethean Sun (Help Me Fund My Trip to Bulgaria!)

Hear, hear!
I'm auctioning my copy of "Promethean Sun". You know, the super-mega-ultra-rare Black Library book that was released last year as part of the Horus Heresy series and written by Nick Kyme? You've probably heard of it. ;D

 -=AUCTION TIME=-

Like the auction says, it is s a VERY Limited Edition, Out of Print Hardcover book SIGNED by the author. Only 3,000 copies of this book were ever printed, so this is a very sought-after item! It has a Marker Ribbon and is Numbered, but the number is currently unknown, because the book is in a Mint/Brand New, Unopened, Sealed Condition.

Pretty Pictures!

Why am I selling this book? Well, I'm a big fan of the Horus Heresy.. but I do realize that the book has a very high value when it comes to collecting and what not. I literally managed to grab the very last one at Games Day 2011, Chicago and almost did a cartwheel. I was THAT happy. Back then I actually had to stop myself from reading it, because I knew that after a while it would become pretty valuable, so I put it in a safe place (...under my bed...) and now, almost a year later, my very own copy of Nick Kyme's "Promethean Sun" is for auction.



 I wish I could say that I'm in need of some cash. Well, I am.. who isn't nowadays. I'm a poor full-time student. I can't even afford toy soldiers at the moment.. for you see, I am saving money for something.

For a plane ticket, to be exact. It has been 6 years since I have been in my lovely motherland, 6 long, long years without my Bulgaria, without seeing my friends and family there. Recently it has been getting worse and worse. Nostalgia simply won't let go of me and quite frankly I don't think it will go away any time soon, unless I manage to save some money and actually go there. I won't go into great detail about how badly I actually want to go there, but here's an example of how much I love my country (Of Bulgarians and Vostroyans: Part I).

I seriously doubt that I will manage to save enough money to go this summer, but miracles do happen. There have been certain events in my life that are making this trip almost a necessity. Something I should have done a long, long time ago.. but I suppose that another store and not really for this blog, eh?

I also have a few other things that I'm going to be auctioning off - "Catechism of Hate" which is another Limited Edition Black Library Book. I have the Chaos Sorcerer from Games Day 2010.

New Empire unit: Demigryph Knights

Well, it's about time for the heroes of Mankind to receive some reinforcements.
 I'm guessing the Empire was just sick of seeing all these fancy dual-monster kits and the outrageous monstrous cavalry units given to some of their worst enemies. Apparently, though, in the Warhammer universe becoming better and more elite as a unit is not achieved through training or even by acquiring new weapons or a bigger, shinier codpiece. No, it's all about getting a new epic mount.... I guess.


So without further ado...

Demigryph Knights

I guess they look pretty cool. I mean, they are definitely not Mournfang Cavalry because the Empire already has a bunch of cavalry units, so nothing exclusive there. What do you give to an army that has pretty much everything, right? So there yo go, dear Empire players.

Space Wolves and the NEW Citadel Paint Range; Killzone Tokens and Cards

Hey there, Battle Brothers. Long time no see, but things here have been extremely busy with school, work and working with Frozencore Joe and Brian from A Gentleman's Ones on the Special Operations: KILLZONE tables (In case you have forgotten, we are working on TEN 3'x3' tables O_o)... Life happens, I suppose.

Today's Topic of Discussion

I'm here to quickly jot down a few words and share them with you, but before that here's something that I have been meaning to do for a while...

If you frequent this blog then you probably know about Special Operations: KILLZONE. And unless you have been living under a rock you probably already know that Brian is selling sets of sweet-lookin' TOKENS and CARDS designed specifically to be used in addition to your beautifully painted (right?) Special Operatives Team.

CARDS AND TOKENS FOR YOU

Brian has been working feverishly on them and they are simply beautiful and so, so elegant. I definitely think that they are necessary on the tabletop because.. well.. you have everything you need ON the tabletop: no annoying rules to remember, no more having to peruse the rulebook every time you want to check a mission detail. It's all on the cards and on the tokens. As Brian would surely say: Glorious. 
And in all seriousness: Cards make almost everything better. I actually like to say that any game that has any cards in it instantly becomes more interesting and less of a "Serious business" ordeal. Being able to surprise your opponent and stop his evil master plan by playing your Fate cards has that sweet "You have triggered my trap card" vibe to it. It's hilarious and quite frankly - a must have.

And now for today's topic.

OMG!!1! GW HAS A NEW PAINT RANGE!1! PANIC!?!!! PANIC! BUY ALL AVAILABLE PAINTS BEFORE THEY DISAPPEAR. THE END IS NIGH!

...just kidding. Don't do that. 

I'm kidding yet again. You SHOULD probably do that. 

Just so you're on the safe side, ya know?

Games Workshop's paint range has seen plenty of changes throughout the years, but this one is by far the biggest change yet (I think?). Colors come and go and so do paint pots, but now we have more colors, a wider variety: glazes, bases, layers, shades, textures, dry paint, etc. etc. You can find a color chart on Games Workshop's website, but I think it's currently down and being fixed. Eh, who knows. 

Obviously this raises some concerns. Are all the colors going to stay the same or are the formulas changing completely. From what I understand GW has a new paint factory/provider thing and while many of the colors are almost identical the formulas are not 100% and it is possible that some colors will be slightly different. Or very different. That's why the names of all the paints are different now. GW didn't want to be selling a Scorpion Green that's now quite like the Scorpion Green of the good old days.

Now, if you could please turn your attention to the first image of this blog post.. Or, you know what? I'll just post it again for all to see: 

I got this cool little card from Games Workshop. They have a few for each of the three main games and cover some of the main factions. I thought it would be a good idea to grab the only Space Wolf card and share it with the blogosphere, considering that not everyone has access to a Games Workshop store in their area. 

Now, this Space Wolf Grey Hunter is very different from the usual Space Wolves we've seen over and over again in Codex: Space Wolves and the multitude of White Dwarf magazines. 

They are.. darker. Blue-er. 

Here's a "collage" with some Pre-2012 Paint Change Space Wolves, some Pre-2012 Paint Change Ultramarines and Pedro Kantor. 

Spot the Differences

Now, here's a curious questions: Is this new Space Wolf scheme going to be the NEW studio paint scheme for Space Wolves? What's going to happen with the "baby blue" Space Wolves?

Better Gamer Friday #1: So You Want to Play Warhammer 40k

Welcome to the first posts of a series where we will talk about how to improve as a miniature war-gamer, specifically in Warhammer 40,000.  Now many of the topics that are going to be covered in these segments over the next few weeks (and I have stuff planned a few months down the line should this take off) can be used for just about any mini war game. To keep things in theme with the blog, and to make things a little easier on myself and the majority of the readers I won't be switching from system to system and all my examples will be 40k based. All in all this is just a place where you guys can come every week to get some information to really get the most out of your hobby. From the painting table to the gaming table and the dinner table I just want you guys to enjoy what you are doing and have fun!

I want to start the whole series at the very beginning with a person who maybe hasn't gotten into the hobby yet. This doesn't mean that there won't be anything in here for players who have been into Warhammer for a little while now or you vets out there (we all have some things we can improve on), it just means that the majority of the first posts are going to be geared around building up your hobby group and picking your first army.


So You Want to Play Warhammer 40,000

Starting out is scary. Starting anything from scratch all alone, whether it is getting in 40k, or going to the gym to work out is a daunting process by yourself. You don't know anybody, the membership fees are expensive (space marines are how much!?), and you don't really know where to start. Maybe you feel like everyone is already in a group and you are a sort of outsider, or every time you go to the shop there isn't anyone around who wants to play or help you out. You know, I wouldn't have gotten started in the hobby at all if it were not for two of my very close friends starting at the same time.

I think that this is a pretty important thing that new players really need to keep in mind. Before you even buy your first model you should get a group of "hobby buddies." I really can't stress enough how vital it is to your growth and motivation to just have some friends to do stuff with. Your group doesn't have to be that big, maybe its just one other person like your brother or sister or a good nerdy friend. Something like 3 other people is perfect, as it allows for some variety in the friends you can play against and talk to. Overall you are just looking for someone you feel comfortable playing games and hanging out with. The few of you will be taking your "hobby journey" together and growing in skill side by side. Many people stagnate in different aspects of their hobby (most often painting) because they don't have a go-to person to talk to or hang out with, they just go to the shop by them self and find someone to play against there, maybe hang out for a bit then go home. I'm not saying that this isn't a way you can enjoy yourself, it is just my experience that you might not be getting as much out of it as you could.

Painting is much more fun when people make funny faces?

Buddies offer a lot more than just a person to play who is at your skill level, or just someone you know who isn't a jerk. As someone who enjoys the building and painting aspects of Warhammer, let me tell you sometimes it just gets downright boring to do it by yourself. Just having someone to talk to while you glue a dudes legs together or paint some guys pants blue makes the whole experience a million times more fun. It even goes beyond just witty banter, maybe your hobby buddy is a little better with a file than you are and can give you some tips, or maybe you need to ask if yellow is the best color to paint these shoulder pads (the answer is always no, yellow is awful). It's a lot easier to pull the trigger on that new paint scheme, or know if that piece is supposed to glue there when you have an outside opinion backing you up. If you guys are all building/painting/playing at the same time and working on the same stuff it can really help keep you motivated to stick with it.

There's that face again....

Keeping motivated is really key when starting out as this is the time when you are the least invested. Time and time again I have seen people buy their first box never to return, and others who last for only a summer. If this is something you are seriously considering, your little community that you forge will keep you on track and be a constant source of fun and enjoyment. A key part of the whole hobby is the social aspect of it all, it's why having those buddies is so important. These are friends that you can share your success with, and who will be sharing their triumphs with you too! It's awesome to be able to show off your new coolest model, or tell the story about the awesome roll you had or the brilliant move you made in the last turn of the game. Get excited when you do something great and share it, and get excited when they share something with you. Telling stories will get you both pumped about the hobby more and drive you up to better things! As you get going it kind of creates this feedback loop where you will enjoy being social about the game, which will make you want to do more stuff, which will make you want to share more, which will get you more excited. You can even get into hobby loops with yourself where you play a game and a unit or model does particularly well, so you paint them up cause they are cooler than everyone else. Then as you paint up the unit you start jonesing for another game where something else cool happens and where you can show off your new painted unit, and the cycle continues.

Look how much fun we are having! :P

Its great to get into the habit of celebrating when you do something well, feeling good about your successes is great. In the end you are doing this hobby because it is fun and you want to have fun. That's something that is really important, you are doing this to HAVE FUN. I think "leave your ego at the door" is one way to really put it. It is cool to feel proud when you do something awesome, but the point isn't to lord your painting sills over other people, and it isn't good sportsmanship to bash people about how much better of a player you are. Those things aren't about celebrating success or having fun, they are about being a dick. The opposite is true too, if every time you loose a game you beat yourself up over it then you aren't having any fun either. Just leave your ego somewhere else when you hobby, don't bash yourself or other people and just concentrate on just having fun. It's not always easy, and there will definitely be times when you get frustrated, but try to just keep your hobby time as "fun time." If you ever find that you not really enjoying yourself, take a break, maybe you just "aren't in a painting mood," maybe that piece just won't fit together right. Don't force it, just go off and do something else (like ask a buddy about what they are doing) and come back to it later. Just try and stay positive, you will enjoy your hobby more, and the people you hobby with will enjoy you more too. It's all about having fun, and the more fun you have the more you want to be a better gamer, and the better you get the more fun you have.....and well you can see where this is going.

That's all for the first little intro segment of Better Gamer Friday #1. Next week we will be exploring picking the right army and all that particular topic entails. See you next week!