Skarvald, what is best in life?

.. besides being an eye-patch wearing, frost axe-wielding Space Wolf Wolf Lord riding on a Thunderwolf, to crush your enemies, see them driven before you... and to hear the lamentation of their women?

It is the end of Games Workshop's Special Characters Week and I feel the need to mention my favorite Special Character in the 40,000 Universe. While he isn't mentioned in any of the officially released books, codeces, White Dwarves or any fluffopaedias he very well should be, because his glory rivals that of many of the characters that you already know and love. Or hate.

Skarvald the Troll-faced

The Jaws of Death 

The Scarcarver

Harbinger of the Wolftime

To me, Skarvald epitomizes the EPIC part of the Space Wolves codex and Warhammer 40,000 in general. Not only is he the centerpiece of my army but he is always the center of attention in any game that I field him in. There are plenty of "special characters" and HQ's that give nice little boons to people's armies, even combat specialists and many of them could easily be ignored in regular games. Lots are even boring to play against simply because you see them all the time and often it doesn't make any sense that such individuals would be even fighting in such small battles. You know what I'm talking about..

"Oh, you brought Vulkan He'Stan.. nice." 

"Eldrad, huh? Well at least it makes sense, since Eldar cannot fight without him and win."

"Cool, Marneus Calgar is apparently taking a hand-full of Tactical Marines and Scouts on a field trip. Look, he even has his blue Ultramarines School Bus."

"Ghazghkull Thraka leading a WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH with ~180 boyz?"

There's nothing wrong with it, but I know that many of you have the same problem. Maybe some of you will even say that Skarvald, a Wolf Lord, would also never fight in the tiny insignificant skirmishes that most 40k games usually turn out to be. But see, he's an ale-lovin' warrior who rides on top of a cybernetic wolf the size of a Rhino. He can't stay in one place longer than it takes for him to eat, get drunk and sleep. 

And as long as his opponents pick legendary special characters, Skarvald will follow them across the galaxy to accomplish whatever Saga the Rune Priests bestowed upon him just to prove himself to his retinue, Chapter and of course the Emperor. 

Besides, he is EPIC. A character that is a tough, strong AND mobile point-sink? I'll drink to that.

He and his retinue of Thunderwolves have survived and killed some of the greatest and most legendary champions and tyrants of the 40,000 universe. 

He has survived a charge by and KILLED:

- Ghazghkull Thraka with his 10 Power Klaw Nobz

- Gabriel Seth's Assault Marines

- Kitted out Blood Angels Honour Guard Squad with a Sanguinary Novitiate, Blood Champion, Chaplain and a Librarian with The Sanguine Sword

- Astaroth the Grim's and his Death Company

And that's not even counting the many times he has been in other epic encounters. Shot by and charged with more than 50 Ork Boyz, 15 Nobz with Big Choppas, a Warboss with a Power Klaw and Old Zogwort? Check. Survived Apocalypse games while other Named HQ's died in droves? Check. 

Even that is not enough to describe his gretness. I suppose I'll have to finally finish building him, paint him and write some fluff... After all, Skarvald the Troll-faced has become something of a legend where I go to paint and play with my little plastic dude men. I've been asked to show people his entry in the Space Wolves codex. One day I'll have to do that and add a page in my codex with his stats. Hehe..

And you? Do you have your own Legendary generic HQ that you are proud of?

I have always depended on the kindness of str-WAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Punting a Stompa!

It has begun.
Ohhhhhh yeaaaah..

If you remember my excitement when the new Orcs and Goblin were announced, then you probably already know what this post is going to be about allll about. Greenskins, baby. Why? Cuz green iz best. But don't let the Thunderwolves hear ya.. But before I continue with my posting, I need to thank someone, even though his evil and sinister person would rather stay modest and humble:

This Savage WAAAAAAAAAGH wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the very kind, sudden and unsuspected support from and old, distant but not forgotten friend from the Land Down Under, someone who I met in my childhood days way back then in the good ole Bulgaria. His donation is what finally sealed the deal with the Orcs and Goblins. Thank you, Lord Zdrachnik for the generosity. One day I will repay my debt to you, hopefully before I decide to fly down there and persuade you to go koala hunting with me.

Da Poop Stompa

You're probably curious about the "Punting a Stompa!" bit from today's article, eh? See this shitty looking abomination of scrap? A long time ago I had it soaking in a bucket of Simple Green, because its previous owner decided to spray it random colors without even priming it. Yep. And he used super glue to build it. I felt sorry for it and at the time it felt like a good investment, so I traded 40 Sakven Clanrats that I had gotten as a gift for it with hopes of fixing it up and makin' it proppa. Yeah... that never happened. Besides, I already have a Stompa that needs to be primed and painted.. So now this ugly pile of badly painted plastic is in the hands of a capable young man who wants to make it the centerpiece for his Armies on Parade.


Currently it is supposed to become da Outhouse Stompa of a very prominent and creative big Mek. Sounds good to me.. I got the new Orcs and Goblins Army Book in exchange for it and that makes me happy! Plus we dared the Stompa's new owner to kick it outside of the store since it was going to be used for pretty much scrap.. And he did it. There's something about seeing a $100 superglued model fall on the ground after being kicked and then exploding into dozens of plastic shrapnel.. It's so.. Orky!

Today I pre-ordered some of the "army essentials" and Throne I cannot way to open them...... after Adepticon 2011 is over. What did I get? x3 boxes of Savage Orc Boyz, x1 box of Savage Orc Boar Boyz and the new and shiny hardcover Orcs and Goblins Army Book. I know I will need a lot of Savage Orc Boyz if I want to make this work, and surprisingly enough they scale with points very, very well. A unit of 25 Savage Orc Boyz with 2 hand weapons, full command, a Big 'Un and a Big Stabba will run you ~280 points. Very killy indeed. Two such units in 1,000 pts? I fink so, Boss!

- Adding a Savage Orc Big Boss on a Boar at some point. I want to make the model really scary looking and will use the obsidian blades that come inside the Savage Orc Boyz box to either add to the tusks of the Boar or completely replace them.
- I NEED a Battle Standard for the army to make da Boyz listen more and froth from the mouths less. 
- A Savage Orc Shaman for sure. Later will give him the Lucky Shrunken Head which improves the Ward save from Warpaint to 5+ in a unit of Savage Orcs. Not bad, not bad at all.
- A Giant with a Warpaint upgrade. If you have at least one Savage Orc Shaman you can pay 20 pts. to give one Giant in your army a 6+ ward save.

An -iality at its Best : The VERY expensive Dark Eldar Beastmasters!

My oh my, Games Workshop. You keep on teasing me, you ol' bean.
First it was the release of the new Orcs and Goblins Army Book, then you announced the new Tomb Kings Army Book and now you actually release the models from the Dark Eldar book that people pretty much never, ever expected to see. Unleash the beasts! You know, given the fact that for some unknown reason you're still slacking on the release of my Fenrisian Wolves and Thunderwolf Cavalry models. But, I'll cut you some slack, I see what you're trying to accomplish here.

"Hey, you guys. Let's give Beastmasters different options but make sure to release every monster as a separate metal blister. People will HAVE to pay up if they want to use them to their full potential. Like you would EVER run a single Beastmater, right?"

Valentine's Day? Bah. It's Trifon Zarezan here and we celebrate like Space Wolves!

Horus better get me a Valentine.

Woot, it's Valentine's Day apparently. Lots of pink, red, unnecessary golden decorations, hearts, kisses, hugs and Blood Angels laughing like little girls while taking baths together and combing their golden blond hairs with golden combs that say "I <3 Sanguinius". Cuz that's totally my thing.

Here we celebrate like the Sons of Russ! 

Bulgarian wine and cheese!

Triphon Zarezan (bg. Трифон Зарезан) is St. Tryphon's Feast and an Orthodox Bulgarian National holiday officially celebrated on the 1st of February according to the newer Julian Calendar, but everyone celebrates it today, February 14th, which is the old way. Of course that just gives people a reason to celebrate this religious holiday twice!

Trifon "The Bulgarian Wolf" Ivanov, 1994

Trifon Zarezan is a day dedicated to viticulture (study of grapes) and viniculture (winemaking) and he is the Patron Saint of winemakers, falconers, gardeners and bartenders. Celebrations involve the consummation of lots and lots of wine! So, there you go: finally a manly thing to celebrate on the 14th of February. Get obscenely drunk, start a brawl and go hunting with a falcon, while drunk.
In Bulgarian folklore, the two days that follow Trifon Zarezan are called "trifuntsi"  and are honored for protection from wolves. Women are not allowed to cut with scissors not to open the jaws of the wolf and refrain from knitting and sewing. So fellas, if you've been losing a lot to Space Wolves make sure to prevent your mothers, sisters, girlfriends or wives from doing these things and who knows, Leman Russ' Sons might even spare your life for once.

But probably not.

Unwrapping: New Tomb Kings Army Book and Models in May!

Couldn't fall asleep and decided to check the Games Workshop website just now and what do I see... Incoming: Tomb Kings. Wow! We all knew it was going to happen soon and finally we have the official word of GW that the Tomb Kings will awaken once more to rule whatever the Warhammer Fantasy universe/continent/planet-thing is called. So THAT's what the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 was for! Time for the Tomb Kings to restore the peace in the ancient country of Egypt. None of this Democracy jibba-jabba, it's time for some Undead-governed Monarchy..

Also... Gee, thanks, Gee Dub! There were TWO armies from the Warhammer Fantasy range that I was considering playing. TWO. Orcs and Goblins.. and Tomb Kings. First, you get me all excited with the new Savage Orc Boyz enough to finally decide to start an army and now you tease me with some Undead Egyptian goodies. Darn it! Now I'm not sure what to do.. Start Orcs or Goblins or waaaait a few months for the Tomb Kings? Arrrrrrrrgh! And that's a day after I put up an auction for the Tomb Kings Tomb Guards. Actually, that's not too bad, considering that they will probably get plastic models.

Mmmm... Mystery Monster.. *drool*

As seen above, we also get a sneak peak! Alright. You're thinking it, I'm thinking it.. so I'm just going to say it. This is going to be a Sphinx Monstrous Creature that shoots lasers from its eyes and counts as a Wizard that knows Tomb King magic, some unique buffing/destructing spells, possibly another Lore. Yep... that's what it is.

Bah! Don't know what to do now.. Orcs and Goblins OR Tomb Kings?

And Now For Something Weird..

The "<--- Warp Energy!" note was needed to clarify that it was indeed warp energy and not warp puke. Not that there is anything wrong with a psychologically unstable Weird Boy shooting warp-infused vomit projectiles at people.. It needs more mushroom chunks, me thinks? There is some coming out from his left ear too!

This is a photo taken of a picture I drew on our store's whiteboard a long time ago. It doesn't exist anymore and I'm too lazy to try and mask the glare on Photoshop.. But I think it's pretty cool.. 

Help me fund my Orcs and Goblins Army!

There I said. Don't worry, I'm not expecting donations from you. I was just hoping to sell a few of my miniatures to help me with paying for the Orcs and Goblins army I am so itching to paint and play. Soo.. I just posted a couple of things on the good ole eBay! Obviously I would rather have a reader of this blog win them, so if you are interested in buying my auctions I will make sure to add something small as a token of appreciation. It's not gonna be anything super special.. just something. Yeah.. Plus if you have your own blog I'll feature you in a blog post, maybe get you some extra clicks?

10 Sealed New in Box: Metal Tomb Kings Tomb Guard! 

OOP Rare Games Day 2010 Chaos Sorcerer still in blister!

Thanks in advance to any of you kind souls that decide to help me out with my very own Warhammer Fantasy army!

- Skarvald the Troll-faced