White Dwarf 46 Leaked!

Posted by the blog El taller de Yila here.

More images after the break.

White Dwarf 45 leaked!!!

Whoa! Looks crazy!

White Dwarf 44 Cover!

Not too crazy about that captain, but at least the Blood Angels are here! More pics after the break.

Shield of Baal: Leviathan SOLD OUT!

Shield of Baal: Leviathan went up for preorder today, but if you didn't order your copy it's already sold out!

There is a free preview GW Digital Editions is offering via the new Warhammer app on iOS. If you don't have an iOS enabled device or the app, fear not, I created a PDF that is available for download here. This is short and just fluff, but it's definitely a good read and sets the stage for what is to come.

The rumors from Faeit212 are saying next week it's Warhammer Endtimes: Khaine and then back to Shield of Baal. I'm thinking that will be the boxed set, but we'll see how it plays out.

Till next time,
–The Harrower

Shield of Baal: Leviathan Unveiled!

Pics from White Dwarf 42 have surfaced and Shield of Baal: Leviathan has been confirmed. The odd part? The Blood Angels don't take part in the initial part of the campaign. Here's the text from the article:

Shield of Baal: Leviathan is the opening installment of a new narrative campaign for Warhammer 40,000, depicting the Tyranid invasion of the Cryptus System, the Shieldworlds of Baal. The campaign follows the harrowing events as multiple worlds are struck by massive elements of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Against this onslaught the Imperium calls upon the regiments of the Astra Militarum, a Militarum Tempestus strike force and even a convent of the Adepta Sororitas, hurling them into battle against a foe that seeks to harvest worlds.

More after the break.

Blood Angels: Updated Rumor Mill

So here's my updated Rumor Mill post for my boys in red. I think I have everything relevant here. If not, drop it down in the comments.

via an anonymous source on Faeit 212: 11.06.2014

Shield of Baal is the first release for the campaign. There will be more. It comes in two hardback books in a slipcase.

Book 1, fluff details on the invasion:
• includes the invasion of the Cryptus System, called the shieldworlds of Baal.
• the Astra Militarum, Blood Angels and even the Sisters of Battle are mentioned here.

Book 2, rules:
•  6 Echoes of War scenarios
• Cities of Death expansion with 6 new missions
• Death from the Skies rules for aerial combat

Forces of Leviathan, a new detachment for Tyranids:
• New Warlord traits
• Datasheets for new units
• New formations

More rumors after the break.

Blood Angels boxed set gets a name!

This is NOT an official graphic.

This just in from KaldorSwarmlord over on Warseer:

I don't know if any other german WD readers noticed:

on page 20 of the current WD, where they talk about the various ways to benefit from the Toxicrene, some note is written in the bottom left corner (I'll translate):

"Shield of Baal: Leviathan ist ausschließlic in englischer Sprache erhältlich, aber damit du sofort mit dem Spielen loslegen kannst, haben wir hier die Regeln auf Deutsch abgedruckt."

"Shield of Baal: Leviathan is exclusively available in English, but for the purpose of playing immediatly we printed the rules in German here for you."

I have no doubt now that this has to do with entry 999.M41 The Darkest Hour from page 17 of the current Blood Angels Codex when a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan and a force of Chaos Daemons led by the Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha attack Ammonai, the outmost planet of the Baal system. More into on The Darkest Hour in my previous post.

If Chaos Daemons make it into this campaign it would make a for a surprise Codex release like Lords of War Gaming talked about. Interesting times ahead! I'll do an updated Rumor Roundup for the Blood Angels later this weekend.

Until then, Enim Sanguinus!!!
–The Harrower

Blood Angels Rumor Update!

This just in from Lords of War Gaming on Facebook:

I keep getting questions about a Tyranids Codex release and here's some info.

1. This is a model release no Tyranids codex.
2. A Campaign book will be released and if I remember correctly it's called Leviathan.
3. Blood Angels are still coming.
4. There will be a starter set that contains BA and Tyranids. It will be similar to Storm Claw.
5. Hope to update Blood Angel rumors this week.

Hmm. This sounds a lot like The Darkest Hour that's detailed in the current Blood Angels Codex.

999.M41 The Darkest Hour 

The Blood Angels are tested as they have not been since the days of the Horus Heresy. As the launch of the 13th Black Crusade consumes the resources of the Imperium, a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan is determined to be on a direct course for Baal. To make matters worse, the dread Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha, the Bane of Sanguinius, returns from the Warp leading an army of daemons. His first blow is struck against Ammonai, the outermost world of the Baal System.

Faced with a possible war of extermination for the Chapter on 2 fronts, Lord Commander Dante makes swift preparations, and unites many Imperial and even non-human worlds under the command of the Blood Angels simply for the sake of survival against Tyranid and Daemon alike. Even some former foes of the Chapter and the Imperium are counted in Dante's alliance, though whether or not they can be truly trusted when the time comes remains an open question. Well aware that even these forces will not be enough to repel both foes, Dante recalls the 3rd Company from its operations on Armageddon and sends requests for aid to all of the Blood Angels' known Successor Chapters. The Flesh Tearers are the first to respond and despatch their entire fighting strength to the Blood Angels' aid without question. Ultimately, all of the Successor Chapters save for the Lamenters lend some form of aid to their primogenitor. Even the Knights of Blood, declared Renegade by the Imperium many centuries earlier, heed Dante's call–though they are very careful to never take the field alongside the other Chapters.

The stage is thus set for the defence of Baal, and perhaps the final battle of the Scions of Sanguinius, the Sons of the Angel.

Anyone want the Tyranids from my Boxed Set?

Till next time,

–The Harrower

New Blood Angels Campaign, Boxed Set, and Dataslates!

This just in from Lords of War Gaming on Facebook:

There will be a campaign book that is released early November. Necrons are not for a while I know of two armies that are next and another codex that will shock people next year.

Early November campaign book... with Blood Angels?
I been told that there will be a box like Storm Claw. BA for sure but I don't know it its Nids or Necrons. If I was to guess I would say Necrons following the Storm Claw model.

End of the year as in December or in November?

I was told December. I don't not know if it is at the beginning or at the end.

Rumors about Tycho and a couple new Dataslates after the break.

Rumor Mill: Blood Angels

I've been keeping my ear to the ground for rumors on the upcoming Blood Angels Codex and while there haven't been any developments the past few days I did want to post a rumor round up.

via an anonymous reader on Faeit 212: 10.12.2014

• The Blood Angels Codex briefly showed up on the Games Workshop mobile website. Cover featured what looked like a Sanguinary Guard surrounded by fire.

via Lords of War Gaming on Facebook: 10.11.2014

• Blood Angels Codex will be called Adeptus Astartes: Blood Angels. All future Codexes will use this same naming scheme.
• The Blood Angels Codex cover that is making the rounds is fake (I claim partial responsibility for this. See this post. –TH).

More rumors after the break.

Building Desert Terrain

I've been doing this blog for over a year and looking back I find it pretty surprising that I haven't done any posts on terrain. I'm sure the other members of DED 'ARD are equally surprised considering how insane I am when it comes to making terrain. I'll admit, I'm somewhat of a terrain snob and nothing makes me lash out more than bad terrain. My devotion to terrain usually comes at the sacrifice of my models as you'll typically see primed red Blood Angels being pushed through lavish terrain when you play at my house. I know that defeats the whole purpose of why we game, but it is something I'm still working on. Anyway, building terrain wasn't the main reason why I got into the hobby, but it was pretty high on the list.

As a kid, I've always been amazed by model building and I used to look through old magazines on how they made models for movies like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Dark Crystal for hours on end. Alas, today a lot of the modeling craft has been replaced by 3d modeling, but I still love it and I was glad to see Peter Jackson go old school with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Not so glad with how he butchered the story and turned Frodo into an unlikeable ass, but that's a topic for another time. Today, building terrain and converting miniatures are my two favorite things with the hobby and terrain building is still something my wife really enjoys so I usually get her to help me out on my latest projects. Here's a few examples of some terrain we've made in the past.

I'm going to be running a campaign for our Gaming Club starting next month. It's going to be based on Planetary Empires and everyone is going to be fighting over the planet Ghalis IV. The planet has been lost since the Dark Age of Technology and has remained hidden in the Ayntaara Nebula for thousands of years. Ghalis IV has remained untouched by the strife of the 41st millennium as no scanners or Psykers have been able to pierce the nebula's depths. This will be an escalation campaign with games starting at 500 point combat patrol matches as the armies make planetfall and escalate to 1,500 point games as they stake their foothold on the planet.

One of my new 4" by 4" table sections.

As you see in the pics above, my tables are kinda huge and really heavy. I made them years ago with 3/4" plywood and 2x4s. I'm replacing these with newer tables made out of 1/4" MDF and 1x3s. The tables are in two pieces one 4" by 4" for Combat Patrol and another 2" by 4" so I can make a tournament size 6" by 4" table. These tables are a lot lighter and easier to store.

In total, I'll have 3 tables. 1 grass board, 1 city board, and 1 desert board. Each of these will correspond to the tiles on the Planetary Empires sets we'll be using. I have the desert board painted and ready to go, but as of yet no terrain to speak of. Don't worry I'll have pics soon including a tutorial on making your own game table.

With the table completed, I did what I usually do. I scoured the internet looking for examples of cool looking desert terrain to draw inspiration from. Problem is, this time I came back pretty much empty handed. I would have thought with Tomb Kings just being released and Necrons on the near horizon there would be a ton of cool desert boards to get ideas from. Alas, there isn't much out there and the stuff I looked at was your basic rocks and tan colored hills.

So I'm not off to a great start and I sat in my basement for the past week waiting for inspiration to strike. I've got a spark thanks to my wife and I started working on a tar pit while she was doing a rock pile with a stone arch, but at this point that's not much. There's something about doing a desert board that just makes it harder to visualize for me. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I can definitely use some ideas from my readers. I really want the terrain on this board to be more than tan colored hills. I need stuff that is unique to the desert from a visual standpoint, but also allows new challenges on the table top.

So what do you guys think? If you were playing on a desert board what would you like to see that would not only look cool, but bring some unique terrain elements to the game. Please share some links and thoughts in the comments below. Hopefully I can get some ideas and put together a really awesome board. I'll be sure to share and do tutorials along the way.

Till next time,
–The Harrower

P.S. Geek bonus points to the person who can identify where my terrain logo draws inspiration from.