Eldar Army for Sale

So yeah, it’s been a while since I posted.  There are various reasons for this, but the largest one is that real life has just gotten in the way.  In the past month, we’ve welcomed a new addition into the family, sold our rental property, and refinanced our existing house.  Plus there’s been the obligatory “nesting” that mom wanted to do, but couldn’t because she was on bed rest, so I had to do a fairly thorough scrubbing of the house.  To top it off, this past week, we started on refinishing the deck (which, thanks to some unsightly mold, has now turned into completely replacing it entirely).

Suffice it to say, that there just hasn’t been much hobby time as of late.  In fact, the only hobby time I’ve really gotten in at all in the past 1.5-2 months or so has been two game days on Sunday where , a couple of guys have come over and we essentially played Magic the Gathering (or similar quick-paced games).  I really owe my sanity to them—and, of course, my wife.

Anywho, without much time to play 40k or even paint/model, I figured I’d unload some figures that I’d picked up recently.  With the impending release of the Eldar codex, it seems like a good time to get rid of those, so I’m starting there.

Click here to check out my Ebay Auctions

So, as of yesterday, I posted all of the Eldar models I purchased up on Ebay for $.01 each.  I haven’t checked them yet, but I’m guessing they’re still fairly close to that price, as it was less than 12 hours ago since I posted (though, obviously, I’m hoping that isn’t the case).

The models include the following:

• Various grav tanks (Falcons, Wave Serpents, & Prisms)
• Tons of jetbikes (normal, shriekers, Shining Spears, Warlocks, & Vypers galore)
• Various Aspect Warriors (Dire Avengers, Howling Banshees, Dark Reapers, Fire Dragons, & Swooping Hawks)
• Misc other Eldar stuff (Seer Council, Guardians, Rangers, Wraithguard, etc)

Before the re-release, the total value of the stuff came close to $1700, and knowing GW’s predisposition to raise prices, I suspect it’s even higher now.

For your convenience, I’ve broken it all up into 29 smaller, logical lots so you only have to bid on those models that you want.

So, please feel free to check out the auctions and buy my stuff.   In the meantime, I’m sure there are some diapers to change and a deck to build, so I’m outta here…

Click here to check out my Ebay Auctions

Review: Path of the Warrior

[Editor’s Note: Spoiler Alert – This book review goes into detail about what transpires in the book.  If you’re the sort that would prefer not know, be warned…]

Ill start off by saying I am not usually a Gav Thorpe fan: his writing usually just doesn’t have that flair for atmosphere that I usually enjoy in a Warhammer or 40k novel. I will actually go as far as to state that had my friend D, who loaned me the book, not warned me about the beginning I probably would not have made it past the first chapter.

The story follows the artist known as Kolandril, a bohemian elf about town and apparently well known sculptor. The first half of the book is devoted entirely to this self conscious, over baring and relationship deprived little bastard. Soon after the first few pages, old friend Ardryan arrives just in time to establish the love interest in the story and provide the catalyst for the rest of Korlandrils string of poor decisions. At this point I would like to point out why I enjoyed this particular Thorpe novel more then many of his other works, Thorpe brings life to a xenos culture that we would otherwise just be able to steal glances at through codices and blurbs and a few tie in novels mostly featuring blue power armored jocks and the imperial flashlight patrol. The depth and casual detail that is interwoven into the real story provides one with a kind of through the looking glass type of feeling, as I read further I found myself drawn in by the descriptions of the environment more then the story in some places. Modes of transport, proper social etiquette and how a psychic society would function, which by the way is not limited to mind reading, they use psycho kinetics for almost everything including such exciting things as opening doors, stalking girlfriends and sky boarding and art. Thorpe dose well in describing social interaction and how much of the Eldar’s language is built upon observation and movement, all these little details create a rather good mental picture of how a craftworld functions and how the Eldar actually live.

The apex of the first half of the book is when Korlandril gets the ultimate rejection from the girl he has been lusting after since adolescence gives him the ultimate rejection (think I can see the future literally and we are not in it) Korlandril gets pissed and depressed and predictably not knowing what to do with the emotions he has no idea how to deal with seeks the company of old friends (of course these friends are in the military and other old friend Ardryan is part of the current problem) Predictably there is a “you must master your rage to better understand yourself” moment and he is eventually taken but what I assume to be the Eldar equivalent of a cougar to the striking scorpion shrine of the deadly shadow. This is the turning point where the story goes from boring background fluff to Mr. Myagi karate kid training sequence in which the old Korlandril is replaced by new badass ninja Korlandril and we are introduced to Kannaith the exarch of the shrine who guides Korlandril on his spirit mission. Before long he is introduced to the other members of his squad with whom he has been trained separately from for a good chunk of the story. now united with the rest of his murderous clan he soon finds himself sent into battle.

The premise for the battle is simple as it is awesome, orks have taken root on an exodite world and of course these filthy savages must be purged. The avatar is awakened and off everyone goes through the webway to go visit harm upon the greenskins. The actual fight is not limited to just the pov of the striking scorpions, fire dragons, dire avengers and of course the avatar makes an appearance and the vivid descriptions of death and carnage where quite pleasant. After the battle there is an interlude of brief inner discovery with korlandril that drags us back into the B story and stretches on for a few pages. I wont ruin the story for you, there is much more that happens after his first battle but I don’t want to give to much away.

Over all I enjoyed the book a lot more then some of the imperial novels that I have read, Path of the warrior is a refreshing look into the lives of another race other then the grim dark future of the imperium, there is war but there is also peace and you are not left with all that gloom that usually drips from the imperial based novels. Also if you like big battles and lots of tanks and war gear this book is a treasure trove of descriptive detail on some of our favorite weapons on the table top, they even have a phantom titan that makes a brief if not stunning appearance, I now understand why D strength weapons seem to ignore everything (except other Eldar tanks, damn energy fields) If your looking for a good read that’s not the size of a dictionary and has a decent plot line other then PURGE THE UNCLEAN! then you might want to crack the binding on Path of the Warrior by Gav Thorpe, or borrow it from a friend.

Cheers

Scott
BH Senior Editor
WH 39,999 Contributor

Pimp My Ride: Biel-Tan Falcon

I’ve been posting Nid stuff pretty consistantly so far this month, so I figured it was time to mix things up a  bit.  If you follow my blog regularly, you’ll know that I bought my wife a new camera this Christmas, and I thought I’d give it for a spin on some of my old models.  This way, I get to see how good the image quality is, while creating more content for my blog that doesn’t require effort on my part (other than snapping a few pictures).

Below you can find a picture of my old Falcon Anti-Grav Tank, painted in colors of the Biel-Tan craftworld.  It’s long-since been my favorite craftworld because of the stark contrast of the green & white, along with the artistry of the flowing thorns.  There’s something so sweet about the colors of that dying world…

   

I painted this tank… oh… ten years ago, during the times of 3rd edition.  I remember this was right after the Land Raider kit came out, because our local hobby center was holding a paiting competition where you had to buy and paint a tank, and this was my entry.  Lucky for me, everyone else seemed to enter Land Raiders, and the competition was judged by the public.  So, I think everyone liked seeing a tank in the display case that was a little different than the rest of them.

For whatever reason, they liked it, and I walked away with about $300 in new models because of it.  If I recall correctly, I opted for a mixture of Chaos and Eldar armies… most of those are still downstairs in the shrinkwrap.  Did I mention that I have an addiction?

For those that are wondering, the tank is painted almost entirely using drybrushing.  The top was sprayed with the Dark Angels green (spray can–back when that was still available).  It’s slightly darker than the DA Green that comes in the paint pot.  After it was sprayed, I drybrushed every edge with goblin green, then I went back and hit every corner with a very light drybrush of skull white.  Long ago, my prefered method of painting things was via drybrushing (if you couldn’t tell). 

The whites were sprayed with Citadel Skull White paint and inked with blue ink (diluted slightly with water).  I’ve always been a fan of whites that were shaded with blue (as opposed to whites shaded with greys).  I don’t know how natural it is, but it does lend the model some vibrancy that it otherwise wouldn’t have.  The thorns are chaos black squiggles with watered down shadow grey highlights.  I can’t tell you how I did the gems, because I frankly don’t remember.  I’m guessing blood red to black, with a blackwash and a white highlight?  Who knows…

The advid modellers out there are surely cringing at the fact that I didn’t clean the mold lines.  I’ve somewhat grown from those times.  Honestly though, I still miss some lines in my current models, but nothing to the extent of these.  Check the side of the barrels on the lower targeter, and the line that runs the length of the pulse laser.  Ewww.

I’m still proud of my work from 10 years ago, despite the mold lines and the weird white powdery effect on the body of the model (cause by me trying to brush the dust off it with toilet paper–which obviously worked, but had it’s own side effects).  After the toilet paper dries off, I’m sure it will still be one of my finest paint jobs.  Sadly, I don’t think my painting skills have grown tremendously since this time…  Perhaps I’ve hit my zenith and am going down.  Though, I also don’t spend nearly as long on models as I did on this one.  If I recall correctly, this took me over 20 hours of effort.  Now I can’t think of a model I spend more than 3-4 hours on. 

If you’ve been watching my miniature gallery for a while, you’ll notice that pics of this tank started going up on New Years.  This is because I’m actually away on vacation for the next two weeks, so I’m pre-writing blog entries to post while I’m gone. 

Anywho, stay tuned for more painting updates, and possibly more old models I’ve dredged up…

Aloha!

Battle Report: Biel-Tan vs. Tyranids (1337pts)

This is what happens when you let Blaine choose the points.  His uber internet skillz and peculiar sense of humor invariably comes up with a suitably l33t point total.  For those of you who are over the age of 14, or have never played world of warcraft, go here for an explanation of what I’m talking about.

That said, this is what happens when you let Blaine’s wife set up the terrain for you:

They’re a great couple of friends.  Every time you go over to their place, you’re destined to have fun.  Granted, it might not always be the conventional sort, but fun will be had… trust me. 

Exodite Dragon Knights – Concept

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Exodite Dragon Knights, think of the best of cheesy fantasy and futuristic movies combined.  This is the sort of thing the guys at Mystery Science Theatre 3000 swooned over: Space Elves riding Dinosaurs!

The first time I recall ever hearing about them was in the 2nd Edition codex where they had a brief blurb, and if I remember right, they might have had an entry in the HQ section (though I’m probably confusing that with Eldar Pirates).  While it was a super cool idea, I think it was ultimately too much of a niche army, so GW never produced it (especially since they went off and created Codex: Craftworld, which contained five other Eldar armies).  So the Exodites were shafted twice: Once when they were passing out craftworlds and again when it came time for their codex.

That said, I’ve always been enamoured with them, but never got the gumption to make such an army.  With the release of the plastic wood elves, dark elves, and lizardmen, and all of the cool dinosaurs in those ranges, now making such an army is feasible.  So, last month I started buying the bitz to “update” my Eldar army into an Exodite one.  Since I have a game scheduled tomorrow, and I no longer have my eldar jetbikes (see below for rationale), I figured I’d convert up some concept models for my Exodite force.  Below are the examples I whipped up: