This is a well made argument video by Matt from Miniwargaming.com. It's directed toward GW on how they treat their local retailers. Check it out.

Ah yes, who doesn't love Flamers of Tzeentch? Probably your opponent, lol.

For the points they can be quite devastating. They glance and wound on a 4+ (which really hurts MEQ armies). Thanks to the Deep Strike rule you can drop them in for a suicidal strike, or if you prefer hide them somewhere safe and rely on their jump ability and 4+ invulnerable save. They give the Daemons a much needed anti-tank punch.

You might ask "How many should I run, though?" The answer is simple; groups of three are very effective. The reason is flamers can't get any more than three templates off (Breathe of Chaos) on their first round of shooting. I suppose you could run more units, with one having Bolt of Tzeentch (30 points Range 24" Str 8 Ap1), though for the point cost I don't think it's worth it.

When Deep Striking you place the first unit (assuming they didn't mishap) then the second and third starting in a circle in the next row. That means the unit's bases are all touching one another. Adding a fourth model doesn't allow you to fire one of the templates without wounding your own units, which makes them less useful as a suicide unit. Granted, you can always run up to twelve, but if you want that many you may as well run a few squads of three instead. You'll get better results having more squads if you plan to drop them in as suicide units.

I got a good deal recently on a three pack of Flamers. It'll be nice to have the extra models (as I don't trust the pewter to stay together).

A couple coats of Flat White and they're ready for base coating. after a little touch up (I like to add a few watered down skull white layers to help reinforce the base coat) I'll start by adding a few coats of blue ink.

Once the wash dries I paint the flame areas with Iyanden Darksun base coat. It works great if you want to start a solid coat for yellow areas or in this case painting a flame. My only complaint about GW base paints is that they are pretty thick, so much so it's almost like painting with glue lol. I heard this is because they have such a high pigment (oink, jk). Still, a little water is all you need to keep it nice and smooth.

After a recent trip to my local FLGS I picked up the new Blood Crushers box. They allow you to trade in good condition books for store credit. Luckily for me I had a few nice books laying around collecting dust, lol.

The new Blood Crushers are fantastic. Not only are they all plastic (woot!) but there are also some extra bits to customize them how you like. Very niiice!

Aside from being plastic, the models fit together very nicely. My biggest complaint for the old models was that the riders kept falling off. The new models, however, fit together in multiple places. This really helps keep them together. Also, plastic fuses together with super glue so you don't have to worry about them falling apart with normal wear and tear.

In the box you have the option of five different Blood Letter (rider) and Juggernaught (mount) heads. They also supply you with five round bases and square ones too.

The riders also have the option of wielding the standard Hellblade or a variety of other weapons. I decided on equipping them with the Icon of Chaos, The Herald's war gear, and a standard Hellblade.

I didn't use the Instrument of Chaos since I never play it. This upgrade allows you to win assaults resulting in a draw. In my experience with these guys they either win or lose in assault by no small margin making the instrument not worth the points.

The above pic you can see it overhanging the base quite a bit. It may hinder base to base contact somewhat, but hey it looks cool :P

This model needed a little pinning to keep it in place. After drilling the pilot holes I took a small piece of bronze rod and formed a "u" joint. A few nickels were then added to for counter balance.

Now I'm off to base them. More pics coming soon :)

I inherited another commision, this time it's Creed and Kell for my friend's Cadian Imperial Guard. I've never painted a standard before so I was looking forward to the challenge.

Paints used -
Red areas: Mechrite Red.
Skin: Elf Flesh
Armor: Catachan Green
Cloth: Kommando Khaki
Boots: Codex Grey
Scrolls and Seals: Bleached Bone
Rope, belt, and gold area base: Scorched Brown
Metallic areas: Boltgun metal and Shining Gold

I started out with a white base coat. From here I painted what I was familiar with first, which was Kell's armor and effects.

You might notice the red area on the flag is a little lighter. I wanted to test how well it would coat and was pleased with the results. Mechrite red is a great foundation paint as long as it's thinned out a little bit (otherwise it's like painting with glue lol).

Slowly I worked in the chaos black to the banner. I took my time around the areas I wanted to remain white (like the aquilla).

Once the black was finished a little touch up was needed. I switched to a detail brush and carefully worked the edges. It helps to water the paints a little and keep the brush clean.

Filling in the other areas such as the sword hilt and wiring. Yellow was added to the search light and rope. The Standard lettering was based in mechrite red.

After a little more detail work the base is finished and ready for a wash.

Something I learned a while ago is to base any gold areas first with a brown base color. Gold is the only color that requires this in order to get a better effect.

I lied before when I said it was finished. By finished I meant that I was done painting it for a while and needed a break.

One thing I noticed later on, and compared to other examples, was the lack of contrast in the lava to the surface. It sort of looked like a river of burning cheese, lol. A river of molten cheese sounds cool, but I'll have to try that later.

After going over the lava again with a heavy dry brushing of orange, I added in a little red to the mix and gradually worked up to solid red. It definitely brought a nice contrast to the board.

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Once that dried a mix of 6:1 red/medium gray was dry brushed over the surface again. This was followed up with a little pure black over the tips of the lava. I planned on skipping black this time, but I think it adds to the texture.

What lava board would be complete without some chaos-worshiper's ruins? For fun I took some extra foam and melted a few "faces" in it with the hot glue gun.