Throwback – RPC 2010 Cologne Tabletop Demo Area
I somehow missed the proper opportunity for this throwback in 2020, as it would have fit the 10-year anniversary.
During my studies, while I was editor-in-chief for a German wargaming portal, I was approached by Michael Kränzle, back then with Leuchtameisen and owner / editor-in-chief at GamesOrbit, before being head of marketing at Pegasus Spiele and now fulfilling this role at Heidelbär. GamesOrbit was one of the media partners of the RolePlayConvention that moved from Münster to Cologne in 2009, and the show had its troubles to integrate tabletop wargaming into its portfolio.
Michael has a soft spot for miniature wargaming and wanted to push that hobby within the spectrum of tabletop games and was looking for somebody who could support that vision. And for that reason, he got in touch with me. He thought of some kind of christmas market, with small booths and lots of space for participation area. And that was kind of a problem, because usually you book a booth at a fair and depending on the pricing or the size of your booth, the venue may give you some space for that kind of activity. But it's usually pricy.
Converting the Middle East Houses
A while back I've covered the Middle Eastern Houses in a review, and with a second box of these, I began tinkering. A bit of cutting, a bit of filling and re-arranging.
The first batch looked like this, incl. the general mud house available from Renedra as well.
So I grabbed myself the stack of sprues, and played around a bit.
Necromunda – Guild Hall Pt. 2
We left of with the Guild Hall at this stage, but I had the chance to continue the build. I did some mock up drawing about the direction that I wanted to go for. And it was clear, I needed some additional parts.
I tinkered about a roof in the first post, but first of all I needed to create the supporting structure for that. I went through my terrain sprues and gathered the toppers and need at least 3/4th of a circle to close this. But as they are raised to have a pin for the second floor, I needed to cut those down. I did that using my hobby saw and to strengthen the octagon even further, I glued in some struts, that I repurposed from larger sprues / frames.
Horus Heresy – Legions Imperialis
With yesterdays non-40k preview we had an epic teaser and reveal on the return of small scale battles in the Grim Dark future, but not covering 40k but 30k's conflict of the Horus Heresy. The name Epic is dropped and returns as Warhammer The Horus Heresy - Legions Imperialis.
And this means, I am spot on with my Horus Heresy on an epic scale and really looking forward, what the rules and new range brings along.
Games Workshop revealed a rulebook and starter set, which can be either used as a conflict or large army box, covering Space Marines and Solar Auxilia. The poster boys for this release are the death guard.
June 2023 review
June was pretty heavy on the Leviathan release for Warhammer 40,000. And as I mentioned in the through the ages article, it kinda hit me with nostalgia. So, even when I'm not playing 10th edition of 40k, I had fun unboxing and covering the miniatures, and the overall experience - beside the scarcity (which seems to turn out not being that big of a problem) - was quite positive.
And to give you an idea, what it means when we cover such a huge release, more than 400 pictures were taken for the entire coverage. But I am looking forward to the next "epic" release in the Grim Dark future.
Adeptus Titanicus – Leviathan Bio-Titans
In the early variants of Epic and Titanicus, there were Xenos available as part of the ranges and not just the Legio Titanicus. And while we saw Bio-Titans in the early 90s for Epic, later when Forge World covered large units and models for 40k and among them an updated model of the Hierophant, that went far from the design of the 90s.
And while building the Tyranids from the Leviathan boxed set (boths the swarms and more unique units), I had the urge to compare them to my Adeptus Titanicus models. Because some of them, would in my opinion make for great bio titans of different size.
Warhammer 40,000 – Leviathan Tyranid Units
Building the last part of our Leviathan coverage, the regular Tyranid units after showing the HQ and Elites earlier this week. The Tyranids have a lot of miniatures in this set, a total of 47 (!) and beside the impressive unique poses, we have a few units and swarms to take a look at.
We have Termagants and Ripper Swarms, Neurogaunts, Barbgaunts and Von Ryan's Leapers, all as push-fit models, yet quite dynamic ones, but more on that further below. The Tyranids have the big advantage that their biomorphs and mutations make it is easy, to add new units and creatures to the army, with less trouble of retconning them. Yet, some of these are updated miniatures, others are new creations, but more on that in the review itself.
Warhammer 40,000 – Leviathan Tyranid HQ and Elites
We have covered the Space Marines from the Leviathan boxed set and the general unboxing, now in the next step, we take a closer look on some of the unique HQ and Elite units of the Tyranids.
There's quite a bunch of unique models in this box, Winged Tyranid Prime, Carnifex Screamer-Killer, Neurotyrant and Psychophage. These are push-fit models as the rest of the boxed set and are partially on their own or in mixed sprues, more on that further below. As the Space Marines are shown in the colours of the Ultramarines, the Tyranids are painted in the colours of Hive Swarm Leviathan, giving the boxed set its name.
Warhammer 40,000 – Through the Ages
The 10th Edition of Warhammer 40,000 was released with Leviathan in Summer 2023 - 36 years after the initial release of the game. And a lot has changed since then.
It hit me with a lot of nostalgia, for multiple reasons. About 25 years ago, I picked up my first Warhammer 40k starter set in 1997, after I initially started tabletop with Blood Bowl. And in 2008 the first review I wrote covered the release of the 5th edition starter set "Assault on Black Reach".
So, please let me take you on a journey through the ages and give you an overview of the different editions and starter sets.
Warhammer 40,000 – Leviathan Primaris Sternguard and Characters
Let's finish the Space Marine part of the Warhammer 40,000 Leviathan boxed set. We showed you the Terminators, we covered the Ballistus Dreadnought and today it is about the Primaris Space Marines with Tacticus and Phobos Armour.
Two more characters, an Apothecary Biologis and Lieutenant in Phobos Armour, as well as a new Sternguard Veteran Squad and Infernus Squad.