I Hate The Light Of Eltharion

Oh really?

My hobby time lately has been rather busy, especially since I recently acquired the Lumineth Realm Lords collector's box. I've spent my evenings diligently cutting, cleaning and painting my brand new aelves as citizens of Zaitrec.

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Last night I decided to tackle the only character from the box, the Light of Eltharion. I can honestly say I had absolutely no idea what to expect with this model. I had read precious little concerning the assembly and painting of this aelven hero from the World That Was. All indications, however, were that this would be a rather challenging project.

First and foremost, let me just say that I absolutely hate the Light of Eltharion. I don't hate the look of the model. The Light of Eltharion looks positively amazing, especially when fully painted. Truly, it's one of the most intriguing kits that Games Workshop has put together. One wouldn't think Games Workshop would be able to figure out a way to create a miniature of a fighting, empty suit of armor, but here we are.

Truthfully, I can't wait to start painting mine.

Why am I hating on the Light of Eltharion then? Simply put, I hate this model because of how positively nerve wracking the assembly was. There are so many extremely thin bits on the sprue, and so many ways they could break during the cutting and cleaning process. Assembling the Light of Eltharion took me just a little under an hour, but my heart was in my throat the entire time.

Pictured: the bane of my existence...

 The fact that one of the ribbons coming off of the back of the Light of Eltharion's helmet was broken before I even took it off the sprue didn't help matters. Luckily I was able to get it back into place with some super glue and a bit (a lot) of patience.

I must admit, however, that I am pleased with the end result. The Light of Eltharion is truly a unique piece, and I can't wait to get it painted up to match the rest of my Zaitrec aelves.

Tonight's project perhaps?

Games Workshop Announces Good News...And Bad News

It better be mostly good news...

Games Workshop, like many businesses across the world, temporarily suspended operations worldwide at the start of the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic. Gamers around the world were shocked and saddened that the purveyors of plastic crack had decided to appease the Plague God (and the British government) by shuttering their retail stores, customer support services, and their manufacturing facilities.

Luckily, however, the situation was only temporary, and Games Workshop began the process of resuming normal operations at the beginning of May. Of course, things aren't 100% back to normal. Games Workshop's website still states that orders will arrive within 28 days (potentially longer) because of the Shanghai Shivers. I personally placed an order with Games Workshop that took almost a week to come out of pending status.

Games Workshop made yet another announcement via their Warhammer Community website on Thursday regarding future operations and getting back to normal. Honestly, though, the announcement was kind of a good news/bad news situation.

First, the good news:

We know you’ve been waiting patiently to get your hands on some new releases for weeks now. Well, the wait is almost over!

We’re pleased to say our factory in Nottingham has resumed operation, and after a two-month hiatus* new releases are set to return, available to pre-order from May 30th, with new models landing on shelves/at your door from June 6th.

The resumption of new releases is very welcome news. Especially since there's a whole slew of things coming down the pike that the community has been waiting (sort of) patiently for. 

Now, the bad news:

From the first of June, around 400 Warhammer products will change in price (there are well over 3,000 Warhammer items available right now). Most of the items that are hanging haven’t moved in price for years. 

The RRP on the majority of Warhammer will stay the same.

Games Workshop was courteous enough to let us know exactly which models were going to see a price increase. Looking at the list I see a lot of bigger kits-vehicles and monsters-will see a price jump. There are, however, some squads and troop types that are apparently going to see a hike in their pricing as well.

Obviously, no one likes to see any kind of price increase, especially when Games Workshop is already known as one of the more expensive wargaming companies out there. That being said, periodic price increases are also expected when it comes to Games Workshop. I've been in the hobby most of my life, and the one thing you can be sure of is Games Workshop will at some point raise the prices of their kits.

In the end, though, I'm not going to lose a whole lot of sleep over it. I'll grudgingly accept it as long as the price increases are reasonable. I think most gamers are of the same mindset. Really, what Games Workshop is doing is creating even more of an incentive for gamers to buy from their FLGS. These are the folks that are going to be more willing to offer discounts, deals, and promotions that will help to offset some of the cost of this plastic crack.

You're much better off buying from them than you are ordering directly from Games Workshop.

Welcome To The Happy Heretic

Heresy makes me very, very happy...

The first blog post is always the hardest. The first post sets the tone for the entire blog. It's a rather arduous task to introduce yourself while at the same time not boring the crap out of everyone. After all, you want people coming back to you again and again while sharing your content far and wide in order to rack up those sweet, sweet clicks.

No, praying to the Omnissiah won't help...

Now, I could spend days agonizing over every word in this first post. The likely result of that would be a nervous breakdown that leaves me curled up into a hyperventilating ball in the corner of my closet screeching blasphemies as I descend into complete and utter madness. 

Rather than go through all that, however, I figured I would spend a few minutes telling you exactly who and what I'm about, as well as what you can expect from this blog going forward.

I've been involved in the Warhammer hobby literally all of my life. I became enraptured by the rich background of Warhammer Fantasy ever since my first game of Floorhammer at a friend's house at the tender age of 12. 

My first army was the Dark Elves-whichever edition was around in 1992. There was just something about them that appealed to me right from the start. Maybe it was the look of the models. Perhaps it was their sheer, unfettered evil. Of course, it could be the fact that I managed to get almost an entire army from a teacher of mine who was getting rid of his for about $20.

It wasn't until years later, however, that I discovered the grimdark universe that was Warhammer 40,000. Naturally, being in tune with the local gaming scene I knew what Warhammer 40k was. I had even played a game or two. I just never got into it for some reason. That all changed, however, the moment I walked into my FLGS and picked up the third edition Warhammer 40,000 set.

Oh yes...

By this time Warhammer Fantasy had grown stale to me. I wasn't having a whole lot of fun painting my Dark Elves, and even less fun playing with them. I was tired of the whole thing and looking for something a little different. Warhammer 40k, with it's vast lore and story of humanity defending itself against a vast galaxy of unrelenting terrors, was the perfect alternative. I was able to grasp the rules easily enough, and after a few practice games I was ready to start collecting a Dark Eldar army.

Or so I thought...

Eventually I found the Dark Eldar didn't really appeal all that much to me, and I switched for the tried and true Chaos Space Marines. I found that heresy made me very, very happy. The fact that the mutating influence of Chaos meant I could literally kitbash whatever the hell I wanted was appealing as well. I set about building quite the sizable Iron Warriors force.

Unfortunately, life went on and got in the way of perhaps the best hobby on the face of the planet. I went away to college and had to leave much of my beloved collection behind. Then I ended up getting married and, well, to make a long story short I took a break from Warhammer and modelling in general.

Fifteen years later, and I've recently returned to the worlds of Warhammer. Initially, I had attempted to make a triumphant return to Warhammer Fantasy. Those hopes were dashed completely when I found out that Games Workshop had literally blown up the Old World I had loved and replaced it with something called Age of Sigmar. After many a night furrowing my brow in a vain attempt to understand the current state of Warhammer Not-Fantasy I threw my hands up in disgust.

Fortunately, Warhammer 40k's grimdark was there waiting for me like a warm, comforting blanket. The Chaos gods welcomed me back with open arms as if I were a long lost friend. While the grimdark universe I knew and loved had undergone some changes-it had been five editions since I last played after all-it was still by and large recognizable. I felt like I could come back to the game without having missed...well, everything.

I also found that after all these years I really enjoyed the painting aspect of the game. Since coming back to Warhammer almost 6 months ago I've made it my mission to hone my painting skills. I've resolved to treat every model as a work of art, and I've had a ton of fun doing it.

I've rambled on about my history long enough, I think. It's time to tell you what you can expect from this blog. First and foremost I'll be concentrating on the painting and kitbashing aspects of the Warhammer hobby. I don't claim to be a world-class painter, and my skills are rusty in the extreme. I will, however, share the projects that I'm currently working on as well as any little tips and tricks I've stumbled upon along the way. 

Just don't expect Golden Demon levels of painting from me.

Beyond that I'll be sharing any little tidbits of Warhammer news that I find, my thoughts and opinions on various aspects of the hobby, and anything else that I can think of. I'm also open to tackling any topics that the rest of you happy heretics might throw my way as well. Hopefully we can get a few productive discussions going.

At its core, however, this blog is going to be about one thing, and one thing only: having fun with what is quite possibly the best hobby on the face of the planet.