So, as so happens every few months, my good friend visited from the City again! I tend to treasure these little excursions, as while I may get a good deal of 40k done on my own, it is always nice to sit and watch a good movie the rest of my family has no interest in, all the while building up all the unbuilt stuff in our backlog. Movie night started with Zulu, followed by an episode of Sharpe. The next day, after a short, sharp 40k skirmish, we followed up with America’s closest thing to Waterloo, at least in terms of film; The classic, Gettysburg.
Our hobby area set-up, we started on a small package that had arrived from Artel W, well known for making characters from a certain large British miniatures companies sci-fi books, usually those that haven’t had a model from them before. We all pitched in, and did a nice bulk order to save on shipping, and it was here very quickly, and very crisply and cleanly cast!
Now my gaming group in the city has players of every skill and experience level, and our newest player (and in a fact that makes me quite jealous, is by far the best technical painter in our group!) has little experience with resin. Thus, Artel W’s “Iron Boss”, a large Orc(k) warboss model, was the first on the to-do list.
After this, I started on my part of the package; A certain “Hero of the Imperium” and his rather pungent adjutant. Of course, this could only be a model of the great Ciaphas Cain, which to my shame, I actually haven’t read all of his books yet! The smelly Jurgen is well represented too!
We finished the night with Sharpe’s Regiment, an oddly political episode of the usually quite action-packed, rock solo type show. The next day, our hobby area cleared off so that we could game on it, we decided to play Hold at All Costs; All I needed to do was survive 5 turns. We agreed on lists prior, but my memory played tricks and me and I must have forgotten to check what he was bringing. Out came the Cadian Steel Tithe, Pask, and 4 of his comrades in Conquerors, backed up by Basilisks, a Hydra, and most worryingly, a Baneblade. I was, if we were playing any other scenario, utterly and hopelessly outmatched with my infantry heavy Vostroyans. But, I had a chance, I just had to tank the shots long enough, provide just enough chaff that he could not possibly kill them all…right?
It was, for the most part, a total turkey-shoot. Of course, this was a turkey shoot of my own design, as I could have brought better units had I remembered what was coming!
We still had fun of course, and it went by rather quickly. Had I been lucky the last two turns, tanked just a little harder, I might have won by the seat of my pants. But as it was, a total and utter military disaster followed. This was followed swiftly by a strong drink, a good cigar and a brisk walk!
I said goodbye to my friend this morning, and spent the rest of the day tidying up. I did get my hobby space sorted again, and primed Cain and Jurgen. It was at this point I thought to see just how big they were…
The answer is, quite tall! They are quite slight and done in a more “true” 28mm then a “Heroic” 28mm, but still stand well above most Guardsmen. It got me thinking; just how big are Guardsmen getting these days?
The answer is, quite a bit bigger actually! My poor Praetorians are positively tiny in comparison to the newer models, with both newer GW releases being significantly bigger. The Vostroyans have always been on the large side, a side-effect of the designers wanting to cram as much detail in there as possible. This does worry me a little; the current Guard line looks great and finally the right size compared to the new Primaris Marines, and all that effort would be wasted if Guard suddenly got a lot bigger. We’re supposed to be the average joes, not as big as the vaunted Astartes! Hopefully Severina Raine is not a prelude to the future of Guard models, and merely an aberration.
As it was, a packed weekend with lots of stuff done and it was a nice visit! We did get talking about picking up another “Historicals” game, in this case Blackpowder by Warlord. So in the near future, you will see some 95th Rifles, once my next Tournament list painting goals are achieved. But until then, Ave Imperator, and happy war-gaming, wherever you are!
Not by Strength, By Guile 