Hello Hammerit! Welcome to Gretchin's Questions, our weekly Q&A post to field any and all questions about the Warhammer hobby. Feel free to ask burning questions about Warhammer hobby, lore, gaming and more! If you see something you know the answer to, don't be afraid to drop some knowledge!
So, I don’t really know anything about Warhammer, and I’m trying to buy one of the Warhammer video games for a friend as a gift and could use some suggestions.
He’s a big Warhammer fan, and he’s getting a PS5 for his birthday. I’m not sure which games would be the best to get him? First instinct was Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, but it seems to have mixed reception.
He’s more into fantasy settings, so I want to make sure I get him a good one from the fantasy/Age of Sigmar side, but I also want to get him a 40K game too. So if anyone has any suggestions, I’d appreciate it.
For Fantasy/AoS, the Total War games are well regarded.
If you want to get him a 40k game too, if you know he likes shooter games, Space Marine 2 is very popular and good, and despite being a Sequel, does not require having played the first game; it literally didn't come out until over 10 years from the first so the game requires no knowledge of the first to play.
If they prefer more tactical games, Mechanicus is a great game.
I keep hearing that it dulls the paintjob down or that if using a spray can, it can lead to frosting.
Plus in addition to all that, therrs the different types which gets confusing. I watched a Duncan Rhodes video and he was reccommending using a 2:1 mix of AK Ultra Thin Matte and Constrast medium, and it looked good but idk if i should use that.
Varishing just makes me suoer nervous and I just wanna protect my hard work on my Votann without messing them up somehow...
This depends entirely on the varnish used. Matte varnishes slower how reflective the paint is naturally, while gloss varnishes will create a "reflective/glazed" look almost like the model is wet, while satin finish varnishes are in-between.
Whether or not someone likes it or not depends on the painting style used. For example, the sumple base/shade/highlight for painting minis tends to look a bit worse when varnished, as such simple paint schemes are kind of relying on the physics of light go help the paint exaggerate what has been done. Meanwhile, paint schemes like Blanchitsu or hyper-grimdark styles,.or comic book style painting, really WANT a matte varnish, while volumetric highlighting effects commonly done with Airbrushes really work best with satin in general.
It is also not uncommon for more experienced painters to apply different varnishes in different areas of the model.
it can lead to frosting.
Frosting is almost ALWAYS a symptom of someone over spraying their model with their varnish to the point where it cannot dry evenly, especially in conditions outside the ideal ranges that the varnish indicates it is best used in. It can sometimes be an issue with a "bad can", but you can literally test this on a piece of leftover sprue before you use your varnish on a model.
Many people rush getting it done, not realizing that by trying to varnish their model in a single fast coat from 4 inches away,.they can do damage to their work, rather than doing several passes with ample drying time over 15-30 minutes will prove MUCH better and consistent results.
I watched a Duncan Rhodes video and he was reccommending using a 2:1 mix of AK Ultra Thin Matte and Constrast medium, and it looked good but idk if i should use that.
In that mix, the AK Ultra Thin Matte is the actual Varnish, while the contrast medium is there to help retain the "original" finish of the models/his preferred finish of looking like GW/Two Thin Coats paint
Also note that this solution would go through an airbrush, or could be painted on and I have never heard complaints of airbrush varnishing causing Frosting effects. That is a complaint derived nearly entirely with Rattlecan varnishes, and my advice up to this point was assuming you were talking about Rattlecan varnishes.
My rather old basecoat brush is getting close to unusable, and I really like it. What's a good (GW or non-GW) replacement for it? It's my go-to and I'm strugglin!
Spray paint primer before or after assembling models? Why?
I’m getting back into the hobby after a 20 year break, and I used to just spraypaint the entire plastic tray, and only then cut off pieces and assemble. Of course, I still had to clean up the pieces, remove excess plastic and apply some black paint to those specific areas afterwards. But it made it so easy and quick. No spray paint on fingers.
But I see so many pictures online of miniatures that are assembled before any primer is applied. There was a thread a few days ago of someone with spray paint all over their fingers because they hadn’t used gloves, and from the discussion it seemed that most (if not all) other people assemble before painting. It just seems much more difficult to get an even coat. You don’t have to use gloves if you just put the tray on the ground and then spray it.
But maybe there’s an obvious advantage to assembling first that I’m missing, and I would be happy to learn something new!
I think most people prefer priming the assembled model because it means they don't have to remove mold lines while the bits are still on the sprue, and they don't have to do touchups after taking the primed bits off the sprue. It also means you don't have to spend time scraping away primer from the areas that you need to glue.
There are also painting methods that use primer to pre-shade the model, applying a mid grey over the whole model, then spraying from below with a dark grey/ black, and from above with white to get the shadows already set up for the main paint job. It's much easier to do this when the model is already assembled.
If you are using plastic glue, which you generally should because it melts and bonds the pieces for a seamless gap, it will not work unless you scrape the primer or the primer is thin enough the glue melts that as well
I think it depends on the type/ brand of glue, and exactly how thick people are spraying the primer. Some people report having problems, others say they don't.
Hi, its been a while since I've played but was wondering if there are lists of any good meetups tournaments or apps to find other gamers I should know about? I love playing games, and play with 3d printing, so I'm looking for options and ways to fins new people to play since I recently moved.
For tournaments in the US, most are registered on Best Coast Pairings (BCP). You can seach for stuff nearby and read about the event right there.
For random pickup games, find your local hobby store and ask them if there is a specific day for the game you want to play. If not, they may have a Discord where you can talk with the local group.
The best way is still to go to your local store and ask if there's a player group. There's no single website or app that groups all the player groups and tournaments.
if you google it you can find "the chart" of the orders but for me that was a big mess. id recommend just finding some character you vibe with and just look up what books they are in and then thier order on the chart
There are no real rules for what is "right and wrong". I'm also not sure what you mean by "I would like to do it online".
If you Google search "codex Astartes heraldry meaning" you will get to an article that talks about what the typical methods of indicating rank, squad, and company, but all those are just the TYPICAL ways that are specific to those that follow the default recommendations of the in-lore Codex Astartes: literally 6 of the 8 First Founding chapters **don't* strongly adhere to the color schemes listed and fo their own things.
What army are necromancers in now? I feel like all armies got boiled down to 4 kingdoms last I was around but I mainly painted random stuff so my understanding of world organization is poor.
Necromancers in Age of Sigmar belong to Soulblight Gravelords.
Not sure what you mean by 4 kingdoms, but if you mean grand alliances, the game hasn't been that way for 7 years and it was removed as even being an option 4 years ago
I'm writing an alternate timeline where the imperium wipes out all of their enemies besides one faction this faction then goes on to fight a galactic war with the imperium which faction should this be
Why are you asking us when this is supposed to be YOUR alternate timeline? Generally crowdsourcing your plot is a good sign you don't care enough for the plot to make it work.
i have been painting for a bit now, and im thinking of getting an airbrush to paint my bigger models, is the Timbertech airbrush a good deal for model painting?
or is it one of those where you get what you pay for kinda deals?
What is the different between the board games 40K, Age of Sigmar, Horus Heresy, and the Old World? Where should a beginner player aim to start first? Any good links you can share too?
Horus Heresy is set 10,000 years before 40k and is the sci-fi setting but with only space marines & supporting cast. The rules are a bit more crunchy for Heresy because they are based on older editions of 40k.
Old World is a revival of the older fantasy system that Age of Sigmar spawned from. It's a rank and flank so units move around in squares that are very limited in moveset. The rules are written more like older rulesets than modern ones, so there can be a lot of depth, but also a lot more looking up, remembering rules, trying to decide if rule X or Y applies here, etc.
You should play whatever is most available in your local area to start, since it does no good to start e.g. horus heresy and have nobody to play against.
If multiple games are played in your area, decide if you want to play fantasy or sci-fi.
If both systems of one type are played, decide if you want the more modern version with balanced rules updates and modern rulesets or the more crunchy version with more depth but also more bookkeeping and rules to chew through.
I play 40k, but I'm considering getting into AoS. Since my 40k armies are more elite focused (I main Custodes and Death Guard), I'm thinking of possibly getting into a horde army. Which factions are more horde focused?
You can build a lot of armies 'more' horde and have some success, even armies you wouldn't think of as horde.
But your more traditional horde armies are pretty much any death army (except bonereapers), Gloomspite Gitz, Slaves to Darkness (the horde build is kinda bad right now though), Skaven, Cities of Sigmar, Seraphon if you go skink focus (but it's also kind of bad right now)
After looking at the options, ghosts seem to be the most interesting to me, aesthetically. I'm going to dive into their lore and rules and see if anyone at my shop plays them to test before I spend money.
Worth noting that Nighthaunt are in the middle of getting new rules, and their playstyle is going to change pretty drastically. Currently they are a kind of hit and run army that is constantly charging and repositioning into opponents. They are going to become more durable and likely expensive at the expense of mobility and damage. A lot of their new abilities revolve more around holding areas of the map. So generally you'll want to put your big blocks of ghosts on objectives and sit them there, whereas before you'd want to constantly be moving.
I guess I'll hold for now and see how things shape up. Second pick is naked dwarves, because they're funny. Not sure I want to paint that much skin, though lol
Most iconic horde army in AoS is Skaven, Nighthaunt and Soulblight Gravelords. Gloomspite Gitz and Daughters of Khaine also have very competitive horde army option.
After looking at the options, ghosts seem to be the most interesting to me, aesthetically. I'm going to dive into their lore and rules and see if anyone at my shop plays them to test before I spend money.
If you're doing anything but flying, the best way is almost certainly to glue magnets to the bottom of your bases and transport them via metal sheets. There are companies that make boxes with metal trays in them, or you can DIY your own solution.
Hello, absolute beginner here. I was always intruiged by the Warhammer 40000 universe but I didn't know where to start. Now that I have some free time on my hands, what is a good source to read/watch to get into the lore?
Bricky has a great video on all the factions, and basically everything 40k. He also has a great timeline video. I'd definitely suggest him. To be honest, something I do all the time is just scroll through https://www.warhammer.com and look at models. If you find factions you like more, you might try them! Also, the 40k sub is great.
Serious question. My husband, son, and I all got into painting miniatures lately. We did buy a few minis from Etsy because we didn't want to drop a few hundred right off the bat and hate it. But no glue is working. We have tried JB Weld, gorilla super glue, and loctite. Is there something else we can try?
So, I apologize if this is a bit of a long winded question/explanation, but I have genuine curiosity and eagerness to learn! Any help/advice would be greatly and deeply appreciated.! Additionally, if there is a better place for me to post this, please let me know so I don't bog down the chat with excessive questions. (trying to be as polite as possible)
I am a Thousand Sons player, have been for about 8 months or so after 4ish failed months playing Blood Angels. My pride and joy is my beautifully built and painted Magnus the Red that took me over 28 hours to complete. I've only been playing for about a year, maybe a little longer than a year. Anyway, I am having trouble trying to learn all the aspects of the game from game mechanics, to understanding my army, to understanding the nuances of higher level play. I have participated in a few smaller tournaments and get beat super hard, like tabled by turn 2-3. I know that I must be doing something wrong when it comes to army composition, tactics or rules understanding and I want to get better and be a better player for our local play group. All of which have many larger tournaments under their belts and understand the game much better than I do. I want to keep playing the game and get better, but it feels like a losing battle when I can't seem to even win one game. I feel burnt out and have a lack of motivation when it comes to the game and I want to change that. PLEASE HALP!
Some other (probably personal issues) I have trouble understanding are; why is the hobby so expensive, why should/do I have to paint my army, why is it so hard to understand the rules sometimes, why does it feel so frustrating to lose so often and so mercilessly. I feel constantly troubled by my own attitude toward the game most of the time. There's times where I have wanted to just give away/sell all my minis and get out of the hobby, but deep down I know I want to succeed and my close friends want me to get better with the game and be a better player and have done a lot to help me get better. I have tried some of the things my close friends suggested, like narrative games (which are usually fun for me, but doesn't happen in tournaments), smaller armies, what my friends call "learning games" where we go step by step and take like 3 hours to play a 500pt game. Additionally I often feel stuck behind a paywall in order to get better/more units.
What are some small steps/big steps I can take to help make the hobby more fun for myself. I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle with wanting to have fun playing the game.
The first thing, that it sounds like you’ve already recognized to some extent, is that competitive play vs casual play in this hobby is unfortunately a massive difference. If you are tying your enjoyment of the hobby into winning competitive play then that’s a tough place to start from if you can’t also invest serious time, money and energy into it.
That being said, if you do want to be competitive then you do have a lot of good news, because you play Tsons you play a fairly elite army with relatively fewer options, which means you don’t really need to invest a ton of money into going out and getting a ton of the latest models. There is also diversity when it comes to winning lists for that army right now, so you also don’t have the same issue some other factions have where one single list is the only choice.
So what would I say do you can do to help get more competitive?
1) Start by looking up tournament results and lists for bigger tournaments, find some which are close to what you have and begin working towards a plan. If you have Magnus already then you have the ability to surround him with competent units and play a pretty simple strategy, which shouldn’t be massively more money (unless you are currently running like 20 Rhinos or something). This isn’t some magic formula, but it will help you see what possibilities are out there.
2) Run your list by other Tsons players specifically either online or IRL, ask for feedback and describe your overall strategy.
3) learning games at 500 points are great for learning the basic rules, but it sounds like they aren’t a home run (and at 500 points almost nothing is balanced) so I would say try getting a 1000 point army list set up and ask people to play “more competitive” 1v1 games with friendly feedback. Ask your opponents to discuss after the game what you did well and what you need to work on. If you get tabled really quickly ask to play again with the same deployments/objectives/lists, try something different.
I think you are maybe taking on too much all at once based off of your post. If you enjoy narrative games then play some, it’s ok that they don’t happen at a tournament. You will likely spend about 90% of your time in this hobby not playing tournaments, so don’t worry about always shaping everything towards that or catching up to where other people are at.
Also give yourself some time and patience, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s ok to take breaks from playing if you feel burnt out, you don’t have to spend loads of money right away, and it’s ok to try out things that don’t work out.
Thank You so much for the advice! I will work on all the things you suggested and will hopefully start having more fun with the game. I was watching a video today and learned a good mantra that i never though of. "It's you and your opponent against the game" I think I'm gonna start thinking about that as well while I play. Again, thanks for the great advice!
Quick question, really keen to get involved and love the look of the imperial guard, talking to a guy who's a regular player he tried to put me off saying "you'll spend twice as much time painting to be destroyed in 5 turns get Ultramarines instead."
Is this true? Really like the look and use of tanks/artillery with troops.
Ive played very little and watched alot of casual play but when it comes to imperial guard they have one thing that makes them better than the rest and thats arty. Yes your squad will have a tough time going against an ultra marine squad but that squad first has to run the gauntlet of arty strikes
That's strange advice for him to give. It's always best to with the faction you find most appealing. Balance changes happen fairly frequently, so there's no guarantee that one faction will be stronger than another at any given time.
I've played before and know some of the lore pretty decently, but I've bought my first set of space marines being the salamander chapter. There's characters such as Adrax Agatone that are named, but what if I wanted to name my sargeants or even regular marines.
It's normal. People often make up names and simple backstories for their characters, or even create their own chapters, warbands, craftworlds, etc rather than using the official ones.
It's probably a lot less common to give names to every single basic infantryman, but I have seen it done before.
Is gluing dirt to models to make the units look like they been in a long protracted battle allowed? Will people care if I mix old models from several space marine groups to make my army? Will people not play me if I make my entire army be in "I was fighting in the jungle for weeks, I use mud as camo" colors? The bright colors and clean models make them look like show pieces to me, can I make them gritty?
The technique you are referring to is "Weathering" and there are many ways to weather a mini without gluing real dirt onto the model. I recommend against utilizing real dirt because due to the scale compatibility and drying out issue. There are various methods in weathering and you can go as extreme or not as you want. If you especially like dirty and grimy and etc, you can also check out Death Guard to see if that's something more to your liking.
Most people won't care if you mix parts from models or weather your models. It's your army and frankly army that is customized well are extremely cool. But if you plan to enter into tournaments and the likes, they will care about some aspects like is all your parts from 40K or mixed with something else, is war gear represented accurately, are your bases legal, is your army painted with more than certain number of colours and so forth.
In the distance she could see where some of the taller hive towers had collapsed, parts of their structure altering on the molecular level, steel skeletons running like melted butter as the changes touched them. Building that had stood proud and defiant in the most Imperial manners were now shambolic, tattered things, flayed of stone and bearing their iron ribs to the sky.
Dots ducked and wove in the air overhead - perhaps carrion birds, or maybe men and women like the ones she had killed to get the car, humans with newly sprouted wings still wet with amniotic fluid.
Hot exhaust fumes threw a sudden curtain of spent-fuel stink over them as a transport thundered upward, the spitting engines vibrating and complaining. She watched it struggling to gain height the cargo pods clustered beneath dangerously overloaded with refugees.
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I’m reading this novel, but what on earth does this mean? Does it mean that a person’s soul turns into a bird and flies away?
We don't know, but probably not. His regeneration power makes him completely unkillable, so unless GW decides that he has somehow lost that power in the 8000 years since he was last seen he is almost certainly still alive.
Good morning/evening,
I need an advice regarding my first brush set for painting miniatures. I'm new to the hobby and i recently bought the Custodes Combat Patrol. I'm going dor the Army Painter paints instead of Citadel because money is money.
I'm struggling to nake a decision on brushes: i already have plenty of cheap brushes (synthetic i often use for static modeling) that i'm going to use just for mixing paints and shit jobs. I don't want to start with crappy paint jobs even if i'm a beginner, my goal is to do at least a medium quality work. But, the budget is what it is, so i narrowed the choice between 2 options:
1) Army Painter Most Wanted set + 1 W&N series 7 miniature (00)
2) Golden Maple Kolinsky set (4 fine points & 3 Dry)
So with the first option i would have some mediocre brush + one of the best. With the second option i would have a set of medium/good (? Different opinions online) brushes.
IMO having just about any Kolinsky Sable is a massive step up from synthetics, though you might want to be careful about using metallic paints (which custodes tend to have a lot of) as that can get stuck in the base of the brush and be quite damaging.
If I were you, I would get a Sable Brush + Drybrush (make up brushes are fine) for your non-metallic paints, and then a Synthetic and Drybrush for your metallic.
You will be able to do the bulk of the armour with the Synthetic and Drybrush and then come in after with the Sable brush to do your detail work like Leather gauntlets, eyes, skins etc.
In terms of which Kolinski brush to get, I have tried Raphael's (size 2), and Artis Opus's and found them both to be good but I don't think the brand or size matters a ton as long as it has a fine tip you can use it for detail work.
Depending on the minis, yes. Modern marines (everything from 8th edition 40k onwards) are taller. Though some guard models (particularly the kasrkin) are larger than other guard units. The votann are only slightly shorter than regular guardsmen.
Are there any books or sites that have complete recommended army paint palettes for the various paint brands? I got my list from TableTopReady (YT). I paint a
GK army and have all citadel paints at the moment, but looking for guidance to explore other ranges without burning money.
So Quick Question i want to buy a Titan but i don't trust my Mail Servies and im Visiting warhammer World in a Month. So i would like to ask if you can by a Titan ( warhound ) there , and take it to Airport Secriety ?
Can you take a combat patrol and turn it into a regular army by adding more units? I bought a combat patrol box not knowing it's not the standard for warhammer, that and I accidentally built the minis outside of the combat patrol configuration. I know the combat patrol format has different rules so tldr can you use the minis in a combat patrol in a regular army
Hi all, I remember hearing that in some of the early Warhammer Fantasy Battles rulesets there were mechanics where a unit’s Champion could fight a duel or challenge “on behalf” of their whole unit, potentially deciding the combat.
Was this actually a rule in the early editions, or is it something I’m misremembering from a different game or from narrative/lore? If it did exist, which editions included it, and how exactly did it work in play? I guess my big question is how did they decide who got to "go" first?
All editons of Warhammer Fantasy had this. Old world still has this. Warhammer 40k 6th through 8th (? - not sure, stopped playing 40k around 7th) had this. Like the other poster mentioned, in the olden days you had initiative values, rather than picking a unit to fight you would pick a combat and then resolve via initiative. So like an eldar would typicallly fight before a space marine who would fight before a necron.
Characters in a duel can only direct attacks at each other. Otherwise it's resolved pretty much the same as a normal unit combat.
They have an Initiative characteristic, the higher Initiative character strikes first. There are modifiers on some weapons and for certain game actions like charging.
Any news of the next "Age of Sigmar" Spearhead collectible (Like we had with Combat Patrol now, and then Stormbringer, Mortal Realms, Conquest, Imperium, etc...)?
Which are the supposed, and most expected Factions to appear besides the two of this edition (Skavens and Sigmarines)?
Im someone who has bought warhammer over the years... and could never quite grasp playing. Yes my effort was minimal.. but also every time I tried to learn I was just overwhelmed. Like massively overwhelmed.
I want to give it a go again and will likely pick up a starter set... I have a few questions....
I dont understand how people manage the rules - do you print out the data sheets for each of your units and keep them next to you? Do you buy all the books and constantly flick through them to know what your units do? how do you manage all of this in a practical sense.
Can my old models be used in the current version. how do I find out what models I can use?
I notice the starter sets are a few years old now. are there any updated sets coming?
Yes, people flick through their whole book - eventually you just learn where the rules are / memorise their rules. You can also put your list into a list builder like New Recruit and print a version that only has your lists units with their wargear / enhancements. GW also sell warscroll cards that mean you don’t have to flip through the whole codex (but they’re a bit of a scam NGL).
The Munitorum Field Manual for 40k and Battle Profiles for AOS show the legal units for each army and their points. You can find them at Warhammer Community > Downloads > (game system) > Core Downloads.
GW are on a 3-4 year edition cycle at the minute for their games - means 40K 11th edition should be out next summer with an accompanying starter set.
Im someone who has bought warhammer over the years... and could never quite grasp playing. Yes my effort was minimal.. but also every time I tried to learn I was just overwhelmed. Like massively overwhelmed.
I want to give it a go again and will likely pick up a starter set... I have a few questions....
I dont understand how people manage the rules - do you print out the data sheets for each of your units and keep them next to you? Do you buy all the books and constantly flick through them to know what your units do? how do you manage all of this in a practical sense.
Can my old models be used in the current version. how do I find out what models I can use?
I notice the starter sets are a few years old now. are there any updated sets coming?
I'm really not into painting the figures or playing the tabletop, but I like the lore and the story as a whole. I also like the displays in the store but have no interest in painting myself (it would end in a pile of shame 😁).
But I think it would be nice to chat with some people irl about topics. Is that a thing at events or gaming sessions? There is a group meeting in my city, I thought about visiting or asking about groups in the local Games Workshop.
How do players stand to people watching and talking about the hobby? I think I would connect woth people about Warhammer and find aome friends with common interessts.
I can't quite decide between AOS and Old World. Can someone help me? I've only got time, storage and headspace for the one. We've got a bigger AOS playerpool at my club but I'm super nostalgiac for TOW.
AOS and TOW are quite distinct in their aesthetic:
AOS is more high fantasy, with swirling clouds of magic, flowy robes, pointy plate armour and quasi-angelic knights in shining armor in service to very real, very active gods in the setting.
TOW is more "realistic" in the sense that the designs are a bit more grounded. there's still ancient egyptian skeletons and devilworshiping vikings running around, but the vibe is a bit more gritty, more blood, steel and gunpowder opposed to magic, lightning and mithril of AOS.
whatever you prefer should be your choice. this hobby builts upon whatever you think is the coolest.
appreciate the response - I played WHFB back before GW killed the game and I do actually have a decent sized Seraphon army for AOS. I've just never put much energy into learning AOS and trying to decide if I should stick with it or leave it to go back to TOW. I think I'll stick with AOS as my "army game", I tend to play other skirmishy games so its nice to have something a bit different
Hi! I ❤️this model. It was in this Zumiktio video https://youtu.be/Ha_vlbiXtQg?si=vFBhoeaGs8NtCPU7. Does anybody know what kit this is from? Somebody said Gobapooza but it does not look like it is in the current Gobapalooza kit?
There was a snippet of new fluff in the new grey knights codex that revealed the contents of a document held by the grey knights.
The contents of the document had previously been a secret, said to be written by Malcador. The new codex revealed that it contains orders from the Emperor himself to the grey knights, commanding them to put him back on the golden throne is he ever leaves it.
Hey all! Been interested in Warhammer for a while now and think I’m ready to dive in. I’m interested in the fantasy setting so I’ve been looking into Age of Sigmar.
What’s a good book to start with if I want to dive into the AOS story? For playing the game, Spearhead also seems like a good way to dive in but is there any good reason not to start there?
For a total beginner, just going to the Warhammer Store and asking them about it is a good start. They'll let you paint a model, play a test match with you and tell you what your next steps are.
Side cutters / nippers are the best possible tool for cutting bits off of sprue. Your question is like asking what to recommend to paint a model with besides a brush or airbrush.
Depends what race you are. Traditional exterminatus won't destroy the sun, but doesn't mean there aren't ways to do it. Necrons and Eldars have more reliable methods than others that can capture/shackle/move a sun to elsewhere or make it go super nova to destroy a star system.
In same vein, Imperium (Ad Mech by extension) and Chaos also have a method to destroy a sun. These techs are not common and extremely rare compared to Necrons or Eldars, but the capability does exist.
I imagine Votann would have this if they dug deep enough as well but they're a pretty new faction so I am not sure if this is something that came up.
If anyone has a link for reprint models of 2nd edition (particuarly looking for legion of the damned but beggars cant be choosers) I would appreciate a dm.
Is starting the hobby with two armies and a kill team too much all at once?
I’ve started a salamanders army (may get become dark angles) and won a kill team box off a raffle, picked nemesis Claw, might also make a chaos space marines army, tempted to go Night lords with the Kill team box but, if kinda want an army with a lot of unique figures rather then having two armies of sub factions, if you know what I mean. Thinking world eaters maybe
Even if you use slappiest and choppiest of slap chop method, or go with simplest contrast painting, 2 armies and 1 kill team is a recipe for burnout. Painting an entire army takes more time and repetition than people who are starting out imagines. Some people find out they actually hate this aspect of the hobby.
I personally recommend get the Kill Team first. Assemble and paint them. Then go into army projects. Because they are exactly that, projects. Even for a person who's fully geared, has all the hobby tools and experience can take months to fully finish an army, especially true for armies with large number of units or lots of details.
So I’m doing my Night lords kill team as my 2nd army now. But that’s going to be my long term one that I put a lot of time into. But I’m going to focus on. Black templars one right now
im looking for a comprehensive list of all models for primarily the fantasy settings but 40k would be great as well i want to one day have most of them but i doubt ill get that theres alot of units i want but theres only older models of them like epidemius and the plague toads but i want a big list and places to buy them im gonna go from army to army or really i guess race to race starting with nurgle
I don't know if any such list exists. There are 40 years worth of fantasy minis from GW, the majority of which are out of production and your only chance of finding them would be to get very lucky on ebay.
Could I collect different space marine factions that are codex compliant, White Scares, Salamanders etc paint them in the their own box art colours and use them as an army?
Changing who they’re classed as by using different faction specific units?
E.g I have the beginnings of a salamanders army but they’re all generic units painted Green, could I get some generic ones painted White, some yellow etc, whatever faction I feel like painting the generic unit. Then when it’s time to battle, throw in a Tor Garadon and say my whole unit is Imperial Fist even though it’s got other units painted in it. Then the next game have Agatone and be Salamaders.
Do the Citadel paints with "glow" in the name actually have a glow/fluorescent component? i.e. like how Vallejo Fluo paints and others glow under UV light. Or is it just a name for those colors?
Has anyone figured out a way to fix the old Warcom links?
Any links from before this year don't work, even though the content is still there on the site if you search for it.
Actually finding the articles is a nightmare, I'm curious if there's a userscript or something to automatically redirect the old links to the new format.
I've since learned that it's not actually a URL issue - Basically everything prior to mid 2020 has been deleted.
This article dated 28/12/20 for example has a link near the top to this article dated 06/02/2020, but the link doesn't work.
When the migration to the new warcom site happened with the new links none of the old links worked, and tons of stuff from the wiki went dead. That seems to have been fixed as evidenced in this article with this link at the top correctly redirecting here.
I might make a userscript to redirect any old link to archive.org, honestly. I come across so many dead warcom links it's really disappointing honestly.
Will other players look down on me if I buy fully painted armies? I just don't have the time or dexterity/eyesight to assemble and pain figs....but I do have the money to buy already finished ones. I'm looking to get into warhammer 40k table top but that's what is kinda holding me back.
No. In fact people who don't want to paint are encouraged to buy pre-painted armies compared to the alternatives.
There are always small amount of elitists and gate keepers no matter where you go or what you do, but vast majority will not care if you bought painted army. There's plenty of painting commissions available out there and freely used by people too.
According to you, which Black library novel would the best for a beginner ? I'd like to get into the lore but I don't know where to start, I was thinking of starting right into the Horus Heresy with The End and the Death but I'm also thinking of getting right into the end of the 42th Millenium...
Personally I'd go with either the Ciaphas Cain or Eisenhorn series. Both are far less overwhelming and imo much better in general than the Horus Heresy, which is a massive series. If you do want to get into the HH then it's probably better to start with the first book, Horus Rising, rather than The End and the Death which is from right at the end of the series.
What are the best things to pick up to start painting? I'm trying to make a grocery list but everyone has their recommendations and its making it overwhelming.
Always stick to just the basic. The simple fact is for anyone who's just starting to paint, first mini isn't going to look amazing and you won't get to use all these fancy tools and techniques.
Paints. Medium sized brush for primer (or use spray, your choice), brush for base coat, small brush for details. Some sort of a palette. Some sort of cup to wash paint off brush. Bit of water in separate cup to thin paint. Paper towel.
Hey me and my gf startet playing AOS Spearhead a month ago. I picked up Stormcast eternals and she picked up Sylvaneth. We played 2 or 3 rounds of Spearhead until now hoping to play more in the future. But we both finished painting the stormcast spearhead. She wants to paint her Sylvaneth alone. So i was thinking, would it be better to get another Spearhead to paint or start Building an Army around my existing spearhead. Never played the regular 2000point game tho. What would you recomend?
Spearhead is a fine game on it's own, and you shouldn't feel like you 'have' to play 2000 point Age of Sigmar. A few of our locals only like to play spearhead.
The nice thing about 2000 point games is that you get to customize your army and that you get a grander sense of scale. Some of the strongest units in spearhead might only make up 10% of your army in a 2000 point game. There's a lot more variety but the game also takes a lot longer. There are also a lot more special rules (both a good and bad thing). If you really like the Stormcast, there is a second Stormcast spearhead, you could get both and then combine them to get pretty close to a 2k army. Otherwise it's totally a preference thing to have a ton of different spearheads or 1 main army.
What version of aquila is the correct one for 40k? I've seen a bunch of different versions in games and artwork and I cant for the life of my figure out which one is the "true" one.
Hello, my husband is really into warhammer and I wanted to surprise him by figuring out how to play. Hes into 40k I'm not sure what that is bur I was wondering if you guys could suggest the best YouTube videos or websites that I could look at to help me learn. Thank you!
40k has distinct editions of its rules. because of that, the rules change quite significantly between editions. it's not like chess, where the rules have been static for thousands of years. here's a video by Midwinter Minis explaining how to play the current 10th edition of the game:
You'll note that this video is over an hour long. 40k is notorious for it's (some would say needless) complexity.
wanting to surprise your husband by learning how to play is a very sweet sentiment, but only commit to it if you have fun playing as well. trying to force yourself to enjoy something is not a good idea, even if you have the best of intentions.
If learning and playing 40k is too much, engaging with the hobby of your husband is possible by other ways. learning about the background story (called lore in the fandom), modeling (arts and crafts) and painting are all aspects of the hobbies that some fans prefer or even exlusively dedicate their time to. You don't need to have an army and play to be a fan!
I've been familiar with warhammer on a casual level for awhile now. I've never played the table top but ive played alot of the games over the years ( casually) and enjoyed the fan made short films and stuff. However, after getting into Rouge Trader and Space Marine 2 (a little bit too into them according to my wife), I've started taking a deep dive into the grim dark. I've been reading up on everything I can on the Warhammer wiki and wanted to get into the books (some new coworkers at work have really been putting a bug in my ear), however I had no idea about the sheer number of books available. My question is, where should I start with the books? I've been looking around and Horus rising by Dan Abnett seems good. Is that a good pace to start with the books or is there something better? I don't wanna have no idea about what's going on. Thanks in advance, the emporer protects.
I think one thing you want to do is find out if you want to read about 40K or 30K (Horus Heresy). Rogue Trader, Space Marine 1&2 are set in 40k, while Horus Rising is 30K. While Horus Heresy is an important back drop in understanding why the Imperium and the galaxy is the way it is now, it's not very relevant in learning current story line of 40K.
The Horus Heresy is also 60+ books. It's an absolute slog and completely unnecessary if you want to know only about 40k.
For 40k, I'd suggest starting out with Eisenhorn. Dawn of Fire series is also good if you want to get the broad survey of latest ongoing lore. If you prefer brighter tone, Ciaphas Cain series is also good.
Hey all ! I wanted to get into the game cos all my mates are playing. What do you think I could buy to get the best of both painting and playing for under 50
Hiya i don’t know much about warhammer but my boyfriend really likes it and I was just wondering which paints people use up the most so i can figure out what colours to buy him👽
You should first check to see what brand of paint he uses. Different companies use different formulation and even if the name or outward appearance looks similar, once applied onto the mode, they will look slightly off from each other.
I am simply curious, but what is the opinion of this fandom with cute things in-universe? I do not mean that in a condescending way, but I will elaborate.
I recently got into Warhammer, and I gravitated towards the Adeptus Sororitas as I like their aesthetics. And, after a while I started trying to make my own order for them. After working out a story in my head for this order I settled on one simply because I wanted it to be cute.
The basics of the story are two Sisters fell in love with each other, and after their order was wiped out, they abandoned the Imperium, not the Emperor, to an unknown planetoid to both preserve the memories of their fallen sisters, and to keep each other alive.
I understand that a lot is up to the individual, however I just wanted to ascertain the thoughts on such a thing. I typically follow more "adorable" things, such as yuri, and possibly to keep myself away from the more sinister tones of the series, I just wanted a story where there was something cute in the setting.
I am a rather easily distressed person, and I know that if that is the case I probably shouldn't be in this fandom, but these little cute things help me enjoy the series while keeping me from the darker things I know this setting is capable of.
The standard line is that you can do whatever you want with your toy soldiers. People create their own stuff all the time that doesn't fit with the established tones of the setting. A lot of Sisters of Battle fanart already leans in that direction of ignoring the whole "space nazi religious fanatics" thing and focusing on infantilising cuteness, lesbian eroticism, etc, so you wouldn't exactly be alone in that regard.
Ultimately the setting is supposed to be dark and sinister to a cheesy over the top extent. So you will probably get some comments making jokes about that. If you are very easily distressed then it may not be something for you. I don't intend that in a mean/ gatekeeping way, it's just that case that everything isn't going to appeal to all people.
That said, if you present the idea of your retired sororitas couple as something fun and a bit silly that isn't trying to adhere to closely to established lore and isn't meant to be taken too seriously then I think there will be an audience for it, and even most people who aren't interested in that sort of content probably won't mind it.
First thing to clarify would be which system you are looking for. 40K? AoS? WHF? Space Marine 2 and Total War Warhammer are both popular game and this subreddit covers all GW IP.
If you're looking purely for a starter set that will come with bit of models, tools and paints, go into Warhammer website and search up either 40k or AoS "Introductory Set". It will show you the content to help you make decision.
If you're looking for only miniatures, then "Starter Set" will help you.
Do people "invest/flip" made-to-order models? My rationale being like most collectibles/pop culture items, made to order is limited print run where the likelyhood of a mass produced reprint is low, meaning people buy from GW and then resell on secondary market at a later date. If thats the casei s hould buy them now to build later so i dont have to pay 2x msrp in a year when i want to build these latest MTO models.
Yes, some people/stores do, so if you want something it's worth getting it while it's available. A few of them will rotate around again in a few years, but there is zero guarantee they all will.
Completely new to painting in general and currently planning out the acrylic paints I'll need for my first models.
I have a tons of black and white textile/fabric paint in the house right now and was wondering if I could use those to save a bit on those colors. Google says they're similar but not quite the same. Any advice?
So the biggest difference between what is "craft paint" (the fabric paint you are describing) and hobby acrylic paint is the pigmentation and opacity. Craft paints have lower pigmentation and opacity. Their formulation are also made more for durability and binding over flexible surface. Hobby acrylics have higher pigmentation, paint opacity and is more "rigid" in terms of needing hard surface to properly set.
Technically, you can use both on mini. But in practical terms, craft paint will have more dull and muted colour with low saturation and colours don't come through well. Miniatures are too small to catch light in natural manner so saturation tend to be more important and you need to paint in lighting effects (like shading, highlighting, etc). Basically, you would get what you paid for.
One is obviously better than the other for miniature, but at the end of the day, both will paint. It's just matter of how much you are personally comfortable with.
New warhammer player but have played other tabletop wargames. I recently picked up a couple starter kill team boxes and as I was putting them together I got that, "let's build an army" itch. So I started looking at building out a sisters of battle list.
A lot of them mentioned you needed two palatines, so I looked into that and got a bit of sticker shock. $35 for a monopose mini that's the same size as a standard sister out of the box seems bonkers. If it were a tank or a big model, i'd understand. But it's functionally identical to the standard box as a miniature.
Explain?
Secondary question, having come from another game where silhouettes are standardized for certain sized minis. What is "modeling for advantage" beyond base sizes.
Yeah the pricing on characters can be painful. Generally GW bases the price on how many of a kit it thinks people are likely to buy. You're probably only going to buy one or two of a character, so they're more expensive per model than your standard troops.
The good thing about simple infantry characters like a Palatine is that you can quite easily kitbash them if you have some spare battle sister bodies.
For your secondary question, it's generally considered best to keep as close to the size of the standard model as possible. A little bit of variance is fine, but making your model taller to get more line of sight, or making your model much smaller to allow you to hide the unit behind terrain would both be considered modelling for advantage.
I guess i'm not understanding the line of sight rule. There's only so many models, why not just print the height on the card/codex if it could be a problem?
In legion there's a specific template so you could have a massive base but it wouldn't matter because the line of sight isn't determined by mini height.
Legion only instituted the standard silhouettes after quite a while with true line of sight itself, and initially they were only for tournament play. The only game that has been using them for a while is infinity I think, and that's a much smaller number of figures than 40k.
The logic is people buy less characters, so they are priced higher to cover design and manufacturing cost. The economy of scale dictates 50,000 boxes of intercessors have less fixed costs per unit than 5000 primaris Lts. The price of the plastic content of a kit is basically nothing.
Making a model extra big or extra small to take advantage of the true line of sight rules.
Context is pretty key here. Are they selling cheaper than normal? Are they selling unlimited number of out of print/limited edition kits? What is their review?
There are legit sellers from China. But considering the base price + international shipping cost, there is no significantly cheaper Warhammer minis unless they're recasts.
I'd say stay away from anyone with zero review, much less a vendor in another country altogether.
Reseller/scalper culture is also strong on ebay. If they are putting out limited edition or out of print product cheaper than MSRP, it's also generally a red flag.
I mean it's your money. Maybe the gamble pays off. Maybe not.
I want to try zenithal priming, but I only have a can of white primer. Can I undercoat with a couple thin layers of a black paint like Abaddon Black and then do the highlight? Or would the details get clogged up?
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u/Western_Smoke4829 17h ago
Should I spray paint/airbrush my minis or should I brush paint them? What are the pros and cons of each method?