For better or worse they did indeed restart at issue#1 in Canada.
As to posting the article : here is the text I wrote for the dwarf - im sorry I dont have all their spiffy pictures and formatting but I will post one that they gave me a preedit copy of here and direct y'all to my site
lostinthewarp.com if you want to see other less than brilliant but certainly passable photos taken by me.
Who Am I?
My name is James K. Craig and I am a Brother Captain in the Canadian Grey Knights program as well as a founding member of the gaming club known only as “The Lost”.
I have been very fortunate as over the years I have managed to win a few awards and honours of my own including 7 Golden Demon awards, the prestigious Astronomi-Con best painted award and a
GW 10
th anniversary Canadian Grand Masters Tournament Championship. For me, the best part of it all is forums like this or the one found on my website
www.LostInTheWarp.com, where I get to share with other people.
Collecting the army
This army is really comprised of parts of two projects. The tanks started out as some second hand pieces I picked up from a friend. I’m sure many people out there have armies which no longer pass the muster when it comes to their current painting or modelling abilities. That does not mean they must be permanently retired though! Sometimes a couple new pieces, a little retrofitting, and some scraping and repainting can breathe a whole new life into you existing forces. These particular tanks were more than just a little rough, and in the end this means that there are certainly a number of sketchy spots to be found, but I figured they really just add some character to these weathered and battle tested tanks. So with a few additions from the new Imperial tank accessory sprue, some minor conversions and the addition of a new Basilisk I had myself a battle ready tank company.
The guardsmen and cultists were actually part of the forces that I helped to paint up for the Kasr Vasan mega battle at Games Day Toronto 2003. This mega battle was the pinnacle of the Eye of Terror campaign and I am proud to say these lads did their part in helping the forces of Chaos to win the day and take control of the capital city of Cadia (earning a permanent place in my corrupted heart). Since that day they have seen action in various chaos forces under my command. It is only recently that I decided that because of their similar grey paint schemes it really wouldn’t be too hard to convince my tank commander, represented by a particularly spiffy Forge World commissar, to throw in with these chaos forces. As such, I have begun the process of painting up a couple of chimeras so that my traitors and cultists have room to ride in style along side the big boys.
Rolling Thunder
The idea of a tank force is both exciting and daunting for both players and opponents. On one hand you have an army which sports nothing but the best in terms of firepower and armaments. On the other, you are left with nil hand to hand capability and are often without the ability to take scenario objectives. As such it is really an all or nothing kind of army (just try facing down a horde of Genestealers and see what you have left by the end of turn 3!). Having played against this type of army many times before, I really knew what I was getting into and still thought it could be a lot of fun – which really is the most important part.
The core of this army is centred around the faithful Leman Russ tank. With great armour and variety of weapon load outs it really is one of the best all round tanks in the entire game. The command tank and Tank Ace are each given a pair of side sponsons to make good use of their BS of 4 while the troop tanks simple with only the battle cannon and hull lascannon. I have also modelled an alternate Exterminator turret for the tank ace for times when I have to fight a large number of troops or light vehicles. The Demolisher Russ is a great dual purpose support tank being able to plug gaps in the battle line with either its 3 heavy bolters or its awesome cannon.
When I added in the Basilisk I wanted, I was actually left with too many heavy support options. This inspired me to convert one of the two Griffon Mortars I had into a Salamander Scout Vehicle. The conversion itself was actually quite simple. I used a spotlight from the IG tank accessory sprue and an autocannon from an IG Heavy weapons team to create the main gun. I also added in the antennae to represent the improved comms. Super simple and visually effective. The salamander has actually become my favourite tank in this army and I have plans to build a second when I get a chance. With its great armament and souped up engines this thing can be a threat anywhere on the battlefield. Add to that the “crush and grind” doctrine and you will find this gamer gleefully running over units left and right before shooting up the remaining enemies!
Painting and Weathering
This army is like many of the ones that I have built (10 built in my collection to date) in that it is not painted to my Golden Demon standard but still really looks nice on the table. In approaching this army I used several shades of grey in a wet brushed over technique. This allows many of my strokes to be seen but really also adds interest and variety to the surface of the hull. The muted greys really provide a harmonious background to showcase the details of the rivets, stowage, iconography and most importantly the weathering. On these models I have used a number of techniques to create some real battlefield wear on these rebuilt tanks. All of the metallics were brought up from TinBits and then washed back down with browns and blacks. I have also ground up Conte (a fine artists chalk) to add rust and dust to the tanks. This same dust was then carried over to the jackets of my troops in order to reinforce the unity and connection between them.
As to the troops, they were painted in much the same colours as the tanks (I just love painting grey!) with a few simple punches of colour to add some visual interest. The real fun, however, came in painting chaos icons on each of the jackets. This really went a long way to establishing the character of these traitors and wasn’t really all that hard. I “drew’ the designs on with a fine detail brush and black ink. Once that had dried, I carefully filled them in with thin white paint making sure to leave a little of the black as a contrasting outline to make my designs pop. I then painted over the white with a variety of bright colours suited to the imagery of chaos.
In The Grim Darkness of the Future…
While I will certainly play the army more or less in its current configuration for the time being, I have been giving more and more thought to creating traitor specific tanks and kitting out a full Lost and the Damned army – giving my guardsmen and cultists yet another new home. If (ah lets face it…. when) I get around to this I will do so secure in the knowledge that my newly rebuilt recycled and repainted tanks can just as easily find a home back on the side of the loyalists or by hooking up with yet more traitorous elements. This really is the beauty of a dark, simple and harmonious colour scheme – it is universal and can give you a whole lot more playability from the forces you create.
