Christmas Cards from the Edge

Well due to the vagaries of the Warp (read, Bix forgot to hit the scheduling button in his hurry to wrap presents and get the tree up in time), my festive post seems to have arrived a little after the event; but as the clock hasn't struck midnight on this year just yet (least not here in land land of Zulu Time) the festive season is still in play.

So with a quick edit I hope you all had a grand Candlemass and that the jolly fat bloke with a penchant for 'Go Faster Red' brought you a hefty haul of all you wished for. I'm currently sitting pretty with the Imperial Infantryman's Handbook (an updated and combined book of the Munitorum Manual and the Uplifting Primer), Dan Abnett's 'Pariah' and a fist full of GW vouchers which I'm sure I can burn through in next to no time.

Cover Art : The Death of Integrity

As mentioned in last months post 'Written in Blood', the author Guy Haley has penned a Black Library novel (now confirmed as part of the Space Marine Battles series) featuring the Blood Drinkers and Nova Marines Chapters as they fight to cleanse a Genestealer infested Space Hulk 'The Death of Integrity'.

Guy has today posted up the cover for the forthcoming book (due out September 2013, where's that DeLorean when you need it?) on his Blog Haley's Comment and he kindly gave permission for me to repost it here on The Veil's Edge.

New Life into Old Lead Pt III

As part of my current Death Company project, I had another opportunity to conduct a renovation on one of the old painted miniatures in my collection. A chance to right the wrongs as it were, of a heretical (as far as the Codex Astartes is concerned) colour scheme, with the added benefit of a few years improvement in my painting skills; how much improvement is debatable!

Written in Blood : The Blood Drinkers return to 40k

As regular readers of this Blog will be well aware, I'm a huge fan of 40k lore; the ever expanding stories and history that makes up the Hobbies setting being as, if not more important to me than the game itself.

One of my consuming passions is the constant hunt for canon material relating to my chosen Space Marine Chapter, The Blood Drinkers; they've been with me since the start of my 40k journey some 25 years ago and as such have defined much of my Hobby experience.

Remember the Fallen

When one man says to another, "I know what let's do today, let's play the war game."... everybody dies.

                                                                       

A day to remember all those lost to conflict and a hope that one day War really will be confined to a tabletop.



Quote from 'A Bridge Too Far' Gene Hackman as Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski 

The Shadow in the Warp : Silence from The Veil's Edge

Just a quick post to reassure any and all who are interested that I'm still out here and haven't gone the way of Maelstrom Games (Ouch! Too soon? Sorry).

The cursed Daemons of Workload have been casting their damnable binding rituals again and the other week my Astropathic Choir suffered a very messy Fatal Exception Error which shut off all communications with the rest of the Verse (my modem decided to die).

However, I've now received a new shipment of Astropaths from Holy Terra and with some much needed leave on the horizon, I should hopefully be back to Hobby activity presently and the accompanying waffle I send out into the void should soon follow.

You can't stop the signal...

Picture featured 'Astropath Silinus' by Rod Pereira. 

Birthday Card from the Edge : The Blog Turns Two

Ok well it's a week late, after all the excitement of Games Day and the follow up posts I needed a little break; but seeing as I missed marking the first year milestone completely I thought it would be remiss if I didn't make the effort to mention this one.

UK Games Day 2012 : Pt V Final Thoughts

So as the afterglow of Games Day fades over the horizon of the passing week, one last post with my final thoughts on the event, accompanied by some photos of Forge Worlds grand Horus Heresy diorama.

UK Games Day 2012 : Pt IV Golden Demon

Continuing my coverage of UK Games Day, here are some photos I took of the Golden Demon painting competition entries. These are the ones that most caught my eye for one reason or another; but whilst there was talent on display well beyond my meagre skills as a painter, I did feel that the overall volume of quality was down on last year. (Pic Heavy)

UK Games Day 2012 : Pt III Forge World '40k'

A few more of my photos from the Forge World Design Studio area of this years UK Games Day, it's safe to say these guys stole the show this year with the coup of the Heresy (although GW's Chaos stuff came close to stealing their thunder); but as promised 40k still got a look in, with the Necrons getting the lion's share.

UK Games Day 2012 : Pt II Forge World 'The Heresy'

The next few posts will primarily be picture ones, featuring the shots I managed to take during the usual eager scrum around the Forge World displays at this years Games Day. A lot more shots than I expected came out half decent so a Mega City Fats sized warning of heavy picture content!

UK Games Day 2012 : Pt I Forge World Seminar

Wall Art definitely not by Neil Roberts!

Just a rough and ready post tonight as I'm on my chin straps following a very long but fruitful excursion to this years Games Day and what a great day it was. I'm very glad to report that the GW renaissance continues, they once again appear to have listened and taken note, the whole event was a big improvement.

But more of that in another post, my buddy Will and I took a whole ton of Pics which I plan to start posting tomorrow once they've gone through the quality control of slightly less tired eyes; for today I bring you news from the Forge World Seminar that we attended, hosted by Tony Cotrell & Alan Bligh.

Postcards from the Edge

A fairly brief postcard tonight, well for a guy that waffles like a Protocol Droid; again it's been a while and I wanted to get a few updates in before hitting the sack for an early trek to Games Day tomorrow.

There is so much going on in the Hobby at the moment I've a real feeling we are entering a grand new era, the sort of momentous shake up that happened when the Emperor said to his mates 'Lads I'm bored, lets go on a Crusade!'

The new White Dwarf landed on my door mat this morning with enough force to shell shock the cat and leave a large ordinance size crater in the carpet; the Pound increase in price tag seems to have been mirrored in weight gain!

Breaking Net : The Heresy, Chaos & More!

I hadn't planned to post any more pre-release product news for a while, there are sites that do it far better, having lots of sources, getting news fast and posting much more frequently than mine.

Also I never intended this kind of post to be much of a focus for the Blog, unless of course it was something I was buying; but with such a deluge of awesomeness coming from Games Workshop and Forge World right now I just couldn't resist the alteration to the planned schedule.

Besides I reasoned that being so far out on the fringe of the Imperium's Blogosphere, some regular visitors to The Veil's Edge may not pass by some of the more congested trade lanes to pick up the news. Not you Danny, I know you consort with all manner of Blogs be they sanctioned or not, you Rogue Trader! ;o)

So without further preamble, we break Net to take you live to a host of shininess.

Raising the Dead : Abraxas WIP Pics

Here are some work in progress pics of yesterdays completed Death Company Dreadnought Abraxas for those that may be interested.

I know I got these posts arse about face, but I just couldn't resist putting up the completed work first as it's such a rarity. Also I still don't take enough pictures when I'm working on a project to show detailed progression (takes me long enough to paint something without all the breaks for a photo shoot)!

But I did take a few of the little bit of conversion work I did on the banner which may be of use to some.

Abraxas - The Ancient of Days

Following on from yesterdays post, I present my first completed Death Company Dreadnought Abraxas the Ancient of Days.

Death Company Progress II

Promised this a goodly while back and so hopefully over the next couple of posts I will be delivering some Pic updates on how my Death Company is finally progressing apace.

Here are four more 'Evocati'* to add to the four I completed (looks at the date of the post and feels suitably ashamed) ...nearly a year ago!

Books in Brief : The Primarchs (Anthology)

The third anthology of the Heresy series with Black Library appearing to be turning up the frequency of these short story outings; Shadows of Treachery is due out next month (although that will mostly contain tales previously released only as limited editions or audio books).

These novellas increasingly tend towards tying into the plot lines of the main novels rather than being stand alone works, although I'm finding it to be a double edged sword. On the plus side I enjoy the increased relevance of a story as each acts to fill in a piece of the Heresy puzzle, bringing clarity and continuity to the overall picture; but on the minus side, if these stories cross over with limited edition novels (as two in this book do) then there's a good chance of the reader, myself included, not having read those novels and thus missing the adjoining puzzle piece.

This book contains far fewer stories than the previous two anthologies, just four, giving the authors a bit more room to breathe, which would seem wise, after all we are talking Primarchs here and these guys only play stadium gigs!

Showcase : Tyranid Scenery by Anton Magdalina

Following on from the earlier Space Wolf Showcase, how about a bit of scenery? Again not mine (mores the pity) it belongs to a fairly new member to the forum on Pesties PPE; why do I always think of Personal Protective Equipment when I abbreviate that? *shrugs*

Showcase : Space Wolves by Paul's Painting Emporium

Miniatures! Painted!! On the Blog!!! Impossible!!!!

Well not impossible, but still highly improbable; in the absence of anything new from me (it's coming I promise) I thought I'd share with you some more very fine work by The Gents very own Master Miniature Painter, Paul 'Pestie' Thomas.

*Warning* Pic Heavy.

Resistance is Futile : Dark Vengeance Pre Ordered

Update post this evening in relation to Dark Vengeance (Limited Edition) being up for pre-order on GW's site and other independents.

I tried to fight it, I really did; I watched as the Midnight opening ticked by, wrestling with my doubts until the wee small hours. By Daybreak I still hadn't given in, even after my White Dwarf arrived with page after page of tempting propaganda and as orders were snapped up I felt that if I just held out long enough there would be no more left to tempt me. After all, I have no plans to start another Marine Army and despite the awesomeness of the Chaos miniatures I don't think I could ever march under the banner of the Ruinous Powers, so I didn't really need it...or did I?

Books in Brief : Know No Fear by Dan Abnett

Long overdue a review, Dan Abnetts latest addition to the Heresy Series had to wait for me to catch up due to a backlog of unread books; I managed to dodge any spoilers during this time and was very glad that I did, Know No Fear quite simply blew me away.

Dan's account of the legendary Battle of Calth was everything I had been anticipating and so much more. As regular readers will be aware I'm a self confessed 'Danboy', he's without doubt my favourite 40k author; his work is almost consistently without peer and once again he astounded me by upping his game.

Returning with a Vengeance

As a scruffy looking Nerf Herder once said "Jeez, I'm out of it for a little while, everyone gets delusions of grandeur!"

Well a lot has been happening whilst I've been away, but first my absence...

You may be aware that our green and pleasant land has just hosted a bit of a shindig for a fairly well known sporting event and as duty required I worked a lot of hours doing my bit to ensure no one spoiled the party.

Postcards from the Edge

Been a couple of months since I've sent a Postcard so time for a little catch up; lets get the Big One out the way first, the release of 6th Edition. I got hold of my copy a little later than many, due to some bad planning and a misdirected email, but perhaps a little earlier than some; Admiral Drax was one of the unfortunates to suffer a delay despite making his pre order slot, you can read his tale of woe and rather good letter to GW here.

I've managed to give it a bit of a skim through, I've also had a look at the updated FAQ for the Blood Angels over on the GW site (the only bump in the road as it looks a bit rushed out) and I sat in on a small game between two of The Gents Will (Grey Knights) and Tomo (Imperial Guard).

[mark: 00.19.00] : 6th Edition Advance Order

Surprising no one, up to and including my cat; GW have announced advanced orders for 6th Edition, releasing footage giving a snap shot inside the rule book. What they strangely fail to do is give a release date, although I'm assuming this will be the 30th June and may be covered in the latest issue of White Dwarf.

Initial thoughts are that the Gamers edition may be the best buy, with its satchel and lasgun power pack containing Munitorium dice and holders; I note that the satchel has three pouches so I'm guessing it's one for each power pack dice set, handy.

The Collector’s edition only offers a nice box and fancy paper, which bemuses me a little, what’s the point of a rule book that you're not going to want to take gaming with you?

Anyway set that cursor to hover over the pause button and gaze at the beast that’s going to bite a big hole in our wallets.

Books in Brief : Deliverance Lost by Gav Thorpe

Gav Thorpe has been steadily building his vision of the Heresy era Raven Guard with the audio drama Ravens Flight and short story The Face of Treachery (featured in Age of Darkness). Now he is given a full novel to 'stretch the wings' of this Legion.

Deliverance Lost is a solid addition to the Heresy series, whilst it doesn't soar to the heights of say A Thousand Sons it certainly doesn't nose dive like Descent of Angels.

The novel has a lot going for it, Gav has engineered a fitting feud between the Raven Guard and the Alpha Legion, the two most clandestine of the Space Marine Legions; providing a lot of information on the origins of the Ravens 'gorilla warfare' doctrine and expanding on the Alphas shadowy and ultra covert methods.

[mark: -1.22.50] : 6th Edition Teaser Pt III

Here is the third teaser for 6th Edition released on the Games Workshop Site and it's really picking up pace; it's much longer, featuring some great artwork. Although anyone with half an eye on the Blogosphere will have noticed the deluge of 'leaked' information has swept on past the official build up, like the Ringwraiths getting a good dunking at the Ford of Bruinen.

Still it's all good and all adds to the anticipation, with all this talk of Allies and Abhumans I'm very hopeful that good times lie ahead with 6th.

[mark: -2.13.00] : 6th Edition White Dwarf Pages

In the last 24 hours leaked pages from the upcoming issue of White Dwarf, detailing some of the contents of 40k's imminent 6th Edition release, have been circulating the Blogosphere.

As regular visitors to the Veil's Edge will know, I don't tend to feature much of the rumour mill, leaving that to other Blogs with far better connections than I (I got the heads up on this leak from Natfka's Faeit 212 Blog which is always on the ball); but as these are most certainly the genuine article, I thought them worth a repost for those that haven't seen them yet.

Also, a little time spent with Google Translate and I've got a 'rough' translation of some the Spanish pages (shown in italics), mores specifically in relation to the Psychic Cards. Looks like you now have the choice of using your codex specific Psychics or the Powers allowed to your particular army from the new decks.

[mark: -3.22.55] : 6th Edition Teaser Pt II

A second teaser for 6th Edition has been released on the Games Workshop Site , possibly hinting at the rumoured re-vamp and ramping up of Psychic powers for the game.

Ok so it lacks the eye watering awesomeness of a Halo teaser, it could do with a thumping good signature tune like Skyrim's 'Dragonborn' (which I think the Space Wolves probably have on loop in all their Land Raiders) and I'm a little unsettled by hearing Alma Wade at the beginning (never mind Grim Dark, that girl is just plain scary)!

But by the Throne, I'm eagerly awaiting the 23rd.

A Paperless World? : The Quartermaster App

This month has seen Games Workshop make a belated but smart move into the digital age, so I thought it fitting to mention my introduction to another tool for the 40k hobbyist, brought forth from the MCP (ahem... I mean Apple) controlled realms of Cyberspace.

Credit goes to one of the newest recruits to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Danny for giving us the heads up on this. It's an App called Quartermaster and whilst I haven't had a lot of time to play around with it yet, first impressions are that this is a great gaming aid.

Books in Brief : The Outcast Dead by Graham McNeill

This latest outing to the 31st Millennium, under the guidance of veteran 40k writer Graham McNeill; takes another detour around the warring Legions and lands us smack bang at the heart of the Imperium, on Terra.

I found it disappointing and more than a little frustrating that Outcast Dead is another Heresy novel with no intention of moving the main storyline along, taking place in a period starting just prior to the Drop Site Massacre (I just can't say the 'I' word anymore) and leading up to the burning of Prospero.

But those feelings were soon pushed aside as McNeill's wonderfully descriptive narrative brought to life as yet unexplored environs of the Emperors Palace, including the eerie City of Sight, home of the Telepathica and the desperate squalor of the Petitioners City.

The Clock is Ticking : 6th Edition Teaser

Late to the party (aren't I always) this came out yesterday on the Games Workshop Site and rapidly spread across the Blogosphere. The coming of 6th Edition is nothing that most 'salt chompers' weren't already expecting; but now we have a solid date 23/6/12, most likely for pre-orders and I thought it worth sharing as it's been a little quiet out here on The Edge of late.

"Permission to shout 'Bravo' at an annoyingly loud volume, sir?"

Books in Brief : Age of Darkness (Anthology)

The second anthology of the Heresy series features a collection of short stories, nine in total, that take place during a seven year period between the Drop Site Massacre and the Siege of Terra. The tales follow the now familiar pattern of being stand alone works, some with strands connecting to previous books in the series; all the while 'drip feeding' morsels of information about the wider history.

Sacred Ground : Forge Refurb Complete

A project I've been chipping (dusting and hoovering) away at for some time now; turning what was a general 'dog's body' of a room into a bona fide Man Cave.

Gaming Table Project : Chapel of Sanctuary

As promised in my last postcard , here are some pictures of my old GW Chapel of Sanctuary; it's a great piece of 'ready to play' scenery that's sadly been long out of production; but I think is still fairly easy to pick up online.

Postcards from the Edge

First up I'd like to say a big thank you to all those who took part in my latest eBay Auction, bidding was brisk and pretty much everything on the ledgers found a buyer. I had a bit of an unfortunate snag in my usual prompt dispatch times on some of the items, but thanks to the good nature and understanding that seems to pervade the Hobby; all those affected tolerated the delay with good grace.

There may or may not be another auction soon (yes I still keep finding stuff, gives you an idea just how untidy the Forge was) as the Royal Mail has seen fit to raise its considerable fees on postal rates to possibly crippling levels; I'll let you know.

Painting by Numbers : Using a Painting Chart

About a month ago I mentioned I was putting together a painting chart to assist with both organising and motivating my Blood Drinker Strike Force project. Well surprisingly enough, I've actually got on and finished it...the chart that is, not the project (softly, softly, catchee Jokaero, as they say); still I hope it's fairly swift output can be taken as a sign of things to come.

A Trip to Bartertown : eBay Sale

A short and shameless plug today for my current eBay Auction; The Lampyridae is in port and her Captain, the Rogue Trader Mal'aki Reinhold, is eager to clear her holds of artefacts 'liberated' from the obscure reaches of The Veil's Edge and avoid any Inquisitorial entanglements.

Ok artistic license aside, I found a couple more boxes of old miniatures in my most recent sweep of the Forge and I've managed to get the majority up on eBay (even with the help of turbo lister, it’s a chore).

There is a bit more, but it's currently doing a stint in green solution or awaiting photography; hopefully I'll get the rest of it listed before the 30th of April deadline when Royal Mail ups postage to bank breaking levels, with the possibility of ending my occasional dalliances with trading.

Picture featured 'Rogue Trader RPG cover' by Andrea Uderzo

Forge World Open Day 2012 : An Unexpected Journey

Due to a last minute outbreak of goodwill in the Departmento Munitorium (either that or a data loom blew out) I ended up with an unexpected day off today and as luck would have it, my darling wife suggested that I had earned enough brownie points for a day pass of my choice. There was only one place I needed to be and with a roll of here eyes she nodded understanding; 'Go on then, off you go to Weirdy World.'

So it was that I set out early doors for a journey up to Nottingham and the Warhammer World hosted event of Forge World Open Day. Here follows my account of the day, some scraps of information and a few photos...well you didn't just drop by for my charming banter did you?  ;o)

No Fool : Stormeagle Conformation

About an hour ago I received the following Forge World Newsflash which appears to settle doubts about the veracity of the Stormeagle picture and confirm it's no April Fool prank.

Books in Brief : The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

My first novel by ADB and oh my! What a way to start.

It is testament to the authors skill and rapid rise to high regard amongst other luminaries of the Black Library and it's readers, that his first Heresy assignment should be to chart the all important fall of the Word Bearers to the machination of Chaos.

As most will know, the XVII Legion are pivotal to the schemes of the Ruinous Powers; by turning them, the Chaos Gods create a lance to pierce the boil of jealousy, ambition and doubt that festers beneath the skin of the Imperial Truth, thus allowing the corruption to spread.

I'll confess to a bias for the Imperials that can be a hurdle for any author telling a story based around the traitor legions, I simply don't like Chaos. I think it coloured my view of Fulgrim by Graham McNeill, something he later overcame with the moving A Thousand Sons. In First Heretic ADB not only had to sell me a tale of a Primarch and his Astartes willingly turning from the Emperor, but one which included First Chaplain Erebus, probably the biggest villain of the Heresy and a character with no redeeming features.

And sell me it he did, with a gripping, well paced and deeply thought out novel, punctuated with visceral action (which I understand to be a signature of the author).

The Eagle Has Landed : Space Marine Stormeagle

Don't fly like a barnyard Stormraven when you can soar like a Stormeagle! This news appears to be just breaking (I picked it up from Big Jim's Galaxy in Flames) and the page over at Forgeworld isn't yet complete; but I just had to post the picture because this baby just rocks.

Now I'd made my peace with the Stormraven, I'd written a post on my thoughts, justifying it's look, hell I'd even grown fond of the ugly spud; but now...now this!

Curse you Forgeworld and your unending talent, I'll be over in the corner with all the other players of the BA codex muttering 'it should have been ours.'

Postcards from the Edge

Postcards has become a somewhat irregular feature of late, a failing my family and friends could also apply to calls and visits from me; as they, like the hobby, are suffering sporadic bursts of attention due to the curse of 'interesting times' at work.

Still, despite being unable to get behind the painting table since the completion of Tactical Squad Gaurus I have scored a few victories in the battle for work/hobby balance.

The first one was tough, on my wallet that is; but once I got over the inevitable shoppers guilt and the purchases arrived I was once again singing the Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy song. Total Wargamer have been running a series of discounts for GW items on top of their usual discount for about a month now and I took the opportunity of a bargain to bulk buy enough 40k stuff to keep me in projects probably until the 31st Millennium.

Blood Drinker Tactical Squad Gaurus

So here's that Tactical Squad I was so pleased about completing; pleased because at my current rate I should have a fully painted army in time for 40k's 50th anniversary!

Books in Brief : Nemesis by James Swallow

If you've been following my Books in Brief series of posts for a while now, you'll be aware that I've been both hot and cold in my opinion of James Swallows writing. Lauding The Flight of the Eisenstein and bemoaning his Blood Angels novels. As a result I'd put off reading this his second Heresy novel for quite some time but was tempted back after his short story The Voice, in the Tales of Heresy anthology.

Nemesis is another side story to the main events of the Heresy and like the excellent Mechanicum it takes a refreshment break from the slugging match between Superhuman siblings; this time focusing on the shadow world of the Officio Assassinorum.

This novel is an uneven read, in places it shines, expanding on the different Assassin Clades, delivering some great action and death dealing scenes, utilising all the Assassins various skills and arsenals.

But Swallow has set himself a hard task with both his subject matter and plotline. To produce an engaging story with characters you are willing to invest in, he has to humanise what should be to all intents and purpose, remorseless fanatical killing machines and whilst he ably achieves this, it just doesn't feel quite right.

The choice of plotline (with my usual caution towards spoilers) rendered the journey fairly pointless for anyone with a passing knowledge of the Heresy. There are a few plot holes, some clunky devices and an interesting parallel story that sadly runs out of steam before being dumped into the main tale.

On the whole this is an ok read that would probably have fared much better if it had been reworked as a standalone 40k novel rather than struggling against much stronger works in the Heresy series.

As a final observation, am I the only one who detects a hint of a Firefly/Serenity nods in James Swallows writing style? Couldn't shake the impression that Iota the Culexus bore all the hallmarks of another young lady who could 'kill you with her brain'.

Blown Away : Vehicle Destroyed Craters

Been meaning to get this review up for a while now (sorry for the delay Magnus) but as usual my attention decided to go out for a drink with my imagination and caught the wrong bus home; yes I've been tinkering with the 'Drinkers fandex again.

At the beginning of the month I took delivery of an order of markers that represent craters following a Vehicle Explodes result on the damage table.

Rising Damp : Making a Wet Palette

No Wet Leopards were harmed during the making of this post.

Fairly short post today as I have it appears, located my painting mojo. Whilst I have the little critter pinned down and muzzled, I'm cracking on with my marines and a tactical squad is nearing completion...for that I'll allow myself a little Huzzah!

What I did want to share with you is a handy tool that is aiding my return to painting, the Wet Palette. It's another one of those things I was aware of but never got round to trying out until now and I'm not exaggerating when I say this simple device is a revelation.

Anyone for Seconds? : Tyranids and Space Wolves New Release Pics Pt II

Seems like the blogosphere is not done serving up delicious morsels of the impending Tyranid and Space Wolf releases just yet; so tuck in your napkin and perhaps loosen your belt a notch, here comes a second helping.

Look Who's Coming to Dinner : Tyranid and Space Wolves New Release Pics

The pics from the Italian edition of March's White Dwarf are spreading across the Blogosphere like the Life-eater Virus across the surface of a planet. Except while one brings the promise of a horrible and certain death, the other brings sometimes blurry but none the less exciting pictures of new 40k goodness.

Pressing Matters : Green Stuff Press Moulds Pt I

With Valentines Day all done and dusted and with a few brownie points banked for not only remembering the significance of the day, but actually buying my good lady a card to acknowledge the fact (sometimes I amaze even myself). I trotted off into the forge to tend to my 'other' relationship in an attempt to get my creative mojo fired back up; this was quite a challenge as my hallowed work space currently resembles the Death Star trash compactor.

However inspiration was at hand for not only had I bought my beloved a card, I had also splashed out on some cup cakes for her sweet tooth! (Truly I am a God amongst Husbands!)

With the thought of baking firmly in my mind, I decided to turn my hand to some press moulding; having seen this done on many blogs and youtube tutorials over the past few years I've been meaning to have a crack at it.

Books in Brief : Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett

Bold, original, unexpected and totally gripping; Dan Abnett produces another awesome piece of work. This novel of course follows the story arc of the opposing force in the fall of the Thousand Sons, the legendary Space Wolves and as such is a literary travelling companion with Graham McNeill's A Thousand Sons.

What struck me first was the very different tone given by Dan to his 'Saga' in direct opposition to Graham's; the bright, civilised quest for knowledge and understanding versus the cold hard darkness of brute survival. This is used to excellent effect by both authors; which banner would you place above Loyalist and Traitor?

The decision to tell the Wolves story through the eyes of an outsider was a risk that I thought paid dividends; it enables a questioning and analysis of the Son's of Russ which would be totally out of place if told from the point of view of one of their own and it brought to mind the film The 13th Warrior (although that production could have used a little Abnett magic).

The development of the story teller from Historian Remembrancer to 'Skald' is in total keeping with Dan's take on the Wolves; these Astartes are not the Viking caricatures (just lacking their comic book horned helmets) of past 40k novels. These are warriors who would not be out of place in Old Norse literature, the motivations and themes addressed would be immediately recognisable to a writer of that period such as Snorri Sturluson.

I've heard many balk at Dan's reinvention of the Space Wolves, but fail to understand why; he enriches them beyond measure. The Rout as we come to know them, are aptly named for they are the bloody executioners of the Emperor and this book ramps up their feral savagery and barbaric bluntness, but in turn reveals within them an intellectual awareness and a deep meaningful culture. There is delight in discovering these hidden qualities and I really appreciated the time devoted to the exploration.

One minor quibble is that Mr Abnett appears to have developed Mr McNeill's nasty habit of overusing a descriptive word and although 'Wet Leopard Growl' is wonderfully evocative, it is used to the point of tedium. I'm not even sure Wolves make that kind of noise...ah but of course, there are no Wolves on Fenris ;o)

That aside, this book is epic; from the trademark cinematic opening to the fan boy twist at the end that had me punching the air with glee, I half wish I had a Space Wolf army now!

Postcards from the Edge

'Zoom! What was that? That was your life, Mate! Oh, that was quick, do I get another? Sorry, Mate that's your lot.'

So it's been a while, belated Happy New Years and all; the quote above, from a certain Torquay hotel owner, kind of sums up my past few months. Life has been a fast and bumpy ride to which the hobby has taken the proverbial back seat.

I'll make no apologies, I think even the most committed of us hobbyists (bloggers or not) drift from time to time with the changeable currents of our daily lives and I've never intended The Veil's Edge to be anything but an extension of my hobby; granted one that's hopefully shared and enjoyed by those who are kind enough to read it.

While I always like to get at least a few posts in a month, to force a schedule would be to make posting a chore and that’s something a hobby should never be. Anyhow, enough navel-gazing, there's enough fluff in the blog already (incidentally why is it always blue?)

2012 is upon us and has the potential to be a momentous year for 40k. Can it really be 25 years since I first journeyed into the Dark Millennium?

We've got rumours of various Codex releases, with all the promise of new figure ranges they entail and of course the coming of 6th Edition. It's just a hunch, but I have a feeling it's arrival will herald a new age and that the timeline clock may finally click over into the 42nd Millennium with a very large Bang!

I'm starting work on my 'Welcome Home Emperor' banners early ;o)

Thanks,that is all.