An (new) Imperial Guard List (900 Pts) and some questions

Okay so I finally got the new codex. I have to say I'm really liking it, GW seem to have done a good job on this one. The new layout (whilst a little confusing to start with) is much better when actually building lists, and the new guard seem much easier to manage that the old lists.

Anyway, I've put together this list, and I'd really appreciate it if people could take a look over it and point out any changes that you think would be needed - I mainly play against Chris' Space Marines, so I need something that can take Marines down! At the moment its just the standard HQ + 2 Troops - in the future I plan to add vehicles to it, but for the moment, I want to concentrate on the core of the force. As I've decided to re-do my army list, I figured that now would be a good time to repaint my Guard - A completely fresh start, if you will!

Here is the list:

Company Command Squad (212 points)

• Company Commander: Bolt pistol, Power weapon
  
• Veteran: Medi-pack
  
• Veteran: Regimental Standard
  
• Veteran: Vox caster
  
• Veteran: Meltagun
  
• Master Of Ordnance
  
• Officer Of The Fleet
  
• Bodyguard
  
• Bodyguard

2 x Infantry Platoon (343 points each, total of 686 points)

Platoon Command Squad

• Platoon Commander: Boltgun
  
• Commissar: Boltgun
  
• Guardsman: Platoon Standard
  
• Guardsman: Vox caster
  
• Guardsman: Medi pack
  
• Guardsman: Meltagun
  

2 x Infantry Squad

• Sergeant: Bolt Pistol
  
• Commissar: Power weapon
  
• Guardsman: Meltagun
  
• 8 x Guardsmen: Lasguns

So... what does everyone think? Its a little vanilla at the moment, but like I was saying at the beginning of this, I want to get the core parts right. I've focussed on taking things that either:

1. Prevent my guardsmen from running away. Basically I've given them all Commissars
   
2. Give the units a little bit of an extra kick! I went for Meltaguns in this army. My previous one was heavy on Plasmaguns, but I've got tired of always rolling 1's and losing my guardsman!

I also have a couple of questions about the new codex that I was hoping someone can help me with.
First, in the wargear section for the Infantry Squads it says "Close-combat weapon". Does this mean that all my guardsmen have CCW's? I figured that it only applies to the Sergeant / Commissar, but reading it again, I'm not so sure.
Secondly it often says that the commander "may exchange his laspistol and/or close-combat weapon for:" - where upon it then lists items that i didn't think could be combined (Bolt gun + Power fist??). Am I just reading this wrong? It doesn't seem to say anywhere that they are exclusive - but I'm pretty sure that there is a rule in the main rule book about two handed weapons....

Space Marine game

Just spotted this over at Game spot - The first non RTS 40K based computer game (well since Space hulk!). Looks quite good, although im a little dubious about how much replay-ability it will have.
So, the only question now is - when does the film of the horus heresy come out?

Tau Hammerhead Step by Step part 3

Not a vast amount of progress over the last couple of days, unfortunately. If I'm honest, its the part of modelling that I really hate - cleaning up and filling the gaps! I end up getting distracted and painting other models in the meantime!

Anyway, over the last couple of days, i managed to fill and sand the two side pods, quite a bit of the back and the nose. You can see this in the images included. For filling on vehicles i find that green stuff / pro create doesn't do a very good job, it doesn't sand very well. For tanks, i usually use Polyfilla Fine Surface filler, because it sands down well and becomes very smooth when sanded down.

In the image to the left you can see the contrast between the areas that have been filled and sanded - it is circled in red. The unfilled area still has an ugly misalignment, which will eventually be smooth. Just below that is a small area that still has a slight line in it. Although this looks in the photo as if it will cause problems, when the undercoat is on this should disappear.

The final image shows the side pod that in a previous post i pointed out still had scrape marks from the harsh sand paper i had used. In the new photo, it should be obvious that this roughness is now gone. Only about another 10 hours of sanding to go, at this rate!

On the rest of the vehicle I've put together and sanded down the turret and Rail gun, and the "boosters" are now glued together. The fit is really not great on the "boosters", which seems to be the same as every other Tau vehicle I've made. Is there some secret to putting this together that I've missed?

Citadel washes (and how to make your own!)

So by now, I'm sure that everyone has heard of the Citadel washes. They are similar to inks, except they dry with a very soft satin finish, rather than the annoying gloss finish of the old inks. They only require a small amount of thinning to use in most cases, and they are almost exactly the right consistency for detailed painting. All in all, they are one of the few GW products that are genuinely worth every penny of the cost!

But what do you do in those cases where you want a wash that isn't in the range? Well, here is how to create your own "Citadel washes"! Unfortunately, it does require the purchase of some specialised paint items, specifically:

• Liquitex Flow Aid. This is an additive that stops the formation of "tide marks" (well mostly). It also extends the drying time of acrylic paints. Please see later for a correction. I paid about £8 for a 110mL bottle. That will be enough to last me a long time. Make sure you read the safely warnings, and only add a tiny amount. Ill talk more about amounts later
  
• Liquitex Glazing Medium. This, again is another additive for normal acrylic paints. Essentially it is the medium that normal paint is suspended in. In a normal acrylic paint you have glaze medium with particles of paint suspended in it (that's why when you mix water with paint, sometimes it will split - the paint particles become suspended in the water rather than the glazing medium). Please see later for a correction. I paid about £10 for a 230mL bottle. Again enough to last a long time. One thing to remember is that by itself this glaze medium has a very satin finish (its almost gloss).
  
• Vallejo Game Color Glaze Medium 69. This again is another Glazing medium, but with slightly different properties from the Liquitex one. It almost acts as a drying retardant in my experience. Don't add too much! You can pick this up pretty much anywhere for usually a pound or two.
  
• Revell Aqua Color Clear Matt Varnish 361/02. This a bog standard matt varnish. I just happen to like it's consistency. This is the only varnish that i have used in this technique, so i can't vouch for any others...
  

So here is how the technique works. First, take the colour you would like to turn in to a wash. Remember that the final colour will be slightly darker than the original colour. I also usually find that strong colours work the best for washes (Orange or strong yellows are good, but colours like Bad moon yellow generally don't work as well). After a while of working with this technique you will find that you learn intuitively which colours are going to work and which wont!

Once you have your base colour you can begin to mix your medium. The first thing to do is to decide how much you are going to make, then make a mix in the following proportions:

• 4 parts Liquitex glazing medium
• 0.0001 part Liquitex flow aid (basically it should be a tiny spot of flow aid. For me that would mean if I was making 3 drops of glaze I would add one pin heads worth of flow aid. Its not a total disaster if you add too much, but your paint will be wet for a long time - The first time I experimented with it, I added it to black, 50% mix. The black stayed wet on my palette for about 3 days!)
  
• 2 parts Vallejo glaze medium. This is purely to tone down the very satin finish of the Liquitex glaze. Experiment, because in certain circumstances this satin finish can look very nice
  
• 1 part Varnish. Again, this just adds a toning down to the final result. Be careful adding the varnish. Too much and the glaze will pool in an ugly way. Less is more in this case.

Mix that concoction with your paint. I normally aim for about a 50:50 mix, but depending on what I'm painting that can change. You should be left with a lovely thin mixture that flows in the same way a glaze does. I would always recommend thinning your final mix 75% with water (that is 75% water, 25% paint / glaze mix). It makes it flow nicely from the brush and makes doing blending very easy, as the paint has a nice transparency.

Whilst playing with this technique, remember to experiment with the ratios above. They are not hard and fast rules, but merely a jumping off point. In the same way you learn how much paints need to be thinned intuitively you will soon learn how much glaze / varnish etc. to add for the effect you want. The only thing i would recommend keeping to a minimum is the Flow Aid. Unless you like waiting for your model to dry, that is!

Edit: AoM Posted this in the comments section, and I thought it was important enough that it should be included in the main text. It includes corrections for sections that i got wrong. Many apologies for getting this info incorrect...

"Matte medium is uncolored binder, not glaze medium. while flow aid helps the paint flow smoothly off the brush, the glaze medium is much more useful in avoiding the drying rings with washes.

They each have their uses, and work nicely together, but they are for different things. For regular painting, try a drop of flow aid with your paint, and then thin with glaze medium instead of water. I think you'll like the results."

Cameras

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has any experience using either the Olympus E-420 or the Olympus Zuiko Digital 35mm f3.5 Macro Lens?

Basically, I've run in to the limits of my small digital camera (especially on pictures like the Pint Sized Slasher ones - Without a better macro mode, images of models only 1cm tall become very hard!). So I've decided to get myself a new DSLR. I was going to get a Nikon D40x, but unfortunately its now been discontinued. I knew i should have bought it when it was on sale at Jessops!

Given my budget (about £300+/-), I've basically come down to the Olympus model mentioned with the Zuiko macro lens in a few months once I've saved up.

Does anyone have any alternatives they can recommend? What do you guys use? This camera will only really be used for taking pictures of my models, and although I'm not an advanced camera user, I am willing to learn - hence I would like a camera that will not need to be replaced in the near future and which will "grow with me"...