Procrastination by Numbers

[cunningmatt]

Erm, where was the mention of my good self...

We shared a tender moment via twitter in the Olympic Stadium that has been cruelly forgotten.

I am crushed...

It remains a special moment to me too. But I was worried about reporting it as I have a unnatural fear of litigation.

[cunningmatt]

Update 83 – Tuesday 25th September: This Blog Entry is Brought to you by the Colour White

With the exception of a dark sabbatical in my late teenage years, I've been the owner of a White Dwarf subscription since somewhere around White Dwarf 150. Every month I have been excited by the thump on my doormat as the latest edition of the gaming magazine arrives. My flatmate refers to it as "Matty Porn", seeming oblivious to the fact that it's actually the site of the postman I'm masturbating over. What can I say? Who doesn't love a man, who can empty their sack into your letterbox? Apologies, I watched a Carry On film last night, it's having a terrible effect.

The point of all this blathering is that this weekend I was in for a juicy surprise as the brand new White Dwarf appeared in my hands. Instantly I let slip a mildly camp "oooo", and a little bit of wee came out – well the postman was still around! Enjoyable read as the White Dwarf always, this month it has gone from cheaper looking chuck-on-the-floor magazine, to posh-looking read that I'd leave on the coffee table to look sophisticated (admittedly I have a limited view of what sophisticated actually is!).



The new White Dwarf – October 2012 (interestingly it's no longer given a number, which seems odd so close to the 400th edition), is a bummer to those of you hoping to complete the picture on the spines of all the 2012 White Dwarfs (bet you are rushing to your pile of back issues now), but it is a glossy, shinny, publication also available on iPad (I don't have one – sad face). The biggest change I've noticed is that I can no longer read it in the bath, it just looks too nice to risk getting wet. I like reading the White Dwarf in the bath – as you can see in this picture, but are you feeling brave enough to open the spoiler?:

[spoiler]


See it was alright in the end![/spoiler]

But no more, instead I shall be reading it with tea and cucumber sandwiches on the veranda. However other than a new glossy look, what does the new White Dwarf have inside. Well in a sort of Watchdog-esque report, I have taken the role of the much face-lifted Anne Robinson to report on the various face-lifts of the White Dwarf over the years. To do that I've grabbed a bunch of White Dwarfs from the various eras for comparison, as I look at how the current magazine's content rates against that of its predecessors:


I should at this point out that I don't have any White Dwarfs from around the 260-310 mark, so if there's a phase where they gave out free Jelly Tots on the cover then I may have missed it  god dam it!! The White Dwarfs I've chosen at random(ish) are:

White Dwarf (394) – October 2012
White Dwarf 380 – August 2011
White Dwarf 322 – October 2006
White Dwarf 224 – August 1998
White Dwarf 182 – February 1995

As always when comparing products over time, cost and value come into it, so I've tabulated the number of pages, cost and cost adjusted for inflation for you perusal:

White Dwarf October 2012 (394):
Pages: 152, Cover Price: £5.50, Price in today's money: £5.50

White Dwarf 380:
Pages: 120, Cover Price: £4.50, Price in today's money: £4.64

White Dwarf 322:
Pages: 128, Cover Price: £4, Price in today's money: £4.78

White Dwarf 224:
Pages: 104, Cover Price: £3.50, Price in today's money: £5.29

White Dwarf 182:
Pages: 88, Cover Price: £2.25, Price in today's money: £3.71

I'll allow you to make your conclusions from that, certainly this is the biggest White Dwarf has been, and using inflation adjusted prices it does work out cheapest per page of the five I've chosen. Enough boring statistics, we leave them for the accountants. Onto the most important thing, the content.

Miniatures, miniatures, miniatures – the focus of the brand new White Dwarf is certainly this month's new model releases (which slightly frustratingly for this Warhammer based reviewer, were the Chaos Space Marines). These a great big chunk of the magazine dedicated to snaps of the new models (it's page 52 before we get to an article!). The pictures are certainly new and glossy and show off the models very nicely, there's even a pull-out section, which is slightly frustrating for me because I am a poorly coordinated idiot and, much like a map, can never fold them away properly:



Interestingly details on the prices and the specifics of kits (number in the box, which kits make multiple models etc.) are left until an index section:



Compare this to the more recent White Dwarfs, and you'll see how the clutter of prices and box artwork has been tidied away. As the models are no longer pictured on the familiar white background:



Of course all this showing off of new models may seem obvious, but it certainly hasn't always been the way. Back in the days of White Dwarf 182, we were given a list of new releases but other than a couple of cursory snaps you had to hunt them down in the magazine.



For example the brand new Daemonettes on Steeds of Slaanesh and Plaguebearers of Nurgle, released back in White Dwarf 182, are listed here on Page 3. But the suspense is well and truly taken to X-Factor style limits and beyond as you have to flick to page 48 (randomly sandwiched between other articles) to actually see them.



And of course next to them is the traditional reprinting of rules from the army book/codex that has filled White Dwarf throughout the ages. This always seems odd as without the relevant book, where the rules already are, you can't really use the models anyway. Pleasingly the new look White Dwarf didn't appear to feature any copied material straight from the army/codex books.

Up next in our brand new White Dwarf we get some of the new articles, there's an Army of the Month. This month's army is by Ben Johnson, which sounds like a familiar name I see when I blunder into the tournament sections of this forum or get caught up in a Twitter feed that makes no sense (remember you can follow me on Twitter @ProbyNumbers – plug, plug, plug!).



Of course this is nothing new:



But, and this comment applies to a lot of the articles, they do feel a lot better photographed, you see a lot of the models from a variety of good angles, but not without sacrificing the text.

After this we have our old friend Standard Bearer, though not called Standard Bearer, ironically after what I've just said this has now become more diverse of photos – unless you happen to what to drool over Jervis Johnson. I don't.



On then to the staple of White Dwarfs, the Battle Reports, these have existed throughout the years. I have to confess that I've turned into my Dad – no I've not started wearing flat caps (seriously why would anyone buy one of those unless they deliberately wanted to look 20 years older than they actually are?), and complaining constantly that my back aches and that I'm tired (actually I do, do that). No what I meant was, in respect to battle reports I find myself constantly moaning that they used to be better in the old days.

I worked out that what it is, is that I need maps to follow to work out what's going on. Back in the old days Battle Reports had a plethora of maps at least one per player turn:



More modern battle reports have tended to move away from the battle map in favour of sweeping battle shots often merging player turns into game turns, and maybe only giving us a clear view of the battlefield every two turns:



Maybe my old addled brain is getting confused in its old age, but sometimes I've found it impossible to work out what the hell is going on in the battle report!

Having looked into this before, I've found that the same number of pages have pretty much always been given over to battle report it's just the more modern ones have been dominated by photographs squeezing the maps out. The old battle reports had surprisingly few pictures.

So it was with trepidation that I read the first new battle report of the new White Dwarf. And initially I was appalled by the lack of maps! My beloved maps were all gone. However I was wrong to judge as I actually found the larger number of pictures from different angles helped me to keep up with the battle a lot better than previously:



I also liked the breakdown of what the battle report is trying to show, page 62, I've often thought that it's obvious battle reports are trying to shoe in as many new models as possible, so it's good to know that's the plan!



I will say however that I'd quite like it if the text was broken down into turns again, as I'm finding that a bit tricky. And sometimes I found that when the pictures weren't directly referenced in the main text you sometimes got out of sync between where you should be in the text and where you should be in the pictures. That said, I quite like the new battle reports and look forward to seeing how they evolve. If only I had an iPad I could view the bonus content – sad face, puppy eyes, anyone want to give me a very generous gift? It's the least you can do to thank me for the years of service given to entertaining you with this blog.

Next we have The Rivals, possibly a new regular feature, where two players discuss their different opinions on part of the game:



Interestingly I can find opinion pieces in the old White Dwarfs, such as the amazingly funny series by Mike Walker (I taught him everything he knew):



Though it seems to be quite rare to find pieces with multiple points of view presented, which may be more of a reflection of the kind of discussions which now take part on the various Podcasts – which admittedly I haven't listened to. I know, I know, I must get round to it, maybe if I got invited on I'd listen – basically I am a shallow bitch.

Paint Splatter is the latest painting guide:



What's interesting here is that rather than focus on one model, there's loads of tips for the various models you've seen throughout the magazine. I like this as it's much easier if you're going back through old White Dwarfs trying to find a painting tip for a new bit of model you've never painted before, all the tips are gathered, rather than having to look through the footnotes of all the articles.

Also importantly, there's lots of pictures – great as this guide of the Dark Elf Lord (White Dwarf 380) is, there's lots of talk and not many snaps:



Or previously you had a whole double page spread telling you how to pant one part of this model, like Orc skin (White Dwarf 322):



I say all this, of course I waffle on enough in my own painting guide, but hey I don't charge for this crap so you can't judge me. Unless of course you buy me an iPad then I'll write the blog however you like.

After all this we come to the usual round-up of all the places you can buy models, which I'm sure you, like me, just skim straight through:



Though be warned this isn't at the back of the magazine any more, don't put it down when you get here, there's more stuff to come. On a side note does anyone fondly remember these pages:



Oh happy memories of starring in awe at the models here.

As we get to the back of the magazine we get to This Month Section:



This section is essentially a bit of fluff about what the GW staff have been up to this month. And I have to say I do like it, it just a little bit of that soul and heart that Games Workshop, I feel, has lost recently. I mean it's not the silly cartoons and Fat Bloke comments of past:



And it's not the sometimes frank commentary of the old days, when games designers would actually say what they don't like about the rules etc. But I do think it's a good step into just making the whole publication and company seem a little bit more personal and friendly – I'll watch this column with keen interest to see how that develops.

Part of this section is This Month in the Design Studio, which includes all the design notes about the new Chaos Space Marines Codex.



I have to say this section, I'm not sure about. I like reading the design notes and they feel a bit shoved at the back and short here. In fairness it's difficult to judge with a Codex (not being a Warhammer 40,000 goer). I may be better placed to judge next month as I've heard a vicious rumour that my beloved Warriors of Chaos are getting a new book – very excited!!

Personally I liked the previous White Dwarf's style on this, where design notes were intertwined with army lists and photos.



But in fairness at least we got some, back in White Dwarf 224, the release of an entire supplement for Warhammer – Warhammer Siege was greeted with a couple of rules they couldn't fit in and a guide to making a moat:



You literally wouldn't have found any clues in the White Dwarf as to what the rules are going to be like, and whether you were going to like the product or not!

So there we go I've made it through the White Dwarf, and you've made it through my tedious ramblings. What did you think? Of the White Dwarf not of my ramblings – I know what everyone thinks about them. I for one quite like the new White Dwarf, on balance, hopefully my few quibbles will be sorted and I'll be interested to see how much I enjoy a more Warhammer heavy issue. And remember if anyone does what to send me that iPad...

High Elves

Moving on from the White Dwarf to other white things, I realise I've not updated you on my High Elves – the good news is I have very, very, very nearly finished them all. So in my trademark boring style, (no this section hasn't had a facelift) here's some painting guides and finished models.

First up is my Repeater Bolt Thrower, which I left you on a cliff-hanger with back in Update 79 when I gave you the first three steps of the painting guide! Well here it is finished:

Stage 4 – Repeater Bolt Thrower



Base: Drybrush Bleached Bone, then flock with Static Grass
Leather: *NO CHANGE*
White Robes: Highlight Skull White
Wood: *NO CHANGE*
Grass: *NO CHANGE*
Silver Metal: *NO CHANGE*
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Yellow Trim and Feathers: Wash Ogryn Flesh, then highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Blue Trim: *NO CHANGE*
Flesh: Highlight Elf Flesh

Up next there's a trusty second Tiranoc Chariot:

Stage 1 – Tiranoc Chariot



CHARIOT:
Wood: Khemri Brown
Leather: Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Yellow Detail: Iyanden Dark Sun
Blue Detail: 1:1 Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue

HORSES:
Horse Flesh: Adeptus Battlegrey
Rocks: Charadonite Granite
Masonry: Calthan Brown
Hooves: Chaos Black
White Robes: 1:1 Skull White/Astronomacian Grey
Yellow Fabric: Iyanden Dark Sun
Blue Fabric: 1:1 Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Leather: Scorched Brown

CREW:
White Robes: 1:1 Skull White/Astronomacian Grey
Yellow Fabric: Iyanden Dark Sun
Blue Fabric: 1:1 Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Leather: Scorched Brown
Wood: Khemri Brown
Flesh: Dwarf Flesh

Stage 2 – Tiranoc Chariot



CHARIOT:
Wood: Watered down Graveyard Earth (except Main Frame, layer: 1:1 Steel Legion Drab/Graveyard Earth then layer Graveyard Earth)
Leather: Wash Nuln Oil
Silver Metal: Wash Nuln Oil
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Yellow Detail: Layer Golden Yellow
Blue Detail: Highlight Ice Blue

HORSES:
Horse Flesh: Layer Codex Grey
Rocks: Drybrush Adeptus Battlegrey
Masonry: Wash Nuln Oil
Hooves: *NO CHANGE*
White Robes: Layer 2:1 Skull White/Astronomacian Grey
Yellow Fabric: Layer Golden Yellow
Blue Fabric: Highlight Ice Blue (except Barding, layer: 1:1 (1:1 Ice Blue/Enchanted Blue)/Ice Blue, then layer Ice Blue)
Silver Metal: Wash Nuln Oil
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Leather: Wash Nuln Oil

CREW:
White Robes: Layer 2:1 Skull White/Astronomacian Grey
Yellow Fabric: Layer Golden Yellow
Blue Fabric: Highlight Ice Blue
Silver Metal: Wash Nuln Oil
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Leather: Wash Nuln Oil
Wood: Layer watered down Graveyard Earth
Flesh: Layer Elf Flesh

Stage 3 – Tiranoc Chariot



CHARIOT:
Wood: Layer 1:1 Graveyard Earth/Bleached Bone then layer Bleached Bone
Leather: Layer Beastial Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Yellow Detail: Layer Sunburst Yellow
Blue Detail: Highlight 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White

HORSES:
Horse Flesh: Highlight Fortress Grey
Rocks: Drybrush Codex Grey
Masonry: Drybrush Dheneb Stone
Hooves: *NO CHANGE*
White Robes: Layer watered down Skull White
Yellow Fabric: Layer Sunburst Yellow
Blue Fabric: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White)/Ice Blue, then layer 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Leather: Layer Beastial Brown

CREW:
White Robes: Layer watered down Skull White
Yellow Fabric: Layer Sunburst Yellow
Blue Fabric: Layer 1:1 (1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White)/Ice Blue, then layer 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White
Silver Metal: Highligh Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Leather: Layer Beastial Brown
Wood: Layer 1:1 Graveyard Earth/Bleached Bone then layer Bleached Bone
Flesh: Wash watered down Ogyrn Flesh

Stage 4 – Tiranoc Chariot







[

CHARIOT:
Wood: *NO CHANGE*
Leather: *NO CHANGE*
Silver Metal: *NO CHANGE*
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Yellow Detail: Wash Ogyrn Flesh, then highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Blue Detail: *NO CHANGE*

HORSES:
Horse Flesh: Wash Nuln Oil
Rocks: Drybrush Fortress Grey, then wash Nuln Oil
Masonry: Drybrush Bleached Bone
Hooves: Highlight Fortress Grey
White Robes: Highlight Skull White
Yellow Fabric: Wash Ogyrn Flesh, then Highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Blue Fabric: Wash watered down Asurmen Blue
Silver Metal: *NO CHANGE*
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Leather: *NO CHANGE*

CREW:
White Robes: Highlight Skull White
Yellow Fabric: Wash Ogyrn Flesh, then Highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Blue Fabric: *NO CHANGE*
Silver Metal: *NO CHANGE*
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Leather: *NO CHANGE*
Wood: *NO CHANGE*
Flesh: Highlight Elf Flesh

There's the finished chariot, but where did that banner come from I don't hear you cry? Well for those of you interested in the banner, there must be some of you – as per usual it was copied out of my handy copy of Warhammer Armies: High Elves. Here's a quick guide:

Stage 5 – Tiranoc Chariot Banner







BANNER:
Blue Fabric: As Stages 1-4 above, then watered down Asurmen Blue
Banner Field: Paint Necron Abyss, then layer Regal followed by Regal Blue mixed with increasing amounts of Enchanted Blue (layered lightest at bottom of banner).
Symbol: Outline Chaos Black, layer Iyanden Darksun, then layer Golden Yellow, then highlight Sunburst Yellow followed by washing Ogyrn Flesh, then highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Gem: Layer Chaos Black, paint corner (with smaller and smaller section) Scab Red, then Red Gore, then Blood Red, then Blazing Orange. Highlight opposite corner Skull White
Stars: Paint on Shadow Grey, highlight Ice Blue, then highlight Skull White

And the final unit for the High Elves, is my White (see theme continuing) War Lions of Charce, useful for themed games or Storm of Magic, these are simply the spare War Lions from my Tiranoc Chariots:

Stage 1 – War Lions of Chrace





Base: Khemri Brown
Lion Skin: Dheneb Stone
Lion Fur: Dheneb Stone
Rocks: Charadonite Granite
Grass: Goblin Green
Leather: Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Armour Trim: 1:1 Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue
Claws: Chaos Black
Teeth: Khemri Brown
Flesh: Dwarf Flesh

Stage 2 – War Lions of Chrace





Base: *NO CHANGE*
Lion Skin: Wash watered down Gryphonne Sepia
Lion Fur: Wash watered down Gryphonne Sepia
Rocks: Drybrush Adeptus Battlegrey
Grass: Layer Camo Green
Leather: Wash Nuln Oil
Silver Metal: Wash Nuln Oil
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Armour Trim: Highlight Ice Blue
Claws: Highlight 1:1 Chaos Black/Kommando Khaki
Teeth: Wash Nuln Oil, then layer Baneblade Brown
Flesh: Layer Elf Flesh

Stage 3 – War Lions of Chrace





Base: Coat Baneblade Brown
Lion Skin: Layer Kommando Khaki
Lion Fur: Wash Graveyard Earth then wash 1:1 Graveyard Earth/Scorched Brown
Rocks: Drybrush Codex Grey
Grass: Wash Thraka Green
Leather: Highlight Beastial Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Armour Trim: Highlight 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White
Claws: Highlight 1:1 Chaos Black/Bleached Bone
Teeth: Layer Dheneb Stone
Flesh: Wash watered down Ogyrn Flesh

Stage 4 – War Lions of Chrace











Base: Drybrush Bleached Bone then flocked with Static Grass
Lion Skin: Highlight 1:1 Kommando Khaki/Skull White
Lion Fur: Highlight Desert Yellow
Rocks: Drybrush Fortress Grey then wash Nuln Oil
Grass:  *NO CHANGE*
Leather: *NO CHANGE*
Silver Metal: *NO CHANGE*
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Armour Trim: *NO CHANGE*
Claws: Highlight Bleached Bone
Teeth: Highlight Bleached Bone
Flesh: Highlight Elf Flesh
LION EYES: PAINT CHAOS BLACK, DOT VOMIT BROWN THEN PAINT FURTHER CHAOS BLACK CIRCLES

And that peeps is the last three units/war machines done for the High Elves. Next week I should have the final few characters start to trickle through! Exciting, I know!

[DarkStalker]

hmmmm, Has Sid Meier hacked the @ProByNumbers twitter feed?


(EDIT: More to the point does the new expansion make Civ V actually playable yet? ..or am I better off sticking with Civ4 for a few more major patches? )

[Dave]

Can't wait until the new high elf book is released and they bring out a whole load more new units for the army list!  I want to know if you'll be happy to update the completed elvezes or if it will send you into a thorough nerd rage.

[cunningmatt]

hmmmm, Has Sid Meier hacked the @ProByNumbers twitter feed?


(EDIT: More to the point does the new expansion make Civ V actually playable yet? ..or am I better off sticking with Civ4 for a few more major patches? )

Nop I am just loving Civ at present, what didn't you like about Civ V - that will help me say if the new expansion pack fixes it!

Can't wait until the new high elf book is released and they bring out a whole load more new units for the army list!  I want to know if you'll be happy to update the completed elvezes or if it will send you into a thorough nerd rage.

Nerd rage - merd smage. Nope as long as they don't make my units redundant or mean I have to rebase them or change or ther weapons options, it will be nice to revisit the High Elves for a few more units every now and again - can't imagine a situation where I will need to paint as much as I already have again. See rational person!

[DarkStalker]

Nop I am just loving Civ at present, what didn't you like about Civ V - that will help me say if the new expansion pack fixes it!

I grabbed it when it first came out and the balance and timing on the game seemed horrific...  You'd give the biggest pile of gold the world had ever seen to a city state and they'd like you for barely 5 turns before returning neutral, buildings took forever to build and unless you managed to perfectly position a city with a pile of food one side and range of mountains full of iron the other they'd be hopelessly unproductive and no amount of tile improvements would help the situation.

Also it felt kinda 'dumbed down' alot from Civ4, in the old one after its expansions you could bring a stronger civ to heel several ways, say using religion and the Apostolic palace, financially ruin it with corporations or paralyse it when it was a few turns off cultural victory with an army of spies.... it just felt they took a whole load more stuff 'out' than they put new stuff 'in' when they moved to CivV.

Also had already been bitten once with Civ4: Colonization  (but then I had the time/inclination to write a 1st week mod which made the game playable...  -> 900+downloads on civfanatics ) but CivV I thought I'd let them put their own house in order and sit it out back in good old Civ4 for another year or so.

I dunno the pace of Civ4 just seemed spot on whatever speed or difficulty you had it on, you could manage to build most of the key buildings in most cities and have a 'reasonable' army, retard yourself slightly for a bigger army or go hell for leather for tech and pray nobody worked out you had 3 archers defending half your empire....  Civ5 kicked off and my most productive city with as healthy a supply of hammers, gold and food as you could hope for on a typical map had just about managed to pump out a spearman, barracks, and library by 800AD, by then I had tech for musketmen or some other vaguely cool unit but by 1500 AD I might just about have been able to build one. I vaguely found it playable as Germans using their ability to build some degree of an army from barbarians but seeing forums full of similiar issues thought I'd cut my losses and ragequit back to shooting zombies in L4D.

If the balance and pacing is sensible now I might be tempted to fire it up again.....  (as if I need something else to waste time on  )

[roland murat]

Nice review of the mag Matt. Did anyone feel slightly concerned by Jervis' comments as to why they don't include many limitations any more?

For those who haven't read it but want to I won't elaborate but I'm sure you will get my drift.

[TkaiC]

Great work as always, I like the Lions.  The whole army looks grand, but I really like the lions.

(awimba-way, awimba-way, awimba-way, awimba-way)

[Garzini]

Amazing banner work Matt :)

[cunningmatt]

If the balance and pacing is sensible now I might be tempted to fire it up again.....  (as if I need something else to waste time on  )

As regards Civ - expansion pack adds in religion and espionage, but generally not changed that much. Tend to find building times not really a problem, but you need to manage your Civics well to do well.

Nice review of the mag Matt. Did anyone feel slightly concerned by Jervis' comments as to why they don't include many limitations any more?

For those who haven't read it but want to I won't elaborate but I'm sure you will get my drift.

Cheers dude. I think what Jervis refers to more means limiting things like 0-1 Grail Knights, or the revision he mentioned back when Warriors of Chaos got their last book where they lifted the restriction on taking units with a different mark to the army's general. As these things tend to limit the way people can collect the army, or forcing them to take things like an Unmarked Chaos Lord to make their army work. I see what you mean about adding extreme restrictions to tough units, but in some ways aren't these best left for comp? If I want to collect 4 Steam Tanks for a massive 15,000 point Empire army (for example) rules shouldn't stop me. Individual comp, and simply chosing an appropriate army list for your opponent should surely control that better. Either way whatever restrictions made people will still be dirty and filthly. At least this way themed armies aren't penalised.

Great work as always, I like the Lions.  The whole army looks grand, but I really like the lions.

(awimba-way, awimba-way, awimba-way, awimba-way)

Cheers I will be humming that all day!!!

Amazing banner work Matt :)

Thanks, really pleased with how this one came out!!