You are What you Eat!

Old Skool-New Skool Series (Article 2)
Your choice of army defines you


I have always been an odd little boy (and yes I was pretty small when compared to my peers as I was growing up. It was only through the no-scientific basis myth of post-circumcision growth spurts that I have grown to the stud of a man I am now… but that’s another story.)

Where was I? Oh yes. I have always been an odd little boy, choosing the road less traveled over the proverbial path of least resistance. I, for example, stuck with the Go-Bots well after I started watching, and loving, the Transformers as rented from the commonplace illegal betamax rental store. I took up baseball while everyone else was avidly playing soccer. I was reading Harper Lee and J.D. Salinger when everyone else was reading “Choose Your Own Adventure”. I… well I’m sure you get my point.

In true ManongGuard form, my army choices have always been odd and a tad more challenging than they have to be. I have been known to field the following 40K weird armies:

1. Assaulty Tau (with no Kroot) – Might not be fluffy but hellalotafun 2. Orange Speed Freeks with a Warboss on Trike and a Basilisk on a Buggy 3. Night Lords when no one else was playing Night Lords… weird looking Defiler called Hydro-cephalloid 4. Thousand Sons crap army 5. and now Iyanden Eldar

This brings me to my longest planned, never delivered army – The Salamanders.

I love this game. I love how hundreds of people fire up their neurons to deliver the ever-changing 40K rules BUT if there is one thing that I love most in 40K, it is the richness of the story. While I will not claim to be an expert in 40K canon (that’s why I have my three trusted buddies to educate me on fluff – Kyuzo, Salubri, and Balian – who are, [could it be?] possibly nerdier that I am), I try to read up as much as I can on armies before I commit to them. I came across the Salamanders (as I did with the Night Lords and Thousand Sons) in one of the old Index Astartes offerings. I read the fluff and liked them immediately. They had almost as much flavor as my favorite loyalists of all-time, the Iron Hands (too bad I do not like black and silver armies), they had challenges that you had to conquer (they used to be I3 marines) and some nice toys as well (Fury of the Salamander, Never Give Up, and that funky Armor you can put on your tanks). They were far from the powerhouses they are now.

I love playing against people with the same philosophy. My game against Beefcake’s Stealers army, for example, while ending in a draw, was memorable as hell. Some other examples are Salubri’s way gay BA Barakus army, Arvin’s lethal Oblits and Heavy galore Iron Warriors, Ricky’s viper-ridden Saim-Hann and Lito’s never-changing SoBs.

So what is my point? I would suggest you get to know your armies, not just rules-wise, but in terms of fluff as well. If you decide to field canonical armies (ones that do have mention in original 40K material), then try to read up on them and field lists that at least approximate what they are supposed to be. I promise you that you will have a richer experience when playing with and against such armies. Challenge yourself. What separates Warhammer from other TCGs and CCGs is that it should not only be about winning.

If you don’t want to bother, then make up your own chapter/craftworld/horde/klan/etc, please. On that note, I leave you with the following message: VULKAN HE’STAN is not a LUNA WOLF! – bang bang Jessie! Peace!

For more pictures of my Iyanden Eldar Serpents, please visit my blog.

Iyanden Ghosts - St. Luke's Chapter

The result of three days (and change) cooped up in St Luke's while "Stoney" was being treated. I went through a Urethroscopy + Lithosomethingoranother. It's basically the joy of inserting a camera equipped with a jackhammer through your genitals.

Silver lining was that I got some painting done. I finished 4 Wraithguards, 1 Wraithlord, and 10 Storm Guardians (Conversions - Still have to paint the gems and base of 5 of em). Mostly, this builds my painting speed confidence. I might be able to finish the entire army before the year ends... maybe even before the GT.

Tell me what you think.


Photos were taken using my D300 with the PLASTIC MASTER. Light-tent shots were taken in my house.

Visit my multiply site for more photos.

My 40K Photographs so far...

Some links to my photoblog that you might find interesting. The first three are Iyanden progress photos, the fourth link is just me fooling around with extension tubes and my Salamanders, while the last one is about my DIY Light Tent (Thousand Sons used to test). You might find this useful if you are into mini photography.

Eldar Craftworld Iyanden
First Iyanden Guardians Squad
Manong's (wraith)Guard

The Making of the Salamanders

Return of the Thousand Sons

Let's do a professional BattleRep soon with two fully painted armies and wicked terrain. I'm very willing to photograph. Salubri or Emcee, maybe you should volunteer your armies.

Craftworld Megil en Mea "The Sword of Light"

The Sword of Light was one of the few Eldar vessels that escaped the fall largely untouched. The trading vessel with it's then small crew often made runs into the farthest colonies surrounding the outer rim of the Eldar empire. It was by fate that the ship was far from the epicenter of the catastrophe that claimed so many lives.

Even though far away from the anomaly that would later on be referred to as the eye of terror the crew knew instantly of the tragedy that struck their race. They had born witness to the slow descent of eldar society into depravity. With each trip home the crew of The Sword of Light saw what had become of their brethren. Though the seers aboard the ship tried to plead with the leaders of their world their's was ultimately a lost cause. No one would listen.

After the fall the vessel made one last trip home. They had sought to find survivors. What they found was death. Where the once mighty empire of a star spanning race stood... there was only a rift thru time and space. So it was that the ship headed for the rim worlds of the pioneers we have come to call exodites. On their way they found numerous survivors and each ship found either added itself to the fleet or melded the ship to The Sword of Light thru the bone singing prowess of their seers. It was thru this process that the craftworld grew to accomodate the burgeoning population of survivors. The exiles and the last of their kind...

Salubri inspecting his then newly acquired cheddar, I mean Eldar army. :D

The path of the Warrior

The eldar of "The Sword of Light" strongly believe that their continued survival rely heavily on their ability to eliminate threats before they become evident. To achieve this goal the craftworld adopts a more militaristic approach similar to that of the eldar of BielTan. Their interventionist stance also explains why rumors of strikes made by the craftworld all over known space. 1

Howling Banshees

Fire Dragons

Warp Spiders


Shining Spears


Swooping Hawks


Dire Avengers

Escalating Conflict

While the craftworld may employ the honed warriors of the different aspects for surgical strikes a more prolonged or major conflict also sees the presence of civilian volunteers. They come to the field with different roles, from support to frontline troops. Even the youngest of the eldar are trained to fight in the defense of their home and species.

Guardian Defenders

The Living Dead

For the eldar, eternal rest is but a dream for even those that have long since passed away may yet be recalled to life in service of the craftworld. At times of dire need the Spirit Seers will rouse the souls of legendary warriors from sleep. They are then placed within an incredibly resilient wraithbone structure that can house their souls and allow them to move around in the world of the living.

Wraith Lord