Warmaker

Pirotess!

As a kid, I watched and was... a great fan of this super hero serie's syndication. Wonder Woman. I'm curious to see how that can turn out these days

It would be a mess at first then a consolidation and resurgence of the Imperium. There would be a bit of Civil War, which would be necessary. The Space Marines, especially the Founding Chapters and their successors, I wager would readily align with the Emperor. Their loyalty is with the Emperor and mankind. The ones that would be against the Emperor are those that wanted to hold on to what power they enjoyed. My guess would be remote governors with little contact with the Imperium or maybe some of the High Lords of Terra. Once the Emperor settles any Civil War, there's a good chance in the resumption of the Great Crusade. The Imperium, ever since the Horus Heresy, had been lackluster and stale. Only in extremely rare instances, under the leadership of great military men like Macharius, were there great strides in the expansion and fighting for the Imperium. Before the Heresy, it was all about expansion and reclaiming lost worlds. There would be a renewed fervor in the Space Marines, when they see that the Emperor walks again. Again for the Founding Chapters, it would be the greatest honor to take up where their original brothers once did. For the Dark Angels, they would have many reasons to be quite happy: They get a chance to attone on the battlefield in the eyes of the Emperor for their failings in the Heresey. They are also the FIRST Space Marine Chapter to be ever created under the Emperor's guidance. To be led by him would be a great honor for the Dark Angels.

There was a book that came out in the time between Rogue Trader and 2nd Edition called "Warhammer 40,000 Compendium." It basically was a collection of White Dwarf articles / rules and quite a bit of fluff. In there, it had a large section on the selection, creation, and training of a Space Marine. I vaguely recall reading of the various processes and special organs that the Marine gets. It's also there that I first saw a 2 page colored section showing the Space Marine chapters that participated in the "Badab War." The compendium never went into what exactly was the Badab War but judging from the number of Chapters involved, it must have been quite nasty. It is also from that chart that I see for the first time the Salamanders & Howling Griffons. That's also the first place where I saw rule section for the Harlequins. I bought the original metal box set for $30 U.S and it had maybe under 20 metal Harlequin figures. Those were tough to paint but once done properly, I received "ooh's" and "aaah's" from a bunch of people. The Death Jesters were fun to do... Regarding the Rogue Trader rules... we did enjoy the freedom it gave out, but as you said, it could be exploited. The same freedom that allowed me to create a squad of Dark Angel Jetpack (not Jump Pack) Space Marines, could allow me to equip these same guys with a whole set of Heavy Weapons and Targetters. But I didn't do that... that screams more cheese than the super characters with 3 different kinds of protective fields + Terminator Armor + Following Fire Weapon Attached to a Lascannon

We never took it THAT far with Rogue Trader We had some well equipped "main characters" as our "avatars" on the field. But nothing to promote one-man armies. There's no fun in near invincible characters. It was far more fun for us to pit a worn down platoon of Space Marines against a large Ork force.

Super-Characters have always been a problem with WH40K games. They alone have the potential to win a scenario single-handedly. Except for truly exceptional scenarios, my group of players only utilized plain / generic leaders / officers when we got better feels of 2nd Ed. 2nd Edition was a decent compromise between the truly freeform Rogue Trader to the Codex-heavy system that progressed late in 2nd Edition's existence, and into 3rd Ed. I like rules and all, but not to a point where making your army was frustrating. I still miss my platoon of Jet Packed equipped Dark Angels from the late Rogue Trader days...

The plastic Space Marines from the Rogue Trader kits should be quite hard to find in a complete box. Rogue Trader came out in 1987 so this kit probably came out not long afterwards. Any WH40K fan would find it hard not to build and paint a box of 30 plastic space Marines that were considered cheap to buy back then. I tried doing searches on E-Bay which only yielded a small, opened portion with parts for 6 S.Marines. Even if you get them, I heartily recommend you do alot of conversion work to give them more unique poses and stances. The standard leg, body, and arm pieces aren't very yielding for pose variety. Get that hobby knife ready. Plus, the old Space Marines have a few things going for them in that kit, other than that "Old School" look. - Lots of extra parts for "bayonets" including blades and chainsword-type of attachment. - Knives. Lots and lots of Combat Knives. Actually, they look more like Short Swords. Power Gloves / Power Fists are also there for your Officers / Sergeants. - Bolt Pistols, Bolt Rifles, Flamers, and Missile Launchers are the other ranged weapons with the kit. Also, for old RT fans who have the Dawn Of War game, take a look at this: Mark VI Armor Mod It's not completely faithful, but it gets the look down enough. Fluff again about the creation of Space Marines. They are both born and created. Each highly trained, genetically engineered, well equipped Space Marine was born a normal human male. On average, they were selected from various means as young adolescents. The "selection" can often be deadly enough by competition or tough screening processes. It depended on the chapter. There's good fluff out there for the selection proces. The Space Marines are also "created" due to the extensive geneseed processes and every step it takes to make the Space Marine. The Space Marines, though much superior to a normal human being and no longer fully human, at least realize that they have one vital link to their past... that they were all born naturally and were human. Their task was to protect and fight for humanity. The traitors of the Horus Heresy forgot this. The book "Angels Of Darkness" has a chapter about the Dark Angels' selection of its recruits. They always select from "savage," underdeveloped worlds. Many young boys who compete may get killed, since only the best and fittest of them can hope to endure the process of becoming a Space Marine, and even then, not all of those make it. It's also got lots of good fluff there too. There's a character there named "Astelan" and he has some... interesting opinions on the state of the Imperium when the Emperor was alive compared to the current WH40K universe. Makes you think on what the Imperium could do...

Rogue Trader is the original Warhammer 40K Rulebook! It came about it the mid-late 80's. I recall getting one in Jr.High. I still recall the cover: A clustered group of Crimson Fists Space Marines making a last stand... equipped in what is now called Mark VI Power Armor. What was truly wonderful with the Rogue Trader book was that the players were utterly limitless on what they wanted to do. The book gave the basic guidelines, rules, stats, and LOTS of fluff. It tells the basic story of the galaxy, the Orks, Eldar, a bit of Chaos, and the Imperium. There were no constrictive numbers as to how many troopers were in a squad and what they could be equipped with. Nothing like that. Basic stuff like point costs for equipment and basic troop types. It felt easier for other players to accept custom rules & units back then, just as long as you give them a heads up about it. Customizing your leaders and troops had LOTS of freedom. You could literally stack alot of c**p onto your leaders or even a single trooper, if you wanted to. Example: I made, because I thought it would look cool, a Dark Angel Terminator (in BLACK... not this Ivory White s**t) with an Assault Cannon, Cyclone Missile Launcher, and a Chainfist. Of course, he was a walking Lascannon / Missile Launcher / Defense Laser's favorite target... I recall in the Rogue Trader days, waaay even before 2nd Edition, that I decided to hold a truly grand campaign for me and my buddies. The "Resumption of the Crusade." The story was that FINALLY, there were leaders in the Imperium that believed that no longer would Man await the onslaught of the Orks and treacherous Eldar. No longer would Man take shot after shot from the forces of Chaos and do little in return. No longer would Man await the numerous alien onslaughts. It was time for Man to take up the Crusades in the way the Emperor once did. There was a great mobilization of the Imperium's forces. Chapters being raised and the existing ones will take up the sword. Among the Space Marines, the original Chapters will take the leading roles, just as their predecessors have done under the Emperor. "Our" part of the Crusade was represented by mixed forces from my buddies. The Dark Angels and my friends' White Scars, Iron Hands, and Blood Angels. We had enough guys out there that had Orks, Eldar, various alien races, etc. Heck, we even made up more aliens from other, non-WH figure lines that were readily and cheaply available. It was to be a tremendously long campaign and I acted as sort of a "Dungeon Master" and gave the guys a story and objectives. If they failed in the objective or succeeded, certain things will happen in the next. Since it was a long campaign, I allowed on uncommon circumstances a single point to be added to a sergeant or officer's stats. Yes, we had names for our Sergeants, Officers, and Specialists (Techmarines & Medics). The Medics also had a chance to heal downed SMs or recover them for healing after a battle. If worse came to worse, the Marine was dead and his Geneseed recovered. On long ranged, expeditionary missions where reinforcements were unlikely, lost Marines in battle may be recovered by the Medic (if he survives of course). Some are still lost. It made things dramatic for when I put the guys in a "You MUST hold the fortress ruins until reinforcements arrive" scenario. The guys would have dwindling numbers of Space Marines with successive firefights but the enemy would keep on coming. We never really "finished" the Crusade but it was a great backdrop for many campaigns using the same heroes. Oh, BTW, there was a time when there were Jet Packs for the Space Marines, back in the Rogue Trader days... Again, the train of thought back then and the rulebook lent lots of freedom compared to now. In Rogue Trader, the Space Marines of course get quite a bit of fluff and pictures. One worthy, little note is that Space Marines DID use camouflage! In Rogue Trader, you see a single Space Marine walking through the wild in a Blue / Dk.Blue tigerstripe patterned armor. Believe it or not, he was an Ultramarine. He had a small Ultramarine logo in a white circle on his right shoulderpad. He was hunting for what looked to be a humanoid who was trying to lay in ambush. Some of those figures from back then still look tremendously great, especially the Space Marine Officers and Sergeants. Having them in a current Space Marine Army could seriously provide that "old veteran" who's seen more s**t than these newer Space Marines could ever hope to see. Another thing with WH40K back then. It was cheap to build a good sized army. For the Space Marines, there was a plastic Space Marine kit with enough parts to build 30 of them. Missile Launchers and Flamers were the standard Hvy.Weapon / Special Weapons. That box costed about $15-20 U.S. BTW, Twoducks, I PM'ed you. I need that big WH40K Fluffbook...

My recalling of WH40K fluff is pretty old. I spent most of my days with that game in the original "Rogue Trader" rulebook and a bit into the 2nd Ed. The Black Carapace is a protective... carapace in the Space Marine's body (under skin, flesh). I think it was only on the torso. It helped protect the internal organs of the SM. It slowly was formed as the Space Marine recruit ages and is transformed genetically. The recruits MUST be young boys: The transformation of a healthy boy into a new Space Marine takes a long time but pays off handsomely in the end. Battlesisters? The only time I saw a picure of a Battle Sister (Adeptus Sororitas?) was in the Rogue Tradre rulebook. They get a VERY brief mention in that same book as part of an explanation of the organization of the Imperium Of Man. Space Marines can father children but it simply doesn't happen, although at extremely rare occasions in WH40K fluff you hear of it. The reason is simple. The Space Marines are utterly dedicated to service to the Imperium and the Emperor. The various Chapters altogether don't even reach 1 million. The Imperial Guard (army) though has teeming numbers of normal men but heavy equipment. With the Space Marine Chapters in relatively small numbers and highly skilled and well equipped, they are extremely busy. They are indoctrinated to perform constant service until their death (natural or otherwise). Regarding your custom Space Marine army: Make out your rules but I suggest to keep them balanced (Con's to offset any great Pro's). Keep them simple, preferrably. And if you're using that army against another player, show him your rules beforehand and see if he agrees to it. As for the Blood Angels: As long as they're predominantly Red and have the Blood Angels emblem (or a close variation of it), then you're good to go. The current armor (Mark VII) has smooth shoulderpads with raised edges. In the current era, Chapters normally assign a color to each of their companies and those are painted on the raised edges. Sometimes numbers are seen on those shoulderpads, and those may be used instead to designate their company or squad (usually squad). Codex Paint Scheme: - Uniform Armor Color (or pattern... like the Howling Griffons) - Shoulder Pad edges sometimes colored for companies - Squad tactical symbol on one Shoulder Pad - Chapter Symbol on the opposite Shoulder Pad - Squad or Company number on same side as tactical symbol (usually Squad) - Sergeants have a different colored helmet. Traditionally, Sergeants have a yellow helmet in the Blood Angels. The main thing is this when painting Space Marines is that they need to look uniform and you can tell what Chapter they're from. All you essentially need is: - Uniform Armor Color / Pattern - Chapter Symbol That's how it used to be in the Rogue Trader days. There were symbols for Sergeants and Officers that were sometimes hard to paint, but that was not the focus. As long as your Space Marines have that uniform look, then you're set. Just make them look real good! The Emperor is sort of dead. He is kept in stasis on Earth ever since being critically injured in the Horus Heresy. Wild, uncontrolled "Psykers" are killed every day to feed their Psychic energy to keep the Emperor alive. As for the removed chapters of the Original Founding, let them be. That keeps the original Space Marine Chapters have their special mystique compared to the newer ones. My memory is vague as to what happened with the few Space Marines that remained loyal but whose Chapters betrayed the Emperor to follow Horus. I believe most were discovered and hunted down by their traitor brothers but some escaped back to the Emperor's service. The Legion Of The Damned was actually from another chapter, who's name I can't recall. Their entire fleet was lost in the warp and most killed. They didn't have a Fortress Monastery. The survivors are pretty much "living dead." They pop up sometimes when Imperial forces are in great distress. Their Space Marines that get "killed" leave no bodies. Nothing is left of them after the battle. I used to really this stuff and I still prefer the "old school" Rogue Trader style of Space Marines. I used to have a Dark Angel army and when the Codexes came out with them in that dark emerald green armor, I refused to change over. My Dark Angels remained in black. Most of them were in the old, Mark VI armor ("beakies" to the newer players). Loyalty to the Emperor, Loyalty to the Imperium of Man... "And they shall know no fear" Adeptus Astartes, Legiones Astartes, but widely known as the Space Marines.

It did? Ah well...life goes on. 363940[/snapback] What's funny is that's what everyone's saying upon hearing there was a Bloodrayne movie out As for Hollywood's version of Kite's story: I highly doubt it's going to be very similiar at all. LOTS of things I bet will get cut out and / or Westernized. I bet Sawa's... umm... ******* abuse will get omitted entirely.

What was the difference between the Platinum and Original Eva DVDs here in the US? Well, other than Sadamoto's art on the covers...

Very nice. Count me in!

I Navalized F-16 would have been... interesting. I have a hard time visualizing it in my head. The F-16 as it stands now just can't stand the rigors of Carrier Aviation. The airframe would need to be stronger. Then there's the landing gear. The jet would snap like a twig. For the jet to be strengthened to withstand Carrier Aviation, you'll get alot more weight. Would the Falcon (I refuse to call it Viper) be the same jet as before? How much of a hit would it take in performance & capability with all the extra weight?

There's a bunch of stupid movies that I tolerate or enjoy watching. But one thing that pops up readily to mind is this: I first saw this some time ago when I was staying in the barracks. I passed by the lounge area and I saw a bunch of my fellow Marines watching on DVD "Bring It On." I watched a bit and said, "Hey, this movie is only about cheerleaders. It's stupid!" But I kept on watching, just like the other boatload of Marines in there

For Stormtrooper Fans But steep in price though!

Do not count out the idea of unmanned aircraft playing larger, or the majority, of military aviation missions. It all depends on how the technology and doctrines go. This has been pretty much the same with all new weapons. The Tank and Aircraft Carrier had to overcome obstacles to get to where they're at. The end result of whatever anyone cares about is this: If it will win battles and wars, then it will get a shot. If it does very well, expect to see more of it.

A different subject to be OT, but it is still Star Wars. Detailing of a scratchbuilt 24-inch Imperial Star Destroyer

I get a "Drawing Failed" when trying to open the image files.

Didn't notice that one before about the Snowtrooper Lieutenant on the AT-AT. At the further risk of showing my Star Wars geekiness, that same Lieutenant is the only armor clad Trooper with the officer markings on his chestplate. Even when comparing all the Stormtroopers and Scout Troopers. Not sure if that was intended or not, but oh well.

I have all 3 of the Sandtrooper-esque Stormies. The ones with the white, orange, and black shoulder pauldrons. The weathering is awful, IMO. It looks like someone dabbed some cotton into some paint and splotched the armor here and there. The other last negative is that all 3 of these use the same sets of legs, so having all 3 standing together doesn't bring as much variety in poses. The positives? The build, detailing, and the subject is what's great. The one with the white pauldron has an E11 Blaster, the orange one has a WWII German MG34 (which was used in ANH also), and the black one has the big 'ol T21 (modified British Lewis Gun). I couldn't stand the awful attempt at weathering, so I painted over it with white and proceeded to do my own weathering with my moderate modelling skills. I also have the Scout Trooper. The weathering on it is done very nice compared to the Sandtroopers. I also preordered the upcoming Snowtroopers. You can't possibly mess up that weathering. Besides, Snowtroopers are cool, despite only being seeing for maybe a minute or two of action in the movies, tops. Plus, the pose of the Snowtrooper looks great.

You are also a part-time Ninja in a parallel universe. 326853[/snapback] Well, Ninjas are totally cool and all. Edit to add: And Pirates suck.

Over here, in San Diego, California: - UPS (Grade A): I usually have no problems with them. I can give specific instructions to whoever I do business with, and UPS carries out those instructions. My stuff has come in intact / good condition. Also, it helps that alot of my delivered items are done via UPS and it's to the point where I recognize the deliveryman - USPS (Grade F): I deal with the USPS almost as commonly with packages as with the UPS. And I absolutely hate it. Their redelivery times are vague as hell on their notices. On top of that, the notices frequently don't mention that they won't try to redeliver. So, after some days expecting a redelivery and not getting one or another notice, I head over to the local USPS office. Only to wait in a long ass line for 10-15 minutes. It doesn't help that my imported stuff has to go through the USPS... ugh. Delivered items, when I eventually do get them, are at least intact. - FEDex: Can't comment. I've dealt with them only a few times, and only for receiving something, but they worked out alright. - DHL: Never used them before.

A Spartan movie? Cool, IMO. I recall hearing a while ago the idea of making a movie out of the book "Gates of Fire" which is about the doomed Spartan-led Greek defense at Thermopylae. Wonder if that ever came to fruition. Anyways, I'm always down for a good ancient, classical, or medieval era movie if done right, simply because for a while, nobody made them. And nobody had done anything good with some of history's most famous warriors, the Spartans, in a long time. The monument for the fallen Spartans at Thermopylae reads: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie." Thermopylae is also considered the high point of Spartan military history, even though it was a defeat. One of the greatest last stands against a much more massive Persian army. And another Spartan saying: The Spartans do not ask how many, but where they are. Edit to add: I was not fond of the Alexander movie. I guess I wanted to see a truly huge movie covering his life and his many battles and campaigns, all accomplished at a young age. It was said that much later, Julius Caesar, then just reaching his 30's, came across a monument to Alexander. He wept and one of his friends asked why. He was disappointed with his life, that at 30, he hadn't accomplished anything while Alexander conquered a huge empire in his 20's. Well, Caesar as we all know goes around to change that...

I voted for Millia! BTW, their first daughter, Komillia, is hawt also...

That website is cool overall! See the pics for the USCM K-9 Armor?