Trevy's Painting Table

Actually kids... it's "Courage and Honor.

Picked up that little tidbit from the guys at 40k Radio.

I watched "Ultramarines: a Warhammer 40,000 Movie" for the first time last night (while painting some awesome Dystopian Wars ships - stay tuned for pics).  I know I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I kept waiting for some divine intervention to force me to watch the film or something.  I guess I was scared that it would let me down.

So, I fortified myself with a hefty dose of cynacism and sat down to watch it.

I won't subject you to a review or anything.  I'm sure that every point that could possibly be made about the film already has been.

The veterans looked too old!  Blah blah blah!  It looked like a Brood War cinematic!  Blah blah blah!

Whatever.

I thought the film was pretty mediocre, but I am overjoyed that it was actually made!

Anyway, that's what's going on with me for now.  I'm pretty much just stalling until I can get some more photos of pretty minis up online, so watch this space.

If you follow my Facebook/Twitter pages (which you all should, by the way :D), you'll know of my recent rampage through the proverbial pages of the Horus Heresy's Prospero Burns and A Thousand Sons.

Before all remembrance of these sacred texts is burned from my mind by the curse of a terrible short term memory, I'd like to disseminate what I thought of the books by way of a review.  It should be noted before I begin, that I am not good at remembering words lifted from pages with any clarity and thusly listened to the books in an audio format - therefore some of my spellings may be off and my opinion somewhat biased by the medium.

I read (re; listened to) Prospero Burns first after some sage advice from the wise and limitless interwebz.  In hindsight, however, A Thousand Sons should probably be placed first in this "series;" A Thousand Sons goes into far greater detail regarding certain, pivotal moments in the story while Prospero Burns focuses more on the character's perspectives and observations.  It would have been nice to have access to the information on events such as the Council of Nikaea presented by A Thousand Sons before diving into Prospero Burns.  In any case, I will review the stories in the order that I read them; with Prospero Burns first.

Prospero Burns

Let me first say that those who reside in the camp of "Graham McNeill is the best Black Library author evar!!111!!1!!!" are sorely mistaken.  After reading these two novels back to back, it is painfully clear that Dan Abnett is a far superior author capable of crafting stories with limitless depth and fantastic story arcs.  It helped that the voice talent of Gareth Armstrong captured the thick, norwegian accents of the Valkya Fenrika and linguistic superiority of Casper to a tee.  It is difficult to find fault with such a masterfully crafted story - the plot was rich and filled to the brim with twists and turns (which, in hindsight, would have been better had I read A Thousand Sons first), and the way that Abnett delves into the rich traditions and history of the wolves of Fenris is eye-opening.  Even the Thousand Sons themselves are presented as noble, disciplined sorcerors destroyed only by the holy order of the Emperor of Mankind.

One criticism of the novel that I can bring to bear, however, is the climactic culmination of the story.  Where A Thousand Sons goes into painful detail of the event, this area of Prospero Burns is curiously vacant.  I would have liked to hear of the cataclysmal battle from the eyes of what is essentially a non-combatant, and, more importantly, an observer on the Space Wolves side of the battlefield.

A Thousand Sons

Graham McNeill's contribution to the story, however, was so far estranged from Abnett's that at times it was difficult to remember that they were part of the same story arc at all.  The book seemed thrown together by a writer not wholly invested in his work and only out to fulfill his contractual obligations.  In other words - it was mediocre at best.

I'm sure that part of my review is colored by the less-than-steller voice talents of Martin Ellis.  While I am sure that Ellis' voice is perfectly suited to other stories, his portrayal of the Imperium's foremost sorcerors and accumulators of knowledge was disheartening at best.  Ahzek Ahriman, arguably one of the most feared and downright badass nerds in the 41st Millennium, sounded like a whiny, petulant child while the awe-inspiring paragon of etheric might that is Magnus sounded downright grumpy the whole time.  Not pissed off or filled with righteous anger, just grumpy.

That said, the novel was filled with inconsistencies and repeated adjectives that chipped away at my suspension of disbelief until I felt like I was reading one of the many, hackneyed science-fiction novels lifted serruptitiously from the dusty shelves of the local book store and not the glorified awesome of the god-Emperor distilled into literary form.

Why did the characters keep referring to the "Throne" while the existence of the Emperor's Golden Throne wouldn't be common knowledge for another decade at least?

Why did the Council of Nikaea only last four hours?

Why did the High Librarian of the White Scars (whose name escapes me) refer to Astartes having only one heart?

Why did the Space Wolves refer to themselves as "Space Wolves" when it is clear that they prefer the term "Valkya Fenrika?"

When did Othere Wyrdmake become such an asshole!?

Characterizations of individuals and groups remained largely inconsistent between the two books - the aforementioned transformation of Othere Wyrdmake from a noble psyker to a vindictive douchebag, Leman Russ inexplicably turning from a brother-Primarch to a roaring brawler and the Space Wolves themselves described as an apparent sea of uncontrolled anger, rather than the trained killers that Prospero Burns describes them as.  It was obvious that the two authors had very little communication when writing their books, and proofreading didn't do enough to catch the myriad errors with the background.  While minor, they served to annoy me.

Another problem I had with the novel dealt with the characterization of its main character.  Ahzek Ahriman, as I said before, is a galactic badass.  He is approximately the third most powerful psyker in the Imperium (being the cheif Librarian of Magnus himself!)  Why then, is he constantly surprised by everything and seems to get mentally corrupted ridiculously easily?

While these problems with the book did persist throughout its length, the culmination of the story (the actual burning of Prospero) rectified most of my problems with it.  The scene was suitably dramatic and intense, and the fight between Magnus and Russ was nothing short of awe-inspiring.  The climax, it seems, was the books deliverance from the depths of mediocrity.

Despite its excellent ending that far outshone that of Prospero Burns, A Thousand Sons fails to hold up the slightest of candles to Abnett's masterpeice.  Consistent inconsistencies, bad characterization, poor descriptions and a plotline not nearly as in-depth or fulfilling as that of Prospero Burns really makes A Thousand Sons look like a shoddy, makeshift presentation of the epic story of the Thousand Son's excommunication.

So, I rocked up to this Warmachine tournament with the lists that I posted below and my ridiculously awesome Cryx army.

As many of you may know, my Cryx force doesn't include a lot of Privateer Press models.  This is for several reasons:

1. Privateer Press models, on a per-model basis, cost two times the amount that GW's do.  If you think that Empire "Goldswords" are bad, try buying a unit of 10 Bane Thralls.  For a game that is supposed to be cheaper than Warhammer, it's not doing itself any favors.
   
2. Privateer Press has been in a production rut for the last couple of months, forcing it to take 2-6 weeks for a model purchased to ship to the customer.  I have a friend who waited three whole months for an order to ship before finally cancelling the order.
3. Privateer Press models look really goofy and are sculpted in a style that I really don't like to look at on the tabletop, with anime-esque features and shoulder pads so large that they put Space Marines to shame.

I've suffered a pretty miserable string of defeats on the battlegrounds of Warhammer Fantasy lately.  While I attribute most of my losses to my opponents finally discovering counters to my units of godlike might and power, I also blame myself in some circumstances as I committed the crime of entirely underestimating the unholy power of my opponent's troops to royally beat my face in!

Who knew that 30 Dark Elf Corsairs could throw that many attacks at me?  I certainly didn't!

Some army books were not designed in 8th Edition in mind, and this is becoming more and more apparent as I play the game.  I would like Warhammer Fantasy to be a game where outmaneuvering my opponent with a flexible, powerful and unique selection of troops is paramount to the number of attacks or Impact Hits any single regiment can deliver on the first round of combat.  The Beastmen vs. Warriors of Chaos game that I played so many years ago during the height of 7th Edition was a perfect example of the two philosophies.

For those who missed the report, my opponent had a very offensive Khornate Warriors of Chaos force dedicated to charging in and doing maximum damage to their opponent before the hapless victims could strike back.  It had two large units of Knights, several units of Warriors and it was all topped off by Chaos Dragon ridden by a Khornate Chaos Lord.  My army, on the other hand, was composed of much more tactical and defensive units.  It had many units of Raiders to bait my opponent's troops into charging, Chariots to combo-charge exposed frenziers, a huge (by 7th edition terms) unit of Gors complete with a Battle Standard Bearer and my General that would hold up large enemies while Minotaurs attacked from the sides with their Great Weapons.  Using these myriad troops, I was able to dance around my opponent and bait his units right into my own, eventually breaking and running down his Dragon with my 'Goatstar' of Gors.

For those who watch Trevy's Batreps on my Youtube Channel, you'll notice that not only my army lists have changed to much more offensive, "right up the guts" builds, but the strategic value of my games has decreased to the point that I feel mentally atrophied while playing.  My games of Fantasy have become little more than rock-paper-scissors contests, the army lists deciding each game because often there is no way to outmaneuver your enemy.  With the enormous charges available and myriad of ways to reform and change your unit's positions, the 7th edition chess game of movement and strategy has given way to the equivalent of a drunken brawl.

And this is where the inconsistencies between army books come to the fore.  It has become more and more apparent to me that all lists in any given book are becoming almost identical - if you want to win with Beastmen, take lots of Minotaurs, big monsters and units of 30-36 Gors.  If you want to win with Lizardmen, take one unit of Temple Guard, 2 units of 20-24 Saurus, a Slann and a Stegadon.  If you want to win with High Elves take a big unit of Seaguard, a unit of Spearmen, a unit of Swordmasters and a unit of Pheonix Guard.  Go on any Fantasy forum and tell me that I'm wrong - it's appalling how many lists on those sites are virtually identical.

The game of 8th Edition is about delivering damage, and there are some armies that do that better than others.  It used to be that this power was mitigated by maneuvering and access to lighter, more expendable troops that could redirect them, but now a damage-delivering unit can get almost anywhere on the board from anywhere else.  The worst culprit of this, in my opinion, are the High Elven Swordmasters.  My gaming club likens fighting them to willfully thrusting one's face into a blender.  While other troops in the High Elf army list are balanced in their very specific battlefield roles - Pheonix Guard can hold up almost any enemy unit, White Lions make a mockery of armor etc. - Swordmasters are unique in their ability to kill anything in the game.

In a recent game I had a unit of 20+ Gors (in horde formation because they used to be larger and hadn't had a chance to reform) complete with my Beastlord, a Wargor Battle Standard Bearer and a combat Bray Shaman pursue an enemy unit into contact with a unit of 10 Swordmasters.  The Swordmasters killed 12 Gors before I had a chance to strike and so mitigated my reply that I was only able to do 4 wounds in return.  I then lost the combat by an enormous margin and broke, losing several hundred points to the overrun.

It is my opinion that units with a similar battlefield role (i.e. beat the enemy's face in with enormous weapons) should match up fairly equally in points.  A larger unit should, ostensibly, be able to defeat a smaller one.  The fact that 10 Swordmasters that cost my opponent a grand total of 150 points were able to beat and nearly destroy a unit containing over 800 points worth of models is inconceivable.  Were I outmaneuvered or out-thought in this instance I would not be disturbed, but I decided to pursue into the Swordmasters because I was of the opinion that my 25+ models could defeat his 10 fairly handily.

And this is my main fault with 8th Edition.

The ability of a unit to do damage is more important than anything else in this game, and unfortunately that means that units not balanced for 8th Edition are can become super-powered with these new rules.  Was this game played in 7th Edition the combat would have been a lot closer - I would have suffered heavy casualties on the way in but without Supporting Attacks and re-rolls To Hit they would have been easily mitigated by the damaged caused by my characters.  Without the ability to outmauneuver your opponent, these damage-dealing units become unbeatable without heavy shooting attacks which not all armies have access to and the game breaks down.

I may take a small hiatus from Warhammer Fantasy for the time being for these reasons while expand my wargaming horizons to games that I can have more cerebral enjoyment playing.  I created Century 26 as a 15mm game that has all of the hallmarks of what makes a perfect game to me, however being a homebrew rules set I am limited in my opponents.  Warhammer 40,000, while what I beleive a better ruleset than 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy, suffers from a similar problem in that outmaneuvering your opponent is incredibly difficult and units that can deal an insane amount of damage are more valuable than ones that can maneuver quickly.

I am considering starting Warmachine as Privateer Press is running a pretty good sale up until tomorrow that includes a free Rulebook with the purchase of a Battlebox and some accessories.

Hopefully 9th Edition Fantasy will fix the game for me.

I've been looking at some of the new Finecast stuff from Citadel, and I really can't see what all of the fuss if about.  A lot of people are complaining about the increased cost of the new models and disparaging the increased level of detail that GW is constantly advertising.

As someone who works constantly with a lot of different models, I think that I can talk about this subject with relative credebility.

The first thing that I noticed about these new models is that they are resin, but reportedly not as flimsy and delicate as Force World's recipe.  There are many obvious advantages to this - it can hold detail a little better than pewter but the most important difference is that it is much easier to assemble than metal due to lighter weight.

Now, like I said the cost of these models is the issue that most people are becoming upset about.  When one considers the ease of assembly of these models, the cost becomes less of an issue.  What I mean is this - a standard, metal model (let's call it an infantry model such as a Champion of Chaos or a Space Marine character with a bunch of parts - arms, backpack, may be legs/torso as well) will take me 15-20 minutes to complete when one considers greenstuffing and waiting for glue to dry.  If one considers pinning as well that time can be even longer.

With these finecast models, parts are so light that things like pinning and greenstuffing are not required, and glue should dry to the level that it can hold up the pieces in question much more quickly.  With these changes taken into account, I can see it take at least half as much time to assembly a resin Finecast model vs. an old pewter one.

The actual cost of Finecast is not that much greater than a metal model -  for example, the Tomb King model that is up for an advanced order is, unless I am mistaken, not any more expensive than its older incarnation while Ushabti are actually cheaper!

As far as I am considered, the fractional cost increase for these Finecast models is well worth it for the ease of assembly alone.  While the sculpts are not any different from the originals in terms of the detail of these models, I beleive that the detail is quite a bit sharper and not sullied by pewter miscasts as much (although I'm working from pictures right now).

Anyway, that's my $.02 US on the new Finecast models.  I hope my opinion has helped you make your own!

This is a bit of an editorial, so bear with me.

As some of you may know, I recently started working with 15mm skirmish based systems.  When I was little, before my mean old parents let me play Warhammer 40,000 I had created a sci-fi system with a pretty intense background that used roughly 15mm clay figures so that I didn't have to spend my meagre allowance on pewter and resin.  While the figures were terrible and the system was an almost direct port of the 40k rules, the background the pretty awesome and was somethig that I kept in the back of my head for quite some time.  Fast forward six years or so and I now have the resources and expertise to build a game from scratch to fit the system.  I revised the background a little bit to fill in some gaps that were left from my earlier niavete, found an appropriate range of models and started off writing a set of rules.

P.S. for those who would like more information about this game, visit it's wiki page or just e-mail me.

Self-pluggung not the point of this post, I swear.:D

My friend and I had a discussion the other day about 15mm wargames and we came to the conclusion that this scale is perfect for most gaming.  While 28-30mm is well suited for skirmish games that use few models per side, like Malifaux and Infinity, games like 40k and Fantasy are quickly becoming crowded affairs with GW's policy of 'make models cheaper and games bigger!'

15mm aleviates that problem by producing small-scale models that can easily be used on a regular sized battlefield without it feeling crowded or overfull.  It also opens up the oppurtunity to field much larger forces than is possible in 28mm as well as even bigger warmachines and monsters.  The scale of the models significantly reduces their cost and makes building such a large army relatively cheap - I recently purchased an army made from an assortment of modern and near-future minis that totaled 65 models, cost my $75.00 US and included nine tanks.

The last aspect of 15mm gaming is the sheer visual enjoyment that one gets from it.  With a smaller scale, making good-looking terrain peices is soooo much easier than it is in 28mm - I usually end up just purchasing used HO scale train peices, which rougly scale up to 15mm and allow you to generously fill a table for around $100.00 US.  15mm games just tend to end up 'prettier' than larger scales.

Anyway, there's my plug for 15mm.  If anyone has 15mm models that they wish me to paint, I do accept small-scale commissions, just let me know and we can figure something out.  I might do a 15mm Batrep this week sometime and show you guys my awesome system.

Games-Workshop just revealed its planned release for a new expansion for Warhammer Fantasy - Storm of Magic.  They're promising 'cataclysmic spells' and effects that change the way the tabletop affects models.

I couldn't help but realize that this sounds very much like the change between 7th Edition Fantasy and 8th Edition.  Well, minus the annihilation of effective cavalry in the game as well as a drastic change in most of the tactics.  I'm pretty sure that the last thing this game needs is more stupidly powerful magic spells and complex terrain rules.

I talked with one of the members of my local gaming club about where 8th Edition Fantasy went wrong - don't get me wrong, I love Fantasy to death, but there's something about it that just makes it more goofy than a tactical wargame.  We figured that the magic system, while certainly flawed, was an excellent mechanic that works well.  What breaks the magic system are spells like Purple Sun and Comet of Cassandora, spells with the ability to easily wipe out entire units without breaking a sweat.

I've gotten to the point where I will not play a friendly game with someone if they decide to take either of those spells.  Removing an entire unit a turn from a 15+ spell is not exactly what I consider fun.

Where 8th Edition falls down in another respect is the charge distance allowed by the new rules.  While the random charge distances are cool (the fact that a unit could charge exactly the same distance every time seemed weird to me), but a range of 6-16" for a normal infantry unit is enormous.  I think the mechanic would be better suited for a distance like D6+2+move", which makes it random but with a larger degree of certainty and significantly less range.

The third change that I'd like to see is the removal of steadfast if a unit is Disrupted.  This would make flanking enemy units and actually maneuvering one's forces much more useful!

That was a pretty serious digression from the main topic...

So anyway, I have little faith that this new expansion will be something to write home about - the only other memorable expansion that GW has produced was Apocalypse back in the day and everything else have been flops since then, but here's to hoping for some cool terrain and new models!

Hey everyone!  If you haven't noticed that I'm back from my fun-filled weekend, then you are noticing it now.  Unfortunately, real life crap punched me full on in the face when I returned so things are going slow on the modellling front as of right now.  I hope to right myself soon and get back to churning 'em out, however!

The first thing that I noticed when I returned (I was camping, by the way), was the slew of new High Elf models that are hitting teh interwebz right now, so in lieu of anything else cool to show people, I figured that I'd talk about them.

So, for those who haven't seen them yet, Games-Workshop just announced the plastic releases of Dragon Princes, Pheonix Guard and White Lions, all metal sets that really needed the update.

When I first saw images of these awesome new kits I cried out with joy, as the High Elf range contains some of the oldest metals in the company and really needs an update to become more recent and accessable.  Unfortunately on closer inspection, I have a few gripes with these guys.

First of all, they seem to accentuate the High Elves' penchant for ridiculously large and silly looking headresses.  This is especially prevalent on the Pheonix Guard and Dragon Princes with the White Lions keeping to their usual austere armor quality.  While the older, metal models had more subdued helmets that kept with the High Elf theme of ornate symbolism but did it in scaled back and characterful manner, these models look simply top-heavy, with large enough wings protruding from their heads to make Thor feel left out.

Another gripe that I have with these models that is becoming ever more prevalent with Games-Worlshop plastic kits is the lack of add-ons that come with these models for the price that they are charging.  This, however, is a general complaint and doesn't really apply specifically to these models.

Now, with all this criticism, there are still some up-sides to these new models.  Let's first address the fact that they are plastic rather than the old metals, meaning that they are much more poseable than the old ones as well as being much easier to assemble.

Secondly, these guys take the ideas in the old models and run with them - the Pheonix Guard look much moire regal than the old models, with flowing cloaks and shining armor, the Dragon Princes are decked out even more with dragon paraphenalia than ever before, and boy do those horses look awesome as a result.  The White Lions models accentuate the woodsmen feel of the older models and look much more wild to boot.  Overall, these small changes really make the set and differentiate the different forms of High Elven infantry.

Sorry about the relatively short review, but I've been busy lately.  Hopefully more good stuff later on!

After several months of long delay due to shipping mishaps and packaging malfunctions, I acquired myself a box of Wargames Factory's long-awaited Sci-Fi Shock Troopers.  Despite my displeasure at the long wait that I was forced to endure in order to finally get my hands on these models, I have to admit that they are very much worth the wait!

The first thing that I noticed when I taking my new minis out of the box was the relative simplicity of the set.  It consists of six sprues, each identical to the next with all of the body, head and weapons options included.  Each sprue has three bodies on it, making for a total of eighteen troopers for the excellent price of $19.95, which makes them an incredible deal compared to the exorbitant rates that Games-Workshop charges our poor bank accounts.

The problem with the simplicity of the set and the sprues as it does not offer a great deal of flexibility in terms of posing or weapon options.  If you want an entire troop armed with rifles, you are going to be stuck with only three poses as all of the poses of the weapon arms are identical to the next.  One of the more interesting details is that while the pose of the weapon arms is the same, the actualy weapons are not.  The kit comes standard with eighteen rifles, eighteen shotguns, twelve special weapons and twelve pistols, and not all of the rifles (probably the most-used item) are identical.  There are three variants, one of each on each sprue.  There is a shorter, lighter rifle, a longer and more dangerous looking one, and then a stocky carbine.  If a player were to use these models for an Imperial Guard or similar type of army, they would have to go searching for identical weapon options for their troops if they didn't want to include the variant rifle designes, and I think taking that into account might have been a better idea on WF's part.  Fortunately for my purposes, I one have five models armed with rifles, so I am alright.

The other thing that stood out to me immediately as soon as I picted up the kit was the amazing detail of the models.  The main complaint I have heard about Wargames Factory is that their models are generally pretty detailless, but the opposite applies here.  The detail on these models approaches GW's standards, especially on the helmet and around the weapons.  Unfortunately I can still see some evidence of a little under-sculpting on some areas, especially around a lot of the hands.  There is a particular bit on the sprue of a pointing hand, and the clenched fingers of the hand look unfortunately similar to a child's first attempt at tying their own shoe.  Another small detail problem that I encountered was the length of the neck - it was so long that it brought the trooper's head unnaturally high off of his body and over the signficant collars that the troopers wear.  I found that I had to snip off the end of the model's neck in order to make them look a little less like a space giraffe.

Despite this, the models are relatively simple to built, and give you enough options to build them into any Sci-Fi universe, with extra heads and weapon options to help them fit in.  In addition, they're easy to convert to any troopers that you may wish to use them as.  My buddies at The War Store have alreeady started offering Imperial Guard conversion kits with these models and GW's Cadian weapon and arm options, and I have to say that they scale up nicely.  I was originally hesitant about the scale, but these models sure look the part compared to any Space Marine.

So somebody get themselves some of these models so I can get to painting them!

When the newest edition of Codex: Space Wolves was released last year, there was an immediate outcry for models to represent the powerful Thunderwolf Cavalry which were all the rage amongst newborn Space Wolves players.  Obviously, Games-Workshop intended for gamers to use the shiny, new, metal, and most importantly expensive Canis Wolfborn models as the basis for Thunderwolf conversions.  Well, this plan obviously backfired, as dozens of new 'space trooper wolf mounts' were suddenly seen choking the internet as people looked for alternatives.  This effect, which I am calling the "Thunderwold Phenomenon" has been readily discernable elsewhere as well, as Games-Workshop releases rules for cool new monsters and troops that no model exists for, intending to sell existing kits.  Mycetic Spore and Tervigon models run rampant about the internet, and scratch-build Gorghons and Jabberslythes can be found in every corner of eBay.  You'd think Games-Workshop would get the message that we want to buy their pretty new models, if only they'd release them.

But I digress, back to the wolves.  I recently got a commission for a project of a unit of Thunderwolf Cavalry from a site that I'd never seen before: Mr. Dandy.  Apparently this little group, specializing in scultping and toys decided to jump into Miniatures and make big bucks off of those models that never produced.  Their first attempt?  The sought-for Thunderwolf Cavalry (they're now working feverishly on an alternate Mycetic Spore).

Mr. Dandy's answer to these elusive monstrosities was what they term the "Battle-Wolf War Mount" (or simply BWWM - sounds like a wrestling competition), to avoid the wildly-swinging IP hammer of Games-Workshop's legal department.

The first thing I noticed when I opened up the box was the shape and color of the models.  They are advertised as a resin model, and on the Mr. Dandy website do look a lot like Forge World resins, something I could expect considering the $20.00 US per peice price tag.  Unfortunately, the models are a bright white and lack the relative heft of a higher quality resin peice.  They are also poory molded - with mold lines covering much of the model and the injection points still attached, like long, stiff umbilical chords.  The base is also a solid block of resin, and the injection points on those are very large, so I can see a lot of carving and filing going into these models when they're being assembled.

Another problem with the models is the detail that you are getting for your money.  The models are very large, but they look almost as if they were originally a smaller sculpt that was scaled up.  As a result, they produce a low plastic level of detail rather than the level that can be held by resin.

The style of the models is also an interesting one.  They follow more of a steampunk feel, with pistons and iron armor augmenting the wolves.  While this is a nice touch, and allows the models to be used for more than a single genre, in my opinion is somewhat detracts from them.  Armor and augmetic systems are fine - heck, all Space Marines have them, but fully bionic tails and lims reinforced with steam pistons seems to be going a little too far.

In these models defense, though, they do fill in a very necessary niche in the Warhammer 40,000 range.  They even come with little Space Marine legs to allow you to assemble a Space Wolf rider on top (although it isn't really a space marine - it's a "Battle-Rider Space Troop" :D).  Because of this, they are really a must have in any Space Wolves player's collection, so if you want some cool lookin Thunderwolves, just take a look at this link!