Dreadnaught Spotted

This guy dreads naught.

Being stuck in a painting quagmire where I just can't seem to make any headway, I decided to switch things up yesterday.  The result is the mostly completed Dread to the right.  There are still bits, bobs, and doodads to be applied, but the bulk of the work is done.  The kit was less intuitive to assemble than I anticipated, but years of modelling and Lego building have built the skills required to make diverse parts into a unified whole, even when the path to completion is not obvious.  I'm on the fence about adding in a boss pole/trophy rack.  It makes sense fluff-wise as the pilot of this contraption would want to make himself as flashy as possible, which would certainly include making his ride as tall as possible.  Adding a flimsy stick to the top of the model is not the most practical choice though, as it's tailor-made to bend and snap under any multitude of pressures.  I have some time to consider since the Dreads won't be making an appearance until the 750 point mark and since EV and I have yet to officially hit the 500 point line it's not a pressing matter.



This kit is as impressive as the other recent GW kits.  There are lots of bits and all possible options are available in the box.  The model itself is full of character, though the slap-dash Orky feel of it will be lessened by having another Dread on the table, making the uniqueness of one less impressive when standing next to another that is unique in the same ways.  The range of motion to pose the thing in is quite extensive, and while this one is pretty standard I plan to push the flexibility of the kit more with the second.  All the arms are ball and socket joints, and the "toes" are separate from the "feet," a feature I hope to exploit by posing the next one in mid-stride, possibly clambering over terrain or the wrecked bodies of certain S&M pointy-ears.  This is by far the best GW vehicle kit I've assembled, but considering all the other vehicles are from the 3rd edition era at best that's not as impressive as it could be.  This kit gives me high hopes for the Furioso, in terms of detail at least as the legs look pretty stiff on that one.

In non-GW news, Privateer Press is making the smart play by responding to the annual GW price hikes with a pretty nice 10th anniversary sale of their own.  The site is a little confused as the exact contents of the sale but it boils down to a faction starter box, tokens, rulebook, and either dice or a tape measure, all for $65.  There's some fine print about shipping as well, but it's a good deal however you slice it.  This is the perfect opportunity to get those Trollbloods I've been oogling.  I'm not excited about assembling big metal warbeasts, and would rather see what the new plastics are like (the Protectorate ones for example), but considering I already have the Warmachine rules it'd be silly to duplicate them.  I've been meaning to pick up the Hordes book for a while though, so I think I can get past the heartache of pinning and filling gaps, assuming I take advantage of this deal of course.  The sale runs through June 20, so I have some time to consider.

In other mini buying news, I missed the Warstore's cutoff for pre-hike prices.  This is a bad thing for obvious reasons, but it has a silver lining.  In contemplating my next order, what I'd really like to get is a Stormraven, a pair of Furiosos, and a box or two of Death Company.  That will about hit my internal price limiter (around $200 this time), especially if I lump in the potential Trollbloods purchase as well.  While that isn't a problem in itself, it's more troubling when I consider what I "should" be getting: more Orks.  An Ork Battleforce would have been a good fit with the mess of Boys (and rokkits/PK Nobs), the new Bikers (for Warboss makings), and the Trukk could have stood in for a Battlewagon if I so desired.  The actual Battlewagon would have been nice as well, but more of a preemptive strike against the higher prices than fueled by a list.  I also need another Dread and 2 boxes of Kans to fill out the list I have in mind for 1750.  The problem is that if I got all that (minus the Battlewagon), I'd also hit the limiter.  Since the Battleforce and Battlewagon are at their new, higher prices now, I don't feel the same compulsion to get them before the increase, so now I feel better about getting BA stuff instead of more Orks.