New guard - commissar's

 So I'm quite a bit behind the curve on this, as there have been a whole bunch of 11th edition previews and new model releases over the last couple of weeks and I haven't written a single word for the blog in nearly two months! With work, kids and holidays, there just hasn't been the time to write, plus a small obsession with Football Manager Handheld 2011 on the PSP has also contributed to a lack of posts! (Took Hereford from Blue Square Premier to Premiership in 5 seasons! Now I'm floundering in the lower mid premiership table though)

Anyway, new 40k models! And what a model!

The old man of Hades Hive returns, with slightly wonky backstory but we'll overlook that for the moment. 

All the elements of the classic Yarrick are there, although not quite the same as the original, it is a very nice resculpt of the last version. 

The details on the new model looks amazing and I definitely want to get my hands on this model at some point, even if he just lives in the display cabinet. 

Just to show how far behind I am with posting, they have not only released the model previews but also the rules!

Yarricks rules are pretty good really, keeping his Iron Will (or Will of Iron) ability, although it is now even better going from a 50\50 chance to a about an 85% chance of coming back and on 3 wounds rather than 1. The Hero of Hades Hive abilities are also very useful, with Decisive Command being the stand out one for me, especially early game, when units are close to each other. Inspiring Hero is good but not as good as Decisive command and may be better late game but there are other ways of dealing with battle shock and leadership tests, although with the release of 11th battle shock may become a lot more important! counter strategist is probably the worse of the three and seems very situational. The ability to shoot is good, and as it stands you can use this and then overwatch! But your still relying on a unit moving in to range. 

It's good to see old bale eye back bit it could have done with the pistol keyword to let you do this in combat as well!

Next we have a new named commissar, Commissar Graves, and while the model is a very nicely detailed model, it's not for me. I like the new transport and plan on getting a couple (to add to the taurox's I haven't brought yet!), this is not for me. 

It's also nice that it's a two pack, one vehicle born and one on foot but even the foot slogging version just doesn't do it for me. Don't ask me why I don't like them but there is just something about them that I don't like, especially the vehicle model, maybe it just took over the top for me, another, different paint job my be better. 

I'm really excited for this wave of guard releases, although still no sign of updated Catachans, which is still concerning! Next up we'll look at the other guard vehicles. 

Resolutions 2026

 So despite the fact that we are nearly two months in to the year, here are my yearly resolutions for 2026! There won't be as many as last year, as given it's already the end of February a d I have picked up a brush about 4 times and built half a dozen models, several of which were 2 piece models!

Anyway, here's the list! (Not in any particular order)

1) Build, 2) paint and 3) varnish Grey Knights Terminators

Not yet purchased but I do want these. They will be for my Imperial Agents army but my find themselves very quickly relegated to the display cabinet if 11th does away with the Agents codex!

4) Build, 5) paint and 6) varnish Sisters Rhino

Another model that hasn’t been purchased yet! Either way, I plan to get one of these this year for my sisters to trundle round in, but may suffer the same fate as the Grey Knights above. 

7) paint and 8) varnish Death Korps Engineers

These are primed and ready and I have a paint scheme in mind, slightly different from the regular Krieg but easily identifiable as part of the same army. Just need time to paint now!

9) Build, 10) paint and 11) varnish Field Ordnance Battery 

I abe 4 guns, for two squads, on order from Forbidden Planet. Hopefully they will turn up soon and then I can get building so I have a squad of each type of gun. These will be built to be Krieg in style to match the rest of the Krieg models I have. 

12) paint and 13) varnish Death Korps heavy weapons squads

Three squads ready to paint. These will be in the same scheme as the main force. 

14) paint and 15) varnish Death Korps Command Squad

These are half painted already, with 6 of the 12 models painted. I will be doing these first, as soon as I get some time! 

16) kitbash, 17) paint and 18) varnish Eagle Knights vanguard vets

I have tem models ready to kitbash in to vanguard vets for the Eagle Knights. I have been holding off a bit as these are one of the few first born kits still around and I expect an update soon, possibly for 11th. That means these will be on the back burner for a little bit until I see what happens or I run out of other stuff to paint (which is unlikely!)

19) paint and 20) varnish Kasrkin

The last on the list are the Kasrkin models that need painting and varnishing. Technically there are 10 Kasrkin and 2 Castellans but I'm just limping them in together here as they are going to be painted basically the same. 

So a little bit of a smaller list this year but still quite a few items on the list, 9 of which relate to models I don't even own yet! I am hopeful that despite a slow start to the year and the wee one grows bigger he will start sleeping in the evenings and maybe even for propped naps in the day when I can get some painting done. Time will tell and come the end of the year, I will have painted everything or, more likely, I won't have. Either way, the target is set, it's time to get moving!

2025 review

So we're only a couple of months late on this one! After playing catch up with post from last year, it's time to take a look back over last year's resolutions. There were a lot last year, a bit optimistic I think, but given the event of last year, I'm not surprised there are several outstanding. 

1) Finish painting Drop Pod

This has been done, and it was done just in time for them releasing a brand new drop pod!

2) Paint Land Raider

Again, this was done, although I do need to go back and add some transfers at some point. 

3) Varnish Field Ordnance Battery 

Varnished and based, although not yet used in game. I also have some more on route. 

4) Quickshade Rough Riders

Another success, all 10 varnished. 

5) Varnish additional sisters of battle

Additional models all done and sorted. 

6) Paint Subduction squads

Two squads plus extra painted and varnished up. 

7) Paint Sanguinary Guard 

A full squad of 6 finished, plus some additional characters completed as well!

8) Paint Armiger Helverins

Painted up and transfers completed. I'm not sure though if I've varnished them or not!

9) Paint Emperor's Disciples Blade Guard

All 6 done, alongside some more characters. 

10) Paint Sisters Canoness 

Two jump canoness painted, varnished and bases. 

11-15) as above but varnish models

As mentioned above, all the models have been varnished. 

16) Varnish Inquisitorial Agents models

Pretty sure I've done this, but can't actually remember. 

17-19) Build, paint and varnish Grey Knights Terminators

Ok, so the first fail of the list, and it's a big fail! I don't actually own these models yet! I am still planning on getting them, but have been holding off due to some rumours of a range refresh. 

20-22) Build, paint and varnish Sisters Rhino

Another failure and in the same way, I have yet to actually buy this model, so building and painting are a bit tricky. I do intend on getting the model, it's just a case of when. 

23-25) Build, paint and varnish Death Korps Engineers

Three squads and a bit built and primed but not painted yet. Hopefully I will get these painted this year and they will be on the 2026 resolutions list. 

26-28) Build, paint and varnish Death Korps Artillery 

Another unit that I do not own and as time has passed, I'm not actually sure I want to. I don't think the rules are great and I'm not overly keen on the models. They are nice little diorama pieces in their own right, but there is just something about them that I don't really like. 

29-31) Build, paint and varnish Field Ordnance Battery 

I have two squads of these on order from Forbidden Planet through the Combat Patrol Magazine. At roughly half price it's a good deal, plus I plan on using a number of the spare bits to finally convert up my Wyverns properly!

32-34) Build, paint and varnish Death Korps heavy weapons squads

I have build and primed two Kreig heavy weapons squads plus I've built an additional heavy weapons squad. I hope to get these painted up this year alongside all the other Krieg units!

35-37) Build, paint and varnish Death Korps Command Squad

I have built, primed and started to paint these models. About half the models are painted but I haven't made any progress in quite a few weeks. Again, I'll hopefully get all these painted up this year. 

So, I had quite the list last year. Not sure how I expected to get though all of them with a small person inbound! So how did I actually do? Well 19 and a bit completed out of 37, so just over 50 percent! Not to bad. I think some of them were a bit optimistic as I didn't even own the kits to several and sill don't! Some of them will go on this year's list, some of them will not but there will be more on that in the next post! 

All in all, I am pretty happy with the amount of stuff I have done and hopefully can finish off a lot of these this year. 

Northern Invasion photos

 I'm just going to photo dump all the other photos from the Northern Invasion 2025 tournament here for your viewing pleasure.