Tale of Gamers - new goodies & Rydell's fate

I think we've all been there, after a way too long, horrible day you come home to find a mysterious package staring at you, tempting you to see what's hidden inside. Today was indeed one of those days, luckily a joint Forge World order with several members of the Astronomican forum turned it into a salvagable, and eventually even great, day.

First of the 'boring' stuff, some Astral Claws shoulderpads, Iron armour bits and a set of Rhino doors:

Pretty awesome stuff in its own right that will help great to enhance the Space Marines in the Legion, yet nothing compaired to the true gem of the box - the Arvus Lighter:

The Arvus is a small, short-distance cargo/crew transporter that I've wanted to buy every since it first showed up on the Forge World site. Both it's design and detailing really appealed to me, but I just couldn't justify simply buying one for the hell of it. That was until Imperial Armour IX, in which the Tyrant's Legion has access to Maelstrom light transporst, which include the Arvus Lighter!

I simply can't wait to get working on this vehicle, there's just so much choices and techniques that can be unleashed on this mini. Everything from weathering to source lighting, time will tell though how far I'll end up taking this one.

Secondly, sad as it may be, my current Prefect Rydell is going to be replaced by something a little more suitable.

Even though old Rydell (pictured above) certainly has swagger and style, he does stand out in a wrong way. The model/conversion is just slightly too tall in comparisson to the rest of his command squad and the regular auxilia troops. Secondly his outfit also look somewhat out of place, so unfortunately 'the general' is going to get shelved again. Eventually I'll find a use for him though, such a cool mini needs to be used!

Now as for his replacement,I came across the perfect mini in Tabletop Fix's daily news update (link). Say hello to the Artillerist:

The Artillerist is one of the first releases of Full Borer Miniatures (link) and was originally designed for the Heroes of Armageddon Charity project (more info). Fantastic mini for a great charity project, that will also work perfectly for use in my own humble, little force. Now I certainly can't claim to have the talent of the mini's sculptor and painter Chris, but I definitely feel inspired by his work:

Now to find enough time for some actual painting!