- Prices keep rising due to the 350+ book lore and many games (e.g. Space Marine 2 - Doom with more brotherhood) being popular. Also shareholders and exec bonuses.
- Bigger boxes have bigger value.
- Terrain is easy to make.
- 400 USD can get you a Bambu A1 filament printer or supposedly more detailed but toxic Phrozen Sonic Mini 8KS resin printer.
- Only 3rd party proxies are banned at official tournaments, so add the cost of 3D modeling, slicing, and safety gear if you opt for resin (which has to be 24-30 degrees Celsius).
- TPU is fit for DIY injection molding.
- Green Stuff kneadanite epoxy putty and/or Milliput goes well with Blue Stuff or Oyumaru Instant Mold plastic clay. Regular modeling clay is slow/soft, dry/rough, and lacks flex needed to cast complex figures, but doesn't need 3 minutes at 80 degrees Celsius to soften.
- You may want to paint before making parts inaccessible to a brush.
- Plastic sprues should be cut in order, if marked, from the smallest to the biggest link using a single-sided flat nipper (Stedi or better).
- Plastic glue is toxic acetate but great for melting together polystyrene model bits after removing the mold lines.
- Resin is brittle and needs superglue. Resin fumes and dust are toxic. Magnetic pads are available if you don't want to pin vice the base to hold magnets (push fit and wipe some superglue).
- Superglue melts foam. And its vapor reacts with air moisture to create white monomer "frost".
- Green Stuff is two-part epoxy that dries flexible. Good for attaching 3x1mm N52 magnets to 1mm ferrous rubber sheet in cheap plastic container to transport fragile models without pointy bits getting stuck on modular foam.
- Straighten warped stuff by coating the other side as well.
- A ready-made consistent technical paint adds texture to bases.
- DIY corn starch in grey base paint (1:1) for cracked effect. Spackle polyfiller for dusty rock. Sawdust or blended dry wet wipe for water.
- Cracks will be bigger on dried white glue + 'Ardcoat gloss varnish.
- Superglue + baking soda for roots/entrails
- Mid base coat, dark wash to make it muddy, light to make it glow, light or dark drybrush if needed, PVA glue debris/plants/tufts.
- MDF needs sealing.
- Larger older brushes are faster, but to get all details quickly, spray is better.
- All rattle/spray cans (even Citadel) contain styrofoam-melting acetone. Seal styrofoam with PVA (PolyVinyl Acetate) glue, aka water-soluble white wood glue.
- Spray in short bursts from 30+ cm away into an old box outside.
- Milk-like consistency is enough for brushing. Less than 80% opacity for glazing or washing into crannies. A little dish soap to break water surface tension might help even the pigment and/or reflective flakes.
- Wash to add shadows, but remove unrealistic drops and glare using a clean brush and matt varnish.
- Make your own glaze/shade/wash by adding 3-4 parts water and a little dish soap.
- Drybrush (with a cheap makeup brush) to make details more visible.
- If stencils aren't detailed enough, apply wet decals on Micro Set, when dry fix their shape with Micro Sol, then hide the layer with Lahmian Medium.
- A less toxic alternative to spraying a basecoat: Airbrush black into the nooks for shade and white as bright basecoat/guide/highlight if using translucent staining shade/wash aka ink/dye/speed/contrast paint. Faster and prettier than a base paint + wash imo.
- Cheap nail airbrushes probably lack a dial, but 18 psi looks best 28 is frosty and 8 lumpy. Too thin is drippy.
- Needle size 0.2 is for details and 0.3-0.4 for primer, airbrush into a box with paper towels, brush the paint out after use with cleaner or alcohol, and water rinse the alcohol off the rubber seals after. Vallejo > AK > GW. Toxic paint like enamel requires a respirator.
- Vallejo > Reaper > Citadel but craft acrylic + water works.
- Airbrushed layers are thinner than brushed layers, so mistakes can be more easily corrected without using alcohol to strip the layer.
- A normal backpack fits three 2L plastic containers with 1mm ferrous rubber sheets (self-adhesive stinks and 1mm thickness requires N52 strength magnets to prevent shifting, and more than one 1x3mm magnet in case they don't contact the sheet well enough because you pushed the Green Stuff filler too hard to stop it sticking to your table while drying for 1+ hour.), each containing thirty 32mm base models.
- If you don't mind rubbing foam on your models, 6x8 fit into a 39x14x30cm 14 euro modular foam tool case.
- A 75 euro dedicated backpack with wooden frame and metallic shelves works best.
- Terrain should be symmetrical or deployment zone choice random.
- Ruin visibility is a point of discussion in 10th edition. Afaik vehicles can be seen if any part overlaps a ruin footprint, but can't see through the ruin until the entire model is inside. Same for non-vehicles on a base basis.
- First floor ruin windows, doors, etc are considered closed in tournaments, except infantry can go through walls.
- Different rules apply to 100 point Kill Team (30"x22"), 500 points Boarding Action (24"x28", 28″x 48″?, or 55"x48"??), and 500 point Combat Patrol (44"x30") formats. Regular 40k games are 1000 (Incursion, up to 44"x60"), 2000 (Strikeforce, 44"x60"), or 3000 (Onslaught, 44"x90") points.
- You need about 24 D6 dice to roll hits, wounds, and saves. D20 games like Stargrave are said to be thrice as fast using D20 dice.
- To hit, roll at least BS or WS.
- Then for each hit to wound:
threshold = 5
if strength > 2 * toughness:
threshold = 2
elif strength > toughness:
threshold = 3
elif strength == toughness:
threshold = 4
elif 2 * strength <= toughness:
threshold = 6- Wounds are assigned to any (damaged first) bodyguard model of a unit.
- Then invulnerable save or armor save. Cover gives +1 armor to a roll of 3+ if AP else 4+.
- Games last for 3 to 5 rounds, and can take 0.5 (100 points) to 3 (2500 points, 4 players) to 4.5 (8000 points) hours per player.
- Rules change per edition (every 3 years) and update (every 6 months). Points per unit change every quarter.
- Some models get discontinued and can only be played with Legend rules, similar to the Disney Star Wars universe.
- Free sites like Wahapedia, New Recruit, and KTDash help to keep track of rules, points, and lists.
- One Page Rules' Grimdark Future is a cheaper alternative to Warhammer 40k, taking only 60-90 minutes for 30-50 models and 1-2 players.
- Tabletop Simulator is an even cheaper alternative way to play.
- Dune II, UFO: Enemy Unknown aka X-COM: UFO Defense, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown have relatively no barrier to entry and are excellent, albeit the first lacks batch selection.