New Forgotten Realms books

Today I found two Forgotten Realms books in my mailbox. The first one is "Bladesinger" by Keith Francis Strohm and the second one is "Son of Thunder" by Murray J.D. Leeder. Both of them were in very good condition - almost without any scratches or creasing (which is fantastic not only from the collector's point of view, but because sites that sell used books can sometims grade two books in very different conditions the same way). 

Now I have all of the books from "The Fighters" series and I'm probably going to start purchasing new FR books at a much slower pace, because I have a lot of reading to do. If you are interested in buying these books, it's good to know that they are not among the more expensive FR titles and they are also much easier to find than many other FR books. Also, I would like to point out that I really like the cover illustrations for all of the books in the series (except "Master of Chains"), my favourite one being the cover illustration for "Ghostwalker". The artist is Raymond Swanland, illustrator that put out some fantastic work for Magic the Gathering, Star Wars and some other franchises, illustrated book covers for several fantasy titles ("The Black Company" series, for example) and also did a few metal album covers. If you like his style, be sure to check his website here. 

Abaddon the Despoiler - then and now

With the latest batch of the miniatures I have orded came Abaddon the Despoiler. He is a fantastic-looking model and he will be one of the centerpiece models for my Chaos Space Marines army. Funny thing is that I don't want pure Black Legion army, but some Tzeentch-themed traitor legion that loves Daemon Engines - but I'm sure I'll think up a story to have Abaddon there as well, somehow. Anyway, I have assembled him last night and then I put him next to the original miniature of Abaddon the Despoiler that I have bought long, long time ago. It's really cool to have these two iconic models side by side:

Abaddon the Despoiler always was one of the most iconic and recognizable Warhammer 40K characters - at least for me, and I still remember how I stared at the cover of some old White Dwarf issue where he appeared (it was the same illustration that was on the cover of Codex Chaos for Warhammer 40K 2nd edition). It was this illustration: 

At the time, I did not know much about the lore (or the game in general) - but images like this one was what sparked my interest for Warhammer 40K (and Chaos Space Marines, of course). I've never liked the old model - for me, it lacked everything that was great about this illustration (but I understand it probably has a special place in the hearts of many players). However, with the new model, I can finally have Abaddon in all his glory as part of my games. :)

Yay! New models!

Last week, another batch of models that I ordered back in December finally arrived, so I have picked them up today! This batch contained everything I needed in order to complete my Chaos Space Marines army (and Ogroid Myrmidon, which I plan to use in m Slaves to Darkness army). 

So, with Havocs, Hellbrute and Abaddon finally here, I can start assembling the models and creating my first few CSM lists! I have a very cool Combat Patrol in mind (something inspired by Chaos forces from the first editions of 40K). I can't wait to play it against my friend Ivan's Flesh Tearers (despite my models being complely unpainted). 

Oh, and Ivan and me played our first WH40K 9th edition game last week - there's a battle report coming soon, so stay tuned!