First games out...

Like I said, it's been a while.

I didn't realize how long.

The first game out with my new list, I was playing against a person who has played, quite literally, three games. I can try and assuage myself by saying that he stole the imitative, but the fact of the matter is, I lost because I made stupid mistakes and played too conservatively. I weathered the first turn of fire, losing one Raven to a drop podded Sterngard squad. I hung back to use the remaining Storm Raven's firepower, and ended with the squad and dread inside being out of position when the Raven crashed. He pummeled me, with me helping him to do so. Still, the shame hung with me for a day, until I faced off against his roommate.

That game went significantly better. I ended up controlling the pace of the battle better than the last by being aggressive and shoving the Storm Ravens right in his face. I pounded his Death Company and troops, and his immobilized Land Raider was surrounded by my troops and a Blood Talon dread.

I need to test out and refine this list a bit further before I'm satisfied, but I like the way it plays.

It's about damn time...

It's about damn time I returned to this blog. I haven't been playing much in the way of games since the semester started winding down.

Tomorrow, I'm headed out to Games Workshop to order a few bits and pieces for my revamped 1850 army of cheesy doom. I'm hoping to get a game against Dark Eldar at some point, but I haven't yet.

Here's what I'm thinking of taking in 1850:

1850 Pts - Blood Angels Roster - Flesh tearers 1850 Double Raven

HQ: Librarian (1#, 100 pts)
1 Librarian @ 100 pts (Blood Lance; Fear of the Darkness)


HQ: Reclusiarch (1#, 145 pts)
1 Reclusiarch @ 145 pts (Power Fist)

Elite: Terminator Assault Squad (10#, 425 pts)
5 LC and 5 TH/SS

Troops: Assault Squad (11#, 250 pts)
10 men, rhino, Melta gun x2, Power fist

Troops: Assault Squad (11#, 250 pts)
10 men, rhino, Melta gun x2, Power fist

Heavy Support: Stormraven Gunship (1#, 215 pts)
1 Stormraven Gunship @ 215 pts Extra armor, Multi-melta, Lascannons

Heavy Support: Stormraven Gunship (1#, 215 pts)
1 Stormraven Gunship @ 215 pts Extra armor, Multi-melta, Lascannons


Elite: Furioso Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)
1 Furioso Dreadnought @ 125 pts Blood talons, Storm Bolter/Melta

Elite: Furioso Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)
1 Furioso Dreadnought @ 125 pts Blood talons, Storm Bolter/Melta

I see this as a hyper-agressive fun list. I'm not sure about the storm raven's survivability, and I want to play test this before I use it anywhere important. Of course, Adepticon is fast approaching, so I want to get in as much practice as possible. I can also swap in some drop pods for the rhinos, and I was thinking about adding locator beacons to allow the Storm Ravens to safely deep strike.

Mid-way point

The Proto-type Storm Raven is coming along quite nicely.

Bloody Blood Blood Missiles (Or whatever they're called).



Ditto.



Underside:



Profile Shot

It begins!

I've finished the basic blocking for the front portion of the first Storm Raven. This is the first time I've worked with a conversion of such complexity, and it's quite interesting so far. I'm working with making all my measurements in millimeters, since I think they lend themselves better to making exacting measurements.

Here's my initial build of the hull. The portion of the top deck was cut away to increase the overall height of the model, and will be used to create the nose of the Raven. The rear angled areas were also cut as well, as the body will be lengthened to suggest an area for the Dreadnought to ride in.



The rear, cut away from the front.



The tail has been turned into a canard wing.



Here is the upper structure on the fuselage.



And here are the front Multi-meltas in place. They're from the IG Russ kit, BTW. The rear tab was cut off to allow them to fit, and I filed the sides down to make them fit.

So, against my better judgment, I'm going to attempt the above conversion (click through the pic to see the full write up on BoLS). Not once, but twice. I'd love to play with two Storm Ravens, and I don't see GW making one any time soon. Due to some fortuitous trades, I was able to get two Valkyries at no cost to myself. I'm thinking I'm going to need some help, and I'll seek out some advice from a friend or two for this.


Wish me luck!

NOVA Open Round Three

The third round saw me facing Joseph Trueblood, a gamer I had not met before. He plays mostly in the VA area, and, like me, was undefeated coming into the round. Scenario 3 saw us setting up as a pitched battle, with table quarters as the primary, with objectives as secondary, and VP's as the tertiary. As you can see from the very brief video above, I completely slacked on the recording of my games as the day wore on. This was the last video that I took for the day.

Joe was playing a highly mobile BA force.
Mephiston
3 5 man assault squads with various special weapons in Razorbacks
3 Furioso dreads
3 Vindicators
3 Baal Preds, 1 flame storm, 2 Twinlinked Assault Cannons

I won the first turn, and set up in the far corner, castling and waiting for the pain to come my way. He toed the deployment line, getting as close to me as he could. He attempted to sieze initiative, but failed.

He scouted forward, and my valk scouted to the flank to get side shots on his preds and vindicators. The valk also served as a distraction to draw away fire power, as did my ratlings, which were also deployed to get side shots. I had Marbo and a guard squad in reserve. The guard squad was to enter on another table quarter and hide to add 75 points to my total there.

With the set-up we had, I was able to whittle him down over time. Anything that threatened my area of the board got unloaded on until it was stunned, immobilized, or destroyed. He clumped his vehicles together, which allowed my manticore, devil dogs, and medusas extra leeway in targeting, and indeed, got me extra hits. That being said, it was still a hard row to hoe. I had to maneuver to get shots in his vulnerable side armor for his baal predators and his vindicators. He made excellent use of cover as well. My guard squad that was meant to hide was actually forced to do something, and plasma-gunned on of his vindicator's guns off.

It was another desperate, hard fought battle, but in the end, it was tied for quarters, tied for objectives, and I won in VP's. Set-up was very favorable to me, and it accounted for my victory.

NOVA Open Round 2

Round two was possibly the hardest fought game that I had. The impossible happened, and we ended up going through tieing all three victory conditions until a winner emerged.

Out of eighty-eight possible opponents, my foe was no less than Leigh Brady, a fellow Fr.A.G.er. I knew I was in for a hard fight, but little did I know how hard. I don't have his list, but you can see it on the video: Razorspam with Gating Terminator bully boys and Dakkadreds. It was hard as hell, and twice as ugly to have to face. The mission was objective capture, and the deployment was pitched battle. Secondary tiebreaker was VP by a 250 point margin, and tertiary was table quarters.

As with the last post, my camera work was hit and miss, but I hope that it lends you all the impression that after turn two, I thought I was done. My losses at that point: My Devil Dog, two Manticores, a Chimera, a Platoon Command Squad, and I was sitting looking at Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators squarely in my deployment zone.

Then it all took a turn for the better. I torrented the Libarian away from the Terminators, and they took a ton of wounds. I passed my Weaken Resolve roll, and they fled for the rest of the game. My hydras, Chimeras and autocannon squads pummelled his vehicles senseless, and my melta vets captured a key objective in the center. Each of us were tearing each other to pieces, but the game ended all too soon. At the end, we tied on objectives with two each, we failed to clear a 250 threshold for a VP victory, and both of us had two table quarters. It came down to raw victory points.

I won the game by 5 points. Let me repeat that: 5 points. Less than 1/3 of a Marine. But a "W" is a "W", so... Leigh sucks. Forever.

Seriously, though. This was a hard fought game, and it couldn't have been closer had I tried. It also goes to prove that whole addage of "never giving up". Had I conceeded after turn two, I never would have had that great game. Neither of us can beleive that the game turned out that way. It just goes to show you what massed firepower can do.

NOVA Open Recap, Round 1

After watching these videos from the weekend, I realize that I am unqualified to do these things in a tournament environment. I'm far too into the games to actually remember to take the videos in the first place. But the videos are all I have, as my still camera crapped out on me. So, they're what you get. My apologies.

That being said, the NOVA Open was a great time. 4 rounds of some of the best (and closest) 40k games I've ever had. I can't say enough about the level of competition and sportsmanship on display this weekend, and the dedication of the staff on hand to resolve issues that arose during the game. The format can be found on the Whiskey and 40k blog.

So, let's get onto the games, shall we?

Game 1 had me facing Casey Campbell, from the Iron Fist League, a group of veteran gamers based in Northern Virginia/DC.

His list:
Swarmlord
2 Tyrant Guard
Warrior Prime with Lashwhip/Bonesword, Deathspitter
8 Warriors with Rending Claws, Deathspitters, 1 Barbed Strangler
9 Stealers+Broodlord with scything talons
9 Stealers+Broodlord with scything talons

10 Termagants with spine fists - 60
Tervigon with catalyst, scything talons, cluster spines, adrenal glands, toxin sacs - 200
3 Hive Guard
3 Hive Guard
Doom with Pod
3 Ravenors with rending claws

What did I bring? The glorious Valhallan 42nd Mountaineers, pride of the Motherworld!

Lt. Sorin Company command with lascannon, plasma x 2 Chimera with HHB and TML
Chef Gordo Ramsey and Kitchen Crew (3 Ratlings)
Psyker Battle Squad 7+1 Overseer, Chimera with HHF, TML
Guardsman Marbo
Revnik's Ragers, 1st Platoon, Faith Company
-Platoon Command, flamer x 4, Platoon Commander, Chimera with HHB, THF
-3 Autocannon/plasma squads
-Commissar Price, power weapon
Veteran Squad with 3x Melta, Chimera with HHF, TML
Al-Marakesh's Irregulars (Veteran Squad) Plasma riflex3*
Devil Dog, HHF
Devil Dog, HHF
Vendetta Gunship *(The plasma rifler's ride)
Manticore
Medusa squadron of two
Hydra squadron of two

Mission: Dawn of War set up, VP primary objective/Table Quarters tie-breaker/Objective secondary tiebreaker

How do I sum this game up? It was a dawn of war mission with a shooting army opposing a close combat army with no real form of transport. Casey's only chance was getting his infiltrating stealers into CC early, and getting Doom quickly to distract me. Due to his terrain rolls and reserve rolls, it just wasn't happening. He made some interesting choices for his list that-- which as someone who doesn't play tyranids-- I just didn't understand. Not spawning, including warriors, not including another tervigon, allowing termigants to slow the Swarmlord down... I think the cards were stacked against him, but I think at that point, you have to play more aggressively than he did. He attempted to keep the termigants in cover, and the tyrant guard/Swarmlord squad behind them to give them cover. All that ended up doing was hold the Swarmlord back, and I never had to worry about him. I know what he was attempting to do, protect all at all cost, but that was the wrong strategy to employ with a Tyranid list. He was so afraid of failing that he ended up failing. All my list had to worry about was: the Hiveguard, stealers, and the Doom and pod. 2000 points versus 806 points tells you how that scenario will end, no doubt.

Fantasy Flight Games: Out for my Soul?

Or at least for my wallet?

I've often joked that GW will own my soul upon the shuffling off of this mortal coil, but lately, a new contender has arrived, demanding my nonexistant hobby dollars. Between Dom and myself, the list is long:

Horus Heresy
Chaos in the Old World
BattleStar Galatica
Pegasus Expansion
Twilight Imperium
Warhammer Invasion
Arkham Horror

If we expand that even further, I know that Tony owns Runescape, and I'm fairly certain he owns the WoW board game and Age of Conan as well.

I think we need an intervention.

Oh, Blog, you're right, I have been ignoring you!

I had been preparing for two tournaments, one of which has passed (the Inner Circle GT qualifier), and one which is still coming up, the NOVA Open in Dulles, VA. And my brother was in town this week, so we got a few board games in this week. See also the Chaos in the Old World pic above. We played that about 5-6 times over the week, falling more and more in love with it as we did. I can't recommend it more highly. Buy it, buy it now.

How did the ICGT go? Four games in one day is exhausting mentally, and I didn't get enough sleep. See how I'm building excuses right there? I took my IG instead of my Flesh Tearers as I couldn't come up with a list that seemed to work on paper. Game one had me facing off against PJ Brady of F.R.A.G. who had a wonky Shrike/Khan/TH/SS/Melta Drop pod list. It was victory points/dawn of war. I ended up killing all his troops, and he returned the favor. Khan and my Marbo counts as had an epic duel, and, sadly, it did not end well for Sly. It was a 400 point difference in the end, and sadly it was not in my favor.

Game two was another marine list, a great looking Aurora Chapter list that was a tad bit underperforming. The Mission was objectives/Pitched battle. I would have had a clear victory with it, but I made a silly mistake in not chasing after a broken Sternguard squad with Vulkan attached, so we had to go to the tiebreaker of VP's, where I was the clear winner. That led me to game against another F.R.A.G.er, Pete, who's Eldar raked me over the coals. It started with the turn two loss of my Manticore, which hadn't fired a shot. The worst part? The scatter die that wrecked my tanks was mine own! Part of it was dice, but over all, my target priority was off the entire game. I hate grav tanks, with a passion, and I chose to shoot them over the Dire Avengers that wrecked my infantry.

So, I'm 1-2, and that means at best I'm mid-tier. So the last game is a fun one. I ended up playing Dave Johnson's exquisitely painted Nid Army. All the target priority problems I had in game three were gone, and I got hits all over the place. I also ended seizing initiative .His Hive Guard were halved the first turn, and gone by turn three. A Tyranofex had 5 wounds by turn one's end. It was a pitched battle old school recon mission, with whoever had more scoring troops in the enemy deployment being the winner. It came down to two squads of termigants, one with two, and one with one. He hid them so well, I had to maneuver my entire army to get them. One survived, getting him the tie, but I won the tie breaker (VP's). So, 2-2 isn't all that bad, and I was only 4 points behind the Paint Score winner.

A Note to My Great Unclean One

Dear Sir:

If you are to continue your current practice of arriving late to the battle field on all occasions, then I shall be forced to downgrade you to a Middling Untidy One.

Showing up on turn five does not count as timely attendance.

Sincerely,
The Management.

Double Valkyrie all the way!

Well, technichally, a double vendetta.

This was a photo that I took at Adepticon 2010. It happened during a game between my friend Erich and the well-known Dave Taylor. Yes, that Dave Taylor. It was a great table to watch, as both opponents have exquisite armies, Erich's being a stunning Vostroyan force, and Dave's being, well, Dave's Blood Pact.



As for Team Banzai team is already gearing up for another visit this year, and we're hoping to field two teams, a spirit/theme team, and a more competative team for the face smashing. I'm team captain of the face smashers.

There is a possibility of us making an assassin team, and hoping to take most in the way of HQ points from our foe, while making highly survivable HQ's capable of doing some very nasty work. The peril is that I will need to make a mixed team, and if I do that, as per last year's rules, only one "named" character can be used. It will be an interesting challenge, one that I hope we can rise to. I still need two more members to round it out. We have time, but the more we practice, the better.

Individually, I'm also looking to enter the championships, if for nothing else than adding to my RankingsHQ standings.

Board Games.

I told you I was a board gamer.

I've played it twice since this video, and I've lost both times. I still want to play it. I'm doing a full write up later on about it, but I just want to give you all this initial introduction.

Fantasy? 40k?

The answer is yes to both. I taking a break from my list making blues and I'm building my 40k/Fantasy Daemonettes. My 40k daemon army is my "fun" army. I bring it out when I just want to play a game. It's a one trick pony, but it's a trick that it does well: kill infantry. Of course, no-one runs an infantry army, so it's a dog's breakfast now-a-days, but it's still a neat looking thing to break out. Daemonettes are really fun in the 8th environment, what with Always Strikes First. I take a prince that uses Lore of Shadows, and I love the idea of ASF-Mind Razored Daemonettes. Let me personally say that cutting the tiles fit the board was hell on toast, but it will be worth it once they're all assembled and painted.

List block

I'm playing in an 1850 point tourney on the 31st, and I'm blanking on a decent list for Blood Angels at the point level.

2000? I've got a list I consider decent. 2500, I have my 'ard Boys list. 1850? I've got nothing.

Army Builder lists have been pounded out, and they all seem wanting. I'm looking at a 90% of the current opponent roster being mechanized, and what I have painted for my BA just can't hack it. I'm lacking a decent punch at a decent range. 24-12 inches? I'm set. Any thing beyond that, and I'm found wanting.

It's wracking my brain. I have a mental block that I just can't seem to get rid of.

I might have to switch to my guard.

Another 1500 point game

I went to 'orkridge to hang out and talk to the people there, and I ended up playing another 1500 point game.

I used the same list, against a young gent's Lizard list. 3 skink priests, so he had all the Heavens spells, a big block of Sarus cav, and a big block of Sarus. I don't know what he was thinking.

We played meeting engagement, and it ended up with most of my stuff being on the board, except for the nurglings. So no worries. Up until I read that fliers take extra hits from all Heaven spells. Those skinks had to go. The lizards got the first turn, and the cav got in there quick. His foot Sarus were stuck in reserve, and walked on. It was the start of his bad luck with the winds of magic, a remarkable three dice. His charging Sarus on Cold Ones killed two whole Plague Bearers, and I ended up killing three. His Sarus held due to some magic item making them stubborn. My Prince moved to kill the priests, and to get out of the charge arc of the foot sarus.

My second PB unit flanked the Cold One Riders, and we cut them down. I didn't fail a single regen save. He couldn't hit anything. It was horrible. He finally got his Foot Sarus in, and his hero rolled 5 misses for his five attacks. I just couldn't lose. I straight up murdered him. I kind of felt badly. It was as if my dice were in opposite land. I will never, ever have this good a game in a tournament. His Sarus, despite charging and being in 4+ ranks with spears, ended up running, and moved a bold three inches away, right in the charge arc of the Prince. At that point, my opponent shook my hand and called it a night.

What did I learn?

Position is everything, and the charge doesn't mean a thing when you can't hit. Also, complex combats suck to figure out.

1500 Escalation League part 2

Same list as the last post.

I ended up facing a Brettonian list with two large lance formations, a Duke, a BSB, a prophetess on foot, a damsel on horseback, peasants with fire arrows, and a stone thrower.

We played mission 4, which stated that once your army was down to two remaining banners/general points, they lost the game.

We rolled off for terrain, and I placed a manor house centrally to block LOS for some of his units, and a tower opposite it to funnel the action to a narrow choke point. I set up favoring the choke point, and set my Prince up behind the manor house to keep from the archer's line of sight. My nurglings flanked to the right of his heavy unit with the Duke, BSB and assorted knights.

His Duke unit was stationed near the choke point, and his other unit was to the right of the manor, near the stone thrower. The peasants were at the choke point opposite the Duke/BSB unit, and the Prophetess was between the two, as bait.

Fairly soon, I got myself in trouble. My nurglings tried to get out of his charge arc, but the didn't quite get there. The Duke's unit stomped them into the ground in one combat with the nurglings doing nothing.

I charged my Prince into the duke's unit unsupported, hoping to kill them fairly easily, but their armor held well. I had a chance of breaking him that first turn, but the valorus standard (accompanied by his uncanny knack of making ward saves) saved his bacon. Over a few rounds of combat, the rpince was seen off. To support him, I charged the units in after him, and we ended up with a bizzare combat tetris. Please marvel at my MS Paint skills:



Eventually, even the peasants joined the party, flanking my plaguebearers on the side, but it was too late for the Prince, as he was killed shortly after, but not before the prophetess died. The peasants were flanked themselves by the other Plaguebearers. The peasants died horribly, and I failed to restrain my victorious Plaguebearer's pursuit. They took themselves out of the cover the manor provided, and allowed themselves to get smashed between two brettonian units of knights. After that, it was game over. Two rolls determined the game: his passed leadership after my Prince charged him, and my failed pursuit retraint. If either of those had gone the other way, it would have been a much different game.

What did I learn?

My list is vulnerable to heavy armor. I need magic or high strength models to get past it. Or I need to cause more wounds. I have to learn not to be baited by seemingly vulnerable units alone. I have to learn better positioning, and that monsters unsupported are not in a favorable position. Had my nurglings survived and been able to flank him, I might have broken him, and then the game would have swung a different way.

Good lessons, I say.

1500 Point Escalation League WHFB

Making a Daemons of Chaos army fit 1500 points with the models I've got is more difficult than I thought. I was supremely outnumbered by both my opponents, but that's to be expected with daemons, I suppose.

Lords:
Daemon Prince
Winged Horror, Soul Hunger, Unnatural Swiftness

Heros:
Herald of Nurgle, BSB with Banner of Sundering, Noxious Vapors, Slime Trail

Herald of Nurgle, Noxious Vapors

Core:
20 Plague-bearers, MSC, Banner of re-roll wounds

20 Plague-bearers, MSC, Banner of re-roll wounds

Special:
5 Nurgling bases

1500 even

I lucked out with my first opponent taking the Lore of Light, so my banner was in full effect against the Empire.

We played meeting engagement, and my prince and my non-bsb plague bearers ended up in reserve. I won the roll to set up first and positioned lone PB unit where I could claim some cover from a watchtower midfield. I held my scouting nurglings back. He ended up with just two units in reserve, some swordsmen with their detachments being in reserve, and some handgunners. He placed his remaining swordsmen to the left of my unit, and his flagellents right in front of my BSB unit. His wizard was midfield, and his priest was with his swordsmen. There was a mortar and a cannon on my far right, and a cannon just behind the midfield wizard. I placed my nurglings where I could threaten the warmachines and prayed he didn't roll a six to get first turn.

My prince and the missing PBs came on from the board edge, and the nurglings marched toward the mortar. The charge against the flagellents failed, and the PBs stumbled forward. Things did not look good for our intrepid non-heros. On his turn, his flagellents crashed into the BSB's unit, full of hate and such, but the PB's gave as good as they got, and ground them down after two turns. The prince ended up being shot up, and in the next turn, was Van Horstmaned to death by the priest. The priest's swordsmen and attached spears smashed into the fresh PB squad, and the two units slowly ground each other down, with the advantage on the side of Nurgle. In the meantime, the BSB's unit killed the handgunners attached on the priest, while the underestimated nurglings slaughtered the mortar crew, overran into the nearby cannon crew, killed them, and panicked a unit of handgunners off the board, and then survived a fulisade from another handgunner unit, only to kill them off as well. Don't underestimate the power of 15 poisoned attacks!

Meanwhile, the BSB's unit circled around to the rear of the now decimated swordmen, and were in a position to charge them. The priests bound spells had all been dispelled, and now the unbreakable swordsmen with the priest with a 5+ ward save was down to just the priest. The spearmen had long fled, and the priest decided to leg it. The nonBSB plaguebearers ran him down. From there, it was simply consolidating my victory.

Bizarre Bazaar

My local Games Workshop, Yorkridge (aka 'orkridge), had a Bizzare Bazaar yesterday, and I feel like I made out like a bandit. I ended up with the makings for a Daemons of Chaos Warhammer Fantasy Army, and about 900 points of Beastmen, all for trading stuff that I wasn't using, and didn't want. This solidifies my entrance in to the forbidden world of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

If you've never had a hobby swap meet, I highly recommend having your local shop do one. The way that the BB works is that no chash is exchanged, only bitz, models, and gift cards. If you're like me, you've got tons of hobby stuff taking up space that you no longer want, but someone else will. The store benefits from the gift cards burning a hole in the various participant's pockets. The atmosphere was good natured trading, and you can end up with some very neat odds and ends.

Warhammer Fantasy Review: A Fresh Perpective

Before I get into this review, I will give you a bit of a back ground. I have always preferred Sci-Fi over Fantasy fiction. I always preferred the rational to the mystical. I never really "got" fantasy fiction, I never saw the appeal. It probably didn't help that during the time I grew up, "good" fantasy was hard to find. That changed with, like a lot of people, the Lord of the Rings movies. They made a fantasy world feel real, and I finally understood what the appeal to those types of settings where.

So naturally in the early 00's, when I got into miniature wargaming my tendency was towards Warhammer 40k. And 40k will always be my first love; tanks, Space Marines, and mass carnage will keep me in that game a very long time.

But Warhammer was always there, and always tempted me. I always loved it's background, and the mixture of so many fantasy concepts that existed in this world.

During my many years of gaming I have false started many of the Warhammer Races that interested me the most. Empire, Lizardmen, Bretonians, and High Elves, are the short list of races I always wanted to play. So if I always had this desire to play Warhammer, what has stopped me over the years. The answer is simple.

The game.

There are many players that will disagree with me, and this is just my personal opinion, but the Warhammer game has not been a fun game for quite some time. Everytime I would feel that fantasy itch in my early years, get some models together and actually sit down and play the game, I would immediately shelve the army I was building and going back to the realm of tanks and boltguns.

Why? Well the game simply wasn't fun. Basically when you have Army "A" charge Army "B", automatically go first, kill your front rank before you had a chance to strike, and make you flee off the table in the course of a turn, that didn't make the investment of 40 to 60 dollars a unit (not to mention the high priced metals) worth it. I also absolutely hated that only the front guys in a rank get to fight. I never saw it as a good return on my time to assemble and paint big blocks of infantry to only get maybe 5 attacks.

That is not to say that Fantasy didn't have it's backers in the last editions. I am sure there are many people out there that loved the fantasy game for every reason I disliked it. But as the immortal Austin Powers says "It just isn't my bag, baby".

Having said that what has changed? Almost everything.

My advice to everyone who has even heard of the game, forget what you know. This is almost a totally new game system.

Sure the basics are still there. Four phases to the game, blocks of infantry and calvary, warmachines, monsters, etc., etc. still all exist. You declare charges at the start of the game, you move per your movement rate (and have the option to march), you cast spells in the magic phase, you shoot in the shooting phase, and you fight your combats in the assault phase. All standard fantasy affairs.

But the system has changed for the better in many ways. The more I play and experience things I will be posting more in depth reviews of certain aspects, but I will go over some of the key differences and why I think they have improved overall game play.

The fundamental change to the game is that you can premeasure everything. Suddenly, the game is no longer about who can determine distances anymore, but rather what your army can do.

Premeasureing is the major change that trickles down into the rest of the game.

But let's get to the major changes and how they effect the way the game plays.

First: Charging. Charging is a random distance of 2D6 plus your movement (Calvary, Monsters, etc. get 3D6 and pick the two highest). Your opponent still has charge reactions, so the decision to charge is still a live or die part of the game. If I am 13" away from my Skaven opponent with my unit of Swordsmen, do I charge? At first glance that may be an obvious answer, but what if my opponent flees? It is doubtful that at that distance, your charge distance is going to equal the Skaven's 2D6 roll plus the 13" difference. Now suddenly I have a 20 man infantry block out of position with the rest of my army.

Second: Magic. Like all versions of the game, Magic is very much a phase you have to plan out ahead of time. Now, instead of generating dice (which lead to some armies just dominating with ridiculous amounts of power dice), it is now a simple roll of 2D6. You get the total of the number rolled, your opponent gets the highest die number you rolled. You can throw large numbers of dice at any particular spell, adding the level of your wizard to the pool. With these changes, magic is very much a quality over quantity system now. Level 4 Wizards have a great chance to cast, can have and cast more spells, and have a greater ability to dispel. Because of the limited amount of dice that can be thrown around, bonuses to your casting (such as being a level 4) or abilities that can add extra dice will be king of the magic phase. (Slaan are absolutely scary).

Third: Shooting. Most everything is the same, the modifiers to hit and save modifiers hasn't really gone anywhere. The biggest thing is the removal of partials. Template weapons, that where few and far between anyways, finally feel worth it. Considering you still need to roll to wound and very few template weapons are highly damaging weapons, the loss of partials is a good thing.

Forth: Combat. All models fight at initiative now and there is no chance of killing the front rank anymore. In addition, all units fight further in. You will always get a supporting attack from the second rand, spears give you an additional rank worth of fighting if they are charged. So basically the changes in combat have made combats much more brutal and shifted the responsibility of fighting combat from who got the charge back onto the capabilities of the unit. This, I think, is probably the biggest change and the one that has really made the game great. For example, Empire generally have 3 State Trooper options, all at the same cost (if they have shields). In 7th, there was almost no reason to field anything but Swordsmen because, with the higher weapon skill and your first rank only fighting, the benefits of the other options didn't help. Now, an Empire player really has a choice. Do I take Swordsmen and utilize the higher weapon skill but suffer if I fight other units with equal or higher weapon skill? Do I take Halberters that are going to hit most things on 4s but have a higher strength to wound things? Or do I take spearmen and try and win on weight of attacks? As you can see these changes have fundamentally changed how most armies put units on the table, and how they support them. Some armies will field tarpit units, some will field units that rush into the charge. To me, the new system rewards a greater amount of diversity of units in the system.

Lastly: Terrain. Terrain is much more plentiful these days, which is great because that means the fantasy battlefields will not always be barren wastelands with little on it. They also addressed this in the core rules with only putting minor penalties on the units, making the greater increase of terrain not bog down the game.

All these changes make for a system that is a lot quicker to play and battles that are incredibly bloody as well.

So ultimately, I really like the system. I am sure there are going to be hard core players that will hate how big of a change it is, but to me, they addressed mostly everything I felt was wrong with the system.

The biggest thing though is that it is fun. Could you ask for more?

Fantasy?

I'm debating it.

I know, say it isn't so.

I've made a stand against the system for years due to it's fiddly bullshit movement rules. But I played my first game in ten years today, and I liked it. I had my ass handed to me, of course (friggin Dark Elf assassins!), but there were a few moments out there that seemed like fun.

I ended up borrowing a friend's High Elf army, with a big block of 50 Lothran Sea-guard, White Lions, Sword Masters, and Phoenix Guard. Add in two mages and a lord, and that was it. He pulled out a Hydra, Two units of Corsairs, and some Cold One Knights. I did well in the Magic Phase (despite a miscast), but he pummeled the snot out of me in the Melee Phase. Though I did have a champion challenge one of his Assassins, and over the course of two rounds, the assassin proceeded to whiff entirely, while my champion murdered him outright. It was all for naught, though. Eternal Hatred carried the day. I was sent scurrying back to my island home, with the forces of Naggaroth claiming the field of victory.

The game was well paced, the combat was relatively transparent, and the new casualty removal rules made the second + ranks seem less like counters and more like they were part of the unit. I'll have to sit down with the rules at some point and read through them more thoroughly. But, all in all, I enjoyed it.

Sanguinary Guard WIP, again

I ended up doing a bit more work on these guys, simply because. I really don't think that they fit my play style, but the figures are well sculpted.

Quick and Dirty Sang Priest in Terminator Armor

I was bored today, and so I went on a cleaning spree of my hobby bench.

I came across a spare Corbulo (from the old Heros of the Imperium Set, if you remember that), and a spare AoBR Terminator.

So, I got out my trusty clippers and razor saw, and got to work.

First, I cut the face of the terminator down to give it that Grey Knight look. I wish the idea was mine, but I stole it from Bolter and Chainsword.



I then cut off the Chalice hand of Corbulo just past the elbow, and did the same with the terminator's corresponding arm. I took care to keep the wires on the Exsanguinator portion of the arm. I pinned the metal piece to the plastic arm, and added a spare devotional cloth to the shoulder pad of the arm. I then took a spare searchlight from the DA Assault Cannon for the Land Speeder, and added it to the Priest's back.



Here's the semi-finished product. I'm going to go back and tidy up the mold lines, and add sculpted blood drops. I'm also going to tidy up the helmet a bit as well. But I think it looks good so far.

So I just got back from the Semi-Finals...

Scooter, Damien, Leigh and I all caravaned up to The Aventurer's Guild in Harrisburg, Pa to take part in the 'ard Boyz Semi-Finals tourney.

Here's my list:

Flesh Tearers
HQ
Reclusiarch	Power Fist	145
Librarian	Blood Lance Shield of Sanginus	100
Troops
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Paired Lightning Claw Flamer Flamer	230
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Power Fist Melta Melta	235
Assault Squad, 9	Sgt Cost Power Fist Remove jump packs Melta Gun Rhino Searchlight	223
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Power Fist Flamer Flamer	225
Elites
Sanguinary Priests, 2	Jump pack Power Weapon for Jump Priest	140
Assault Terminators, 7	Lightning Claws x2 Thunder Hammers x 5 Land Raider Crusader Multi-Melta	565
Furioso Dreadnaught, 1	Librarian Dreadnought Wings of Sanguinous Might of Heroes	175
Fast Attack
Attack Bike, 1	Multi-Melta	50
Attack Bike, 1	Multi-Melta	50
Attack Bike, 1	Multi-Melta	50
Heavy Support
Vindicator, 1	Siege Shield Searchlight	156
Vindicator, 1	Siege Shield Searchlight	156
Points Summary:
HQ:	245
Troops:	913
Elites:	880
Fast Attack:	150
Heavy Support:	312
Total:	2500

My first opponent, Kier, was using a two Land Raider Crusader Blood Angels list with a crap ton of Typhoons, two units of missile devs, Asteroth with a jump squad, and a multi-melta dread in a pod. I had first turn, and set up with an aggressive position with my Vindicators, LRC, Attack Bikes, Libby Dread, and I had this all backed up by my PA Libby in the Rhino with Shield of Sanginius. I kept my double melta assault squad in reserve to DS with the Sanguniary Priest with the jump pack, and my other jump assaults to reserve in on the long table edge near my placed objective. Essentially, my plan was a basic pincer move. I would herd my enemy from his corner, down to where my reserves would be coming on, and we would meet in the middle. This plan worked almost perfectly.

I could tell that this opponent was not as familiar with the Blood Angles codex as he would have liked. He didn't know that Vindies were fast, and how the Psychic powers worked. I advanced into his lines, and he was hesitant to strike against me, holding Astaroth and his squad back. One of his LRCs was immobilized the first turn, and while his fire neutralized the Vindies with stuns and shakings, he kept pouring fire into them, letting everything else into close contact with troops. My Terminators ended up killing his Devs, Astaroth, and his squad, while my attack bikes and LRC pummeled his Land Speeders into submission. He did pop my Librarian dread first thing with his podded dread, but, for the most part, I kept everything intact and functioning. What did not work on my end was meltas vs his second LRC. It happened to be parked near an objective, and cost me the Massacre. Major Win, with three points.

Second game had me playing against Trevor, an Iron Fist Leagueer, who was also using an Asteroth BA list. 3 Storm Ravens, Death Company, DC Dreads, Furiosos, Lemartes, a partridge in a pear tree... I won the toss to got first or second, and I went second, keeping everything in reserve. As I began to trickle in on the second turn, I ended up with my double melta squad DSing onto a Storm Raven (Yes, I know, even with DoA), but beyond that, I got about a third of the force in. I pulled them onto the extreme right flank, hoping to mitigate the left-most storm raven and a libby furioso. It was very touch and go at first, with my casualties mounting quickly. But the tide turned with Trevor moved a Storm Raven near the board's edge to get a rear shot against my Vindie, and ended up killing it. The next turn, I surrounded its base, and wrecked it. Since he had to deploy, and there was nowhere else to go... There went a DC dread and the only other scoring troop in the game. I killed off about 500-600 points in one blow. From there, I mopped up. Trevor was jovial throughout, and a great opponent. He ended up giving me the Massacre, and two bonus points were earned in addition.

That placed me in a very good position to take one of the top three spots. I ended up facing Damien Greene, who I played in the last 'ard Boyz as well. It was a hard fought, and fantastic game. Damien and I fought tooth and nail the entire time, and shook hands at the end. He was running a Kahn bike list, with three Twin-linked AC Dreads, an Inquisitor with Tarot, three bike squads, three thunderfire cannons, two inquisitorial melta storm troopers in rhinos, and two landspeeder typhoon squadrons. He castled center, and I came in from my side deployment, all in at once. I defeated myself. I thought I could take out his melta storm troopers in the rhinos, but it was all for naught. They popped both my vindicators in the second turn. It turned that area into a parking lot. After that, I got bogged down in assault, which Khan left over and over with his hit and run. It was frustrating as all hell. His thunderfires kept pinging me to death. Over six weary turns, he killed all but 310 points of my list, where I didn't even get quite through half of his. My TH/SS terminators were rockstars, though. They survived almost until the last turn, and ended up chasing Khan and his squad off, earning me my one lonely point for this round.

Total Score: 43 points, Damien took first, Logan Payne took second, and Scooter scoot, scoot, scooted into third.

Of Tournaments and (Little Tiny) Men

Games Workshop has posted their final revisions for the 'ard Boyz Scenarios, which can be found here.

So, what do I think about them? They're clearly slanted towards assault based armies. Considering I'm taking Blood Angels, I'm strangely okay with that. I've made plans for all three missions, which I will not reveal until later, for obvious reasons. Bwah-ha-hah.

Also of note, I am strongly considering the Nova Open. The internet buzz seems fairly positive, and the Tournament Organizer's dedication to balance in both scenario and prize support seems dead on. I've invited my teammates from Team Banzai; let's see if they want to play along.

All this will be prep for the Team Tourney and Championships at Adepticon, which I'm really looking forward to participating in. Oh, I have plans within plans for the Team Tourney... Bwah-ha-haha-hah. All secret of course, I passed the reality check course at villains school, and I won't be monologuing my plans to you all.

Oh, and then there's Games Day as well. I'm attending on behalf of a gentleman in Chicago who can not make it to Baltimore,  but still wants the Games Day model. Oh, if I must. Since it's likely to be the last one in Baltimore, I think it'll be good to attend. I've heard rumors that next year it will be in Vegas, which would not offend me in the slightest. I did fairly well with craps last time I was out there, so I might have to add dice rolling to my rolling dice hobby. Games Day would be a lot better with cocktail waitresses, to be sure.

Mark Your Calendars Now

To quote Shang Tsung: IT HAS BEGUN!

As per Adepticon's site.

It’s time to mark your calendar and start making travel plans, because on April 1st, 2011, AdeptiCon will return to the Chicagoland area for our NINTH year of miniature wargaming excitement! Once again, the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center will be hosting AdeptiCon, providing a home for the one weekend that brings together those of us who are passionate about the miniature wargaming hobby.




Last year over 1200 hobbyists took part in the fellowship, excitement, and enthusiasm that has earned AdeptiCon its reputation as the “can’t miss” event of the year for the miniature wargamers across the country and the globe. We brought back our traditional Games Workshop favorites, and expanded our lineup of events to include new core gaming systems, such as Privateer Press’s Warmachine and Hordes, and Battlefront’s Flames of War. You can expect all of our core gaming systems to return, with a lineup of both traditional AdeptiCon signature events as well as new, exciting challenges.



Registration will begin this fall, so stay tuned for more updates!

Mark your calendars and put in for vaction now.

Tweaked 'ard Boyz list for this Saturday

With this list, I have a heavy assault Death Star in the TH/SS Terminators, I have 4-7 troops units for claiming objectives, two hoods for Psy defense, three melta units for anti-tank, a twin AC dread for pinging troop transports at range. I'm going to attempt to try it today or tomorrow and see how effective it is.

Flesh Tearers 4th Company Blood Angels
HQ
Reclusiarch	Power Fist	145
Librarian	Unleash Rage Shield of Sanginus Epistolary	150
Troops
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Power Fist Flamer Flamer	225
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Power Fist Melta Melta	235
Assault Squad, 9	Sgt Cost Power Fist Remove jump packs Melta Gun Rhino Searchlight	223
Assault Squad, 10	Sgt Cost Power Fist Flamer Flamer	225
Elites
Sanguinary Priests, 2	Jump pack	125
Assault Terminators, 7	Lightning Claws x2 Thunder Hammers x 5 Land Raider Crusader Multi-Melta Searchlight	566
Furioso Dreadnaught, 1	Librarian Dreadnought Wings of Sanguinous Might of Heroes	175
Heavy Support
Vindicator, 1	Siege Shield	155
Vindicator, 1	Siege Shield	155
Dreadnought, 1	Twin-linked Auto-cannon Twin-linked Auto-cannon Searchlight	121
Points Summary:
HQ:	295
Troops:	908
Elites:	866
Fast Attack:	0
Heavy Support:	431
Total:	2500

Battlefoam makes foam for ALL your gaming needs!

I think that Battlefoam has just won the foam wars.

A friend of mine from the Freebootaz, Brother Grimm, has ordered this particular gaming accessory from Romeo and his company, who make custom foam inserts to your specifications. This is in addition to their expansive line of trays for their own bags, and their foam trays available for Sabol and GW style cases.

And no, they're not compensating me in any way.

Building an Ard Boyz list, an excercise in theory...

Since this Saturday isn't the real Ard Boyz for me (playing in the "consolation" tournament here.) I though I would theory out a list in public to show how I rationalize a list, and look for any comments towards my method.

Basically, I look for three elements in a list:

1) Good anti-tank
2) Good Long Range Shooting
3) A decent assault element or two (or three)

After playtesting Saturday, I settled on a "core" of my list:

10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback = 290
10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback = 290
Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Dozerblade = 140
Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Dozerblade = 140
Stormraven w/ Twin-linked Lascannon, Twin-linked Multimelta, Hurricane Bolters, Extra Armor = 245

The troops are a little pricey, but there is something to be said with having 7 Lascannons on the table. I found that Blood Angels really need decent anti-tank at range, to help disrupt the enemy enough to fight on their terms. People may disagree but Lascannons are important still...

So, that starts me off at 1105 with no HQs just yet.

I am a little light on anti-infantry, and I have two Heavy Flamer Razorbacks dieing to be used. Assault Marines are a great way to get two more Razorbacks (and two more scoring units) on the table. Since I get a discount, and I am already paying a premium for the Tactical Squads Razorbacks, I think it is time for a split.

So now my scoring "core" is:

10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Powerweapon in Heavy Flamer Razorback = 255
10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Powerweapon in Heavy Flamer Razorback = 255
5-man Assault Squad w/ Flamer, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback = 175
5-man Assault Squad w/ Flamer, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback = 175

That is only 860 in a 2500 point list, and a potential of 6 scoring units.

Now I am at 1385 for all the troops, and the heavy support section.

Still no HQ though. My list is tracking shooty, so I think it's time to add some assault elements. Most of the Blood Angel Characters are assault characters, save regular Tycho (which would be my choice is a shooty from hell list). I am not a big fan of Mephiston, though he is a beast, I get screwed against Eldar and Space Wolves. The Sanguinor is a favorite of mine, but he doesn't really "gel" with the core of this list, most of my sergeants are going to be in transports most of the game, so his blessing will be lost.

No, I think we need Dante. If I include Powers in my list, I can limit some of the other armies defense, and some "hidden" characters suffer from his rule.

So if I include Dante, what support do I give him? I think his best support is squad with Jump Packs to capitalize on his special ability. I have plenty of scoring units, so I don't need troops sanguinary guard (and Death Company may need a place...) so I am going with Honor Guard, mainly for their "free" sanguinary priest that can't be targeted.

So my typical build for Honor Guard have been refined to this:

5 Honor Guard w/ Jump Packs, Sanguinary Novitiate, 2 Lightning Claw/ Storm Shield, 2 Meltaguns = 235

To further add to the "fun", I like to include a second HQ in a Jump Pack Librarian, as far as powers go, how about "Unleash Rage" to boast Dante and the Honor Guard, and "Blood Lance" to further the tank firepower.

Protip: Blood Lance doesn't have a target so you can draw a line in another direction then what the unit actually fires at.

So this combo costs a mighty 585. A little much, but worth it.

That puts us at 1970. A little close to our "ceiling".

I feel like another assault element is needed, plus I need something in that Stormraven.

I haven't touched the elites yet, and I also have Death Company as an option. Elites can go quickly, and I think at this point level, I need some Sanguinary Guard to buff the amount of probably 5 man squads my list has. Terminators seem fun, but I think I already have the "quality" assault unit in the Honor Guard.

Basically, it comes down to whether I want to include Corbulo. Corbulo and 2 cheap Sanguinary Guard puts me at 2175. A little tight to fit the Stormraven element (which I want to be an assault element and a Dreadnought).

To hell with it, they are in the list.

325 left...

Death Company would be nice, but I can't field them without a Chaplain, and that would burn the rest of my points.

But of course I feel the same way towards Terminators.

Since the Dreadnought is going to be a Blood Talons Dreadnought, it comes down to Furioso versus Death Company.

I think the Death Company Dreadnought is more important in this equation, namely for it's ability to fleet off the Stormraven. Being in the transport prevents rage from being a liability, and in this equation more reliable delivery matters.

Making that choice will put me over, as I don't feel comfortable fielding the Death Company outside of this configuration:

Chaplain = 100
8-man Death Company w/ Thunderhammer, 2 Power weapons, 5 Bolters = 220
Death Company Dreadnought w/ Blood Talons, Heavy Flamer = 135

Total = 455

which puts me over by 130. I think Corbulo is a luxury and should be dropped.

So that is 25 over. Hmmm....

There isn't anything I really want to drop. So making the sacrifice to make this list work is going to be a hard decision.

Let's add it up again for good measure:

Dante = 225
Librarian w/ Unleash Rage, Blood Lance, Jump Pack = 125
5 Honor Guard w/ Jump Packs, Sanguinary Novitiate, 2 Lightning Claw/ Storm Shield, 2 Meltaguns = 235
2 Sanguinary Priests = 100
Chaplain = 100
8-man Death Company w/ Thunderhammer, 2 Power weapons, 5 Bolters = 220
Death Company Dreadnought w/ Blood Talons, Heavy Flamer = 135
10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Powerweapon in Heavy Flamer Razorback = 255
10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Powerweapon in Heavy Flamer Razorback = 255
5-man Assault Squad w/ Flamer, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback = 175
5-man Assault Squad w/ Flamer, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback = 175
Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Dozerblade = 140
Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Dozerblade = 140
Stormraven w/ Twin-linked Lascannon, Twin-linked Multimelta, Hurricane Bolters, Extra Armor = 245

Total = 2525

Let's nickle and dime this a little.

What if we swap the Power Weapons on the Tactical Sergents to Combi-weapons. Puts basically another Melta in that squad and cuts 10 points.

Next up, lets drop the dozer blades from the Predators, I think that matter more on the Baals.

So 20 points saved. 5 points left to drop. I will drop a meltagun from the Honor Guard. Hurts, but between Dante's pistol and Blood Lance, it isn't absolutley necessary. Since I have plenty of shooty elements, I may need some searchlights for Dawn of War. 5 searchlights on 5 tanks puts me at exactly 2500.

So here is the final list:

-HQ-

Dante = 225

Librarian w/ Unleash Rage, Blood Lance, Jump Pack = 125

5 Honor Guard w/ Jump Packs, Sanguinary Novitiate, 2 Lightning Claw/ Storm Shield, Meltagun = 225

-Elites-

2 Sanguinary Priests = 100

Chaplain = 100

-Troops-

8-man Death Company w/ Thunderhammer, 2 Power weapons, 5 Bolters = 220

Death Company Dreadnought w/ Blood Talons, Heavy Flamer = 135

10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Combi-melta in Heavy Flamer Razorback = 250

10-man Tactical Squad w/ Meltagun, Lascannon, Combi-melta in Heavy Flamer Razorback = 250

5-man Assault Squad w/ Flamer, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback, Searchlight = 176

5-man Assault Squad w/ Flamer, Powerweapon in Assault Cannon Razorback, Searchlight = 176

-Heavy Support-

Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Searchlight= 136

Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Searchlight= 136

Stormraven w/ Twin-linked Lascannon, Twin-linked Multimelta, Hurricane Bolters, Extra Armor, Searchlight = 246

Total = 2500

Let's see how it does. Thoughts?

Even More Progress

My vindicator now has a brother to attend battles with him.


Vindicator #2 has a green blood drop on him, indicating that it is from the 4th company's motor pool. According to the old background, the Flesh Tearers have only 4 companies left due to constant attrition, so this is from that last Company, as are all my Flesh Tearers. Of course, the green drop is the one for which GW doesn't make a transfer, so I have to hand paint all of mine. I wanted to weather the paint on both the Siege Shields, as I tend to make great use of them. These tanks get run through every stand of trees on the table, it seems. At some point, I'll have to weather the tanks as well.



Speaking of green blood drops, I've made a bit of progress on the Librarian Dread as well. I didn't like the highlights I did on him, so I glazed over them with some Red Ink mixed with a touch of Devlan Mud. It got me the right tone, but it left him too glossy for my liking. I'm hoping to find a decent matte sealer to tone him down.

Sanguinary Guard WIP

I'm going against the traditional* paint scheme to better match my Flesh Tearer painted Dante (who was my Seth before they had a Seth model/rules). They'll have black wings and shoulder pads, and golden death masks.

I don't know if I'll use the unit, but damn do these models look pretty**. This is my second layer of red over black. The total process is Mechrite->Scab Red->Red Gore->Blood Red->Baal Red.

The base on the model is one that I cast myself, and has a pin in it to give it the appearance of flying.



*Traditional, aka, invented by GW a few months ago.

**That's a compliment to the sculptors, not to my very much WIP paint job, mind you.

Hive of Activity (Works in Progress)

I've been getting things together for this week's Tournament @ Blob Park, and since it's a "paint optional" event, I don't have to get things together for it.

But it still feels better having a cohesive looking army on the board. To that end, I've been working on getting things painted if I can make the tourney.

You can click on any of the images, and it'll take you to the image's dakka page, where you can see it full sized, and even zoom in on things. Dakka's Gallery is free for members, and membership to Dakka is free. So, win.

These terminators are not fully highlighted, and are missing lens work on the two in the back. Plus, My Baal Red wash got all shiny. I'll have to dullcoat them at some point.



I need to work on the siege shield, the smoke stacks, and the cupola gun, but otherwise, we're done with this one. I still have to finish another one, though.



This is nowhere near done, paint job wise, but I like how the conversion came out.



All metal bodies + all plastic arms means I pinned each of them. There's nothing worse than hunting for missing body parts.



These High Priests are pretty much done, except for basing and a few touch ups.