Wednesday 28 December 2011

Post Christmas spread



Greetings all! Hope you all had a good holiday of choice and if you are from a present receiving denomination that you got all you hoped for. I for one have had a good Christmas, and whilst gaming related presents were low in numbers, I got a few bits I wanted for my Trollbloods, which I am very happy with!


Now, in my last entry I spoke about my decision whether to use Vampires or Beastmen for my alternate WFB army, and as I'm sure most of you have seen by now, the new Vampire Counts book and a range of delicious new miniatures are being released mid January. Obviously this has swung the balance in their favour ousting the Beastmen from the running, and now means that I have dug (get it?) out some of my VC models, which still require assembly.

For now I am holding off making decisions on which of the new units to purchase. I mentioned in my last post my Necrarch Vampire, Abdemanechus. I love the idea of him, but it seems that inevitably GW are focussing on the von Carsteins, which I have also always been drawn to, so for now I think it prudent to see what the book entails and decide from there!

In terms of the Ogre Kingdoms, I began assembling the Stonehorn/Thundertusk last night and it is currently at the point where the generic pieces are now fully assembled and the next step is to begin assembly as one of the variants. Trouble is, at the moment I'm struggling to decide on which one - whilst I like the look and idea of the Thundertusk, I can't help but love the Stonehorn too, and so am torn. I've asked the Whyf and she prefers the Thundertusk, but who knows which one I shall ultimately make, at least first as I've already decided that I'll definitely be getting a second kit!!!

The Dark Eldar have hit a lull at the moment: I'm still waiting for a couple of the models for our initial list to arrive so that they can be assembled, and due to the break, I've had no time whatsoever to even pretend that I'm going to paint them, but time draws onward and sooner or later I shall have to begin them!

In the meantime I'll occupy myself with all the shiny new toys I have!

Have a great New Year guys!

Thursday 22 December 2011

Plans

Ernst Leichtanzer cast about frantically, searching for anything that would help. His master, the Great Abdemanechus had charged Leichtanzer with securing favour with the gods for the new year so that the venerable old Vampire may once more stalk the lands in search of prey and power. Three things were known to Leichtanzer: The sons of Tchar had fallen from favour and had been consigned to something called The Cudbord, a Tribe from the Ogre Kingdoms had secured their place and were growing stronger daily and that there was one more place of favour which Leichtanzer must secure for his master ahead of the twisted Beasts of the forests. Time was of the essence as both expected reinforcements resulting from an arcane ceremony celebrated by one of the gods that Abdemanechus referred to as Krismoss. Truly these gods were strange! Not least as they seemed to be different aspects of one god on current whims. Abdemanechus spoke of these gods are turning their gaze once more upon the Old World, though he spoke too of other worlds: one, strangest of all with creatures encased in armour of Blood vying for attention against strange elven beings that sought only torment, all the while as giant bone coloured warriors looked on lamenting their former standing. Another, similar in many respects to the Old World where a Tribe of strange blue skinned creatures led by powerful warlocks strode forth proud in the knowledge they had no rivals for the god's affections. The last world was one mainly of sea, though it was a neglected world. Upon it strange ships of iron (as if such a thing would be possible!) did battle in the name of their queen, one named Vectroria. Strange as these seemed, Leichtanzer could not help but feel that he must be wary lest they catch the eyes of these gods more often!


Well, another year nearly gone and this one really went fast! Its now time for my annual short listing of future projects that I won't get finished, and to begin with it's Warhammer! The release of the Ogre Kingdoms book has reinvigorated my interest in fantasy and I've enjoyed the few games I've had with them despite losing all but one, which was a very enjoyable draw. The idea is to focus on the Ogres as a main army but to have a second army available to use to add variety especially when facing the same opponents. I've decided once and for all to store away the Warriors of Chaos for now and so the choices that attract me the most are Beastmen and Vampire Counts. I think therefore I shall have a few games with each in the New Year to see which appeals more.

For 40k, much like the Warriors of Chaos in Fantasy, I've grown tired of the Deathwing so have decided to place them in storage for a while and work on something new. The Blood Angels had initially caught my eye, but recent decisions for Doubles have meant that the Dark Eldar that have been clogging up my cupboard are now finally being assembled, and consequently will need painting meaning that I may actually have a second army (half) painted by the end of February!

In terms of Hordes and Dystopian Wars, I'm due to get a few bits from each so its more of the same on those fronts, which is fine as I enjoy both!

So, that are my plans, but what is in the pipeline for you guys in the coming year?

If I don’t see or speak to you beforehand guys, have yourself a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!



God bless!

Thursday 8 December 2011

quiet time


Not a pretty sight that photo is it? It was taken at the Planetary Empires at the end of last month.

Saturday 12 November 2011

White Dwarf Issue 181 - January 1995



I had been gaming for a couple of years when this issue came out. Mainly Blood Bowl but a I had started a small 40k army too. I'd bought a few issues prior to this one, but this was to be the beginning of a 16 year era.

From this issue on, I have not missed a single issue, and indeed there was a couple of time where I had multiple copies!

That is, until this month. I've now cancelled my subscription, and I don't intend to purchase another issue for the foreseeable. Personally I think this is incredibly sad and it is not a decision I have made lightly. Now don't get me wrong, I still enjoy playing both 40k and (sadly to a lesser extent at the moment) Fantasy, but I think that it would be hard to argue against what seems to be a widely held consensus that the magazine is a poor quality publication in comparison to how it used to be.

Maybe that is because we remember the old issues with nostalgic fondness, or simply youthful eagerness, but even if that is the case, then surely the company should recognise this? I've now been gaming longer than some of the people at our local club have been alive. i'd say that 90% of all people at that club are old enough to legally drink. When I was a child, most of the people that went to the store were about my own age. Now, whilst a saturday game at the store is heavily weighted towards the younger gamer, there are a lot more people of adult age than there used to be. All this withought going into the almost entirely adult attendence at tournements at Lenton. In essence, the gamer has grown up. Physically, if not always mentally.

Because of this, we see beyond the razzle dazzle of the current White Dwarf format. We don't need the newest released army to win in a battle, we just want to read a decent, honest report. We don't need almost an entire magazine to be one long, long, long advert for as many different things as possible, we just want insightful articles on different builds to the norm or perhaps different scenarios. There is no reason whatsoever why the company can't use that as a much subtler method to encourage sales on a weaker selling product by showing the best way to use it with a different setup.

I don't have a great deal of experience outside of White Dwarf of reading wargaming magazines, but due to starting playing Hoardes/Warmachine, I have begun reading No Quarter. Now, I would like to make this clear: I haven't given up White Dwarf because of No Quarter, I had simply begun to read it in conjunction with learning more of the Privateer Press systems.

Now there are two major differences between the two. The first being that there treat armies fairly - new models perform in a balanced manner during there battle reports, even if they perhaps get a bit more attention. Now I appreciate that the way that they release products differs to GW's, in that they release multiple army products each month as opposed to GW's method of focussing by and large on a different army each month and releasing armies in batches (or waves) but that doesn't mean that if the model looks good and the rules work, we won't buy it unless it does a 'since sliced bread' performance in the magazine!

The second is that No Quarter features much more fan generated material. GW has more fans than Privateer Press. It hits a wider audience and it's resources are more available. Making the most of that wouldn't be quite so hard as it is for PP. Obviously postal/email submission is better than ever, but GW has literally hundreds of stores throughout the world. There are independent stockists that outnumber the stores by dozens. Most of all, GW is a major supporter of the GCN. It isn't that hard to draw upon the public in order to maximise their input. Indeed, the vast majority of gamers I know (and having attended many tournements over the last few years, I've met people from all over the country and a few from round the world!) would give a limb to be in White Dwarf!

So now, directly to Games Workshop, and particularly to the White Dwarf Team, I would say this: You are the voice of the company. Use that voice well. It is true that the internet has given a very vocal group of us gamers the ability, sometime rightly, sometimes wrongly to influence others, but given that you as a company have a very limited set of platforms to give your own right to reply, then you must make the very most of that opportunity!

Saturday 15 October 2011

Also, whose cat?



Had two very enjoyable games against Ben today with the Ogres. The first game was against Ben's own Ogre army which I thought may well be an uphill struggle. The list i used for both games was as follows:

1 Tyrant w/ Ironfist, Ironcurse icon, Armour of Destiny, Ogre blade, Luckstone 315
1 Butcher w/ Ironfist, extra level, hell heart 188
6 Bulls w/ fc, Ironfists, look out gnoblar 227
6 Bulls w/ fc, IronfistsI look out gnoblar 227
7 Ironguts w/ fc, look out gnoblar, Dragonhide banner 386
4 Leadbelchers w/ bellower 182
4 Mournfangs w/ bellower, standard, Ranger's Standard 350
1 giant 200
1 Ironblaster 170
10 Gnoblars w/ trappers 50
10 Gnoblars w/ trappers 50
10 Gnoblars w/ trappers 50


Both games didn't start well to be honest but in the end swung back a bit. The Ironblaster was so-so for me, and the giant, as much as I loved it didn't really do much in game one, and game two, although he 'killed' a unit of Cairn Wraiths and a Vampire, we aren't entirely sure whether he could really have done this against ethereal models. Most of his results were yell and ball which is fair enough, but the vampire was picked up and thrown back in to combat.

The Mournfangs were immense, and even when they rolled badly they still managed to do well! I'm glad that I chose to give them the Ranger's Standard which certainly made them more versatile! The Gnoblars were a mixed bag: in both games two units did next to if not nothing of use, but the 3rd unit did spectacularly earning their points back and then some! i think they chipped a couple of ogres (though one i think was badly wounded) with traps and thrown weapons and combat hits, and they took out quite a few zombies chipping them down enough to make a difference in the long term!

The butcher died in both games, but in the game vs the Vampire Counts i predicted the imminent death of the unit he was in, so i managed to achieve a magnificent set of miscasts with the Hellheart! I reduced the ethereal vamp and a necromancer on a corpse cart to wizard level 0, caused a few deaths to some ghouls through magical feedback and a wound to the other necromancer and the standard bearer.

Other than that, the bulk of the army did ok, but I think i just need to get used to them a bit more, so all in all a good start!

Tuesday 11 October 2011

From the mountains they came



So this is what I've been up to for the past few weeks: Slowly building up my Ogre Kingdoms army which I bought the majority of years ago!

I'd picked up the new book a week or so after release and I loved the new mournfangs and the ironblaster models so I could resist the chance to finally set about building the army up!

Hopefully this will kickstart the love for fantasy again as I've barely played it this edition and as I've said several times I'm not that enthusiastic about the Warriors of Chaos, but when I do play fantasy I feel stuck with them as they are a) the nearest to painted I have and b) the army I've learned to use the best (I struggled with the Beastmen), yet somehow they don't excite me!

I'll be taking them for a spin at the weekend against Ben's own Ogre army and a more regular sized army (basically so that I can stomp/thunderstomp them and see how that fares)

On another note, it may be a while before I get down to the club again. For a few reasons things have changed and I now don't have the time that I used to. I'm not taking a break from the hobby or anything, but getting the time to get in to Hull is, at least for now, a thing of the past. Watch this space.

Sunday 2 October 2011

Big Changes afoot!



I've been getting back in to the fantasy love affair once again so have been assembling one or two models over the last week. My favourite of the models built was the giant.

I'm sure that you can already guess which army he shall be for, but if not i shalt spoil the surprise! and if you know don't say! (this all really boils down to me wanting to think i'm all mysterious and stuff, even though i'm not).

so whilst this new endeavor is underway, I've once more been using the Stormkrow Tribe. Faced Ben's Ogre list earlier in the week and i must say, it gave my  well honed list a run for its money. It didn't help that i couldn't remember how my lord was supposed to be kitted out, but he was 90% how i used to field him, so there is now real excuses there. Seems that the new book isn't as bad as feared!

Sunday 25 September 2011

Signalling the fleet

I took the Kingdom fleet out for a Jolly Boy's outing against Ben's Prussian Empire this week with mixed success. On the one hand I lost, but on the other I am starting to get a handle on the game now!

Typically I forgot to take my list with me so had to cobble one together when I arrived, so I’ll give you a rundown of the force, but I’m more likely to be accurate with Ben's list!

From memory I had a Dreadnought with two shields, a battleship with one shield and 3 escorts, three cruisers with experienced engineers, 3 destroyers, 4 frigates and 2 scout rotors.

Whilst I took a pounding, at least this time I’d managed to chip through Ben's force a bit more and I think experience will help me coordinate my attacks to a better combination. One of the elements of the game that we are still struggling with is the tiny fliers, and whilst there is still a way to go with them, I think that we are finally getting a bit nearer to understanding how they should be used.

I think that the destroyers, when used correctly shall be a fantastic addition to my fleet but I think I need more than the initial 3! Their pack hunters rule together with their high torpedo attacks will mean that groups of 4 will be more beneficial as I could either use a 4 strong squadron in groups of two against two smaller targets or a single 4 strong combined attack to make the most of breaking through the concussion charges of the larger ships.

I'm still struggling with the larger flyers. I used the Scout rotors last night and whilst they were nippy, there was only one occasion where there spotter rules came in to effect, so unless I learn to get the most out of the mines that they lay, it may be prudent to go back to the heavy bombers and perhaps use both together to try and get a quicker impression of their abilities.

The dreadnought did ok. It didn’t set my world alight (nor Ben’s ships too much!) but I think like the rest of the force I’m still needing to find how best to use him.

I’m struggling the most with the cruisers – they haven’t seemed to do much other than make up points and numbers. Other ships just seem to do their job better. If anyone reading this can give me some pointers especially on these, but really with any aspect, please let me know!

I didn’t use the subs during the battle though I think that I may switch these back in next time as I’ve been having a few thought on how best to use them and so am eager to find out if I am right.

I’ve attached a few photos which Ben kindly sent and shall try and describe what is happening in each.



KoB first turn just moments after the start (hence why the scout rotors are so far on the board!)



Prussian deployment



The end of turn 1 and I think at this point i'd taken out a Prussian cruiser and in return a scout rotor had suffered some damage.


 


Turn 2 and there was only one destroyer remaining for the KoB




Turn 3 and the damage starts to mount up for both sides, though the Prussians are seeming to lead the day!

 
 

You sunk my Battleship!

 
 
 
 

The end of the battle at the end of turn 4. It seemed like days later, but was infact 4 hours after the start!

Undeniably the Prussians had the edge but it hadn't gone all their own way as i'd managed to cause a fair amount of damage (or rather I'd caused more than I thoguht that I would do!) Next time Kaiser Ben! Next time!

Thursday 1 September 2011

Training for the Hull vs York event.


I had a test game with Nick last night with the 35 point list that I intend to take to the Hull vs York event this Saturday and I have to admit, Kenny sure has written me a strong list! The best thing about the game however was that Nick taught me a great deal and was a very patient teacher!

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Apocalypse How?

I took part in the Apoc game on Saturday down at the club. Turnout was a little disappointing, but we made the most of those that did turn up.

I took the Deathwing and was forced into joining the bad guys! I think that Successionist streak is taking hold! Nothing unusual in the list: three Deathwing squads two of which went in the Land raiders, a ravenwing combat squad with the attack bike, and the old faithful, The Ancient's Assault Force! Damn i love these guys!

i opted to keep everything off board to begin bringing them on in turn two, which took for ever, but was worth the wait. We had to finish at the end of turn 3 but i once again managed to destroy a baneblade! i took another down to 1 structure point! the only other thing of note i acheived was to take out the weapon arms of a Warhound!

I failed to get my stupid camera (!) to take any pictures, so curteousy of Chris (Angryhatter) i present to you some of my lists awesomeness!





Thursday 18 August 2011

Two Trolls with some paint on.

well, as promised, I have pictures of some Trolls that I painted!

These were painted as a result of losing to Luke in a challenge, but to be honest, I'm glad - I actually enjoyed painting them!

 
 
 
 

Now, I don't consider them finished, but for now I'm not going to add any more detail to the Bouncer, mainly because I don't want to spoil them. Essentially I'm at the current limit of my ability, so the plan is to practice more and progress my skill before going back and making improvements.

I think that the next one will have to be one of the Dire Trolls!

oh, and on a final note, Shane, you best watch out. I seem to have a flair for painting cooked ham:

Saturday 13 August 2011

Er, shouldn't you be painting?

...well, yes...but...



If I have the choice between painting and assembling a model i'll choose the latter every day! especially since I've been waiting to put together my Dire Troll Bomber for a month!

Saturday 6 August 2011

A quick update to prove that I am painting

Morning guys, just thought I'd post up proof that I'm not just putting off the painting.


Early stages still, just the basecoats on him. glad I waited for the correct colours to be honest.

I think this is my first post where i'm actually posting something I painted.

Thursday 4 August 2011

This is what you get for declaring your pair!



No, its nothing rude! Shame on you!

As a result of losing to Luke at the club, I now have two weeks to paint these two warbeasts. It was originally just one warbeast in two weeks, but we did a deal to give me time to get the correct P3 paints (which he kindly got for me, thank you Luke), so I volunteered to make it two warbeasts as a compromise.

So, for the next two weeks, I need to paint an Impaler and a Bouncer. Wish me luck, this is new territory people!

Don't worry, I'll give you fair warning of paint on models so you can avoid the obvious shock!

Monday 25 July 2011

Reinforcements for the Kingdom!



The first wave of reinforcements have arrived, and its once again distracting me. Its a difficult task concentrating on the Trollbloods with these boys staring at me. In this batch is the Dreadnought, which is massive by the way!, the fleet carrier, two lots of escorts and a squadron of destroyers.

Aside from one or two elements that i shall keep to myself for now, thats the navy more or less sorted meaning it won't be long until i start buying and storing the ground forces!

Thursday 21 July 2011

Learn to fear this man! It may one day save your life!



Luke and I finally had our long awaited game last night with a 25 point match up. I used the list I mentioned earlier this week: pDoomie, max Kriel Warriors w/ the standard & piper UA, min Krielstone Bearers w/ Stone Scribe Elder UA, Dire Troll Mauler, Pyre Troll and a welcome return to the Axer.

I faced off against his Cygnar which included: pCaine, squire, a unit of Gun Mages (no idea if it was min or max) and two heavy Warjacks, though I don't recall which ones other than one could lay down covering fire.

To be honest not a lot happened until turn three then it became very messy - Luke managed to reduce Doomie to two damage boxes but then left Caine exposed. I think he thought it was all over at that point, but I don't think he was counting on me not really following the advice I was given by Chris, so i went against the plan i had formed and kind of half followed his suggestion and messed it up.

But pCaines feat! by the gods that is horrid! My force was kind of a horde force, so it was just what the feat was aimed at really! Had it not been for tough and a few buffs, it would have decimated me!

In the end, Luke got a caster kill on me, which was a fair reflection really, but that in itself means I have a double loss!

I now have two weeks to paint a model! and [i]I[/i] have to paint it, not Louise! I have chosen the Impaler for two reasons - at the moment, its not a warbeast I’m drawn to, so painting it will give me something to test on, but also, if it goes well, once it is painted, it may inspire me to use him more!

So, off I go to find out if i actually own any paint! Thanks a lot Luke! ;)

Monday 18 July 2011

the kriel grows



Pay attention Luke, this is what you are beating this wednesday. 25 points: pDoomie, Mauler, Pyre and Axer, max kriel warriors with standard & musician, min krielstone bearers with stone scribe elder.

The axer gets back in as tbh he's been more successful than the slag troll, so i'm giving him another shot - i'd also found from the tournemennt that not having anything with reach when your opponent is, at times, dripping in reach models really takes its toll. The Pyre troll stays in by virtue of liking the model whilst the mauler is a much needed heavy warbeast and the only one i have assembled at the moment. saying that he is doing well.

The kriel warriors are now at full strength and i have been joined by the standard and musician so they are getting another run out to see if they perform better with their mates around.

after a brief spell at max, the krielstone bearers are back to min size, although they do have their stone scribe buddy with them. this is a points restriction desicion really, but then its not a major issue really as long as i keep them out of trouble.

the only thing i am missing really is a decent solo to add some buffs, but unfortunately at this level i just can't squeeze one in. maybe i shall fit one in at 35 pts.

Saturday 9 July 2011

The joy of not having to prepare an army


I am currently having a bit of down time from assembling miniatures or designing listsat the moment, which is pretty usual after a hefty weekend in Nottingham, but at nearly two weeks since getting back, this is a veritable hosepipe ban!

Don't get me wrong, i've not lost my love for wargaming, but sometimes its nice to have a little break to re-focus and prioritise. I've spoken recently of setting about the KoB for Dystopian Wars, and whilst i do want to get to them as soon as possible, at present i'd possibly go hurtling in only to lose my enthusiasm for it fairly soon after as either the Trollbloods or possibly just a speck of dust catches my attention.

Instead, i've being doing a great deal or reading;  With Hordes, I am looking over the rules for a second time, with Dystopian Wars I am reading those rules from cover to cover, which is something I haven't bothered with for many, many years now, and with 40k I am refreshing myself on the sections of the rules which I feel that the last weekend away has taught me I know the least.

In terms of none rules reading, I am actually doing a lot less of this than normal. I am nearly at the end of Angels of Darkness, which whilst fun is taking me some time.

That really just leaves WFB - I'm feeling a little lost with this one really - I am starting to struggle with lists i am happy with, and whilst i've finally started to have some success with the Warriors of Chaos with a more combat orientated list, it does tend to be a missive win or massive loss army, and doesn't seem to create many stories. Another issue is that I just don't want to play 3k games which it seems the edition is geared towards, and at the same time, the traditional 2k game seems a little under powered for a 'large' battle.

Instead it seems logical to me that the most logical points are 1200 for a small game and 2400 for a large game. these two levels mean that there are decent enough points brakets for lords/heroes, Specials and Heroes without being too open.

But really all this is good news as it means i don't need to fuss too much, i just gather together what i have if i want a game but can otherwise just focus on reading and relaxing.

Anyone else enjoying a bit of down time?

Monday 4 July 2011

Life after the Palace of Thorns

Well, the dust has now settled after the Badab wars and as much fun as it was, there is a certain amount of releif. Although there are still elements of the army that require attention, i've decided that Louise has earnt her break and so, the army can wait a while.

Instead, there are now two things occupying hobby time. Firstly, my Trollblood Kriel Warriors is now in its next stage whereby i'm increasing unit sizes, adding attachments and adding new warbeasts. I've now received and built the Mauler and the slag troll which means that soon I shall begin on the Blitzer and then the Kriel Warrior Standard and Piper. I have also now got my Stone Scribe Elder meaning that my Krielstone unit is now more worthwhile. The problem with this though is that it is meaning that i'm finding it hard to fit everything in. Beforehand I just had about enough to squeeze a game together, but now there are too many exciting things and not enough points to go round. So at least for now i shall be employing the Trollblood version of the Chelsea squad rotation system.

Next up I'm starting my reading of the Dystopian Wars rulebook and whilst its early days yet, with some luck it won't be too long until the Kingdom of Britannia set sail, but more on that later

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Rise of the Tyrant

And so the weekend, which was causing so much fuss for Louise, is finally over and she doesn't need to paint anything for a couple more days.

And what a weekend of gaming it was! 5 games, 6 opponents, a teammate and a lot of invulnerable saves to roll!

Before I go into some relatively sketchy details of each game, I'd like to thank all my opponents as I didn't have a single bad one this time! Unfortunately though, I left my opponent tracker at Nottingham, so had to guess who I played from the results sheet - I knew three of you just from names, but the remainder, if I got your name wrong and you see this I apologise.

My first game got me off to a tremendous start, but was a bit embarrassing really. The Loyalist deployed in the centre and the Secessionist within a band around each table edge so we could effectively surround them (well, I couldn't, I was Deathwing). My only requirement was if i was in y deployment zone, i had to be 6" from the nearest enemy. The goal was to take out the three HQ Choices with each one counting as an objective with the player with the most kill points gaining a further objective. If the Secessionist had less units on the table at the beginning of the game, then he got +1 for the first turn

My Opponent was James Fownes, who was also using Dark Angels, and his army was a nice mix of Belial and Deathwing, Landspeeder Samial Ravenwing and power armour. Quite frankly, he, nor many of the loyalists it seemed, stood little or no chance. His deployment was sound, his force was adaptable and not too cheesy (unlike my own), and he made no tactical errors either. The major problem was simply that he had nowhere to run, and needed turn 1, but typically because of that, I got turn 1! By the end of my player turn 1, I had killed two of the three characters and had clearly gained the most kill points, by the end of his turn 1, i had won 4-0 and had lost 5 models.

that game was immensely weighted towards the secessionists and as such it was the one game I was certain in advance i would win. James never really had a chance, but that had nothing to do with me or him, but the scenario (Ok, if i hadn't used a dick list, maybe not quite as much, but still). Word around the hall was that there were very few if an loyalist victories for that game.

As expected, Game 2 brought me back to earth with a bang, but despite losing was the best game I have had at an event. I played against Chris Jarrett and his Red Scorpions, with the mission being to capture a comms bastion worth two objectives, and then I think it was a kill points mission on top. I can't actually remember too much how badly I lost, only that I did, that it was a cracking game and a smashing opponent and that I vowed to kill Culln (which luckily I didn't place a time limit on). I also failed in this mission to kill Culln by the way.

I also remember thinking that I had made a fair few tactical errors in this game, which in fairness I think was the only game where I did make multiple errors. I do understand why though, I had begun drinking!

Game 3, and the last one for Saturday, and it was the mission I was least looking forward to - I needed to get three rhinos from my 12" deployment zone to my opponents 12" deployment zone at the far end of the table. Obviously the opponent would be able to destroy them (and so could i) but they gained sustained assault so would re-enter from my table edge. If a Rhino suffered a penetrating hit, then there was a chance of it exploding. I really couldn't see this one going too well, and that was before 'clarifications' were made by the events team!

My opponent for this one was Dean Walsh. Dean had a good solid list and was a solid and fair player, and despite not enjoying the mission, I did enjoy facing him. The problem though was that we had a different interpretation of the objective rules (lets be clear, it wasn't an argument and we could each see the opposing point of view, we just felt our own was correct) and because of this, rather than d6 it, it was only fair to ask the events team.

I wanted 3 clarifications made: 1) if the Rhino was destroyed, did it return to play in the next player turn or game turn (key as Dean had turn 1 and I needed to know if I'd get it back in my first turn to give me more time) 2) did Dean just roll to see if the Rhino blew up in the event of a glance or pen hit, or did he also roll on the regular vehicle damage table and 3) could the rhino self repair.

On all 3 points, the events team ruled against me, so we played on that basis until it became clear that I could neither wipe dean out nor get a rhino over to his deployment. Dean had played well and deserved the win.

The trouble was however, that it later turned out that the ruling ought to have been in my favour for all three points. I hadn't realises this myself, and instead Dean had approached my to apologise and i think offer a re-match, however given his extremely good grace and the fact that he would have undoubtedly have won anyway, I thanked him and told him it was ok. Much, much kudos to him for that! You have to admit, there aren't that many people at an event that would do that after an event game when they didn't need to.

With that, day one was over and we went drinking. By all accounts we didn't miss a great deal with the boarding missions - i could live without 3 campaign points to be honest as I wasn't likely to be in contestation for much anyway.

Sunday morning and game 4: In an unusual turn of events, I wasn't hung over, I didn't need to live on the bog and purge all morning and I found myself sitting in Bugmans an hour and a half early. The sausage and egg bap was nice mind; though Ben and Sam thought it odd I ate it with a knife and fork.

The game itself was an amended Planetstrike mission whereby i was trying to defend 3 teleport pads which on a dice roll of 6+ would be removed in turn one, turn two a 5+, turn 3 4+ and so on. I faced off against Rick Isley and his Ultramarines. This was just the game I needed this morning, as although I lost, it was clear that I was going to lose quite quickly so we were able to take our time and have a good chat. Essentially it came down to could I roll a lucky dice or two early, and/or hold Rick at bay, which I could not. In the end I managed to get one pad off, so Rick deservedly won 2-1.

Game 5 was the Apoc team mission and I was paired with Chris Steel who used a balanced power armoured force. We faced a reasonably balanced opposition who had a bit of bad luck on results. One of them was Nigel with a Culln led Red Scorpions force, and because I cannot find my card, I cannot be sure the name of his team mate.

My entire 2k army had 18 models in it! Beliel, an Interrogator Chaplain, the Command Squad Deathwing, a regular Deathwing unit, 2x Landraiders and an Ancients Assualt force comprising three ven Dreads and a Techmarine.

The mission split the 8x6 board in to three equal parts and the secessionists were permitted to choose which end. Naturally we chose the built up, defensible end of the table. The victory conditions required us to hold two objectives and in addition nominate a single HQ from our force to act as the Tyrant's Lieutenant. If that HQ was slain, then it would be replaced with a third objective. Chris and I had thought we simply needed him to stay alive to count - had we realised, I think i would have let the character die. In addition, the loyalist could not deep strike in to the secessionist deployment zone for the first three turns without causing a mishap.

The Loyalists took the first turn as standard, and due to the campaign points accumulated were allowed to infiltrate 1 infantry squad and they chose to deploy a 10 man terminator squad.

For our own deployment Chris held one side of the board alone with half his army whilst my Ancient's assault force took up position to support the remainder of Chris' force near to the foremost objective. Due to the Ancient's assault Force granting me Flank March, I kept the Land Raiders and Terminators in Reserve ready to counter strike from whichever board edge i wished. I wasn't alone, as Nigel's teammate also had this idea, and brought his dreadnoughts on as soon as he was able from our rear. Luckily for us though he arrived on the other side of the table to the objectives, no doubt trusting Nigel to take the other side whilst he softened up our counter assault later. To be fair, that’s what I would have done in his place, but perhaps a little more centrally.

Meanwhile, right down the other end of the table in the loyalist deployment, Nigel brought on his Baneblade to sit back and snipe. Without any fliers on our side, it looked like a good decision, but I brought on my flank marching terminators in the regular Landraider right next to it and spent most of the next three turns after initially immobilising it and causing one structure point of damage, tearing it apart a gun at a time before eventually causing an apocalyptic explosion which also took the lives of two terminators. A noble death however as they sold their lives dearly.

Back at the other end of the field, the Techmarine fell to Culln whose adjoining Terminator squad was in return being hacked apart by a combination of the dreadnoughts and the newly arrived Beliel squad and one of Chris' tactical marines. Before Beliel arrived, it looked initially like Nigel was going to take the objectives as in addition to Culln and the terminator squad he also had a second terminator squad, a vindicator and an LRC ready to support the advance and he was actually getting pretty close, seemingly unopposed, but that was just the bait i wanted him to take! With some supporting fire from Chris I was able to whittle down the terminators, take the Landraider out of the running and stave off the vindicator from firing for another turn to give time to focus more attention upon it. Chris meanwhile was still having to keep the opposing Ancient Assault force honest, stop two Landspeeders (one being a scout laden storm) from advancing on my position and also block advancement across the board and position his assault squad to be reading to move to contest either objective if needed.

We played on until we had 3 minutes left on the clock at which point it was clearly a decisive victory with no hope whatsoever of either objective being even contested by the loyalists. In summary for this battle, I feel tat it was again weighted in the secessionist’s favour, despite the background for the game, but i think that Chris and I both complimented each other's forces, communication well together right down to the order in which we took shots, and generally a better focus on what we needed to achieve as a single force rather than as two allied ones. For that, my thanks to Chris for being a great team mate, and also to Nigel and his team mate (if i figure out his name, I shall insert) for being worthy opponents.

And with that, the Secessionists won the weekend. I had a thoroughly good time, met some great people, saw the odd old face and am looking forward to part 2 next year!

Tuesday 14 June 2011

i have an idea. an idea so smart, my head would explode if i even began to know what i was talking about!

And it will help matters considerably!

At the moment I have 17 assembled Deathwing models plus an Interrogator Chaplain in Terminator armour, plus two Land Raiders (one being a Crusader). If needed I can build a Librarian in a few minutes and since this is going to be the bulk of my force in three out of the five games, i've decided to go Deathwing heavy regardless!

there are a few extra elements too - i've kept the Dreadnought contingent for the most part (there is one game where i don't use all three) and the vindicator appears a few times. In game three, we are required to take 3x Rhinos, and so i need to take three units that allow this option. As such i took two 5xman Devastators, one with 4x Heavy Bolters and one with lascannons and multi meltas. thats two, but then i was struggling to squeeze in another squad with a Rhino and still be allowed to take the rest of the main elements. Thats when i realised a Techmarine, which i intended to use anyway, could take a Rhino. Happy days!

So with the majority of the painitn left to do firmly in Louise's responsibility, i'm starting to get a little less stressed - I intend to help, but she is the better painter so will be doing most of the details.

With luck, I shall be able to prove a painted force in advance of setting off!

Sunday 12 June 2011

Squeky bum time

It is now two weeks until I will be arriving home from Badab Wars, and as usual I am cutting things fine!
  • 15 Deathwing
  • 2 Landraiders
  • 3 Ravenwing Bikers
  • 1 Ravenwing Attack Bike
  • 2 Dreadnoughts
  • 3 Chaplains
  • 1 Predator
  • 3 Drop pods
  • 10 Assault Marines
  • 3 Devastator Marines
thats a list of things I still need to paint! Its getting to the point where i'm having to consider revising the lists (and therefore possibly the codex!) The main issue I have been facing is the weather. The media has been banging on about a drout, and as such, true to form, its belting it down.

now i admit, i've not spent every hour spare with a brush in hand, but i've been loathed to paint the vehicles by hand when i can acheive a much better result with the spraygun. I've one last week to hope to do this before i have to bite the bullet.

Luckily, Louise is on hand to help with the Deathwing, the Landraiders and a dreadnought, but the rest is up to me!

If anyone reading this wants to lend a hand however, let me know! ;)

Thursday 2 June 2011

Rolling out the Trolls

I took a break from the painting last night as everyone at the club was desperate for me to attend (who am I kidding? I practically jumped at the chance) and had my first none tutorial game with the Trollbloods which I again faced Ben and his Skorne.

I took:
  • Hoarluk Doomshaper
  • 2x Impalers
  • Axer
  • Fell Caller
  • Kriel Warrior Unit
  • Krielstone Unit

Ben took:

  • Mordikaar
  • Void Spirit
  • Cyclops thingy
  • Gladiator Titan
  • Praetorians
  • Venators
Things flowed a lot better in this game and I really started to get used to how things work, although it was still a slow game as I seemed to take forever to decide on options and activation orders! It was a slow start and Ben clearly had the advantage until i pulled a nasty trick and cast Rampager on his Titan meaning I took control of it and could advance it and make an attack, so I sent it to strike Mordikaar. I managed to hit and then rolled two sixes for damage leaving his Warlock on a single point of damage! Unfortunately for Ben, he forgot to deflect the damage to a warbeast so he was perilously close to death. On the flipside, I didn't really have much with which to capitalise on this as my force was severely diminished. The photo below is of this event which I took on Ben’s photo – when he sent it to me today, he named the photo as ‘Mark’s trickery’!
My only real option was to move my Impaler out of a combat he couldn't win with a void spirit and threw a spear at Mordikaar which just did enough to see him off, but obviously this time Ben remembered to spend fury to place the damage on his titan. Ben moved in the Void Spirit again and the Impaler died before he could do anything further. The Void Spirit is a tricky blighter as I need a magical weapon to harm him because he is incorporeal (I think) which meant that in my list, I’d need to risk Hoarluk to cause him damage! This obviously highlights a gap in my lists - I’m sure that this problem isn't going to arise in every game, but against the Warmachine players I know that there are a lot of Cryx armies, and from my basic understanding, they have a few similar beasties. Off the top of my Head, the Rune Shapers unit have magical attacks, but I don't know how good they are. After that I suppose I’m left with spells. Something to chew over I think!

In the end I was left with just Hoarluk alive when we stopped, though at least this time my force had worked a bit better than previously and I’d started to use them as a cohesive force. The Impalers aren't as bad as I had thought as we had previously overlooked one of their (major) rules, so I think I’ll keep at least one in most forces unless i have major successes with the Pyre Troll when he arrives.

I'm still waiting for the mauler and the Pyre troll to arrive, and I’m starting to again consider another unit - it’s a toss up between the Trollkin Champions and one of the ranged units at the moment as I’m aware I’ve not got much to soften up the enemy as the fell caller and the two Impalers don't cause enough of a dent really.

Finally a big thanks to Dave (captaincaine) for his help and advice both tactically and on future purchases - he has particularly suggested a slag troll which would cause a few headaches for the Warmachine players. I may have to buy that one in Notts at the end of the month! ;)

Thursday 26 May 2011

First Blood and some early re-inforcements!

Finally had my first real game last night against Ben's Skorne, albeit it was a slightly odd game as i've still not had the opportunity to read the rules. As such it became something of a tutorial game with most of the time being used to explain to me what to do.

Nonetheless it was very enjoyable and i'm looking forward to gaming with the Trollbloods again.

I used Madrak, an Axer, two Impalers and the Krielstone Bearer unit.

One thing i learnt was that perhaps the Krielstone bearer unit isn't right for the smaller games, albeit that later on it may be worthwhile. Essentially in the early days i think i need more aggressive units rather than those that hang back in support - my light warbeasts seemed to do well, but really needed a bit of support.

As such, I've dug out the Kriel Warrior unit which will begin to be assembled over the weekend. Yesterday also saw the arrival of two new models in the form of Hoarluk Doomshaper and a Fell Caller.



Unfortunately I didn't manage to get them assembled in time for the game, but as you can see above, they are now ready to rock! To compliment these guys i've already begun to plan the next wave and as such i am leaning towards a Pyre Troll, a Dire Troll Mauler and a unit of Fennblades, but these may need to wait!

In other news, i'm now within a month of Badab Wars and am still a fair way off. I painted my Power Armoured Company Master to minimum standard on Tuesday night and am hoping to get the command squad to the same state by Friday. After that, the main stay of the models are Deathwing or Ravenwing, so there are still a couple of additions to be made to the former and the latter should be easy enough to get to minimum.

Hopefully i should has some tangible improvement after the bank holiday!

Saturday 21 May 2011

For Kith and Kriel

Just a quick one today:



So I needed a break from assembling Dark Angels and decided to set about my Trollbloods so that I can finally get in to Hordes sometime soon. At the moment I've just put together some of the items that I already had which includes the Warpack starter box and the Krielstone Bearer unit.

Although the Warpack contains Madrak, I've decided to go for Hoarluk Doomshaper as my Warlock, at least initially and have just assembled Madrak as a backup. I am currently awaiting delivery of him together with a Fell Caller.

Let me be clear that this isn't a gut reaction to recent GW issues that many are having, but was something i've been trying to get to for a while.

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Deathwing Heavy List for game 1

Ok guys, i know these posts are coming thick and fast, but i appreciate your help. I've written a revised list for game 1 and could do with your thoughts:

2500 Pts - Dark Angels Roster - Game 1 - The Massacre at Bellopheron's Fall


HQ: Belial, Master of the Deathwing (1#, 130 pts)

1 Belial, Master of the Deathwing, 130 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Lightning Claws (pair); Fearless; Independent Character; Rites of Battle)

HQ: Interrogator-Chaplain in Terminator Armour (1#, 145 pts)

1 Interrogator-Chaplain in Terminator Armour, 145 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Rosarius; Terminator Armor; Crozius Arcanum; Storm Bolter; Fearless; Honour of the Chapter; Independent Character; Litanies of Hate)

Elite: Venerable Dreadnought (1#, 165 pts)

1 Venerable Dreadnought, 165 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Upgrade to Venerable; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer; Plasma Cannon; Venerable)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 140 pts)

1 Dreadnought, 140 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Assault Cannon; Dreadnought CCW; Storm Bolter)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 170 pts)

1 Dreadnought, 170 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Twin Linked Lascannon; Missile Launcher)

Troops: Upgraded Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 290 pts)

4 Upgraded Deathwing Terminator Squad, 290 pts (Narthecium; Deathwing Company Banner; Narthecium/Reductor; Terminator Armor; Lightning Claws (pair) x3; Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x1; Cyclone Missile Launcher; Apothecary; Standard Bearer)

1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)

Troops: Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 250 pts)

4 Deathwing Terminator Squad, 250 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Fist x3; Storm Bolter x3; Chain Fist x1; Assault Cannon; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)

1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Sword; Storm Bolter; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)

Troops: Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 215 pts)

4 Deathwing Terminator Squad, 215 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Fist x1; Storm Bolter x1; Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x3; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)

1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Sword; Storm Bolter; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)

Fast Attack: Ravenwing Attack Squadron (4#, 220 pts)

1 Ravenwing Attack Squadron, 220 pts
2 Bike Squad (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Teleport Homer; Bolt Pistol x2; Plasmagun x2; Twin Linked Bolter; Combat Squads; Fearless; Scouts)

1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Teleport Homer; Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol x1; Power Weapon; Twin Linked Bolter; Combat Squads; Fearless; Scouts)

1 Attack Bike (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Teleport Homer; Bolt Pistol; Multi-Melta; Fearless; Scouts)

Heavy Support: Land Raider Crusader (1#, 265 pts)

1 Land Raider Crusader, 265 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 16 models; Access Points: 3; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

Heavy Support: Vindicator (1#, 145 pts)

1 Vindicator, 145 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Dozer Blade; Extra Armor; Demolisher Cannon; Storm Bolter)

Heavy Support: Land Raider (1#, 265 pts)

1 Land Raider, 265 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; 2x Twin Linked Lascannons; Twin Linked Heavy Bolter; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

: Techmarine (1#, 100 pts)

1 Techmarine, 100 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Artificer Armour; Power Weapon; Bolt Pistol; And They Shall Know No Fear; Blessing of the Omnissiah)

1 Servo-Harness

Validation Report:

c-1. File Version: 1.20 For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; b-1. Roster Options: Special Characters; a-1. Scenario: Normal Mission; 1. Chapter: Dark Angels

Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Composition Report:

HQ: 2 (1 - 2)
Elite: 3 (0 - 3)
Troops: 3 (2 - 6)
Fast: 1 (0 - 3)
Heavy: 3 (0 - 3)

Total Roster Cost: 2500

Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com/
everything is fairly straight forward - transport capacity determines where units go (this is an old dex so only the LRc can fit more than 5/10 in. In terms of weapon allocation in the upgraded DW command squad, the idea is shields/hammers on the apoth and the standard.

The mission this list is for by the way means I need to kill the 3 enemy HQs whilst they need to keep them alive (they count as objectives). plus the side with the most kill points counts as gaining an objective

thoughts guys?

Monday 16 May 2011

March of the Deathwing



Well, the Deathwing contingent of the army is nearly fully assembled, and in doing so i've realised that they are an army in their own right clocking in at nearly 1,500 if taken with a Chaplain and the obligatory Belial to make it legal.


Because of this turnup, i'm fighting off considering going back to Dark Angels so i can use Deathwing for the Apoc Mission and the first mission, though whats helping matters is it would only benefit me in two games and in contrast there will be so many dissadvantages.

though on the plus side, it will mean less for me to paint and more for Louise!

It does seem strange mind you to have not one but two Land Raiders built in as many weeks - after 18 years of gaming, i'd managed to avoid using these beasts, but given my successes with Deep Striking, I need to keep them safe!

I could therefore do with some advice with regards to set up. Working with them being from the Vanilla Marine codex, the hope is to have two assault squads comprising 3 Thunder Hammer/Storm Shields and 2 Lightning claws in each. Is this the better load out vs Marines? I appreciate that Lightning Claws are the bane of marines, but with the 3++ from the Storm Shields, is it better to gain the most from them and use them to soak up some firepower.

If for whatever reason I cannot get another set of Thunder Hammers, i shall probably have to fall back on a regular Terminator Squad. if so, I am considering a sgt with sword, 1x chainfist and an assualt cannon. This squad to go in the regular Land Raider.

Just to give some extra punch, i am considering squeezing a Techmarine with Servo Harness in some of the lists.

Friday 13 May 2011

Badab Wars preparation: The Massacre at Bellopheron’s Fall


As work continues with construction on the army, albeit at a slow place, I have begun to focus more on how the army works in each mission. To this end, this week I gave Matt a battle with the list for the first mission.

The objectives for the battle were a little different to most. As the loyalist player, Matt had to take 3 independent character HQs which he needed to keep alive and it was my job to kill them. Each was worth one objective, and in addition, whoever scored the most kill points earnt one objective. Furthermore, at the beginning of each tur, on the roll of a 4+ the rest of the battle would be fought with Night Fighting in effect.

Typically, Matt rolled a 4+ straight away so it seemed i was doomed to have to fight this battle close and personal. Even with the Deathwing, this thought daunted me against the Blood Angels.

Matt deployed his two predators, his furioso and regular dreadnoughts and the Land Raider Redeemer with a unit of Assault Terminators and a chaplain (the first HQ). the rest of the force was held in reserve. another requirement of reserve was that only deep strikers could be held in reserve, and Blood Angels being Blood Angels, Matt had plenty of Deep strikers. Two Assault squads, a Vanguard squad and a Sanguinery Guard squad. The other two HQs were a Librarian and Dante. I didn't really hold much hope for killing him.

After an outstanding start whereby I destroyed the reg-dread, immobilised the LRR, and immobilised one predator and destroyed one of its sponson Lascannons, we remembered that Night Fight was in effect, so in the interest of an accurate test i rolled for each unit that did anything worthwhile. only one weapon destroyed remained with almost everything turning out to be beyond sight. One thing I really need to do in future battles is risk a searchlight. I didn't in this battle though i kept wondering whether i ought to. I think perhaps with vehicles quite close to the enemy by the time it is the shooting phase, i may as well use their seach lights, as chances are by the opponents turn, even with Night Fight, i'll be close enough for even a low scoring sight roll to be in range!

After initial successes, albeit not as much as hoped, luck once more swung against me, and Matt capitalised on his increasing numbers. In the end, he won convincingly scoring easily enough kill points withought even working them out and in addition, having two of his three HQs alive (and unwounded). He played well and I really enjoyed the battle but it taught me a lot.

Firstly, the Dark Angels just cannot compete with any of their newer codex cousins. Simply, they cost too much and their units are not as solid. I had intended to retain with them for theme - I liked the idea of Belial and his command squad and the Ravenwing working together in a pincer movement to take out the enemy command. Indeed each mission had a theme of some form culminating in my favoured combination of the Ancient Assault Force and the Strike Eagle drop pod force in the apoc mission (which is still very much acheivable with C:SM.)

Changing to Vanilla marines will mean i can squeeze more out of the points in most missions and can give me a wider range of options. One amendment i would make would be to include a librarian with Vanilla marines as the powers are significantly better and complimentary than the Dark Angels powers. Another amendment I shall be making will be to reduce the bikers to three and swapping the flamers to plasmaguns. I had discussed this with Ben the other week, and although the flamers may increase the number of targets, the plasma guns will give more bang for buck against power armour.

I do generally need to keep the lists as they are, but hopefully with a bit more of a flourish.

If anyone has a Marine army and can get to Hulls Angels at some point before the end of June, and wishes to try out one of the scenarios, let me know.

Next scenario i wish to try is Vengeance at Gargathea III. The army composition can be found here. This is the only mission not to be taken from the Imperial Armour book, so the rules in the website are all there is to it.

Monday 2 May 2011

First try with the spraygun

Well I hope you are all sitting down, as I've put some paint on something!

 

 




 Now admittedly it isn't much, but its a start. With just over 7 weeks before the Badab Warweekend, i need to try and get a wriggle on so thought that the quickest way was the Citedel Spray gun since i didn't want to rush out and get an expensive one straight away.

The initial try was a bit of a mixed bag. It clearly needs secondary layers to give good coverage but that is no less than I expected. I'm unsure whether i diluted the paint too much however as after a while it began to collect in droplets on the model. having never used this method before, i don't know whether it was dilution, the propellent, whether i was hoding it too close, spraying too long etc etc. if anyone knows, please let me know.

In other news, thanks to Matt, my Deathwing Shoulder pads and Land Raider doors will be arriving later this week meaning i shall soon be able to begin assembly on the LRC. The Apothecary and Standard Bearer Terminators are already part built, but need the aforementioned pads and also need painting before arms/banners may be attached, and since the Whyf has nearly finished her dissertation, i shall shanghai her into painting all the DW elements of the force which consist of the remaining terminators, the LRC and a ven dread.

Also this weekend i went for a couple of days gaming with Ben and Sam. Had a great time, and on the sunday we tried out one of the games from the campaign weekend. It was a great mission in itself, and it taught us a few things too. i'm now beginning to wonder if the fluff reasons for wanting the deathwing involved is enough. Luckily though i should be able to make a couple of minor adjustments to the list to convert it to Space Marines if i really get worried.

the plan tomorrow is to apply a second coat to the vindicaotr and the dreadnought and see how that goes, but please let me know if it sounds like ive done something obvious

cheers guys

Saturday 23 April 2011

Mobilisation: The task ahead

I thought that i would take some pictures of the forces i intend to use in each game to give me some idea of what i need to do. Hopefully this will spur me on and i wont find myself a fortnight from the event with no progress to show!

Game 1:



Game 2:



Game 3:



Game 4:



Game 5:



So there is a lot to do, including some finalising to assembly such as the assault marines, the LRC is a proxy that Ben has lent to me to practice with until i get mine assembled etc etc. It isn't as bad as it looks as obviously there are cross-over units between the lists - when i complete the models for game one, i will obviously be completing units for other games!

at least the majority of the work is painting, however I have hit a snag; Obviously at some point, either the Whyf or I have seen the spray gun and come to the obvious conclusion that since i don't paint, there is no point in having it clutter up the area and as such it is no doubt 'somewhere safe', so the next task is to find it!

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Preparing for war



Its been a while since I have made a proper post and a few things have changed since then - first amongst these being that I shall be going to the Badab Wars campaign weekend in June along with Ben and Sam.

We have decided to all go as sucessionists and so once more I find myself in need of a painted army when i seem to have more than half of one left to do!

I have decided to use the Dark Angels codex, mainly for theme, but also because I wanted to use a couple of terminator squads without loosing the ability for them to count as scoring, and with the recent FAQ, i'm not at as much as a disadvantage as I had been. However, 50 point Drop Pods with a max capacity of 10, not to mention that i shall have to pay more for my special and heavy weapons in tactical squads are still causing me concern. Nevertheless, this isn't going to be a competitive weekend, so I can afford to to worry so much about these things.

I am still trying to conjour up some background for the army - they wont be used as Dark Angels, they will be being used as a seperate chapter so as not to muddy the waters - though at the moment i am loathe to have them be my own Traitor Chapter before conversion as i hadn't intended them to start off in the badab wars.

I also recently assembled 1k of Nurgle Daemons for no actual reason - complete with magnetized bases on the monstrous based units (Beasts, Great Unclean One etc) though the Plague Bearers are on round bases as i'd not figured out how to make these work. I shall post a pic at some point in the future, but i'm hoping to grow these guys a little to get them either up to 1.5k or 1.75k, but as yet don't have the funds.

The Sisters aren't doing too well in the campaign: 2 losses from 2 may well see them as the first expulsion from the campaign. I can't quite seem to get a list to work with the models i have, but we shall see - as always, i'll play to win.

As part of the drive to paint the force for the campaign weekend, i shall be trying out the spray gun next week - good or bad i hope to post the results, which means that maybe, just maybe it will be the first things i say i will paint, then actually do paint then post up so you can see that i have painted.

...and if you look out of that window there, you may see that flying pig!

until then,