Upcoming North Carolina Tournaments





Tuesday, June 29, 2010

How to Glue Metal Models Together the Easy Way

I've always found the actual assembly of metal models to be a pain in the rear.  I love the detail on metal models, and the heft is nice, but I've always either had to pin, which I hate, or use green stuff, which gets really messy really fast. 

A couple weeks ago I got an email from Powerposey, who writes over at The Accursed Crozius.  He had heard an idea for using styrofoam to glue models together.  I decided to give it a try. 

First, I applied glue to my Hydra, on the butt end where his tail had broken.  I just broke a small piece off of some styrofoam from my garage. 


Then I applied a little more glue over the styrofoam to melt it, and attached the tail.  I pressed them together for about 5-10 seconds.


The tail stuck right on.  A day later, and I can pick up the hydra by the tail and shake it.  It's like the tail is now permanently attached. 

Since then, I've used this method on lots of different models.  I've made more progress in assembly in a few days than I have in weeks.  I put together the Dire Troll Bomber in a few minutes, and even put together The Sanguinor, which normally would be pretty tricky.  It was a piece of cake. 




I highly suggest this method, as it has made my life with metal models so much easier.  Give it a shot!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Book Review: Soul Hunter by Aaron Dembski-Bowden


I find most Black Library books to be middle of the road, with some terrible exceptions and some great exceptions.  Soul Hunter, by Aaron Dembski-Brown, is one of my absolute favorites.  The book follows Talos, former Night Lords Apothecary, in his adventures in the 10th Company of the shattered Night Lords Legion.  While it's not without flaws, it is an exciting and adventure filled book that will grip you from beginning to end. 

The story of Talos stretches from the death of Night Haunter to the modern day Black Crusades, and features a great cast both mortal and Astartes.  Talos shares his Primarch's gift for seeing the future, and seeks to guide his Company correctly through his battles.  Talos has to battle both external enemies such as the Imperium, but also enemies within his own "faction", who seek to turn him to the Dark Gods.  Throughout the book, there are great battle scenes, including the best Titan battle I've ever read, and the characters are well developed as well.  These aren't cookie cutter Night Lord villains.  Instead, we see a range of characters as the Legion slowly falls away from its heritage and edges closer to true damnation.

The book isn't without its flaws, but they're mostly editorial.   In one paragraph, a Crimson Fist Marine becomes an Imperial Fist marine, and there are a couple more little errors like that I noticed.  Nothing major bothered me.

Normally, I only suggest these kinds of books to those who already have an interest in the subject matter.  However, Soul Hunter is a fantastic book (and a great successor to the earlier Night Lords novel, Lord of the Night), and I'd suggest it to anyone who would like a Black Library book in general, or even a good science fiction read.  I'll give it five out of five stars. 

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The 7th Edition Farewell Tour


As Seventh Edition of Warhammer Fantasy winds down, I'd like to give each of my armies a final run around the table before things change.  The plan is at least three games before Eighth comes out, with each of my armies. 

So we'll have to dig the Bretonnians out of storage.  The plan is to run each of my old fun builds, so probably I'll dig out the nights and just try and steamroll a table like the old days.

Next, we'll grab the Dark Elves.  I'd like to run them with the Black Guard, and maybe give Steve the Black Dragon a flight or two across the table.  They're a tough group, and I want them to have some fun before they get arguably better in the next edition. 

Finally, the Beasts.  They're my newest babies, and I've had plenty of opportunity to play them, but it'd be great to get them out one more time and have them eat some fleshy weaklings. 

Watch for the Video Battle Reports coming soon as I take the Seventh Edition Farewell Tour!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Dark Elf Assassin


Sometimes, you just have to pop out of a group of Spearmen and just stab a whole ton of the enemy right in the neck, and to do that properly, there's only one model to call.

Somehow, GW really didn't make a bad assassin model. I have two of them, plus Shadowblade, and they were all awesome to paint and look great on the table.  I've never run all three in a list (yet), so they get to rotate duties. 

I'm worried about their place in Eighth Edition, or lack thereof.  With stepping up, attacks will always come back, and so the Assassin can pop out and do a lot of damage, but then he'll always get hit back, and probably hard.  Aside from using him on elite cavalry, I can't see where he's going to earn his worth when he appears.  Maybe there's something I don't understand yet...or maybe he'll be retired for a while.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Incoming! Sea of Blood for Warhammer Fantasy!



Got an email from Games Workshop this weekend officially announcing the Sea of Blood boxed set.  While they didn't state what the armies would be, the picture above was included.  So it's either Skaven v. High Elves as suspected, or this is one heck of a trick they're pulling!   Here's the text of the email below:


"Incoming! The Island of Blood

The Warhammer world; it is a place riven by battle, where mighty armies clash for glory, honour or the entertainment of Dark Gods. Darkened skies, tortured by cataclysmic magics tear open and rain blood upon the ceaseless combatants and the landscape is wracked by the carnage around it. Trees writhe in mutated agony, lashing out with limb and branch and rivers flow thick with the corpses of the slain. All upon the land are consumed by the unending battle, an age of war in which victory and defeat hang in the balance.

Cast against this macabre tableau fight mighty armies -warriors by their million raise banners of defiance or icons of dismay, taking up arms in the clash for survival. Beleaguered and surrounded, the forces of Order fight desperately to stem the tide of the armies of Destruction. Delighting in the carnage and ruination, the Dark Gods look on.

The Island of Blood is but one battleground upon the face of the Warhammer world, a mystical and dangerous place that has been twisted and mutated by the warping power of Chaos. In ages past the Island of Blood was a battleground upon which armies have bled and died in the ageless battle for supremacy... and they will do so again. Soon.

The Island of Blood is the new boxed game for Warhammer and is released this September. Packed full of stunning plastic Citadel miniatures and containing all the rules, dice and templates you'll need to play, it's the essential purchase for fans of the Warhammer hobby.

Meanwhile, if you like the Battle for Skull Pass boxed game (and who wouldn't with all those Goblins and Dwarfs) then it only seems fair to point out that once the last few remaining copies are gone they're gone, and they're never coming back! Pick one up while stocks last.

In August we'll feature more information about The Island of Blood on games-workshop.com and the full details will be released in September's White Dwarf.

If you can't wait until September to get your hands on the new rules then don't forget that the new Warhammer Rulebook and complete range of accessories are available to advance order by clicking on the image below."

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Eighth Edition Compiled Notes and Rumors



From a great source locally, we have some detailed and real rumors!



Army Composition:
Must have >= 3 units (not including characters)
Lords <= 25%
Heroes <= 25%
The Lore that a wizard uses must be part of the army list. You may not change it each game.
Core >= 25%
Special <= 50%, and <= 3 of same type of unit
Rare <= 25%, and <= 2 of same type of unit

Terrain:
For the most part, GW seems to be encouraging a lot more terrain. Their suggestion is to place D6 + 4 randomly generated pieces of terrain. They describe a regular and … funky … new terrain types. For the most part, terrain does not impede movement any more. You can march through woods all you want. The rest of the terrain section is just too much to put here.
Flyers can now fly into and out of woods, but must take a “Dangerous Terrain” test when they do. (A roll of a 6 = a wound.)
There is not rule about the middle of the battlefield being clear. (not that I saw…) The pictured battlefields are very cluttered.
The turns still follow the same order they used to: move, magic, shoot, combat



Magic:
Like I said before, the Lore that a wizard uses must be part of the army list. You may not change it each game. Also, any given spell cannot be taken >1 in a game. An exception to this are “Signature Spells” – or the automatic spell that all the new lores have (as well as most of the existing army-specific lores) – i.e. the low-level spell that everyone should be able to know.
So, here is how spell selection works. You choose the order in which your wizards will go to select spells. You roll a D6 for each wizard level. If you roll a double, then you may CHOOSE the spell that replaces the duplicate. (This is huge, IMO.) When you are done, you can swap any of your spells for the signature spell.
Then your next wizard rolls, but only the untaken spells are still available. If all your wizards take the same lore, then it is likely that one or more of them will not be able to take any spells except the signature spell.
At the beginning of the magic phase, the player whose turn it is rolls 2D6 to determine the winds of magic for that phase. The sum of that roll is the PD; the highest die roll is the DD. Additionally, all spell casters roll a D6 and any 6’s add +1 to the applicable PD or DD pool.
You may use between 1-6 dice to cast a spell regardless of your wizard level. Your casting value is the sum of the dice roll and your casting wizard’s level. However, a dice roll totaling <= 2 (or was it 3?) is always a failed cast regardless of your wizard level. Double 1’s are no longer a miscast. If you FAIL to cast a spell, then that wizard is done for the magic phase. (So, it looks like spamming low level spells will be much harder.)
To dispel, you have to nominate a wizard that is going to dispel. If you don’t have any wizards, then your army can make the dispel. (I guess it can even if you do still have wizards; it’s your choice.) You choose the # of dice you want to use from your DD, roll them and add your wizard level. I don’t remember it saying that double 1’s is an auto fail, but it might be. Double 6’s will auto-dispel it even if your total roll isn’t high enough. (I think – notes are sketchy.)
If you roll double 6’s to cast, then it is cast with Irresistible Force AND it is a miscast. The miscast table is pretty nasty in terms of using templates centered on wizard’s head dealing str 10 auto hits on everyone underneath it. (Obviously there is some variance here, but I don’t remember any of them blowing your wizard’s head off or anything.)
Remains-in-Play spells no longer keep you from casting other spells.
Bound spells are no longer auto-cast. You still have to roll the ‘power level’ number on your cast. (this goes for warrior priest prayers, too.) If you IR/Miscast it, then the item gets destroyed or, if it’s not an item, you take a wound. (or something like that.)



New Lores
I really like the new lores, but did not take notes on all the spells. In addition to having 7 spells each: 1 signature spell, and then 6 normal spells, each lore has a unique benefit:
FIRE: if a unit is hit w/ a damage spell from this lore, then any future castings during that phase on that unit get a +3 to casting roll.
BEASTS: casting difficulty for each spell is -1 when targeting units of war beasts, monstrous beasts, monstrous cavalry, chariots, monsters, swarms, cavalry (I think, though it is not in my notes), and all units in the Beastmen army.
METAL: damage spells have wounding rolls = Armor Save, with no armor save allowed. Models without any armor cannot be harmed by these spells.
LIGHT: extra D6 hits vs Undead and Daemons for all damage spells in the lore
LIFE: successful casts auto heal 1 wound on any character within 12” of caster.
HEAVENS: vs anything with Flying rule, D6 str 4 hits, plus whatever other affects the spell does
SHADOW: after successful cast and its effects are resolved, wizard can swap places with friendly character (of same type: infantry, cavalry, etc.) within 18”
DEATH: for each unsaved wound, roll D6; 5’s and 6’s give you +1 PD




Shooting
No guessing ranges and no strict order of what has to shoot first. Partials (from templates) are all auto-hit.
If >= ½ of target unit cannot be seen, then it is considered to be in soft or hard cover -  based on what is obscuring the view.
The To-Wound chart has slightly changed. Now, 6’s always wound – even on a str 2 atk vs T7.
After armor saves, a model has to choose whether or not it will take a Ward OR a Regen save; not both.
There was no mention about war machines negating armor saves.
War machines are considered as a unit, not as a machine w/ a crew. The war machine is al l matters in terms of LOS or anything else. There should be enough crew to represent the remaining wounds on the war machine. Whenever a wound is scored on the unit, remove a crew member. In close combat, up to 6 enemy models (or 2 cav models or 1 monster) fight against the crew on their stats. Shooting against them uses machine’s stats.  Once crew are all dead, remove the machine – and vice versa. If a crew member is blocking LOS of someone or is in the way of another charge, simply move the crew member. The machine is all that really matters in that case.
War machines never flee or pursue. If they fail a panic test due to enemy destroyed w/in 6”, etc., then they can’t shoot next turn. They never run away.
When charged, do not align the charging unit to machine or anything else. As soon as chargers touch the machine, simply stop them there and fight.
LOS for the machine is the nozzle or crossbeam, nothing else.
Cannons do D6 wounds now. However, they now work kinda like a bolt thrower; i.e. if they hit 3 models but fail to kill the first one, the cannonball does not continue onward to the next model.
Grapeshot is a str 5 shot. The artillery die determines # of shots.
Stone thrower is now str 3(9). D6 wounds ONLY on higher strength hit. Has a special ranged attack option where you can place template someplace even where you cannot see it. In this special case, even the direct hit roll still scatters in direction of small arrow a distance of the artillery die roll minus the crew’s BS.



Combat, Movement and Miscellaneous
All units must remain 1” apart unless charging – EVEN your own units
Charges:
Charge distance is base movement plus 2D6. Fast movers can roll 3D6 and choose 2 highest rolls. You can measure before declaring charge. To see if you reach the unit, measure the shortest distance from your unit to the other unit. If that’s within range, then you can ignore wheeling costs and all other measuring from that point on. You still have to wheel enough to maximize models, but you cannot fail the charge if you were originally within range.
Declare one charge, opponent declares reaction, then declare another charge, etc.
If I have 3 units wanting to charge the same unit, the defending unit could declare a hold against the first charge, a S&S against the second one, and then after shooting, still decide to flee from the third charge.
Flee move is 2D6 for infantry; if fast moving, then roll 3D6 and choose 2 highest rolls
S&S only an option if charger is more than their base movement distance away (which is really the same as it used to be, only worded differently.)
If you declare a charge and the unit flees, you can choose to take a ldrshp test to see if you can charge another unit. If you fail the test, you have to attempt to charge the original unit. You can only redirect once per turn.
Failed charges use highest die roll for distance.
If you catch a fleeing unit, you move ONLY up to that unit, align with it, and then remove the fleeing unit as destroyed. You do not move your full distance like you used to. At that point, if you pass a ldrshp test, you can perform a free reform.
You can rally fleeing troops that are under 25% of their starting unit strength on double 1’s.
If you fail to rally, you continue fleeing in the same direction you were already fleeing. You are NOT destroyed by fleeing into ANYTHING. However, if you flee through enemy troops or through impassable terrain, each model rolls a D6 and will die on a roll of 6. (called a difficult terrain test) Cavalry and similar models have to take this test for all terrain besides open land and hills. After this test, your unit just pops out on the other side of the enemy unit or impassable terrain (as if they scattered around it).
For movement, there are no longer any “turns.” You still wheel like you used to. You can move EITHER sideways or backward ½ your regular movement distance. The only way I can think of for you to turn around is to reform. However, if you have a musician, you can take a leadership test during your movement phase. If passed, that unit can perform a free reform, and then move as normal (except cannot march). After such a reform you can still shoot (unless you have a move or shoot weapon).
March blocking still exists, but can be negated by a leadership test.
Fear and Terror got seriously nerfed in that there is not any auto-break or auto-flee when charged by outnumbering enemy. However, you do have to take a fear test every combat phase. If failed, your WS goes to 1. If charged by terror causer, you will still flee (but only if ‘flee’ is a valid option.)

All models fight in at least 2 ranks. The 2nd rank gets only 1 attack each (cavalry can only have knights get this attack, not their mounts). This ‘supporting attack’ is only to the front, not sides or rear. If unit is 10 wide (“horde rule”) then they get an extra rank of attacks.
It is MUCH more difficult to negate rank bonuses now. Instead of US5, you have to have 2 full ranks.
There is now a rule called “Steadfast.” If a losing unit has more ranks than the enemy (EVEN IF ranks were negated for CR purposes), then the unit is stubborn on whatever leadership it has access to.
Combat Resolution:
+ ??? for Wounds Caused
+1 for Charging
+1-3 for Ranks (5 wide is still a rule) Ranks are counted AFTER fighting, not before.
+1 Unit Standard
+1-2 for Flank (can only get +1 for each flank regardless of multiple units in that flank)
+2 for Rear Flank
+1 for Charging from High Ground (>= 50% of unit on hill before charge begins)
+1 BSB
+1-5 for Overkill in a challenge
If you win or draw a combat, but are still locked in combat, you can reform – as long as it doesn’t remove models from combat – and unless you are fighting on >1 side. If you lose combat, you can reform if you pass your modified ldrshp. (I’m unsure about whether this is basically an additional break test.) If you restrain from pursuing a broken enemy, you may reform. If you kill everyone in combat, you may reform.
If you pursue into a new enemy, you MUST charge them and opponent MUST hold. If you catch a fleeing unit, you align to them, remove them, and then may reform.
Each unit in combat must declare which enemy unit they are pursuing. Fleeing units run away from largest unit strength. If you overrun a unit that you did not declare a pursuit against, you don’t kill them but stop 1” away.
In a multi-unit combat, if a unit kills everyone in the unit they were facing and are therefore no longer in combat, they wounds they caused count towards combat res, but not their standards, ranks, ets.
ASF = re-roll misses to hit if Initiative >= opponent’s initiative. If both have ASF, then no re-rolls. GW (always strike last) negates ASF – so both effects are ignored.
Breath weapons can only be used once per game, but can be used as either a range attack or a close combat attack. If range, then nothing changes except that all partials are auto-hit. If close combat, then the enemy unit takes 2D6 auto hits on the breath’s strength – and wounds do count toward combat res.
If a unit has flaming attacks, then that means they automatically have their ranged and combat attacks as flaming. If shooting into or assaulting buildings, flaming arrows get to re-roll failed to-wound rolls.
Frenzied units do not have to charge if they can pass a ldrshp test. They cannot benefit from Hand weapon + shield benefit.
Hatred – no longer have to pursue
Generals, BSBs, etc. on Large Targets (or who are large targets) have a 18” sphere of influence rather than just 12”.
Magic Resistance now bestows a ward save modifier(against magic attacks) rather than more power dice.
If a random movement unit (squig hoppers) move into you (for an impromptu charge), you may not flee or S&S, but must hold.
If a model or unit gets wounded by flaming attacks, not only does regen not work – but they lose regen for the remainder of that phase. (So, flaming arrows followed by a trebuchet could be deadly.)
Models on bigger bases get an extra ‘stomp’ attack after all other attacks and only against infantry, war beasts and swarms. Stomp attacks are auto-hit on regular strength of the model.
Stubborn units can use their stubborn ability on any available leadership.
Skirmishers got nerfed some. They now must be ½ inch away from each other, but otherwise rank up like normal units. They have front, flank, rear. No more 360. They get free reforms like fast cav and can march and shoot. A big benefit, though, is that WHEN IN WOODS, they are always steadfast. (Normal troops cannot gain steadfast ability when in woods.)
Scouts do not have to be out of sight when they deploy, just 12” away and cannot charge first turn.
Fast cav (and possibly some other units) have VANGUARD rule: they get a free 12” movement before turn 1, must stay 12” away from enemies, and may not charge turn 1 IF they go first.
Monstrous Infantry get supporting attacks = to their total attacks (not just limited to 1 like normal infantry.) Ranked ogres and minotaurs just got nasty.
Cavalry and monsters can now assault buildings, but may not garrison them.
Hand weapon + shield combo (“parry”) no longer gives +1 AS. Instead, it gives them a 6+ ward save (but not against impact hits, stomp attacks, or anything not close combat). However, if your troops have halberds, spears, etc., YOU MAY NOT CHOOSE TO USE HW, but must use your special weapon.
Everyone can shoot in 2 ranks, but anyone with a bow (short, regular, long), can also fire in volleys – which means that half the models in ranks 3 and above can shoot (rounded up). So, a unit of 20 in a 5x4 can shoot 16 shots.
In combat, wounds put on R&F troops will kill the command group only after all R&F troops are dead and in strict order: musician, then standard bearer, and then champion. (Of course, you can always kill the champion earlier by allocating attacks to him.)

Characters
Can benefit from “Look Out, Sir” rule even when not in a unit IF they are within 3” of a unit – and then the roll is a 4+ rather than the normal 2+.
May not join war machines, monster units, flyers, or chariot units
Characters on monster, chariot, etc. may not join “other units”
If a character joins a unit, the unit may not move afterward that phase. So, move unit first, then move character into it.
If character’s base does not fit cleanly into the unit, then you do not actually put it in the unit, but keep it to the unit’s side. (i.e. character on horse would fit into Chaos Warriors unit like normal, but would have to be kept to side of Chaos Marauders.) He still benefits from being in the unit, but does not contribute to rank bonuses, etc.  Also, a character can ALWAYS move into combat if his unit is charged – even if the opposite flank was charged – BUT NOT if he is standing to the side of the unit because his model doesn’t fit right. (The book calls it a footprint.)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

40K MMO Trailer Released!



Jeez, it's a busy day for news!  The Trailer for the 40K MMO, Dark Millenium, was just released, and boy does it look like some fun!  We've got Dreadnoughts, Bikes, Marines, oh my!  Check it out below!


Winter is Coming



I'm a huge fan of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and can't wait to see it come to HBO next year.  HBO just released their first teaser trailer for the series, which you can check out below.  So very excited!


Eighth Edition Official Release Dates and Prices

 Got an email from GW this morning:

"The brand-new Warhammer rulebook is available to advance order right now. To mark the occasion, we've also released a range of Old World-inspired, limited edition products, including a lavish Collectors' Edition and several Warhammer artefacts. Guarantee your copy of Warhammer and make sure you don't miss out on these limited items - click on the image below and place your order now."

Here's the link to check out the prices.  While the main rulebook is a bit more than it used to be, it's not as bad as I potentially imagined for a 528 page monster.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Dahlia and Skarath



I didn't expect the last of the Hordes Minion Casters to be my favorite once painted, but I really like how Skarath turned out.   I decided to make the belly darker so as to best contrast with the middle section and back plates.  I tried to make Dahlia simple and complementary to her snake.  It seems like my camera came through today, and took a decent picture for once.  Cheers!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Grimlock: Dinosaur General Genius!



I had a nice post for today, but when I went to post it, I ran across this article on Bell of Lost Souls.  I think everyone would be better off reading this brilliant article on generalship rather than the monkey drivel that I come up with.  Mush, you huskies, mush!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Team Blizzardmen: A Combined LIzardmen and Beastmen Force


Most times, I try and make the pictures make sense, but this is what came up when I searched Google, and I laughed so hard we're going with it instead.

Lon and I are going to play in the WFB Doubles tournament on the 19th with a combined force of his Lizardmen and my Beastmen.  We're working through several different ideas on how to best combine those armies.

Our original idea was to spam magic like crazy, using the Herd Stone and an Engine of the Gods.  We took four level two mages altogether, with the Stone providing each with more power dice.  We were generating near twenty dice a turn!  We figured this would be a pretty fun weird way to play, since we both usually play combat, plus it would be fun to surprise our opponents with the sheer craziness of the army.  We figured it would be effective, but we needed to play test it before the tournament to see if it would actually be fun to play, and not just mean. 

We got in a game against Brad and Blair, with their combined VC/WE force, and learned a few things about our combination.  We won the game, but more through combat!  Lots of dice are nice, but the magic wasn't particularly effective.  Worse, it was slow, and it wasn't fun to just roll a bunch of dice.  I've never played super magic/shooty heavy before, but I'm not sure how people stomach watching their opponents' faces as they lob buckets of dice at them.  Yuck. 

So I think we're back to the drawing board, to think about things like magic defense and combat goodness!  I hope anyone who can makes it up to the doubles tourney on the 19th, as it's going to be a great time and a fantastic way to say goodbye to 7th Edition!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

OMG Work!



As I'm suddenly called into work unexpectedly today, I didn't have my post prepared beforehand.  Instead, I leave you with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHn1zogeyO4

Perhaps we need something like this for the Imperial Guard.

Monday, June 7, 2010

A Tale of Two Robots



Model companies can make some great models, and some real duds, and do so often on the same release day.  Yesterday, I put together two Khador Warjacks from Privateer Press.  One was easy, fun, and looks great.  The other was a ridiculous monstrosity. 



We'll start with the disaster.  The Devastator (above) looks cool in the picture, or at least I think so.  Unfortunately, he was designed to cause seizures of rage in those putting him together.  Those big arms are attached to the body by tiny cylinders about half a centimeter long and about as thick as the head of a Bic pen.  Or at least they are supposed to be.  After an hour, I gave up and attached the arms directly.  The weight of the arms is still so much that it took a ton of work to get them to stay on.  We're on day two now, and everything seems to be holding together, but the arms have broken / fallen off three times so far.  Wheee!


On the other hand, there's the Kodiak.  See that pose above, where he's all "I'm a robot ninja wrestler"?  He looks that awesome when you put him together.  His arms are built so that, even though they're heavy, they can hold to the body with great support at the joints.  All in all, I'm guessing he took five minutes to put together, and is an awesome product. 

So please, anyone who makes models, take a note from the Kodiak and Devastator.  Don't make models that can't support their own weight at the joints.  Don't add extra pieces that I have to put together just to have extra pieces (a la the extra tiny arm struts).  Give me a model like the Kodiak, in which dynamic beauty is combined with structural simplicity and ease of construction. 

Friday, June 4, 2010

Imperial Fists Vindicator!


I love having a guy with a sword coming out of the top of any tank, but especially a Vindicator.  That's how I play my Space Marines anyway...sure, I've got one of the best guns in the Imperium, but I'd rather hit someone with that chain sword.  I decided to really try and weather the vehicle, adding lots of chipped paint and especially splattered mud.  I'll do the same to the Land Raider and any Rhinos that follow. 

I am excited to finally be fielding this bad boy, as big guns are pure joy.  I hopefully will get a chance to attend a 40K tournament this weekend, and if so, this will be great to use!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

SFG 5/29 Battle Report: Game 1

Hey folks! So this last weekend Sci-Fi Genre hosted a 2250 WHFB tourney that myself (and Ben) participated it. The tourney was one day, 3 rounds. It was a smaller turn-out, with 10 people showing up, but it was actually pretty nice, and a lot of fun. SFG usually hosts its tourneys with an "anything goes" attitude, and this was no different. Shane just checked to make sure the lists were legal, but other than that you could bring special characters, nasty item combos, or your fluffy squig hopping Orc squad if you wanted. All of the games were also pitched battles, so no scenario points or objectives, just straight up face-smashing. You were also awarded the most BPs for massacres, then solid victories, then major victories (are those switched?), etc.

Anyway, I wrote up my battle report for Game 1. The other two will follow. Enjoy!

My List:

Vampire Lord
Level 3 Wizard
Flayed Hauberk (2+ AS)
Helm of Commandment (give WS to one unit during combat)
Black Periapt (save magic die for next phase)
Dispel Scroll
Forbidden Lore (know all of one lore)
Master of the Black Arts (2 extra PD)
Summon Ghouls (raise ghouls beyond starting on 3+)

Vampire
BSB
Cadaverous Cuirass (heavy armor, immune to KB and poison)
Talisman of Protection
Talisman of Lynci (M9)
Ghoulkin (ghoul units get free march before game starts)
Avatar of Death – GW

Vampire
Dark Acolyte (level 2 wizard)
Summon Ghouls
Book of Arkhan (bound level 3 Vanhel’s Danse Macabre)

Necromancer

Nightmare
Dispel Scroll x2
Know +1 spell

3 units of 10 Ghouls w/champ

2 Corpse Carts w/Balefire (-1 to cast on wizards within 24”)

2 units of 5 Dire Wolves

4 Fell Bats

14 Grave Guard w/champ

5 Cairn Wraiths w/Banshee

Varghulf


Game 1 – Bart – Daemons of Chaos

Bart normally plays dwarves around SFG (at least it’s the army I’ve seen him play the most), but for this tourney he decided to break out the nasty daemons. His list was roughly:

Great Unclean One

Herald of Nurgle on Palanquin, BSB

Herald of Tzeentch

Bloodcrusher on Juggernaut

Unit of 20 Plaguebearers, standard

Unit of 20 Pink Horrors, standard

Unit of 10 Bloodletters

Unit of 5 Flesh Hounds

Unit of 5 Flamers

So not too bad of a list, daemons can get much nastier than what Bart decided to bring. In the end though, it’s still daemons.



See picture for deployment. My free march saw the left 2 ghoul units move forward at an angle toward his flamers/horrors, and the right ghoul unit go pretty much straight forward.

Turn 1:

I won the roll and elected to go first. Most of my infantry just moved straight forward, with my grave guard just moving a bit to the right. My wolves on my left flank moved up toward the flamers, but stayed just out of their charge range. On my right flank I moved my bats and wolves up to annoy the flesh hounds, with my varghulf and wraiths hanging far to the right to really threaten that flank. Magic was pretty pitiful; I think I only raised 4 ghouls.

On his turn he moved his flamers and plaguebearers up a bit. His horrors and GUO hung back, though did move a little forward. His flesh hounds also came over the hill. Surprisingly he moved his bloodletter unit backward, though I’m not sure what he was fearing. Magic was also a dud for him, with my balefire proving its worth. His flamers shot the heck out of one of the ghoul units though.

Turn 2:

On my turn I moved my left-most ghoul unit and the wolves up to screen the flamers. My other left ghoul unit moved right in front of his GUO. On the right flank I moved my dire wolves in front of his flesh hounds, swung my bats around behind his bloodletters to march block, and slid my varghulf and wraiths up the right side of the board to get into charge range of his hounds. Magic went better, and I raised a good amount of ghouls in the left 2 units, and also raised a block of zombies behind the dire wolves on my right flank in case the flesh hounds decided to try and get a big overrun roll. Banshee scream did nothing.

Bart’s turn saw him charge my ghoul block with his GUO, and charge my dire wolves with his flesh hounds. His bloodletters found their daemonic courage and trudged forward, though slower now. I pretty much shut down his magic again, though he did get the spell that drops all stats to 1 off on his GUO. Shooting saw his flamers fireblast my dire wolf unit, though rolling poor and only killing 3. In combat his GUO chewed up some ghouls, but didn’t get rid of them and so was stuck. His flesh hounds ripped apart my wolves though, and overran into my zombies; which was a bad position for them as the varghulf was now staring down their left flank.



See picture for Turn 2.

Turn 3:

My go again. I was now able to get some charges off. My varghulf went into the flank of his flesh hounds, and my free ghoul block on my left flank went into his horrors. I moved my remaining 2 wolves up to screen his flamers, and my bats hung around behind his units. My right ghoul block moved forward to get at his bloodletters later on. Magic just saw some raising, and my banshee screamed 2 bloodletters to death. Combat saw my left ghouls fail to wound the herald, and lose CR by 3, leaving 2 ghouls in the unit. My varghulf also did fairly poor, and only killed one hound. He struck back at the zombies, and managed to kill 5. This allowed him to win CR by 3, which put a wound on the varghulf and allowed him to reform, negating my flank next turn. The GUO ate the rest of the ghoul unit.

On his turn he charged the dire wolves with his flamers. The rest of his infantry just kind of shuffled around, though his plaguebearers were starting to get close to my grave guard block – something I didn’t want happening. He also moved his bloodcrusher out of the bloodletter unit. Magic was pretty uneventful again, and his flamers were in combat so no shooting. Combat saw the flamers eat the wolves. In the ghoul/horror combat though, I had one ghoul left in BtB with his herald. He swung his slimy arms out and rolled BOXCARS, so 2 poison wounds to the herald…and the herald FAILED both ward saves. Both ghouls popped due to CR, but at least they went down with a fight. The varghulf/hound combat also went in my favor, with the varghulf doing 3 wounds and the flesh hounds popping with a poor instability roll.



See picture for Turn 3.

Turn 4:

My turn again, and a pretty close game so far. I charged my remaining ghoul block with BSB into his bloodletters, along with the varghulf. In moving chargers, however, I found that my bats were blocking my ghoul unit from charging into the bloodletters by just ¼”, so instead they failed and now had an exposed flank to the plaguebearers. I shuffled my grave guard back a bit, hoping to delay the plaguebearer block. My wraiths also moved around to hopefully get into the flank of the bloodletters later on. In my magic phase I was able to raise about 20 zombies in front of the GUO to hopefully stop him up. My banshee scream sounded more like a hoarse whisper, so nothing there. In combat, my varghulf did well, and won CR by 1, but the bloodletters passed instability.

On his go he charged into the zombies with the GUO, and the plaguebearers went into the flank of my BSB-ghoul unit. The flamers moved around all the combat to get LoS to my grave guard, and the bloodcrusher was trying to dance away from my bats in order to charge in somewhere. His magic fizzled again, and shooting saw the flamers char 4 grave guard. Combat saw the GUO stick to the zombies. His plaguebearers put some hurt on my ghoul unit, but with the helm working the palanquin was hitting on 5’s, so I stuck around, even with the banner of re-roll to wound nonsense. The varghulf killed a couple more bloodletters, and they passed instability again.



See picture for Turn 4.

Turn 5:

My go. I charged into the flank of the bloodletters with my wraiths, hoping to wipe them out. Magic went well for me this turn, and I was able to really bolster my ghouls and zombies. I also cast a Gaze on his bloodcrusher, hoping for some luck, and managed to put a wound on him. In combat, the zombies held out for another turn against the GUO. The wraiths and varghulf finally wiped out the bloodletters, but the wraiths didn’t quite roll high enough to overrun into the bloodcrusher. My ghoul unit held again, and I even managed to put a wound on his herald.

On his go he charged the flamers into the flank of the zombie block that was tar-pitting his GUO. We’ll just skip to combat, as nothing really happened in any other phases. The GUO and flamers wiped out the zombies, and the flamers overran in position to shoot my grave guard again. Plaguebearer/ghoul combat didn’t result in much.



See picture for Turn 5.

Turn 6:

Wow, really close game. I don’t think either of us has gotten more than 200 or 300 points away from the other. I charged my wraiths into his bloodcrusher. The rest of my movement was spent making sure none of my units could come to any major harm. Magic saw me boost my troops again to make sure the ghoul unit didn’t pop. In combat, he smartly challenged with his crusher, and so we ended up drawing. The ghoul unit stuck around with the plaguebearers, nothing exciting there.

Not much happened on his go. His flamers shot a couple more grave guard, but his horrors and GUO didn’t really have anywhere to go. I failed to get through the bloodcrusher armor with my wraiths, and so it stuck around.

So game over, and a pretty intense one at that. I ended up coming in ahead of him by about 270 points, which was still a draw. It was an extremely fun game though. My MVPs were definitely the balefire carts which stopped up most of his magic, and my one assassination ghoul killing his herald. After the first round of the tourney there were 2 wins, 2 losses, and 6 draws, so everyone was still really lumped together.

Pictures of the new WFB Book, Medals, Dice, and Magic Cards!

Sometimes, the Internet provides such goodness!

Oh So Yellow!

The process of painting my Imperial Fists has had its ups and downs, but nothing has been quite so arduous as the tanks.  My goal with the Fists was to have each of them look smooth.  Most yellow I see is streaky and often times the base coat shows through.  I wanted to do my yellows right, and while they're not flashy, I have had very good luck getting things nice and uniformly colored.

The tanks I'm currently working on, though, are really taking some effort.  Coat after coat is going on, and progress is being made, but getting perfect yellow on large, flat surfaces is really a trick.  Thank goodness for Foundation paints, eh? 

One of the articles I read recently on the GW website mentioned painting a White Scars Land Raider with sponges.  Does anyone have any experience with this method?  I have a Land Raider myself to do next!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Who Knew? 40K Can Be Fun!


It's been a long time since I got a game of 40K in.  I've been playing Fantasy, and a bit of Malifaux, exclusively for over a year now.  The other night, Ian and Bart and I played a goofy, fun bit of 40K, and I had a blast.  I think the difference may be in the way I approached the game. 

Back when I was playing 40K a lot, I was working to win every single game.  I wanted to smash faces and win tactically every time.  I also wanted to play my Raven Guard and Imperial Fists like they played in the fluff, as killing machines that knew no equal.  I got pretty good, and had some tournament wins, but was unhappy that I couldn't really play my marines aggressively and win.  I had to focus on long and medium range firepower in order to use them effectively, and it wasn't something I enjoyed.  I wanted to make heroic strikes at my opponent, to get in his face and smash him up for the Emperor!  Basically, I loved the SM fluff, but was playing the wrong army on the tabletop. 

Fast forward to yesterday, and I've still got the same army.  But I haven't played tournaments for a while, and I'm not worried about being competitive.  It was a great almost "beer and pretzels" feeling yesterday to play, and to just do things the way I wanted, and damn the consequences.  I used Lysander like the tank he is, punting vehicles and harlequins around, and even when I was down to one wound, I still charged an incoming group of Terminators. 

So hey, maybe there'll be a little more 40K play around here.  As long as I can keep it fun and light, I think it's a great game for me.  And soon, perhaps I'll paint up some Space Wolves and Blood Angels, and have marines that will actually fit an aggressive play style competitively.  Could be good times!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

40K Army Raffle for Charity!



Via From the Warp, here is a great project to raise money for Doctors Without Borders.  Here is the link to click to donate when you're done (since FTW's wasn't quite up as of posting time this morning): http://santacruzwarhammer.blogspot.com/.  Look at the top right corner.

"The Storm Wardens are a new Space Marine chapter from the yet to be released Death Watch RPG. Together with Games Workshop, Fantasy Flight Games (Horus Heresy, Wings of War) has been developing the game which will be released this summer.

We approached the folks designing the Death Watch game while planning this project, and told them we were thinking of building a Storm Wardens army, and they loved the idea. They have been working with us in getting the look of the army just right and giving us some great unreleased fluff and imagery.

We are going to build a complete Storm Wardens Space Marine army with a decked out HQ, Marines, Veterans, Scouts, Terminators, and a bunch of vehicles, a massive army that any commander would be proud to field.

You will be able to see the army units come together and follow the army build progress through links to all the builders blogs on our "Storm Wardens" mini blog roll.

Who will be working on the army?

Dave Taylor
Thomas Wynn (Wynn Studios)
Jawaballs
Mister Justin (Secret Weapon Miniatures)
Mik (Miks Minis)
Mike & John (Santa Cruz Warhammer)
and last but not least, your's truly.

Along with the blogger build team, we are going after some related hobby retailers to give up some loot to add to the army prize. Secret Weapon Miniatures is donating all the custom bases, and Chessex has already sent us the custom dice.

What can you do?

Well, you can give us your money. You can buy tickets for the raffle drawing at the top right of this page or any of the other participating bloggers, using PayPal or a credit card. Each donated dollar becomes one ticket, the more you buy the better your chance of winning, and more money for charity.

We will randomly draw the winner in mid July.

What if I don't have any money, but I still want to help?

Dig around under the couch cushions or under the seat of your car, put on some dark sunglasses and sell pencils out of a cup on the street corner, or even sell some extra Warhammer minis on Ebay, then use that cash to buy your raffle tickets.

You can also help by linking to this project in your blog, telling your friends and other gamers, mention it at your gaming club or even posting about it in your favorite forums, this will help us get the most exposure we can, so we can raise more money for charity.

If you have a small business (or know someone who does) that might have a product to donate that would be great to add to this army, contact us about a feature during the build.

Why should I help out?

If you have ever read something on our blogs that you thought was cool, gave you a good idea, showed you how to do something better, downloaded a free drop pod template, used the Barter Bucket, or perhaps you even got something from us for free and you are feeling a bit guilty about it.... well, now is your chance to give something back, pay it forward, return a good turn.... well you know.

Oh yeah, and you could win an entire finished army, by giving $1 to a good charity.

Where does the money go?

The money will be donated to Doctors Without Borders, and actually help people. We chose Doctors without Borders because their cause is a global pursuit to help people in need, where ever help is needed most, and they have a good track record with getting the $ where it does the most good.

So there you have it. I hope you are all as exited about this as we are, its been tough keeping it a secret.

So.......who wants a new army?"

This is a great project for those who are doing it, and I hope I can help get the word out in whatever tiny way about this fantastic project.  Go buy some raffle tickets!