AAAAND back

Sorry for the lapse of posts there everyone. Had something come up that I was turning into a much bigger deal than it really was. I have since then gotten my head out of my rear and am back up and running again! I haven't been idle either, I have plenty of new things to show you... and will as soon as I get out of Detroit :/

That'll learn me...

Wow, what a weekend
Had a schedule change and as such was able to play an extra night o' Hammer with my friend Sterling. Sterling as of late has been playing imp guard/deamon hunters so something I am familiar with. This time, however, he decided to bring full on Grey Knights. I learned the hard way that this was a VERY different army.

His list (from what I can remember)

1 Squad of Grey Knights w/flamers in a LR ( Heavy Support)
- I believe this is called a Purgation squad
1 Group of Grey Knights on foot w/brother captain in artificer armor
1 Grand Master in terminator armor & psycannon
3 Grey knight terminators
1 Dreadnought w/psycannon and CCW
1 Dreadnought w/TL lascannon and missile launcher

My list

2 Leeman Russes w/heavy bolter sponsons, lascannons, extra armor and dozer blades
1 Leeman Russ Squad
- 1 Punisher with lascannon and heavy flamer sponsons
- 1 Standard Leeman Russ with hull heavy bolter
2 Groups of vets with 2 meltas and 1 flamer a piece in chimeras with pintle stubbers and extra armor
2 Primaris Psykers that rode with aforementioned Vets
1 Group of Vets with Demolitions, shotguns, 2 flamers and 1 heavy flamer in a chimera with a pintle storm bolter and extra armor

We played a 3 games: 2 annihilation and 1 capture and control. I lost 2 and tied one :/. As I am still trying to decide how I want to do batreps on this site I will give you some highlights of each game:

Game 1 - Annihilation (lost):
- Killed the Terminators down to the Brother Captain turn 1 and finished him off turn 3 as he was trying to hide behind a bunker
- Successfully melta'd a Dreadnought hiding in cover on the other end of the board
- Totally underestimated the assault envelope of a Land Raider (20 INCHES!!!!!!!) and got to watch it rip my tank squad apart
- Last turn a Dreadnought routed one of my vet squads w/psyker giving him 2 victory points and the win

Game 2 - Capture and Control (tie):
- Immobilized the LR on the first turn of shooting! Right... in front... of his objective :/
- Decimated the squad inside said LR down to one man
- Did not play aggressive enough and left a unit in reserve so I could not get to the cap point in time

Game 3 - Annihilation (lost):
- WON the steal initiative roll
- Poured 3 turns of Russ fire ( ALL OF THEM ) into the terminator squad and could not kill them
- Totally underestimated the assault envelope of a Land Raider AGAIN and got to watch it rip my flamer vet chimera apart
- Finally got tank shock to work and was able to save said flamer vet squad from complete destruction
- Last turn a Dreadnought routed one of my vet squads w/psyker giving him 2 victory points and the win.... AGAIN!

As you can see there needs to be some finger wagging in my general direction. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I just couldn’t get over how far a LR could move disembark troops out of the front 2 inches and then charge. That coupled with multiple str 6 hits tore me to ribbons. Believe you me, I will not be making that mistake again if I can help it. Also, I need to keep in mind that while my Psykers hang out with my Vets they are NOT PART of the vet squad. Throwing them into hand to hand combat was just adding a free point.

It wasn’t a total loss though. I had a lot of fun and I learned how my army plays by itself. Normally we run team games due to the # of people we have over at any given time. You can really build a good relationship with your fellow players that way but you don’t get a good feel for what you can do as an individual. Now that I have tasted defeat I can start analyzing where I went wrong and make changes to bolster that aspect of my game.

Truffle me baby!

Don't you love it when a plan comes together? How about something that you planned that comes out in a completely different and actually better way than when you planned it? Thats what happened to me today! Also I think I may have found an alternative to the camera problem.

When I first started painting I knew what paint was, lets leave it at that. I primed up one of the Russ models that I had cobbled together and went to town. It was OK for me at the time but now that I have a few models under my belt I think I can do way better.

Anyway, I am working on getting a punisher up and running and thought I would try to get "Alpha Russ" to look at least in the same ballpark as the rest of the army. So I got out my Dark Angels Green and found to my dismay that I was almost out. Looking at the model in its flat Catachan green glory I thought I would try to do a "dry brush" with a watered down version. Yeah, now that I say it out loud a watered down dry brush sounds pretty dumb. HOWEVER, it worked really well! I would load my brush, take 1 or 2 passes at a paper towel, then run it lightly over the model. While it didn't get the highlighted look I was looking for it mixed really well with the base coat and came out almost exactly like my other tanks.

Check it out:

The one on the left is the first Russ. The one on the right is of my "new style". While I know that the picture isn't the best in the world it shows a lot of promise. I think I can actually see a little detail! Much better than my old digital camera could do. Amazing what you can do with a netbook webcam no?

So there you have it. I blundered onto not one but TWO things today. I think that puts me in the running for the "Blind Pig and Truffles" (BPaT) award this month don't you?

Chaos Cookies

Hello all!
The polls are in and ..... one... person ... voted. I guess that teaches me that I should build a stronger viewer base before I go asking for public opinion ;) . The thing is that I know for a fact that the one person who voted is none other than my good friend and gaming group buddy Chaos Tad ( CT from here on out )

CT runs runs a chaos undivided army with a lean towards Tzeentch. He has just come over to the world of 40K and while is still a little short on models to really field what he wants he is making a marked improvement every time that we play.

I have just realized its been a while since I have posted. Quite a bit has happened but I still don't have much of a camera so I am afraid no pics of a decent quality. I am about 2 tanks away from getting my 1500 pt army completely finished. I have the base coat down on my Punisher and am touching up the paint on a Russ that I did a loooooong time ago. Everything else has been quickshaded and Tim has been touched up to actually match my army.

We got together and had a game today too which was good. I am still working on how I want to do my Bat - Reps ( a separate blog on that later ) but here are some highlights:

1) Made a new friend and gaming buddy by the name of Keith
- Keith is going to be our 'Nid player and has a handful of SMs that he ran with today
- He is also very good at making 6+ cover saves
2) We ran a seize ground mission with 5 whole points!
- We usually only see 3... being dead serious. We have been playing for over a year now
3) I am still getting used to the truncated range of the "Heavy" russ
- Just not used to that 24" that you get with the Punisher and Demolisher
4) I am never going to underestimate vets with krak grenades again
5) CT got a new rhino!
- It got blown up first turn!
- Valkyries are very fast :(

And there you have it. Thats about as comprehensive as you are going to get with 3 hours of sleep. I will have more posts to follow in regards to this new heavy russ and a little something on mathhammer

Chaos Poll Dance

Hey Everyone,
I, like most of you out there, have multiple armies. I currently have 2, Ork and Iggys, and am thinking of doing one more. I have a couple of reasons behind this:

1) I am getting a little tired of horde armies
2) I have heard wonderful things about armor saves and am dying to try some
3) I want an army that I can really focus on all that I have learned painting wise from these hordes

Therefore, I have decided to go down the path of Chaos for a couple of reasons:

1) I think the visual styling on this army is just fantastic
2) Plenty of chances for customization / greenstuff work with mutations
3) You cant throw a rock in my gaming group without hitting a space marine

While this is going to be a LONG way away ( I only have one Ork painted ) I want to get the planning done and out of the way so I can hit the ground running. The other day I was reading through my friend Tad's ( a CSM player) codex and was surprised to find out that CSM on the whole worship the Chaos gods equally. I thought you had to pick a god and run with it. This changed things for me quite a bit because originally I was going to run a Nurgle only army.

I like the idea of very tough troops and FNP. However, this would be really expensive to put together. The Plague Marine troops from GW are metal and cost the same as the standard plastic CSMs and you only get 7 with 1 plasma gun. Now I could just get the standard CSM and order the Death Guard resin conversions from Forge World but that would raise the cost exponentially. To get the army that I would want to feild would cost over 400 dollars. Which I understand is part of the hobby but I could spend about 100 dollars less, get the strike force and battle force boxed sets and get so much more in the way of troops and vehicles.

So I am in a pickle. Which army to choose? Should I go with a deity or play vanilla with chunks of deity mixed in? I like the fluff for all of them really so I am not partial ( sorry Grampy Nurgle) .

This is where you come in. You will see on the right that I have swapped out the painting table and added a poll. Please let me know which army you personally run with ( if you have one ) or which ones you had the most fun playing against. This army is going to be created purely for the fun of building, painting and playing so you dont have to factor in the most "Killer Combo". Also, don't feel that you are restricted to that poll. Let me have it! Lets get a good conversation started on this post and hash it out once and for all.

Thank you in advance for your input

How 40K killed video games for me

I think I am finally over video games. I was quite the addict in my younger years. I used to play all the time. Every bit of information, every kernel of rumor, every trailer, article and website I was there.

However, a co-worker asked me what new game I am most looking forward too this Christmas and I couldn't honestly answer. The 360 Space Marine game looks cool and I play the odd game of a Dawn of War and Dawn of War II but I just cant get excited like I used to. Now its all 40k. I check FTW and BoLS daily ( if not hourly) and my co workers and I talk about army lists, character builds and battle reports constantly.

I think the thing that did it for me was the actual models. I LOVE to paint, mod and build and it always gives me a sense of accomplishment regardless of what I've done. You just cant get that in a video game. Yeah, you can beat a game but what do you have to show for it? Its all ephemeral, a one shot of gratification that you can't replicate. You could go back over the game and try to get all of the achievements but still, at the end of the day, you are left with a beaten game. One could argue thats the same feeling you get when painting a model but at the end of the day you have... well... a model. Painted and ready to go "pewpewpew!" at a friends model. Its all beer and skittles from there on out.

Its that staying power that I have been missing from the modern video game. It all looks like the same thing to me anymore. Its like the yearly sports game: just the same thing with new characters, a few bits and bobs and a new paint job. Underneath it all its still just a FPS, RPG or sandbox game. Wash rinse repeat.

Finally, there is the chance to meet all of you. Joining something this widespread was quite the experience. Everyone that I have talked to so far has been the bees knees and have yet to come across a really negative comment/person. Now I may have just been lucky so far and there is some forum troll out there waiting to pee in my Cheerios® but until then heres to you 40K gaming community! May your dice never go round!

Practical AND Waterproof!

Hey Everyone!
Just popping in to say hi and to give you a real quick tip that has helped me out ALOT when it came to hosting games. I don't know about you all but I find that when you first start your gaming career terrain can be one of the most difficult aspects of the hobby. I realize I am probably stressing over something that can easily be represented by egg crates and Pringles cans but, I admit it, I get board envy. All of those great looking pics of epic battlefields made my first attempts with unpainted ice cube trays seep rather paltry.

SOOOOOooooo whats a newbie table top gamer to do? GO TO THE PET STORE! Dont follow? Here I will show you ( Click the words for Links):

Natural cave WITH easy to hide in foliage

Really tall rock ( great for hiding valks behind)

Busted up columns

Natural Rock Formation

These are just a few examples of what I have on my gaming table right now. The great thing is that everything comes painted and to scale. You can pick up quite a chunk of terrain for under 15 bucks too. Even more if you sign up for a preferred shopper card! The only thing that you have to do is come up with a good lie to tell all the little kids that ask you about your pet fish.

Some call me.... Tim

Ron over at FTW asked us bloggers to choose our "Must have units" the one unit you always find a way to squeeze into your army, regardless of how well it does or how points effective it may or may not be.

Well, for me, thats easy: Tim the Somewhat Sanctioned Psyker! As posted earlier Tim was one of the first models that I actually felt I could show to other people. I think I was originally drawn to him game-play wise because in 4th ed you had no control over what power he had which matched my play style perfectly as I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

Now I use him ( and his younger brother Tom) for a portable multilaser battery. Hide him in the back of a Chimera and tack on at least 2 more STR 6 shots. He can also be used as a poor mans smoke launcher and isnt too bad in hand to hand ( for iggys) in a pinch.

Speaking for the actual Mini I don't believe that he was an actual Citadel cast. I cant tell you for certain because I didn't buy him. He was given to me in one big lot 'o Iggys in return for me playing Warhammer ( more on that later) . Unfortunately I don't have any decent pictures of him and he needs a new coat of paint on him now that I am more confident with a brush. Its too bad too because its Tim's look that makes him "Somewhat Sanctioned". Tim's force weapon has a giant eye wreathed in skulls. I really don't think he'd pass inspection if a Commissar got a good look at him but I let it slide due to his loyal service to the god emperor.

So there you have it. My must have is TtSSP! Whats your favorite?

Fluff Fighter Round 2

I am a fluff fanatic. I love the rich back story that GW provides and sometimes it gets me into trouble on the tabletop because I like to put the story before the stats. As an Iggy player I feel that I am fortunate enough to have one of the richest stories in the universe. You can't beat the heroism and bravery of plain 'ol humans going up against an HR Giger nightmare and coming out heroes. However, there are some aspects in the story that just gnaw at me when I read through the codex. Imagine this conversation if you will....

Soldier 1: 500 count ration containers
Soldier 2: Check
Soldier 1: 1000 count Lasgun clip containers
Soldier 2: Check
Soldier 1: 50 tonnes hay
Soldier 2: Che.... wait, what?
Soldier 1: Yeah, for the horses
Soldier 2: Horses?
Soldier 1: Mounted Cavalry, 250th company
Soldier 2: We are taking horses... into space?
Soldier 3: MAKE WAY FOR THE OGRES! OGRES COMING THROUGH!

Now I know that they call them "Ogryns" but you get the idea. In my opinion this stuff just doesn't seem to fit. Horses? Ogres?.... Hobbits? I mean, come on, we have tanks that can spew the 4th state of matter on command and you expect me to ride to battle on a horse? Not to mention the sheer logistics of dragging a bunch of horses through space.

Also, what's up with the Ogres and battle Hobbits? Isnt one of the main tenants of the Imperium:
"Burn the heretic. Kill the mutant. Purge the unclean."
It should read more like this:
"Burn the heretic. Kill the mutant. Purge the unclean.... Unless they are really, really helpful then we should totally recruit them."

I don't know about you but I would file a planet full of giant, brutish ab humans under M for Mutant.

Now I can understand why GW may put these characters in to justify game-play balance but why not just make specialized human troops? Are there no ninjas in the 41st millennium? No stealthy, well trained snipers that we can rely on? Have we no other alternative to a fast reacting close combat unit other than a guy on a horse with a bomb on a stick? They don't seem to have any issues with specialization in other armies. Just look at the Eldar for crying out loud, they have an Exarch for everything from tank busting to dog walking.

I would be fine with it if they wanted to make the Imperial Guard a "Lighter" army with funsy units such as sniper hobbits, ogre commandos and the My Pretty Pony Patrol but if you go that route I believe you should either embrace it or leave it. To go halvsies on a concept like that just comes off feeling flat and cobbled together (Squats, where did you go?).

Those are my two cents, what do you think?

To post or not to post....

That is the question.....

The sad thing is that nothing remarkable has happened in the recent weeks. I did some painting but didn't get anything done that I could really put a post up for. Played some games and took footage for the first bat-rep but found out that I sound like a jabbering dink on video am not putting it out until I do some MAJOR editing. I could try to do a standard battle report but without pictures/diagrams most of the information would be irrelevant.

I did get to spend some quality time with a "heavy" version of the Russ with the Punisher Variant..... man I love that gun. If nothing else its just an excuse to roll 20 dice and then say "Ok thats done, now let me shoot with my other guns,". Word to the wise though, be sure to add some anti tank weapons to your chassis otherwise you are going to be a sitting duck.

Oh, I also made a slight miscalculation. I thought I was almost done with my first ever 1500 painted army but it turns out I am far from that goal. I recently stopped using my command squad in favor of Primaris Psykers which dramatically reduced the point cost :/ Sooooo now I have to come up with a way to make up the cost. I think I am going to stick with the old Latin phrase "Ut in nuto adaugeo magis lacus" Which, according to the translator I found on-line means "When in doubt add more tanks" It looks a little something like this:

HQ:

Primaris Psyker

Troop:

Vet Squad
- Demolitions
- Shotguns
- 2x Flamer
- 1 Heavy Flamer
- Power fist
- Chimera
- Hull Flamer
- Extra Armor
- Pintle Mounted Storm Bolter

Platoon
Plat. Command
- Power Weapon
- 2 x Melta
- 1 x Plasma Gun
- 1x Medic

Squad 1
- Melta
- Chimera
- Hull Flamer
- Extra Armor
- Pintle Mounted Stubber

Squad 2
- Melta
- Chimera
- Hull Flamer
- Extra Armor
- Pintle Mounted Stubber

Heavy:

Leeman Russ
- Battle Cannon
- Hull Mounted Heavy Bolter

Leeman Russ Squadron ( 2 tanks )
- Battle Cannon
- Hull Mounted Lascannon
- Sponson Heavy Bolter
- Dozer Blade
- Extra Armor

Punisher
- Punisher Gatling Cannon
- Hull Mounted Heavy Flamer
- Sponson Multi-Meltas

1500 pts ( If i remember correctly )

Not much subtlety here but I think theres enough to get the job done. The Psyker will hitch a lift with the Vets and as long as I don't have to deal with Runes of Warding every game I should be able to add a few more "Multi Laser" shots out of the back hatch. Everything else is pretty self explanatory. The troops will do what troops do, the tanks do what they do and that tiiiiny little command squad will hide on points and try not to be shot. As always questions and comments are always welcome and greatly appreciated.