Weekend update!

Found the plate! I had one hidden away in my ork stuff. I got a bunch of leftover Space Wolf stuff that was given to me and it appears I tossed this into the ork bitz thinking it would show up there on something salvaged.

Worked some on the Docs bike. Here is a front shot.

The orderly, trimmed off an IG hand from the command sprue medic hands. now he looks like he is holding gauze and it is spooling off as the doc drives to his next patient. Added an icon on top for the Deathskulls. This comes from the Vampire Counts old shield sprue where you could pick the icon and glue it on the shield.

Main part of the bike. A salvaged medics kit is part of the docs stuff and the glyph plate is sculpted after I scraped off the old one, stands for "Urty or Doc".

Painted up the Servo Skulls...

Close up....

The other type....

Another...

Weekend Rundown

Well, my painting goals for the month sucked. Still, I am underway that next month I should be airbrushing enough to make up for that loss and then some!

Picked up a green tote (the large type) that is great for storing the small boxes that I use to hold models when I don't use foam. This is what is on the lid of EVERY tote you buy.....

Well, that totally scraps my plans to how I am going to store my children!

Introducing Big Mek Optick!

Built from Gorkamorka mono-wheel, a custom made wrench, the head is from MaxMini Orc heads, the standard plastic klaw and one of the heavy weapons torsos to hold the second KFF I am building.

Da Shaman Nutzwig that can double for the special Weirdboy character ole Zogwart. There are snakes around the body for the fluff and rules.

This model was a beast to make. Started with the Savage Orc Shaman from Fantasy, another head from the MaxMini line, then added on the arm and green stuff some gaps. The staff is a pole of collected skulls from other psykers and weirdboyz he has killed in the past to harness their power to his. The skull at the top is a spot of honor for his former teacher and mentor. 4 skulls are human and one other from ork from vanquished foes. This guy has been primered today and I will slowly start to paint him up.

I got the feeling, someone is watching me! Sorry, 80's flashback!

Again, just a small update to the demon table. Cleaned up the model some and added some texture to the base and filled in the gaps for the teeth/claws. This is wood filler, which is nice as it can be sanded out once it dries. The brown part is going to be a bio-organic type of paint job, the talons will be bone color with the bottom edges some contrasting color. The Eye I may touch up and then paint it with some clear coat to make it look wet.

A good day to primer. As usual, I have been lazy but didn't stop me today to slip outside and primer some models to paint up. Been wanting to get these bikers underway. Still have the Boss and Doc to finish up. I also have three other bikers to convert from the older bikes as well. All said and done I will have 10 bikers in total. Boss with Klaw, Doc on Bike, 2 Nobz with Klaws, the rest will be normal bikers or some minor upgrade to avoid making them all the same for wound allocation.  Also among the mess on the left is some bits to the Valkyrie and Demolisher kit to finish painting up. I built the tank to be modular to remove all the weapons and swap things around. In the back is the 5 servo skulls ready to go and a Demon Prince that I primered. Been having a small urge to paint some demons up while I am still getting ready for the Space Wolf and Dark Angel production line. I think in my mind that if I do a bunch of aliens and demons I will be in the mindset for power armor.

Introducing Doc Chop Klever and his sidekick da'disorderly Orderly

A good close up. Still a WIP. Standard Bike, front is a spare Marine front that I plan to add some tools of the trade. The mask is from the burna boyz line, the clever is from the Fantasy Ork line, I saw it in a friends biz box and fell in love with it and it is fitting..."Oie' dis has to goe!" *CHOP*

The grot is going to get something instead of that pipe, I was thinking a hammer for anesthesia in the field or perhaps the syringe he is holding for the doc. The head is from the StormBoyz set from the gretchin in there. For the top I am going to put some type of Orcish medical symbol that I am going to cook up. Going to add some pads over the arms and I had to extend the bike handle so he would fit.

My find at Ikea. I have been lusting after one of the glass display cases they have for $60. I want 2-3 for my hobby room to display my models. They are very nice. So, I had to settle for a $3 case instead. Found this in the children's area. I think my wife found it fitting that I would snatch this up for the cart. Going to have to go back and get a few more.

Just to give you some examples of what you can put in there. I placed one of my MaxMini thunderwolves in one slot and he fit like a glove. Dreads fit nice (if you have banners they can get in the way, suggest magnets). The Deffkopta fit in nicely straight up, on the side the blades to poke up a bit and leaves little room to close the box. The ork bikers fit also very nicely. I also put two Tau in there one Crisis Suit standing up (so you could put two suits in one slot) and a Broadside can lay on the side for easy travel. Next Ikea run I may need to get one of those glass cases and a few of these. One for my Thunderwolves, speeders and dreadnoughts. Another two for my Ork bikers and at least two to three for my Tau. Also, the slots do come out all over to make longer sections, so a dreadnought with a banner could fit the other way or to accommodate larger models.

Fixed a few models also like my Tomb Spider that had lost a set of legs and some other minor glue and fixes to models that comes with wear and tear of moving them about, handling them and using them in games. So, lazy in painting but still doing various hobby work.

What was I thinking?

Have to give credit to Lance for this funny Dilbert cartoon. He found it on the net and posted it on Fantasy Battles bulletin board.

Stopped by a LGS Skull and Bones today to find my tape measure that I was sure was left there after a tournament last weekend and talked to one of the owners about a variety of stuff. The topic of  "stupid things" we as experienced players have done and then step back going, "What was I thinking!" passed along in the conversation.

In this instance, I have been guilty of this and at least two players I have played against including the gent I was conversing with today. You get first turn, setup your army. They hold all in reserve, you get out of sequence somehow. Either just excited about getting to the fun part of blasting at the other army or nerves, in either case you fire off all your smoke launchers on your vehicles first turn to then see the horrible truth that they don't roll reserves until turn 2! As you went first, they have a whole turn to do nothing.  Then you get your turn 2....this time with no smoke options and they can roll in out of reserve blasting away.

A second story I can share was playing with my best friend  at a team tournament with a dark stain on a moment in gaming that will never be forgotten. We was playing Salamanders and IG against Necrons and either Demons or a second Necron army in the team. In either case, they has Nightbringer in their mist. As he charged towards our lines it was about to get ugly in hand to hand. I suggested we roll up his Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield terminators to stop the C'Tan. Thinking, oh they have a 3+ save and master crafted hammers. Seems I forgot that rule with the C'Tan, he ignores all saves including invulnerable ones! Poof goes the Terminators. I get this look from my friend, rightly so....and he still has never let me forget it!!!!!

So, I am opening this blog for readers to share their "face palm moments" or "acts of stupidity" that they have done in gaming or have observed in their community. Please share!

Tau vs Orks, the classic game!

The sands whipped around the orks as they neared the ruins of an abandoned Imperial industrial complex.

Big Mek Ob'Da'Bilda walks up next to Warboss Big Bluez, "Oi' boss, what are we doing today?"
The warboss looked over at the Mek, many times over he wanted him dead but he was too damm  useful to kill at this point....his army would be deprived of many toys and he would be forced to fight with stones and sticks if it came to that. He sighed, "Same ting we dooes every night, we gonna krump some  Tau!"

The Mek grinned barely contained in the glee of looting more tech to build better weapons and vehicles. He waves his claw to his Trukk, "Load up boyz' we's gonna getz some scrap!"

The Warboss was already walking towards his Trukk, "Hope that damm Erk Snikrot was worth all doez teeth I paid! He said there was Tau waiting just over the ridge...tell Zagstruck not to  be late!" He glances up to see the large ork plane roar overhead towards the objective zone, the boss mutters, "Show offs...."

*******************************

Played a great game of 40k after Blood Bowl, seems there is where my win was hiding!

My opponent had this (from memory):
* Commander with plasma and missile pod
* Several Crisis suits, one set of 3 with missile pods (x2), another group with twin linked burst cannons and flamers, the last group has plasma and missiles.
* Two Broadside teams 3 and 2 with missile pods.
* Small Unit of Kroot
* 3 Units of Fire Warriors (small 6 man) with Devilfish
* 2 Skimmers with melta
* Hammerhead with ion cannon and burst cannons

My list:
* Warboss with TL shoota, klaw, eavy armor, cybork and attack squig
* Big Mek with Klaw and KFF with cybork.
* 15 Kommandos with 2 burnas with Snikrot
* 19 Stormboyz with Zagstruck
* 2 units of 30 Boyz with 3 Rockets, Nob with klaw and bosspole. Unit has shootas.
* 2 units of 11 boyz with the same nob with a big shoota.
* 2 Boomwagons with big shoota
* 3 Deffkoptas with 2 missiles and 1 with twin linked shootas with a buzzsaw on one of the missiles.

The mission: kill points with spearhead deployment

I won the roll to go first. I deployed the two Boomwagons with the trucks next to one another. One of each character in each trukk and the KFF covered all 4. The boyz tucked nicely behind some buildings and the vehicles. The Stormboyz and Kommandos are off board ready to pounce.

He sets up his Tau, his plan was a bit scattered due to the speed in front with the bulk #s, the kommandos sneaking around and Zagstruck ready to pounce. My koptas sped forward in a turbo boost and he failed to seize.

The Koptas flew forward and attacked the Crisis Suits with the missile pods. The fight ended badly for the Tau fleeing away. The koptas slipped into cover and waited to be shot apart. Both Boom Wagons roll a 1 and race forward. *sigh* The Trukks move around to setup for a big charge, I try to keep the KFF to cover most everything. The boyz move up some and I get some amazing missile shots, he pulls most saves off I think I got one wound on a drone. Down only a few suits and drones, this was going to be a tough fight it seemed.

His turn flew the speeder up and wiffed on a shot to one of the Wagons! The rest of the shooting opened up on the Trukks and troops. I pulled off several cover saves and taking on a few losses. The koptas took most of the fire and in the end died a screaming death.

Turn 2 saw my Wagons shoot forward again! ARG! Both of them! Twice in a row! Snikrot shows up and creeps on the table. Zagstruck is still high in the sky. I race the Warboss up, jump out, shoot then prepare to charge one of the broadside teams. Snikrot makes quick work of the Crisis Team protecting the Commander that promptly breaks ands runs away. The boyz manage to take down one skimmer and I continue to shoot at some of the Crisis teams dancing about. The warboss and nob crushed the broadsides in one sweep and was caught in the open.

His turn 2 opened fire on the boss, the Warboss bravely took several shots before he had enough and fell over full of smoking craters in his armor and meked out body and the boyz around him dead. The Trukk was immobile at this point but the gunner wasn't giving up just yet. Snikrot took a bunch of shots but held on. One Boomwagon falls prey to a railshot (if i recall) and went up in a ball of fire...the other Trukk blows up also and the Big Mek is forced to walk.

Turn 3 for me, the Mek closes on the other skimmer, we end up ripping the weapon off.  Some meh shooting, Snikrot's burns envelops a Fire Warrior team in flames and leaves nothing left after a few mercy shots from the boyz pistols.  The Boomwagon again rolls a 1! This time it keeps bumping impassible scenery unable to move. Zag enters, scatters badly and ends up on the other side of the table out of the game.

His turn kills a few more Orks, he breaks Snikrot and ends up pinning them as they flee into cover.  The Trukk gunner is dead leaving the Trukk as a low armor bunker.....

Turn 4 wrapped up quickly, the Big Mek killed the Broadsides at this point with his boyz. The other group downed the other speeder. The boomwagon moves finally and blasts one of the Devilfish, hits, pens, fails its cover save from the disruptor pod and promptly explodes. Both fire warriors and drones are pinned.

At this point he looked at the kill points and I was 11 to his 6 from what I recall. Snikrot was broken and running, the koptas dead, the boss down and his boyz dead and one trukk down. The Trukk would have been an easy kill, maybe the Mek and crew but then I would have taken down more than likely the fire warriors and two sets of drones running around. A win for Da Boyz!

Kudos to Andrew for being a great player and providing a great army to play against. Always great to see two well painted armies face off!

****************
The Mek looked around as the Tau was pulling back in a full retreat two Devilfish, one Hammerhead, some Kroot and a few Firewarriors and drones was all that was left. He smirked as he looks over at the Warboss, as he let out a groan, "Good, es'got life in'em yet....still can use'em..." He snaps his fingers and the boyz move to lift the boss up to give him some assistance.

The Ob'da Bilda saw the boys was already at work, stripping armor, weapons and taking apart vehicles for parts. He glanced at the Trukks, "Gotta get mez a new ride first...then fix da boss...then the koptas should fly again..." Looking at  their wreckage not far away. His head was already buzzing with ideas of new weapons and armor to make for the next battle.

Pics of the game:

Da Deployment!

Unprepared for his picture taken Andrew studies his forces!

It's Krumping time! Snikrot style!

Broadsides vs Da Boss!

End of Turn 2 for me!

The drones flee the burning wreck after a well placed rocket attack!

Blood Bowl: League Game 4

On Thursday, I played against the Ogres. Oh, what a treat this game was. It was a close one ending only in 0-1, Ogres taking home the win in this case. As the came ended, 5 out of his 6 ogres was off the table and there was a great chance to rule the field if we had a few extra turns. Still, I learned to put aside my fear, yea they are AV9 and STR 5, but enough bodies can win the day. As it stands I am at 3 losses and 1 draw for the league with only a handful of games left.

First Half setup for the kickoff!

First turn of mayhem!

First ogre to the bench!

Second half line up! HIKE!

To be thrown down field, land on  his feet, run to the end zone and only fall and break his neck!

The bigger they fall!

One last try!

What the? A change in GW attitude?

The title says it all. As of the start of the year, I have been surprised by two turns that GW has done with 40k that has given me the sign that times are about to change again. Back when we changed to our current edition, GW said that they would not do the things they did in the edition prior making up special units and adding them to White Dwarf to upgrade current armies (like Tau Auxiliaries) or make huge changes to FAQs for older codex books that had the same materials in them.

The recent rules updates was the first sign of changes: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=cat440134a&pageMode=multi&categoryId=1000018&section=&pIndex=1&aId=3400019&start=2

Here we see that Dark Angels and Black Templar's finally get the toys that the Space Marines, Space Wolves and Blood Angels have already been enjoying. 3+ storm shields, apothecaries that give Feel No Pain to their unit and so on. This has sparked a new interest again to these armies to some small degree.

Introducing the Night Spinner: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=15100016a

What is this? A new thing for the Eldar? Looks like GW is again trying to draw some interest to the older lines with an overturn of their own edict of no updates or adding to a codex until it is updated. What is funny is this is ANOTHER heavy choice which is prime for an Eldar army and had many good choices to choose from. I doubt you will see this appear much on the tables for tournaments. Perhaps more for fun games and Apocalypse games.  

And Knowing is Half the Battle: To go first or second?

I was asked this a few weeks back when someone won the roll off  if it was better to go first or second. The mission was spearhead and kill points. His IG vs my Orks.....

This was not an easy answer for me to give because not every game and situation is the same. There is always factors to take into account when your making the fateful choice to go first or second.

It breaks down like this:

REACT VS CONTROL

This can apply to any game such as chess. To take black is to accept your going second and will have to react to the actions of the player that is using white.

To control the game is to set the tone. For example, in a kill point or VP based game you put the other player into a spot where they have to try to make up for any losses you have inflicted. A well built army that can "alpha strike" can cripple another army making it harder for the other player to react in any efficient way and forcing them to salvage anything they can perhaps even forcing them to do things that could lead to mistakes you can take advantage of. In an objective game, taking an objective either early on or about mid-game allows you to force the other player to make efforts now to either remove you or at least contest the objectives for a draw or perhaps a win with enough luck. This can again put the other player into a spot that can cause them to make mistakes that one can take advantage of.

When it comes to reacting, there is also some luxury to this depending on several factors such as luck of the dice, what the other player does and how can you exploit their actions. By going second, you see what their intent is and can counter/deny him his goals if needed. Also, by going second you can wrap up a game and in situations where it can be a close call as to who wins, often the player going second usually ends up the winner in the right situations. Imagine this, if your playing a kill point mission, your tied, you can focus your fire on weaker units for the win or in an objective based game, you could contest or knock an opponent off enough objectives to turn the tide of the game in your favor.

So, what is better for you? To go first or second? There is other things to consider....

YOUR LIST VS THEIR LIST

Take a moment to look at your opponent's list and his army. Try to pick up key elements and units that could be a problem to the game and look at how their play style intent is. If you see that they are all in drop pods and loaded up with melta guns and power weapons you can see they want to get their army in your face quickly while an IG list with tons of tanks and heavy weapons teams are going to hammer you with heavy firepower and armor to win the day and avoid getting into contact with you until they can no longer avoid it.

Next, look at your own build and concept. Everyone that builds a half decent list has some sort of plan to its design. If your list has scouts, infiltrate or some means to outflank then your going for the element of surprise and to keep your opponent off guard. A drop pod heavy lists says, I am going to get in your face quickly and inflict as much damage forcing you to react to my actions. The scout/infiltrate/flanking list is a reactive list and the drop pod list is a good example of a control list. Some lists like mechanized and foot slogging can be setup for either depending on your build.

This leads us to...

THE TABLE, SCENERY AND LAYOUT

This deserves a mention on its own as every game table is always different. Some may have tons of scenery, others may be just a few scraps. It could be clusters of small things, some really large stuff or a balanced mix.

You  have to look at your deployment zone and the table  layout to also be the last element to factor into if you want to go first or second. By going first, you can deny the other player of prime locations on the table giving the best cover and LOS blocking. When you go second,  you could end up with table scraps for cover which could be bad. On the other hand,  depending on the above lists now factors into the table. A drop pod list won't care what side they get, they are going to be in yours! A flanking list will not  need a deployment zone either as they will be slipping in from the sides (or perhaps the other players long edge in some cases like Snikrot's Commandos and Wolf Scouts).

Would you rather like to go first or second? Post your thoughts!

To recap:
1) Look at the mission and the goals. Do you want to control the game by taking the first turn or go second and be the one to react ?

2) Lists, study your opponents list, see what the elements are in the list and how it is going to be used in the game. And knowing is half the battle!

3) The table, by going first you can deny the other player cover and you can obtain the choice real estate on the table for yourself. Perhaps going second is better as your list does not rely on cover but rather some other aspect like deep striking, flanking or other means of deployment that your opponent may not anticipate.

40k Charity event

Went to a charity event at a local store here in town on Saturday as Sunday had other things going on. Had a good time overall as all the players was a great bunch which is nice. Last charity event was to raise food for a food pantry for a local church, this time it was to raise some money to keep the shop doors open. While I don't make it to their store often at Skull N Bones due to it feeling more like to me like a club store than a regular shop, I never want to see a spot close up that hosts gaming and promotes the hobby. So, I was willing to drop a few bucks for fun and support the hobby.

My first game was against Adam, this guy is a great, what can I say? He has a Space Wolves army with a top notch paint job and conversions as well as a good player. The mission we had involved 5 tokens on the table that represented "Space Wolf Ale" stored away and both sides was racing to grab some grog! Of course you could take a chance and roll on a chart if a non-vehicle unit was next to the objective that could make a unit anything from Fearless to stone drunk and you could find a few models in the unit staggering off drunk! It was also a DOW mission which was VERY painful to my army concept.

Meet Adam....

He had from memory: Logan Grimnar, Bjorn, a Lord on a Thunder Wolf with a wolf claw and storm shield, a lone wolf with a storm shield and hammer, a grey hunter squad in a rhino with a melta and wulfin, a Terminator Wolf guard unit with a cyclone (power weapon also), thunder hammer/storm shield, power weapon and Ajarc in a drop pod. I may be missing something else, but for the most part the list was a bunch of 2+ saves and 3+ inve saves.

My list was pretty simple: Rune Priest with Living Lighting and Murderous Hurricane, another with Living Lighting and Jaws of the Wolf. 4 Grey Hunter squads in Rhinos with melta guns and Wolf Guard with combi meltas mixed in (one squad did not have a WG but had two meltas instead) each varied in sizes. Two was 8 man with a Wolf Guard and RP in them. The other was a full 10 with nothing special and the other was I think about 8 men including a WG in it. I also had 3 squads of Long Fangs all with Missiles and the Wolf Guard all had combi-meltas and power fists.

He took second after we placed tokens. I held all in reserve, he setup Bjorn and I think a Rhino squad. First turn the pod landed with Logan, Arjac and terminators in tow. The rest ran on the board. Turn two moves some stuff around. I get all 3 Long Fangs and 2 Rhinos of GHs! So, I spread them out and try to deal with the Terminators and Bjorn walking into my lines before the second wave gets there.

The game ran all the way through turn 6 before ending. I was tabled to sum it up. With the charity rule of being able to buy rerolls for a quarter each and being unlimited at how many times you can reroll, do you think I killed much with a 2+ and 3+ inv saves. Um no...and having a limited budget that I could spend on rerolls also hindered alot.

One of  his great minis!

Turn 2 reserves prepare for the onslaught!

The other side of turn 2 reserves!

Bjorn the converted!

Great! They jacked our rhino and now what?

Guys! DREADNOUGHT!

Thunder Wolf HO!

Logan who?

I move on to another Wolf player by the name of Patrick (hah!, same name as me). We end up with a Spearhead Mission this time and there is two objectives in each deployment quarter, one is a trip that
turns the scenery into dangerous terrain and the other is the actual objective. Patrick was another great player and had a very nice army to boot, that is one think I appreciate is always having a well painted army on the table adds alot to the experience.

The other Patrick...

It seems that I missed the "Thunder Wolf Charity" memo for  Space Wolf players as I brought none. This guy had this: Wolf Lord on a Wolf with a unit of Thunder Wolves mixed with a hammer, storm shields (2) and melta bombs. He also had a Las/Plas Razorback with a unit inside and another pair Rhino with a large squad in it. A Long Fang squad rounded this out with 2 Lascannons and 3 Missile Launchers.

I lost the roll and ended up going second. I put out the Long Fangs in hopes of removing his and then giving some focus to the Wolves and Rhinos. Hah! Again the reroll city came down the line as cover saves passed after money is tossed. Again, I see where this is going. The Thunder Wolf Calv just walks into my army and starts to slowly take me apart. I pull the trap, but again I got laughed at by the rerolls on rerolls to get the desired results. Plus, appears this store uses the house rule that when you roll Dangerous terrain checks, you just toss the dice and then you can allocate....which is weird, as the wording states each model must be rolled for, not roll a die for each model in the squad. I roll with it, as I doubt I could win as I don't have the money or the heavy handed list to win with. Meh, it was for fun anyway. The game ended with him all but almost removing me from the table. I would have more than likely wiped his Wuflin on the table and hid in cover or ran for cover in the last Rhino, otherwise everything else was dead.

Grey Hunters vs Long Fangs

Cluster **** from hell

Great, now they are looking for a new chew toy!

Ewww! Wet dawgs!

The last round was to be a random pairing of 1000 pt lists for a team game for the final. As we had 6 players there was not enough to do this, so we do a 3/3. This was pretty much a modified Kill Point Mission as the lowest scoring team player would determined your KP total. So if two had 2 points and one had 1, you ended with 1 point. All the Wolves got bunched on one side to face down Imperial Fists, Dark Angels (Deathwing mostly) and Blood Angels. Yes, the entire event was a 3+ MEQ event.

A picture says a thousand words...meet the other side.

We played till about round 4 where it was starting to drag. Basically they had a ton of terminators, we could stall them for awhile but with storm shields galore all around it was going to be a hard win and with Death Company in jump packs running amuck it wasn't going to be pretty. We did a great alpha strike and removed all their first deployment Rhinos, Vindicators and Whirlwinds along with a few marines. Then here came the pain of the terminators and Death Company, ugh! We called the game at this point in an agreed draw to avoid running over in time as we was pretty much over in our allotted round time.

What is left after turn 1....

Great! Dark Angels! There goes the neighborhood!

Run lads! I can hold them!

In retrospect, I suggested they modify the event to limit the reroll to one charity reroll for each dice once to keep things sane or perhaps cap the amount of money that could be spent to make people think before rolling 6 to 10 times to get a desired roll.