Various Things - Red Box Unboxing, Dungeon, League

A hodge-podge post today, to share a few things going on lately.

A while back I pledged to Tre Manor's Red Box Games Kickstarter, and the figures arrived Saturday.  Overall I'm pretty pleased with them.  The sculpting is pretty nice, but the casting itself looks like it could use some work, with a fair bit of flash to clean up, some very thin parts and some questionable choices on where to inject the resin.

The above are single figs, and for the most part came through very well.

 

WIP Imperial Guard Hydra Flak Tank

With some time on my hands tonight, I was looking at an ebay rescue resprayed/partly falling apart Chimera hull I had and decided to rummage through some bits and put something together with it.  I decided upon a Hydra, though I went with some missile pods instead of autocannons.  Bonus with such conversions is that I can then play around and use it for other things, like another Manticore, or a Devildog (melta missiles!) or what have you.

League Battle Report: Merkan 76th IG vs. Grey Knights

This and the following few pics are not from my game, rather a couple shots from the table set up for Sunday's game between Vinny's Tyranids and Landon's Luigi Marines.  Lots of terrain rolled, and lots of big buildings on hand makes for a very crowded table!

Battle Report: Orks vs. Pilgrims of Rust (IG)

At our local Games Day this weekend I got a game in using my Orks against Aaron's Pilgrims of Rust seccessionist/traitor/part chaos IG army.  We used 1250pt armies, Hammer and Anvil deployment and the Relic was our mission.  I took the opportunity of having a Blood Bowl table nearby and borrowed a football model to use as our objective.

Game On Games Day 2012

Game On's 2012 Games Day has come and gone, with well over 100 cans of food collected for charity, a number of games played, multiple stories and items swapped.  A bit smaller turnout than past years likely due to the proximity to holiday commitments, but a good sized crew nonetheless.

Making room in the Taurus-cave - stuff for sale!

I've gone through things I don't think I'll ever get to in order to take to our local Games Day this Saturday to sell or trade, but wanted to let my loyal readers have first look and first crack if you so desired!

If interested drop me an email through my profile on the right.  If you're local (Greensboro/Triad area NC) come on out to Games Day on Saturday and we can do the trade there, immediate satisfaction and no shipping.  If you're elsewhere, I can estimate shipping depending on what and how much you get, to the US probably like $3 for a small set of plastic, $5 for more, $10-15 for the army.

The Joy of Paint

No, I don't have that set.

For years as a miniature painter I accumulated paint, from all sorts of manufacturers.  I still do.  But for a long time it was mostly a matter of "oh, I am going to paint X, I need a color like Y", and picking up replacements for things that tend to get used up.  I never had a really comprehensive set.

Until I was fortunate enough to win a set of Reaper Miniatures Pro Paints in an online contest they ran.  My story featuring "Kilt Green" secured the mass of pigments for me.

Endless Ones: WIP Supplicants

I managed to get some work in on my Dark Vengeance cultists.  I just built them straightforward; might work with conversions later on with others, but they're decent enough as is for me.

Still need basing and sealing, but otherwise pretty far along.

Games Day High Point December 15th! Come one come all!

Notice: GameOn GW is holding an event at Gaming Underground on December 15 from 10am - 9pm. This is their 5th annual Games Day! This event is for all Games Workshop games and there will be many tables set up and players to test your skills against! The entry fee is 2 cans of food to be donated to local food banks for the holiday season. Games will include: Warhammer Fantasy and 40k, Aeronaut

ica, Imperialis, Mordheim, Blood Bowl, Apocalypse, Battlefleet Gothic, Lord of the Rings, Space Hulk, and others! A Swap meet will also be encouraged throughout the day so bring your old models that you want to get rid of and look for some buyers or someone willing to trade (no unopened boxes or blisters - models for the swap meet must be open, built, used, out of print, painted, or in similar state). A 16 man 40k carnage event is also planned! Come on out and play! CU@GU!

Gaming Underground can be found HERE 

I always have a good time seeing folks, seeing armies, watching games, playing games and doing some horse trading.  Come on out if you can!  Hope to see you there!

Some shots from past events can be found HERE and HERE

Battle Report: Merkan 76th vs. Tyranids

Went down to Gaming Underground today, and got a non-league game in with Vinny.  He was debating which of the Trygon/Trygon Prime/Mawloc to use, so we set up for a test game with the Trygon Prime, his Nids vs. the Merkan IG, 1250pts.

Reminder: DSR casting call voting

Reminder about the DSR casting call.  I believe the deadline for listener votes is Friday night midnight Eastern time, so from this writing about 31 hours.  More than double the expected life expectancy of a guardsman in a warzone; should be plenty of time!

Send your votes to: deepstrikevox "at" gmail.com

Part 1  (4 auditions - I'm at the end of this one - Kamil/Jordan/Kristina/Jim[me] )

Part 2  (4 auditions- Don/ Lee /JR/ Dee )

Part 3  (1 audition - Snorre )

Recently I recorded a mini-sode with Big Jim and Chase from Deepstrike Radio as part of their casting calls for people who might be interested in joining the show as co-co-host.  

There are two recordings, each with several candidates.  I'm on the first one at the end, but check everyone out.  There will also be a third with one person due to a recording snafu.  Be prepared to hear a lot about bolters!  A lot is similar, but there is different info and some different insights in each segment.

Check them out, and email DSR about who you think would make the best new host.  Having heard a few of the others so far, it sounds like they've gotten some great auditions in, and I don't envy them making the final decision!

After you go through the audition shows, if you haven't already been following them, check out some of the earlier shows!  They've covered a good deal of background already, so you should be able to find something that interests you!

Prognostication: Offense vs. Defense

And they still didn't hit anything

Two of the big changes in 6th ed 40K are how flyers and psychic powers work, and both have become more prevalent as a result.  Partly due to their being harder to stop.

For flyers there are some counters, but they're generally limited outside of just bringing more of your own, which only makes flyers more prevalent.  You can take pot shots with your non-Skyfire units, but your chance of success is low.

Deepstrike Radio Casting Call recordings live

Recently I recorded a mini-sode with Big Jim and Chase from Deepstrike Radio as part of their casting calls for people who might be interested in joining the show as co-co-host.  

There are two recordings, each with several candidates.  I'm on the first one at the end, but check everyone out.  There will also be a third with one person due to a recording snafu.  Be prepared to hear a lot about bolters!  A lot is similar, but there is different info and some different insights in each segment.

Check them out, and email DSR about who you think would make the best new host.  Having heard a few of the others so far, it sounds like they've gotten some great auditions in, and I don't envy them making the final decision!

After you go through the audition shows, if you haven't already been following them, check out some of the earlier shows!  They've covered a good deal of background already, so you should be able to find something that interests you!

Army Profile: Space Sharks!

My Space Sharks are actually two armies - a Deathwing-rules terminator force, and a regular Codex: Space Marines force.

Back when I first came back to 40K in mid-3rd edition, I started gathering models for an all-beakie space marine army.  But which chapter to do?  I wanted a chapter I remembered from the early days, and not one of the big ones like Ultramarines or Blood Angels.  Eventually I narrowed it down to the Space Sharks and the Silver Skulls, and the Silver Skulls narrowly won out.  But the sharky itch never fully went away and as you can see I ultimately got back to them.

 

Battle Reports Page Updated

It had been a while since I really updated the Battle Reports tab, but I have now done so!  If you haven't been following along you can catch up there now if you wish.

I've added nineteen links, some of which discuss multiple battles.  Some more detailed than others of course.  Aside from random battles, you can also follow the Space Sharks' journey through the foul foes of their league games.

Of course feel free to check out earlier reports too, just be prepared for possible edition confusion!

Review: Pegasus Hobbies Technobridge

I purchased this bridge kit a while back, to complement a sectional river I bought even further back.  I just got around to opening it up and putting it together, and I am very pleased with it.

Pegasus has made a very simple, functional kit here.  It was a breeze to assemble, taking me about two minutes total to clip off the very few extra bits from the molds and snap it together.  It holds together pretty well so I'm not going to even bother to glue it together, which will make storage and transport a lot easier and allow for alternative configurations.

Black Ops Friday: Imperial Guard Reinforcements

While looking at what to add to my Merkan Imperial Guard list for the league's bump to 1250, plus any changes I wanted to make, I knew I wanted some back-field capability.  The initial obvious answer is the IG's very own boogeyman, Marbo.  After working on the list, including Marbo, I had 90pts left over, and while I initially was going to just toss in another missile launcher squad, I thought about more guys to hang out with Marbo, and noticed that five stormtroopers with a flamer fit in at just the right budget.

But I didn't really have good models for those that fit in with the Merkans.

Yet.

Non-league and League Report: Merkan IG vs. Orks, Chaos Marines

Leonard down at Gaming Underground has been thinking about starting up an Imperial Guard army for himself, so I volunteered mine for a demonstration game.  We ended up with Big Guns Never Tire and set up the IG and Leonard's Orks for a throwdown.

League Report: Imperial Guard vs. Eldar 1000pts

I got my first game in for the new league the other night, against Steven's Eldar.  We weren't able to align our schedules to both getting to Gaming Underground at the same time, so he came by the Taurus Cave after work.  We set things up and prepared for a Kill Points, Hammer and Anvil random mission.

New 40K campaign book, Wall of Martyrs piece kits

Wow, didn't see these coming!  Thanks to Pins of War for spotting these new GW Advanced Orders.

The Crusade of Fire, a hardback campaign book featuring Imperials, CSM, and Dark Eldar.  Don't think I'll pick this one up unless I can find it cheap, but interesting!

Wall of Martyrs not just limited ed!  Likely more expensive if pieced out, but being able to just get a bunker or something is very nice.  I'm sure I'll end up with a few of these at some point.

Thanks

Thank you for your support

Here in the US, November is often filled with stories about what we're thankful for, leading up to our Thanksgiving holiday.  So I thought I'd post up some things that I'm thankful for that make this blog possible and worthwhile (at least to me) and also end up making the hobby easier and deeper.  I think it's interesting how these various things combine to make this niche possible.

Endless Ones: WIP Warp Talon

I spent most of the last few days getting reacquainted with my dad, whom I haven't seen in about thirty years.  But, at night I've gotten a little brush-time in, and have fiddled around with this Warp Talon.

Veterans of the Long War

Old data, but you get the idea

Thanks to all the vets and current duty folks out there, walking the lines for us, including those from the various NATO and other allied nations still stuck in Afghanistan, as well as those Afghanis not shooting at our guys.  Here's hoping that all the various troops can make it back home safely and that Afghanistan can eventually find a good long break after 30+ years of BS, in sha'Allah.

Endless Ones: WIP Warp Talons, Cultists

After finishing up the berzerkers the other day, I was kind of on-hold for painting due to the cold weather making spraying inadvisable.  I assembled my Warp Talons and waited for a thaw.  Today it came, and I took advantage of the warmer weather to spray the Warp Talons as well as two groups of CC Dark Vengeance cultists.

League opening lists

Initial thoughts on initial (1000pt) lists for the new 40K league.  Still undecided about which army to bring, still welcoming your thoughts!  These lists are for the three top contenders in my eyes, the Merkan 76th Imperial Guard, the Chaos-worshiping Scythiak Usurpation, and the Orks of Kaptin Krumpa.

Endless Ones: Abyssal Reavers finished

Finished backpacks, nothing fancy, and got basing done.  It's gotten cold here, so I haven't sealed them yet, but painting-wise they're done.  Either a berzerker squad or simply Khorne-marked CSM, with a champion/Kharne stand-in.

You can tell they're Khorne-worshippers since their skulls already come in nice skull-shaped presentation cases.  How thoughtful!

Thanks for looking!  Please also be sure to check out the previous post and let me have your thoughts on my army for the next league!

Forget the election, we have a 40K league to decide on!

Found at http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/tzeentch?before=1331860753

I hope that you actually don't forget the election if you're in the US, go vote if you're eligible and you haven't done so already.

But we do have a 40K league to decide on as well!

Gaming Underground is doing another league, this one starting at 1000pts, then going up in 250pt jumps to 1750.  

But what to take?  If there's an army of mine that you'd really like to see in the league battle reports, let me know!  Here's the potential armies and links to their profiles (or basic info if I haven't done a profile yet):

Prime contenders:

Kommisar Krumpa's Orks - I have also since added dreads and kans, and at some point will toss in a dakkajet.

Merkan 76th Imperial Guard - They also have access to Straken, a manticore, chimera, and a pair of armored sentinels.

The Scythiak Usurpation - Perhaps with some CSM allies at higher point levels, but probably not so I have points for the Ogryn mob.

Possible but unlikely:

Hell Hounds Word Bearers CSM - With some fiddling could work them into the new rules.

Deathfin - Space Sharks terminator force using the Dark Angels rules.   Would be very small at 1000pts!

Dark Horse candidates:

Silver Skulls

Space Sharks

Having just finished a league with regular marines, would probably want to play something different.  But you never know.

In theory I'd like to use the Endless Ones, but I won't have enough finished in time.

If you'd like to see more of one of these armies in reports over the next few months, comment below!

40K Podcast tab

Above you may notice a new tab, for 40K podcasts.  You can also click the link.

 

 

 

 I listen to a fair few podcasts when I can.  On the page you can find links to those I catch when I can.

 

 

 

There are many others out there, but mostly not for me.  If you're looking for something to listen to on a commute or while painting, check them out!

Enter the Dragon?

I admit to being a bit of a hypocrite with regards to the new Chaos Marine Heldrake and the other new daemon engines.  I don't think that they really fit in looks-wise with the other Chaos Marine stuff.  The Defiler, though crazy, was a much better fit aesthetically.  On their own they're OK, and if I had seen the Heldrake made by another company, like as a Warmachine Cryx monster, I would have been drooling over it wanting to find a way to use it as something counts-as in 40K.  

Possessed List for Dai

In a comment on the last post, Dai from Lost and the Damned and Stunted (which I think involves heretics involved in car chases) expressed a desire for a list with Possessed.  So here's an attempt.

Endless (Ones) Possibilities

http://www.myspace.com/endlesschaosband

Playing around with the Chaos Marine book some more, tinkering with the list ideas I had for the Endless Ones.

I was going back and forth on some options, like whether to run bikers or raptors, and ended up deciding to just make them both and swap them around as desired.  I went further down that line, coming up with some things that could provide a good baseline, with a few swap options and some different options to take things up to higher points levels.  

GW Silas Creek Crossing Grand Opening

DNA FOR THE DNA GOD!  Khornate Kroot say "Buy more models!"

The Games Workshop store over in Winston-Salem has been open for a while, but today were having their official Grand Opening.  This weekend Saturday was going to be freer than Sunday, so I went on out for some kibbitzing, to take a stab at the painting contests, hopefully get some 500pt games in with some new folks and if I was lucky try my hand at the little bits-provided conversion contest.

Battle Report: Orks vs. Dark Angels - Da Relik!

I made it out to Gaming Underground Wednesday evening for a game with Seneca, who brought his Dark Angels.  I brought my Orks as I'd recently painted up the kans and dreads and wanted to actually use them on the table!

We ended up with the Relic mission and Dawn of War (long edge) deployment.  He won the roll for first turn, but elected to set up and move second.

Chaos Marines: Go Fearless or Go Home?

I'm trying to fight the conclusion that the current combination of 6th ed core rules, notably challenges, combined with the new Chaos Marine book's requirement to accept challenges even when horribly outclassed is going to be a huge hit to any non-Fearless CSM unit.

Take any non-Fearless Chaos Marine unit, throw a decent IC or monstrous creature character at it solo, challenge, punk champion, make CSM unit have to take a check at Ld7 or 8 or risk getting swept.

Not a big problem for things like IG, where you're losing 70-80pts a squad.  There I hope for my squad to break, so I can shoot the offender in my subsequent turn, and the sacrifice is minimal.  But for marines where you're talking 2-300pts per squad, that can add up fast. 

What do you think?  In order to survive in a world of challenges, are CSM going to be essentially required to either go Fearless/Cult or include a beatstick IC in any unit that's going into the danger zone?  Or is the risk low enough that cagey playing and a little luck can avoid it, allowing non-Fearless units to perform well in the front lines?

Endless Ones: another CSM list idea

I was thinking about a list earlier that would have the advantage of incorporating the things I've actually already finished painting for the Endless Ones already, namely a Land Raider, a Defiler, and a Predator.  So there's going to be some AV.

Since I'm taking a Land Raider, may as well take some terminators to go with it.  I've had unpainted sorcerer figures for over a decade, so want to actually get to use at least one.  He should be mobile, so jump pack or bike, and should have an escort.  Since so much is already mobile now, more should be too, so CSM will probably want rides themselves.  

So:

Wednesday Night Warhammer, plus a use for old Magic cards

Clocktower with working clock made from surplus (aren't they all) basic MtG lands.  Presumably the actual clock parts are made from something else.

The local store owners came back from a trade show with the above piece of terrain.  I like it; they have tons of cards, maybe we can have a whole card city soon.

Chaos Marines: Example lists

Last post I mentioned some general types of lists I was thinking about with the new CSM codex.  I've since played around with points a bit and come up with some prototypes:

Project List update Oct 2012

from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/gangnam-style?before=1349222761

It's been six months since my last project list update, at least as far as I can tell.  With the Space Sharks done for now and my starting to ramp up back into Chaos Marines, it seems like a good time to update things.

Endless Ones: Abyssal Reavers Berzerkers

Here's the rank and file of a 'zerker squad so far, minus backpacks (which will be pretty basic black and silver) and basing.

Champion/Kharne stand in.

Chaos Marines Overview: Part 4 - Elites, Fast Attack, Heavy Support

Elites - here's where a lot of the meat of the CSM codex is, especially as so many of the units can be turned into Troops with the right HQ picks.

Chosen - lots of weapon options, can buy marks, icons, veterans of the long war (VotlW), Rhino.  No Infiltrate, but two base attacks.  Instead of doing things on their own (at least, how I used to use them - infiltrate/outflank into enemy area and summon/teleport in on their icon), nowadays I think they would be better used in support of other units as a fire brigade.  5-10 size.

Chaos Marines Overview Part 3 - Marks, Icons, Troops, Vehicle Upgrades

A good part of the motivation and flavor of many Chaos Marines is their belief in and devotion to the gods of Chaos, some of the big movers and shakers in the warp.  In game this is mostly represented by Marks and Icons.  

Chaos Marines Overview Part 2 - HQ

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things cannot ally...

Chaos Marines certainly do not have a dearth of HQ choices, with an even dozen.  Seven special characters and five "generic" choices.

Snapshot overview (so, I've only got a one in six chance of being accurate!):

Chaos Space Marines: Initial thoughts and overview

This..is...SPARTAK!

So like many others I have now had a chance to look over the new CSM book, and will begin to present to you, dear reader, my half-baked thoughts about it.

The overview is that it's not really a radical departure from the last version.  Things are different, points are different, but overall it has a very similar feel.  For many of you, that may be disappointing.  Some of the "flavor" issues remain, like no way to have true cult terminators/chosen etc., so your Plague Marines will always be more "Nurgley" than your Nurgle Terminators or Nurgle Lord, your Berzerkers have a higher WS than your Khorne Chosen or Khorne Terminators, etc.

There is some good, powerful stuff in there, certainly.  There are a deceptive number of options - deceptive in that there are a lot of ways to do things, but some have limits and prerequisites, and the core function of things remains pretty much the same regardless.  You have tweaks instead of major changes for the most part.

The army can be powerful, and there are a number of different builds available, though many probably won't be terribly effective (Whee, mass of cultists and spawn!).  With few exceptions, it feels like a very straightforward army.  Place mass down on table, engage, destroy or be destroyed.  There are a few opportunities for synergy but not many, and few ways to really shake things up.  More of the unusual stuff will have to come from Allies.  You can have fun with the new book I think, but you have to wash away any expectations from past books and army lists.  Start from scratch with this new book, 6th ed, and Allies in mind and it might serve you well.  Simply try to translate your 5th ed 4.0 CSM army over and you will most likely be disappointed.

6th edition 40K impressions, continued: Winning

So 6th ed has been out for a few months, and having played a number of games now I've formed some opinions, as have we all by now I'm sure.  Here's mine, let's see what we might agree or disagree on.

White Dwarf and Deathtongue!

By now you've all seen the front cover, so here's the back.

We've been hearing about the new era of White Dwarf, and wonder of wonders, the best part for me is that mine only came nine days after it was available in stores, compared to the frequent twenty-plus days or so that it used to frequently take.  I was half expecting to get my CSM preview issue a week after I had the codex in hand.  Even if this were the only positive change, I'll take it.  Maybe in a few years I can start getting it at the same time as the stores do.  Crazy, I know.

But there's more!

League Battle Report: Silver Skulls + IG vs. CSM + IG

Got my last league battle in today.  I had my Space Sharks done, which was my goal for the league, so I decided to bring a different force today.  Still a core of Space Marines, but this time using my Silver Skulls drop pod force, with some Imperial Guard backup.