Friday's Article of Interest

I know, "It's Saturday already." Well, I have been working 12 hour shifts again. So, I didn't feel like posting yesterday.

Since we have been talking about magnets and keeping your options open, I present this weeks Article of Interest: LINK!

This weeks article comes to you from the Lord of the Bitz, Adrian Hagar. His blog is called the Workbench. He posted this great article about magnetizing a Space Marine Land Speeder.

Enjoy the article, and browse around at The Workbench.

Adrian is a fellow member of the From the Warp blogger community.

Go over and check him out.

Magnetizing Back/Jump Packs

In the Blood Angels codex, the Assault Marines have the option of Jump Packs or Rhinos.

I am a big fan of keeping your options open. In actuality, I learned this the hard way. Let me explain. I started playing 40k during 2nd edition. My first army was Imperial Guard, and I remained faithful to the Guard for 12 years. During that time, 3rd, 4th, and 5th edition came. Each of these editions made various weapon loadouts more desirable. However, I had no options. My models were set.

As a result, I am an advocate of magnets . . . keeping your options open.

Here I have pictures of an Assault Marine and a member of my Death Company. You can see each with the backpack and each with the jump pack.

I simply used a drill bit which matched the diameter of the magnet. I drilled just far enough to flush mount the magnets in the marines back. I mounted it above the nob which protrudes from the marines back.

For the back pack, I took one of these flat advertising magnets which come attached to the new phone book. You know the one. It is intended for you to stick on the fridge. Well, I used one of my wife's scrapbooking hole punches which has variable sized holes. I set the hole punch to match the diameter of the magnet, and I punched out a hole in the flat advertising magnet. I glued the flat magnet to the backpack just over the hole.

For the Jump pack, I bought some little steel nails with a head diameter that matched the diameter of the rare earth magnet. I cut these with wire cutters leaving a small portion of the nail attached to the head. I guess it was less than 1/8th of an inch. Just enough to sink into the jump pack.

Then I drilled a tiny hole in the jump pack that matched the size of the nail. Following that, I drilled a larger hole in the jump pack which matched the diameter of the nail head (and also the rare earth magnet) centered on the first hole. Drill this hole just deep enough to flush mount the nail.

Glue the magnets and nail heads in place.

If this did not make any sense, let me know. I will try to explain better.

I purchased my magnets from the following link: kjmagnetics.com. They have every shape and size that you might need. I used 1/8" x 1/32".

Tactica: Assaulting Vehicles

I have found that Assaulting Vehicles is generally the best way to deal with them. Through much game experience, I have noticed that vehicles are extremely difficult to destroy through shooting. Even the weapons that are praised as "Anti-Tank" have difficulty finishing the job.

However, assaulting vehicles has proved to be more fruitful. The reasons being as follows:

*You will generally get more dice to roll. Even a tactical squad using Krak grenades gets 10 attacks, whereas the meltagun, lascannon, or missile launcher in the squad only has one shot. Since I 'grew up' in 40k playing Imperial Guard, I always believe that more dice is better. I have not even mentioned the fact that you get your full attacks when not using grenades. We all know that more dice rolled to hit means more dice rolled for armor penetration. More dice for armor penetration means more dice for the damage table.

*Your attacks are directed at the rear armor. I find it easier to reach the front of a vehicle for an assault against the rear armor, rather than manuevering behind a vehicle for shooting attacks. My opponents are generally very careful about where they point there vulnerable rear armor.

So, I encourage you to assault those vehicles. Especially if you can catch them driving at combat speed or stationary. If the vehicle didn't move, you can't miss.

Since marines come standard with Krak grenades, do it. According to the new Codex, the regular guardsmen comes standard with Frag grenades. So, the lowly guardsmen is not too weak for the AV 10.

After considering this further, the guard army majors on firepower. So, you guard players may do well without having to resort to assaulting vehicles.

Gale Force 9 Tactical Assault Template

A recent purchase just arrived in the mail. I have never used this product before, but I think it is absolute genius. I plan on doing a full product review in the future. However, I am so excited about the prospect of using the template that I had to post on its arrival.

The template has all the essential measurements:
One side is 6" for quickly measuring assault range.
One side is 2" for quickly checking unit cohesion.
One side is 1" for keeping enemy models separate.
One side is 4" for quickly checking vehicle squadron cohesion.
The back side has a 6" ruler for varied moves like running.

I anticipate this thing really speeding up my game play for those timed tournament rounds. All you have to do is keep your tape measure clipped on your hip pocket for measuring range when shooting and moving vehicles over combat speed.

I do anticipate it taking a game or two for me to really get used to this thing.

The attack bike question, continued . . .

I received such excellent analysis and advice from the previous comments on this topic, that I have decided to post some more thoughts.

brent said...
"Bikes look gay except for the Ork Attack Track thing. Get rid of them purely for the asthetics."

SynnerG said...
"haha, while I wouldn't say "gay", I'm also against bikes based on aesthetics. Never made sense to me to fight on "bike-back". Not when there's so many ranged dangers out there and especially when the rules state they never get off the bikes. If they were used as fast transport to get to a enemy and then dismount to charge, sure, but to get into CC on a 4 ton, 2 wheeled machine... seems a bit clumsy.

But I digress. After 5 games, if there's no improvement, what will you switch to for your anti-armor? I'm thinking of fielding MM Land Speeders, the number of them would depend on points, but probably 2-3 in individual squads, so as not to get owned by "squadron" rules."

Pacific said...
"Brent, good of you to take a break from Flight of the Concordes to make a post here ;)

I love bikes in RL and so am disposed towards them, but there are a couple of problems with the SM versions: There is no way you could pilot a bike skillfully at speed while firing a rifle (2 handed) weapon from one hand, unless of course you are the terminator on his harley :) I've modelled the weapon on my jetbikes as attached to the frame, which I think although more realistic would still be most likely unsuitable. Also, the tyre (specifically the front one) is so thick that the bike would be impossible to turn. Look at any military motorbike in history (BMW/armstrong etc.)and they have a high seated position and short wheelbase for more balance and manouverability. The marine version would need at least an 18-point turn in the road :)

Anyway! This is not the place to discuss these things :) It sounds FM Goering like you are having similar problems with your attack bikes as I am with my landspeeder, in that it just seems to lack impact in a game. Although admitedly my speeder has yet to have a penchant for driving into trees I admit :)

Perhaps it might be an idea to go all out, and go for yet another attack bike, or else put one in a unit with some melta-armed bikes? That might overcome the vagaries of bad luck in any case, and would be a good counter to mechanized forces."

High Marshal Hunter said...
"Im not a fan of the bikes. I think Id rather invest in some landspeeders for a quick objective grab than bikes which can just buy it so easily"
_____

Pacific has really diagnosed the problem for me. The lack of impact is what is bothering me. The attack bike is not all together aesthetically unsatisfying. I just wish they would do something . . . have breakout game.

I have recently considered the Attack Bikes from another angle.

Perhaps the enemy perceives the attack bikes as a threat. So they draw the attention of enemy fire. And though the Attack Bikes only survive a turn or two after arriving on the table. The enemy fire which they draw is enemy fire which is not directed at other units in my army.

This may in fact have been true in my most recent game. However, the previous two games in which my army featured Attack Bikes, it was most certainly not the case.

These games were against High Marshal Hunter's Black Templars. I can certainly say that he did not focus fire on them. He rather ignored them. These games featured the incident with the tree slaying one attack bike among other things.

Perhaps my new angle of thought and analysis concerning my attack bikes is a dream and a wish.

I am afraid that I must conclude that the Attack Bike is losing favor in my sight. If something does not change in the next couple of games, I will change the list removing the attack bikes in favor of another Furioso.

For the Emperor and Sanguinius

I continue to be impressed with Dante in the games that I play. He is a really strong model on the table. The only times that he has been killed in games have been when I left him hanging out for Lascannon blasts (or something else that causes instant death).

Don't get me wrong, I do not mind if he dies in games. I just want him to cause as much havoc as possible until at least the 4th or 5th turn. I have been able to keep him out of sight in the early game until I get him stuck in close combat.

I have posted some pictures up that I took of Dante locked in mortal combat with the Eldar Seer Council and Autarch in my most recent game. Dante felled the foul Xenos killing the Farseer and causing the Autarch to flee the field.

One disappointment that I continue to have is the Attack Bikes. I love the idea of them, but they have not been as impressive on the table. I thought that two really fast Multimeltas zipping around the table would mean vehicle destruction for my opponents. However, in 3 full games, 2 multimelta attack bikes has equaled one destroyed prism cannon.

I will continue to use them. I cannot give up or change the list until I have at least played 5 games. After 5 games with the current list, I will be able to make a better judgment.

I honestly think that many gamers make too many rash and hasty decisions, switching their lists up before they have played enough to understand what works.

Angels Sanguine vs Ulthwe Eldar

1850 pts
Mission: Sieze Ground (5 objectives)
Deployment: Dawn of War

My opponent this week was Silchias Ruin. He brought a tight mechanized Eldar list complete with Wave Serpents, Fire Prisms, and a Jetbike Seer Council. I have watched the evolution of his list building get stronger and stronger as his command tactics have done the same. This game was close. It was exciting. The game was one of those nail-bitters that comes down to the last die roll.

I was running the same Mechanized Blood Angels list that I ran the last game. I have linked it for your convenience. This time I proxied terminators for the Attack Bikes.

My opponent ran the following list (as my memory serves):

-Farseer, Jetbike, Forturne, Guide
-5 Warlocks, destructor, enhance, witchblades, jetbikes
-Autarch, Jetbike, Laser Lance, Mandiblaster
-5 Dire Avengers, Wave Serpent, T/L Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Star Engines
-8 Dire Avengers w/ Exarch, Diresword & Pistol, Bladestorm and Defend, Wave Serpent, T/L Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon, Star Engines
-8 Striking Scorpions w/ Exarch, Claw Weapon, Wave Serpent (Falcon Proxy) w T/L Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon, Star Engines
-8x Warp spiders w/ exarch, dual spinners
-Fire Prism w/ holofields
-Fire Prism w/ holofields

In the first picture, you can see the table after both armies are deployed. Silchias won the die roll and took first turn. He chose his half of the table and deployed his Seer Council with Autarch attached (note that they are footsloggers proxied for Jetbikes). He also deployed Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent. He reserved only the warp spiders for deepstrike. All else would be coming on the table edge as per the Dawn of War rules.

Oh, let us talk about the objectives. One objective was in the brush on the back right of the table. The red die that you can see on the little hill almost middle table was an objective. On the left back of the table, there is a triangle of objectives clustered tightly. One point of the triangle is behind the large hill. One point is in front of the large hill, and one point of the triangle is under the pipe in the back left corner.

I chose to deploy nothing. I reserved all four of my troops choices in their rhinos, and my HQs, Elites, and Heavies would come on table edge from turn one. If you have read my blog, then you understand that this is a bit different. I decided that this would give me the opportunity to use Dante, Corbulo and the DC, and Furioso together. Also, the Baal Predators would come in elemenating the randomness of reserve rolls.

Top of Turn 1: With no targets on the table, Silchias fortuned up the Seer Council and turbo-boosted. Also, he moved everything else 24". This granted his entire army a cover save.

Bottom of Turn 1: I drove my Baal Predators on to take shots at the Seer Council. I thought that a high volume of shots would be able to over come their super-saves. No such luck. I moved the Death Company and Corbulo nearby for support. They popped smoke. Dante came on hiding behind the DC Rhino. Furioso was also close by for support the Baals. My Attack Bikes turbo-boosted accross the center of the table towards the Fire Prisms setting them up for a Multi-melta blast next turn.

Top of Turn 2: The Seer council brought the hurt. They assaulted two of my Baal Predators, wrecking each. He parked the 5 dire avenger wave serpent on an objective on the right side of the table. His Fire Prisms shot at my Attack Bikes. I faile the 3+ cover save on one and he died the instant death. The Wave Serpents fired on the DC Rhino achieving an immobolised result.

Bottom of Turn 2: I turned up one Assault Squad with reserve rolls. I drove this in on the far left side of the table headed towards the triangle of objectives away from the action. I brought the DC, Furioso, and Dante over to encircle the Seer Council. Corbulo was there to offer Furious Charge and Exsanguination, but he would not be part of the Assault. I fired everything into the Seer Council and assaulted. This assault would last until the top of turn 5. I moved the remaining Baal Predator over and fired everything on a Wave Serpent to no effect. My remaining Attack Bike moved up and destryed a Prism Cannon.

Top of Turn 3: Silchias Ruin rolled up his deep striking Warp Spiders. They suffered pretty heavy scatter, so they ran and jumped to reach a better position. He put the 8 Dire Avenger Wave Serpent on an objective. The Prismless tank fired on the Attack Bike, and the other Fire Prism fired on my Assault Troop transport. The Eternal Assault continued as Dante led elements of the Death Company against Farseer Generius and his council.

Bottom of Turn 3: Reserve rolls turned up two more Assault Squads in Rhinos. They also came on the left headed towards the triangle of objectives. Engines stalled on the rhino which came on previous turn. I moved the Baal over and lit up the Warp Spiders. Yep, you guessed it. The Eternal Assault continued. Casualties were slowly suffered in each assault phase, but neither side would back down. My attack bike fired into the rear armor of a Wave Serpent, but he missed.

Top of Turn 4: The Warp Spiders moved to take a shot on my stalled Assault Rhino. After the shot, they moved into the woods for cover. Two Wave Serpents bracketed my Baal Predator. They wrecked it. Prismless tank killed the Attack Bike. The Eternal Assault continued.

Bottom of Turn 4: Reserve rolls turned up the Tactical Squad in Rhino. In an attempt to get to the right objective held by Dire Avengers in the brush, I chose to drove through the stone henge on the right. Difficult Terrain test resulted in an immobolized rhino about 6 inches onto the table. I had two Assault Rhinos hit over charged engines, and one move normal. All three sped towards the objectives to set up a turn 5 grab and contest. Corbulo went over to try a Krak grenade on the Second Dire Avenger Wave Serpent. I thought that I could catch them off of an objective and eleminate their mobility and open them to Tank Shocking. Corbulo was unsuccesful. The Eternal Assault Continued.

Top of Turn 5: Everything was about objective grabbing, positioning to win. So we were watching the measurements to the tiniest detail. He moved a Fire Prism over to Contest between two points of the triangle on the left. The Scorpion Wave Serpent moved to another point in the triangle, landing on target but immobolizing in the difficult terrain. 8 Man Dire Avenger Wave Serpent positioned to claim the objective nearest my table edge. The Eternal Assault continued.

Bottom of Turn 5: I moved a Rhino onto the Triangle point under the pipe. I tank shocked the Warp Spider while heading to the Triangle point in front of the hill. I hit over charged engines on the third Rhino near the Triangle and drove out towards the nearest objective to my table edge. Brother Corbulo climbed through the wreckage of the DC Rhino and Ran to get up onto the hill and contest that same objective. My Tactical Squad dismounted and moved close enough for a meltagun shot on the Wave Serpent there next to Corbulo with no effect. The Eternal Assault ENDED!!! The Autarch and Lone Warlock fled from Dante. The Dread and DC had been killed over the many turns, and the Farseer and 4 Warlocks had been killed over the course of many assault phases. In the end, Dante put the foul Xenos to the Axe in the name of the Emperor. He Consolidated toward the 5 man Wave Serpent on the objective in the brush.

Silchias Ruin rolled for the end of the game. The result: play turn 6. If it ended on turn 5 it would have been a 1-1 draw. I would also like to say that this roll really sent the stress level up for me. I worked so hard to be in position to contest his objectives. But you all know that when it goes to turn six the eldar have the mobility advantage. I knew that he would just reshuffle the table leaving me more difficulty in trying to put myself in a position to contest and claim.

Top of Turn 6: He moved his 8 Dire Avenger Wave Serpent from the objective with Corbulo contesting back to the Triangle Point Objective that I was not contesting. He moved each Fire Prism to contest one objective: one in the back left under the pipe and the the other to the front where Corbulo was standing. He disembarked the Striking Scorpions and assaulted my Rhino on the Objective in front of the hill, no effect.

Objectives now favored him 2-0.

Bottom of Turn 6: I moved a Rhino from the pipe objective over to contest the objective behind the hill which he now controlled. I disembarked the Assault Squad from a second Rhino (positioned in front of the large hill) in order to assault the remaining Warp Spider and kill him leaving me to consolidate onto the objective. The Rhino then tank shocked the Scorpions hoping to move them off the objective. Well, it worked except the Scorpions moved out of the way of the tank shock but remained close enough to contest the objective. I disembarked (from a separate third Rhino) the Assault Squad near Corbulo. They had a Powerfist Sergeant. I decided to combine them in an assault with the Tactical Squad and Corbulo on the Fire Prism which was contesting that objective. It gave me 15 Krak Grenades and 2 Powerfist attacks. I achieved a wreck result. This gave me one objective. I had to contest his other objective. Dante jumped out and assaulted the 5 Dire Avenger Wave Serpent in the brush. He did nothing to the Wave Serpent, but it put him within 3 inches of the objective.

It was my turn to roll for the end of the game. I rolled a 3. The game ended.
Objective count: Angels Sanguine 1 and Ulthwe 0.

A hard fought battle. I would like to mention here that Silchias Ruin has really stepped up his game. He has shown significant improvement in his list building and in his table top tactica. Our little gaming club is getting better. The wins used to come fairly easy for me. Not any more. It is really a competitive environment. I love it. This is a good thing. I want everyone in our club to be on top of their game. Successful table-top general every one.

As far as analysis is concerned, I would first like to mention the destruction of my Baal Predators on the second turn. My plan was to come on inside the range of the Assault Cannons while being outside of the assault range of the council. I really wanted to be close enough that my opponent would think he could reach them in the assault while not being able to reach them. As it turns out, I was way off on guessing the range. I will say here how important it is to be good on judging your distances. I suppose that game experience would be the best teacher here. I guess you could just sit and stare at you tape measure.

Well, I lost two Baals early, but they were supposed to be a tempting assault for the seer council. As soon as I found out that I was going to be playing against a jetbike seer council, I knew that I wanted to get my assault element stuck in close combat with that seer council. I could not have them roaming around the table wrecking everything. Naturally, I needed to have the charge. I could not have that Autarch lancing me. Furthermore, the seer council is tough enough without getting extra attacks for charging. Losing my Baals anchored the Seer Council allowing me to get the charge. I really thought that Dante, the DC, and Furioso could take the Seer Council in the first assault phase. Boy was I mistaken. Never underestimate the seer council on jetbikes. An excellent unit. Truly a challenge. The length of the hard fought assault really gave our battle a feeling of epic importance, as though Dante and the Farseer were battling over some objectives of galactic importance.

I would say here, don't be afraid to feed something to that big nasty unit your opponent has on the table. Sacrifice something to tie it down. Then you can get the assault advantage. Or maybe you don't want to assault it all. Just keep feeding it things that you can do without in order to make your opponent feel that they are successful. Use your sacrificial lambs to keep that unit out of the rest of the battle.

In the final result, I had to pay attention to how many objectives my opponent could control. I had a 4 troop to 2 troop advantage. He had plenty of other things with which he could contest. However, I only needed to control one more objective than he. There was no reason to sit on objectives that his non-troop units were contesting. I instead moved one of my troops off to contest his troops. Dante contested the other troop leaving him with no objectives. At that point, I only needed to free one objective from his contesting unit. The place that I had the best chance was the Red Die objective being contested by a Fire Prism that had moved only 6". I had Corbulo, Tactical Squad, and Assault Squad (powerfist) nearby. Then it all came down to the dice. Nevertheless, I had done everything in my power to create a statistical advantage for rolling the result.

Always be thinking about your opponents troops. He can't control without them. Perhaps you can kill them all. Or like me, maybe you can just contest them all. But keep them in mind. Don't allow your focus to lapse and find yourself contesting a heavy support choice or elite. They cannot hold the objective even if you are not there.

Hats off to Silchias Ruin. The battle was in his favor until the last half of turn six. The best I could do in turn five was a draw. Fortunately, the game went to six (I usually do not want this to happen). He had me on the ropes, but the extra turn gave me a chance.

Good game, brother.

Friday's Article of Interest!

Another week has passed. And although I have a game scheduled later this evening, I give you this weeks article of interest.

Here is the link to the article.

This weeks article of interest comes from CJ over at Dragon Rider Host.

CJ has done a masterful job on his Eldar Farseer. The model looks great. It has everything to be desired. Great conversion, fine green stuff sculpting. And we all know how much of an impact the model has in game play.

CJ is also a fellow From The Warp blogger.

So, head on over to Dragon Rider Host, and check 'em out.

CJ, keep up the great work!

Strategy for Tomorrow's Game

The Bible even tells us that no good king commits his armies to battle without first weighing cost. So, I have been thinking about tomorrows games a little. We will be rolling for standard missions.

If I play Capture and Control, then I am going to deploy my HQ, Elites, and Heavy. I will only reserve the Troops. This will be slightly different from my standing rule of RESERVE EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME.

Since I began playing this army list patterned after Jawaballs list and tactics, I have been reserving everything. On a few occasions, I have wished that I had more control over what was coming in when.

A few examples:
I always want to use my assault element in conjunction. I want Dante and Corbulo to be within 12 inches of each and the Death Company (including DC Dreadnought). This way, all of them will have Preferred Enemy and Furious Charge. However, my reserve roles have brought them on the table at different times in a few battles. Since I can't have one of them waiting around for the other to show up, I have ended up using them away from each other on these occasions.

My Death Company showing up on turn 5 of a game that ended on turn 5.

My Furioso Dread showing up on turn 5 of a game that ended on turn 5.

Dante coming in on turn 5 of a game that ended on turn 5.

I suppose that I only notice it with the assault element, because these are the heavy hitters. Also, they are designed for optimal performance when functioning together.

I will probably play sieze ground and annhilation the same as usual, meaning reserving all. However, I am going to be playing against a Seer Council Eldar list (Wave Serpents and all). So, he will probably be reserving. Depending on who goes first or second, and whether or not my opponent reserves all, I may not.

James Bond Marathon

My wife and I have been on a bit of a James Bond Marathon. Yesterday, we watched "Live and Let Die" and "Moonraker." Today we are currently watching "For Your Eyes Only." We have plans to watch "Octopussy" later this evening.

Are you a James Bond fan? If so, who do you think is the best James Bond?

All the movies we are currently watching are films starring Roger Moore. He was an excellent James Bond: Stately, handsome, and masterful tongue-in-cheek. However, if I had to choose, I would choose Sean Connery. My wife would like to vote for Pierce Brosnan.

A Scheduled Game

It has been 4 weeks since my last game. Although I have a grand reason for being off the table the last few weeks, I am eagerly awaiting the opportunity to go to war.

Our entire gaming group will be available for this weekends game. The match-ups will feature the Black Templars vs. Tau and Eldar vs. Blood Angels (unless I am mistaken or something changes).

Since the games are coming up. I have been working on a little more terrain to finish out our woodland table.

I have made several bases of wooded area terrain. Also, I have been working on a series of pieces styrofoam hills. They are made as modular pieces. So each level of the hill is a separate piece, but they may be stacked on top of one another to make a taller hill or mountain. There are six pieces to the modular hill terrain.

I hope to have it all finished in time for the games on Friday evening.

Our urban/ruined city table has sufficient terrain. We combine terrain that I have made and/or painted with terrain that High Marshal Hunter made/and or painted.

As usual, I will take the camera in order to write a battle report with pictures.

Currently, I believe that I will play with the 2 Attack Bikes in my list. I believe that they need another game or two before I make a final judgment on whether they belong in the list or not.

The Un-rant

I, like most of the rest of you, read a lot from the other blogs in the 40k blogosphere. Occasionally, I even venture onto a forum or two. One thing that really strikes me is the high volume of complaining. It seems as though everyone is complaining about something in the world of 40k.

Some are complaining about space marines. Others complain about the balance of the game. People complain about the rules. Some complain about the authors of the codex from which they play. Still others complain because they have received no new codex in years and years. Some are complaining about the ones they rolled in their last game.

Am I the only person who is content with the 40k gaming environment as it is? Am I the only person who thinks that GW does a pretty good job of keeping the game interesting, balanced, and fun? Am I the only person who believes that dice really do roll randomly? Am I the only person who is happy for my opponent when he beats me, thinking that everyone needs a win sometime?

Why do 40kers complain so much? Perhaps there are plenty more of you out there who are like me. I guess the old adage is right: "The squeaky wheel gets the kick." The rest of us will just feel overwhelmed by the complainers, because they are so busy trying to be heard.

I have played this game since 2nd edition, but I do not complain about the various things that have happened to and in the game since that time. I just model and play. I will always try my hardest to win within the confines of the currently governing rules. I will also have fun doing it.

So here is to those of you out there who enjoy the game without complaining.

Salute!!

The Making of a Gaming Club

I have been playing Warhammer 40k for 12 years. When I finished divinity school and moved to my current area, I wanted to play 40k. So, I rekindled my brother's interest in the game. Together, we introduced a new player to the game, and I stumbled upon someone who had been collecting and painting Black Templar mini's for years without playing. Naturally, he loved playing the game. So, we became a group of 4 players.

However, I live in a small town in a rural area of South Carolina, USA. There are no gaming stores and no gaming clubs in our area. The closest store is 1 hour and 15 minutes away.

We currently have 4 players in our local group. I know that there is at least one other player who lives in our area.

I want to formalize our little group. I want to constitute a gaming club. I would love for our group to become a club and grow. If my career carries me away, I would love to come back and find that the club has continued.

Have any of you been involved in the forming of a gaming club? Do you have any advice? What is the best way to formalize a club and get it to grow beyond my kitchen table?

Thanks for any help to our fledgling gaming group.

I have featured a picture of a unit or model in each of our players armies. All the pictures are of the armies on the table in battlefield action. . .

Even a picture of my Baneblade getting blasted by an orbital bombardment.

Friday's Article of Interest

I know. . . it's Saturday already. I guess better late than never.

This weeks Article of Interest comes from The Other Kevin over at Paint Pot Procrastinator. He is a fellow member of the From The Warp bloggers group.

Here is the link for the article.

In this article, The Other Kevin displays a fantastic conversion for an Imperial Guard Veteran Squad. The article has great pictures of his making armored legs for his Veterans from Tau Fire Warriors.

It is a great piece of converting, and it turned out great.

So, check out The Other Kevin over at Paint Pot Procrastinator.

Tactical Squad Finished!

I have finished the Tactical Squad. Well, that is except for Meltagun. I will have to catch him up later. Also, my Lascannon marine, who usually runs with this Tactical Squad, will be rebased with the Devastator Squad. So, I will catch him up eventually as well.

I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. I am really excited about having the whole army on these urban bases.

On a side note, I like to take pictures of the mini's that I have finished painting and post them up here. I have noticed that it is much easier for me to see any mistakes that I have made through the camera's zoomed up lens. My eyes are not as good as they used to be.

Honestly, sometimes I cannot really see the particular tiny detail that I am trying to paint. I just go on the basis of muscle memory and my familiarity with the models. After that, I look at and see how it turned out. It is sort of like driving with your eyes closed on some of these tiny details.

When I look at the details through the camera's lens and zoom it in here on the computer, I can really judge whether or not I have the model exactly like I want it.

Tactical Squad WIP

I am nearing completion of my repainting and rebasing work on the Tactical Squad. You will probably notice that Mr. Meltagun is absent. I cannot really tell you why I did not work on him with the rest of the Tac Squad. When I moved them to the workdesk for painting and such, I just left old meltagun on the shelf. Just a mental lapse on my part.

You should be able to see in the pictures that I have decided to use the CD Plastic Urban Bases from our Urban Base Test. I really like the outcome. I have done some work to add extras on the bases. I piled some Random cuts of CD plastic on some of the bases, and I cut some bricks out of plastic sprue for one base.

I have a few more things to do in order to finish them up. However, I am pleased with the way things are going. My Tactical Squad was really bringing the army down.

I bought them in the Assault on Black Reach set and painted them quickly before I had a real direction for my new venture out of the Imperial Guard into the world of Space Marines. Now that they have gotten the care and attention they deserve, I feel a lot better about them.

It was getting late, so I did not set up the lights and background box for photos. You will have to be satisfied with the workdesk for a background.

Also, I paint all the heavy weapons with blue helmets, not just the Devastator Squad. The purpose is to allow me to switch out all the heavy weapons between the Tactical Squad and the Devastator Squad. Versatility . . . options. It is the same reason that I magnetized backpacks and jump packs for my Assault Marines.

Furioso Dreadnought Conversion

I made this Furioso Dreadnought out of two Assault on Black Reach plastic dreads and two Imperial Guard flamer arms from the Cadian sprue.

I added some skeleton parts from an old box of skeletal warriors.

I was quite pleased with how the Dreadnought turned out.

As I only used the Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon from the second AoBR Dreadnought, I have most of a plastic dread remaining. He is waiting for the time when I decide to reconstruct his arm in a suitable fashion.

I absolutely love the Furioso Dreadnought. When I decided to field one, I called GW to order one. It was out of stock. They told me it could take 4 weeks to re-stock.

Well, I simply could not wait that long. And so the motivation and inspiration to convert my two Multimelta/DCCW dreads into one Furioso was born.

Now that I have decided to re-base the entire army with the CD Plastic Urban Base, I am thinking of what to do with the dread's giant base. There is a lot of space with which to work. So, I can make this one really good, or quite detailed.

I must say that I enjoy doing a little extra bit of modeling or converting to make my models unique. It really doesn't take that much to add some character and uniqueness. A head swap here, an arm repositioned there. Throw in a kitbash and a heavy conversion, and you have a great looking army.

Urban Base Test Pt.6 (Finale)

I present to you the finished Urban Base made from cereal card. As you can see, the marine is missing his jump pack. Other than that, the marine is finished. I decided to go ahead and post it up here, considering that the base is really what we are interested in here.

So, you can see what the finished base looks like. And as this is a test case, I will post a picture of the CD plastic urban base at the bottom.

Look at them both and decide which one you think is better. Please give me some comments on this one. I want to know what you think. Which is better?

I will go ahead and tell you that I think the CD Plastic is better. Unless you all convince me differently, I will base the entire army with the CD Plastic Urban Base.

As far as the modeling and painting of the Cereal Card Urban Base shown here, I will tell you the method.

I cut out a number of equal sized squares from cereal card
(just thin card). I glued them on the base in the fashion which suited me, and trimmed of the
excess.

I painted this base exactly the same as the CD Plastic version.

Undercoat Black.

Base coat in Codex Gray mixed with Badab Black.

Highlight up through Codex Gray, Codex Gray mixed with White, and Codex Gray mixed with more White.

I mixed some Snakebite Leather with Ogryn Flesh to make very watery. I applied this liberally and dabbed it off with a paper towel. The amount of this brown that you leave on there can make it look dusty, dirty, or muddy. It is up to you.

I left the Yellow stripe off this one, because I didn't think that it fit the layout on this base.

So, let me know which you think is better.