Sunday, December 23, 2012

Happy Holidays All!

This has been the month from hell for me and mine...long story, and I won't bore you with details, but I am going into the new year with my head up and a positive outlook. With the dark times I have been through, that is an achievement.

New projects are bouncing in my head, and I have a couple of projects nearing completion. My list is to the left. I should have sneak peek pictures of the T-sons finals soon as well.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Boltgun roundup

Well another spectacular tournament for Boltgun Battles this year. I didn't do as well as I had hoped on the battle front, but as ALWAYS I had a great time at this event. Right up front, thanks to all who helped make it run as smoothly and efficiently as it did.

We played 3 games with a streamlined 6th edition set up. We were allowed the following:

2000 point armies
No allies, no dual force org charts
Imperial armor unit ARE allowed as long as you have the model and the book
No super heavies or gargantuan creatures
Holy Crap the prizes!!!!! and yes, that is a warlord titan!

I took my Heresy era Thousand Sons. My list looked like this.

Ahriman

2x 9 1k sons
9 1k sons with rhino w/ex armor
2x 20 cultists with 2 stubbers
10 cultists with 2 flamers
Storm eagle
2x heldrake with baleflamer
2 obliterators

Round 1
 Pirmary
3 objectives worth 3 VP each, and kill points
Secondary
First Blood, Linebreaker, and Warlord

I played Paul Elswick and his imperial marines. His list was three scout squads, two tactical squads, a contemptor mortis dred, and two ironclads in lucius drop pods. All backed by a caestus assault ram carrying tigurius and a chaplain along with 8 assault terminators.

At the end of the game the only things left on his side were the terminators and the caestus, but his warlord role made his warlord scoring. So he was sitting on one objective that put him up by three points. He also had Ahriman killed and was in my deployment zone. Essentially that ram wrecked my day!
Two things happened here that could have turned this to a win. The first thing was Ahriman not using invisibility in turn one. That could have saved him, and helped down the drednought that killed him. Also the sorceror in that same combat turned himself into a spawn with his Boon of mutation role.... Right at the end of the game, I had didn't drop my small cultist unit out of the stormeagle. That could have brought three more points and a draw right there....(my tray was under the table, and I had totally forgotten the unit) Sigh....
Result LOSS

Round 2
Primary Kill points
Secondary
First Blood, Line-breaker, and Warlord

I played Pete Brown and his Marines here. Pete was on the receiving end of a dice swing in my favor.
I needed 3 5s to live...


This game was a perfect storm of luck, good dice, and brutal fire zones. He lost both his veteran squads, his warlord, his quad-gun, and 2 other squads by turn 2....End of game saw me with an 11 to 3 win.
Result WIN

Round 3
Primary
2 Objectives, one in each deployment zone
Secondary
First Blood, Line-breaker, and Warlord

I played John Cocomelli and his gorgeous Tau army. Now John, I just know I butchered your last name so up front I'm sorry man! John can't get enough kudos from me for his list design. He used Forgeworld units mixed with fire warriors to make a list the was really crippling to just about anything. Unfortunately it was a bad match up for both of us, and the mission turn two shooting armies into a couple of turtles. He both sat on out hidden objectives and sniped at each other. The first one to stick his head up would get it shot off....(me) sigh. John got first blood which meant I had to kill his warlord while protecting mine. He knew it so he hid his general in a corner behind some terrain. I still managed to kill the guys pods and take 3 of his 4 wounds before he killed my flyers. And with them gone, my hopes of a draw. Awesome, tense battle, but the mission was crippling for both of us.

Result LOSS

 There were quite a few good looking armies there. Here are a few of the games I got to see a bit of.
red grey knights...man I wanted to play this army!

Parker Gibson played the army he won last year!


So I ended up 1-2, but I had 3 great games. People seemed to notice all the little conversions in my army. I think the 30k cool factor played some hand in it as well.  I wasn't done, and I will take time to finish the army properly now, but I won best appearance! WOW

This award is player chosen by the players as well as judging so thanks to all who voted for me, that feels really good, and is a HUGE reward for all the hard work I have in the army so far. With allies allowed next year the list should come into its own and shine! Here is the planned list:


Ahriman
9 1k sons
2x 9 1k sons with rhino
30 cultists with 2 flamers
Storm eagle
2x heldrake with baleflamer
2 obliterators
Tzeentch Herald with bolt on a chariot
10 horrors with the changeling and bolt
4 flamers


So how did you all do and what did you think of Boltgun this year?

Friday, October 19, 2012

Boltgun Battles

Well Boltgun Battles is tomorrow, and I have 2 models left to finish for it....will it happen? LOL I doubt it! I am going, but those last two sad panda models will likely only be half painted. I  plan to stay up late tonight to work on them, but the odds are stacked.

I'm taking chaos, so those last two models have only been in my posession for 2 weeks. NOT enough time for centerpiece models like these. I wish I had a couple more days to work on them, but c'est la vie.

In any case this will be the tournament debut of my Heresy Era Thousand Sons army. I plan to make further refinements to the list but for now this beast is doing about as well as I expect. Boltgun Battles is one of the highlights of the local tournament scene, and it sold out in record time this year!

I ALWAYS have 3 great games at Boltgun so this should be a ball. I will post my list and army pics for critique after the event tomorrow. I am interested to see what people think of my list, both as it is and with a few changes.

Wish me luck!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

They're HERE!!!! WOOT

From sources via Faeit 212





New chaos flyer...I see the hellblade and helltalon fliers in those wings...






New upgraded assault troops. These look sick!


New Dwarf cover. Looks very retro.


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

October has always been when the crazies come out...

Well it looks like October is going to be nuts on the hobby front. Chaos Marines the first week and Boltgun Battles right before Halloween! Then you throw in the Horus Heresy release with 3 primarch models and WOW, what a month.

Speaking of Boltgun, I am feverishly preparing my Heresy Era Thousand Sons to compete. I have a trial list prepared that seems to be putting out the hurt very well. (Damn you O'reilly for suggesting this) The Storm eagle really is a flying land raider. It has filled the anti air role well, and can kill tanks in spades. The new cultist (leaked/rumored) rules that hit the web this week have plugged the glaring hole in my list, numbers. If those numbers are even close to true, and I would bet they are, then 50 cultists in the backfield is a huge benefit to my marines.

No pictures yet, as nothing is done, but if all goes well I should have some up this week.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Horus Heresy from Forge World!



SO Excited!! NOW my Thousand Sons can get some love.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The changer of ways will often change ways....

Ive been thinking about my beloved chaos legions since the rumors of a new book surfaced. I wont go into specific point values until I have the book in hand, regardless of rumors. For now This is just an idea, but if it fits....oooof. Me likey!

Ahriman
Sorceror lord in termie armor, tzeentch mark (remove if ahriman makes rubrics troops)
3x9 Tsons
2 Vindicators/Defilers

Allies
Fateweaver
large unit of screamers
2x10-15 pink horrors


Basically all the rubrics, ahriman and fateweaver (and the lord if hes there) deploy in a blob and advance on the midfield. Basically that makes a  3+/4+ re roll able save, shooting relentless rapidfire AP3 boltguns with soulfire....Psychic mastery is almost guaranteed here with 5 psykers within 6 inches of each other. 2 of those are rank 4....wow!

Heaven forbid I roll well on the telepathy or divination charts with my sorcs....invisibility anyone?

The screamers handle anti tank, the vindis/defilers are horde control, and the horrors hold backfield objectives. Now we don't know all the costs yet, so this is aiming at 2000 points. First drops will be defilers/vindis for a dragon plane, and the chaos lord if I can for points.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Buckeye Battles 2012 was yesterday.....almost

Well Friday July 13 2012 certainly lived up to the hype for me! I was going to Buckeye Battles for the last hurrah of 5th edition 40k yesterday....I had my (mostly) foot Dark Eldar all painted and in their transport, a nice display board and all my directions to the venue ready. I got up early and hit the road to Delaware just as I planned I stopped and got breakfast on the way.

By the time I got to the venue I was not feeling so hot. Long story short by the end of the first round (an awesome game) against a beautiful necron army, I was in the restroom relieving my stomach of its contents.....

Now about that time O'reilly shows up and valiantly goes to get me some meds....which didn't work. (thanks anyway man!) So during the lunch break I made the decision that this was a sign. It is time to start looking forward to 6th edition and the future...

What does that mean for me? Well a few things. The army I am playing has changed. The DE while still a nice army have shifted back to all mechanised, which I wasn't happy with in 5th, but in 6th it will work for me. I think I want a change of pace anyway. I have spent almost two years with the Dark pointy eared elves, and while I love them, there are hints of chaos in the near future.

I have been working on a Heresy Era Thousand Sons army for almost two years now. They are a very hard force to fit their story and flavor into the existing rules. I see a lot of potential for them in 6th edition, and if the new Chaos codex falls in line, I might actually get to finish them!

While Friday the 13th might have struck and ruined a tournament for me, I certainly have quite a bit to look forward to. I even have a future cave troll to bring into the hobby!

 Chase Michael, born 6-28-2012, future geek and gamer ( I hope)

Friday, June 22, 2012

The Little Table that could...

Well the numbers are in and my little Necomunda Hive sump table certainly did what I wanted it to do! We had 45 players over 4 days....with only two sessions a day on a table designed for two players that was AWESOME. I am really happy to report that the table now resides with the GTA crew at Game Table Adventures in Newark Ohio.

The owner, Dan has assured me the table is already seeing action in the store's Necromunda and Infinity leagues.

 I couldn't have asked for more...

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Origins 2012 RTT results

Hey all, still super busy getting ready for the new baby, but here's a quick note on the final Origins 2012 RTT scores. We all had a great time and a ton of laughs! I'm already looking forward to next year!

Battle scores with VPs.


Bobby Blanding (VA) 5264
nick savage 5106
David Nixon (va) 5013
Craig Collins (1) 4612
Will Pauley (VA) 4207
Nathan Montgomery 4093
justin cress 3742
jeremy archer 3624
Eric Furman 3595
Steve Olk 3494
John Loy 3455
Jason Garner 3429
Nick Soika 3398
Ben Stamm (1) 3007
Tom McFarland (stve/joe) 2781
Joe Miksa 2667
Stuart Moll (banzi) 2500
steve parello 2256
Andrew Weigler 2018
Adam James (VA) 2000
Jordan Heightshoe  1773
Sean Hoy 1615
Steve Beasley (stve/joe) 1561
Michael ST. Clair (banzi) 1408
Todd Heightshoe 1026
Kevin Parry (banzi) 780

 Ben Stamm won sports with a perfect sportsmanship score.

Eric Furman won the "steal" award with a beautiful Dark Eldar Army.

Nick Savage took home best apperance with Orks.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

INCOMING!!!

Well good 'ol GW has a teaser out with the date 6-23-12. Preorder date anyone? Here is hoping for good things in 6th ed. In the meantime Mrs. Shadow is about to pop with our third child so the hobby front is slow going right now. I'm already rocking a list for Adepticon 2013 and finishing up my necrons. The DE are nearly done as well, only a single squad to go there as well. Sorry for the lack of pics, but as I just noted, very little time. Later!

Monday, May 21, 2012

It's time I drag this thing into the light!

Well I am ALMOST done with Hive Secundus....The 4 blocks of it I modeled anyway!  It has taken six months of weekly work to get where it is today. If I had to guess I have almost 300 man hours in it to date. CRAZY!

Had some help come and drag it out into the garage and drive for some better pictures before it's debut at Origins this year. I am still working on the river water effect pour and some more fine details but otherwise this monster is all set.

Painters tape is to keep the water effect from spilling.



Swimming highly discouraged!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

SO much going on!

UUUU--ni CORN!!!   UUUUU-niCORN!!!!  They DO exist!  Check this out. I am fully impressed.

Warhammer Joey

SO I saw this link on another blog and thought I would pass it along. I remember my own first few stompings (thanks Craig) and how good it felt to finally get in a win. Joey seems to be diving in head first, and I am glad to see it. We need more of her here in the states.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Necromunda Hive update

Well I've been busy working away about an hour a night for the last week and this is the result! If my final paint job comes out well this table will be my best work yet.

 Little by little details are being added. The above shot is the rail depot that has been "fortified" by a gang as a hideout. There are more details to go there, but it is on it's way.
 This is a section of the current shipyard. It has lots of debris and detritus for cover in an otherwise open yard.
 This is part of the river bed. Details are hard to see here but if you click on the pic it will enlarge and it gets clearer. The lighter areas are the planned water sections. There will be a shallow "toxic sludge" stream with some isolated pools elsewhere on the board.
 This is a higher elevation of the above pic from the same angle. You can see how this flows down into the picture above it.
This is the opposite direction down the center of the canal from a "models eye view". 

Remember all of this is just primer and base-coat color blocking. I am still adding details daily. Deadline is approaching in about 4 weeks so time to buckle down and get it done!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

I can has new Toys!?!

Well I got a box in the mail, and to be honest I had forgotten I ordered it.....
I ordered THIS!

Man did I just get excited!  I laid out all the parts and noticed something that has been mentioned...FW is using finecast.....

Oh well, no flaws here other than some warping on the cannon arm, which some hot water fixed.
 The detail is typical FW...incredible. The reverse cant legs are going to be a huge hassle as the joints do not fit tightly, so pinning and patience required!

Monday, March 26, 2012

From the Ward....


Posting from the Hospital today. Long stretches of hurry up and wait here. While im in the "hurry up and wait" mode here are some pictures of the Necromunda table. Making big progress here. The bulk of the table is done and I'm moving into paint. The muddy green is the first coat of texture base paint that will seal the foam I used to create the elevations for "Chapel Hill" and "Hab 2413". The docks and Tram loading bay are still looking wide open as I am still waiting on a few pieces to come in.






Looking more like a completed project every day!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

So I haven't been posting much...




I know I haven't exactly been forthcoming with my friends recently. I haven't kept in touch and I have been out and about gaming much recently either. I know people use the "life is crazy" excuse all the time...I've personally used it here.

I'm not really sure where the best place is to start, so I'll start at the beginning. My father was diagnosed with cancer last fall. It wasn't something we saw coming, it wasn't even on our radar. In fact it was so left field I all but disappeared off of the planet for a week or so while I got my head around the fact that Dad is really sick. Period. The toughest man I know, the rock my family relies on might not be around much longer.

Dad,
I love you and no matter what you will always be my idol. My benchmark to measure my own success and failures against. I have always felt that doing it like you did was doing it the RIGHT way. Working hard and doing what is right for the right reason

That was last fall and six months have passed with chemo therapy. While the cancer will never be gone you seem to have beaten it for now. We have a big step in treatment to go, a bone marrow transplant. It sucks, and I know it will be hard, hell, it already is. I'll be there with you as much as I can, which means...here we go again. Now you're not dead yet, and I know you are too tough to let this beat you.

I'll be there for you Dad.
Larry
 
 The next few weeks will be tough, and I will likely disappear off the planet again people. Just remember I'm where I need to be, shoring up the rock.



While I might not be saying much to people daily, they haven't left my thoughts. I wish I had more time to do the things I used to do with my friends, all day toy store runs, battletech on a massive scale, 40k on a whim, and just hanging out. Hell even the phone seems to be poisonous recently. Times change, life moves on and priorities make life and how we live it precious like nothing else.Time to adjust and keep moving.

My family is growing, and our lives and home have to adjust with it. Add to our other issues a remodel on the house, and all the other daily obligations and I'm pretty cooked. In the end, I still have my Dad, and now a son of my own on the way. It looks like I need to study "doing it the right way" all the harder so that hopefully my son feels the same way about me that I feel about my Dad.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Necromunda updates

I have been feverishly at work in the forges getting the Necromunda table built. Our loading dock from Arbiter Precinct 213. So far the loading crane and Cargo Tram are roughed in, and the warehouse in almost done. I am building the loading tram tomorrow. The residential block is well under way now. The final pieces of the Arbiter Precinct house are on the way. Once the 4 main quarters are roughed in the board will get a good coat of plaster coating and detail work can begin. Here are some updated shots of the board.





Monday, February 13, 2012

Necromunda Underhive Progress report

I mentioned a few few posts back that I am working on a Necromunda board for Origins Game fair this year, and I thought I would show off a few early WIP pictures. So far we have only one "quadrant" of the board roughed in. C&C welcome!



Sunday, February 12, 2012

Updates and ideas

I went to tournament yesterday at Game Table Adventures in Newark Ohio. Had a great time with 3 great opponents, but my dice officially hate me. As punishment I will melt down a full third in front of the other offending dice to set an example....

During a break from the games I was talking with the owner and discovered that he is allowing the Imperial Armour lists that Forge World has recently updated to be played as legal in all of his tournaments. (!!!!)

Of course this started the wheels spinning in my head and I had to go play with the Vraksian Renegades list from Imperial Armour 5 just to see if I could come up with something workable and unique. What I have so far is truly frightening....in a squishy way, but SCARY!

At 2000 points an all infantry horde can field (in this configuration) 30 Missile Launchers, 12 Auto Cannons, and 19 Lascannons...thats 61 heavy weapons folks. This army also has a  2 squads of workers rabble for bubble wrapping support. It totals at 255 models !!!!!!

51 heavy weapons.....wow.

The more "reasonable" and "playable" version includes alpha legion Chaos Marines as support and counter assault, with the primary troops choices made into armored fist squads to save time and my back in moving models. This list is a bit more manageable at "only" 161 models, but includes real goodies to make the list much more well rounded. Things like minefields for post deployment dangerous terrain, and dreadclaw drop pods add to a counter punch. There is also an enforcer to keep the workers rabble/ meat-shield in place a bit longer.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Go DAD!!!

THIS was posted to facebook on a teenager's wall. All I have to say is GO DAD!!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Necromunda Delaque

Well I've got a Delaque gang ready for Origins this year. We are doing a campaign with them so Ill be posting daily gang updates and battle reports during the convention at the end of May/First of June. Here are a few pictures in the meantime.




Saturday, January 7, 2012

January....and it makes me STUPID

I went to my first tournament of the year today....and THIS resulted....

Only Im Homer.....

To be clear I made the single biggest mistake of my 17+ years 40k career....I flew a fast, open topped vehicle all out into terrain....and it exploded....It had Asdrubael Vect and 4 wracks in it....about 330 points and the single most devastating assault threat in my army....on turn 2.

I was playing me Dark Eldar against a long-fang spam Space Wolf list. He had three long-fang units with mixed rockets and Lascannons in three different buildings. He also had Two units in rhinos that were joined by Rune priests with Living lightening and murderous hurricane. He could sit back and completely destroy me from across the board. I felt like I needed to get there so Vect and his crew went all out onto a landing platform on top of a building with the Long fangs. Hey I can assault out of an open topped vehicle! ....I wont roll a one, NEVER!! Honest!!!   sigh.....

EPIC FAIL