Wednesday, February 27, 2013

I Feel Like I Got Ripped Off a Little...

Two weeks ago I placed an order on the Black Library web site.  I got a number of ebooks and audio dramas and spent a total of about $100.

The thing that kind of annoyed me was the Advent Calendar 2012 E-Bundle which is advertised as a "collection of twenty-one short stories and three short audio dramas".  Now, when I think of short stories I think of  something that would be a chapter or two in length and has a beginning, middle and ending.  These don't fill any of those quotas with the possible exception of being entirely in the middle of a story.  So far I've read about a dozen of the short stories and listened to all three audio books and I am disappoint.  I paid $30 for this and was thinking it was a good deal... the fact is, I paid $30 for possibly 80 pages worth of words.  I mean, really Black Library!  This is a total rip off!

I advise all my readers to be careful with what they spend their hard earned cash on when it comes to Black Library.  While I love many of their books, especially the Horus Heresy series I have to say this was a complete waste of my money.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

First Game with Zombie Horde

Today I got in my first actual game with my finalized 2000 point Chaos Space Marine Plague Zombie army.  I gotta say it was a super fun game and the army worked almost exactly as expected.  I was playing against a Black Legion Chaos Space Marine army.

My list was:

HQ - Huron Blackheart (Warlord)
HQ - Typhus
Troop - 11 Plague Marines (2x Plasma Gun. Champion w/ Power Sword)
Troop - 35 Plague Zombies
Troop - 35 Plague Zombies
Troop - 35 Plague Zombies
Troop - 35 Plague Zombies
Fast - 5 Chaos Spawn (Mark of Nurgle)
Fast - 5 Chaos Spawn (Mark of Nurgle)
Heavy - 3 Obliterators (Mark of Nurgle)
Fortification - Aegis Defense Line (Icarus Lascannon)

My opponent had (estimated):

HQ - Abaddon
Elite - 5 Chaos Terminator (can't remember load out other than Mark of Tzeentch)
Troop - 10 Chaos Space Marines (Mark of Nurgle, Rhino)
Troop - 10 Chaos Space Marines (Mark of Nurgle, Rhino)
Troop - 10 Chaos Space Marines (Mark of Nurgle, Rhino)
Troop - 10+ Chaos Cultists (Mark of Nurgle)
Fast - Heldrake (Baleflamer)
Heavy - 5 Havocs (lascannon, missile launcher, heavy bolter, auto cannon)
Heavy - Vindicator

The mission was Crusader with 4 objectives and deployment was Vanguard Strike.  My opponent won the roll to go first and elected to set up first.  I set up second was only able to infiltrate one unit so I chose zombies (Troop E) as I was trying to load the board with enough bodies to give his Heldrake trouble finding somewhere to go.

The game went very well in my favor as I used the Spawn to lure in Abaddon and the Terminators then moved them away and assaulted with two units of Zombies.  Over the next 5 turns the Zombies would hold that unit and manage to kill everyone except Abaddon while he failed to do enough damage to get rid of them and only managed to finish off one squad by the end of the game.  I think there were still about 20 Zombies out of the 70 that assaulted him in turn 2.

The Spawn worked well.  They didn't managed to kill a lot but they both kept units of Chaos Marines tied up for several turns, one of them long enough for me to get a Zombie unit in base with them, kill them and take the objective.

In turn 5 I made a huge mistake that would have cost me the game had it ended there... I pulled my Plague Marines off the objective to take rapid fire bolter and plasma gun shots at the Heldrake's rear armor, which failed miserably.  Luckily the game continued and I move back onto the objective.

At the end of turn 7, I had a total of 11 VPs (3 objectives, First Blood and Linebreaker) to his 0 VPs.

We both agree that this was a great game and he wants a rematch in the near future.

A Zombie eye view.
I'm pretty sure that what's going through the Cultist's minds is "What is that smell?"
Abaddon and the Terminators preparing to fall for the old "Bait and Switch".

Looks like Saturday the Plague Horde will face Dark Angels.  Not sure how they will do against tons of rapid firing plasma and bikes with Hit and Run but we'll see.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Continuing With Dreadball... Green Moon Smackers WIP

Tonight was a good hobby night.  I got right to work on my Green Moon Smackers.  They were already base coated with Peacock Green and Marigold Yellow.  I layered in Sun Yellow highlights and then Lemon Yellow edge highlights then added a layer of Brilliant Green.  Tomorrow night I will do the Viper Green edge highlights, paint the straps, metals and black on the bases.  If time allows I will do the numbers and their team symbol.


These should be done by Thursday morning and I'll post pics of the finished models then.

Once they are done I'm going to take a short break from Dreadball Teams and get back to work on the ten World Eater Tactical Marines that have been sitting in the queue for far too long.

Also, I've noticed a lot of new views over the last few days and wanted to say thank you to everyone that has stopped by.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Rattsburg Stealers or I Finally Finished Something!

Over the last few weeks I've been working on my Dreadball teams.  First I just wanted to get them all base coated so I could use them in a game without being too ashamed but then I decided to finish them out.  Here is my first finished team:  The Rattsburg Stealers!

One of my coworkers is a rabid Pittsburgh Steelers fan so I had to do this team for him.  Since I promised to do it, he even agreed to play the game which we did last week.  He enjoyed it but was upset that he lost.  I told him that being a Steelers fan, he should be used to it by now.
The team is led by their captain, number seven, Ben Ratlisburger

Next on the work bench to be finished will be the Green Moon Smackers.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Special Operations: Killzone

Today I introduced Special Operations: Killzone to the game group.

Spec Op: Killzone is a skirmish version of Warhammer 40K based on the Kill Team rules from 4th edition.  It was created by Big Jim who is one of the hosts on Deepstrike Radio.  Jim has been playing miniature wargames for over 30 years and has a great grasp on how to create a good system.

We played this a few years ago and I created a campaign system for it based on Necromunda.  It was a great experience because we had 10 people in the group at the time and it was an easy way to get people into the game when they didn't have their own armies.  Also, in our situation it's very difficult to have more than two game tables going at once.

Today we had five of our members show up plus we had a new person who had never played a miniature wargame before get to try the game out.  So in total three games were played overall.  It would have been more but only having two experienced players on hand, it took a little longer than it should have.

The game is played using individual models running as "a unit of one" and usually have between 5 and 20 models.  It's played at 250 points and since I knew there would be some new players there I built a few teams so the new guys would have something to use.  In all we had two Blood Angel teams, a World Eater team and a Dark Eldar team.

Here we have World Eaters and Blood Angels playing a mission where the point is to get one model in each of the table quarters.  With the Blood Angels having jump packs you would think this would be a fairly simple outcome but they didn't take into account the heavy firepower of the World Eaters team, who were able to go into Attack of Opportunity (basically old school Overwatch) so pretty soon his numbers had been reduced to a point they had to close on the opponent.  Things didn't go too well for them, though and the World Eaters managed to kill everyone.


On the second table another Blood Angel team was vastly outnumbered by Dark Eldar but they had speed on their side.  I forget what their Primary Mission was but it seemed they were trying to kill each other as fast as possible.  In the end, the Dark Eldar team leader, an Incubi Klaivex managed to close with the enemy and was practically unstoppable.

At the end of the day, everyone had a great time and we are talking about running this as a regular weekly thing for our Tuesday meet up.  Time to get the campaign rules streamlined for use.

Friday, February 22, 2013

If You Don't Like The Game, Don't Play!

As I've said, I listen to a ton of podcasts related to 40K and wargaming in general.  I also read a lot of blogs.  One thing that consistently bugs me is, if you hate the game so much, why do you write/speak about it all the time?

Several podcasts and blogs spend a lot of time going on about how this unit is terrible and that army is bad and "why would you play anything other than the current beatface army?".  If you are trying to get people interested in the game, show the game some love.  Regardless of which system you are into, no one will want to play with you if all you do is badmouth it.

I have a lot of turn around over here.  Over the last four years I've had over 30 people in our little group, many of them either new players or new to 40K.  My job, as the head of the group is to get them interested. Even if I'm having a bad game I can't let it show that I'm screaming inside.  When you are teaching people how to play, let them pick the army and then try to teach them how to play with it.  Amazingly, over the years we've had three good Tau players (and now two more that are interested in them), one of which left us undefeated... in 5th edition!  Of course, our meta is totally different from every other area and I know that no matter how good a player I am when I leave here with my current armies, I'll likely get trounced.  But that's ok!  I'm in the game to have fun and roll dice.

Seriously, if you hate the game so much, don't play it.  Find something else to spend your time and money on and then you can badmouth that game.  I for one am sick of all the negativity.

Maybe I should start a podcast called "I Love Games!" and only say positive things about the systems out there.

I'm not saying that I am always happy with the choices that are made by the companies but I am saying that the negativity is ridiculous.

Stop the insanity!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

40K Project #3 - Sons of Vengeance (Blood Angel Successor)

It just occurred to me that I posted up my WIP images of the other two armies but totally forgot to post pics of my other army that is being slowly worked on.

I started my Blood Angel successor chapter over a year ago and made great headway on it but then Horus heresy: Betrayal came out and I got totally side tracked.  I learned a lot working on this army and it was the first army that I did any airbrush work on.  In the process of painting these models I found out that being color blind makes it really difficult to mix paints and even to thin them correctly so at some point I changed from Reaper Master Series Blood Red to Vallejo Air Italian Red and am really happy with the difference.  I think you will agree that it's a dramatically better color.

Above is a pair of Forge World Dreadnought Drop Pods.  These were fairly simple to build but after that everything went to hell.  No matter how many times I washed the parts and no matter what cleaning solutions I used, the paint kept flaking off.  I found out after a while that the resin apparently hadn't been mixed properly so paint was having a hard time sticking to the surface.  I even roughed it up with sandpaper to give the primer some extra tooth to stick to.  It really didn't help.  What I finally did was prime them, paint the base color, seal them with heavy duty gloss varnish and then paint them some more, seal them with gloss varnish again, paint some more, and seal with a matte varnish.  I hope I never have to strip these things.


Next is a Baal Predator that I was fairly happy with the paint on but hated the pinkishness of it.  I was planning on repainting it when it and the other I had just assembled were stolen out of our game room.  Apparently some Afghan needed them more than me.  It also had a dozer blade that was my first attempt at salt and hairspray weathering.  I was really happy with the way that came out.



 Then there were my pair of Land Raiders.  Both are magnetized a to take any weapon load out I could do.  While I was happy with the finished product, I was much happier when I repainted the Redeemer as you will see later.

Something had to come out of the Dreadnought Drop Pods, right?  Here we have a pair of Death Company Dreadnoughts.  This was one of my first attempts at edge highlighting.  I'm still not totally happy with these and they will probably be on deck for a repaint in the future.

And then we have the Stormraven.  These were built with the Chapter House Studios Tru-Scale kit.  I really like the way they look with the kit on.  It makes them a good deal larger and they just seem more aerodynamic with it.  As you will see later, I did repaint on of them.

So, you need troops, right?  Well, here is the first batch of 10 Assault Marines that I painted.  Of course, this was before the paint change so they will need to get redone in the future.

This was my first attempt at Sanguinary Guard, which got stripped and repainted almost as soon as I finished them.  I absolutely hated the paint job on these.

It takes five Death Company to unlock a Death Company Dreadnought so I have ten.  They all have the Max Mini jump packs.  I'm still pretty happy with these but I think I can do better now.

I absolutely fell in love with this model from Scibor when I saw it so I had to have it as my Sanguinor model. It still gets a lot of "ooohs" and "ahhhhs".

I really didn't like the Astoroth the Grim model so I did a little kit bashing and made my own version of him.

It was about this time that I found the Vallejo Air Italian Red and I've never looked back.  This five man Assault Terminator squad has magnetized arms for lightning claws and thunder hammer/storm shields.  The shoulder pads are from Custom Minis on Shapeways.  I sent him a rough sketch of what I wanted and he built it in cad and had them made.  You can find them here.


My second Assault Squad soon followed along with a Sanguinary Priest.  I made the mistake of magnetizing the back packs on these and the previous assault squad... something I will never do again.


And here are my repainted Sanguinary Guard.  Much happier with these guys.  I do have one model with a magnetized arm to hold the Chapter Banner.

The terminators needed a Sanguinary Priest of their own so I did a little kitbashing and here he is.

As happy as I am with the overall paint job on the Vindicator, I think I'll be repainting the siege shield eventually and doing salt and hairspray weathering instead of painted on weathering.  The effect is just so superior in my opinion.

Now we get to the repaints.  I think the Land Raider Redeemer looks so much better now and will hopefully get to the other Land Raider in the future.

The Stormraven repainted.  I had a few issues with the salt and hairspray technique on this one and think it was mainly because I went crazy on the weathering.  You can't see it but the hurricane bolter on the other side is missing a ton of paint where it flaked off during the process.

So there you have it.  A ton of red Space marines.  I still have about 50 Assault Marines to paint, plus all the models I need to repaint.  I have no fear of not having something to work on for the next decade.  Eventually I'll post pics of the 5000+ points of Orks I need to work on at some point. :)

Comments?  Suggestions?  Questions?  Abuse?  Let me know what you think.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Trials and Tribulations

Last week I coordinated a night that we could all get together and bring a paint project, watch a painting dvd and chat about techniques.  We held it in the office of one of the members that is usually empty after 1900.  He shares this office with several soldiers and tonight as we were meeting up to paint, we found a couple of soldiers watching a movie.  I have a feeling this is going to happen quite often and so it's time to start looking for another location for paint night.

We've run through similar situations to this in the past.  We started playing in the MWR common area almost four years ago and after a yelling match between one of our members and a domino slamming soldier, we starting looking for another place.  We soon moved into what had once been the Pizza Hut, a 10'x30' room that we could lock up our stuff in and do pretty much what we wanted to.  It was one of the best times we've had and with the exception of the loud music going on nightly on the other side of the wall from us (the room was next to the MWR common area and every night there is some sort of musical function; Salsa Night, Country Night, Hip Hop Night, etc.).

We used this room for several months until we got told, at 1130 one morning that we had to be out by the end of the day.  We scrambled getting everything out and into storage while another member got us a new location, about half a b-hut next to the movie room.  Again, it could be locked and we could store our stuff there and it was great.  I didn't even really mind listening to people having sex in the movie room next door.

We were in the half b-hut (about 18'x10') for almost a year but again were told it was time to move.  Again, everything went into storage until we could find somewhere new.  I started shipping some of the terrain and stuff I had accumulated but thanks to the help of the MWR NCO, we found another spot after a few months.  Again, we were next to the movie room, which had been moved to another b-hut.  This time we had about 18'x10' but had to share it as it was designated to be a conference room.  I managed to get permission to keep a few foot lockers there and a wall locker to hold various supplies.  The fun part of this room was the lights were on the same circuit as the other half of the b-hut so when the guys in the movie room turned the lights off to get cozy with their lady (or male as the case may be) friend, we went into night fight mode.  Ok, not really, we would have to go ask that the lights stay on to which they usually agreed.

After a few months we lost this location as well and have finally opted to stay up at the MWR common area, which we have to share with lots of people playing pool and table tennis and sleeping and slamming down dominoes... and we have to be cleared out before 1930 so the DJ's can get set up for their nightly music.

So, with all that history you can understand why I'm not too stressed out about having to find another location to get together to paint.  it's just par for the course; part of being a Wargamer in a War Zone.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

I'm Not a Power Gamer... Am I?

This past Saturday we had a great impromptu three way game due to a few people not showing up.  During the game one of our newer members, who is a self styled Power Gamer commented that I too am a Power Gamer.

Now, I was totally taken back by this as I have always considered myself a tactically minded Fluff Gamer.  I play fairly hard lists but they are always themed and I would never dream of playing Grey Knights, Daemons (now), Long Fang spam or the Necron Flyer list.  I'm very much an assault style player and it does hurt my list builds as I rarely have lots of shooting.

I started out in 3rd edition as a Khorne Berzerker player and I carried that through into 5th edition, only selling it off at the start of 6th ed because it didn't feel like an even remotely viable army.  I never took Kharn in the precious editions because I felt he was too much of a beatstick character.  I always ran my units as 8 man because it fit the fluff.

With 6th edition I created a Nurgle Zombie list and this is what I was being called a Power Gamer for.  I really can't see how it is any worse than any other horde style army.  True, I have 140 Plague Zombies in the list but they have their drawbacks.  I ran a Heldrake in the list only because I had just received him from the Freebootaz Toys for Tots auction and he is all done up with LEDs and looks really cool.  I don't think he even got in a single kill.

No, I don't think of myself as a Power Gamer.  If I really wanted to be, I have to money to build any army I could possible want and have the models to run one copy of every net list out there.  That's just not the way I like to play.  As I pointed out to the new member, I've never taken Mephiston in my Blood Angels (I do run both Asteroth and Sanguinor at 2000 points though) but that army will die horribly to any "Torrent of Fire" army.

I don't know.  I hope I'm not a Power Gamer... that just might break my heart.

Thoughts?

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Product Review: Burn In Designs - Laser Engraved Terrain

A few weeks ago I received an order from Burn In Designs and quickly got to work popping all the pices out and getting it all assembled.

The products I got from him are:
Laser Defense Walls (both 3" and 6")
Storage Container
Block House Bunker
TMAWH Habitat Unit

Having worked with CNC Workshop's Miniature Scenery in the past I was a little nervous about ordering more wood terrain.  I'll tell you, this is a vastly superior product to theirs (not that the Aussies put out a bad product in any way, this is just better).

I'll go over each briefly.

The Laser Defense Walls are pretty cool and a great value.  for $20 you get either six 3" walls or four 6" walls.  I got both sets and was very pleased with how quickly and easily they went together and  how dynamic they look on the board, even without paint.  They come complete with the orange acrylic walls which really add to their appearance.

Next up we have the Storage Container which goes for $15 each or three for $40.  This one, while being very cool looking was kind of a paint to assemble due to my distinct lack of a power sander.  The top angled panel on each side requires some serious work to get a good bevel that will allow for assembly.  As a result I've only put together the one for now and it took me over two hours of hand sanding and cutting with a razor knife to get the needed angle to make it go together.  Other than that small criticism, it's a very cool looking piece and can be assembled with the doors open or closed (optional doors come with the kit).

The Block House Bunker was a dream to assemble and went together very well.  The only issue I had with this product was the sheets of birch plywood that make up the parts was not cut completely through on about the last 1.5", requiring me to use a knife to cut the pieces out.  Even though I took my time on it, not every piece came through it complete.  One thing I would advise the company on is maybe suggesting to customers to use a few of the doors from other kits to make entrances to the bunker as without them there is no defined way in or out.  These sell for $18 each or three for $45.

Last is the TMAWH Habitat Unit.  This thing is a monster of a kit and there are so many extra parts and no directions, I admit I got a little lost in how to build it and am sure I missed something because there is a ton of left over pieces.  The full kit includes three Apartment Modules which can be assembled with several door options, including open, closed and I'm sure if you really wanted to, magnetized.  The Apartments go for $12 each or three for $30 and can be used separately or with the Stacking Module.  The Stacking Module is $40 and hold three to four Apartment Modules.  This thing is BUGE and takes a lot of thinking to build but is very cool looking when it's done.

These products are perfect for any science fiction or near future 28mm game, especially something like Infinity but they work just as well for 40K.  If I had any suggestions to Lathan, the owner and designer it would be to come up with a set of assembly instructions for each piece.  He has a set of videos on youtube that show works in progress and a few about assembly but it would help to have something a little more detailed.  I know Burn In Designs is a new company and creating a good assembly instruction sheet is quite a bit of work but I think it would help in the long run.  Also a little extra quality assurance would help and would keep from having kits that aren't cut for the full length of the sheet.

He didn't even blink an eye when he saw the size of my order and that it was going to The 'Stan and $12 for shipping and handling was amazingly reasonable.

All in all, I'm very happy with the products and intend to get his Rock Ridge set for both Malifaux and WWX (when it comes out).  I also plan on getting several of his paint trays to store my paints when I finally have a place to do so.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Mutant Chronicles Warzone Resurrection

Mutant Chronicles is possibly the only game system that I have ever loved more than Warhammer 40K.  It was my first sci-fi based game way back in the early to mid '90's and I got very heavily into it.  I played the board game Mutant Chronicles, the miniature game Warzone, the card game Doom Trooper and even played the Mutant Chronicles game that came out in the early 2000's.  I absolutely loved them all.

Now I have the chance to revisit that universe with Mutant Chronicles Warzone Resurrection which launched on Kickstarter yesterday.

Less than 24 hours in and the game is well past half funded.  I'm very excited but also quite nervous about the game.  Do I really want another game that I have almost no chance of getting to the table over here?  Another set of miniatures to paint up and never get to use?  More stuff collecting dust in a storage shed back home?

I hate to say it but as thrilled as I am about this game, I will have to pass for now.  If it goes well maybe I can collect the models once I'm home and see that there are people interested in playing.

I would suggest to you, my loyal readers to go look into the game and give them some love if you are so inclined.  Perhaps one day I will get to bring my Dark Legion to the table against you. 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

How Random is Your 40K?

I'd like to pose a few questions to you all.

In your games of 6th Edition Warhammer 40,000 how many of you use the Mysterious Forests and Mysterious Objectives rules?  If you do use them, how have you found them effecting your games?  How do you represent the random effects of said terrain?

The reason I ask is, when 6th ed first came out, we used the Random Objectives but our group found them to be a bit fiddly.  We have yet to use Mysterious Forests in our games for that same reason.

So how do you all feel about them?  Leave me a comment below.

Also, I'd like to ask about missions.  Have any of you come up with your own missions or deployments?

In 5th ed I had a mission I created based on each player drawing a mission out of a bag and keeping it to themselves until the end of the game.  There were 30+ objectives available and they could be something like "Kill your opponent's highest point unit" or "Get your highest point HQ choice off your opponent's board edge".  If you achieved your mission you received  Victory Points.  These were usually played along with the standard missions from the book.  I've yet to update these for 6th ed but I don't think it will be too hard.

Let me know if you would like to see these updated for 6th edition and posted here.

Monday, February 11, 2013

What Keeps Me Going in the Hobby?

It has to be said that it can be hard to stay interested in the hobby being as isolated as I am.  Most of you can go to your FLGS to chat with fellow gamers but I don't have that option over here.  I run the gaming group here on our little base and have introduced many people to the miniature wargaming hobby.  I paint, I teach, I build and set up terrain and even when we have a lull in our numbers and it's just me and my stalwart companion, Ray I have to stay motivated.

How do I do it?  How do I keep those creative juices flowing without burning out?

Podcasts!

No really.  I'm serious.  Stop laughing at me!

I listen to an average of 20 hours of podcast programming every week.  I also listen to a lot of audio books thanks to Audible and Black Library.  Not everything I listen to is hobby related but the vast majority of it is.

So here I will give a rundown of all the shows I listen to.

Beasts of War:  (Clean) This is a video podcast related to gaming that updates almost every day.  Sometimes it's a little annoying but generally it contains good information. 

The D6 Generation: (Clean) These guys have been around forever and cover all types of gaming.  Their topics are usually very well thought out and even if it's something I have no interest in, I am usually excited about it by the end of the show.  Be warned... these shows are usually 4 hours long.

Deepstrike Radio
(Clean) This was one of my favorites because it's a lore-centric podcast that is a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, hosts have changed and I'm having trouble getting into the new ones.  I would
advise checking it out anyway.

El Pee and the Man
(Explicit) I don't know why I love this show.  They rarely get into a subject of gaming or anything hobby related but when they do it's really good.  I think my main reason for listening to them is their taste in music.

Heroic 28's
(Clean) These guys are a pretty good tournament centered podcast

Independent Characters
(Clean) One of my favorites.  Good talk of all things 40K.

Noobhammer Podcast
(Explicit) As the name implies, it's centered on new players getting into the game.  A little vulgar sometimes but for the most part, it's enjoyable.

Overlords Podcast:  
(Clean) Great show from England that centers on gaming from a beer and pretzels perspective.  No beat face lists here.

Screaming Heretic Podcast
(Explicit) I really like this show.  Good content and talk of 40K as well as hobby ideas from some great artists.

Second Founding
(Clean) I just started listening to this one and find it enjoyable.  Episodes 19 and 20 have a great round table discussion with some former GW Outriders and their take on where the company has made mistakes through the years.

Signals from the Frontline
(Explicit) Frontline Gaming's podcast that covers news, rumors and tournament talk.

Turn 8 Podcast:  
(Clean) A good show that is worth listening to for their battle report if nothing else.

World's End Radio:  
(Clean) These Aussie lads talk about all aspects of miniature wargaming covering fantasy, 40K, Bloodbowl, Malifaux, Warmachine and more.  Always a good listen

11th Company
(Clean) I ask myself every week why I still listen to this show.  They are complete beat face gamers who's only idea of fun is grinding their opponent into the table.  If you want to learn how to build the nastiest list and beat everyone you meet... these are your guys.  It's worth listening to them though just to get tactics.

40K Radio:  (Explicit) The granddaddy of 40K podcasts and home of The Freeboota forum, this show has had it's ups and downs but seems to be on a major upswing right now.  Definitely worth listening to.


So there you have it.  That is by no means the full extent of gaming podcasts out there but these are the main ones I listen to and enjoy.  Give them all a shot if you are looking for something to listen to on a commute or a long day at work or if you are starting to get burned out.  Sometimes listening to someone else being excited about the hobby can get you excited too.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Full House

Today at our little gaming club in beautiful Kabul Afghanistan we had an amazing turn out.  For the first time in months we got to run not one, not two but three tables of 40K at the same time and had a total of eight people show up.

On the first table we had a Canadian soldier playing Chaos Space Marines squared off against an American soldier playing Crimson Fists.  They were playing The Relic and Chaos was able to smash the Emperor's Warriors with very few casualties to themselves.  In retrospect, the Canadian, it being his first time to play with us asked up his list was too hardcore for us.  I think he may tone it down a bit next week

Here are a few shots of game in progress:

On the second table there was Dark Angels being played by another American soldier going head to head with Ray's Space Wolves.  I believe they played The Emperor's Might and it ended up being fairly close but The Lion defeated The Wolf in the end.

Finally on table three we had the first game for a new player using Blood Angels against me with Dark Eldar.  We played The Scourge and unfortunately, there were 3vp and 4vp objectives in my deployment zone.  The whole purpose of the game was to teach him and another interested new person the mechanics of the game and many of the rules.  Humorously, with two assault heavy armies there was almost not close combat.

Once the game got going I didn't stop to take pictures so here are the ones I got of the terrain before deployment.

Afterward many of the group stayed to help my uber hawt wife get the area set up for her 31st birthday party.  While the party was going on, one of the soldiers and I played two games of Dreadball.  The first game was won by my opponent as his Forge Father team crushed my Human team into paste.  The second game was a bloody affair as his Orx killed all but two of my Veermyn.  Regardless the game went into sudden death with the score at zero after 14 rushes.  On the third rush of sudden death one of my last remaining strikers managed to score to give us the win.  He promptly went to eight funerals for his teammates.

All in all it was a great day.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Gaming Saloons?


Guys, I was recently in the UK and I noticed something there that just doesn't seem to happen in the US... beer in the game area!  I don't know about you but that was just an amazing idea to me.

I know the reasons it doesn't happen in the US, we have too many whiny people that think kids would get their hands on said booze and we just can't have that happen, now can we?

I spent some time wracking my brain to come up with a way to make it work and using AFK Tavern as inspiration I think I have come across a grand plan.  The trick is to open two businesses; a retail game store with tables to play at and product to buy and right next door (or on a separate level but easily reached) a Gaming Saloon that you must be 21 to enter but serves beer and pretzels and has plenty of tables to play your favorite games at.

Granted, I still have to nail down the full legalities of such a venture.  Questions like, "Would war gaming (using dice) or collectible card games be considered games of chance?" and "Can you have adjacent bathrooms between the two businesses?" are just a few.

Have any of you heard of such places in the US and if so, where are they located?  I would love to pick their brains.  Leave me a comment.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Thoughts on Kickstarter

I must admit, I'm something of a Kickstarter junkie.  To date I've backed seven projects and so far I've  received my products from Kings of War and Dreadball by Mantic Games and Evil Baby Orphanage by Wyrd Miniatures.  That leaves Chibi Dungeon Adventures by Impact! Miniatures which should ship in April and Impudent Mortal's Gaming Terrain by Walt Langhans which was due last month but he has had some major issues arise in getting everything together.

I'm also backing Wild West Exodus by Outlaw Miniatures and the Pro Studio Brushes by Games & Gears.  Both look like solid projects and I look forward to their completion.

So now that you've seen how much I like what can be available on Kickstarter, let me tell you a few problems I have with it as it applies to the gaming industry.

I hope some day to own a game store and when that happens, I foresee Kickstarter funded projects being something of a hindrance to the profitability of the retail side of the store.  When people can pledge $500 to a project and get a ton of stuff, there is no reason to spend that money at their FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store for those not in the know).  When the game company is able to sell almost all of the products for the next few years, making the money before they even produce them (Dreadball is a great example), why then, unless the game completely takes off and people are clamoring to get their hands on it, would people wait to buy it from a retail outlet?  Internet retail stores have hurt the brick and mortar games stores hard enough by selling product at 15-25% off retail but now you have Kickstarter which provides a direct to market product for the customer.  It's really a hard thing for the FLGS to keep up.

The gaming market really seems to be the only one that is really hurt by this, though.  Comics sold through Kickstarter most likely would not be carried by Diamond (the best known comic book wholesaler) so they wouldn't be seen by the few comic stores still open today.  The music industry gets to deal with pirating and many of the artists on Kickstarter would never be sold by a major label anyway.  The rest of the markets like photography and technology or theater and dance don't have too many chances of upsetting the retail industry.  The gaming industry and by this I mean board games, card games, miniature games and role playing games are directly affecting the retailers that would normally make them viable.  This is good for the game designers but bad for the people who would ordinarily be selling the games and trying to drive the sales by providing a place for gamers to play said games.

If you must back a Kickstarter project, I recommend this one

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Dreadball!!!!!!


I'll admit it, I love Dreadball.  I'm also a fan on some level of Blood Bowl but to a lesser extent, I think.  When the Dreadball Kickstarter went live I almost immediately bought in.  I couldn't help it.  It was so cool!

A few weeks ago a package arrived with the box game, including the four available teams (Humans, Orx, Veermyn and Forge Fathers) and all the MVPs as well as the acrylic pitch and a Veermyn coach jersey that I added to my order.

I devoured the rules and got the minis assembled in the first few days.  I have to say that I'm very happy with the models overall but I really dislike the material that Mantic Games uses to produce them.  It's incredibly hard which makes it difficult to clean the mold lines off them and unless it's an open area or flat surface, files are a real pain to use.  As a result there is still some pretty serious mold lines on some of the models.  Ok, I'll admit it, I got lazy.

I've managed to get in two games so far with two members of my game group and they both seemed to enjoy it.  I want to put together a league but there are some folks that just aren't interested and only want to play 40K on our game days.  I think after they see it played they'll get into it but we'll just have to wait and see.
With all the other hobby stuff I have going on right now, I haven't had the time to devote to these guys yet but I did manage to get a Greenmoon Smacker guard test model done.
The tape on the base is there because the bases are clear acrylic and I want to protect them until the model is sealed.

I really want to finish up my Zombies so I can take a nice little break and paint me some Dreadball models. I've settled on team names and color schemes for the four teams I have:
Humans - Dassal Groxboys (silver helmet and pants, navy jersey)
Orx - Greenmoon Smackers (see above)
Veermyn - New Enggano Patrirats (navy helmet and pants, silver jersey) (Enggano rats are an Indonesian species of rodent)
Forge Fathers - New Asgaard Giants (blue helmet and jersey, grey pants)

These should look pretty good when I'm done with them.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

40K Project #2 - Heresy Era World Eaters

I have loved the World Eaters since I got into 40K back in 2000 or so.  They were my first army back in 3rd edition and I only sold off my second version of that same army after the release of the 6th edition CSM codex, mainly because I wanted to use the proceeds of that sale to fund this build.

I'm not following any specific build or even idea behind this army.  It's going to be my big collection when or if I ever call it done.  I'm very tempted to wait until the end of the year to buy more models for it other than the occasional tank or Tactical Squad because Forge World keeps releasing new stuff.  I had just finished my Heavy Weapons squads when they released the new MKII and MKIII Heavy Weapon kits.  Now I'm tempted to break down the ones I have, put bolters on them and get the new kits.

Here's what I have so far

Angron

Contemptor Dreadnought (in this picture he has two assault cannons but all other weapon options are magnetized for him)

Scimitar Pattern Jetbikes (I still need to weather these to match the rest of the army)

Ten Cataphractii Terminators (magnetized arms for other weapon options, still need to weather these)

Ten Tactical Marines (will do squad markings when I have all the squads built and painted)

Special Weapon Tactical Marines (two flamer, two meltagun)

Heavy Weapons (these will likely be turned into Tactical Marines w/ Heavy Weapons)

I'm also using Secret Weapon Miniatures Hollow Basing Blanks to build my bases.  I'm really happy with them