Lost Boys Gaming Club - Fall of Arminius Tournament

Yesterday I went to Church, the church of gaming that is! My local friendly neighbourhood gaming club was holding it's tournament and I think I mentioned it's based in the same church [hall] my grandparents used to attend. I took my eldest so he he could see what it was like and hopefully prepare him for whats expected in June, I really have to fill you all in on that score.

Anyway, I took a load of photos, but any semblance of battle reports would be incomplete. By the third battle my brain was fried, my legs ached from so much standing, basically I was knackered. In time I'll share some pics and perhaps a rough report of the three 2000pt battles I played. As well as th epics I took my son also took a few and it's great because while I was shooting board wide shots of the action he got down at model level and really captured the action.

I won't leave you in suspense though, I came 14th out of 16. I'm OK with that, I faced Space Wolves [loss], Grey Knights [draw] and Blood Angels and as much as there was plenty of Tyranid body parts strewn about the battlefields for not as much of the Emperor's finest I think I made every last point taken from me hard fought. I was beaten decisively but I don't think easily and even though there was plenty of vehicles I don't think my lack of anti-tank was an issue so I'm pleased with my efforts and enjoyed every game. 

"But what the hell is that trophy if you came 14th?" you say...

Well, I did win best painted army, voted for by the competitors. Which I'm so excited about and is two fingers to Toymaster [y'see I do practice Old Stuff Day every day]. Thanks to all those that voted for me. I should have taken pictures but the other competitors were a 'counts as' ork army which was full of character because practically every model was converted with tentacles coming from heads, human bodies with Tyranid scything claws for legs with a very rustic weathered finish. Another army of grey knhights had some fantastic force weapons, I think they were air-brushed. Lastly a camo-army of guard where there was an awful lot of character in every figure, with a sergeant with a blonde 'Beatle' hair do and every model with the tiniest painted eyes, in every colour. Also a lot of diversity among ethnicity within the ranks which I approve of, I don't suppose the Emperor is prejudiced [apart from xenos] if they can hold a las-gun they're welcome in the guard.

Well, I'll get the rest of the pics done at some point and write what I can remember and maybe take a better shot of my 'Holy Grail'. Does anyone know the etiquette of these things in future tournaments? Am I expected to have a different army or add extensively to this one? I have a few more dev-gaunts and a Broodlord coming but I don't think that'd be enough do you? I'm sure of the club hold another tournament they'll let me know if I'm in the shortlist and people can decide if I'm still worthy or reward someone else, but for today - I won 'for the Great Devourer'!

Old stuff day 2012

It's old stuff day 2012. Last year warhammer39999 wanted to join a movement to rediscover lost gems from the world of hobby blogs. To choose one of your own blogposts that your most proud of, or may not have got the attention it deserved or any thing that may warrant some necromantic blogpost bothering. On top of that you were to share blogposts from other bloggers which you thought deserved the same spotlight of attention before they were returned to their dark nightmare infested slumbers.

So I showed a little love for one of my old posts but then again I link to loads of my old stuff anyway so maybe I'm guilty of doing this all the time. Anyway it's time to choose this years blogpost and like the Highlander there can be only one and this time lets show a little love (♥) to my most popular of old posts:

Standard Template Construct (STC) systems were advanced computers created during the Dark Age of Technology, which are said to have contained the sum total of human technological knowledge. An STC system was possessed by every group of human colonists before the Age of Strife, allowing them to build all of the equipment necessary for survival on an untamed colony planet. It enabled the colonists to build efficient shelters, generators and transports without any technical knowledge and using almost any locally available materials. The user simply asked how to build a house or a tractor and the computer supplied all the necessary plans.

My STC page has been accessed over 4,000 times and I've seen versions of my models recreated and remixed. This hobby we do costs money but with a bit of effort, some skill and a few bits and bobs we can all have some terrain that we can be proud of, it's all I wanted to do and I hope there is value to the community and that even if folk find no use for it themselves they pass the link on to their friends and share their results with me. I've still got STC's to come so this thread will hopefully never die, just be reanimated on a regular basis ;)

OK so what's floated my boat from other bloggers. I made this easy on myself and went back through all my 'starred' stories in Google Reader and this is what I found.

Recipe for Bronze by Brian @ A Gentleman's Ones

Brian does an awesome job here and if you root around he goes verdi-gris crazy

Sandwyrm's guide to painting black @ The Back 40k

It's not so much the guide as the awesome 'emo-guard' end result

Sandwyrm's Adepticon Siege of Terra Diorama @ The Back 40k

I've no idea why I starred this, I don't even remember doing so but the diorama is awesome and it's just a feat for the eyes which I suppose is a good enough reason.

Loler's guide to painting yellow and grey marines @ The Brush Brothers

This isn't just a guide to painting yellow and grey marines, there's all sorts of tips from battler damage to weathering powders, a tour de-force of painting techniques.

synaps3 guide to Terrain at synaps3

I was going to do a post about terrain and 'tournament terrain' but after reading this I think synaps3 pretty much said it all.

To all those I may have missed mayhap I will reference you throughout the year anyway, enjoy the old stuff, wake the dead!

Terrain is everything - Hail the Omnissiah a new STC is found!

Techno-archaeologist Avro Vulcan continues to catalogue the many man-made hills that dot the Ferron Proxima badlands. It has been months since he unearthed the Standard Template Construct (STC) systems for what has been classified as the Vulcan Plateau. In this time he has discovered numerous other man-made hills buried under the distinctive steep sided flat topped hills that can be found all over Ferron Proxima. Excavating these sites has revealed one man-made hill in particular that has shown many sub-categories of construction. Vulcan has designated this hill the 'Mercury Plateau'.

The purpose of some of these structures are still a mystery but it has been noted that some of them have a slightly different composition of rockcrete than standard Ferron Proxima fare. Whether the richer iron content is due to the value or protection of the many storage facilities built into these mounds is unknown, Vulcan has theories but so far has kept them closely guarded. What is known is that these iron-rich mounds are particularly well suited to accept the STC for Plasma Generators., was this their primary function? Indeed even the current generator model  has adapted well to the Mercury Plateau and it is believed very little retro-fitting was required to the connection manifold.

However, the details of this coupling was another secret kept by Vulcan that has attracted a great deal of interest from data-hackers who have sort to gain control of this valuable information to share outside Adeptus Mechanicus control. Once private enterprise can access this information they will utilise it to gain control of all Mercury Plateaus suitable for Plasma Generators, thus reducing their need to pay tithes to the Ad-Mech administration.

To access the full STC please point your Cogitators here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B97Rk-BalgZbd2NTd3JpUGpSbm1ldTRhUzFwd2NOdw/edit?resourcekey=0-Uo2SSY82guWZ3FrOehSQ7g

This STC will be uploaded to the full Ferron Proxima STC library shortly. You can access the database here:

http://40kaddict.blogspot.com/2011/02/terrain-is-everything-standard-template.html

Happy Birthday to me, this is my gift to you!

Deathwing Progress 4 - Power Weapons and Belial

Back in April I shared my idea for Belial and as the first Deathwing squad is approaching something close to completion I though I would turn my attentions to him in an attmpt to finish them simultaneously. First thing first was the height difference from this ancient miniature. As he is shorter than the Assault on Black Reach terminators I decided he needed a bit more base! I got to use my Dremmel and rout a slot into a piece of slate from the garden, this has then been Vermillioned!

I'm going to redo the lightening claws to fit the same style as the current force weapons I'm doing, both on the Terminator Sergeant and the AoBR Captain [see the end of this post for where that's at]. Some Badab Black wash still to be applied.

Next up was the hard part, painting over the green reinforcements. I thought they were cartoony but they did look well executed if a bit glossy and OTT. Everything that was 'green enamelled' will now be weathered bronze like the current Deathwing. Not sure if I should change his eye lenses to green though...?

Last up his Crux has been covered in Mechrite Red and then overbrushed in Vermillion as standard. Not entirely sure how to treat the vents on the top of the armour and I need to decide if I'll drill into the middle jewel on top and pin one of the Ravenwing upgrade sprue items. It should make him look even more impressive. He's currently taller than the other marines but only just taller than the sergeant with his Iron Halo. Of course I'm loate to do anything that'll easily snap off, especially as this is such a 'compact' model, even if it does weigh a tonne!

Referring back to what I said above, here's my first stab at power weapons [pun intended]. Just playing around with the Vermillion Art acrylic. Will add some more washes and highlights. It's not awesome but I'm confident it'll be sufficient in the end.

Gaming night - 1500pts Tyranids Vs White Scars pt2.

Catching up where we left off or perhaps some point after that because there is something missing in the pic below and that's the Vindicator. The Trygon Prime had managed to detach itself from the power relay station and charged the tank, ripping it to pieces in it's first strike, those adrenal glands making mince meat of it's armour. In return the bikers moved into a better firing position and the other squad put some wounds on the sky-slashers and then closed in for the kill. By the time combat was over and they had rolled [and failed] saves thanks to being fearless each base has 3 wounds down with only one remaining.

Another few turns must have taken place with the sky-slashers reduced to pulp and the bike squad consolidating back to fire at the Trygon who must have wiped out the other squad at some point through his containment spines. Additionally the Whirlwind fire targeted the Termagants holding my objective and once again the cover destroying incendiaries wiped them out except for one solitary Termagant. Thankfully the Tervigon kindly pooped another 9 fresh bodies to replace the 7 dead ones. The Zoanthrope was still alive at this point but he had suffered one wound already and couldn't survive the odds. He'd tried to fire a second time, passed his psychic test but his hit roll of 1 just proved how sad and pathetic the creature really is.

Over on the right flank the Dev-gaunts finally made it to the party, but still no sign of the Ymgarls or the adrenal stealers. 30 Devourer shots spat forth causing a wound, which would reduce their leadership by one [not that it'd make any difference]. The Tervigon's stinger salvo was completely ineffective and I think the bike squad burned up, slaughtered the Dev-gaunts then hot-footed back out of range toward the right board edge.

Little did they know that the Broodlord and his posse had been waiting patiently for such a move. They raged onto the battlefield and tore through their bikes like papier-mâché with their rending claws. This was the scene once their grizzly work was done!

Over in the middle another 12 newly pooped Termagants opened fire with their Fleshborers. I think they did some damage but their assault was pretty dire, losing half the brood in the process. The biker captain was the sole survivor from his squad by this stage but his power fist had taken teh Prime down, the Warriors effectiveness had been further reduced and so far they'd been pretty ineffective in combat.

The Trygon assaulted the two remaining bikes [I think the two alongside the spore pod aren't supposed to be on the board] and promptly ate them consolidating towards the Whirlwind.

When the Broodlord turned up some psychic connection must have stirred the dormant Ymgarl stealers from their resting place in the power relay station. They boiled forth from hiding and swamped the land-speeder.

The Trygon looking for it's next meal. It was during Rob's last turn that suddenly the rain of death from the Whirlwinds ceased. The scattered massively in many directions and a lot of his shots couldn't get a break. After the success so far as his bikes began to disappear en masse the remaining marines accuracy faltered.

However, the biker captain destroyed the remaining Warrior and burned forwards to take on the Tervigon which by now had suffered some 3 wounds.

It was at this point we had to call it a day. With that one remaining bike squad as troops he could not capture the other objective and contest mine. He still had tanks but they were exposed to the rampaging Trygon prime and the angry Ymgarls about to sweep across that back field. The Tervigon was eyeing the final bike squad with hunger and so I won.

In conclusion: this was one of the best games I've played, proper ebb and flow, the battle hung in the balance. Rob is really patient with my still fledgling 5th edition gaming knowledge and every new creature that brought it's weapons, attacks or many wounds to bear was a new surprise to him as 'nids aren't played by anyone else. Bikes are really durable, that extra toughness is really hard to get past and even then the power is an awesome life saver. The twin linked bolters did a lot of damage but the Whirlwinds were supreme in thinning out the gribblies, not bad for a last minute decision. It doesn't matter if you have plenty of cover if what's aimed at you ignores it!

Dawn of War is a really tactical deployment. It being my first time it took quite a while to make a decision but it make a change to start the game halfway on the board even if the usually out of range Warriors screwed up their chance to shine.

Genestealers were awesome, outflanking is the way to go. Didn't see enough of the Ymgarls to judge and I made them some special mutation markers too! [coming soon] Sky-slashers only served to tar-pit the bikes but I think they could be fun against Eldar or guard, maybe three bases next time. Lastly, the only good thing for a Zoanthrope is bait. Put him in the middle and have everyone shoot him for fear he'll blow them up with his 3+ save keeping him alive long enough to draw fire. I want to try the Doom for the same reason, but the stealing extra wounds would make him even more of a target. However I don't know whether I can be bothered to spend the points on him but knowing that's I would use him perhaps little less expectation then it might surprise me when it finally does lance something!

Still lots to think about for the game on 3rd March!

Gaming night - 1500pts Tyranids Vs White Scars pt1.

I may have to do this over a couple of posts, a lot happened, but my recollection may be off so that might shorten the commentary [huzzah]. As the title suggests - 1500pts Tyranids [usual suspects for me, just with Ymgarl Genestealers and Sky Slasher Swam with Spinfists for giggles] Vs White Scars, 3 units of bikes [obviously], Vindicator, Predator, 2 Whirlwinds [he took them for a giggle] and 2 Land Speeders., Dawn of War [my first time] and capture and control.

So ignore the bikes in the first pic, they're not actually there it just saved time to not take them off to put them back on. I started with the Hormies in the centre terrain piece with the Warriors and Prime for Synapse everything else would outflank/deepstrike except. 

First turn the Tervigon stepped into the area terrain nearest me with the Biovore, but I forgot to spawn so objective in the centre of the terrain was not captured. Rob, the club chairman who I was facing had his objective [a fallen White Scar rider] just to the right of that lone bike [thats not there] in the top left. With nothing to shoot that was pretty much my turn 1.

Here come the White Scars, everything burns forward but due to the Dawn of War rules stating he can't end his turn within 18" of my force that brood in the middle force him to halt his advance. Over on the right a bike squad head for my backfield objective.

While over on the left not much goes on, I think for fear of that area terrain near his objective, what deep and dark secret might lurk within that strangely forbidding structure...? Rob's first turn of shooting wasn't as bad as it could be, night fighting hampered some of his units but the bikers got in range to see the Hormies and the Whirlwinds could fire whether it was day or night and they hit with abandon, wounded with no discrepancy and to cap it all ignored cover saves which meant the Hormagaunts were smashed to smithereens by the barrage of armour piercing missiles.

My turn and here come the deep strikers. First up the spore pod slams down disgorging a Zoanthope, 4 bases of Sky Slashers deviate back from their intended landing site near the bikers. The Hormagaunts raced forwards past the pod eager to tackle the bike squad.

Meanwhile the Trygon Prime bursts from the ground confused by all the biker vibrations [hence the shakey cam, apologies] not in it's intended spot but instead coming up through the power relay station and in so doing tore a hole in it's armour and suffering a wound.

The Tervigon spawned 8 Termagants so we were now holding our objective.

The Trygon Prime's containment Spines sparked forth taking down two bikers, the Spinefist of the Sky Slashers proved ineffective against marine armour even with 16 shots! The Tyranid Warriors whiffed all over the place as did the biovore, shots going astray and those that did hit were either not strong enough to wound the tough bikers or their Power Armour was strong enough to resist the bio-weapons.

The Zoanthrope targetted it's great brain at the Predator but promptly became confused in a spychic mishap

The Hormagaunts charged into the middle bikers taking one down for their 21 attacks. In return they suffered extensively and thanks to the Synapse Control telling them to keep attacking they were slaughtered for their rage fueled tenacity.

Leaving the bikes to consolidate forwards

The warriors were charged and used the cover wisely but not without losses. The Prime sliced and diced with his bonesword killing instantly a squad member but one of the brood fell to the Biker Captain and his fellow marines.

So we'll leave it there until tomorrow. This was a mammoth game that didn't go all the way to the wire but we played pretty late so a lot did happen.

Happy Birthday 40k

It's 40k's Birthday, I'm just a little bit older than it but if you take out the years I was 'on the wagon' I'd probably say we were even. I think I'm glad it's in my life, more so now than ever before and I'm meeting folk and sharing stuff to do which beats going out getting drunk or getting up to mischief. This may not be a 'fashionable' hobby, I think those two words are mutually exclusive but it's creative, fun, sociable and there's even a bit of maths. I can think of much worse things to be doing with my time so Happy Birthday 40k, here's to another 25 years of grim dark future and 'only war'.