Friday, December 30, 2011

Critiquing Kirby's Coteaz List

Kirby posted up a 2000 point version of his Acolyte spam Grey Knight list. You can see his list and his original post here.

Well, his list was similar enough to a few of my list ideas that I figured I would respond in a thoughtful way. Unfortunately, the length of time and cumbersome nature of the comment system precluded anything really "thoughtful" so I sent him an email instead.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Monstrous Creatures and Tank Shock - A Bitch Session

Nurglitch from this thread said:

I suppose it would make more sense to have them rammed, rather than tank-shocked. But the likelihood of a Rhino running over a Carnifex is 33%, and the risk of the Rhino being immobilized, stunned, or destroyed is 66%. Likewise a Carnifex charging a 12" moving Rhino has a 68% chance of doing that sort of damage.

Don't get me wrong, it's frustrating to see a 200+pt Carnifex get run over, but it's also fun to a Carnifex get a free Rhino in its diet. So I disagree somewhat on the notion of Tyranids having no way to prevent movement to contest objectives. Like the multi-charges, it's mainly a tactical problem.


He said some other interesting things too, but that one kind of encapsulates it. Anyways, I think he may be seeing this through rose-colored glasses a bit. The Carnifex vs. Rhino matchup is the MOST favorable for the Nids (within the "MC" category, the Zoanthrope fairs better). And yet it still has a 1/3 chance that the 35 point Rhino will run over the (minimum) 160 point Carnifex.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

6th Edition Magic Eight Ball - How Necrons Give Us Hope that Tyranids "Will Be Back"

So... this is something that's been on my mind since Necrons came out, and I just thought I would share. I'm not sure if this has occurred to anyone else or not. *Shrug* You get to listen to me blather about it anyways!

So. The Necron Destroyer. Clearly a shooting unit. Not a close combat unit. By most accounts it seems a touch overpriced as well. And it has a rather odd rule... Preferred Enemy (Everything!).

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Game Night Recap

Got to test drive my Grey Knights army for the first time against Kingpin's new Necrons.

Turns out, never playing with an army against an army you've never played against after not having played for three months... not so good.

But really the biggest problem out of those was my unfamiliarity with my own army.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tyranid List - Seeking Feedback

So, I'm not going to provide a lengthy explanation, I just want to give you guys the lists and you guys tell me what you think. Interested both in reviews of the lists themselves as well as comparing the two lists' relative strengths and weaknesses.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Bloggers I Like - 40k For the New Professional

I have a wild hair up my ass to highlight people who I enjoy reading, along with a few things that I enjoy about them.

Today I am going to discuss a blogger who I think of as a "kindred spirit." I'm not sure why, but I've always felt like if I were to neatly divide all 40k bloggers into little cliques, these guy would be in my crew. Or I would be in his. Or we would be in a socialist commune group without a clear heirarchy.

Whatever.

Kennedy over at 40k for the New Professional arrested my attention immediately. I've always really enjoyed reading his stuff, and felt like we were on a very similar wavelength. Tragically, his blog completely crashed and burned some time ago. I can say that this had to have been a heart-wrenching experience.

We bloggers put a lot of time and energy into our blogs, and when it comes down to it, that means we've invested a part of our lives into what amounts to a bunch of electrons and possibly some electronic friends. Seeing both of those go up in smoke has got to be painful.

Well, he's started over again, and seems to be writing again. He's only got 29 followers at the moment, but I say we give him some encouragement and some new followers and get this SoB writing again (Sister of Battle or Sunofabitch... the world may never know).

So check out his blog, follow it, comment. Let's get this guy re-hooked on the crack that is blogging.

An Excellent Rifleman/Psyfleman Conversion Tutorial

Gone to Ground has a great post that's a few months old now about converting Imperial Guard Autocannons into Rifleman Dreadnought arms.

The funny thing is, I used IG Autocannons also, but my process was MUCH harder and, in the end, doesn't look any better, lol.

This is an elegant and cheap way to do it. Check it out.

Oh, and added to the blog roll. ;D

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Melta-guns, Bell Curves, and YOU!

Ok, so today I saw a dude's blog where he was trying to do some unit-vs-unit analysis. There were several things that I thought were really wrong with his analysis, but the glaring mistake was when he calculated the "expected number of pens" from meltaguns.

This guy had these huge tables of numbers, and was relying upon them whole-heartedly in his decision-making/analytical process.

But he assumed that every meltagun that hit a target penetrated it.

Every. Single. One.

Calculating the chance to kill a vehicle: The Correct Way

Ok, so I've seen a couple of instances of bad math out there lately, and I thought I would take a moment to put out some information which apparently hasn't made its way out into the general knowledge pool yet.

Most people have a pretty easy time figuring out the "number of wounds" of a given unit firing against another unit. What they are actually calculating in most cases is the mean number of wounds, or the average. It's important to remember that this calculated mean will not necessarily be the number of dead Spesh Mareenz after you have unleashed your volley of DOOM on them.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Display Board Idea

Well, since my new army is going to have 10-11 vehicles in it, I'm sure there are some that will not enjoy playing against it.

Well, why fight the hate? Embrace it I say.

So I'm thinking my display board is going to be a parking lot.

Like, an actual parking lot. Black Asphalt, yellow paint, etc.

A little label on the edge "welcome to the vehicle pool."

I'm not sure whether it will disarm some that might otherwise be upset, or further upset them. Lol.

Not that it's my number one priority (I'm hopeful that for the most part I will be playing against like-minded and similarly capable armies in any tourney I attend) - it is something I at least think about.

I probably won't do it - but it was kind of an amusing thought.

Friday, December 2, 2011

So... Talk to me about Flames of War...

I just bought the starter box, as well as the North Africa/Mediterranean book. These will be Christmas gifts for my dad.

He's a massive military buff, and has been doing military scale modelling for... decades. He's really good too. 1:100 scale will be a bit smaller than he's used to, but I think he will like it. This seems like the best way to cross his hobbies/interests (WWII, models) with my own (also like WWII, models, and gaming). Is that all I need to get started? Is mid-war going to really limit who I can play with? Can I be thinking about buying models that work for both Mid-War and Late-War?

With any luck, the end result will be me and my pops rolling dice and blowing up each other's (beautiful) tanks in the Casserine Pass/Monte Cassina/Solerno, etc. And heck, maybe at some point we'll "move forward" to Normandy, Market Garden, maybe even the Eastern Front.

Talk to me about game balance. Are the rules designed such that historically accurate (ish) forces can be successful? Are there "power builds," or are most choices fairly legitimate?

Or is it more like Warmahordes, where most choices can be made to work, within the proper list?

What should we expect to pay for a "full sized" army? What are some solid purchases early on which would fit into a variety of builds? We now have three Shermans and 2 Stug(?) Assault guns, so, yeah.

I'm going to wait to see what my dad wants to play. He may not be comfortable playing "Ze Germans" and if so I'll take the Krauts. I've always felt like Rommel was one of the more sympathetic Germans anyways. Poor bastard. Wrong place at the wrong time.

Anyways, if my dad does take Ze Germans (again, Rommel is pretty appealing) then I will be hard pressed to decide between the Brits and the Americans. Playing the Big Red One would be pretty bad-ass, but then again so would the Desert Rats or even the 9th Australian or the Highlanders.

Too many damned options, which is a good feeling.

Basically... talk to me about Flames of War. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm very thankful for many things in my life.

To start with, I am thankful for my wife, my newborn son and my two wonderful daughters.

I'm thankful to be gainfully employed and to have a beautiful home to enjoy my time when not working in the salt mine.

I'm thankful for my hobbies, without which I think I would go insane.

I'm thankful for all my internet buds. Special shout-out to Chappy DBC - come home soon bro - and to SinSynn, my bestest internets frenemy.

Finally, I'm thankful that through a combination of tournament wins, sales, and haggling, I finally have the eight Razorbacks and three Dreadnoughts I need to build my Grey Knight army.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My first Necron list (WIP)

Well,

Mike B put up some nice thoughts on the new Necrons dex yesterday. I think he's got a lot of good information in there - you should go read through it.

I like what he's saying here - Necrons don't need to be built like Space Marines. I dig it. I believe it.

Heck, I could probably play a "counts as" Necrons army using only Tyranid models. How many Ripper swarms (Scarabs!) could I assemble... a lot. Spyders... check. Warriors... Termagants with Devourers could work, lol.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Are Cryptek's "Cost Effective?"

Buemmschaf said:

- The 'court wizards' aren't that cheap to begin with. Compare it to a Long Fang (most points-effective Missile Launcher I can see), which cost 40 pts for 1 (cos you need to take a Pack Leader) and 25 for each past that. So at 2 ML, you are already more cost effective than the Cryptek.

They are actually pretty cost effective in my opinion. Comparing them to Longfangs is not necessarily the right comparison. Long Fangs don't have AP 2 missiles, cannot move and shoot, and don't get to hang out in an army that can reduce the armor value of enemy vehicles (at range, if you build for it).

I compare their cost most directly to a Cyclone-equipped Wolf Guard, which clocks in at 18 + 15 + 30 = 63 points for two shots, whereas the Cryptek is 35 for one. But the Wolf Guard terminator pays more for their ablative wounds, doesn't have AP 2, and a variety of other factors (and, in the Wolf Guard's favor, the Cryptek's don't get a blast option).

In the end, I think just looking at absolute points costs across codices is a fools errand. Points "efficiency" is only useful for comparing one unit to another unit within the same codice which are designed to do the same job. It's only this kind of "apples to apples" comparison that gives you anything meaningful. It's interesting to do it, but not really useful, and can obscure the truth about a unit by making you think it's "too expensive" without looking at it within the context of the entire army.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Can two Cryptek's join a single squad?

This seems to have come up in several places recently, such as this thread's comments where I asserted that attaching two Crypteks to a single unit (via the purchase of two royal courts) was too far "into the grey" for me.

Buemmshef said:

"Actually, as of right now this seems to be the case.

While it might not be RAI, we don't care about that; it is RAW until GK decides that this should not be.

The splitting off one Cryptek for each unit refers to the 'current' Court, not 'all' Courts (This is a rough translation from german, since I haven't gotten my hands on an english codex yet. If I do, I'll try to highlight the corresponding sections and confirm my interpretations)."

Friday, November 18, 2011

GW Produced Investor Video

This was linked as a comment on Faet 212. I thought this video was fascinating. A few things really jumped out at me.

One was the fact that every time they said "the hobbyist" or "the customer" they showed kids. Every time.

Do I live in the only part of the world where the majority of the player base is made up of adults?

Monday, November 14, 2011

Byron born 11/13/11 - 9 pounds 8 ounces

Another mini-me. My first son.

Born 8:50 pm local time, 21 and 3/4 inches, 9 pounds 8 ounces. Mom and son are doing great.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled nerdery.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Ghost Ark Gunboat?

So, still musing through the Necron dex.

I noted that there might be an opportunity for some "ride jacking."

The Ghost Ark struck me as a bit unimpressive on its own. It's AV 13, sure. But the high AV isn't that useful if nothing ever shoots at it. You have to at least be a target for 115 points. And really who would shoot at the Arks before killing everything else first?

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

My Perfected Grey Knights List

So, when "working" a codex, I often go through a process where I will build army lists from scratch, over and over again, pretty much as my whims take me. Writing an army list is to me what completing a Sudoko puzzle is for others. It's a relaxing and fun exercise in and of itself.

Seeing all the different ways that you can make a codex "flex" is really quite fun. Yes, I am a nerd among nerds. Mock away.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Lychguard - How I both love and loathe thee

I have been looking at the Lychguard hard.

I really really love this unit.

Aesthetically.

It hits all my buttons. I especially like the setup with the hyperphase swords and dispersion shields. They look... right. I even like the Warscythe setup. I think these guys were supposed to be the Ushabti equivalent in some ways.

They work. Visually.

Mechanically... not so much.

I mean, they are priced "fairly." Their survivability with Dispersion fields is exactly the same as a TH/SS Terminators against Bolter fire or high Strength AP 2 fire/fists/hammers/etc. And they cost the same.

So far so good.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Necrons - First Impression

Ok, so having read through the book a couple of times, I have a few thoughts.

First, the Doom Scythes combined with Imotekh are "obvious" and will cause much whining. The thing is, the two Doom Scythes will probably wreck a couple of Razorbacks each and then die promptly. Not a "bad" thing per se. But unless your opponent is terrible (possible) or you routinely roll triple sixes (suspicious), these aren't going to "wreck your shit." Still, they are neato-whizz-bang cool and have a neat mechanic. I like neat new mechanics. Makes me happy that the boys in Nottingham still have some creativity left.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Necron Codex in Hand... Now the Fun Begins

I hope this isn't too much of a teaser. I had my copy waiting for me yesterday but I couldn't get in to pick it up. My wife graciously grabbed it for me this afternoon, but I've been spending the evening watching Dexter Season 5 with her.

Anyways, I'm heading to bed now and I'm going to do a little reading. I would love to hear all of your thoughts as we begin to understand what this codex offers us. Stelek has already declared that "10 AV 13 vehicles, kthxbai" is a good way to go.

Anyone else dove in yet? Thoughts?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

11:11 AM on 11/1/11...

...that is all.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programs.

Friday, October 28, 2011

150,000 Page Views, Plus Necrons!

Ok, well, I have suffered a few setbacks recently, but let's not let a few foolish missteps hold us back, shall we?

I recently hit 150,000 page views. This kind of blows my mind, to be perfectly honest. To think that that many eyes have been on my site (or that people would spend so LONG looking at my site) is truly amazing.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

My Adsense Account has been Terminated

Sad day. I think I probably shouldn't have encouraged people to click on ads on my birthday. I have lost all the revenue I made on that day, and all the revenue I had earned up till that point - almost an entire year's effort gone.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Twilight Imperium for my Birthday...

So, using my birthday funds (from family, not from ads), I decided I was going to purchase a game I have long lusted after but never pulled the trigger on - Twilight Imperium. And, I have heard from so many places that you "need" the expansion Shattered Empire that I picked that up too.

I can't really say much for the game yet as I have not gotten a chance to play. But the materials are certainly of the highest quality, as I have come to expect from Fantasy Flight.

I am really hoping to be able to find a day during the Thanksgiving break to get a few buddies together and play through a game. I will let you know how it goes.

Anyone else have any experience with TI3?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Timmah Says Hello... Long Time No Chat

Hey Purgatus,

Hey its Timmah, old ytth writer/reader.  I sadly just found your blog.

The good news is I've read a lot of your stuff in the past back when
you were writing for YTTH.
 

So I was going to toss you a link over at my new blog
(www.equinoxhobbies.com).  I figured I would say hey and just let you
know.
 

Monday, October 17, 2011

Facepalm... People Who Are Bad At Maths...

Just taking a few minutes to cruise the almighty interwebz looking for rumors about Necrons. Yes, I am a consumer whore. Fuck off.

I was this excited about Nids, and will be this excited about Chaos and Dark Angels too.

Anyways, I stumbled across this little gem.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

You Guys Are Ridiculous...

...ly awesome.

I don't know who is clicking ads and "supporting my sponsors" but... I could buy a Stormraven now.

Seriously.

I have made half as much today in ad revenue as I have in like, the entire history of the blog.

Whoa... Ads Are Cool

So far today you guys have bought me a blister!

No, not a Finecast Blister. That would be ridiculous.

It's Purgatus' Birthday, Bitches!

Wheeeeee......

28 today. Now you know.

If you want to give me a present, spend a half an hour clicking on as many ads as you can. It's easier than a "Donate" button and all the money will go to plastic crack/hobby travel or something along those lines.

I Just Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

 Hey! It's been a long time. How are you?

"100101001 10110 1010101 101010101 111100 101011001 001"

Well, I've been doing pretty good, ya know? I've been seeing a few different people. Loganwing. Dark Angels. Grey Knights. Just trying to mix it up a bit.

"10001010010101001101 101001 101010101010..."


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Grey Knights - A Different Approach

So, still just kicking around different ideas. I think the basics are definitely there, but putting the lists together in different ways helps you to understand what you gain and lose with different setups, and that can inform your decision making.

So this is more of a traditional approach, taking the Psybolt Heavy Bolter backs and eschewing the TL Assault Cannons. In return for the loss of Strength 7 shots, you can fit in another Strike squad and their transport, and you can give the Inquisitors combimeltas. The combimeltas give you a bit more versatility. If going first they can attach to the Henchmen squads and get first turn melta-strikes on your enemy. If going second the Inquisitors can ride in Razorbacks and hang out in midfield.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Email In - Critique My Wolves

Buddy wrote me, asking for some criticism from ze masses. Here ya go, some red meat for ya.

If you don't have anything better to post about on your blog, toss this up there. Nobody seems to care on warsound, lol, and I know that your blog isn't REALLY going into hibernation (jk, obviously RL is more important lol).

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Still Working on some Grey Knight Ideas

Still thinking I would like to build this next army as Grey Knights. Still thinking I would like to play with Stormravens. It just sounds... fun. Sue me. Lol.

As I was thinking about my Stormraven ideas, one thing kept bothering me, and that is that the Stormravens will certainly just get killed immediately if I'm going second. There's just nothing you can do to keep an AV 12 vehicle safe if it's hanging in the sky.

Walking Dead Show... How Did I Not Hear About This?

I loved this comic series, though I never did buy/finish them all. I can't believe they turned it into a cable show. Too cool.

I'm not sure about you guys, but the best stuff in media these days really seem to be the cable shows. I'm really looking forward to Game of Thrones coming out on Netflix too (I'm watching Walking Dead on Netflix through my X-Box).

Movies just don't seem to get the same "Bang for their Buck" as the cable series do.

Anyways, if you didn't know, Walking Dead is available on Netflix online. If you haven't watched it yet, check it out.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Gaming Night - Nids Again

Got another good game in against the same IG player as last time. He brought a few more tanks this time, and it was proportionally more difficult, but I did win solidly again. Still playing my Tournament Nids, and sincemy opponent only has 1750 worth of models for this game I dropped one of my Tyrannofexes.

We played the Total War scenario, meaning that there were two Capture and Control objectives, three Seize Ground objectives and Kill Points all in play. This is by far still my favorite scenario I have seen or played. The NOVA missions might be more strategically challenging, but there is something to be said for the elegance of the Total War mission. It's still interesting and challenging but much simpler to play.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

School Kicking My Ass - Plus Infinity

Yeah.

I'm glad you guys are giving some good feedback on 6th edition... because 6th might be my next chance to play this game... lol.

I have been catching some painting time 15 minutes at a time. I have been enjoying getting back to painting this army immensely, even if it is just a "bit at a time." 

I don't know why, but Infinity has captured my attention recently (as I know it has lots of gamer's). I'm ready to be convinced to play this game. Anyone out there care to try convincing me?

Friday, September 30, 2011

Will 6th Edition Save Nids?

 Yes, Best Overall is still in hibernation mode. But it's the weekend, and the sleepy bear is wandering out of his cave for a few minutes (at least until I get too tired and fall asleep).

I could write an entire article about my feelings towards Nids, but let me just sum it up like this:

I love Tyranids. But I hate the Tyranid codex.

Ok, moving on.

I have not quite "avoided" 6th edition rumors, but I haven't been one to go out and actively seek them out either. Consequently, I have gotten a general flavor of what the rumor mill is cranking out, and frankly my feelings are mostly positive, but I don't know all of what's circulating out there.

But what I want to talk about today is how, intentionally or unintentionally, Games Workshop could save the Tyranids codex without actually touching the Dex itself.

These are based upon things I have read or, in some cases, things I half remember reading at some point. Feel free not to take any of these rules as being in any way solid (or rather, they should be viewed as even less solid than regular rumors, as I'm likely to be making them up). I'm trying to give some realistic examples of how "core" rule changes could help Nids.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Best Overall Going Into Hibernation...

I didn't want to leave you guys hanging here. I just started grad school with a 12 credit load and am still working full time as well as expecting a new baby in about a month and a half. Needless to say, I need to tone down my hobby life.

I'm not "quitting," or "retiring" or any such thing, but just know that if I don't post as regularly as normal, this is why.

I still hope to get enough free time on the weekends to finish up my Loganwing guide, but I can't make any promises until I adjust to this new phase of my life.

Thanks for your understanding and support!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sheesh... What a Weekend

Was home sick Thursday and Friday (really sick, not "I want a long weekend" sick) but caught it early enough and got meds so I could go to an out-of-town wedding as a groomsman from Friday through this morning. Got back, and my wife had to immediately leave for her baby shower (we are expecting a son in November). So I've been hanging out with the girls at home while the wife unit does her thang.

So no posts. But my last post seems to have sparked some very interesting discussion that I would like to riff off of in the future. I also owe you guys three more sections (Fast Attack, Heavy Support, and Putting it All Together) for the Loganwing guide.

I have been painting though, on my Tyranids. Even if they end up being "just" a hobby army, they will be a kickass hobby army. And that's cool. Plus people really enjoy playing against Tyranids, lol.

Friday, September 23, 2011

One codex to rule them all...?

We have been having an interesting discussion locally, and I wanted to get your, the internet'z, take on the matter.

One of our locals believes that Blood Angels codex is 'obviously' the best.

On other parts of the interwebs, people will tell you that Space Wolves are the hands down champions.

Still others bemoan the horribly overpowered Imperial Guard.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

The Hellhound...

...why does no one use this tank?

I think the idea of placing flame templates 12" away from the end of a gun that just moved 12", and being able to freely pivot that template to a large extent... is just neato.

In my head that is just devastatingly effective. And fun.

Random thoughts, I know. Anyone used them? Are they as cool on the table as they are in my head? No one likes getting hit by Strength 6 templates, even if you ARE in power armor.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Interesting... I Really Love This Game

Yes. I am talking about 40k.

 No challenge intended. No really, don't bust a cap.

Sometimes I think I forget that. I get so focused on the competitive aspects, the list building, the theorizing (which I DO love also) that I forget that, underneath it all, I love 40k.

I have been reading a lot of really bitter posts lately (some of which are really well written).

And yeah, I sure do get frustrated sometimes. Let's face it, the boyz up in Nottingham get a lot of stuff wrong.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Interesting Nids List...

Ok, so this is kind of funny.

I was just wishlisting, throwing things in my spreadsheet, and came up with the following list:


Friday, September 16, 2011

Oh Thank God... Crisis Averted



I thought I was out of Devlan Mud.

Dear GW: Please Stop Purging the Xenos



So... I know that you guys are just poking some good natured fun about my decision to take up "another" Marines army. I suppose it goes un-noticed that this would be my first heavily mechanized army... ever.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Decisions, Decisions... (Thoughts on Grey Knights)

Well, when you are broke like me it takes a while to gather together model resources to build an army. Thankfully, when that army is a space mareen army it's really a matter of "gather rhino hulls, figure out list later." Heh.

So I have been working in that direction for some time now, and am up to five Rhino/Razorbacks and 2 Dreadnoughts. And of course assloads of Chaos Space Marines, Dark Angel Robed Veterans, Space Wolves, and various and sundry other crappola.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Kromac List Idea - Circle Orboros 35 Points

I'm not really well versed on Warmahordes "net lists" per se, so this may just be painfully obvious to lots of folks already.

But if I was going to branch out into Kromac, I think I would try this at 35:

Kromac the Ravenous
Gorax
Warpwolf Stalker
Warpwolf Stalker
Tharn Bloodtrackers x 6
-Nuala the Huntress
Warpborn Skinwalkers x 5

Lots of nice targets for Kromac's upkeeps and you can upkeep cycle between the two Stalkers for some pretty ridiculous shenanigans. You've got the Gorax available for when you need to throw the Stalkers at some hard targets with P+S 20 hits and MAT 8 (and possibly with boosted to hit rolls).

Tharn Bloodtrackers can help you get your Warpaths off before the Stalkers activate (or afterwards really) instead of relying on their own kills to do it for you.

The Skinwalkers can run around with 20 Armor while engaged and just be a wall for your Stalkers to bounce behind.

Seems like fun, seems solid. Thoughts?

Remember


Thursday, September 8, 2011

4th Anniversary

Well, my wife and I have enjoyed four years of marriage as of today.

Some days have been better than others, but I am so very grateful to have a wonderful partner like her.

We are going to dinner tonight, and we also have weekend plans, so don't expect too much from me until next week.

Later all!

150 Followers!

Well, a nice little milestone. You know how we like numbers we can easily divide by 5 here at Best Overall.

Even better, Sinister, my 150th Follower, is someone I know IRL! I'll have to get him something nice (There's a multi-template with your name on it, bud).

I've long since passed 100,000 pageviews, and once I hit 150,000 I'll do another "hurray" post.

Thanks everyone for keeping me motivated to keep this blog going!


Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Guide to Building a Loganwing - Part 4, Troops

So, at last we have arrived.

Troops.

If Logan is the heart of a Loganwing army, Wolf Guard are its muscles, its bones and its sinews.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Fitness Goals... This One's For You, Nike

Nikephoros is one of my favorite bloggers, even if we sometimes disagree. One thing that I like is the fact that he occasionally branches out from pure 40k and talks about nutrition and fitness. Interestingly enough, I randomly checked his blog as I was posting his link and he even talks about nutrition a bit in today's post!

Monday, September 5, 2011

A Response to Stelek

Stelek had asked for people to "fix" his NOVA list. I have been toying around with the idea of meching up my Space Wolves for a while, and this list is where my current musings are. It's a bit different in some ways from Stelek's concept, but shares some basic structural traits. I posted it up as a comment on his blog and thought you all might have some thoughts as well.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

TSHFT Results - Very Pleased

So, I ended up taking Best Overall in the "Unranked" Category. What does that mean? Well, TSHFT uses a ranking system similar to Chess tournaments, and those players who have participated before go into either the "low" or the "high" rank based upon their prior performance. Those players who have never before participated go into their own "unranked" category. There is a Best Overall for each category, and all three categories compete for the TSHFT champion (which I believe is highest total Battlepoints). I am now the proud owner of a NIB Tau Pirahna (lol).

Saturday, September 3, 2011

TSHFT Grand Tournament - Day 1 Results & Some Deep Thoughts on Where I am as a Player.

Hey everybody.

Just got done with the first day of the Seattle Heart of Fire Tournament.  I knew going in that this event has a great reputation. I know that Zen, the tournament organizer, has recently lost a lot of his support crew, including his webmaster. As a result, this event has not been as widely publicized as previous TSHFTs. We had I think 24 players show up, where previous events have seen nearly 60. Still, 24 players is certainly a respectable amount given that there was literally no official internet presence for this event.

Friday, September 2, 2011

TSHFT Tomorrow - My Latest 2k Concoction

Going to run something a bit different. Leaning more towards melee capability. I have wanted to try a build like this for a while, so why not this weekend?

I'll let you know how it goes.

Unit Creep?

Auratious Taak commented on this thread in response to Rarkthor who indicated that he took Missile Launcher Longfangs before it was a "fad."

"For the record, i know a bloke who took Missile Toting Long fangs in 2nd ed onwards to now. What is your point here? That wow, you take an obvious unit choice just like a good chunk of space wolf players the world over? *claps* Also, fad implies it will become obsolete. Unless ML's become stupidified in the future it's hard to imagine LF's w/ML's becoming unpopular as a points efficient unit that fills a vital role in a SW army."


A few things here. "Fad" implies that lots of people are doing something because lots of people are doing something. In this case I think lots of people are doing something because that something is obviously good. Longfangs have a very points efficient unit in the Missile Spam Longfangs.


That's not really that interesting. What IS interesting is what happens when a codex comes out and gives people a tool, like Missile Launcher Longfangs. They get used to having this tool and then start taking something similar in other armies too. After Space Wolves came out you saw more Missile Launcher Devastators of all kinds, as well as Missile Launcher Havoks in larger numbers. Now I'm not saying that no one did this before, because people did, but it became much more mainstream.


Now, after Grey Knights came out, you see more people taking Bolterbacks. Even though "normal" Bolterbacks aren't as good as the Grey Knights version, you suddenly realize what it means to have 18 = 27 twin linked long-range anti-infantry shots in your army. Even if they are "only" wounding on 3's instead of 2's and don't have quite as much anti-mech utility. So you see people like Stelek sticking Bolterbacks into Space Wolf armies, people putting Bolterbacks into Blood Angels armies, etc.


While they may not be "as" good, people see that they are still good.


I find this phenomenon interesting. Thought maybe you guys would too?

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Blogger Ate My BatRep

And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.

Summary:

I suck at answering emails. Sorry. Will do better.

Got a game vs. Deathwing. New Player. Will be dangerous soon. I won. His list needs work, and I screwed up a rule about Skimmers.

I'm sick. Tired. Need sleep.

Nighty night.


Saturday, August 27, 2011

Vacations Are Exhausting

All day motorcycle classes on Thursday/Friday, transitioning into overnight bachelor party for one of my best friend's last night/this morning, transitioning into a spontaneous road/camping trip to Eastern Washington tonight/tomorrow/Monday.

So... yeah. Been busy. Wanted to tell you jerks I haven't forgotten about ya. That and, what with NOVA coverage, I'm sure you guys have better things to read than my Loganwing guide. It will get finished though, promise.

Cheers.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Logan Hybrid Mech

Watching Stelek go through his "1001 Arabian Lists" exercise while he gets ready for the NOVA has been interesting, to say the least. It's like getting a Yes the Truth Hurts brain dump over a couple of weeks.

Needless to say, watching other people build lists gets me interested in building my own. This list was itching in my brain and I had to throw it in a spreadsheet to see how I could make it fit. This borrows shamelessly from many of Stelek's concepts, but I don't think he's put anything quite like this together (could be wrong though... the guy writes a ton of lists).

Logan

Wolf Scouts x 5, Meltagun
Wolf Scouts x 5, Meltagun

-Wolf Guard x 10, Terminator x 2 w/Cyclone Launchers, 2 w/Combimeltas (go with Grey Hunters), 1 w/Combimelta & Wolf Claw (goes with Wolf Scouts), 5 w/Stormbolters
-Wolf Guard x 10, Terminator x 2 w/Cyclone Launchers, 2 w/Combimeltas (go with Grey Hunters), 1 w/Combimelta & Wolf Claw (goes with Wolf Scouts), 5 w/Stormbolters
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)

Longfangs x 4, Multimelta x 4, Pack Leader, Drop Pod
Longfangs x 4, Missile Launcher x 4, Pack Leader, Razorback w/Heavy Bolters
Longfangs x 4, Missile Launcher x 4, Pack Leader, Razorback w/Heavy Bolters

So, after the Wolf Guard units split up you have seven dudes left in each squad, five in power armor with Stormbolters and two Terminators with Stormbolters and Cyclones. 14 Stormbolter shots plus 4 Frag templates is a frightening amount of mid-range anti-infantry. You have two of those units to hang back, shoot a bunch into midfield (and of course still be potent anti-mech) and then claim home-court objectives/quarters).

And of course for this list I hopped on the Heavy Bolter bandwagon. Hey, if you can't beat the Grey Knights, try and be like them but a little crappier, amirite?

Anyways, I think it's got potential. Your thoughts?

C&C welcome. Hopefully now I can get some sleep, lol.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Tournament Theory Deep Dive - "Total War" Mission, Playtesting



Hey guys.

My gaming club, the Dead Body Crew, is trying to put together a kind of tournament scenario library for use in local tournaments. The first missions which will be inducted into this library will be the NOVA missions, for reasons which are obvious to most.

Side Note:  I think there are a variety of ways to build missions/scenarios which are balanced and interesting. What I think is REALLY challenging is coming up with a fourth deployment type which is balanced and yet substantively different from the three standard deployments. Maybe it's not something to even mess with. Bad deployment types are a terrifically unbalancing element, and I have seen some really terrible ones out there. Food for thought.
End side note.

Space Marine Video Game... FML

No challenge intended.

 Well, I have a lot of things I need to do today.

But I just played through the Demo (available on X-Box Live for Download).

Monday, August 22, 2011

Still No Loganwing Guide...

...I'm not dead. I've just been really busy. All day today running around to appointments, classes, etc. Got home, made my meals for tomorrow and threw together my gaming stuff. Going to try a variation of "Logan's Wolfpack" tomorrow. I will be at classes all day tomorrow (I'm getting my Motorcycle Endorsement) but tomorrow evening am going to throw some dice.

Expect to hear more on Wednesday night, I will have no time till then.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Recovering From the Weekend, Building Wolf Scouts

Busy weekend, but I'm back home. I'm debating whether engaging further on Frontline Gamer's points is going to lead to bad feelings or increased understanding. I feel like SinSynn and my long-running debate actually made us better buds. But Frontline seems to have a bit of a different personality. Perhaps he can say more as to whether he wants to hear me more fully explain my points or just move on (we've followed each other's blogs, so we may have other topics to discuss in the future).

In other news, I have assembled my third Wolf Scout squad. I like the way the squad turned out, it looks very dynamic with some good poses.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Logan's Wolfpack - 2000 Points


I'm sorry that I haven't published Part 4 of the Loganwing Guide yet. It's a long section (as I'm sure you understand) and I just haven't had the time to bang it out. I'm going to be at my parent's house tonight and won't have access to the interwebz (the computer is in the room that my baby sleeps in while we visit).

In the meantime, I wanted to present you with an army that I have had lurking in the recesses of my mind. It has been... one could say... stalking me?

Like a wolf, in the shadows.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Painting Night...

...just working on some the Death Korps of Krieg tonight while watching Avatar the Last Airbender with my kiddo.

Pretty decent show for a Nickelodeon.

Anyways, I'm working on the "Troops" update to the Loganwing article series. Should be up soonish. Thanks for all the encouraging comments and feedback, I'm glad people are finding it interesting.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Guide to Building a Loganwing - Part 3, Elites

Ok, well the Space Wolves have some excellent Elites choices to compliment a Loganwing style army. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Me too. This codex is built with so many good options that it letting a manic list builder like me have it is like giving a tweaker access to a Nyquil factory. This is, more than anything I think, why Space Wolves see so much tournament success. The codex is APPEALING to the kind of analytical people who like to play this game at the highest competitive levels. It's not that these same people couldn't take, for example, Blood Angels or Guard, it's just that the Space Wolves have the best written Codex for those who like to build intricate lists. A lot of this has to do with Wolf Guard and the way that unit works, but we'll save them for the Troops section since this is a Loganwing series.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Only YOU Can Prevent Spousal Abuse...

...by not playing your wife in any game ever. She just beat my ASS at Risk. I mean, it was brutal. Sheesh.

If only my ten year old hadn't broken our non-aggression agreement, I could have had her...

Curses!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

No Ard Boyz...

...this year.

Today I helped my bestest nerd buddy move out of state, and tomorrow we are meeting up with our midwife for her annual picnic to celebrate all the baby's she's helped bring into this world (including my youngest, and another on the way in November).

I will admit, I was feeling bummed, but this post by SandWyrm cheered me up a bit. It's all about keeping it in perspective.

Ard Boyz used to be my "goal." Now it's the NOVA. Even if I can't make it this year, it will still be the long-term goal, not GW's half-arsed excuse for real competition.

Grats to all those who did well today and good luck to those playing tomorrow. Gonna go read with my lady now.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Guide to Building a Loganwing - Part 2, HQ


So my general plan is to go through each of the sections of the force org chart and discuss the units that *I* feel could/should be included in a Loganwing, and discuss their relative merits. The decisions you make in one part of the Force Org have significant impacts on the rest of the build. Everything in a Loganwing (and in any army really) should work together with each piece playing its part. Let's start with HQ, shall we?

HEADQUARTERS:
 
Oh boy, HQ!

Space Wolves can take up to four of them. You are already sinking a lot of points into HQ just by taking Logan, but the Wolves are an army that can, in my view, get away with having a few really "meaty" characters in their army. Let's talk about some other heroes who might want to bask in Logan's glory:

Wolf Lord
I can really only see one use for a Wolf Lord in a Logan army, and that's putting him on a Thunderwolf and using him as a counter-assault badass. Saga of the Warrior Born, Runic Armor, Storm Shield and a Wolf Claw. Rawr. I have played with this guy and he lives up to all expectations. Pro tip: the bonus attacks last until the next player's assault phase, so it's especially important with the Wolf Lord NOT to have him defeat his enemy's on your turn. Instead, you want him to beat them up a bit, get some bonus attacks, use those bonus attacks on the next turn to wipe them out, and then charge into another combat. He can roll around with a Fenrisien Wolf pack escort, a Thunderwolf Cavalry escort, or a hybrid (Thunderwolf Cav with a couple of "wargear" Wolves as ablative wounds. If you want a fast choppy element to your army, this is one way to go.

If you are looking for a foot-slogging character to drop in with Logan, Arjac is just a plain better choice. We'll talk about him too. 

Rune Priest
The Wolves get, hands down, one of the best psykers in the game. While not a "killer," the Rune Priest does what I feel psykers OUGHT to do, which is to provide excellent support to their army. The Rune Priest also provides one of the best psychic defenses in the game as well, making him a double threat.

Most psychic powers are only effective against "troops in the open." Many armies can get away with not having defenses against these powers because they have enough transports to keep their troops from being targets, at least for the first portion of the game. Not so with Loganwing. You are out there in front of god and everyone, which means some psykers will really give you a bad day. For that reason alone having a Rune Priest is generally advisable. I am not going to say it's a "must have" (my goal here is not to tell you the "one" way to do a Loganwing, but instead to give you some tools and thoughts I have gathered over time), but if you get a Rune Priest, you will find him useful as a defensive tool.

The other big thing that the Rune Priest brings to the table, in my view, is his movement control abilities. Murderous Hurricane and Tempest's Wrath provide good tools for slowing your opponent down. An example of Murderous Hurricane as a tool is to bring Logan's unit within 12" of a Land Raider (right at like 11.5") and actually separate off the Rune Priest so he is a solo unit at the end of the movement phase. You can them use your Multimeltas to pop the Land Raider, and then case Murderous Hurricane on the Assault Terminators inside. The terminators will be rolling difficult terrain in the movement phase and another difficult terrain check in the assault phase. Chances are that they are going to fail to assault your unit if you do it right. This tool works wonders with Ork Boyz, Tyranid swarms, and pretty much anything that you want either slowed down or taking lots of dangerous terrain checks. It can even force dangerous terrain checks for vehicles and walkers, so if you have no other targets don't be afraid to his even Land Raiders with Murderous Hurricane. Remember that the only way to target a unit that you are blowing out of a transport is to separate out the Rune Priest at the end of the Movement phase. Remember also that this is a risky proposition, but may be worth it in certain circumstances. Just another tool in your toolbox.


Njal Stormcaller
This guy does everything that a Rune Priest does, but better. Access to all of the powers plus the ability to cast two per turn make him the ultimate Swiss Army knife. Plus his 3+ Rune Weapon tends to turn enemy psykers into huge wastes of points (Lol Grey Knights?). Having used him in a tournament setting, I can attest that he is one of the few "uber psykers" that can actually be worth his points.

Since the Space Wolves FAQ, he is slightly less powerful, as some of his best special powers do not function at all if you are going second. That is really too bad, and for that reason I don't feel Njal really works well with a Loganbomb list (which often wants to go second). We will talk more about that later.

But make no mistake, he is a pricey character and with him and Logan you are already over a quarter of your army into two characters. Better make sure you know what you're going to do with them. He is still only two wounds and will still die like a Hooch if you put him in the wrong place. Keep him safe but in a good position to use his powers and you can get your points worth.

Wolf Guard Battle Leader
If I don't like a Wolf Lord on foot, why would I like a Wolf Guard Battle Leader? Well, simply put, because they can do something that's relatively unique, which is to grant any unit they attach to Stealth. Yes, a WGBL with Saga of the Hunter grants Stealth to his unit. He can also take two Fenrisien Wolves. Now if his unit is in cover, everyone in the unit effectively has a Storm Shield against low AP weapons. This also means that Fenrisien Wolves have that same wonderful 3++ save and that Logan can suck up Lascannon shots against a 3++ cover save, which helps him to absorb more of those shots so his unit can survive.

Giving a WGBL a Frost Blade can be a worthwhile investment as well. He and Logan are both going to be striking at I5, and he will have 5 attacks during the first round of combat (6 if Logan pops his "feat"). This means that if, for example the unit is charged by something striking at I4 or less, that unit will take between eleven and thirteen attacks which are hitting on 3's in most cases, rerolling misses, and wounding on 3's. That will gut units like TH/SS Terminators before they ever swing.

Additionally, giving him a Frost Blade allows him to, if you so desire, attach to a Wolf Scout unit and go chopping through your enemy's backfield. Options are good to have and against Tau for example, that is a nice one to have.

So we've got some pretty nice tools in the HQ section, all of which do more than just add choppy to the army, they each provide support and synergy which help the army as a whole to operate more effectively. Any of the above could be valid choices, it all depends upon how you want to build the list.

I intended to get into Elites during this post, but it's going to have to wait until next time. This series might take a while, as I am data dumping a lot of experience playing this army in 5th. I hope that it is helpful to someone out there.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Are Nikephoros' Metrics Worthless?

Some people think so but I actually think they have value. Go read the link (to the left, which obviously some people missed), and then come back.

I think Nurglich's main points are entirely valid, and he has written up something that had been bouncing around in my brain stem for some time, with a few minor variations.

Sucker Punch...

...is a really interesting movie. The World War I scenes with the German Zombies made me want to build a 40k terrain board inspired by it. And seeing some real "Death Korps of Krieg" style dudes was cool too. Kind of a bittersweet ending (which I predicted from about ten minutes into the movie) but still quite good.

I am working on Part II of my Loganwing guide, hope to have it up tomorrow evening.

Later on homies.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Guide to Building a Loganwing - Part 1, Overview and Logan Himself



So, I recently "re-caught" the Loganwing bug, as I decided to take my Space Wolves to a GT in Montana. Good times were had by all, and I walked away with 4 wins and a loss. I ended up with 3rd place - it was a win/loss format and I got beaten by the only undefeated player. I had the highest total battle points though by a wide margin. Anyways, the point is that I did very well with my Loganwing. I also only lost one game at the Seattle GT which had draw-able missions (going 3-1-1, again only losing to the undefeated tournament winner). Again, Loganwing did quite well for me.

In both of these cases, I asked myself the tough question - did my army let me down or did I let my army down? Both are really the same thing because at the end of the day you ARE your army and your army is YOU. Nobody decides what selections you take but you, and nobody dictates the choices you make with the units you bring but you.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Yes It's Gaming Night, And the Feeling's Right...

...well since my Deathwatch session is canceled this week, I get to go roll some dice instead.

Last time I got the chance to go gaming, I was pretty disappointed by the turnout. I did get a game in, but only after some searching. (It was a good game too, Dante!).

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Learning to Ride a Motorcycle and Hanging Curtains...

...yeah.

Hey, not every weekend can be 40k weekend, amirite? Especially so soon after an epic road trip, got to give it a breather.

I have been painting on some Death Korps of Krieg models, I'll photo them when I'm done.

Ta ta for now.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Painting Death Korps of Krieg

Painting up a few models for a buddy. What cool models!

I've put off painting them up for like a month and a half (for good reasons, but still), but now I'm sorry I did. These are such pretty pieces of resin, and they are a lot of fun to paint.

Sons of the Golden Ka List Revamp - More Razorbacks, Less Cheating

So, Nardy, Gmort and Gx1080 have all "helpfully" pointed out that my Librarian Dreadnoughts cannot actually take Magna-grapples and Extra Armor.

"Shrug." I think that's a strange call for GW to make, personally, but who am I to argue with "the man." My first read was that you gave up the stuff listed under "Wargear" but that you could still take the options (to be fair I'm fairly certain I got that from some early lists that Stelek put out where he had the same interpretation). It's clear as day in the FAQ, so no use arguing with it, amirite?

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Uh Oh... Purgatus' Creative Juices Are Flowin'

You know what happens next. I decide to start a new army.

GODDAMIT!

FINISH YOUR ARMIES! STOP GETTING NEW IDEAS!

Yes, well, my Grey Knights are completely built and within a solid "push" of being fully painted if I ever wanted to take them to a tourney or sell them.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Montana 40kon Tournament Results


So, a quick recap of my games and the results:
Round one (seeding round) vs Mechanized/Webway Dark Eldar. Victory.

Round two (first accelerated pairings round) versus Tyranids, Victory.

Round three (second accelerated pairings round) versus Hybrid Orks, Loss.

Montana 40kon Round 3 Deployment Photo

This photo is all I have time to do at the moment. This was the deployment for my third round loss versus Orks. I will be largely focusing on this loss as I feel that focussing on my relatively easy wins versus Dark Eldar and Tyranids wouldn't be as constructive in the long run.

I won the roll but gave up first turn. In retrospect I am not sure if that was correct against this particular army. I set up my Wolf Scouts in an infiltrated line as you can see. The deployment was diagonal similar to an Apocalypse deployment, except that the angle was fixed. The Wolf Scouts do a nice job of showing the deployment line, and we deployed 12" on either side of that.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Le Sigh

Well, once again I blew it in the third round.

Playing against Orks. Truk Boyz, Battlewagon Boyz, Meganobz and Gazhkul, Deffkoptas, Lootas and Snikrot.

Montana 40kon Update Post

I will use this post to put up comments with updates about the events of the day. Stay tuned.

Roadtrip Complete - Prepare For Glory!

So, yesterday morning at the crack of dawn (well, it was like eight thirty, so a little past dawn tbh), myself and three other brave souls set out on a cross state journey from Olympia, WA to Butte, Montana.
Our destination: Montana 40kon, a GW approved Grand Tournament largely unknown to us. My sole source of information prior to this was from a few postings about the event last year on Yes The Truth Hurts. I know only that the tourney organizer is a YTTH Zombye, and that this is the only large event I know of which uses a variation on Stelek's 5 x 5 system (here are the primer missions, unchanged from last year's event).

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Tourney Prep Progress - Space Wolves Are Going to Montana


Yes, that's right. I'm gonna go eat me some cowboys.

In case you hadn't figured it out, I am heading to Montana this weekend for a good 'ol 40k rodeo. To that effect, I have been prepping my Wolves for the big show.

Fenrisien Wolves have been detailed and rebased (on 40mm round bases).

The Drop Pod has been completely painted and is table ready.

The display board is built and has been covered in plaster, ready for the final coat of paint tomorrow.

I need to paint one more Space Wolf to replace the dude with the Storm Bolter I am pulling out after the list change.

Other than that I am cocked, locked and ready to rock.

I will try and take some army photos tomorrow after the display board is built. I had wanted to try some water effects but there's just no time. Snow will have to do for now. I think it will still look nice.

Final army has 57 models, 2 Melta, 2 Combimelta, 4 Multimeltas, 10 Missile Shots, 4 Lascannon Shots and some angry choppy dudes. Hopefully it will be enough, lol.


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Loganwing - Now with a Turbo-Blender-Matic 40,000

Yeah, so I'm going to go with a "best of both worlds approach." I'll keep the Lascannons at the suggestion of Chappy and others, and I will bring the Wolf Lord and Fenrisien Wolves at the suggestion of Chex and others.

In the list I have, I just don't see those Thunderwolves making it into combat, and the thing is, I NEED them to make it into combat. That's not a great place to be.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Seeking Feedback - More Guns or More Choppy?

Specifically kicking around the following question:

What would be best, to keep the two longfang units with their four Lascannons -

- or -

Upgrade my three TWC units to two WGBL with Artificer Armor, TWC Mounts, Storm Shields, Wolf Claws, and fifteen or so Fenrisien Wolves to accompany them.

So essentially, how worried am I of my three single model Thunderwolves getting zipped by things like Heavy Bolters, Multilasers, etc.

It's a legitimate question, IMO. Grey Knights will smoke those dudes before they leave the starting blocks. 100 points for a two wound model with a 3+ armor save is... vulnerable? Yeah, that's the word I'm looking for.

But then again, 4 Lascannons will help to destroy the things that mount those Heavy Bolters/Multilasers.

Hmmm...

Chappy has already weighed in in favor of the current list. I would appreciate your thoughts.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

GT Practice - Fail. (Lol)

Ok, well I got exactly ONE practice game in today and it looks like it's probably going to be my only practice game before next week's GT.

*Shrug*

It's not like I've never played Space Wolves before, but sheesh, I was hoping to knock more of the rust off.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Tourney Prep is Ongoing

Just painting, painting, painting. Rebasing a bunch of my models on nicer resin bases, and trying to think of what I want to do with my display board (keeping time and space constraints in mind ofc).

Anyways, I'm still alive, just a little "spare time challenged."

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Sigh... Yes Grey Knight Transports Can Still Scout



Just like always people, dedicated transports still benefit from Scout if their assigned unit has it (BRB Pg. 76).

"If a unit with this ability (Scouts) is deployed inside a dedicated transport vehicle, it confers the scout ability to the transport too."

And now the FAQ in question:

Loganwing - The Bulldozer

I don't think this list is really all that great, but I think it would be a lot of fun. Yes, I know you could be more efficient and get units of Thunderwolves.

Walk forward, shoot until you can thump (or chainfist, in this instance), continue thumping (fisting, heh) until dead.

Logan Grimnar
Njal Stormcaller, Terminator Armor

Lone Wolf, Terminator, Storm Shield, Chainfist, Fenrisien Wolves x 2
Lone Wolf, Terminator, Storm Shield, Chainfist, Fenrisien Wolves x 2
Lone Wolf, Terminator, Storm Shield, Chainfist, Fenrisien Wolves x 2

Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator, Cyclone, Chainfist, Storm Bolter x 2
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator, Cyclone, Chainfist, Storm Bolter x 2
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator, Cyclone, Chainfist, Storm Bolter x 2
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator, Cyclone
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator, Cyclone

Longfangs x 4, Lascannons x 4, Pack Leader
Longfangs x 4, Missile Launchers x 4, Pack Leader
Longfangs x 4, Missile Launchers x 4, Pack Leader

So Njal attaches to a Wolf Guard Squad, casts support powers as needed (probably granting 5++ cover saves to the Fenrisien Wolves with the Lone Wolves to make those units even MORE obnoxious to try and kill) and everything trods forward into midfield.


Can you stop me? Can you stop me and eat my 4 S10 Lascannons and 18 Missiles? Maybe yes, but it will be fun to find out.


This list is something I would play and really enjoy. It suits my style.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Calling Nardy... Come in NardyPoontango

Nardy, please shoot me an email if you get a chance. I don't have your email address apparently, need to talk to you about something.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Deathwatch Roleplaying - Session 2

Disclaimer: Very minimal reference to actual 40k here. Read on if interested.

So our party discovered that the Rogue Trader's crew from the Daedelus (the semi-derelict Rogue Trader vessal we had boarded during our first adventure to discover there was a Genestealer cult on board and some indications of a previous chaos infestation) had fled the ship. Or at least the officers had. Our Inquisitor wishes to understand what happened aboard the Daedelus, he feels it may be connected with the problems this sector has been having recently.

Monday, July 11, 2011

2k Loganbomb sans Runepriest

So, it's funny the kinds of things you can do with armies once you let go of certain 'safety blankets.' Now, sometimes those safety blankets exist for a reason (lol) but still, throwing preconceptions out the window is useful for trying out new ideas.

I'm planning on attending a tournament in Montana at the end of the month. It's 2000 points, and though I would dearly love to take the Nids, I'm just not comfortable with them yet at a GT level. I haven't even taken them to a "real" RTT yet, so I'm going to keep them on the shelf for now.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Nids 2k - Hold the Primes, Side of Ravener please.

Happy weekend everyone!

So I've been thinking about Nids lists quite a bit lately. Most of the proposed alterations to my standard list have involved giving up the safety net of the dual Prime/Zoanthrope star. This unit is somewhat of a safety blanket for me, to be honest. I could have gone undefeated (albeit with one draw) at the Conquest Seattle GT last year if my Space Wolves had been better equipped to handle a Dual Land Raider list. That experience has provided a near reflexive need on my part to include sufficient anti-heavy armor to deal with this possible matchup.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Fascinating Nids Discussion on Nikephoros' blog

So, Nikephoros has been doing some really interesting work over on his blog. I mean - REALLY interesting work. He is attempting to create a simple and quantifiable system for determining the "competitiveness" of a list.

Even trying to take on a project like that is really laudable. Whether it's truly possible or not is another question.

But, as a good scientist (and it's been clear to me for some time that Nikephoros IS a good scientist), he was not satisfied to simply create the system and call it a day. He started examining lists using his system and looked for correlations between the scores he got and the results those lists were getting in tournament play. I encourage you to browse through his June and July archives for some examples.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Deathwatch Roleplaying - Session 1

So, had a great weekend. No nerdiness for me except for some light reading. Just fishing, barbecue, sun and brews. Got to spend time with my folks and my dad's friend and his wife and kids. Was a really great weekend. My oldest daughter and I each brought home a nice sturgeon, and we have tons of meat in the freezer now.

Anyways, back to nerdery.

I have rallied together a really solid group of guys to play a Deathwatch campaign. Alex, our GM, is about the most solid GM I have yet encountered, and has an extremely solid knowledge of the 40k universe. In fact, our whole group has a fairly solid fluff background, which makes me have high hopes for the roleplaying aspect.

I am playing a Dark Angels Librarian. I have chosen the Smite, Avenger and Augury powers to start out. I figured I would need some solid combat abilities to start out. I also bought the Interrogation skill, upgraded my Willpower (kind of a"no duh" move for a Librarian) as well as my Weapon Skill. My intent is to eventually get the Mind Worm power and be a psyker Interrogator. Helps for hunting the Fallen (shhh... the other guys in the team don't know about that).

Anyways, I was joined by a fellow Dark Angel (non Inner Circle) Devastator, a Ultramarines Tactical Marine (see also: squad leader/codex: astartes preacher) and a Blood Angels Assault Marine. Nicely rounded combat abilities though a bit lacking in the support categories, sadly. An Apothecary and a Techmarine would be really nice, but this is what we have for now.

So, the sector around the Eye of Terror has seen a recent spike in cultist activity and insurrections. As a result, it is sort of an "all hands on deck" and the Ordo Xenos has been contributing as necessary to the eradication of chaos cults. There are also hints of Xenos involvement which has piqued the interest of our Inquisitor.

Our first mission was to board a derelict Rogue Trader ship and find a specific Xenos artifact, a sword made of the bones of a Genestealer Patriarch. Onboard the ship we discovered that the crew had likely become Chaos cultists at some point, but that the current denizens were a Genestealer Cult. Our Devastator mowed through dozens of mutated cultists with his Heavy Bolter, and eventually we came under attack from a real Genestealer. The Genestealer jumped on and did some significant damage to our Devastator, clearly targeting the greatest threat. We counter-attacked and my character took it down by connecting solidly with my Force Stave and activating its Force Weapon ability, dealing a metric butt ton of damage when I beat the Genestealer's Oppossed Willpower check by three, doing a total of 4D10 + 13 damage.

Yowza.

Interesting start of the campaign. We caught some elements of chaos cults and Tyranids. I suspect that may be a preview of things to come. I wouldn't be surprised if the chaos cults were using the Tyranids to weaken Imperial defenses in advance of a major assault in the sector we are in. We'll see.

Anyways, that was my geeky evening.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Deathwatch Roleplaying, NOVA plans, etc.

So, to start out I have FINALLY brought together a 40k RPG group. This is starting up this Tuesday and I am PUMPED.

My buddy who has been my DM in the past and is a 40k fluff nut as well as very familiar with the Fantasy Flight systems is going to run the campaign. He has a Black Crusade campaign already ongoing up in Seattle and apparently our Deathwatch team will be interfering with the actions of his other group of players at least some of the time.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Jumper Armies - Part II, Doin It Proppah

So in part one of this little mini-series we discussed the the proper care and feeding of Blood Angels Jumper armies. I explained my opinion that many BA players have been misled by some of the shiny toys in the codex to believe that Jumper armies are not viable or are sub-par, and specifically that I feel Descent of Angels in particular contributes to the misguided efforts to build Blood Angels armies that play more like Drop Pod armies (Deep Strike in, shoot you with meltas, try not to die).

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Ride the Friendly Skies, Grey Knight Triple Stormraven

This list was inspired by another list, but it's unique in many ways. Notes at the bottom. 

Coteaz
Librarian, Servoskulls x 2, Shrouding, Might of Titan, Warp Rift (or whatever third power you want, really).

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Proper Jumper Armies - Leave Your DoA At Home, Kids



This is a discussion I have been involved in basically since Blood Angels dropped. This is going to be a part I post, with a follow-up post to more fully elucidate on my thoughts on jumper armies.

As background, recall back to those awful PDF days. With the advent of True Line of Sight, Jumper armies were kind of given the shaft, due to not ever being able to get completely out of line of sight from the opponent as you tried to get across the board. Combine that with a woefully inadequate amount of melta-weapons (or decent wargear options for the Assault Squads at all, really) and the army just kind of sucked. You got shot to pieces by players with balanced lists like Stelek's original "Best of Space Marines" (this is the classic 3 MM Dread, 3 Dakka Pred, MM Tactical squads in Rhinos, etc). The opponent simply had too much anti-infantry firepower, and you too little defense against it, to survive. Add to that the fact that you had to get your enemy out of their bawkses first, and you were really up a creek. To add insult to injury... you really weren't that scary in close combat.

Why is it ALWAYS Dawn of War...?

Seriously, 5 of the last six games have been DoW. Getting sick of it.

On a happier note - I FINALLY ROLLED A REGENERATION RESULT!!

Euclid, this Bud's for you.

I think I was up to about 60 attempts made at this point without success. Of course the regen that I made was on the Prime with only one wound taken, the Prime with two wounds gone failed both and then got ganked the next turn.

Ah well.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Battle Report - Grey Knights vs Dark Eldar

Ok, so I took several pictures at the beginning of the game and several pictures near the end, but there are some gaps in the middle. Still, let's see if we can muddle through in something close to a reasonable fashion.

So let's see if I can remember his list.

Duke Sliscus
Haemonculus, Agonizer
Haemonculus, Agonizer

Saturday, June 18, 2011

When is Ard Boyz?

No one seems to know for sure.

A great mystery, it is.

Games Workshop says August 13th... here.

But they say August 6th... here

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Army Lists Page Updated

Put in my Grey Knights army, my Hordes armies, etc. Just needed a polish.

I am working on my Grey Knights vs. Dark Eldar batrep, so hopefully that will get published tonight.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Astral Aim, Cover Saves, And YOU.


The Astral Aim rule on the Grey Knight Purgation squad has caused no end of debates around my neck of the woods. I am very appreciative of the Grey Knight FAQ which was recently issued but noted that this issue was not addressed. It may seem silly, but please note that this has caused some heated arguments and is, I think, worthy of a FAQ.

Specifically, the questions arise around units which would benefit from cover saves regardless of the presence of absence of the Astral Aim cover save. Specifically the question is whether and when a unit with a cover save which is BETTER than 4+ can use that cover save instead of the Astral Aim 4+ save (for example Stealth or Pinned units that are already in terrain).

Game Night Recap - Tyranids vs. Space Mareenz, Grey Knights vs. Dark Eldar

So, a really fantastic night of gaming. I arrived at the store early with my Circle Orboros, Grey Knights and my Tyranids armies in tow. I even got to play a little Dark Heresy one-shot mini mission before we started to game in earnest. Good times, I miss Dark Heresy.

I'll give a brief recap of both games I got in but I took a few photos of the second (more competitive) game versus Dark Eldar so I hope to put together a full batrep for that game this week.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Thinking About Ard Boyz - Nids and Space Wolves List Ideas

So I have been thinking about Ard Boyz. Apparently I'm not the only one. It would be pretty nice to walk away with some prize support and maybe a new army.  I have been debating whether I want to bring my Wolves or my Nids.

I have not played either army at an Ard Boyz before, so that's a good thing. I think that the Space Wolves list would be quite nasty, and I am more comfortable with my ability to win with it. That being said, I think the Nids might be more fun (not that the Space Wolves wouldn't be fun, mind you).

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Game Night Recap - Circle vs. Khador, Circle vs. Cygnar, Circle vs. Cryx

Image copyright Privateer Press, used without permission.

My first game was at 50 points where I finally got to try out my "full" Circle list:

Kaya the Moonhunter
Laris
Feral Warpwolf
Pureblood Warpwolf
Warpwolf Stalker
Gnarlhorn Satyr
Druids of Orboros
-Druid Overseer
Shifting Stones
-Stone Keeper
Warpborn Skinwalkers
War Wolf
War Wolf
Druid Wilder

So several of these models I am just trying out for the first time (the overseer, the War Wolves and the Wilder), so I made my share of mistakes, as you might imagine. The ultimate verdict, however, is that I really like this army and I like it even better at 50 points. 50 points feels like the "right" size to play, but that could just be me talking. It feels like a 2k game after playing a bunch of 1500 point games.

Just less restrictive and more fun overall.

My opponent had a Khador force led by Epic Sorcha. This was my first time playing her so I didn't really know what to expect. More on that later.

He had two Destroyers and a Marauder for his heavy Jacks, a full unit of Winter Guard with Rocket Attachments and Kovnik Joe. He also had a unit of Doom Reavers and some Mechanics. That's all I remember.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

And Now - Time to Get My Game On

Been a BUSY day! Mother bought us a really nice dining room set for Father's day, and we had to drive two hours to go pick it up. Got to spend the day with my mom, and stopped by my Grandma's house and installed a hand-rail for her on her front porch. Apparently the cat, in a misguided bid at her life insurance money, has decided that leaping underneath her feet when she steps down off the porch is the thing to do. Hopefully the rail will help keep her safe and sound.

Then, cleaned the garage up a bit. More of a "pre-cleaning" really than anything, trying to tidy up enough to figure out what needs to go where.

And now, it's time to get my game on. I'm taking off for the game store with my Circle of Orboros army and my 2k Tyranids army in tow.

Here's the Circle army I will be trying tonight after the painful thrashing I received last time:

Thursday, June 9, 2011

On Beating Grey Knights, Broodlords and Harpies

I've been hearing continuous doom and gloom out of the usual suspects of late. Grey Knights beat Tyranids without even trying, right?

Monday, June 6, 2011

Back In the Saddle!

Been mentally churning since my thrashing on Saturday. I kind of feel like a punk for getting so sullen about it. It's been a while since I've succumbed to that kind of attitude.

But since then I've been thinking about the games. I see my mistakes. I see other options. Choices I could have made differently.

I could have chosen to believe a thousand things. That my opponent was a WAAC jerk. That his army was overpowered. That the dice had gone against me.

No, I made mistakes. I had the tools, I failed to use them properly. My opponent outplayed me, but in the recognition and understanding of his tactics, I can improve and, I hope, one day beat him.

My list does need to change a bit. I need to get the Stalker into my 35 point list. His anti-infantry abilities are too good to give up. But I also realized what a tremendous opportunity I lost in not using Kaya herself to drop a ton of those infantry. The opportunity was RIGHT there. I could have charged her in, used her reach weapon to clear out three to five infantry, and then used Laris' animus to teleport her back to safety.

I still think I need Stalker.

Anyways, I'm thinking a lot about this game, and have been painting a lot.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Worst. Game. Night. Evar.

Got my ass handed to me twice in Warmahordes.

Just a thoroughly frustrating experience.

I just felt like everything I tried to do, failed. Not like, "I missed you" or "I didn't do enough damage to you" kind of failed, or like my strategy was not successful and so I lost kind of failed, but like the 'this model is 1 millimeter in the way of your movement, so you can't do that, and now your entire turn is fucked,' kind of failed.

My first game he took out two of my heavy warbeasts with one of his warjacks on the start of his second turn. So 20 points or so of my army, splat, just like that. I thought I was safe in a forest and like 14 inches away, but he popped his feat and suddenly the Beast 09 had a 13" charge range, Pathfinder, and of course he has reach. So he took down two of my heavies just like it was nothing.

I'm not even going to write it all up. I'm just thoroughly not in a good place right now.

Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Beer, Bratwurst and Genestealers

It's Friday bitches.

Summer seems to have FINALLY arrived in beautiful Washington state. About friggin' time. Too many clouds, too much rain. A man can only take so much gray.

Anyways, listening to my metal Pandora station while I grill up some Brats and drink an Elysian Bete Blanche Triple Belgian. Going to watch the 5th Harry Potter movie with the girls tonight (we are doing a marathon this month) and then going to check out the Green Hornet later tonight while I get some painting done.

The goal for tonight is to have all of the Genestealer's base colors laid down and then washed. That should get the army looking good enough that I wouldn't be totally ashamed to take them to an RTT while I keep working on getting them finished and all 'perty.

Hope you guys are enjoying your weekends!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Pete Asks... Is My Army Cheesy?

Pete was kind enough to follow up with a photo, an email and a list.

Hi Purgatus,

Here's my list - happy to share it. I've enclosed a snap of my display board too, so you can see I haven't modelled it for in game advantage etc. Ironically, my third round game against speed freaks was against a player using tiny old edition trucks to get cover saves behind buggies and nob bikers, which failed as a strategy when he got into range of my hive guard.

The only mildly contentious thing is that I attach a tyranid prime to my Carnifex to get it a cover save behind screening gaunts - as I understand it that's acceptable going by the rule book and certainly no players challenged it with judges while I was using it. I use lots of bubble wrap from tervigon generated gaunts and my devilgaunts to mitigate shooting damage and castle up if the enemy is coming to me. The list is optimised for medium range 18"-24" shooting power to knock out light transports and heavy infantry before it hits my lines and have a nasty close combat punch or two to clean up anything left over.

As you can see, it's actually a "rainbow" list more than a true competive list with duplicated units for redundancy - I'm a big sculptor/converter and didn't want to paint up more than one of any kind of unit. The only exception is the hive guard, as I think any foot slogging tyranid player would fall flat without two units of those guys and I like to run 2x2.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Tourney Theory Deep Dive - On Sportsmanship and Comp Scoring

Pete said

Statistically speaking, 3 is a very small sample size. Sure you'll get a bell shaped curve, but you'll also get some people who get screwed by the system. With 60 battle points and 30 comp and sportsmanship points what happens in the games is almost secondary to the popularity contest.


Anyway - my story is I scored second in the tourney on battle points, got bumped down to 10th on comp and sportsmanship, and that I don't much like player graded comp now I know how it works. I'd be happy to discuss whether or not I'm a good sportsman over a friendly game of 40k - until then I'd hope you'll give me benefit of the doubt.

Oh, I have no doubt you are a fine player Pete, and probably a nice guy. I will certainly give you the benefit of the doubt because that shit happens all the time to competitive players, even if they are perfectly sportsmanlike.

Some Tyranids WIP Photos

So I think it was Karvala who was asking me to, you know, get off my ass and post some WIP pics. Well, here you go. You will see the Primes after I assembled them, and then the Zoanthropes and Primes after I laid the basic colors on them. I did some testing on my Object Source Lighting but it's not final. The carapace will not be black when it's all done. The models have basically been primed bone, had the carapace painted black, the killy bits painted foundation red, and then washed. Still lots of work to do.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Stelek Wrote An Interesting List... For Orks


 Stelek writes a lot of interesting lists, to be fair. But this one stuck in my craw and won't come loose.

Linkie.

Why do I find this so interesting? Well, for one thing, it introduces a whole new generation of gamers to the wonders of the Nob Biker squad. Are they really any different/better than they were before? No, but you know, they are a pretty fun unit and for people who don't know how to deal with them they can be a pain in the arse.

Running A Tourney - A How To

Well, I am WAY behind on my emails. But I promised Karvala I would respond to his first. So here goes:

Hi there,


I've been following your posts for a while, first on YTTH, and now on your own blog, and have been impressed with both the content you have delivered, and the tone you deliver it with.


Anyway, enough throwing compliments at you, on to why I'm writing.

The Zoanthrope Blues


So as I'm sure you are aware that I'm painting my Nids in a brown/red/black scheme. Sandwyrm explained that this is what is called an analogous harmony, because all of my colors are very close to each other on the color wheel. They are also all very aggressive colors and so I hope that they convey an emotion, that emotion being anger and aggression.

By the way, if you haven't read SandWyrm's excellent series on color theory, you are really missing out. It will change the way you plan and paint your armies, guaranteed. Read it. 

Monday, May 30, 2011

Hobby Day... Want to Have Nids Ready for Next RTT

Yeah, I was kind of bummed that I've been lazy about painting for, well really for the last several months. I have a commission project I need to make progress on, my Nids to finish, my Grey Knights to finish... really too much to do.

I need to get the Nids finished up to at least the minimum standard - get the base colors on, get them washed and based, and at least be respectable looking so I can start taking them to RTTs.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Took 2nd at RTT

*Yawn* I'm sleepy. Going to keep this short and sweet. Tournament was at 1850. Took my Wolves because my Nids aren't fully painted yet but quite honestly think I would have had more fun and probably done just as well (if not better) with my Nids. My list was pretty close to my GT list but I replaced Njal with a regular Terminator Rune Priest with Living Lighting and Murderous Hurricane and a Chooser. (See SinSynn, no Jaws!)

Game one: Horde Orks with Kans and Deffkoptas and a single Battlewagon.  4th Ed. Table Quarters. Victory with full bonus points. Murderous Hurricane was... murder. Against 30 man Boy squads it's pretty brutal.

Friday, May 27, 2011

2500 Point Nids - *Insert Swarmlord Here*

So yeah, this is just the 2500 point scale-up of my 2k list. And I get to use my awesome Hive Tyrant of awesome. 

Swarmlord, Tyrant Guard x 2, Lashwhips
Prime, Lashwhip/Bonesword

Hive Guard x 3
Hive Guard x 3
Zoanthrope x 3, Mycetic Spore

Tervigon, Catalyst, Onslaught, Adrenals, Toxins
Tervigon, Catalyst, Onslaught, Adrenals, Toxins
Termagants x 10
Termagants x 10
Genestealers x 15
Genestealers x 15

Tyrannofex, Rupture, Dessicator, Cluster
Tyrannofex, Rupture, Dessicator, Cluster
2495  Points
Some subtle changes from the 2k list, along with the addition of the Swarmlord beater/support unit. Main changes are dropping toxins and going with the larger units on the Genestealers (more firepower at 2.5k means more bodies are a better bet, methinks). Also, giving preferred enemy to 45 attacks just strikes me as... obnoxious. And hilarious.

The Swarmlord reserve bonus combined with the loss of the twin Primes means that the Zoeys get to ride in a pod rather than hoof it. The Prime will attach to the Deathstar. This means I get to use Onslaught on the twin Hive Guard squads if necessary. Just some subtle little changes when going to 2.5k.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Tyranids Tournament List - The Final Version (For Now, Probably, Maybe, Till I Change it...)

 

It's Facebook Official. I "like" this army. We are "in a relationship." It's going into the Army Lists section.

Most of you have seen this but I've been testing this list quite a bit and I think it's pretty damned solid.

While there are still parts of me which think that "quantity over quality" is better, I've stuck with the 12 Genestealers with toxins as opposed to the 15 Genestealers without toxins. It's really a toss-up, but for now this is what I'm going with.

That is such a minor quibble though, the main army is very solidly in place and has survived (and won) games against quite a variety of opponents at this point, INCLUDING dual Land Raiders! (If you didn't follow the saga of my GT then... well go look it up I don't feel like Hyperlinking everything right now).

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Playing Catch-up

Got pretty damned sick as a result of my travels. Apparently I have been sick for 3 months now, and every time I get "better" it's just going into recession or something, and then it comes back again.

Anyways, the doctor found fluid in my lungs and had me do a chest x-ray and I'm on a TWENTY day anti-biotics regimen now. Blech.

Anyways, I'm REALLY behind on emails, and for that I apologize. There are quite a few people who have written asking for list advice, running a tourney advice, and a few other things. Since I'm out sick, I might be able to get to some of that stuff soon.

I am working on writing up my batrep from last week. It's tough because my memories have faded a bit, but I will do my best and then Euclid can correct any errors I make.

Thanks for your patience. And a big happy Birthday to SinSynn.

Glad to have you around, ya lug.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

And... I'm Back

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not dead, I was on a business trip this whole last week.

I did get in a game of 40k with my buddy who had moved out to North Carolina. Details to follow.

In the meantime, just giving a quick hello. Lots to do after being away from home for over a week and returning home to find our living room filled with new baby furniture that I now need to clear out space for...

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Gaming Night! (Nids vs Chaos + Circle vs. Menoth)


So kind of a perfect gaming night really. Got a game of 40k AND a game of Hordes. How's THAT for a balanced gaming diet?!

40k Game was against Chaos Space Marines. He had 2 Daemon Princes with wings, 6 ten man CSM squads with special weapons and Lascannons (on foot) and 3 Tri-Las Predators with Daemonic Possession.

Making Fluffy Armies is About Telling A Story



Gmort had a guest author who provided his thoughts on making a fluffy force without sacrificing effectiveness. His thoughts are pretty solid and worth a read. Essentially his point is that just because the fluff says that a certain type of force "won't have a lot of unit X" doesn't mean you should have NONE of unit X."

Friday, May 13, 2011

Hobby, Nids thoughts, etc.

So, I have a bunch of photos I need to take of my Hordes models. I have been doing construction on my Nids and working on my Guard as well. Blogger has been down for a few days now, so sorry about the lack of posts.

I am heading to North Carolina this whole week for work, so the weekend might be pretty busy getting ready for the trip. I will try and get another game in with my Nids, I've really been enjoying this list and aside from very small tweaks I think I'm pretty well settled on this as my "final" 2k list.

Hey... Blogger's Back!

Neato. We now resume your regularly scheduled program.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Tyranids Versus Blood Angels 2k

Ok, well I got another game in versus Blood Angels. This time it was against a different player, the Best Overall winner from the tournament I had hosted.

My list, for reference:

Prime, Regen, Lash/BS, Scy Tal
Prime, Regen, Lash/BS, Rend Claw