Yearly Archives: 2010

Boobthirster – Greater Daemon of Khorne

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I started in on the Bloodthirsters yesterday.

I’ve never really been fond of the Bloodthirster model.  It’s dated.   It’s metal.  It’s kind of ugly.  In the planning stage for this army, I’d decided I was going to use ForgeWorld Daemon Prince model… but at Games Day they were basically giving away the metal ‘Thirster models for $10 a pop.  So, classic model it was.
Now that I’ve started painting them…. I’m starting to wish I’d stuck with the original plan.
For one, I hate metal.  It’s less cooperative and more fragile than plastic.  Plus, with the enormous wings it’s extremely top heavy.  
More significantly, the sculpt is kind of wretched.  I realized this while highlighting the flesh.  

For starters, the musculature is pretty crazy.  Like, Liefield-crazy.
Muscles and tendons aren’t quite where they should be.  I can’t tell if things are bulging veins or gills or what.
Ultimately, though: the boobs.

I had the following conversation last night:

Me: “I don’t know that I want to highlight these pecs.  They’re big… but I think that highlighting them makes them look more like boobs.

Mrs. Rushputin: “No it doesn’t.  They’re boobs.”

Me: “They’re supposed to be enormous, masculine pecs.”

Mrs. Rushputin: “Well, they look like boobs.”

Me: “Yeah, I suppose they do.”

They are pretty huge man-boobs.  It’s been better endowed by the breast fairy than the Keeper of Secrets

I’m forging ahead regardless, though.  I’ll have a more detailed status update later on.

Khornate Daemon Lists

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Given that I had to bump the list up to 2K for March 20th, as well needing to swap out the Soul Grinders for… something else, I’ve done some thinking about my lists.

My 1,750 list has been unchanged.  Part of me looks at all the scary new psychic powers that these new codices have… but then the other part of me tells me that Blessing of the Blood God really wouldn’t be as useful as it should be (since it only works for wounds).

MAXIMUM KHORNAGE
Chaos Daemons – 1,750 points

HQ
Bloodthirster
Bloodthirster

Elites
Bloodcrushers x4 – Fury of Khorne, Icon of Khorne, Instrument of Khorne

Troops
Bloodletters x16 – Icon of Khorne
Bloodletters x8 – Icon of Khorne

Fast Attack
Flesh Hounds x8 – Karanak, Fury of Khorne
Flesh Hounds x8 – Fury of Khorne

Heavy Support
Soul Grinder – Phlegm
Soul Grinder – Phlegm

My 1,850 list is identical to my 1,750 list.  100 points just isn’t enough to buy another unit, so I have to throw more points at the units I have.

MAXIMUM KHORNAGE
Chaos Daemons – 1,850 points

HQ
Bloodthirster – Death Strike, Unholy Might
Bloodthirster – Death Strike, Unholy Might

Elites
Bloodcrushers x4 – Fury of Khorne, Icon of Khorne, Instrument of Khorne

Troops
Bloodletters x16 – Fury of Khorne, Icon of Khorne
Bloodletters x8 – Fury of Khorne, Icon of Khorne

Fast Attack
Flesh Hounds x8 – Karanak, Fury of Khorne
Flesh Hounds x8 – Fury of Khorne

Heavy Support
Soul Grinder – Phlegm
Soul Grinder – Phlegm

My 2,000 point list is considerably rougher.  For one, I’m swapping out the Soul Grinders with which I’m very comfortable and happy for Daemon Princes I’ve never put on the table.  Furthermore, besides the Daemon Princes, I really don’t want to add any new models: I’ve got my eye on shifting from running mono-God to something more… ecumenical, while sticking with the Khornate theme.  That will involve some fun conversions and such… none of which I’m permitting myself to think about until I’m done with this mess.

The Daemon Princes I’m not particularly happy with.  They’re loaded up with a bunch of crap that gets them up to 170 points a pop.  That’s the same cost for a Winged Daemon Prince with Iron Hide, which I think would probably be considerably more useful… but I don’t think I can run them ’cause I can’t think of a way to model them this side of ordering Tyranid Warrior Wings, which is cost-prohibitive.  Also, I’m kinda-sorta holding out for the plastic Daemon Prince kit.  I’d run them cheaper… but I don’t have anything else on which to spend the points.

So, that leaves me with:

MAXIMUM KHORNAGE
Chaos Daemons – 2,000 points

HQ
Bloodthirster – Death Strike, Unholy Might
Bloodthirster – Death Strike, Unholy Might

Elites
Bloodcrushers x4 – Fury of Khorne, Icon of Khorne, Instrument of Khorne

Troops
Bloodletters x16 – Fury of Khorne, Icon of Khorne
Bloodletters x8 – Fury of Khorne, Icon of Khorne

Fast Attack
Flesh Hounds x8 – Karanak, Fury of Khorne
Flesh Hounds x8 – Fury of Khorne

Heavy Support
Daemon Prince – Mark of Khorne, Death Strike, Instrument of Chaos, Iron Hide
Daemon Prince – Mark of Khorne, Death Strike, Instrument of Chaos, Iron Hide
Daemon Prince – Mark of Khorne, Death Strike, Instrument of Chaos, Iron Hide

There’s a lot of room for improvement with the 2K list, but it’ll get me to where I need to be for the time being and it should, hopefully, be a fun list to play.  Then, come April, it’ll be time to look to diversification.

Painting Progress – 20100209

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Made a bit of progress with the second Soul Grinder over the past few days, but not nearly as much as I’d have liked.  I think I went to bed Sunday thinking that I’d be able to power through it and have it mostly done by Monday night but… that hasn’t happened.  

I’m still doing the final highlight on the skin and, not only that, I’m fairly displeased with the results.  That second wash has come out splotchy and uneven; I find I’ve had to keep going back to different spots to knock it back to pre-wash.  I’d mixed up a bottle of the wash, and I’m thinking I got a ratio off.
Threw some primer on the two Bloodthirsters and Karanak, since they’re what I’ll be working on when I’m done with these dang ‘Grinders.
In anticipation of being snowed in for the bulk of the week, we braved the roads to get out to Game Parlor and pick up some more Devlan Mud.  While out, I also grabbed a box of the new minotaurs, with the thought of using them as Daemon Princes.  The Battle for the Cure will have a rule that benefits those who don’t take vehicles.  Given that I need to bulk up the list to 2,000 points anyway, I figured it was worth looking into.
I’m pretty happy with the models.  There was a lot of complaining on OGO about them: I think all that boils down to a paint job that, while I think was fine, wasn’t what most people wanted.  The models themselves are pretty cool looking: REALLY ANGRY BULL PEOPLE, which will work fine as DPs.  No conversion involved here, but I’m okay with that.  They’ll have the Mark of Khorne and will be geared for stabbification.
Given that the tournament at Madicon looks like it isn’t going to be (which is a shame, because I’d have been happy to take care of it for them), plus the addition of three Daemon Princes that I need to have done by the following week, I’ve shifted the goal a bit.  I’m adding the three DPs and shifting everything it back a week, to 3/19.  The new chart:

Painting Progress – 20100207

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I think I got good use out of Snōmageddon II: Snow Harder / Snowtorious B.I.G. / 2 Fast 2 Flurrious, wrapping up my first Soul Grinder and powering through my second.  This is good, because the first one took much, much longer to paint.  If the second turns out to take as long, I’m definitely slipping my schedule.  I’m aways off from finishing it, but if I can get to where I think I can get before bed tonight, I won’t be in too bad shape.

As mentioned before, I’ve been lax in posting painted mini pics.  Allow me to rectify that mistake immediately.  Here’s my painted army so far.

I’ve got three octets of Bloodletters.  Each octet has a model with Fury of Khorne, with a great big KHORNINATION symbol on their forehead.  Two of the octets have Icons of Khorne, and the third actually as nine models, no Icon: I intent to merge it with another octet, which means I need eight regular Bloodletters.

Bloodletter octets are designated by blood splatters: one octet has nothing, one has a bloody left hand, and one has a bloody face.
I’ve got two octets of Flesh Hounds.  Each has a model with Fury of Khorne, indicated by bloody faces.
As with Bloodletters, Flesh Hound octets are designated by blood splatters: one has no blood, the other has a bloody left paw.
Finally, I’ve finished one Soul Grinder.  It’s been gloss-varnished, but still needs the sweet kiss of Dullcote before it’s “Done” done.
This means that I’m getting there!

Battle for the Cure

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Frank is running a tournament mid-March (3/20) called “Battle for the Cure.”  At the same time, we’ll be running a silent auction, auctioning off various donations.

Tournament fees and the proceeds will go to sponsor fellow IFL’er Bill Donovan’s participation in the Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure.  He’s been doing it for years, but this will be our first year doing something organized to support him.

Breast cancer’s very recently touched my family: my mother’s spent the better part of last year fighting it (and beating it)… so it’s something that I’ve been pretty cognizant of, lately.

I’ll be donating to the auction: I’ll paint a squad of ~10 models for the winning bidder.  I’m not the best painter in the world, but I am a Golden Daemon finalist, so I think that should be worth something.  (I’m a little tempted to make a high bid for my own services: I don’t particularly enjoy painting for other people :) )

Of course, this is further motivation for me to have my army nicely and completely painted in time for the tournament, so I can point to it.  “See, I’m a good painter.  You should spend money on boobs and, in doing so, get a nicely painted squad.”  Given that the tournament is one week after my previous target date, that should be doable, but it’s a 2,000 point tournament.  So, one more week… but 150 more points.

Anyway, if you’re in the area (within driving distance of Fredericksburg, VA), you should check it out.  It should be a lot of fun, and it’s for a very good cause.  More information about the event can be found on the IFL Forum or on the Game Vault Forum.

Daemonhunters vs. Daemons

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Awesome Grey Knights art from here.

Someone on the IFL Forum made a comment about “the fact that [Daemonhunters] have anti-demon stuff that doesn’t affect the new demons is just a bit stupid.”

This appears to be a pretty common, yet significantly inaccurate belief, and it bugs the snot out of me.

So, to set the record straight, I decided to run through the codex and pick out the items that specifically refer to Daemons, as well as the things that people would think would work against Daemons (read: things that relate to Pskyers and psychic powers).

Now, I’m hardly claiming that Daemonhunters are a power army or anything, and they definitely have some things that, while still broadly useful (in a world with the new Space Wolves and new Tyranids, they’re increasingly useful), aren’t as useful against Daemons specifically.   But it’s not as dire or “stupid” as people claim.

The List

Still Useful:

  • Annointed Weapon (Wargear) – Unchanged, still works except vs. Soul Grinders by RAW
  • Daemonhammer (Wargear)- Unchanged, still works
  • Destroy Daemon (Psychic Power) – Unchanged, still works
  • Grimoire of True Names – Unchanged, still works
  • Hierophant (Henchman) – Unchanged, still works
  • Mystic (Henchman) – Unchanged, still works
  • Incinerator (Wargear) – Unchanged, still works
  • Psycannon / Psycannon Bolts (Wargear) – See Incinerator
  • Rites of Exorcism (Special Rule) – See Hierophant
  • Sacred Hull (Vehicle Wargear) – See Hierophant
  • Sacred Incense (Wargear) – Unchanged, still works
  • Sanctuary (Psychic Power) – See Incinerator
  • Scourging (Psychic Power)- See Incinerator
In summary, Daemonhunters have:
  • A number of things that make Daemons assault as if through Difficult Terrain.  This is never a bad thing and, given that most Daemons lack grenades, it’s even more effective.
  • A host of things that ignore Invulnerable Saves, which is all most Daemons have
  • Rules that weaken Daemons in combat: making them ½ Weapon Skill and/or -1 Initiative.
  • Rules that help against Daemons in combat: wounding on a 4+, granting (effectively) Preferred Enemy or providing an at-Initiative Thunderhammer.
  • Something that allows free shots at every single Daemon unit in the army as it deploys.
Clearly, Daemonhunters have a number of things going for them that are 1) intended for use against Daemons and 2) still very much useful against Daemons.

No longer Useful:

  • The Aegis (Special Rule) – Daemons don’t take psychic tests
  • Banishment (Psychic Powers) – Instability is gone
  • Blessed (Vehicle Wargear)- Daemons don’t have vehicles that have the listed attributes.
  • Culexus Assassin (Elite) – See The Aegis
  • Daemonic Infestation (Special Rule) – Simply not relevant, but this was hardly an “anti-demon” rule.
  • Null Rod (Wargear) – See The Aegis
  • Psychic Hood (Wargear) – See The Aegis
  • Ungents of Warding (Wargear) – See The Aegis

So, in other words, all of the Daemonhunters’ “anti-demon stuff” still works just fine against Daemons except:

  • Things that affect psykers and psychic powers
  • Banishment, because Daemons no longer have Daemonic Instability
  • Blessed, at least by RAW

The psychic thing is something of a legit complaint, I think.  The things that one would want to classify as “psychic powers” in the Daemons army, though, really aren’t in the same league as other armies’ psychic powers.

Pavane of Slaanesh is kind of a lot like Lash of Submission, but it’s not nearly as strong.

You’ve kinda got me on things like Bolt of Change (being the same between the Daemonic Gift and the Chaos Marine Psychic Power) and Daemonic Gaze/Doombolt (which is actually better for Daemons), but at the same time would it really be reasonable to classify 100% of an army’s shooting as psychic powers?

Blessed isn’t, by RAW, useful against Soul Grinders.  I’d feel a little dirty making that claim at the table, but at the same time… ‘Grinders are affected by all of the rules that work against Daemons.  That makes it a bit more of a wash.

So, even with the nerf to psychic defense (nothing to defend against), items that still kick daemonic butt outnumber items that are no longer useful in fighting daemons nearly 2:1.  That psychic defense stuff, while not useful against Daemons, is more important than ever against other armies.

Doom of Malantai Debate

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I’ve been strenuously avoiding the Doom of Malantai debate because I’ve yet to get through the new codex.  As far as I can tell, it’s a tough question.  Someone linked to this video, though, and it got a good laugh out of me.

Painting Progress – 20100128

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I find it interesting: the inverse relationship between how interesting this blog is vs. how much painting I’m doing, particularly given that the point of this blog was to be a place for me to post pictures of painted minis.

Of course, it doesn’t help that I haven’t been posting many pictures lately: I keep telling myself, “I’ll take some pictures, when I’m done painting X,” and, by the time I think about it again, I’ve finished X and started Y… and it becomes, “I’ll take some pictures when I’m done painting Y.”

Anyway, as predicted, the schedule slipped a bit this past week, though it it didn’t slip nearly as much as I though it would… mostly because I finished converting the Bloodcrushers (which was supposed to be done Wednesday) and ended up making extremely good progress on the Flesh Hounds while in a Battlestar Galactica-induced fugue state on Sunday.  I have no excuse not to wrap up the last four Flesh Hounds tonight, which puts me just about a day behind where I thought I’d be.

With the Flesh Hounds done, I’m in the home stretch.  All I have left are Big Models.  No more batches of infantry: just big honkin’ models.

  • 4 Bloodcrushers
  • Karanak (Avatars of War Netherhound)
  • 2 Bloodthirsters
  • 2 Soul Grinders

That’s 9 models.  1 month.  Either this will go much, much faster than I anticipate, or it’s going to be drawn-out slog.

I’m shaking up my schedule a bit; I’d originally planned to paint things in the order I’ve listed above… but I feel like knocking out the Soul Grinders first, for some reason.  I’m hoping I can blow through them in significantly less than the two weeks I’ve allotted for them.

I’ll take some pictures when I’m done with my Flesh Hounds. :)

Rapid Fire 2010 Results

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The Second Annual Rapid Fire tournament went down on Saturday at Game Vault.

Turnout was shockingly low.  We’d had nearly 20 people signed up for it and had 6 at the start of the tournament (with 2 more showing up through the day).  Some folks gave a heads-up (which is fine), but many didn’t (which is less so).  You always expect a little of that (because life happens), but the scale (> 50% of signups) of it was pretty disheartening.

Regardless, it really seemed like everyone who showed up had a good time, which means the event was a success.

Results were:
Most Battle Points: John S (Space Wolves)
Best Army: Doug McN (World Eaters)
Longest Streak: (tie) Jay P (Space Marines), Matt M (Orks)

Because we had so few people, Matt H and I played a number of ringer games to ensure that 1) everyone who’d signed up was playing and 2) that people got to play different people.  This unfortunately undercut the point of the format a bit, but nobody seemed to mind.  The person “on deck” would have had to have waited around a very unreasonable amount of time.  (To offset this, we decided that losses to the ringers wouldn’t break winning streaks, but it never came up.)

That meant I finally got to use the ringer list I built for last year’s Rapid Fire:

Tau Empire

  • Ethereal
  • Fire Warrior Honor Guard x12
  • Crisis Suit x1 – Flamer, Fusion Blaster, Multi-tracker
  • Fire Warrior Team x12
  • Kroot Carnivore Squad x20

It put up a better fight than I thought it would.

I was very excited and interested to see how the opposing scenarios would work out.

In short (because it’s detailed in the RF post), each player rolls for scenario.  Each player works towards their scenario and tries to prevent their opponent from succeeding in their scenario.  So, Player 1 could roll Seize Ground and Player 2 could roll Annihilation: Player 1 would try to hold the objectives and lose fewer KP/VP than Player 2, while Player 2 tries to kill more KP/VP than Player 1 while trying to deny them objectives.

Frustratingly, in the vast majority of games, both players rolled the same scenario.  So, there weren’t many cases of opposing scenarios… certainly not enough for me to get a feel for how good/bad an idea it is.

Similarly, the change to Annihilation (VP on a per-model basis vs. KP on a per-unit basis) didn’t come up often enough for me to get a feel for it.  I’m quite sure that it’s wildly impractical in a larger game, but at 500 points, it didn’t seem very hard to work out at all.  It also has some odd impacts on rules, like Combat Squadding or blobbing IG squads together, but I’m not sure that’s a big deal in the small, small points levels.

Despite the turnout, I had a good time and it looked like everyone else did.  It’s always a treat to get down to Game Vault, which is simply a great store.  (I wish it were closer to Manassas.)  We’ll be doing it again in 2011 (though likely with preregistration).