I’d actually have skipped doing this today, since these Wolf Rats are so close to being done (another wash on the armor and drybrushing on the base) I could just as easily post some finished pictures… but I missed last week, and I really like this as a way to keep up with things here.
Anyway, they’re almost there; should be done and ready for varnish before I turn in tonight!
I should be building Dark Angels lists, but instead I’m painting Wolf Rats. Not that I’m complaining. Skaven make me happy.
Anyway: I paint my Skaven thusly:
(Or, I would use GW Bronzed Flesh if it hadn’t been discontinued, like half a decade ago. It’s cool, though: VMC’s Dark Flesh is a solid substitute that actually handles better than the GW version. It also looks like Ungor Flesh might be a good replacement; I’m planning to check it out when I run out of the VMC stuff.)
It’s not the only one, though: the other paints are gone now, though, too. Doombull Brown is a solid Dark Flesh substitute and Agrax Earthshade (as everyone knows by now) is different but close enough for Devlan Mud.
Kislev Flesh is supposed to fill in for Elf Flesh. And, for peopleflesh it’s actually totally delivered. For ratflesh, though: ugh it’s totally failing me. It’s darker than the color it’s supposed to be highlighting! Jeez!
Good thing I still have a pot of Elf Flesh; certainly enough to get me through this job. I’m going to have to track down the VMC/VGC/P3 stand-in, though.
The Brood Horror remains untouched from last week; unsurprising since I’d been focused on painting Ork Boyz.
I’ve started assembling some Wolf Rats: they’ll be done as soon as I get some hot water to reshape their tails (currently unnaturally straight) and attach them.
Also, I finished varninshing the movement trays I made way back when. They went over really well at the tournament over the weekend, so I hit them with some paint.
I wrapped these guys up just in time for the tournament last weekend. Just got around to photographing them.
Behold, the photodump!
Saturday, Ashley ran a “Hammer in the New Year” 40K tournament. Three rounds, using a format Casey‘d been wanting to try for a while now. I had a great time, didn’t do so well, but ended up scoring better than I’d have expected.
I’m super-rusty with 40K, having not really done much with 6E in general, recently, or competitively. Furthermore, the list I brought was driven entirely by expediency.
Here’s what I ran:
HQ
Bloodthirster – Blessings of the Blood God, Warlord (Command)
Bloodthirster – Blessings of the Blood GodElite
Flamers x4Troops
Blood Horrors x8 – Changeling
Blood Horrors x8Heavy Support
Daemon Prince – Tzeentch, Flight, Daemonic Gaze
Daemon Prince – Tzeentch, Flight, Daemonic Gaze
Daemon Prince – Tzeentch, Flight, Daemonic GazeDesperate Allies
Big Mek – ‘Eavy Armor, Ammo Runt, Kustom Force Field, Burna
Boyz x21 – Shootas, Stikkbombs, Big Shoota x2, Nob w/ ‘Eavy Armor, Bosspole, Power Klaw
So, two things should leap out with this list: there’s kind of a dickish amount of Flying Monstrous Creatures in there and those Ork Boyz WTF?
Obviously, I’ve been working on Orks, so that’s what I want to put on the table. The Orks I put on the table are basically all the painted Orks I have, so I can’t run (if I want to be fully painted, and I do). So, I decided to run my Daemons and throw the Orks in as Desperate Allies. They’re little better than wasted points; forget being non-scoring, non-denying models: allied with Daemons, they’re the only thing on the table at the beginning of the game. They basically suck up an army’s worth of shooting immediately.
All the Flying Monstrous Creatures were in there ’cause I wanted to see how they worked. I played in an Apocalypse game with them, and that wasn’t the best venue to see how they worked. I can totally see how they look intimidating, but I’m not convinced that they’re the best choice. I think I’d have been better off taking the Daemon Princes without Daemonic Flight and enjoying an additional 180 points.
Also, if it’s a legitimately dick thing to do, I think the utterly poor decision to run 300 points of useless greenskins counteracts it. :)
My MVPs for the day were easily the Flamers. I definitely need to make some more.
Anyway, each round had a different deployment, and was scored thusly:
Scoring a Kill Point: 1 point each
Capturing a Quarter Objective: 2 points each
Capturing the Center Objective: 3 points
First Blood: 1 point
Slay the Warlord: 1 point
Linebreaker: 1 pointGame Points are used to determine your Battle Points.
If you have…
…half as many Game Points as opponent or less: 0 Battle Points
…3 fewer points than opponent: 2 points
…1 or 2 fewer points than opponent: 3 points
…tied opponent in points: 5 points
…1 or 2 more points than opponent: 7 points
…3 or more points than opponent: 8 points
…double or more points than opponent: 10 points
The person with the most Battle Points wins the game. Game Points will be used for tie-breaking purposes.
The Center Objective will be a Mysterious Objective, all the others will be normal. The Night Fighting special rule will be in effect for all rounds.
was vs. Kevin F, someone I used to see a lot of around the gaming store back when I first started playing 40K, fell off the Earth a few years ago, and started turning up just as I fell off the Earth. I’d actually been trying to schedule a game with him, so it was nice to start the day out playing him.
It was also the closest game I had over the day.
HQ
Overlord – Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Sempiternal Weave, Command BargeTroops
Immortals x10 – Transmorgrification Cryptek
Immortals x10 – Transmorgrification Cryptek
Warriors x9 – Despair Cryptek, Ghost Ark
Warriors x12 – Destruction Cryptek
Warriors x9 – Storm Cryptek, Night ScytheFast Attack
Canoptek Scarabs x5Heavy Support
Canoptek Spyders x3
Monolith
Stuff came in, he shot at it. He focused on trying to ground something, then vomit fire into it until it stopped twitching. This was also the only game the Ork Boyz saw the end of Turn 2.
We only got through Turn 3. I’m not sure why we didn’t have nearly enough time; although we weren’t playing quickly, we certainly weren’t playing slowly.
At the end of Turn 3, I’d gotten some stuff into combat and killed a few things, he’d obviously shot some things to bits. I ended up losing by a couple of points.
was vs. Aramis, a solid dude from the old gaming club that I haven’t played often though I’ve always enjoyed playing against him.
HQ
Duke Sliscus – Warlord
Baron SathonyxTroops
Kabalite Warriors x20 – Splinter Cannon x2
Wyches x5 – Haywire Grenades, Venom
Wyches x5 – Haywire Grenades, Venom
Wyches x5 – Haywire Grenades, VenomFast Attack
Beastmasters x3 – Khymerae x5, Razorwing Flocks x4
Beastmasters x3 – Khymerae x5, Razorwing Flocks x4Heavy Support
Ravager – Flickerfield
Ravager – Flickerfield
Ravager – FlickerfieldFortification
Aegis Defence Line – Quad-gunBattle Brothers
Farseer – Guide, Mindwar, Runes of Warding
Guardians x10 – Shuriken Cannon
You can imagine how overwhelming this army looked: twice the bodies I had, not counting all the vehicles… and that quad-gun did a nice job of countering my flyers.
By the end of Turn 3, I’d killed nothing and had nothing left save 8 lonely Blood Horrors hanging out, ready to get jumped on by two Beastmaster Packs. We shook hands and called it: 0 points to 24. Ouch.
Still, I enjoyed myself, and that’s what really matters.
was against Joe, who’s part of a group of players that have started turning up at the store over the past six months or so.
HQ
Chaos Lord – Bike, Sigil of Corruption, Melta Bombs, Gift of Mutation, The Black Mace, Warlord
Sorcerer – Terminator Armor, Lvl 3, Spell Familiar, Burning Brand of SkalathraxElite
Terminators x10 – Power Axe x5, Power Maul x4, Power Fist x1Troops
Chaos Space Marines x10 – Meltagun x2, Veterans of the Long War, Power Maul, Rhino
Chaos Cultists x20 – Autoguns
Chaos Cultists x20 – AutogunsFast Attack
Chaos Bikers x6 – Meltaguns x2, Power Fist x1Heavy Support
Forgefiend – Extra Ectoplasma Cannon
Forgefiend – Extra Ectoplasma Cannon
To be honest, I went into this expecting a not-great game. It was super-clear coming off the game with Aramis that my list was bad, Joe had what looked to be some pretty hard units, and he had a friend hanging around the table who I’d just seen kibitz my friend Bart’s 2nd Round Game into a loss (which really kind of pissed me off). Having folks hang around to chat is cool: having to play two people at once is not cool. Correcting people on rules is okay: reminding your bro to use such and such psychic powers is not okay.
Fortunately, the chatty cathy wasn’t too bad, so that concern proved to be unfounded, and Joe was a fun opponent. And while his tough units were tough, mine managed to hold their own, too, which never hurts.
Champion of Chaos really worked against him: his Terminators charged into my Bloodthirster… and had to challenge. Although a Bloodthirster is probably going to have a tough time with eleven Terminators, one is actually pretty manageable. His terminators ended up spending the game tied up with one Bloodthirster or the other. Ultimately, the second Bloodthirster bopped the Sorcerer on the head, the Terminators had a crap Morale roll, and (unsuccessfully) ran for it. That was pretty game-changing.
Where I’d been tabled in Game 2, I’d managed to do the tabling in Game 3, which was really surprising to me.
Ultimately, the surprising turn of events in the third game helped offset the rolling I got in the second. Between that and a really great painting score (second highest) managed to put me in sixth overall.
I’d have done much better, I think, if I’d just run my regular old Daemon list. Much lighter in the FMC department but I’d have had a lot more models on the table. Plus, I wouldn’t have wasted points on the Orks. But I don’t regret it; I wanted to run the Orks, so I ran the Orks.
The format worked well, I think. Everything (from the Secondary Objectives to Kill Points to Objectives) mattered, which is nice. I get that KP in 5E didn’t work perfectly, but dang it: there’s got to be some drawback to running MSU, and this seemed to do an okay job of making it work. I definitely would like to see more of the format.
Again, overall, I had a great time and it really motivates me to want to get out and play some more.
A couple of non-local friends were in town before New Year’s Eve and were looking for some gaming, so I offered to run a one-shot. I’d wanted to give LotFP a shot; so LotFP it was.
That’s 11 Ork Boyz and a Big Mek that I need to have done in time for Saturday’s 40K tournament. Also, the Brood Horror I started on a while back that I’d like to have done in time for February’s WHFB tournament (only so I can bellyache to Ben J. about restricting Storm of Magic choices to Scrolls of Binding found in the Storm of Magic book; I won’t be able to run it).
I didn’t paint or build much, but what I did do I’m super-happy with (Warpfire Throwers, the Demigryph).
It’s pretty tough to look at that and feel good about it. I suppose remembering that December-January was an abnormally productive time for me takes the sting out a little bit, but dang.
Somewhere along the way in early 2012: I fell off of logging my games. I find this interesting, because the only place I see my hobby tracker sheet get used is on Bill’s blog, and it looks to be where he gets the most use out of it. Significantly, no data means no chart.
Even putting aside the dead months of October and December, I’ve been less active on the blog overall. So, if you’re reading this, thanks for sticking around!
Comparatively, though, traffic’s a little down (14% overall). I’m too lazy to check, but I expect that if I were to remove all of the YTTH drama traffic from last year, though, it’s probably more or less unchanged. Given how little I posted this year, I’m delighted to call “more or less unchanged” a Win.
I’d done a couple of Kickstarters before (one in 2010, one in 2011) but like many 2012 was the year of crowdfunding. There’s a lot to be said on the phenomenon: but other people will probably say it more cogently and this thing’s gonna run long, so I won’t. I’ll just touch on my experiences with it over 2012. (I’ll include IndieGoGo campaigns in my reckonings, too.)
Then, I got more specific:
I’m going to keep the general goals:
And for specific goals: