Look Sir...Zoids

Here's my latest edition for Papa Nurgles Boys. Model was bought already built with the nice standing up pose by Andy (Sons of War) and then I did a minor bit of green stuff, some fine sand super glued on for texture and drilled some holes before painting. Found some old water effect and did a puddle/barrel just to break up the big base a bit

Really happy with the results hardly used any washes at all cept on the flesh parts.

If I have time to come back to it I'd like to convert the lasher tendrils and use them as an ammo feed for the cannon.

Death Guard: Quick and Dirty

So with the new Chaos Dex out it's time to dust off the Death Guard (fluff wise you should probably dust of the Thousand Sons ;0).

Haven't painted any DG since before Jake was born. I can't remember the paint scheme (plus my skills have increased a bit) so time to find a new recipe.

Here's my first attempt...

Liberal coat of GW Skarsnik Green.

Dry-brush of GW Nurgling Green.

Vallejo Beige Red for the skin bits and Vallejo Oily Steel, GW Evil Sunz Scarlet

GW Agrax Earth Shade, then everything gets a highlight. Bit of Bestial Brown dry-brushing and then another Shade with Agrax.

One of the few metal minis I have left unpainted. Don't think this flamer model is available through GW atm, even in a fine cast version which is a pity.

He looks a bit minty but I'm pretty pleased with the end result so will probably use it again. I'm looking at the first squad of DG I painted and there's definitely room for improvement so maybe they will get stripped and repainted, talking of which...

I now have 7 old metal chaos war hounds that I shall be fielding as Spawn. Picked 5 up from Troll Trader and had 2 of my own. My 2 were painted OKish and the ones from TT slightly less well, so they are all having a nice bath in Detol and will get some love and attention. Might even be time to get the green stuff out again.

The Elephant in the Room

The Elephant being a messy collection of RPGs, Boardgames, Miniatures of all denominations, comics, reference books, tools, bitz etc, the room, the spare at the front of the house. No picture, I'm sure you can just look to that ever increasing collection lurking in your own house.

What to do..

Sell some stuff, cash is good and the elephant can take up some space in someone else's house..plenty to sell and the good thing is that this stuff does keep it's value on ebay. The big question here is do I sell my Imperial Guard, maybe just a part of it and repaint some of the infantry and do an airborne army?

Reorganize what I want to keep, the Chaos Codex is out this week that means getting the Death Guard back out. Nice when a codex comes around and you already have an army (including 30 zombies). Got some fixing of broken models to do and I think I'll be re-painting  at least one squad of plague marines.

Chuck some stuff out or give it away, junk collected for scenery I'm never going to use, WD's, stuff I don't want and can't sell.

Buy new stuff..thats obviously not going to help, but lets face it, it's going to happen might as well get it out the way now.
 

Lock S foils in attack position...X Wing launch

Finally after over a year of waiting (we first saw preview copies on You Tube for Gen Con 2011) I have X Wing!

Now I had previously ordered a copy of the base game from Maelstrom but when I heard it was finally out in the UK on Tuesday I got so excited I had to call Inner Sanctum Collectables (ISC) our local game store to see if they had stock.

The lady was unpacking the box as I spoke and yes she would hold me back one of each of the expansions (X-Wing, TIE Fighter, TIE Advance and Y Wing). "Did I want a copy of the base game as well?" she enquired, to which I said no I have one on order thanks.....

Of course I left ISC with a copy of the base game as well, hell you know how long it can take Maelstrom to deliver and besides we were off to Sons of War on Wednesday, what better place for a trial run.

 I won't do a detailed review here, just some quick observations. The sculpts are great and the paint job is adequate/nice enough. It's refreshing to just open the box, punch out all the counters and play without having to glue the models together and undercoat and (eventually, 3 months later) paint em. I think it's good value for money but then I still buy GW crack so YMMV, you certainly get plenty of counters and of course cards (it's FFG course there's cards of all sizes) only addition I'd make is an extra red damage and green agility dice would have been nice (you get three of each but we found quite often you need to roll 4). Course the second base game will sort that out.

So is it any good?

Well if you like Star Wars (hell what self respecting geek doesn't?) then I'd be surprised if you didn't  love this. We were doing Star Wars impressions and humming the theme tune after 5 minutes. The models and cards and nice touches like the double sided Red/Green laser blast range finder all made it feel suitably Star Wars.

It plays like Wings of War (but on speed) the fact you only plot 1 move blind at a time means less analysis paralysis and you never feel like you're all randomly swinging around the table hoping someone will fly across your guns. The rules are simple, short and slick. Pretty much everything is tracked on the table or on your ships card. About 3 turns into our first game we'd stopped looking at the rules it's that simple.

Our first game was me Luke Skywalker Vs an Obsidian Sqd. TIE Pilot and named TIE Pilot "Night Beast" (Grrr..) played by Tom. Tom managed to whip me pretty quickly and I was wondering if the 2 on 1 approach the game has was unbalanced, but then we swapped sides and Tom managed to beat me and Mick wit the X wing so I think I just had my targeting computer turned off!

in the end we played 3 games and I reckon they were all about 30 minutes but felt even faster, turns in this game are quick and there was minimal downtime.

When we meet on the 6th of Oct. plan is to break out X Wing in the evening and I reckon throw in the Squadron building rules. I'll post again then with some pictures and more thoughts on game play.

Until then, may the force be with you.... (or at least take a focus action)

Storm Raven Finished

Finally the Storm Raven is finished. Although the grey plastic first hit the gaming tables in July in terms of actual time spent on the model it was very quick and easy to build and paint up.

Game wise it's been good fun and certainly working out very well as a delivery method for the Assault Terminators and also with the Assault Cannons, Multi-Melta and Blood Strikes It's not bad at earning it's keep.

Has killed numerous Rhinos a Vindicator, put HPs on Doom Scythes and Land Raiders and seems particularly skilled at taking out Ed's Space Wolf Terminators.

Soon the battlefields will be awash with Flak Missiles but till then...keep watching the skies!

BATTLE REPORT: BLOOD ANGELS VS. DARK ANGELS

Like to introduce you all to Tom my first guest writer on the blog. Tom has kindly written up a most excellent report of our most recent table top tussle on Wednesday. ...........Take it away Tom!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was like a Space Marine training session at Sons Of War gaming club in Cambridge, as the Blood Angels took on the Dark Angels in a 1750 point match-up. Having managed to scrape past the Space Wolves the week before, it was time for my Dark Angels to face Darren's unbeaten Blood Angels list (See below).

I have been playing Dark Angels for some years now, while waiting for the new codex to come out, and have been through various lists including, of course, a number of Deathwing-heavy builds. However, having played Terminator lists for some time, I decided to take a break and opted to bring the, reassuringly expensive, 'regular' Dark Angels to the table. Some time ago we decided on a house rule among friends that those of us with older codexes (Sisters Of Battle and Dark Angels in particular) could adjust the point totals for standard-issue vehicles. Meaning, for example, that a Razorback would cost me 40 rather than 50 points. This rule was only applied to basic vehicle costs, and not to infantry units or weapon costs once a unit or vehicle had been bought. I mention this so as you understand how I came to build my list...

Dark Angels List:

Chaplain with Jump Pack, Storm Bolter, Plasma Pistol, Melta Bombs

10 Assault Marines, 2 Plasma Pistols, Sg. with Power Sword / Combat Shield

Tactical Squad 1: (Split into combat squads) - Sg. Power Fist, Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher

Las-Cannon Razorback

Tactical Squad 2: (Split into combat squads) - Sg. Power Fist, Melta Gun, Missile Launcher

Assault Cannon Razorback

Tactical Squad 3: (Split into combat squads) - Sg. Power Fist, Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher

Las-Cannon Razorback

Veteran Squad: 3 Power Sword, 1 Power Maul, 1 Power Axe (two with Storm Shields)

Rhino

Vindicator

Whirlwind

Blood Angels List:

Reclusiarch Jump Pack

10 Assault Marines Jump Packs 2 Flamers 1Pwr Fist Storm Shield

Sanguinary Priest Jump Pack Pwr Sword

5 Sanguinary Guard Banner Power Fist

4 THSS Terminators 1 Twl LC

Storm Raven

10 Assault Marines Jump Packs 2 Melta 1Pwr Axe Melta Bombs

10 Tactical Marines Multi-Melta Plasma Gun

Sanguinary Priest

5 Devastators 4 Missile Launchers

We rolled 'Crusade' and 'Dawn of War' for set-up, with three objectives on the table. I took first turn as Darren failed to seize the initiative. The board was split down the centre with Darren's forces occupying three large buildings while my forces were deployed in a series of steep, rocky hills. With two of the three objectives on my side of the table it was going to be a case of weathering the storm with my combat squads as the Blood Angels looked to get among my small combat squaded troops with his hard-hitting units.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I pushed the Vindicator forwards with the veterans alongside in their rhino to try and eat up the ground between our forces as the Whirlwind began to fire on the opposite flank. The Razorbacks disgorged their troops and pushed forward to create some choke points among the hills. Meanwhile my Assault marines (plus Chaplain) began to jump-pack forward, hoping to get amongst Darren's tactical squad and  devastators. However, their targets were reduced as the Vindicator took down four out of five of the Blood Angels devastators, while the Las and Assault cannons opened up from the top of the Razorbacks, bringing down a number of Assault Marines from Darren's Reclusiarch-assisted unit. The casualties included the Sanguinary Priest - giving me first blood.

It was a good turn of shooting but, with most of my marines out of range for their bolters or line of sight, it was time for Darren to respond. As expected the Blood Angels pushed forward. However, due to the loss of the devastators, a lack of range, and some unlucky dice, a pretty ineffectual round of shooting left me with no casualties.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Creating some space by moving my Razorbacks to the side as my bolter marines shuffled their positions, I managed to create some lanes of fire, taking a few more casualties from the oncoming Assault units. The Vindicator continued to do its job by dropping a demolisher shell on the Blood Angels tactical squad, depleting their numbers, while the Whirlwind continued to drop its own barrage on the advancing enemy. However, I knew I was just biding my time for the arrival of the Storm-Raven and Darren's Terminators.

As expected, the Storm Raven made its arrival, unleashing a volley of fire that immobilised my Rhino, leaving the veterans with the choice of staying put to repair the damaged vehicle or getting out and continuing on foot. Meanwhile, the first Blood Angels assault unit closed with the Dark Angels, attacking the first combat squad they came across. However, having taken quite a few casualties from shooting, their attack was blunted, giving me time to adjust to their arrival in my lines, as the remains of my squad fell back from combat.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My veterans decided to leave the stricken Rhino behind and began to make their way forward on foot as, assisted by my own Assault marines, they engaged the Blood Angels tactical squad in close combat after a little more softening up, courtesy of the Vindicator. With the Storm Raven on the table, the Las-cannon Razorbacks switched targets - delivering a glancing hit with a re-rolled shot. Meanwhile, my marines opened fire with their bolters on the advancing Blood Angels, further weakening the advancing units, and finally taking down the Reclusiarch and his unit (Slay The Warlord).

Despite my best efforts, the Blood Angels tactical squad survived the assault on them, dealing some damage in return as their numbers were bolstered by the Terminators and Sanguinary Guard. This was going to hurt. Elsewhere, the remaining Blood Angels devastator continued to shoot from his position in the ruins, taking out my Assault cannon Razorback, while the remnants of the second unit of Darren's assault marines fought to take an objective by attacking a Dark Angels combat squad. Meanwhile, the Storm Raven opened up with everything it had to destroy the Vindicator several times over! At this pont I held one objective, with one contested. The combined might of the Terminators and Sanguinary Guard began to make light wor of my own assault unit, chaplain and veterans as their high armour save made them very hard to hurt. Things were heating up!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This turn was all about close combat as the Blood Angels and the Dark Angels struggled to force the upper hand in the centre of the table. The Dark Angels assault marines were all killed, as their Chaplain, despite his best efforts, also fell to the Blood Angels onslaught (Slay The Warlord). The Dark Angels veterans were beaten down to just three remaining as they fell back from the combat, leaving the Terminators untouched and the Sanguinary guard also looking very healthy. Elsewhere, the remaining Blood Angels assault unit continued to struggle against one remaining bolter marine and a power-fist sargeant for an objective. The second objective was being held by five Dark Angels marines with a couple of other combat squads loitering nearby while the third objective was, by this point, out of the game.  With all the close combat leaving very few options for shooting, the Dark Angels got lucky and took down the Storm Raven with a Las-Cannon shot, while also taking the opportunity to finally kill the remaining Blood Angels devastator.

At the end of the turn, things were finely poised as the Blood Angles sought to wipe the Dark Angels from the two objectives, while my remaining combat squads fought to slow the advance.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The final turn saw the Terminators make short work of a combat squad of Dark Angels tactical marines (although they did lose their Lightning Claw to a lucky close assault hit). This took me down to just a single objective. Elsewhere, the Dark Angels veterans jumped into one of the remaining Razorbacks and sped off towards the Blood Angel deployment zone to force a Line-Breaker victory point, ending just a handful of inches out of range. The second Blood Angels assault squad finally fell, after the Dark Angels added a further five men to the assault, leaving the final objective in my hands (for now). Meanwhile I shot at the final Blood Angels tactical squad, leaving just the accompanying Sanguinary Priest standing, and Darren with no troops left to take objectives.

Darren's final turn saw the game finely balanced, with five victory points for the Dark Angels (Slay The Warlord, First Blood, plus three points for an objective) vs. two for the Blood Angels (Slay The Warlord, Line-Breaker). With the remains of two Dark Angels combat squads on the objective, the Blood Angels needed to get into assault to contest and draw the game. However, a poor assault move roll left the Sanguinary Guard too far away, and the final tally 5-2 to the Dark Angels. My brother was onhand to roll for game end, and it was all over at the end of the turn (I'll give im that £5 later!).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was a great game that balanced on a knife edge at the end, with the Blood Angels just not quite able to get past the combat squads fast enough to secure the objectives. I was certainly helped by some good shooting early on, and things would certainly have been different had the Blood Angels Terminators and Sanguinary Guard got into my back-line earlier. Overall, it was fun to leave the Deathwing at home and play with a less-obvious list for a change and, with my whirlwind and two out of three Razorbacks still operational at the end, it just goes to show that vehicles and MSU may not be such a thing of the past as some say...

- Tom

  

Blood Angels Vs Vanilla Marines 1750

I had a top game against James at Sons of War tonight, really nice bloke, recommend getting a game in with him if you get the chance. He plays very similarly to us, takes models because he likes them but still tries to put a competitive list together.

Pretty much all my units contributed to the KP total so really happy with the list, same list that beat Ed and Mick (see previous bat rep vs Crons). Dev's killed a Rhino and obliterated opposing Devs with 22 Frag hits, Tacs finished off  the Land Raider and Sternguard, Storm Raven put another HP on the Land Raider, killed 3 scouts and dropped off the Assault Terminators who did a number on Scouts, Tellion and Libby, Assault Marines Sang. Priest and Reclusiarch went through 2 tactical squads, put a HP on the Land Raider and were in assault with the Techmarine when we called it turn 5.

Beat him 10KP to 2 with some great armor/fnp saves and bounding assaults. I had lost a fair amount of stuff but he couldn't manage to finish off my units.  He also had a very poor 2nd turn of shooting which allowed me to ride my luck and kept my assault marines in the fight. If he'd had a better turn then he could have reaped 5 KP from my Reclusiarh (+slay the warlord) Assault marine squad, Sanguinary Priest and First Blood. I managed to pick up all 3 Secondary objectives which helped make the score look so uneven.

Things I learnt; Divination has some great powers, James used his Epistolary well giving rerolls to hit and 4+ inv saves. Also 10 Sternguard with 2 attacks a piece and the inv save are a tough nut to crack, they managed to kill my Sanguinary guard, although I managed to whittle them enough to take them out of contention.

Stay on target....

Or actually swerve off target from 6th Edition 40K into Fantasy Flight Games new X-Wing miniature game.

It's basically Wings of War with X Wings and Tie Fighters, what's not to love?

I have put a pre order in with Maelstrom for the starter set, but I'm sure I will soon be adding all the expansion ships as well if it plays OK.

Prices are nice £25.19 for the 3 fighter starter and £10.79 for the single fighter expansion packs seems reasonable if the quality is as good as they look on the website. Not going to need a lot of minis per player...

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=174&enmi=X-Wing

Necrons Vs Blood Angels 1750

Micks List
Vargard Obyron
5 Pretorion Guard
Night Scythe
4 Scarab bases
Canoptek Spider
4 Canoptek Wraiths (pistols and whips)
15 Necron Warriors
5 Imortals Gaus Blasters
5 Imortals Gaus Blasters
5 Imortals Tesla Carbines
5 Imortals Tesla Carbines
Ctan Shard
Anhilation Barge

The Vargard, Wraiths, Ctan, Pretorians, Spider and Scarabs this has some hth punch!

Ds List
Reclusiarch Jump Pack
10 Assault Marines Jump Packs 2 Flamers 1Pwr Fist Storm Shield
Sanguinary Priest Jump Pack Pwr Sword

5 Sanguinary Guard Banner Power Fist

4 THSS Terminators 1 Twl LC
Storm Raven

10 Assault Marines Jump Packs 2 Melta 1Pwr Sword Melta Bombs

10 Tactical Marines Multi-Melta Plasma Gun
Sanguinary Priest

5 Devastators 4 Missile Launchers


Mission was Crusade with 3x (3VP) Objectives, I won deployment, Mick won first turn and deployed first.

 Micks right flank, loaded with the Wraiths and Ctan opposite the objective in my deployment zone.

Center of Micks battle line. The Vargard or Sir not appearing in this battle is centrally placed in the temple with his guard. Note the "Cryptek" objecive on the third floor.

Left flank 2 5 man imortal squads guard the objective in Micks deployment zone.

I set up everything on the right side of the table, plan was to stay out the way of the Ctan and Wraiths at the start of the game and overwhelm the Necron objective  on my left. Then roll up his battle line,

 Necron turn 2, the death ray slices through the lead assault unit and the tac squad behind. Good positioning, armour and FnP saves minimise BA casualties through the first two turns. The lead assault squad is charged by the scarabs but the Chaplain with his Crozius insta-killing 4 bases and the rest of the squad manage to wipe them out although it takes 2 rounds.

 View from the right flank, note the Sanguinary guard on the building top right. Banner bearer dies from a failed dangerous terrain test.

 BA turn 2, in the back ground you can see the assault squad has cleared the onjective. The Storm Raven managed to remove the death ray from the night scythe and stop it from turning on its go forcing it to go into reserves. Also took First Blood VP.

Using the sky fire objective marker in the centre the anhiliation barge puts 2 penetrating and 3 glancing hits on the Storm Raven. Boom! Wreckage falls from the sky and the Terminators each take a STR10 AP1 hit, and all pass invulnerable saves.

 BA turn 3. the Terminators charge and obliterate the Ctan for the loss of 1 model!!!

 The Chaplain leads his squad to destroy the annihilation barge which hadn't moved.

After this the Chaplain, squad and Terminators went on to kill the wraiths (who had eaten my Devs) and then   the Canoptek Spider, they were real workhorses. The other assault squad and Sanguinary guard kill off the large Necron warrior unit and 3 Immortal squad.

 End of game (Turn 5), Tacs hold objective and Line Breaker VP

 Lone Assault Marine holds center objective

Necrons hold 1 objective and line breaker.

Final score BA 8VP Vs. Necrons 4VP

Storm Raven pics

She's not much to look at yet, but progress nonetheless. Metals next then probably a final coat of red and details.

Quick update, Hobby Love..

Spent a fair part of my lunch break trying to get to grips with the KR Multicase site yesterday (eurgh it's horribly difficult), looks like if I want a double back pack with two new cases and custom trays then it's going to set me back the best part of £100. That is going on the back burner till I get paid next month. Already spent far too much what with the new 6th edition rule book and Storm Raven....

Which leads nicely into an update on Storm Raven progress and the  hobby love. The best investment this month has been a GW tank brush and the new Evil Sunz Scarlet paint (or whatever its called that replaced Blood Red). The big flat brush is perfect for vehicles and the new red paint coats brilliantly. I had already done a base coat of Mechrite red (the old foundation paint) and Blood Red with the tank brush but was amazed at how well the Evil Sunz Scarlet took to the model. The second coat was done in under 10 minutes. Pics are coming I promise!

It's Wednesday so Sons of War tonight and a rematch with Tom. I will be taking the same list I beat him with last week, as my Raven Bike list is still on the bench and I don't have an effective solution for transporting it yet. I believe Tom will be bringing Death Wing with a couple of bikes thrown in.

Will do a bat rep tomorrow.

Have minis, will travel or the Sons of War Club and Storage

I play every week (well most weeks) at the Sons of War (SOW) club in Cambridge http://www.sonsofwar.org.uk. I used to just play with a group of mates round each others houses but since most of us have kids now and it's harder almost impossible to schedule games at weekends it's much easier to show up at the club on Wednesday and know that we can all get a game in (they have 7 tables out). Plus they are a nice bunch of chaps down the club and it's nice to play lose against new people. Anyway my method of getting about Cambridge is a bike and I take my stuff into work so I can go straight to SOW afterwards. The addition of a Storm Raven means I'm not going to be able to fit a 1750 list into a single GW case any more so the hunt is on for a new system of transport. I'm off to tackle the confusing KR multicase site, wish me luck.

Blood Angels Raven Wheels 1750

The plan for this blog is to write a list, model it, paint it, play it and blog on each step.


I recently bought a Storm Raven and having trotted it out in some trial 1000pt games with some Haminators it was real fun so that's going in, plus lets bung in Corbulo for a laugh. With Corbulos 2+fnp and wound allocation antics in 6th they should hopefully be bloody difficult to get rid of.


OK an HQ. Flying in the face of all sane interwebs advice I have bunged in a Captain on bike. Yeah, yeah I know I could do better for the points. I normally run a Libby with Jump Pack but he gets beaten up a lot, the lack of an invulnerable save and only 2 wounds leaves him very vulnerable and thats a VP loser in 6th with the new secondary objectives. The Captain is T5 and has a 3+/4+ so hopefully will stick around longer and with his power sword with 5 I5 Str 5* attacks on the charge can beat up chumps (anything harder wil face the ire of Corbulo and the Haminators). 


Plus he fits the theme...bikes 


Next up lets add in the bikes; 2 squads of 5 Bikes + Attack Bike. The first squad ride with the Captain and have 2 flamers (by now you should have realised this blog is not going to be a contender with "Yes the Truth Hurts" ;0), the Sgt is rocking a power fist and lets tag on a MM AB. Their role is to ride up (pop a vehicle on the way if possible) flame on and get an assault in. A Sanguinary Priest on a bike with a Lightning Claw provides a fnp/*furious charge bubble and gives them a bit more punch.


2nd Bike squad has a supporting fire role with 2 PG (hanging in the fnp bubble), AB with MM and naked Sgt with Melta Bombs (with the Armour Bane buff Melta Bombs got in 6th they seem like a no brainer for 5pts).


Behind the bikes come the 2 Assault Squads, 1 squad with flamers and Power Fist the other with Melta's. Can I keep these in the fnp bubble as well?


Finally there is a squad of scouts for camping out on an objective or perhaps infiltrating into the opponents deployment zone for a line breaker VP.


Options, perhaps break the attack bikes off into their own squad for tank hunting?


Summary

Heavy Support: Stormraven Gunship 
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad 4XTHSS 1XLC
Elite: 1 Brother Corbulo
HQ: Captain, Melta Bombs, Power Sword Space Marine Bike
Elite: 1 Sanguinary Priest, Space Marine Bike, Lightning Claw
Fast Attack: Bike Squad 4 Bikes, Plasmagun x2, 1 Attack Bike, Multi-Melta,1 Sergeant Melta Bombs
Fast Attack: Bike Squad 4 Bikes, Flamer x2, 1 Attack Bike, Multi-Melta, 1 Sergeant, Power Fist 
Troops: Assault Squad , Meltagun x2, 1 Sergeant, Melta Bombs
Troops: Assault Squad, Flamer x2,1 Sergeant,  Melta Bombs , Power Fist
Troops: Scout Squad Sniper Rifles

Welcome to the Arena

Welcome to the Amoeba Arena of Death. A somewhat haphazard record of a man's OCD with miniature war gaming.