First game graces the board

So the games have begun. :) Two games played on the asphalt side despite still being flat black, we weren't picky, it's all about the surface feeling/looking right. The dice rolled just as well as any other color and the sand didn't come up/off.

 

1000 point game in 4x4 mode

And put a few picts up from the Remembrancers. (Remembrancers being the in game "fluff" term for historic recorders/journalists) One win for the Imperialists, and another for the xenos. :)

 

Well, last warrior unit of THY-26062 is about to be recycled

The Emperor can only do so much once you're this close to a Wraith

I was on schedule for this weekend on the gray layer, washing however my white acrylics are so old that they went granular and dry. No amount of thinner or water changed the clumps into paint. So new white is on the shopping list, and am getting a nice burnt umber to give a shot to the flock siding and see how that goes. 

The flip side of the board will be flocking and static grass, sealed with PVA and water. Hopefully this will work, you'll know as soon as I do as I'll post up the results soon as they're done.

Special thanks to theFreeBootaz who've been helping out with tips and tricks towards getting this board done. Some of the big ones; Paint both sides of the board or over time it'll warp, Seal your painted surfaces or you'll have mishaps, and finally some excellent formulas on paint mixes... For those mixes you'll have to subscribe though. :)

Urban terrain board - Base painting

The terrain board is now in it's next step of painting the base coat. One jar of black  acrylic paint, a little water and some play sand got me a nice deep base coat with some solid asphalt texture.

Here's some key things I learned;
First - never use a good house painting brush your wife just gets mad, and mad wives are no fun.
Second - Get a smaller brush than you think you need, sure the 5" brush will cover a lot of space faster, it just won't do it necessarily better. By having a smaller brush you're able to make the texture less patterned.
Third - Add water to the acrylic. Seriously, thin it a little more than you think you need to because once you add that sand in (slowly!) you're going to make a painting mud. Keep stirring before each and every application of paint.
Fourth - Don't paint, stipple. Gently dip the brush into the mix, make a glob on the board and stipple it out spreading it. Not only does this minimize patterning it eliminates brush strokes, something that the sand in the bristles will accentuate.
Fifth - Have fun! Don't stress about how perfect or not this is going to be, it's just a base layer for all the cool stuff to come. Enjoy the process!

Next up on the project will be drybrushing grey down heavily, then making a black wash. Lines will then be made using a marker/pencil then dry brushing of a deep warm brown (reddish hues) will be laid down over the lines, then a cool brown (bluish hues) will provide highlights.Again another healthy layer of black wash, thinned out further still.

After that pegs to hold it together, then the terrain to put on top. 

Stipple, not brushing. Stippling was done upper right, brushing elsewhere.

The very wet result. As of this morning it's completely matte and rock hard.

Remember, you need a place to actually let it all dry. This worked very well and was dry overnight.

Back again! Terrain board in progress

Hey all,

Just posting this more as a log entry than anything and to go back over what I did to date. That said, I'm planning on making an urban style board, and putting pieces of standalone terrain on the board once completed.

So the issue I had is that I have a small house and no way to store a board. That said I also wanted something that was modular and can be easily stowed away while offering multiple options for terrain playability. It also had to fit on an ikea table that wasn't 4x6, so the segments needed to interlink somehow. What I decided on was 2' by 2' 3/4" underlayment plywood. MDF was not chosen due to weight and cost.

So, I had the plywood sheet ripped into 2'x2' squares, took six of them and have marked off three locations per tile. These will be pre-drilled then outfitted with wooden dowels which will act as pegs for stabilizing the board. With the remaining two tiles I plan on cutting, gluing and otherwise causing all manner of engineering to make two dice boxes/miniature staging zones for the players.

I'll likely be using some "basics" acrylic paints and some sand to make the base coat on each tile, adding lines, cracks and other elements right onto the plywood, adding features with poly/Styrofoam and gluing them on.

Looking forward to sharing the process as I continue tonight and through the winter.

Board squared

Marked for the drill

Digital from GW - now the dwarf sees the pixels

So, I'm a huge fan of digital versions of many things, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, NY Times especially. My white dwarf though?

I will definitely pick at least one up and one print copy. Our hobby is so hands on that it is hard to justify our mag going digital. You want to have it in hand or do you?

In favor; after now settling into the house, space is most certainly at a premium, the ability to zoom in on 'eavy metal paint jobs, see that I'm not the only one to screw up the stalker chariot rail (go look, it's askew, even in white dwarf or on the Web) so being able to see that in digital is great.

On the flip side reading on a back lit screen sucks, for photos it's great just written word is a strain, especially for s tech professional who stares at a backlit screen all day. Not stopping into the game store is a bad thing, those mom and pop stores help the community, one that's tends to be holed in I've met some fine people just hanging at the store. Finally the cost, what happens when I have an old enough iPad, now there's a big outlay to keep using the digital, could I see a PC our Android version please?

So, I'm mixed, what do you think? Will you go digital always, sometimes or never?

The final countdown, and what I do when I can't hobby

Remember that song!? No, well that's ok, neither do I, so let me bless you with this ballad of power.

Amply blessed? Good :)

So we're almost in our new place with a closing date set and all ready to rock!

While I wait and since everything is in storage I've been reading a lot about WH40k, the excitement for the new Chaos Space Marine rumors and playing World of Tanks, Terraria and Team Fortress 2.

I realize as I play these games that all three have similar elements to Warhammer. Yes, not only are they all games, they're all tactical, strategic and progressive.

World of Tanks is about 60% tactics, 30% strategy and 10% progressive. You're in an arcade environment, with a team that may or may not be useful and keep building experience to buy better and better tanks. You've got an over head view, and a basic in tank view. It's no first person shooter yet sometimes it can feel that way. It takes a lot of game play to build up your garage, or as they say "depot." It never feels like a grind though. When you get home from work and just want to blow stuff up, it hits the spot. Quick skirmishes last around 15 minutes, often less and will have you hooked on getting the next round a bit better. Being good at world of tanks requires being clever, using cover of hills and buildings and generally realizing you're not invincible no matter what you're driving. Plan for about an hour to an hour and a half to get your fill. What makes it more addictive is that at any stage you're either wanting to try the new gun/tracks/engine etc on your tank, or you're just that much closer to your next research to get your next tank part or even the next tank. Just three more lost games or one win and you're there. So, you queue up and try for just one more win... It's good fun. Oh, did I mention it's free to play? Purchases can be made that'll speed things up, and the dollar to fun value is very good. Go take a look at their site: World of Tanks

Team Fortress 2 is about the same, 60% tactics, 30% strategy and 10% progression. In this case, it's all first person shooter skills to the nth degree. Be ready for the little kids to be playing, however as the night gets long the college crowd comes on, and they're very, very good. What makes you good in TF2? Not "pwning noobs", instead team play is rewarded through clever map layout and solid balance between player classes. This makes for a rewarding game play, however if you had a bad day at work you may want to pass until tomorrow's game session. Game times are widely varied, from five minute rounds all the way up to an hour or longer, so plan a good two hours to get a good run of it. In terms of progression you're a the mercy of achievements, random "drops" and a robust trading system with other players. So, keep an eye on "player found" messages and see if they're interested in trading one item for another you don't use. This is yet another free to play game which is terrific news for those who can crack walnuts betwixt cheeks. Team Fortress comes from Steam: Steam Powered

Finally Terraria. This one is about 20% tactics, 20% strategy and 60% progression. This is an old school side scroller with completely random worlds, and it does what it does very well. You're going to be often most solo in this world and if you wish a multiplayer level can be made and played in. Regardless solo play shines. This has been the competition to Minecraft, "with bosses." Moving forward in this game requires finding better and better building materials to then summon and beat progressively difficult monsters. The bosses get bigger, badder and faster almost too quickly. There's never a time where you can blame the game, if you can't beat something you'll need to visit the wiki figure out what to build next and try again, suddenly making the fight easy. Some say this is poor balance, to me it's about strategic setup of the terrain in the world (which you have full control of) and getting the boss into a place where you can control the fight. For this reason you can work on the game for five minutes or an entire weekend and still need even more time. It's truly a time sink. At the end of doing all this work however you feel a great sense of accomplishment going from barely surviving a rabbit attack to taking on huge bosses that take up the whole screen. In general, old school fun. This one has a slight price of entry, and definitely worth it. Again, this can be gotten from Steam:  Steam Powered

So that's what I'm up to when not hobbying, go take a look at those games, you may have some fun killing time if you can't get to your hobby or as a break when that wash didn't go on right... again... or when those pesky necron warriors won't assemble properly. We've all been there, getting up and taking a break is good medicine.

Have fun!
Twyg

Flayed ones, scarabs and IG

So there I was at the club, chillin' ready to just hang out, and an opportunity to game shows itself. I didn't think I'd be able to play for a few months, so let's have at!

In this case, 2,000 points, against James, our local club IG player, ready to test out his list for an upcoming tournament hosted by our very own club. (Get your tix here: http://www.battleforsalvation.com/registration-2/) That price gets you multiple days of gaming, so be sure to read about the event.

Plug aside, there was some play testing of scenarios going on, I can't say much so that the surprise isn't ruined, what I can say is that you will be challenged in terms of deployment, and tie-breaking is awesome. Tie-breaking will have a large impact as to whether or not you walk away with just a tie or a win. It's exciting for a relatively new war gamer to walk into what we worry being a meat grinder to know that you just might make it out on top and do so legitimately without requiring tabling the competition. Ok, can't say more or I'll say too much...

What I learned last night, is if you're looking for an army that's able to drop units to below half strength and generally stop/block/tarpit armor lines then Necrons rock. The Gauss on the vehicles does a lot of damage as it did before in fifth, and tesla is excellent at ripping into the poor squishy IG that are standing in the crater of their former Chimera. Certainly the shooting ability of the stalker came into play with the points spent on the Twin-linked Heavy Gauss Cannon (36" is awesome,) and my monolith survived to terrorize some player again another day. On a whim/efficiency kick I swapped the Wraiths for Flayed Ones. I can hear the haters now;

Y U choose Flayed Ones!?

To anyone who hates em, I must say, because they're cheap. Yes, scarabs are cheap, and you get more, however at strength 3, toughness 3 you stand to lose those 3 wounds pretty fast, especially in the face of flamers, and/or strength 6 weapons. Agreed, scarabs are fast, however Obyron with his Ghostwalk Mantle and a little group of flayed ones presents an issue, especially when Zahndrak is in his command barge zipping to the front lines on his swift little skimmer... Now I deepstrike those flayed ones right behind cover, just in range to run towards the tanks. (Using Oby as the leader of the Flayed Ones, I can deep strike within 6" of Zahn without scatter.) Did I mention that the Ghost Ark already dropped off an Overlord with a warscythe, and that Zahn dropped off the CCB to let the Overlord on? See that line of tanks? So does the Overlord, then Zahn walks forward with Oby and "crew" that newly popped tank line exploded around its men, just in time for the next phase where Oby and company will (hopefully) be able to assault.

That sounds really complicated, it really does have a lot of steps, an awful lot has to go right. So what happens if it doesn't? Spam 'em with Gauss and send 'em packin'. :)

Sure enough about 75% of that strategy failed, it takes a lot of turns, and the stars need to seriously align. That's fine though, I had mounted up some warriors on a second Ghost Ark and zipped them forward. One flank became Ghost Arks and warriors blasting in rapid fire range three tanks, on the other flank where I was attempting to setup this shuffle game I realized I didn't have any where near enough space and put Zahn/CCB in serious risk. Instead I decided to pop Oby and the Flayed ones out of the portal of the monolith. They bolted into cover, and prepared to assault the tank line from the other side. This worked very well. Oby's warscythe carved through the tank, and the flayed ones didn't even need to bother swinging. In the mean time, all scarab units were destroyed. This is why I don't rely on them alone, people are scared of them (justifiably) so target them straight away. Flayed ones are just silly to people so they don't bother. I'll capitalize on that thank you! The flayed ones were in position for the assault when a heavy flamer started its work. Fortunately they have reanimation protocols (another thing in their favor) and they mostly got back up. One to one in model count with the guardsmen and Oby we went toe to toe to duke it out... And ran out of time, having to pack up...

Here's a vidcom taken from Flayed One memory banks of the Commisar and her men at my bit of bad luck;

In summary, playing IG can be a little spooky at first, target priority certainly comes into play since there's just so much on the board. With the new vehicle cover rules you've also got to consider your shooting carefully as well since 25% coverage can give a bonus now. As before Gauss is excellent, tripping up and tarpitting the front line tanks, making it tough for the tank line to proceed into enemy deployment. Tesla does an excellent job of laying down a lot of fire, however I'd argue it's not as important as it was before. (Rapid fire rules in 6) Getting assault units in place prior to a tank exploding is excellent, so long as you can have them in/behind cover should it not pop as expected.

I'm definitely interested in another game against IG, definitely interested in the upcoming tournament, and looking forward to play testing the Flayed ones just a bit more giving them a chance to do something.

Phase two complete, and a game of Talisman

Got two things for this update, not really Warhammer related, still relevant though!

First, moving is in progress, at a temporary home, waiting for the final sale, then buying the new place. Soon!

Second, since I've been ahead of moving I got the go ahead from Mrs. Twyg to stop in at the club where I was invited to play a game of Talisman with Fritz, Black Matt and Scott. Brother James was there painting a custom green stuff only model made by Sylus (sp.)

Remind you of an old Apple IIe game box much?

So, what is this Talisman? It's a board game with a tiny amount of rpg, and a whole lot of traditional board game.

First game of sixth - Rebirthing the 'crons

So my first game of sixth is now under my belt. Thankfully I learned a lot. On the not so good front taking even a month break means everything I once knew fell out of my head... Just not all of it thankfully!

With this new edition however, the 'crons will be reborn!

Look, the necron baby is so cute!

On bated breath to play, and going to contract

Going to contract for the home very, very soon, and anxious to get in! In the mean time I've been talking to the FreeBootaz about sixth, allies, and just the hobby in general whetting my appetite for now.

So in the mean time here's what I've been drooling over;
Jon T Law's photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jontlaw/sets/72157626619824464/
Chaos Space Marines: Nurgles!
 and reading, re-reading, reading some more of the sixth edition book.

Looking forward to posting battle reports, more pictures and getting back on the hobby bandwagon ASAP!

Sixth in hand! Moving right along

The Necrons are sleeping in storage, but my mind is going a mile a minute...

I've gotten my mitts on the sixth edition rulebook and have to say "what the [...] is the problem!?" Then again, I'm a fan of change, and while there's change, it's not that bad...

Sixth Edition - goodies to be had?

Moving still continues, lawyers are in play now, so we're on tenterhooks at the moment, but to calm the nerves and get excited in other ways I've been looking towards sixth edition. That excitement is two fold for me; first, will my 'crons get hosed? second, what swag can I buy!?

Hope to setup a closing!

Hey all,

This June brings lots of drama! The Flyers are being played, and people are buying about 27 gross magnets for each Storm Talon, Sixth Edition has people flipping tables and ready to quit (don't ask about digital editions!) and I'm coming very close to finalizing a deal on a house...

If this house goes through... I'll still have a man cave/hobby room! It'll be tight, but it'll work a-ok. Originally that wasn't going to be the case, but fingers and toes crossed.

More updates as time allows, and I'll be thumbing through my sixth edition hardback as soon as I can.

Sixth edition - on the way

The dreaded sixth edition looks to be coming out the 23rd of this month. Love it or hate it, it's exciting news... But will it break my beloved Necrons...

We shall see soon 'nuff!

Teaser for Sixth

Awesome builds

Hey all,
So moving continues, but while I wait for my new hobby home since the paints are packed and the models also tucked away safe I have to get my fix on the computer.

So what did I happen across tonight? This amazing build;
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-Lifesize-Space-Marine-Armor-in-352-Terribly-/step14/Making-Puny-Humans-into-Superhuman-Space-Warriors/

Very cool stuff, go take a look and enjoy your day dreamin'!

Moving and the army to date

Going to be moving very, very soon, so updates will be sparse here for a bit.

While I am here though I'll post what I've gotten complete so far as a marker in time, hope you like what you see, and I'll post as soon as I can.

Just put it over there, thanks

Happy Memorial Day!

Off to play a 2k point game tomorrow, but wanted to acknowledge the holiday before the battle report.

Thank You to those who served past and present, you make it possible for all of us to have the Freedom we enjoy to be able to enjoy everything that we do.

Battle at the Club - Necron vs. Bishop's Eldar

Last night brought home that a whole game can hinge on just one roll. Now I know what you're thinking "Dude, if you had killed one more unit", "If you had just been more aggressive/passive", "If, if, if, if" and that's just what that is "Ifs"... Sometimes the dice, they just don't roll your way. Read on to see where you would have done things differently and I hope you'll agree the "ifs" were just plain "eh, no different than any other choice."

So, what was this game that hinged on a single roll? Bishop's Eldars versus my Necrons. I pulled a new trick out of the hat this time around taking less warriors and scarabs for a stalker. It was a good choice since it looks really nifty on the table, but I'll have to give it a few more games to see just how I want to use it, as well as which weapon load out.

The only non-blurry shot of the night.

So we setup and roll out, Annihilation and Spearhead deployment. The 'crons got first deployment, corner chosen I deployed leaving a unit hidden and since there was tall terrain hid big units behind appropriate cover, Eldar after all are shooty buggers. Bishop deployed his corner well back from my firepower, but not so much as to be "stuck" without being able to fire himself. Bishop attempts to seize initiative but fails. Illuminor boosts the unit of Immortals to a toughness 5, which is a great boon against a lot of fire power.

WIP - Stalker build

Hey all, just a quick update.

Working on a motivational challenge for an elite unit of any type on any army and came up with my fresh Stalker as the submission.

So what started as a paint and show is turning into a restoration thread. Why?  Here's why, I trimmed everything, filed it down, smoothed it out with liquid green stuff where necessary and then began test fitting all the pieces together. Every thing was laid out in order and then glue was applied. Disaster... Somehow I flipped the "body" of the stalker. All the holes that were brilliantly designed for the top part of the chassis are now at the bottom, and where the gun attaches is now on top... Really!?

But whatever, I'm continuing with the build and just not letting it get to me, I'll back fill with liquid green stuff and file everything down appropriately just making sure that I align everything "manually" versus using the tabs and holes. The paint will still look good regardless!

So, what would you do in this case? Would you try to undo the damage, would you cut the areas and flip the project? Or would you just let it be?

Communities - Online and Offline

Hey all,

Just giving a shout out to the organized "official" groups and clubs that I've jumped into. First since this is an online post would be TheFreeBootaz; It's a paid forum, but the price keeps things extremely civil and certainly weeds out the trolls who love to hide behind anonymity. That forum is from the 40k Radio team at TheFreeBootaz forums. It's probably one of the best forums I've found in the hobby yet, parsed down to quality debates and discussions.

If you're the kind of person who likes to sit down at the local club and just banter about the hobby, or things going on outside of the hobby this makes a great forum. It's a social place, so expect your welcome to be responded to within minutes, and to be very warm indeed.

For those who prefer a little face time and are in the White Plains, NY area then I'd highly recommend my local club "Battle for Salvation" as an in person version of the forums. As with the Bootaz a warm welcome was made for me within a few visits. Really glad to meet all the crew there and will continue playing, painting and hobbying with them as long as they'll have me hangin' around. :)

Glad to be part of this hobby community over all, and if you aren't local to a club get on to somewhere and just share what you do! Have fun finding new people to share with, it's a sure fire guarantee to help you get more fun out of your investments.

So, if you're in the White Plains area check out Battle for Salvation (The link is to the GT, but the head of the organization Bobby can be reached there for more information)
and if you're not in the area, but want your hobby fix take a look at The FreeBootaz

Tools of the trade

One of the most daunting parts of getting started on the hobby was cost. Of everything... The paints, the drills, the files, the brass pins, the mats, etc.

So in this post I want to share with everyone some of the tools that you can get, their approximate costs and where you might find them. We'll start with preparation of models for now since there's plenty to do in that regard setting up your models for priming

Preparation;
When you buy a box of miniatures, a blister pack or a whole battle force you're going to have a lot of parts to cut off the sprue, they've got mold lines, bubbles from manufacture, and all manner of things to do to make that model a lot more presentable on the table and in your display. A little investment goes a long way here, so hit up your model shop with this list of items and you'll be in great shape for prepping.

So, without a doubt, snips from the hobby shop are a must, around $5 you can get a great pair that will last for a long time. You can easily sharpen them should they dull, and usually have no issue biting through small gauge wire, but nothing too high a gauge should be hit otherwise you'll chip them out, never a good thing! For plastic only you'll never need to bother with anything other than a little sewing machine oil at the joint once every five years...

A pin vice is a worthwhile investment, especially when it comes to metal models and fine cast, both require some occasional pinning to complete the job. Pinning involves placing wire in places to pin the two pieces together as an internal "spine" to glue to versus the joint. These come in at around $7 to $10 on the outside. The "pins" or small drill bits are usually around $5 for a set like I have here. Full size drill bits are more for vehicles and boring out big items like razor back heavy bolters and the like. Those are about $3 a piece since they're actually wood and metal bits respectively.

A good set of files helps get a really finished look to big mishaps. For example you may have a large burr from a poor casting, or just a bad cut from your snips, at which point you'll need to file the plastic carefully down. This is immensely helpful in the case of conversions where pieces are combined that really aren't supposed to be combined in the first place, such as my crypteks. (A future post there too!) Around $8 will get you a lifetime set.

Finally, but not the only item by far is a hobby knife with extra blades. Made famous by X-acto brand, but also made by many other companies this is seconded only by duct tape in the case of useful things man has invented to make the world a better place. From $2 on up to $20 you can get these in all shapes and sizes. If you get nothing else on the list, you must get this. It can combine in the right hands all the above tools!

So, for around $30 total you can have a set of tools that will last you for years if not a lifetime of modeling goodness. Go out to your local hobby shop and check their stock out, don't go online necessarily since often times shops will be looking to offload inventory or other wise should get your business above a big web shop, support those local businesses!

Next up will be my painting/priming supply page, until then have fun!

WIP - BCJames Dread Chicken 'nid!

Ok, to date I've seen two types of conversions, one type are the minute details, the tiny hand of a wych placed in a piece of terrain that's "fallen" onto it (pun intended from Wizards of Oz) all the way up to making a complete tack on of additional posts, see cryptek conversions for good examples of that.

Then there's the type of conversion that you can see from half a block away... No joke, watching Brother Captain James walk up to the mall from the corner of the block all that was seen was shoulder bag, James, this;

Alright, so that's crazy, it's actually as tall as the monolith, and definitely wider. We know what you're thinking... huge target area, except you can't target wings, only torso. That's a small torso in comparison to the wings. Seriously, they're huge, so big that if the brakes fail on his car he needs only deploy this out the back like chutes from a drag racer...

Winning!

Ok, it's so crazy that some green stuff needs to be applied to clean it up, his back needs mounting, and the front... what to do with the front. First though, support those wings. Sylex (sp.) is our resident green stuff master, the guy is sitting there with $30 of green stuff. Seriously it's neat to watch him work with it. Of course this is probably handed down from generations since we see his 3rd cousin twice removed interacting with clear epoxy here, she's just as good! epoxy mastery at work! Same thing happens, only with green stuff. Seriously, worth the cost of membership to the club right there alone...

Molding the back from fairly flat back carapace pieces

What's this!? A funky chicken!?

There it is... A chicken beak. For real. If James doesn't paint this yellow there's going to be a lot of upset people at the club.

As work continues more pics will be posted of the Dread Chicken 'nid!

WIP - Necron Wave Two - Spyder complete! (pic heavy)

The power source is missing, but it's there now.

Work in progress indeed, as the spyder kit isn't hard, but does have a good amount of parts. This is something good though in that you've got some options. I'm sure many of you have already looked at the unboxing vids and sprue pictures galore.

So what do these things look like in the "wild?" (More after the break)

WIP shipment Necron wave 2 arrived!

Well the shipment is in...

Tweaking sprues now and will be posting the builds for each kit. 

Certainly things I'm considering are touting these around and am also looking forward to painting and building!

Battle Report - Impromptu game with Will

There's quite a bit of burn out from the recent Saturday tournament hosted by the club, so the Monday night club population was a bit sparse. Still, there's almost always a game to be had. Will was the only gent not engaged in a game, and I've been interested in battling his chaos army. As it so happened Will wasn't expecting to play, but fortunately had 1750 points rolling around to play. While they weren't the Chaos, they were Space Marines, a-ok by me. He furiously dry brushed his bases, and with super glue still curing the game begins.

On this game both Will and I were testing concepts. Will was testing his Deathwing... Will it work? Can he drop in and get up close and personal with many squads of Terminators? He's got a lot of missile launchers ready to rock, and with the ability to ignore damage from me at 2+/3++ is going to do quite well against most anything. His speeders and predators are going to be roaming around as well, but they're more "standard" issue so I should be good... Right?

This is going to look great - Painting disappointment

Yes, back then I had hair

As someone who used to model and paint a lot in my youth I remember fondly cutting balsa into strips, carving things down carefully and shaving them to a hairsbreadth and patiently assembling. I'd then go to the uber thin tissue paper lather it in dope and lovingly apply it to the frame of the plane I'd worked so hard to assemble. Then, unbelievably I'd still be sitting up/seeing anything (since in the 80s proper ventilation meant open a window on the other side of the basement) I'd spray paint the whole thing carefully to make a "metal skin."


So what happened?

New order in! - Necron Wave 2

Just a quick update to a post in the making, and an exciting time like Christmas in May ;)
1 Triarch stalker
2 sets of wraiths
3 spyders
3 heavy destroyer packs
1 Nemesor Zahndrehk
1 Vargard Obyron
And finally 1 Illiminor Szeras
It's quite an order and one I was amped to make, I look forward to sharing the modeling and painting process soon.
For now, reading the new white dwarf and converting the destroyers picked up from the last but swap.

To the game! Carrying your models.

So you've collected some models, and you've taken the time to clean them up and even applied one or two colors of paint, likely more. Now you're going to head over to your local club and get your game on. However, all you have are the boxes that the models came in, or maybe an extra shoe box with some foam in it, but how do you get something a little safer for your models?

Well there's a lot of options, from the very cheap, to any amount of money you want to spend. It really depends on what you want your end result to be. Here's some questions to help you towards your solution before you spend extra money.

Battle Report - Joey's last hurrah with the Chaos Space Marines

Last night at the club Joey and I squared off on a last minute match. Joey's flight had been canceled due to inclement weather so we had some time to hit the table for a quick fight.

Joey came to the table with an MSU (Many/mulitple Small Unit) army with the hope of an objective based game, only to have the Dice Gods decide that it was going to be Annihilation. Annihilation is one point for every unit taken down in combat. This is a good thing for Necrons, just so long as you keep the opposing army at mid-range. We ended up on another roll having table quarter deployment, breaking my five game Dawn of War streak... (Thank all the powers that be, it was getting old.)

So, now we have me setting up and going first and Joey in the other corner. In the interest of brevity I'll keep this one short, but geared towards a very new player, so experienced folks, please forgive! (Also because I started with excellent intentions to take lots of pictures and took, like, two. Joey is an energetic player, and it's contagious in a good way.)

Battle Report - Brother Sergeant James faces the 'crons

Sunday brings tidings of rollin' bones over at Comic Book Heaven in White Plains, NY with a pretty steady crew. Today's bout was with Brother Sergeant James, and was for 1850 points. James is a solid player and knows his rules, and he doesn't mind chattin' with you regarding the small talk. 

James was playing around with a new concept list, so I knew this was going to be more fun, less competitive, but most of all that I'd learn a bit about different mechanics. And learnin' is just what I did. I learned all about how fast Space Marines can move across a board, and just how bad an initiative 2 is. (Though it makes for some fun picture takin'!)

Tutorial - Getting Vassal setup on Windows

One thing I get asked about when I let folks know I do IT and I show up to a gaming event is how to use Vassal, since most of the tutorials with a few exceptions assume that you're a consummate computer user and in the vein of a basics blog I wanted to setup a tutorial for those folks who aren't (and may not want to be) great at computing.

So, this is that tutorial read on to learn how to install Vassal and get it ready for playing that buddy who moved out of town, or even an online tournament.

Resources for learning

Starting off you find there's quite a lot of data out on the internet, tutorials of all types from very new painters all the way up to paying for a video to learn fine art techniques to apply so you can finally hold the Slayer Sword.

But besides those core fundamental sites there's a lot of folks out there who just keep posting videos, posting images and tips (along the lines of this site) and generally just want to share their hobby. As with the tutorials some may be suited for some, others not as much.

For me I've settled in on a few basic sites that have helped me in the hobby quite a bit, after the jump you'll see the list, so click on wayward traveler...

Monolith Ressurection

After attending my first bit swap dinner I found myself in possession among other items a "gently used/experienced" box of monolith parts, and by gently used/experience one can swap out "busted" "broken" and or "effed up." Still, for $20 the potential yield after a little bit of time is always worth it.

After working with car and computer components long enough that are second hand you learn to find good deals and the bad, and I knew this one was a decent bet with a little sweat equity.

So, I picked up another Hawk Turquoise before the paint shift and set to work.
(For folks new to the hobby another post will follow about the tools I have, most on sale, and even more on clearance racks... Getting into the hobby does not have to be expensive.)

More after the jump;

Drop pod mania!

Playing at the shop the other day I came across Mr. Jawaballs himself, a quick adjustment of the 'crons to a 2000 point list was required from my stable 1750 list and we were underway.

Dawn of War... again... Deployment and I drop everything down since deep striking is a bit of an event on this table (as you can see from the pictures the risk is immense that you'd lose a Monolith to terrain alone.) Jawaballs deploys nothing. Uh oh... I know he just accepted delivery of a veritable armada of drop pods from James... Oh, I see what you did there sir!

Hold the line!

(More after the jump)