A message from the collection of all human knowledge

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Time Warp

So things are going to be pretty slow around here for the next, um... Year! This is because I'll be going to school in Germany, and while I'm bringing some models with me to work on, and there's a game shop in the town I'm traveling to, I don't imagine I'll be going too nuts on the game front. Rather I'll be trying not to fail classes that are ONLY IN GERMAN!

So, things will be sporadic, if at all. I'm sincerely sorry for any inconvienence this may cause to any readers of this blog.

Here's hoping things will be more regular when I get back!

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EPIC!

So I have no attention span, as a careful read of this blog will attest. In the midst of an Eldar painting frenzy, I'm managing (I think) to fit in some work on my Epic Blood Angels army. This will be the fifth paint of these models and man oh man are they gettin' thick. I'm pretty sure these figures can withstand a nuclear blast.

Blood Angels
Dark Angels
Crimson Fists
Dark Angels
Blood Angels

Yup... Thick all right. Considering how the 1st Dark Angel paintjob, and the Crimson Fists paintjob were done with the Citadel colored sprays back in the '90s/early '00s.

I'm doing this because two of my friends want to throw down some Epic, and as the resident Epic master of my gaming group I'm more than happy to oblidge a game. I have over 6000 points of Space Marines (way over... I even want to say almost 10,000 points because of my love of Titans), and 'bout 3000 of Chaos Marines. Once I get back from Germany I hope to have a 3000+ point army of Eldar, and a 3000 point army of Orks.

So that's what I've been up to this week. Not much else. I'm only a painting session or two away from finishing my Banshees, 2nd squad of Dire Avengers and a squad of Rangers. We'll see when I can fit that time in.



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A loss... Of sorts...

Yeah, so my WARMACHINE game didn't go so hot. It was for Summer Rampage, so I thought I'd be all clever-like and play in Western Cygnar; which many of you Rampagers might know to be a pretty safe bet for Cygnar to play in against the Legion, and also has quite a favorable condition on it (New Recruits: allowing 50 extra points per army). However I rolled what could possibly be the worst scenario I could have rolled: The Curse of Garlghast Island. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of plying this scenario, it doesn't allow LOS any greater than 8", and it makes all spells and animi +1 Focus/Fury to cast. We both had pretty shooty armies, and so this particularily sucked.

There were a few mistakes I made that I noticed. I should've kept far back from him at all times instead of staying put. I also should have popped Haley's feat one turn sooner, allowing Alten Ashley to shoot the crap out of his Carnivian and whatever's left to be dealt with the Hunter. Alas, it was not to be. I'll have to play someone else before I go back to that Legion player and try my luck again.

Not much of a report, but I really don't have the patience to do full ones. Mine are more like battle summaries.

In other news, I haven't painted much today (read: anything today), but I'm hoping to finish up my Banshees tomorrow. I really need to as I have to get going on this project.

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PAAAAAIIIIINNT!

I actually finished something this time! That's right, my new Eldar army (the third incarnation I've done since I started playing oh so long ago - 12 years) is off to a great start. I've finished my Striking Scorpions, and my Howling Banshees have one day's work left in them. I also managed to finish a HORDES minion while I was at it. Let me take you through the magic that was the last three days of painting.

First off, here's some work in progress pictures of the Howling Banshees I'm working on.

Here's a close-up where I showcase my super-awesome talent with the new Citadel washes. This is Baal Red on top of a Mechrite Red base. Not as good as some wash/paint combos but it looks good and does the highlighting and shading for you.

Here's a standard close-up. Again, these aren't finished. If you look closely you can see my finger.

Here's what we came to see, a view of my finished Striking Scorpions.

Little closer this time. That's the Exarch in the middle with the Biting Blade. Pretty darn neat!

Here's a close-up. Watch out, that's a Scorpion Chainsword comin' at cha! For my army (which is mostly Aspect Warriors) I've gone and copied the Rogue Trader era color schemes. That means gold weapons and none of this 'painting your Aspect Warriors Craftworld color' bullcrap!

This is a pretty good shot of the armor, which is just Scorpion Green with Thraka Green wash over top of it. That easy. I tried to highlight but no matter what I mixed Scorpion Green with, it just looked redundant.

The Exarch now. I did the yellow on them using Iyandin Darksun with Sunburst Yellow highlights. I'm not super-happy with it, but I think it does the trick.

Here's a back shot showing off the way the wash really did its thing on the armor.


Here's an unrelated picture of Alten Ashley for HORDES. I painted him in the time it took the first coat of Shining Gold to dry on the Howling Banshees. That's sort of an exaggeration, as the gold was probably dry during the painting of him, but I like to think that I painted him pretty darn quick. I definitely painted him during the D&D/Penny Arcade/PVP podcast.

That's it for that. Glad I actually have something done. I'll put some more work into the Howling Banshees tomorrow, and I'll be back on this blog to talk about the new Summer Rampage put on by Privateer Press for their WARMACHINE and HORDES games (I may even have somewhat of a battle report for you).

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Yet Another Painting Challenge

So I've gotten myself into another painting challenge. Last time I tackled the mammoth task of painting every model in my WARMACHINE collection. This was not completed...

Here's the list (units in bold were completed)
10x Long Gunners with UA
8x Trenchers with UA
6x Mechanik crew
6x Mechanik crew
1x Eiryss
1x Haley
6x Sword Knights
6x Sword Knights
1X Hunter 'Jack
1x Centurion 'Jack
1x Ironclad 'Jack
1x Journeyman Warcaster

As you can see I actually got pretty close. The unfortunate part is that during all of this I managed to buy, build, and prime a unit of Storm Lances, Alten Ashley, and another Ironclad, so that didn't help. Nevertheless I am one model away from 500 points of painted WARMACHINE (either Alten Ashley, or Eiryss).

Yet now I am embroiled in another three month painting challenge with three details different from the last: 1. I'm doing an Eldar army for Warhammer 40,000; 2. It's many, many more models (see below); 3. I only have six weeks to complete it instead of twelve! This is because I'm leaving to Germany on the 9th of September.

How will I manage such a feat? The Citadel Washes of course. I started my Striking Scorpions today, and they look fantastic. All I did was tank brush them with Scorpion Green, before I washed them with Thraka Green. I'll post pictures when I get access to a digital camera again (weekend?). Now I just have to do the details, which will be mostly black, gold, and yellow. I'm hoping to actually finish the unit tomorrow.

In other news: There's a huge Warhammer tournament in Vancouver this weekend, and though I'm working during it, I'll be able to go out to the afterhours and tear stuff up! I'll be bringing my Dwarfs as they're the only army other than my High Elves that are really close to being painted, and they're fairly competitive. I'll post some reports about that after it happens (Sunday?). My game group, The Fighting Cocks, is going to represent itself there as well (we're named after the halfling regiment in Warhammer, not something vulgar), with four of the members showing up. 'Twill be good!

Anyways, I leave you with my Eldar painting list and an apology that these articles aren't more interesting; but this blog really is just my thoughts on painting and gaming, and those thoughts are often that I wish I painted more.

1 Autarch
6 Striking Scorpions
10 Howling Banshees
10 Dire Avengers
5 Rangers
6 Swooping Hawks
3 War Walkers
1 Falcon
3 Wave Serpents

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40K 5th Edition Review

I had my first game of Warhammer 40,000 5th edition today, and I got my ass handed back to me by a Nurgly fist.

The game itself is awesome. There’s so much more going on, and so many more tactical maneuverings it was almost confusing, only because I had no idea how to play my army anymore.

One thing I want to say to begin this is that anything you may have looked at in the new rules and said to yourself “Hmm, that looks like it wont work/is too powerful” doesn’t/isn’t. Everything from the true line of sight, to going to ground, to infantry being the only units to hold objectives works.

I also want to say that I wont really go through all the rules step-by-step as that’s pretty boring, and pretty long to write. Also, there are a few podcasts that do a better job of this, thus I’m just going to review everything at once.

What I like most about the new edition is that it’s added some of the interesting bits from the first two editions that they just discarded in the 3rd edition switch because they deemed them cumbersome. Now, it seems they’ve found a way to incorporate them better without sacrificing playability. My favorite being the vehicle ramming rules. Now you can ram opponent’s vehicles just like you could in the old editions. There’s also the inclusion of line of sight being ‘what you can see, you’re able to shoot at’, and the addition of running rules again.

My philosophical interpretation with these changes may differ from that of the games designers but with these changes I feel that they’ve changed purpose from having a streamlined tournament rules set to having a rules set that’s primarily fun to play with casually. Since 3rd edition 40K has always been secondary to me in my gaming pursuits because, while I thought it was a good tournament rules set, I hated playing it one on one, because it seemed so sterile and abstract. Even abstract miniatures games like AT-43 have interesting bits like command points, or orders. 40K 3rd and 4th editions didn’t. They were just abstract sets of rules that weren’t much fun to play other than in Cleanse mission type scenarios. The only 40K games I’ve played in the last two years have been using the Cities of Death and Apocalypse rules. Both of those rules sets deviate from the norm quite heavily, and are amazingly fun.

Now, 40K is fun to play again. There’s more for me to do against your vehicles than just plain ‘ole shoot at them. I can ram them, or I can go into combat with them head on and use your back armor to damage. Hiding out behind that forest, all game bombarding me/casting psychic powers? Not anymore you’re not! I can clearly see you, and though your cover save is quite high (most cover saves have been boosted at least +1), I can still harm you. You might want to hide behind that tree. Shooting at my Eldar Rangers that are sitting on an objective in the woods? Well, I’ll go to ground and get a +1 to my already 4+ cover save (let’s not forget the +1 I have for having the Stealth ability!). If I get shot by a Demolisher Cannon, then with a Go To Ground order I can either increase my cover save by +1 or take a 6+ cover save if I’m out in the open. This increases survivability (though I didn’t make ONE Go To Ground save the entire game). This is good, because with everything else out there that can now see and kill me; it’s good to have even a little insurance.

Combat is also way more deadly. After chargers have moved in the defenders must move their movement in order to get into contact with any chargers that able to be attacked. This guarantees that more models are in combat and also lessens the chance of combats being big slugfests for 6 turns. Combat resolution is also much easier to resolve, being more like the Warhammer Fantasy set of rules. For each kill you score in excess of your opponent, you force your opponent to take a -1 on a leadership test for losing the most casualties. In the event of a failed Leadership Test, you do the 4th edition Initiative roll-off and the winner consolidates (but is unable to engage another enemy unit that turn). Easy! In real game terms this resulted in some pretty decisive combats, as my Banshees destroyed a unit of Chaos Terminators on the charge but were then wiped out by Lesser Daemons the following turn.

Here’s another shocking change, Victory Conditions. Now only TROOPS (infantry, bikes, whatever… Unless it’s a vehicle) can capture objectives. Not only that, but because of the way you choose missions and deployment (that’s right, choosing missions is independent of choosing deployment types) 2/3 of the time you’re going to play a mission that uses NO VICTORY POINTS. It’s all Apocalypse-style: Whoever has the most objectives at the end of the game wins. Other units can contest objectives, but it’s up to the grunts to move in and hold them. After all, Saving Private Ryan has shown us that infantry are way better holders of towns than that sorry tank.

For the most part things were tidied up. Rules were clarified and certain aspects of the rules that may have been there from the beginning were reiterated. Such as the rule that you cannot move through your friendly or enemy models at all! Even in the same squad. The vehicle damage tables were consolidated into one table with modifiers on the roll depending on what weapon you’re using and what type of hit you got.

As much as I love the rules I do have a few complaints. In a few regards I thought they could have gone a step further to bring more detail into the game without sacrificing playability. I think the running rule is cool; but I really wish they’d just bring back Movement Values. I miss having Eldar move 5” and Marines move 4”. They don’t even have to touch the old codices; they can just print a table in the rulebook stating the different movement values for models. This is the most unreasonable of my requests, they get better.

I also wish Tank Shock was deadlier. I’ve always found Tank Shock to be just useless. I want more punishment for failing a Leadership Test when confronted by a tank charging into you. Finally, I’m still waiting for a decent Psychic System. I understand the want to move away from the mini game that was Dark Millennium back in 2nd edition, however I think a Warhammer Fantasy-Style system would be far superior to what they have now. I think the original thought behind scaling down the Psychic System in 3rd edition was because they didn’t feel Psychic Powers should play such a big role, or be too powerful. I just think that in a Space-Fantasy type setting there should be some destructive supernatural powers, and some epic psychic dueling.

Like I said, I love the new system. I was never this excited about 4th edition, and I sure as heck wasn’t as excited about 3rd edition. I’m looking forward to finishing my Eldar army and getting some painted games in. I also need to add more troop choices… With an average of 4 or 5 objectives per mission, what’s a three troop choice army to do?

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GAMMING!

I hate it when people misspell. Even more when they misspell gaming. Anyways, the new 40K comes out tomorrow, well... Comes out today at Strategies' midnight (10pm) release party (big ole game of Apocalypse). Well... I already have my copy, but that's not the point. The point is that your average plebians will have their copies on the 12th and that makes me happy.

I don't have time for a full-fledged review right now (maybe Sunday?); this is more of a check-in to see what I've been doing/haven't been doing. If the previous posts on this blog are any indication of what's to come next, it'll be madness, frenzy, and other made up words.

First up, I painted some more WARMACHINE stuff. Yay! I doubt I'll finish in time for the competition but I'm getting there. The sad part is that the project was entirely managable. I just got distracted with sunlight, friends, and social spheres, that don't involve pushing around metal soldiers on a tabletop (What?! Are you friends with SATANISTS, and SKINHEADS these days?). I'll try me darndest, but Citadel washes can only speed up painting so much

Second on the platter, I'm changing another painting project of mine. I'll no longer be looking to complete my Chaos Space Marine army, but instead will do my Eldar army which (in all fairness) has been on the docket much, much longer than the Chaos army, and is less redundant in my gaming circle (where we have two, or three, Chaos players). I'm known for my Eldar anyways, and it's time I updated my gaming force to the current models. This will mark my third Eldar army; my first being a Biel-Tan force from 1st/2nd edition, my second was a blue, and purple color-scheme from 3rd/4th edition, and this final one will be purple, and bone made up of all new Eldar models (4th/5th edition models. The ones that were released in 2006).

Third... Um... I bought more Chainmail models. I love those damned things. I really miss that game more than any other, I'd think. Well... The new D&D Minis game is actually quite good, so I guess I just miss the painted models. Oh well, Mike McVey has moved on to bigger and better things (please come back to Privateer Press), and his work on Chainmail shall not be missed.

For all you roleplayers out there, I didn't know that Chris Pramas worked on Chainmail. That's pretty cool. I like his stuff (Green Ronin/True20/Mutants & Masterminds/Song of Fire and Ice RPG (forthcoming)/and most importantly Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay).

Alright, time for me to get to work.

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YAY! TANKS!

Wow I finally finished building my box of 5 M4A1 Shermans with 76mm guns for my Late War U.S. Rifle Company! What? I can't use the 76mm guns as support with a Rifle Company?

Shit...

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Of Washes and Change

So I've been painting this whole time I haven't been posting. The first thing I want to touch upon is that a friend helped me convert the spear on the Cygnar Centurion Warjack for Warmachine, and the damned thing looks spectacular. It's easy 1.5 times taller than the 'jack, and thus, is way better than the wee one that came with it.

Secondly, the new Citadel Washes seem great, I just don't know how to use them yet. I've been told to slather them on and let physics sort 'em out. That is to say, use an abundant amount and wait for it to dry. So far, I've tried a small amount and got next to nothing. Then I tried a large amount and got way too much. I'm thinking this is just because I double-coated. I'm gonna try ONE big large coat instead of a small one and a big one. Then I guess I'll try a few small ones; then I guess I'll go through some combinations ad nauseum until I touch upon something that works. I just really wanted to get out there that doubling up isn't the greatest.

I'll tell you why. What I've found with a venture in flesh is that it doesn't have the velvety tones that I was told they should have. In fact it was a bit too dark for my tastes, and had some shiny elements in it (which I'd like to avoid for everything but metallic). I tried Tallarn Flesh, then Ogryn Flesh, then Elf Flesh. I was hoping to finally find a use for Tallarn Flesh, and Elf Flesh, but I now know that my quest continues.

The problem was that the Ogryn Flesh made the recesses too dark, and when I painted on the Tallarn Flesh/Elf Flesh mixture (I was never good with ratios, but it was something like 3:1) it clashed with the Ogryn Flesh so radically that it was like highlighting black with straight white. I tried my best to fix it, but now you can barely see any Ogryn Flesh at all. I'm thinking that Gryphonne Sepia will be a good alternative. I'll try it on the Journeyman Warcaster and get back to the blog on the results.

Another thing I should mention is that the Citadel Washes act as a matt varnish over whatever your painting. So if you like your golds rich, and your steels shiny, you might want to stick with inks. However, I detested this shininess with non-metallic colors and am glad for this matt look. I also happen to like the matt look. I've also learned that Orkhide Shade and Thraka Green is a useless combination; and the Orkhide Shade eats up the Thraka Green wash like it's going out of style.

On a side note: I'm finished Haley, and the Centurion Warjack for my Cygnar, Warmachine, army, leaving 12 Mechaniks and Gobbers; 6 Sword Knights; 8 Trenchers; 3 Long Gunners; 1 Journeyman Warcaster; 1 Eyriss; and 1 Ironclad Warjack. So close I can taste it!

To another topic: Change. My thoughts on this began with the new Citadel Washes, came to a conclusion with the new 5th edition of Warhammer 40,000, and had proto elements in the Foundation Paint range. I like change. Well, for the most part. It's sometimes hard in the gaming world. The loss of 2nd edition 40K, Chainmail, and the switch to pre-painted Confrontation figures were hard to swallow; but for the most part change is good.

As an example, before Games Workshop released Apocalypse for 40K the last time I played was the Medusa V worldwide campaign (Summer 2006). I really had no interest in 40K two years into the 4th edition. Then Apocalypse came out and it changed my gaming habits. Besides the removal of points-driven victory conditions and the addition of new models and formations, the expansion gave me multi player capabilities, and in-game options I've never been confronted with before. In fact, the last time I was given something close to this was with Cities of Death, which (not coincidentally) was the focus for Medusa V. I loved Apocalypse (and still do), and still haven't played 40K any other way.

Now I hear word of 5th edition and the changes seem monumental. It seems like it's bringing the game more into the tactical realm of Warhammer Fantasy (which up until 5th edition I thought was a much, much, better game), and closer to the detail and character of my beloved 2nd edition. More importantly than these changes to the 'feeling' of the game is the way it'll make me think about my game of 40K differently. The change from 3rd edition to 4th edition was so minuscule that it felt like I've been playing 3rd edition for ten years (1998 was when it came out); now I get to play something else, and I'm excited.

Now, a new edition has its drawbacks as the gaming community will let you know, vehemently. The cost to upgrade your rulebook is high alone, without having to await the opportunity to upgrade your codex. Fortunately the models and general structure of the various armies has stayed the same since 1st edition (anyone who disagrees has to actually look at the various army lists instead of just going by memory or rumor), but the paper cost is quite high.

That sorta sucks; but I'm willing to eat that cost if it means I can enjoy one of my favorite wargames again. I'll now construct my armies differently, respond to my enemies maneuvers differently, and strive towards victory differently. The same patterns, and trends, and responses I've been going through since '98, or '04 can take a breather, and I can think again, instead of feeling like I'm going through a playbook.

What my point to this whole thing is, that new editions and revisions of games are crucial. They keep interest in the hobby, and as painful as it is to upgrade I'm sure it's for the best. If a game doesn't evolve or change it gets boring, and people stop liking it. This is pretty bad for the games company, but this isn't about games companies or the politics within, it's about an incentive to play. Or paint; the Citadel washes are giving me something new to do at my paint table, and while I'm struggling with integrating them, I'm having fun. Hell, I haven't changed the way I've done hair, or flesh, or metals in years. In fact, with the exception of trying out Vallejo paints, or P3 paints, I've painted the same things the same ways since I learned how to do them.

Gamers have been lucky enough to have received a new D&D this year, one that changes a play-style that has basically been the same since AD&D 1st edition; and I can't wait to get a new 40K, one that will change the way I build, and play, for a long (but not too long) time.

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