Of Legions and Chaos

Life, Warmahordes, and Everything. Wait what?

2011-07-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

So a bit has happened since I've posted last, I got engaged (woohoo!), and uh, I purchased about 77 points and every 'Lock that the Legion of Everblight has (outside of Bethayne & Belphegore) from a gentleman at my FLGS.

I know what you're thinking, "Here we go again, another post crying about how GW's too expensive. Another one jumping ship." Well, you'd be wrong. Why did I buy (and intend on playing) this, allegedly, flavor of the month game? Because I'm bored.

Truth be told, I haven't played a game of 40k since early June (took 2nd place in a local Con tourney). I enjoyed myself a fair amount, and I still do well with my Black Legion, but as BB King would say, "the thrill is gone." Before SoonerCon, I had played one tune up game and hadn't played for months before that. Since the Blood Angel codex has come out, colors seem more dull, light seems dimmer, food less flavorful. Or maybe Daemon Princes and Plague Marines just don't get it done with the same *oomph* they used to have.

After watching basic Grey Hunters get as many attacks as my Khorne Berzerkers, and getting my face ripped off by Incubi and endless squads of Wyches with Haywire Grenades and Hydra Gauntlets, I've wanted something with a bit more bite. I genuinely considered starting a Dark Eldar army, but thought better of it.

It hasn't been all bad though, I've been playing a lot of Fantasy and enjoying the hell out of it. I play a solid army and my tactics are pretty sound too. In short, Lizardmen get it done. Fantasy has become my game of choice. But I do watch some Dark Elf and other Fantasy "glass cannon" style lists and I'm jealous. I've seen it in 40k for a year and I think to myself "I want that!"

It's kind of lingered with me for a while. It's just so different from the elite style of army that I run in 40k and Fantasy. I wanted to play Orks for a few months because they were just so different.

So I've decided to kill two birds with one stone: try a new system, and play a glass cannon. It's perfect, I not only love the models, but it's a style of play I've been pretty envious of for about a year now as well. I'm hoping it works out.

Oh and I'm also set to play my first game of Warmahordes, after watching all of one game, tonight.

Why Saurus Unit Champions are a Total Waste

2011-04-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

So yeah, quick post. In my various games running a Life Slann, I've finally come to the realization that the unit champion for Saurus Warriors is a complete waste*.

For the incredible bargain that is 23 points you get the same ol' Saurus Warrior stat line, and, wait for it...

ONE WHOLE EXTRA ATTACK!

Surely, you say, then they must be able to take an extra weapon, piece of gear, additional wound, better weapon skill, or higher initiative right?

**** no! They don't get anything. The only benefit you get from paying the extra 12 points to upgrade (on top of the 11 you already paid), for which you could buy another Saurus and still save a point (or give it a spear), is the ability to challenge an opponent's champion or character. That's it. Oh and if you went ahead and just bought a regular Saurus instead, you'd net +1 attack and +1 wound.

The only real benefit to buying this upgrade is the fact that you can challenge opponent's champions or characters. Except for the fact that your Champ is going last the overwhelming majority of the time. You may get lucky and the opponent might whiff, then you get to make your 3 attacks back, and hope your average of 1.5 hits (against most) can wound the jerk.

Alternatively, if your opponent accepts with most Lords or Heroes you're going to need to be scraped off his boot. Thankfully, the points you just gave to your opponent towards combat resolution probably won't matter a ton since cold blooded makes breaking combat not-so-easy.

There is some benefit to upgrading and being able to challenge, namely trying to get Teclis or some other Wizard to decline the challenge, tie up a character for a turn or so, or get a nice string of luck and kill their Champion/Hero/Lord. Or to protect an Old Blood or Scar Vet (if you have one).

However, since challenges can be issued by either player in any close combat, regardless of whose turn it is, odds are pretty good that you'll end up losing a champion and possibly some overkill wounds to combat resolution. The nice thing about not having a champion? You don't have anyone for an intelligent opponent to challenge, and you gain 12 points per Saurus block that otherwise would have taken one.

I run 3 blocks of Saurus in a 2000 point army, so I end up gaining 36 points that can be spent adding Chameleons, upgrading my TG's magic banner, etc.

*Of course, if you're running a Light Slann, Saurus champions issuing challenges are much more effective. Speed of Light and/or Birona's Timewarp can make issuing challenges offensively pay off. With both, your champ is WS10, Initiative 10, ASF (rerolling missed hits), and 4 attacks. Very potent indeed.

StillCon '11 Wrap Up

2011-04-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, so the Fantasy tournament at StillCon was a pretty cool time. My first impression was "Wow this is much smaller than I was expecting." I guess I didn't notice, or they edited it on their website, but the max for the Fantasy tourney was only 15 people. However, there were all of 7 of us (5 competitors, 1 TO, 1 judge). Evidently it was a better turn out than last year (2 people), so hey maybe next year there will be another 300% growth in players.

There were only 3 tables set up (talking to the TO before hand, he knew it was going to be a small turn out), all of them set up pretty similarly. One peice about 6" in from each corner with 1 big/medium sized piece dead-center, or 2 smaller ones dead-center.

Being that we only had 5 people there signed up, the TO and judge took alternating turns to play the TO's army so someone wouldn't have a complete bye. I don't know if they received max points playing the "bye" army, as I was one of two that did not play him. What I do know is that he took a fantastically painted Skaven army, and ended up going 2-1 on the day, oops!

The army breakdown was 2 Skaven, 2 Lizardmen, 1 Dark Elf, and 1 Chaos ****ing Dwarf army. What?!?!?! I'd thought Chaos Dwarves were the stuff of legends, myths you hear about, tales sown far and wide across the 7 internets to scare Fantasy players. When was the last time you could say you heard of a tournament where Chaos Dwarves made up 16.67% of the damn thing? Never, that's when.

I ended up taking 2nd place, going 2-1-0 with a major loss, major victory, and massacre. Played against Dark Elves (Meeting Engagement), Chaos Dwarves (Dawn Attack), and Lizardmen (Blood and Glory) respectively. I think I did pretty well all things considered. The Dark Elf player ended up winning the entire thing, and pretty much sat back on his board edge and shot me until I got to him. There were 3 things I wish I had done in that game:

1. Placed my Chameleons better, one group managed to take his Sorc down to 1 wound late in the game. Had I killed her, I may have been able to pull out a win. I ended up losing like 460-175 VP. As it was, he pretty much deployed in groups and protected his vulnerable targets. I ended up shooting at his forward most group of Crossbowmen. I should have placed them on the flank of his Black Guard so he'd have to waste a turn reforming if he wanted to try to charge me. Or tried to blow up his Shades.

2. Charged/Flamed/Whatever'd his small unit of shades, would have given me some extra points.

3. Been more patient. I kept pressing the issue with Throne of Vines, and he kept dispelling it. In what proved to be my biggest mistake, I finally got Throne off with Irresistible Force, but had already used my Cupped Hands. Had it not IF'ed, he had little to no dispel dice, and I had like 5 left to use on a Regrowth on a unit of 12 Saurus I had just that turn charged his ~12-15 Black Guard with. So my IF roll came up Power Drain, FML. So my Saurus proceed to get cut down, and I give up a 250 point block (+victory points for banners etc.). Had it gone on another turn or two I had that Black Guard squad in combat again, had wiped 1 of 2 Hydras, and was probably going to sweep that entire flank. I also didn't cast Dwellers as much as I should have (once maybe?), especially when you consider he used his dispel scroll on something turn 1.

I did end up learning from my loss and I exceeded my expectations, can't ask for a whole lot more than that can you?

Now it's time to go prime some Lizardmen before the OKC Thunder game tonight!

Down but Not Out

2011-03-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of posts since, well, forever. Nursing school owns me.

Fortunately, I am going to be able to make it to StillCon 2011.

The thing that sucks is that I will only be able to make it for one day this year, instead of two like I planned. I will be playing in the 2000 point WHFB tournament on Sunday, and will miss the 40k tournament Saturday. Having done a couple tournaments now, I know what to expect. The rub is that I've been playing Fantasy for all of 3 months with just under a dozen games under my belt (never playing any other mission than the standard 12" deployment). That and I'm not super solid on the rules like in 40k. Oh and I've played against or watched games with approximately 9 of the 14 armies.

Having said that I still think I will do well, though not as well as I did last year in 40k. I believe in setting realistic goals, and hopefully surprising the hell out of myself. The goal this year is to win one of the three games. Totally do-able.

I have play tested this army and it has done well. The only thing that was disappointing to me was how Light performed for me. I'm sure most of it is user error and not being 100% solid on all the mechanics. It's something I intend to try again sometime. That said, Life is incredibly easy to use, completely point-and-click. Let's do it:

Lords

Slann

General, BSB, Standard of Discipline, Cupped Hands of the Old Ones, Focus of Mystery (Life), The Becalming Cognition, Focused Rumination

Core

3 blocks of 20 Saurus Warriors

Full Command

Special

Temple Guard x 20

Full Command, Banner of Eternal Flame

2 groups of 5 Chameleon Skinks

Rare

2 sets of 2 Salamanders

1 with 1 extra handler (to be placed on the flank with the most targets as an added insurance policy)

Total: 2000 Points on the nose.

Honestly, I'd love to include a Skink Priest on an Engine of the Gods, but at 2000 points it's kinda hard to squeeze in without dropping a block of Saurus (leaving me 3 groups that can fight with any sort of staying power). That and I won't be getting that model in from my FLGS until tomorrow at the earliest.

I have sort of tweaked it a bit, originally I loved the idea of have the Temple Guard block having a Razor Standard (-3 to opponents armor save) paired with Light to give me a Flaming Magic missile.

Initiative 10/ASF to eliminate those cringe-inducing re-rollable hits from High Elves and turn the Lizzie's weakness into a strength? Check.

Can deal with heavily armored/deathstar blocks? Check.

Flaming magic missile for the super lame Hydras/other Regen or Flammable creature? Check.

Seems like a match made in heaven, and probably is in point values over 2000 points or for people who know what the hell they're doing. Unfortunately the Banner costs 35 more points (2 Temple Guard, though not a big deal - I know) and the Razor Standard was also a bit overkill. Strength 5 is street sweeping whatever it's hitting anyway, and my Temple Guard have yet to come across something they couldn't at least have enough staying power to not get through a game.

The 2 small groups of Chameleons give me the flexibility of one maxed unit of 10, while being able to take out multiple targets if necessary. The Chameleon Brave is not worth the 6 points for 1 point better BS.

Anyways I've droned on for entirely too long, but I would be remiss without plugging Dethron's regular "column" Friday Night Internet Fight, every Friday. It's hilarious (and a good blog too!). Give it a read.

First Dinosaurz List (2000 points)

2010-11-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

So I'm a jerk and I like "hard" lists, but this is my first attempt at one and will change over time (they always do). I like hand to hand and this is one thing this list does well, but its glaring weakness is not enough dakka. Anyways here it is:

Slann Mage-Priest

General, BSB, Sun Standard of Chotec, Cupped Hands of the Old ones, Becalming Cognition, Focused Rumination, Focus of Mystery (Life)

Temple Guard x 20

Full command, Banner of Eternal Flame

3 groups of 20 Saurus warriors
Full command

Chameleon Skins x 7

Full command (inasmuch as a Stalker can be considered full command)

2 groups of 2 Salamanders

1 extra handler per group (squad?)

I'm also unsure on the banners my Temple Guard and Slann are carrying, but that will get changed around as I play some more games. Other than that the only other thing I'm on the fence about is the Lore of Life, I really like what Speed of Light and a few other things do in Light, but life seems to be a more useful lore top to bottom. The only real drawback I see to Life is that it's incredibly easy to dispel things like Throne of vines. I really wish I could remember where I found an article talking about the virtues of Chameleon skinks, but basically what won me over to them instead of skink skirmishers is that they force shooting opponents to get at least -2 to their to hit roll for being skirmishers and for the chameleon special rule. If they're in hard cover that's -4. That and their ballistic skill is higher so I can get some extra wounds when moving and shooting.

Comments, advice, criticism?

Earthquakes, Dinosaurs, and Dark Eldar (Oh My!)

2010-10-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, I live in Norman, Oklahoma. We are pretty versed in the whole natural disasters thing, however, earthquakes isn't something Oklahomans are used to. Yesterday we had one rated either 4.5 or 5.1 depending on who you ask. Definitely an interesting day. At first I thought a truck had run into my apartment building, then I figured it was an earthquake moments later when I looked out my window and saw the other building moving too.

In other news, I've started my first step in building my Lizardmen army. Even though the iPhone camera quality is shotty at best, Sid approves of the Lizardmen battalion. I'm not quite through all the rules in the BRB (still have Special Rules and everything beyond that) but I do like the system. It's similar enough to 40k that I grasp things well without having to re-read, but it has that je ne se quoi of difference. Also for those of you who are strictly 40k players, go pick up a Fantasy BRB and flip through it! For someone who has played a geeky game or two, I wish every book could be this well done. The full color on every page is wonderful, the quality of the paper is good, hell even the ribbon that comes with it is a nice addition.

What's that? Complaining of me reviewing something that's months old? Well let's get behind the times again, only this time to the tune of weeks! I had a chance to flip through the new Dark Eldar codex today and I have to say they look wicked. Definitely not the army for me (as I like something not quite so fragile) but at a cursory glance I can say that I believe that they will indeed impact the meta game. If they can get up in your face they will rip you to shreds. Unfortunately for the IG parking lot, they have a number of ways to do so. I look forward to this shift, as my lack of long range options with CSM has left me bitter and cold.

Wait Lizardmen don't have much in the way of ranged shooting either?

Status Update & Tuck Fexas

2010-10-01T14:54:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been busy with Nursing School (read: studying for Pharmacology) and playing a bit of League of Legends.

In other news the OU-Texas game is this weekend. UT eat your heart out. But in all seriousness condolences to anyone in and around Austin for the gunman on their campus.

I'll try to get something of substance up tomorrow or Sunday.

Boomer Sooner!

Long Time No Post

2010-09-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

So yeah, Nursing school will melt your face, and your spare time. Not a ton of time to keep up with the blog (unless you're procrastinating doing some homework!)

40k has completely given me over to "other army envy." Especially since I'm like 0-10 against Tyranids since they've come out (even one game against a newbie). CSM have a lack of shooting and are a bit overcosted if you ask me. But I'm not here to complain about the problems with my army, I'm here to complain about something else!

For a few months now, I've had this sneaking suspicion that I'm going to get screwed over. Let me elaborate, you see today BoLS posted an article talking about the rumored to-be-released armies for next year. CSM is nowhere on that list. Nor have I heard any chatter/rumblings/news at all about them getting a new codex. It's also pretty widely accepted that GW is going to update every codex before they release a 6th edition of 40k. and it's anticipated that will only be 2-3 years away.

So what who cares? Well, what this means is that for the second codex in a row, the signs are pointing towards Codex Chaos Space Marines having the dubious honor of being one of the last few codices released in a lame duck edition AGAIN. I think everyone can agree that, for the majority, armies released before a new edition arrives are at a serious disadvantage (even when the codex shows foresight to new rules and changes for the new edition). And it's not really the design studio's fault, they do at least attempt to plan ahead a bit. But the meta game changes with each codex release, and as time goes on what's effective may be drastically different than what the designers had in mind. And like I said, it ain't for lack of trying. It's just something you cannot control for.

Why put so much stock into rumors? Because BoLS schedule rumors are pretty much spot on with few exceptions.

Don't take this the wrong way, there are absolutely other armies that are WAY more deserving of an update before CSM gets some update love, but being one of the very last updated armies again is going to seriously irritate me.

In other news, I'm apparently a masochist. Even though I'm still not done painting my Black Legion (but who finishes completely painting an army anyways?) I am going to take the leap into Warhammer Fantasy. Most of the regulars at my FLGS are getting into Fantasy. It's something I've been interested in for a while now. I like a lot of the story and lore, not as much as 40k, but I'm familiar with it enough since I played the Warhammer MMO for a few months. I think I'm going to play Lizardmen. The only other armies that interest me in the slightest are Skaven (didn't want to paint/build that many models) and Warriors of Chaos (I already got my evil Chaos fix for the most part). Unfortunately we already have people that play both those armies and I want something different (since we now have like 5 or so of us that play CSM at the FLGS). So far there aren't any multiples of any armies which is good. I enjoy that they are really strong in melee and in magic.

But of course, drawn like a moth to the flame, they are one of the last codices released from the last edition. BAH!

Thanks Tasty and I R Bad Blogger

2010-07-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to Tastytaste of Blood of Kittens for posting my article on Tzeentch on his site.

I'm not going to lie, I've been a bit burned out on 40k lately. But this might be the spark that reignites my passion for 40k. Part of the problem is that my friend who I play the vast majority of my games against plays Blood Angels and I don't have enough pew pew in my CSM list(s) to take down all his Storm Ravens, Dreads, and possibly a Vindi or two.

I apologize to the few readers I have for not updating more regularly, however one thing I refuse to do is to "break" news that BoLS, YTTH, Warseer, etc. have already gotten to.

I would like to have this post not be completely fruitless, so I'll leave you with two blogs I read on a daily basis and that inspire me as to what this blog may one day accomplish.

The first is Blood of Kittens, which has some very unique things like the community pimp, 40k D-bag (because drama can be hilarious if you're far enough removed from it), but what drew me originally was the coverage of all the GT's around the country (and Canadia).

The second is Brent's Strictly Average. His posts are precise, intelligent, and pretty freaking funny. As a plus he lives roughly in the same geographic area I do. His e-mails with Ron of FTW was quite amusing, as well as his stalking of Jawaballs.

Lastly, something I listen to every day as I am a huge Pardon the Interruption fan is The Tony Kornheiser Show, if you like sports (even though it is WAY more an entertainment show than a sports show) I HIGHLY suggest giving it a listen a few times.

Best. Orks. Ever.

2010-05-26T17:49:00.001-07:00

So I've been composing a list, doing a bit of shopping, and just generally getting an idea for a possible 2nd army. Orks. While browsing around I happened to catch a glimpse at the single greatest Ork army ever.

A Treatise: On the State and Origins of Tzeentch in 40k

2010-05-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

This is sorta pseudo fluffy and also a gigantic wall of text, you have been warned.

I have been reading The Inquisition War since Christmas (I'm usually much faster when I don't have school going on). It brings a lot of interesting ideas and sort of fluff theories. Also reading Just_me's wonderful article on the Emperor a few days ago inspired me.

I love Tzeentch, and Nurgle too to a lesser degree, the fluff the formerly loyalist legion how/why they fell, etc. I connect to it a lot. A lot of CSM players/fans and I guess more broadly anyone who is remotely interested in Chaos sort of have "their God." Some people LOVE Khorne and Slaanesh, they don't do a thing for me. Nothing, nada. But I really get Tzeentch. The desire to control, to hold forbidden knowledge, the mastery of powers others cannot comprehend. Hook, line, and sinker.

With reading Index Astartes, various other codices, and sources a (possibly) radical thought has emerged. What if all Chaos is the Lord of Change?

In older fluff (specifically The Inquisition War) it either implies or states that the Emperor's mind has become fragmented, often warring with itself through the various parts of personality now each made manifest as an individual voice. A deity with Multiple Personality Disorder. Cannon has it that Khorne was the first of the Chaos Gods to fully awaken. As each of the 4 (major) dieties makes up Chaos as a whole, couldn't they be the fragmented personalities of a whole? As Chaos was congealing different parts of the persona awakened, Khorne as rage/anger/hate, Slaanesh as excess/hedonism/pleasure, Nurgle as despair/stagnation/disease, and Tzeentch as change/knowledge/magic.

We could also then suppose that the Chaos God with the greatest emphasis of knowledge and ambition make up the greatest plurality, and therefore consciousness, of this evil gestalt. In the same way that the Eldar are hoping to form Ynnead, might the Great Schemer be plotting to become a singular evil deity?

I would like to challenge the assertion that Tzeentch "can never win." If the Changer of Ways ascended to the top (regardless of the absorption of the others to form one mega-evil) he would still be able to manipulate every being beneath him. There would still be ambition, backstabbing, and beings trying to claw their way to the top. Something like an infinitely vast corporate ladder that no one could truly hope to finish climbing. Their would still be the hope and drive to ascend by the Great Conspirator's puppets. He may even let a few of them come close to succeeding for amusement. Pages 152-153 of the BRB gives one of my favorite stories about Tzeentch and his manipulation of his antithetical brothers.

Diametric opposites abound in 40k. Chaos is the malevolent reflection of life in the Warp, with the Emperor generally seen as the embodiment of good (though he is not without flaw, due to inaction or other means). The C'tan are in many ways the evil opposite of Chaos. They abhor the warp, but still seek to keep all life in the universe under their heel. Each has their own agenda as well as a horde of followers. There's 4 C'Tan left. Technology vs. magic. Called Star Gods, etc etc etc. Though all of that is a discussion for another time. So could not this point to Tzeentch as the most direct opposite of the Emperor, and lead to a path that would only see Tzeentch (and therefore Chaos) ascending to its rightful place and finally shackling the galaxy once and for all?

To steal something from a great Edward Norton film, I'm going to end with a quote (from Codex: Daemons)

"Don't you see? My Master Tzeentch cares not which of the Great Powers of Chaos you serve.

In the end, aren't the followers of the Blood God changing valiant warriors into headless corpses? Aren't the worshipers of the Lord of Flies changing strong, healthy bodies into rotting, diseased carcasses? Aren't the disciples of the Dark Prince changing stern, steadfast heroes into slaves to their own senses?

Chaos is a struggle to change, you must agree. Change rules all."

TL;DR Tzeentch > all

Thanks to those that somehow managed to read all of that. I'd love to hear what anyone thought.
-Atrocity

Graduation

2010-05-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

So I recently graduated college (woohoo!), and will now have more time to devote to painting, playing, and the blog. That is until I go back to school in August. I am glad to know that other now college alum's (http://strictlyaverage.blogspot.com/) are feeling the burn of not being able to play in 'Ard Boyz this year since GW, in arguably the dumbest move of 2010, has moved it to the day EVERYONE graduates college. I'm totally not bitter. Whatever.

Since I'm still in pseudo-academic mode after turning in my Senior Capstone (aka thesis) I'm going to write a bit about the Black Library book I've been reading for some time and how I think the Emperor reflects in Chaos. Going to be sorta fluffy, but bear with me when it inevitably hits today or tomorrow.

Not Dead Yet

2010-05-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

No I haven't left the blog for dead quite yet, I just finished presenting my Capstone project (Senior Thesis) and am finishing up on 3 more projects and 2 tests I have this week. More to come (hopefully) within the next 7 days.

First Tournament Battle Reports Pt. 1

2010-03-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

Game 1: So my first tournament game ever I played a guy who used Ultramarines. It was his first tournament as well and we had to wait til 15 minutes in before he had returned from his hotel room to get his list and then he only had one for the judges so it had to be copied. It was awful! I don't want to bash the guy but there's something to be said for knowing what stats your weapons are without having to look EVERY turn. He also felt the need to use his laser pointer to check his models LoS all the time. Other than that he was a pleasant follow to play against. He ran a Termie Librarian with Smite and Vortex had a TWLas Razor, 1 10 man tac, 1 5 man tac, a Vindi with 2 storm bolters, a Dread in a drop pod with meltas, a 5 man scout squad (missiles and lascannons), a devistator squad (with Missles and lascannons too) and a group of termies with 4 PFists and a sgt with a Psword.

I have the scenario list in front of me and it was Capture and Control (aka 2 objectives) & Spearhead. I placed mine in a ruin close to my table edge with a rhino full of Plague marines, a DP, and 2 Oblits. He placed his in a ruin as close to the 12" dead zone as possible surrounded by scouts with his 10 man tac about 6" away from the objective. My Vindi, 2 rhinos, and a DP are lined up side by side to roll into him as fast as possible (these are also not even 12" from my objective ruin) with a lone Oblit in a ruin as close as I could get him to a balcony. Turn one comes and his drop pod with Dread comes in and takes a shot at one of my rhinos (due to scattering too far from the Vindi) and his termies come in and shoot at my vindi getting nothing. Takes some pot shots at rhinos and such and gets nothing. I fly my Prince and take out 3 of 5 termies and wipe them out on sweeping advance. My Obliterators blow up his Dread. and my Vindi blows his Vindi's cannon off. He immobilizes my Vindi and one rhino still staying back and shooting. I rush my lone unscathed right into his loose blob and they get blown out of their rhino and eventually wiped out later.

It gets down to turn 4 or so and we have 30 min left and I haul my Plague Marines from the immobilized rhino with a daemon prince flying close by gunning for that objective since mine is completely safe due to the vast distance. I am fortunately able to move my DP 12 and assault 6 to contesting his objective and assaulting with my plague marines the turn later since his 10 man tac squad had moved to get better shooting lanes and ended the game 2-0. I scored 17 for controlling both objectives and +1 for destroying his highest point cost unit. He scored 3 with the same bonus. Final 18-4.

StillCon Results and Breakdown

2010-03-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, so first let me say I had a TON of fun at my first tournament. Met some interesting new folks, saw some pretty sweet armys, and even saw 2 new guys from my local gaming store. The 3 of us who played (there were 2 others at the tourney who didn't play as one came with me and the other was GMing some D&D) it was our first tournament. Alas I did not win best newbie (damn painting scores!), but a fellow from our store did so I was definitely happy for him. The field we played in was a strange one but there were only 18 players (out of a max of 20 slots) and one guy had to leave after the first round to drive 6 hours to Nebraska to pick up his mom or mother-in-law who had broken down, ouch.

Here's the breakdown of the armies represented:

Blood Angels (PDF) -1

Chaos Daemons -1
Chaos Space Marines (including your's truly) -3 (and I might add the other 2 played Slaanesh lists without Lash DP's)

Dark Angels -1 (this was sadly played by the unfortunate guy who had to leave early)
Imperial Guard -1
Space Marines (Vanilla) -5
Space Wolves -1
Tau -2
Tyranids -3

Initial reactions? I was shocked to see no Orks or Eldar. I was also surprized to see that:
A. Tau made up ~10% of the tournament
B. Someone had actually brought Dark Angels
C. There was only 1 IG player

Granted this is a local tournament and there were only 18 players.

My goal, being my first tournament, was to finish better than last place in terms of both Overall and Generalship. Tomorrow I'll post my general reps and some shoddy pictures taken with my iPhone.

How'd I do? Well my first match I scored 18/20 (Massacre) against some Ultramarines>
My 2nd match I scored 19/20 (Massacre) against PDF Blood Angels (which weren't supposed to be let in as they were only doing bound Dexes but whatev's)

Great right? So in the 3rd and final round I ended up playing on Table 1 to determine (hopefully!) 1st in Best General against a pretty hard Tyranids list. Unfortunately I lost 7-14 on Battle Points but I placed 4th on Best General! The fellow who beat me didn't win the prize but when we looked at the Excel spreadsheet for the points he had the most Battle Points so we're not sure how he didn't win Best General. The point spread from 1st to 4th was all of I think 5 points. There were some crazy lists out there and I definitely lucked out with not being matched against a few folks but I ran a solid list in my opinion (http://legionsandchaos.blogspot.com/2010/02/stillcon-list.html)

StillCon Tomorrow

2010-03-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

So I've gotten everything done with the tournament cept painting the 2nd daemon prince (but he's got 3 colors on him!) and I will be finishing painting my last Obliterator in the next hour oh yeah and I didn't paint any of my plague marines as I was told that the only painting requirement was priming. I hope to have pic's and I will try to give a decent battle report on my 3 games sometime before Monday.

So far out of all the advice I have currently been given the best have been:
1. Don't leave your models unattended
2. Play the mission
3. Don't be afraid to get a ref

Wish me luck!

Scrubtastic Newbie Advice and Other Things

2010-03-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, just wait about 5 minutes. Yesterday started out 70 degrees and sunny, ended rainy and somewhere in the 50's. Today (the last Saturday of Spring Break) it's in the 30's and SNOWING. We had/have a Blizzard warning.

So to start us off I have actually gotten around and done some work on my models, just in the nick of time as I have ~7 days before my first tournament. Unfortunately I ran out of spray to prime my models, but I'm not procrastinating for once! While I wait for GW to mail me my black spray I've been working on the bottom half of my Daemon Prince (Done), I finished assembling all models except Obliterators and the Daemon Prince.

This brings us to something I plan on making a sort of column for this blog for beginners from beginners. Scrubtastic Newbie Advice, I dredge through the trenches of the interwebs so you don't have to.

Pinning?!?
I recently pinned my first models the other day and found a wonderful post on Dakkadakka (http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/239928.page). Since I was pinning Melta guns to my Plague Marines (in various poses), I used process #2, which is about 1/3 of the way down the page. I am also planning on possibly using method 1 on my Daemon Prince's wings if I don't soley use green stuff.

Green Stuff, A God Send

So I've read a fair amount on green stuff and for a completely inept painter/modeler such as myself this product is fantastic. It takes a little bit to get the epoxy and hardener to mix thoroughly and the consistency is slightly thicker than silly putty but it works wonders. I used mine to join a Powerfist to a Plague Champion in a way that wasn't going to work with the way the plastic on the fist was. Left mine on the window sill so that it would cure faster and worked like a dream.

I also used washes for the first time today, but that post is for another day. At Tuesday's Warhammer Night, I was unmercifully abused by a mech Eldar list. It was my first time playing against Eldar so I completely expected not to go out with a W. Part was the mission we played (Dark Eldar's Feigned Retreat). I figured I should try out some of the Battle Missions since there is a possibility that some may be at the tournament. Another factor of my downfall was I had absolutely no idea what my target priority was. Of course having 9 out of 10 shots from my Obliterators was about as much help as having the Demolisher Cannon blown off my Vindicator turn 2. When we called it at the top of turn 4 I had 2 kill points to his 5.

My next game was against one of our group's 2 I.G. players, we rolled for the mission with 2 Objectives and Dawn of War. I lose the roll for first, and because of the infernal rule that I have to start 18" from him, I start about 6" off my own board edge. Great. We both placed our objectives in ruins on the same side of our respective deployment zones. I castle up a Plague marine squad with a Winged Nurgle Warptime DP in a ruined building with my objective and toss my other Rhino by the other end of the board.

Being that I am the lowly new guy and he's returning after having taken all of 4th edition off we both think we have to roll for the rest of our deployment to come on, so until turn 5 when a vet tells us we're doing it wrong we keep rolling for things only to both be disappointed by horrible rolls. This also lead to me trying to deep strike my 2 Oblit squad to the flank of one of his tanks only to have them scatter off and mishap into destroyed. Yay! I also (incorrectly) tried something similar with my 2nd DP only to have fire amass into him as I forgot you cannot move or assault after having Deep Struck. Doh! The game ends a tie with my base force tearing apart anything that gets near and him more or less chaining my 3rd Plague marine force while my Possessed Vindi advancing and whittling away his force claiming his Objective. I have to say the Vindi won MVP. The second to last turn the vindicator takes 3 or 4 1's and 2's. The last turn my opponent said screw it and threw everything he had at the Vindicator (8 or so glaces and pens) only to come up with all 1's and 2's.

Our FLGS owner, we'll call him Brad, also apparently had a horrid night of rolling and at one point stormed over to the trash can and violently threw all his dice away. He confessed to throwing them away "so no one would take the stupid cursed dice and use them against me."

To Do

Paint Rhinos
Paint Plague Marines (waiting on Primer)
Paint/Assemble Daemon Prince (waiting on Primer)
Paint/Assemble 2 Obliterators (waiting on Primer)

To Do List

2010-03-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well since I went out of town for 4 days this week I didn't get anything done and have approximately 19 days left until my first tournament. In order or priority

Finish building and painting 2 squads of Plague Marines (and pin Meltas)
Finish painting and assembling Daemon Prince (pin/greenstuff wings too)
Finish painting 3 Obliterators
Prime and paint 2 Rhinos

Things I've actually done? Built 2 Rhinos, a Vindicator, Painted a 3rd Rhino (done months ago), partially assembled Obliterators, cleaned Plague Marines, Assembled first squad of Plague Marines, and pinned meltas on one squad.

Looks like I got my work cut out for me. Wish me luck!

Also wanted to plug http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com/ his contest top 10 had some really awesome artwork. My 2 favorites are the one with the skull wreath and the bloody hand print (which is now my computer's desktop). Great models on there too but I'm sure most know of his blog already.

StillCon List

2010-02-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

So I think I have decided the final list I'm going to run in the 1.5k tourney. This is part motivated by the models I have (or recently bought) and part motivated by the fact that as of late I've found my force crippled as opponents would just focus fire my Oblits down and whittle me down from range.

HQ
2 Winged Nurgle Warptime DPs

Troops
3 squads of 7 Plague Marines with 2 meltas, champ w/ a PFist and dedicated rhinos.

Heavy
1 squad of 2 Obliterators

1 squad of 1 Obliterator

1 Daemonically Possessed Vindicator w/ Combi-plasma (because I can't afford 3 more points for the Havoc Launcher)

It's a pretty simple list, I don't expect to win anything. What I do expect is that this particular force will make my opponents have to choose wisely what their target priority is. Recently my problem has been that I get crippled without any ranged support, the Vindi is a good distraction unit allowing my Oblits to live longer, my Daemon Princes extra time to maneuver into place, and/or give me another firing platform if they don't go for the bait and take out Oblits instead.

First Tourney/Wall of Text

2010-02-25T16:59:00.001-08:00

So at last week's Warhammer Night I played against the new Nids and got tabled by a 1500 list that put Bone Swords and Wings on everything he could. I wanted to weep at the thought that there was nothing my plague marines could do as I promptly got tabled (for the first time ever) at the end of turn 4.

My second game was against a Ruff Rider IG list which was honestly a lot of fun to play against. He used an executioner and let me be the first to say that that thing is aptly named. That damned tank was brutal MURDER. Where we had decided to end it I won 1-0 but had it gone on it would have been either a tie or (more likely) a loss.

I didn't play this weeks Warhammer Night because I was spraying a couple models and didn't want to scrap together a 2k point list. I did get a chance to use my google machine and look up the only convention in Oklahoma where there is a 40k tournament. It's in that dreaded backwater known as Stillwater. The name of the Convention is StillCon, which is in its 2nd year. According to the website "We are a community of gaming guys and gals who want to keep the gaming convention, formerly known as Steelcon, going in Stillwater, Oklahoma." I did some research, asked the organizers some questions (found out it was a 1.5k tourney instead of what was advertised as 2k) and got promptly signed up. It's 20 people and there will be $150 worth of 40k GW product going as prizes. It's a Rogue Trader Tourney which doesn't mean a whole lot to me as this is my first tournament ever. It's march 26-28 with the 40k tourney on Saturday the 27th. It's only $20 for pre-registration for the whole weekend (even though I'm only going for the 40k). They will have Magic, Legend of the 5 Rings, 40k, and miniature painting competitions. They will also have open games of Munchkin, Panels, open RPG games like D&D, and samurai movies going on that weekend. In the incredibly vain hope that someone out there other than yours truly reads this you should check it out and offer me some advice.

http://stillcon.com

In other random news, I picked up "A Thousand Sons" and read the preface by Ahriman and thought "Damn that's good!" But before I begin it I want to finish reading "The Inquisition War" omnibus which I am only a few chapters in on the second book. It's good so far, lots of twists. As far as my favorite Heresy books go, Legion is definitely number one. The first three are great, I'm a Black Legion player and I definitely enjoyed them. Eisenstein was good but I kinda got bored with it but it definitely gave (for the most part) a lot of good closure. Fulgrim was good but a bit of a long read and started to get me uninterested when it wasn't talking about the Primarchs.

I'll be browsing the other blogs and BoLS and such for advice on my first tournament. And of course working feverishly on painting and constructing my models (got my melta bits for my PM's today!) Hopefully I get everything done in time!

1st Relevant post

2010-02-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

A copy of what I ran at the 1250 night.

2x Daemon Princes (Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Warptime)

3 squads of 6 Plague Marines with 2 meltas, a Plague Champ with PFist, and dedicated Rhino

2x Obliterators

So my first night at the FLGS's Tuesday Warhammer night. I was surprized about the turn out. A little over a dozen guys there, most painting, a couple watching, and a couple painting/building. There were Blood Angels, 'Crons, CSM (I was the 3rd CSM player), IG, Templars, Nids, SM, etc.

I ended up playing against the Templar guy. He had only come back to the game recently after taking 2 editions off. We played kill points and I lost barely but it was a fun experience. It was fairly different than playing against Vanilla marines. They are going to be scary once they get a dex update. He said he usually plays Dark Eldar. I have limited experience against anything except SM, BA, and 'Crons. Went well, one of my 2 Princes rolled horribly and whittled down his 10 man squad surrounding his Emp Champ to 1 person + the HQ. The other Prince wrecked house until the last turn in the game where it was LITERALLY every unit he had up against my Prince. I think I would have won the game had I not rolled miserably on my Oblit's shots, or you know, managed to remember something as trivial as the fact that my Plague Marines have Blight Grenades. I guess being part of being a newbie is forgetting something at least once a game. It was also an unbelievably slow game since we both had to look up entirely too many things.

I do have one bone to pick about the folks at the FLGS. No one plays objectives. Everyone kind of lines up and just meets in the middle and goes. Totally takes away a large element of strategy from the game. To the tune of 2/3's of the entire damn game. Kills my eternal soul.

Introduction

2010-02-09T12:57:00.001-08:00

I am a student at the University of Oklahoma. I began 40k after a friend had introduced it to me many moons ago (some time in 3rd Edition). During that time I really loved the story but never had an overwhelming desire to build and paint my own army.

I began making my own army in May '09 (with my money I got from selling my books back that semester). While I wasn't playing I 40k I spent a lot of time on various wiki's (most notably Lexicanum) and spending hours reading about various aspects of the universe. I was and still am enthralled with the Primarchs, Horus Heresy, and all of the circumstances involving their fall.

I am a FNG and a pretty scrubby painter, but am constantly trying to improve and all comments and criticisms are welcome. I decided to start this blog because I spend entirely too much time on BoLS and reading other people's blogs.

With that out of the way, I am going to my second 40k night at the FLGS playing a 1250 list (that I will hopefully be able to post tomorrow with results.)

Here's hoping that everyone doesn't wipe the floor with me.