Ivellos

Malifaux first mini almost done!

2010-11-23T00:25:00.003-05:00

Working away all day today since I didn't have internet on this mini for my Guild Crew.

I'm BACK

2010-11-21T22:04:00.002-05:00

So it's been a long time and plenty of things have gone on. I moved, I bought stuff, I sold stuff, I played tournaments, I almost got in a fist fight over 40k (not my fault I'm not that crazy), I started a new game, I found an amazing new game store, and right now I'm unemployed.

No need for details really at this point but on to whats important... Hobby!

I finished my Cryx Army a while back and never finished posting and if I remember correctly the pictures I had were slightly lacking at the time thanks to how much of a pain my setup was to take pictures with.

The Family as a whole.

When moving one of the first things I looked for was a good local game store and like I said above I found one, Battlegrounds in Abington, MA. Everyone there I met so far has been awesome and I have gotten to play a ton of new games the regulars are all really awesome and inviting not to mention the people who work there are also awesome not to mention they have a sister store in Plainsville that was just recently opened.

That said, while i was there I saw quite a few people playing Malifaux and decided to pick the game up traded a few models away and ended up with both rulebooks and a Sonia Creed boxset as well as a few other items to boot. That is what I will be working on next I will try to post that up here as well.

Look forward to more!

What happened?

2010-10-08T08:23:00.002-04:00

I used google chrome to post stuff yesterday but for some reason it didn't reduce the size of the images so I will have to fix that later on when I get the time. It also neglected to post some pictures and while I don't have them all to post right now I do have the front of the Reaper jack. I will make sure that I get some pictures of the Seether later on and I can also do full army pictures at some point.

Cryx Finished

2010-10-07T10:23:00.003-04:00

So I have been really quiet lately and I'm sorry for that. It has been extremely hectic at home my girl had no job and then found one and now is moving to MA while I am stuck moving to my Dads until I find a new job there. Not to mention my birthday passed by on the 22nd and I got some video games and have been playing those and neglecting my hobby time.

Thus I have been working on my painting less and less. But I did finally finish the Cryx so here are some fun pictures of my more recent work.

Mid September Pictures WIP

2010-09-17T11:25:00.000-04:00

So I have quite a few projects Mid work and finished. I will post some nicer pictures later on but for now this is what my desk looks like:-P

Lots of Games

2010-09-11T10:52:00.000-04:00

So I haven't been posting much because the camera was tied up with wedding photos and I have been keeping quite busy preparing for my second try at running Dark Heresy which happens to also be the second time DM/GM'ing.

Most of my gaming has been during my Wednesday gaming group recently. We have been playing a ton of Battlestar Galactica the board game. So much so that I decided to order the expansion which apparently adds a ton of depth to an already great game. I did also order the board game Descent which is just a HUGE box of craziness.

This past Wednesday I actually ran Dark Heresy for the second time like I said above its the second time that I have tried to run it and while I feel like I was less prepared as I had been previously the game night seemed to go quite well. I did run the same pre-done campaign as I had with another group, Maggots in the Meat, from the GM book.

Wednesday has been basically my only gaming day anyhow so I did have people coming over early for game night to play 40k and got a few games in that way. Sadly my normal Tuesday campaign has been rather slow in the gaming department. Hopefully this week will prove to be better for that.

In the hobby Department I finally finished the last piece of terrain for the commission a few days ago and have just been waiting to drop it off to him on one of our campaign days. I will try to get some pictures of that and other things I have been working on recently soon. Finally I ordered some Battlefleet Gothic miniatures for my Sisters of Battle. I want them to be the sisters of battle fleet so if I ever get to do a campaign the way I want then I can use them.

More soon!

Bachelor Party Tonight

2010-08-28T09:37:00.000-04:00

Oh snap that's me!

For some reason I didn't get to posting Games Day pictures yet since I have been keeping busy. Here is a random spattering of the pictures that the woman and I took while we were there. You can find all of them in the games day Picasso album here.

Since games day I have been working on the Terrain slowly. My "client" told me to wait a week because he had things to do so I have been taking my time. Thus I have also been working to finish one of my Cryx Warjacks. Which I will say seems to be shaping up quite nicely. More Later:)

Games Day!!!

2010-08-19T08:44:00.002-04:00

So I haven't done much hobby work in the past few days as I have been keeping busy with other things in my life. Plus after frantically painting and working on all that terrain I was slightly burnt out. I have 2 weeks to finish the terrain so I should be done before then and finally getting to work on the last of my own things.

In other news Games Day is closing in! Sadly none of my friends are going this year mostly thanks to how disappointing it was last year and just life in general. Hopefully I will meet some cool people and get to have fun. I don't think I will be bringing my army with me but I am still considering it. More Later.

Last Part of Terrain

2010-08-13T13:19:00.000-04:00

So on Tuesday I dropped off the eight pieces of FW terrain and picked up the last 3 huge ones. These last ones are just huge one of them is the FW Factory piece that they had with the extension to make it even taller. Work has started on these three and this set started kinda roughly...

The guy that I am doing this for glues down all his metal miniatures and resin with some weird orange glue that is similar to rubber glue and when I went to clean the release agent off of the resin the glue lost its hold and everything came apart. So I had to scrape, peel, and cut off all the glue then re-glue and pin everything on. I didn't fix the warping that all 3 of the bases had but he had told me they were fine as is. I also took the time to clean out the windows that he hadn't as well as fix all of the walkways which were glued on and ever even had the extra parts clipped off.

After doing all of that and gluing everything back together I primed everything and started the base coats to it all. There is quite a bit more detail in these pieces. But it will be a fun challenge to finish. When I finish I plan on finishing the two Warjacks for the Cryx Faction that I have left over so they will be done and I can move on from there. I did finish the Warwitch Siren and will get some pictures posted soon enough.

Oh also I did finally get in the Repressor Kits that I ordered from someone. So I now have 4 Repressor kits but im missing one bulldozer blade! I will have to figure that one out.

Terrain Lots O' Pictures

2010-08-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

While I still have one more piece to finish up which is close to being done for now here are lots of pictures of what I have finished today. (Doesn't include the original pieces.)

Lots of Different games!

2010-08-05T15:51:00.002-04:00

So my posting has become slightly infrequent and I'm just going to simply blame life! I have been quite busy ever since the economy claimed the job of someone close to me.

Before I get to rants about Off Topic stuff. I have been working frantically on my commission terrain work and I am almost done with everything. After some hours of work I have a banner to paint and then I will have finished 2 large, 3 medium, and 3 small Forge World City Fight Ruins to bring me to a total of 3 Large, 3 Medium, and 5 small. There are only two or 3 Large/Huge remaining pieces to complete.

As I mentioned in my last post Starcraft 2 came out just over a week ago and I have been on that game like a fat kid in a cake factory. While there are some things that are lacking the game they are so over powered by all the things I enjoy about the game that its sucking up all my time. I was able to complete the campaign 3 days in and have been playing muti-player for the past few days since then.

In other gaming news my DM came over with his wife for a double date and we busted out the Battlestar Galactica board game. While I have owned it for probably over a year at this point but the only time I tried to play it was with a group of people that the game just ended up being no fun with. This timewas actually a great experience for the guys, albeit slow thanks to the lack of rules knowledge, the girls hated the game since it was quite complicated and just too much to do. My DM and I ended up playing again last night after DnD with one of the guys and that was just as much fun and much quicker now that we have the rules down.

Promised Update

2010-07-30T08:16:00.004-04:00

So like I said I did get the Bane Thralls done the other day I just didn't have the time to take pictures of them but now they are below. I also included my currently WIP of the Warwitch Siren as well as the project after the rest of the Cryx are finished, the almost done WIP Trygon.

Char

2010-07-29T16:01:00.000-04:00

So this week has been... Interesting.

Hobby wise not that much has happened I did get some painting done while not much I'm on my way to having the Cryx Army complete so I can start working on other projects, after that I think I'm going to finish the Trygon right after the Cryx just because it's almost done, and then I have to decide what to do from there. I did get some painting done on all of the Terrain that I have from my commission. It was heavily delayed thanks to no airbrush for a week plus the guy that I'm doing it for isn't going to be around for a week or so thus I have extra time now, not that I ever had a time frame.

I did also get a game of 40k in. I got to play my Sisters of battle against Necrons in the "Kele" campaign that I am currently in. It was a planet strike mission and I was heavily fortified in a defensive position. I think the game was decided before we even began as I ended up with 650 more points to start the game with vs an army of only Warriors, Scarabs, and Tomb Spiders since thats how this phase of the "neutral" Necron assault starts. Was fun and a good time but I almost feel bad when a game is that heavily weighted.

As for OTHER things going on. The thing that has been taking all of my time for the past few days has been Starcraft 2 so that has been sucking my soul and honestly it probably will do that for quite some time since its an amazing game. Then there was some personal stuff that happened which sucks relating to jobs but whatever.

I will try to get some pictures of the Bane Thralls tonight and post those hell maybe I can get some painting in after that as well. On another note related to the Sisters army I due to the personal stuff I was unable to purchase the Battlefoam bag recently during the Golden Boota day so I still have no army transport for them but before that occurred I found someone selling 3 Penitent Engines, snagged those, and someone selling some FW Repressor Kits and got those for a nice little discount. So I am well on my way to getting the sisters moving on the battlefield.

2010-07-22T09:19:00.002-04:00

So since I last posted I did my best to hammer out as much as possible. I managed to finish the Bane Thralls however I did not take any pictures of that. I also painted my Cryx Leader up Iron Lich Asphyxious after spending the better part of Wednesday on him.

I had this squad sitting around as well figured I would toss them up on coolminiornot.com most of the pictures i put up there are available for viewing under the same id Ivellos.

Finished and WIP

2010-07-19T23:07:00.004-04:00

Some Quick pictures of a few finished items.

As well as what I am working on currently.

The Pile on the Desk

2010-07-19T09:03:00.003-04:00

So I have a TON of stuff sitting on my desk waiting to be painted. I'm not there right now but this is a list of the things I can remember that I have. I'm going to put this list on the side of the page and keep it updated as best I can for what I have painted.

Warmachine

Cryx
Iron Lich Asphyxious
Deathripper
Classic Reaper
Seether
6 Bane Thralls
Warwitch Siren

Khador
Forward Kommander Kratikoff
Kommander Sorscha
Kommander Orsus Zoktavir
Kommander Strakhov
War Dog
Classic Juggernaut
Classic Destroyer x3
Kodiak
Beast-09
Mechanik Chief & Assistants
Iron Fang Pikemen
Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard Bearer
Widowmakers
Kossite Woodsmen Unit
Kayazy Assassin Unit
Kayazy Assassin Underboss

40K

Dark Angels
Dark Angels Master of the Ravenwing

Witch Hunters
Witch Hunter Inquisitor Lord & Retinue
Witch Hunter Henchmen
Witch Hunter Inquisitor
Celestine the Living Saint
Witch Hunters Imperial Confessor Kyrinov
Witch Hunters Imperial Missionary Jacobus
Sisters of Battle Canoness x3
Witch Hunters Preacher
Sisters Repentia x18
Witch Hunters Callidus Assassin
Arco Flagellants x6
Battle Sisters 6 Squads of 10
Sisters of Battle Seraphim 3 Full squads
Sisters of Battle Exorcist FW Models
Lots of Others Like Heavy Weapons

Fantasy

Skaven
3 Boxes of Clanrats
Warpfire Thrower
2 Skaven Warlock Engineer
Skaven Doomwheel

Possible Color Schemes

2010-07-17T13:51:00.003-04:00

New Scheme Needed!

2010-07-16T13:22:00.000-04:00

So with the loss of my Sisters Army and after getting models to replace the old ones. Problem is I can't decide if I should resurrect the same colors or if I should do something new! I'm going to try do some work on one of those Army Painter programs online from Bolter and Chainsword.

On another note I finished up all of the objectives/strategic tokens that I was working on and started to finish the Bane Thralls that I have had sitting around. Below are some pictures that i took quickly with my cell. While not of good quality it gets the idea across.

Airbrushing 102

2010-07-15T11:44:00.000-04:00

With some of the basics over with I am going to probably have another post or two on any other information I can compile and possibly help people with as well as just have some opinions as well.

So were going to start with my setup recommendations.

Airbrush - In general I would suggest starting with a dual-action top feeding airbrush. Why do I suggest this? The target audience for this blog is 40k and miniature war-gamers and were going to want to use the colors that we are used to thus hobby paints which are generally thicker. So we having gravity help us with getting our thinned paints through our brush is quite nice. Also for us having a dual action brush with let us do fine detail for cool bits and also we can go full blast and base coat.

Air - Get a compressor! Quiet or not you want to get a compressor even if you put down a good deal of cash its worth the constant and in the end free air that you get. There are a few things you should consider about a compressor as well though most of what I mentioned already but were going to cover it all and a little more real quickly.
Moisture Trap - There are two kinds, attached to the compressor and inline, it really doesn't matter which in my opinion but you need one. Moisture traps stop any water from getting out and into your line, airbrush, and thus onto your art. If you don't have a moisture trap water will eventually build up in the line and pass through the airbrush. When the water comes out your paint will spurt and be far too watered down and it will literally spit water downed color.
Regulator - Not as needed but still useful and often connected to the moisture trap. This will let you change the pressure of the airflow where most of these hobby works are done at 15-25 psi there are some people who work even higher. In the end unless you have a compresses that only works at 15 or 20 psi you should probably have a regulator so you can change the psi per application. Lucky for us most compressors come with one built in.

PSI - Speaking of psi like said above you will probably be working in a range of 15-25 but possibly even 10-35 or even further out. You do not want to be working on 100 psi even if your compressor can put that out its just too much. In the end you probably want to get something that can put out a consistent 35 psi just to cover all your bases.

Extras - As with most hobbys there are also things you don't need but are helpful to have and I wanted to help people find some of the ones I have found useful so far.

Quick Disconnect
This is a great little addition so you can just pop the airbrush off and bring it to the sink to clean.

Airbrush Stand
Most of us only have 2 hands and thus its hard to hold and airbrush and mix paint and move things around while one has the airbrush in it. Well a desk clamp with a airbrush holder on it is just perfect.
Iwata-Medea Cleaning Station

This is basically the above plus its a station that you can use to get rid of the extra paint, overflow, and use it as somewhere to spray the cleaner. That's it for right now.

You can check out the previous Airbrush posts below:
101 Part 1 - Airbrushes
101 Part 2 - Air
101 Part 3 - Paint

Photobox and Markers

2010-07-13T09:19:00.001-04:00

Took some more pictures of already painted figures with the new photo box. So just a quick post nice and early in the morning. I will get some work done on the Markers and Part 2 of the Terrain today.

First off we have some Cryx.

Then some Skaven Slaves.And some Khador. Finally just a picture update of some of the markers I put up yesterday.

Up a little early but I probably wont paint until late tonight so who knows.

Objective Markers

2010-07-12T13:12:00.000-04:00

So this is just a quick update for what I have been able to work on slowly.

.

First we have the 2 already finished squads of Sisters of Battle then the Faith tokens I decided to make out of the rhino door icons. I need a few more of them so that when I run a larger game I can actually keep track of all of them but this should do for now.

I started work on the third squad just need to finish a few things with them and then glued down.

Finally, the other day I noticed I had this little box sitting around full of objective markers so I figured I would work on those. So I started putting them on bases after giving them a nice soak and scrub. I'm planning on tossing on some resin sand then painting them up.

Airbrushing 101 - Part 3

2010-07-12T10:34:00.000-04:00

In this section of Airbrushing 101 were going to be looking at the last main part of the equipment the paint.
Paint
This is really a gigantic subject and in no way will I be covering all of it. I will be looking at airbrush specific paints and hobby paints and what you need to do to to make them work with an airbrush. There will be less comparison and this section is slightly different to those that precede it as I am no expert on paint.

Airbrush Paint - This includes Createx, Testors, One-Shot, and even Vallejo Air paints which are all made and formulated to be put through a airbrush. Each brand has different lines intended for different things such as painting cakes, nails, automotive, and t-shirts. They are all formulated for specific applications and while not necessarily for minis most of them will work. The nice thing about these paints is they will either come ready to be pushed through a airbrush or the brand will have some form of thinner they sell that is formulated to go through as a 1:1 or 2:1 ratios. Thus you only need to mix two things with no special formula thus it is quite easy for use. The one fault that these have is they are generally softer than hobby paints (although I would assume Vallejo Air wouldn't have this problem) thus don't take as much wear and tear and will rub or even possibly peel off if they are handled too much however a nice varnish or clear-coat should eliminate that problem.

Hobby Paints - These are the ones that we are all used to painting with on a daily bases and are intended to be applied via a brush. They have far more pigment and generally the pigment particles are larger and coarser than in Airbrush ready paints. Thus even with a paint being thinned well you may run in to problems with clogging more often. This is going to be where you have to work some magic with a nice mix of paint and other additives to get it through the airbrush with as little clogging as possible. People add lots of different things to thin down the paint water, windex, and flow-aid are just some of the things I have seen or heard of people adding to the paint to thin it and make it easy to push through the airbrush.

Ink/Washes - Not really "paint" but ink and washes are great for quick shading. Its almost the same as when you do it by hand but at the same time quite different. If you use ink and washes already then you should know how to use them. Nice thing for them is you can dilute them with something like matte medium or even water to get them down lighter than they were and possibly add other properties as well. Shading can also be done in other methods such as "pre-shading" but those are techniques that could possibly covered later.

While the above is mostly general information I do hope its somewhat informative. Possibly later on I can discuss more specifics such as how I mix my paint and how others do it as well. Maybe even some techniques that can be used to achieve better results.

Airbrushing 101 - Part 2

2010-07-11T16:19:00.000-04:00

In part two of Airbrushing 101 were going to continue looking at the Equipment involved more specifically the Air and how you get it to your airbrush.
Air
There are a few different tools to use for air to push the paint out of your airbrush while all end up being expensive I will explain what they are how they work and what it means for cost.

Canned Air - Exactly what it sounds like, this is a can of compressed air that you can connect to your airbrush. This starts out as a low investment at 6-10 bucks a can for the larger cans but over time this will add up quite quickly. This method also comes with the problem of pressure not being consistent. This is due to not just the can losing pressure but also because as the air comes out it causes the can to get extremely cold and thus the can loses internal pressure.

Compressor - This is a large subject and there are multiple things to consider when looking at compressors.

Tank vs. No Tank - A compressor without a tank is going to be running the entire time you use it constantly working to get the air flowing. This can be a bad thing it will cause the compressor to always be warm thus generating moisture more consistently. Also this constant working means that the machine is pulsing air opposed to streaming air. That constant pulse can show up on your work under the right (or wrong) conditions thus your paint flow wont be as consistent as it could be. There is a plus however, a compressor without a tank is generally quite less expensive. Having a Tank eliminates most of the problems you can have that I mentioned the airflow will be more consistent and because of less heat being generated there is less of a build up of moisture, which is an issue that we will tackle another time.Noise - This is a huge issue for some people and for others its not a big deal at all. This is really going to end up being a cost related problem. You can buy a large powerful compressor
from your local do it yourself store (Home Depot and the such) for cheaper than $100 and have far more power than you will ever need but if you live with anyone else or in an apartment they will be far too loud for that environment. As soon as you move to a quite style compressor you will probably double the price for something with far less power and with no tank or any extra bits but it will be use able in the home.

I will be ending with that for today, there are many other things to consider for everything we have covered so far and I plan on going into detail about each part.
Next up will be what to consider with paint.

Airbrushing 101

2010-07-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

So there are a few things to consider when you want to start out in airbrushing. To start we will begin with just the equipment in which there are 3 main considerations.
Equipment

Airbrush
The most obvious place to start with is the tool that you will be handling and that this is all named after the airbrush itself. There are many different tools that are available from various companies and each is unique in its own way. Were going to go over some generalizations about airbrushes and the types available.

Internal Mix vs. External Mix - The item were going to consider is how the paint and air is mixed. Regardless of the method the point ends up being that we are mixing air and paint together and pushing that paint at something. The most well known external mix airbrush in this community would be the Games Workshop Citadel Spray Gun, while not really being a "real" airbrush it is a great example of external mix just because even at a quick glance you can see it has two parts that meet one that pushes air and one that pulls the paint. External airbrushes generally end up with a coarse and stippled but can also push thicker paint through as well. Internal Mix airbrushes as one would assume mix the paint and air inside of the brush itself causing the paint to be atomized inside the airbrush thus mixing the paint far finer.

Single Action vs. Dual Action - This one thing makes a big difference in what you are going to do with you airbrush. If you are going to base-coat things only then you can get a single action airbrush otherwise you will want to be looking at dual action. Single action airbrushes are just on and off the flow of paint is always the same (there are ways to change it but it requires you to swap parts out). Dual action actually lets you control the thickness of the paint (amount of paint) coming out of the airbrush with the movement of your finger. It comes down to on and off vs off on-low, on-medium, on-high, and everything in between.

Top Feed Vs. Bottom Feed - Bottom feed siphons the paint up through a tube into the airbrush using the airflow. This means that you can just pop on and off the cups your using for the paint and swap between colors and cleaner really quickly without really worrying about having to totally clean the brush however the siphon feed makes thicker paint harder to get through. Top feed actually uses gravity and the air to pull the paint through so its actually quite easier to get thicker paint though.

I have seen quite a few tutorials on airbrushing popping up all over the web lately and as a new airbrush user I figured I may have a few good thoughts to help people out. Next will be the rest of the equipment and some personal opinions after my experience with the airbrushes.

New Photo Box

2010-07-07T23:44:00.000-04:00

So I saw someone post about a cool collapsible light diffusion box on 1dealaday.com and I ordered it. I figured that I could quickly post a photo of some miniatures. I painted the flamers a while back but since they are a metallic look its been quite hard to get good lighting on them and actually get a decent picture.

A few pounds of metal

2010-07-04T09:12:00.000-04:00

So over the past week or so I have been getting boxes in the mail from the trades that I mention previously. Two big trades and a few small things later and I spent $370 and have a ton of metal.

So with all those minis as you can see in the second picture I also ordered some Dragon Forge bases, which I need more of, and started to build models. I actually have been going all out on these each model goes through the the following steps.

Clip off the Tab
Clean mold Lines
Flatten Feet
Clean any other "junk"
Make sure there are no "sharp" edges
Drill Pin Holes and Bolter
Pin the Feet Backpack etc.
Clean the Base
Wash Everything in Soapy Water
Glue together

First Commision Terrain - Part 2

2010-07-01T12:53:00.000-04:00

So last week I posted Part 1 of my commission job for my friend. Since that time I finished all 3 pieces of terrain, returned them, and picked up a second set of pieces that will be featured in part 3.

When we last looked I had primed all three ruins.

Now we start the painting.

The base is going to be a dark brown with some lighter highlights and a Grey wall with some details.

Basing
Scorched Brown
Badab Black
Graveyard Earth
Desert Yellow

Walls
Codex Grey
Black Ink
Badab Black
Fortress Grey
Camo Green

Details
Boltgun Metal
Blazing Orange
Scab Red
Snakebite Leather
Badab black
Thraka Green
Leviathan Purple

I used my airbrush to put on the base colors Scorched Brown for the ground and Codex Grey mixed with some Black Ink on the walls.

I picked out a few details with the airbrush and then drybrushed the ground with a nice thick layer of graveyard earth and then Desert Yellow. Followed by the Walls with Codex Grey and fortress Grey.

Then was the details I painted all the metal bits Boltgun Metal, dabbed some Blazing Orange and Scab Red. After a quick drybrush of Boltgun Metal, wash of Badab Black all those bits were taken care of. Using the airbrush made adding a few nice things like a mossy color, Camo Green thinned by Matt Medium, to some of the corners and pillars as well as using black ink thinned to show some discoloration from fire in places.

After all is said and done I am proud of everything but I feel as if once I learn to control the airbrush slightly better then I will acheve better results in the final stages of adding the "mossy" colors and "fire/explosion" damage effects. I am also considering looking into some of the powders but I may wait on that until I start tanks. Until then Part 3 will be coming soon with lots more pieces of terrain.

First Commision Terrain - Part 1

2010-06-21T09:23:00.000-04:00

This is part 1 in what will hopefully be a on going and as in depth as I can handle making it on painting of Forge World terrain. I will be starting with one large piece of ruin and two smaller pieces as well which were part of the Cityfight line of terrain that FW was doing previously. There will be more pieces to follow as all of this commission job is in trade for the compressor that I ordered last week.

When I got the terrain it had already been trimmed and most of the flashing had been removed. So with that I had little to remove from the pieces but they were quite dusty and had never been thoroughly cleaned to remove the release agent. So that was the real step number one...

Items Required:
Oven Cleaner
Gloves
Brush
Soap
Sink
A good outdoor location

I rinsed the terrain quickly to remove the dust that had built up on them and then let them dry. With the detail this took quite some time this was really a hold up quite a few times. When dry I took everything outside and sprayed the Ruins with a good coat of the oven cleaner which then I had to leave for two hours for it to do its job. I use oven cleaner because it is an amazing greaser which will break down the release agent that FW uses on its molds.

After the oven cleaner has gotten a chance to work its magic on the release agent it was time to pop on those gloves and scrub the pieces with some soapy water and our brush. After a good rinse and a few hours drying it was time to shake up a nice can of Grey primer and give it a good thin even coat of primer.

Next will be the painting. So as soon as I get in the Compressor which should be arriving tomorrow so we shall start the good part then.

The Hunt

2010-06-21T08:06:00.000-04:00

To be honest my spirits were down after my army got stolen as you can see in the archive of this blog I had spent some serious time and really worked on those models lucky for me the insurance company let me quote them for the models being painted by a painting service. So with the refund check in my possession and a new compressor for my airbrush on its way I have been searching for good deals on replacement Sisters of Battle. I had found an amazing deal on Dakka Dakka with someone locally but he was sorta non responsive and when I finally thought we had reached a deal and I was planning on driving an hour and a half to go pick up the models and hand him the cash he bailed and "sold it to a friend". If he really did that's fine but I was frustrated since it was almost exactly what I had stolen from me.

Now I am working on two different deals that compliment each other quite nicely and will help me get enough Sisters for 6 full 10 woman squads with special weapons then when I go to Games Day I want to get a ton of Forge World so to complete the army. The deals also include some other units that may not be amazingly useful or get used often like Arcoflagglents but they will round out the army nicely. I will update with what I end up later on:-P

Up the pressure.

2010-06-12T08:05:00.000-04:00

While updates on this blog are quite infrequent and I often seem to give up on all the projects, I have not stopped painting or working on any of them. I have kept the camera right next to me as I slowly work on my miniatures and hop between projects, I will upload all of those pictures and add some posts to her to show what I have been working on in due time.
I have finally started working again with the airbrush and realized I really cant work with the compressor that I currently have it simply doesn't do the job. The pressure is too low for the paint I am trying to push through it, not to mention since it doesn't have a tank what pressure it does have is quite inconsistent. Due to this I am going to be doing some commission painting jobs, a friend of mine has a ton of Forge World terrain that he built but never actually painted. He suggested we work a deal out to get some of it painted and he can help with the purchase of a decent compressor. I figure if I'm going to get into this I may as well get a good one instead of a loud or just not good.

2010-05-29T14:28:00.000-04:00

Things have been less than stellar for me lately, my current job leave me with Tuesday and Wednesday off and stressed out all the time. While you would think having those days off can be awesome for getting some things done those really end up being the only two days to do ANYTHING because the rest of the week you are trying to make up for not being around to chill with friends on the weekend. But without turning this post into a bitch fest there is one thing that happened recently that really affected my hobby in a negative way...

Last week my car was broken into and I had the contents of the car stolen sadly this included an entire painted Sisters of Battle army. It's the army that I was planning on playing in tournaments and was using in the campaign I am playing in currently. That was probably 1500 points in models if not more in the end. Luckily today I found out that I would be getting about $1700 back from the insurance company for my loss, while that is awesome I now sit in a crappy situation.

Do I:
1. Rebuild the army from the models I have left over and not painted while buying new models to replace what I had before.
2. Go to the store and just buy the army over again so I had exactly what I had before.
3. Sell all the stuff I still have and call it a day?
4. Pay bills with the cash and just sit on what I have deal with the army later or buy shit later on with my own cash?

etc... sigh...

Other than THAT. I did get some work done on the Cryx Starter army and I will be posting things about that on both this blog and the PP forums, there are currently more updates there now. I also plan on getting some Vallejo Model Air paint to make things go easier.

International Delivery

2010-04-25T13:41:00.000-04:00

Since my last post it was suggested on the Privateer Press forums by Khadorian83 that I use Acetone to strip the models. While Pine-sol works wonders it takes forever and Acetone is close to instant. Within a few minutes you can start working on the models to remove the paint and it just tears through it. So after cleaning all of the models in one afternoon I am now at a halting point. I had to wait for the last few bits and my Bases to come in!

I actually ordered some bases from Ironhalo.net thanks to international shipping I have no idea when they will arrive.

2 x	TFBIS The Fens Base Inserts for 30mm Bases	$6.00 USD
1 x	TFBIM The Fens Base Inserts for 40mm Bases	$3.00 USD
1 x	TFBIL The Fens Base Inserts for 50mm Bases	$3.00 USD

Hopefully everything will end up looking awesome when they come in although this message I got doesn't feel promising:

"Your order was posted today.

International mail usually takes 4-7 days, but can take as long as 3 weeks or more if you are unlucky due to either our postal service or yours taking their time or customs deciding to sit on your parcel for a week.

Let us know if you have not received your order in two weeks."

In the mean time since I am playing Khador in the LGS tournament I cleaned some of my Kayazy Assassins and the Underboss. Then based them and got them ready for a nice primer coat.

Until I get some more stuff done...

Moving and Missing Models

2010-04-19T08:21:00.000-04:00

Moving can be quite a pain especially with a rooms worth of miniatures and the like. After staging my new spare room up as my "guys" room I went on the hunt to find the last of the minis I was missing. 10 random boxes later I found the Bonejacks in a Kitchen box with some T-Shirts and a brush cleaner. I am still looking for the medium bases for them but so far no luck, worse case I buy a pack of them, the last thing I need for thise 25 point army is the Warwitch Siren.

I did take the time last night to clean off the rest of the miniatures that I have and found some Pine-Sol to toss them in. Again I have no idea what the previous owner was thinking but he used something that reminded me of the "Nickelodeon Gak" and then on some of the miniatures he must have used rubber glue! Who uses rubber glue on miniatures? The parts came off easily but that glue is going to be insane to get off. Hopefully the Pine-Sol will remove it.

2010-04-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

I didn't get to do anything with the models as I am moving into a new home and well it's just hard to get much done. But I did get to snap some quick "Starting" photos. Mind you I already cleaned the reaper and the Lord but the rest are as delivered. I do still have to find the bonejacks in this mess of stuff...

If you notice how much glue is in the Reaper, that basically covered a good deal of the joints all over. I plan on giving these all a nice Pine-sol bath after I remove as much glue as humanly possible. I don't understand why someone would use that much glue and NOT Pin this stuff especially things like the Jacks which are thick and heavy.

Trading

2010-04-16T16:05:00.001-04:00

With the decision made to build a Newbie Cryx army it was time to shop around for the miniatures required to build said army. I am a big fan of Bartertown and eBay for buying miniatures on a budget, that said if I have the money I will buy from the LGS first especially since they offer 20% off there. With this being a "newbie" thing where I was going to do all the work and present it as a intro game I wanted to have this at the cheapest possible cost to myself thus I was shooting for 50% off if possible.

After some back and forth my first purchase was the Deathrippers for 50% including shipping. they weren't in the best condition and I will probably need to buy a pack of bases to replace the one that was based and all messed up.

The second actual purchase took a little while one amazing trade fell through that would have netted me everything I needed at 50% off but with a little persistance I actually managed to get almost everything I need for 50%. I purchased Asphyxious, a Reaper, a Seether, and a 10 man unit of Bane Thralls for 50% plus shipping. So although I got more than I needed for the Thralls I'm sure that they will eventually be used. Sadly this second purchase is going to need a LOT of work to be cleaned up. The previous owner went superglue crazy and from now on I will do my best to post pictures with this but it took me a solid 2 hours of work to clean up the Reaper and Asphyxious and free them from the glue. Most of the joins were totally and completely filled with glue some of which pooled into other details that i had to clean up as well. The "painted" models look like they were sealed with glue or some sort of THICK glossy layer.

I'm running into a funding problem for this right now as I only need one more mini but I just moved to a new place and have no cash. Hopefully by the time I get some of this work done and start painting I can get the last miniature on the list.

The Concept

2010-04-16T15:14:00.000-04:00

I am rather new to the hobby of miniatures and I am just now starting to expand to other new game systems moving on from one of the "large' systems to Privateer Press systems specifically Warmachine. I started playing just over a month ago from now when after much deliberation I decided on Khador and bought the starter box. About a week ago I listened to Iron Agenda Episode 81- New Player Talk / List for learning the Factions and decided that I should start a second faction with a limited budget/army size so that I could help teach others how to play. The episode went over each faction in a little detail and also gave a good "Learning" list for each.

After I decided that I was going to do it I listened to the Podcast again to hear the lists they put together and try to find the one to appealed to me the most. The Cryx list won hands down with the Iron Lich Asphyxious as he is one of the reasons that I started the game since he looks awesome. They were all 25 point lists and the Cryx one is as follows:

Iron Litch Asphyxious
2x Deathripper
Reaper
Seether
Unit of Bane Thralls (6)
Warwitch Siren

So the "Concept" is as follows.

To build a 25 point Cryx list geared for teaching new players various aspects of the Warmachine game while still retaining a competitive edge and to do so at as low a cost a possible.

Walking Nightmare

2010-02-28T00:59:00.000-05:00

With only one Troops choice even if I didn't already have some sort of plan for what to run with the new Necron army I'm building, there would be little choice as to what I can build. Regardless Necron Warriors are Essential to any viable build. The models are quite static and even with conversions, as cool as they may be, they are still repetitive. Thus most if not all of the Necron Warriors in this army will be converted in some way.

One simple conversion I have seen is the "walking" Warrior. Simply put the legs are cut, re-positioned, and then re-attached to the model so that it appears as if walking opposed to the stupid wide standing still stance normally seen. In addition to the legs the arms can also be cut and reposed even if it is to a lesser extent. I have gone and made it so the Warriors aren't holding the guns flat on their chests. Some of them will be holding them pointing strait out with a new hand placed on the models other arm. Others will be left handed as can be seen in one of the pictures I included. Regardless the hope is to make them less static.

The second model that is almost always included in a Necron army is a Lord. Since the Necron Warrior Phalanx came with a Lord with Resurrection Orb that will be the first to be built. It does help that a Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb and two Squads of Necron Warriors is 500 points exactly and that is a good point level to start with.

Hopefully I can get all 20 warriors done soon and decide on a painting scheme so I can start the first bit of painting. I did order some blue 3/32" rods to replace the green ones that come with the models as well as some slightly larger ones, 1/8, to cut up and use as the crystals as the bases usually have. With that order I got some weathering powders, plasticard, and a few other things to help with the modeling. Finally, I did a little trading and now have 5 more Destroyers and my 3rd Monolith on their way to my house.

This new army seems to be shaping up quite nicely.

Behold - The awakening of the Necrontyr

2010-02-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

When I started this hobby there were a few of the races that really spoke out and made me interested in the hobby. Even though I ended up starting with Tyranids and it has and will always be my primary army I as many other gamers are tempted quite often. During the past few weeks I let myself succumb to one of those temptations. I found a great deal on some new Necrons and now own a Necron Warrior Phalanx and an additional Monolith with 5 more Destroyers on the way.

Now I realize that there have been rumors around for quite awhile now that a new Necron codex is on the horizon... some day. From what I gather this would probably be in Fall at the earliest since next is the Missions book, then Blood Angels, possibly some WHFB after that. Honestly, I don't think a new Necron codex will be out any time soon. I suppose it doesn't matter as I would like to take the time to make this look good So I bought them in a hopes to be unique on the table and to bring some variety to my painting table.

But now I have 48 Warriors, 12 Scarabs, 11 Destroyers, 2 Monoilths, and 1 Res Orb Lord in the painting Que (That is over 2000 points). Im thinking that I will try some sort of weathered metal for all the joints maybe a white armor or something else and with blue rods and glow. Currently I am converting the Warriors to be "Walking" since I think their wide stance is a little lame.

Time Lapse and Fantasy

2009-09-23T08:11:00.000-04:00

I'm stupid and haven't posted in a while. I have been slowly painting away and I actually got the chance to play in the WWW from 40k Radio. I took 3rd at the store I played at in mass, which was awesome and the 131 group there is sick. Greywolf let me take his spot and for that I am thankful so I plan on going back there for more gaming to come. Other than that I'm currently borrowing my friends Skaven army for the WHFB tournament going on locally at Clockwork Comics. Won my first game against a daemon player, I actually massacred him by just walking around him and shooting the crap out of him ruining his ranks and killing his characters when they broke from the units.

Holy Jeeeze

2009-07-10T13:51:00.000-04:00

Totally haven't updated anything, hell I didn't even ever post my Games Day pictures! I will post those tonight if I remember and if I get the chance maybe I will even take some pictures of all the things I have finished painting since then.

I did notice however that I have a real problem. I think its a common thing amongst miniature collectors and painters. I NEED everything and I also want it all built and painted NOW. The other night I finished my first squad of Dark Angels painted in their new Metallic Green thanks to metcalfedan at Bolter and Chainsword for his guide and ideas on the metallic painting. I also have been working on my Ravenwing, Samuel Master of the Ravenwing, Daemons (which there are a lot of), and lots of sisters.

I did however get time to build the Exorcists the resin was a pain to clean off but not so bad. My friend recommended Oven cleaner and that really saved me from a nice of scrubbing. Left it on for a few min and then... done... it was quite nice.

I also picked up a Iron Halo Valkerie Base in a contest at BoLS and now I apparently need to pick one up and get it painted and take some pictures of it really quickly since I think i need pictures in in line 17 days or so. I'm planning on going to the store today and seeing if they have one there.

Games Day 09'

2009-05-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

Long time, lots going on.

I got back yesterday from Games Day 09' and I will say it was amazing but at the same time it was disappointing. I got there around 9:30, they moved the event to a different hall in the convention center which I think was slightly smaller but honestly had more than enough space left over. After finally getting past the lines to get in I got to stand in the worse line there... Forgeworld. Luckly this year they actually had what I wanted and I got to pick up three Exorcist Conversion Kits, 3 sets of doors, 3 hatches, and a Sisters Icon pack. While standing in line I saw some of the newer kits that are out and coming out all I have to say is WOW. Seeing pictures of these miniatures is nothing in comparison with seeing them face to face even through if some of them were through glass. Even though I'm thinking of getting rid of my Daemons I still would love to get the Khorne Daemon Prince and Herald combo just because there so sick.

After Forgeworld that I checked out the Resign Forge table where the two girlfriends (My friends and my own) played a rather basic senario with Tyranids and Space Marines for a while. It was basically just a 1k game that had lava and bridges. While the senario could be considered dull they weren't really there for that they were trying to showcase their bases and some of their awesome custom terrain. As said there was a river of lava running through the center of the board with some stone "bridges" that let models pass on it, some spires of rock that just blocked LOS, and then finally there were the Crystal Ridge peices that were the coolest part of the board. I was especially impressed by the Crystal Alter at the corner of the table it was a really cool peice. Other than that I looked at some of their product and I do belive that I will be picking up some of the biker bases if I decide to keep my Ravenwing/Dark Angels.

Meantime after sampling some of the horrible food that was at the convention center (don't get the spicy and sweet chicken at any event there its bad) I went and checked out a few other things which I will update about later on...

For now go check out the Belloflostsouls for pictures of some of the cooler things from the event. I will have my own pictures up hopefully sooner than later.

Revised Sisters of Battle List

2009-01-19T20:50:00.001-05:00

1000 Pts - Witch Hunters Revised

HQ:
1 Canoness - Cloak of St. Aspira; Jump Pack; Bolt Pistol (x1); Eviscerator

Troops:
9 Battle Sisters Squad - Bolter (x7); Meltagun (x2); Mount in Rhino
1 Rhino - Storm Bolter; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius; Krak Grenades; Bolter

9 Battle Sisters Squad - Bolter (x7); Flamer (x1); Heavy Flamer; Mount in Rhino
1 Rhino - Storm Bolter; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius; Brazier of Holy Fire (x1); Bolter

9 Battle Sisters Squad - Bolter (x7); Flamer (x1); Heavy Flamer; Mount in Rhino
1 Rhino - Storm Bolter; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius; Brazier of Holy Fire (x1); Bolter

Heavy Support:
7 Retributor Squad -Bolter (x3); Heavy Bolter (x4)
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius; Storm Bolter

Immolator - Twin Linked Heavy Flamer; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers

Total Roster Cost: 1000
___________________________________
So I took some time to check out the list and revise it a little. I took off a few pointless items like the Book on the Cannoness. I also made the Melta squad a full Melta so it would be more focused. Finally I added the Brazier of Holy Fire for an extra flamer attack. Any input will gladly be taken.

One down... Almost.

2009-01-19T04:05:00.000-05:00

I just finished up 6 of the last 10 models I need to paint for my 1000 point Sisters of battle list and I was thinking about what to do next. As I stated before I have quite a few projects that I would like to get done. My main goal is to get as much plastic, and metal, as possible painted.

I cant decide what to do next though. I have basically two boxes of the Ravenwing to finish building and paint as well as a good portion of regular Dark Angels to finish as well. I have the Black Reach boxset of marines and Orks as well. About 500 points in Daemons half done. Oh and a million small bugs and plenty of Sisters left after what Ive already done.

Feel free to tell me what I should do! To make it easy here's a bullet list.

Orks
Dark Angels
Ravenwing
Daemons
Terrain
Nids

If no one says anything I will probably just pick whatever is closest to me when I go to grab some models. :-P

Ah well. Back to painting, need to get the 6 backpacks done to really call these 6 finished:-P

Fail

2009-01-18T23:32:00.000-05:00

So I tried to post this earlier but it didn't work out so well. My computer decided to crash mid post. So although this wont be as nice. Here are the pictures I was meaning to post.

I'm mid painting 6 more and there almost done then I only have 4 left to paint before I'm done with the first 1000 point list.

As a whole so far.

2009-01-13T18:24:00.000-05:00

As promised I took a few quick pictures of what I have done with my Sisters of Battle Army. My Argent Quietus as I decided to call them.

Also as said in the previous post I'm working on 3 Heavy Flamers and 2 Heavy Bolters right now. Actually trying a different setup to get the white a little nicer and faster.
________________________
They may not be the best painted models ever but let me know what you think.

Heavy Bolter

2009-01-12T15:28:00.001-05:00

I haven't updated since I posted my Sisters of Battle list about 5 days ago and in that time I have been trying to paint as much as possible. While with these models I'm not being a speed painter I think with the time available I made a good dent.

So far I have painted the following:

Two Immolators that I had previously started.
3 regular Sisters
1 Heavy Bolter Sister
1 (Proxy Heavy Bolter Sister) Multi Melta

I have to base them still but I will be doing that at the end of the whole job. I plan on starting another set of five sisters tonight, they will be the Heavy Flamers for the 3 squads and the rest of the Heavy Bolters.

******

Now Ive been thinking about what to do with the Dark Angels and I think I'm going to start with finishing up 1k points in Ravenwing then work on the plain old Dark Angels since the Raven wing only has like 16 models or so for me to do in total for 1000 points.

______________________________
I will post soon with pictures of my miniatures. My question for this is what would your recommendation be for getting a cheap tripod? I figure I'll just pick up a crappy one from Bestbuy or something but If there's a good suggestion for cheap I would love to hear it.

First Painting/Army List

2009-01-07T14:53:00.000-05:00

1000 Pts - Witch Hunters

HQ:
Canoness
Book of St. Lucius; Cloak of St. Aspira; Jump Pack; Melta Bombs; Inferno Pistol (x1); Eviscerator

Troops:
9 Battle Sisters Squad - Bolter (x7); Flamer (x1); Heavy Flamer; Mount in Rhino
1 Rhino - Storm Bolter; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius; Close Combat Weapon (x1); Bolter

9 Battle Sisters Squad - Bolter (x7); Flamer (x1); Heavy Flamer; Mount in Rhino
1 Rhino - Storm Bolter; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius; Close Combat Weapon (x1); Bolter

9 Battle Sisters Squad - Bolter (x7); Meltagun (x1); Heavy Flamer; Mount in Rhino
1 Rhino - Storm Bolter; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Book of St. Lucius; Close Combat Weapon (x1); Bolter

Heavy Support:
7 Retributor Squad - Bolter (x3); Heavy Bolter (x4)
1 Veteran Sister Superior - Storm Bolter

1 Immolator - Twin Linked Heavy Flamer; Extra Armor; Smoke Launchers

Total Roster Cost: 999
____________________________________
Like I said in the previous post I'm making 1000 point lists of my Armys to paint up first. This is my Sister of Battle list, first revision, it may change but for now please leave some comments on it. What do you think?

2009 - Another Year Begins

2009-01-06T17:20:00.000-05:00

Thus officially begins year two of the hobby for me.

Through out the past year, and a little more, I have acquired many new "toys" and "little men" as the women in my life like to call them. There is nothing wrong with this, but just like everyone else I have a problem! I get more than I can finish modeling or painting.

So to begin the year my goals are:

First Finish 1k Points in Sisters that I currently own.
2. Finish my HT conversion as well as paint it.
Finish First 1k Points in Dark Angels that I currently own.
Play a Game with a New person.
Build at least one piece of new terrain for my board.

(I say currently own just because I "need" more to get the Army Builds I want but I want to paint what I have already.)

I have other ideas for this year as well but that's for another time.
___________________________________
This blog will feature my progress to my current goals, any ridiculous ideas that I come up with, and what ever else I decide to put in it. I plan on trying to keep it 40k only oriented. I'm going to post a list of all the models that I can find that I need to paint, 1k army lists with my current models, etc.

My question to everyone is what are your top 5, 10, xx number things you want to get done? and if people read this or the blogs in general what do YOU want to see posted on here? I know I have my list of things I want to do but what would make this interesting?

Clockwork Comics Summer 40k Tournament Game 7

2008-09-05T13:03:00.000-04:00

I've slacked on getting this done in a timely manner however this would be my week 7 of the LGS Clockwork Comics gaming Tournament that I played in. As this is over a week old it may end up being short, however its going to be good to look at for anyone who played Nids or plays against them as the Dark Angels player used a cool tactic that I didn't foresee coming.

General information:

Tyranid List-

HQ - Hive Tyrant Winged Scything Talons
HQ - Hive Tyrant Walking Dakka-Tyrant

Elite - Carnifex BS TL-Devourers
Elite - Carnifex BS TL-Devourers
Elite - Warriors 3 with Deathspitters and one with Barbed Strangler

Troops - Genestealers Acid Maw Scuttlers
Troops - Genestealers Acid Maw Scuttlers
Troops - Genestealers Acid Maw Scuttlers
Troops - Genestealers Acid Maw Scuttlers
Troops - Gaunts Spinefists WoN
Troops - Gaunts Spinefists WoN

Heavy Support - Carnifex Barbed Strangler Venom Cannon BS
Heavy Support - Carnifex Barbed Strangler Venom Cannon BS

Total: 2000 Points

Dark Angel List -

HQ - Master of the Ravenwing on Landspeeder

Elite - Scouts with Sniper Rifles
Elite - Scouts with Sniper Rifles

Troops - 10 Man Spacemarine Squad split into two Combat squads
Troops - 10 Man Spacemarine Squad split into two Combat squads
Troops - Ravenwing Squadron Split into Combat Squads
Troops - Ravenwing Squadron Split into Combat Squads
(One squad had Multi-meltas and one had Flamers on the bikes)

Heavy Support - Devastators with Heavy Bolters
Heavy Support - Vindicator
Heavy Support - Whirlwind

Deployment:

Going into the game we designed our lists knowing it was a 2000 point Pitched Battle Seize Ground (I get the two Objective games mixed up so It could be the other one). When we found out we were facing each other my opponent was excited as he knew my army and had a plan that he was discussing previously with his Son who also was in the tournament, more on that later. We chose his table that he brought to the game store and started setting up terrain. Unknown to me he had a particular plan and as he started placing "Impassible" terrain on the board I should have seen the Idea. Along the entire middle of the board he placed Impassible terrain one on each side and one in the middle so I ended up with two gaps I could travel through. I filled the rest of the board with random things to keep it looking sort of even and with no real plan other than to add things that blocked LOS.

As for the actual deployment. I do believe I won first turn and handed it over as to see how he deployed counter it and then hope to "seize the initiative". It worked in I got to see his deployment but I didn't end up with first turn. The Dark angel deployment was for the most part all in one corner of the board. All of his troops were basically lined up against the edge of the board. His Vindicator in LOS of a good portion of the board, the Whirlwind hiding behind a one of the bunkers, and the Devastator squad chilling out in back covering the middle of the board. I deployed across from him with a screen of gaunts across the front and the important MC creatures out in front so they were as close as possible. He also had Infiltrators, Scouts with Sniper Rifles, that he placed after me in the middle of the board but decently far away. His idea was to rend the hell out of my MC's that he could see.

Turn One:
So with turn one there was little the Dark Angel player could do but move forward. Once again being blind, still at this point, I didn't realize what he was doing with his Marines running them forward and basically lining them against the side of the board. If I remember my casualties were one or two Gaunts from the first turn shooting.

See the results here.

My Tyranid phase was quite a bit more effective. I managed to off a few marines as well as a couple scouts during my shooting. Not to mention my Flying Tyrant got ever closer to its target, the vindicator.

Turn Two:

One down and finally the Dark Angels plan was realized. His outflankers as well as some more SM movement meant that he had blocked off the entire side of his table edge and if I were to have to outflank on my right or if I wanted to I was forced to do so on the other side of the impassible terrain. As for what actually got on the board during this turn. He manged to get two of the bike combat squads on the table however they were both the ones he didn't want to show up. Over all the Dark Angels turn was not what he had hoped for as he didn't down anything. Though he did get the Two Hive Tyrants weakened considerably.

Then there was the Outflanking Genestealers! However due to his good tactics I was unable to place them anywhere useful. So there were two squads bunched up on the left side of the table, as I was forced to deploy them there, under the impassible terrain. There was also one squad coming out from the right to claim the objective on the so far dead side of the board. (The outflanking can be seen here and here.

I'll let the picture speak for me on how this turn went after outflanking was done...

So yea as you can see my turn two was rather effective. I managed to wipe out quite a few marines including the bikes that had had just come on the board. I also managed to squash another Sniper.

Turn Three:
So my last turn went quite well and now it was time for those Dark Angels to take revenge! More outflanking bikes came in one squad with multi meltas in the small gap right next to my Hive Tyrants. Oh and I cant forget the squad of termies that Appeared right where that vindicator I destroyed last turn had been. (Start of the turn basically looked exactly like this.)

This is yet another time where pictures speak louder than words...

Once again. Devastation. However this time its me who took the hit, losing both of my Hive Tyrants but I didn't go without a fight! During my turn I made the Master of the Ravenwing nearly useless knocking out its weapons and then followed that one two punch with killing all but one of the snipers not to mention a few more marines died once again including all the bikes on the table! I should mention also that my final squad of genestealers came on the board on the right hand side away from all the action during this turn as well.

Turn Four:
Things were looking good at the beginning of this turn the final squad of Bikes came in right next to the Genestealers in perfect formation to use their flamers to cause massive death! The Termies moved closer towards the massive horde of Tyranids and that's about all they could do.

Shooting and assault were the important parts of this round. The terminators ended up going for the genestealers in hopes to get rid of one squad that was threatening them but failed and were eaten alive. The Bikes demolished most of the squad it was targeting (Before andAfter Pictures)

My turn caused some more casualties and the death of the bikers before rolling for the 6th turn my opponent conceded the game and victory was mine.

Tournament Results 6-1-0 One Week Remains.

Clockwork Comics Summer 40k Tournament Game 6

2008-08-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

I was in a bad mood when I wrote this. Forgive me.

Tyranid Army

HQ:
Hive Tyrant - Enhanced Senses, Extended Carapace, Toxin Sacs, TL-Devourer(x2)
Hive Tyrant - Toxin Sacs, Winged, Scything Talon(x2), Warp Field

Elite:
Lictor
Warrior Brood - 5 Toxin Sacks, Scything Talons, Deathspitters
Troops:
Genestealers - 7 Scuttlers, Acid Maw
Genestealers - 7 Scuttlers, Acid Maw
Genestealers - 8 Scuttlers, Acid Maw
Genestealers - 8 Scuttlers, Acid Maw
Gaunt Brood - 8 Spine Fists, Without Number

Heavy Support:
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon

Total Cost: Under 1500

*Forgive me for the lack of list*
Tau Army
*I refuse to figure it out. Do NOT emulate this guy*

Deployment
In typical Tau fashion when we went out to get terrain he came back with buildings, as you will see, and I came back with random stuff that was left over after everyone used up all the other terrain. I won placement of the first terrain piece so I took the larger of the two buildings and stuck it right in the middle. I figured that that would make the building near useless for him and I could use it to block LOS. Atypical Tau player took the other building and stuck it in the far corner, as for the rest of the terrain it was placed rather evenly around the rest of the board as to fill up the rest of the space. The damage was done.

As I don't have a before placement shot this is the best one I can provide for how the terrain was:

Tyranid:
As you can see, the building in the center blocked LOS on things and if you couldn't tell already I won first turn and took it as well as the side that he had placed the building on. As for actual deployment I basically screened my warriors with my Gaunts, stuck a squad of Genestealers as close as possible in hopes that they would be bait, put the Scything HT as bait and as close as possible to absorb some firepower and get into contact with what would hopefully be a close tank, and the Carnifex sort of out of sight (mind you not out of LOS but kinda in the back so less thought was payed to it.

Tau:
I don't think it was intentional, in fact I know it wasn't, but I think the placement of the Tau was probably one of the worst ideas ever. Fully knowing that I had a squad of Genestealers with Scuttlers (thus having the scout rule) he placed a squad of Firewarriors right on the edge of the possible deployment zone. As well as most of his units also being as close as possible. There were the broadsides in the back, sniper drones off to the side and tanks also to the side, however they were all still almost as close as humanly or xenosly(??) possible.

Scout moves:
So what would you do if you had a scout move with a tank that was near a flying Hive Tyrant with Scything Talons? I would suggest you move away but hell if you want to move closer Mr. Tau feel free I'll take the free first turn assault. Oh and did I mention the Fire warriors being really close to the Genestealers that had a scout movement? I will give him his best move of the game Infiltrating Kroot right behind me in that building that I stole from him.

Turn One
So this was the beginning of the end right here. During the shooting phase I wounded some of the Firewarriors across from the Carnifex with the Barbed Strangler and he failed a pinning test. Thus one squad of Firewarriors was useless. The Warriors mowed down some of the Kroot in the building behind them sadly I didn't kill them all as that would have made the game end far sooner. The Dakka Tyrant also did some damage to the previously mentioned Firewarriors knocking them down a bit as well. I used Run to move the Gaunts and then proceeded to enter Assualt.

Remember those two REALLY bad things I said the Tau player did? Yea, Assault first turn with a Devilfish and with a squad of Firewarriors. Now the Devilfish had Scouted 12" thus I needed Sixes to hit it lucky for me I managed to stun the thing with my Flying HT. As for those Genestealers, they assaulted the Firewarriors. Best part is, I only scored One... ONE wound on them. But, I saved the two wounds that they got on me and won combat. Now apparently Tau can't make a LD test to save their lives... literally and they failed and then failed their sweeping advance check. So once again. ONE wound from Genestealers on a 12 man squad of Firewarriors = 12 Firewarriors off the table.

The Tau players turn was... unimpressive I think he got a wound or two on the Flying Tyrant. Oh and during his movement he deployed the squad from in the Devilfish, I think Pathfinders, and instead of moving to the Genestealers to shoot them up with Rapidfire he moved away and was stuck shooting at the Hive Tyrant. That's all folks.

Another image Here.

Turn Two. And Beyond!

So as to save myself the grief of reliving this game in full detail I will recall the events of the rest of the game in a quick manner. However I will let you see why the game ended on turn two.

Reserves:
Two Squads of Genestealers and my Lictor came out.

Lictor can sorta be seen here in the corner of the building.

Week 6 was a Win though it was not fun. So far... 5-1-0 Win-Tie-Loss. If you have been following along then you would know that I have been tied with another guy in the tournament for the entire time and our only tie is to each other. He didn't make it to this past Sundays game and I'm friends with the guy that he is playing his makeup game with. So as of now I have no Idea if were still tied or if I'm in the lead now....
Go Dan!!! Push me ahead!:-P

Clockwork Comics Summer 40k Tournament Game 5

2008-08-10T14:42:00.000-04:00

Week Five of the LGS Tournament, this week was my Tyranid army versus a Tau army at 1500 points. The game this week was Annihilation with the Spearhead deployment. So without further adieu:

Tyranid Army

HQ:
Hive Tyrant - Enhanced Senses, Extended Carapace, Toxin Sacs, TL-Devourer(x2)
Hive Tyrant - Toxin Sacs, Winged, Scything Talon(x2), Warp Field

Elite:
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, TL-Devourer(x2)
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, TL-Devourer(x2)
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, TL-Devourer(x2)

Troops:
Genestealers - 9 Scuttlers
Genestealers - 9 Scuttlers

Heavy Support:
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Flesh Hooks, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon

Total Cost: 1500

*Forgive me for the lack of list*
Tau Army

HQ:
Commander - TL Burst Cannon, Airbursting Fragmentation Projector

Elite:
Crisis Battlesuit - 2 Suits TL Missle Pods and Burst Cannon
Crisis Battlesuit - 2 Suits Plasma Rifle, TL Missle Pod

Troops:
Fire Warriors - 12 with Pulse Rifles
Fire Warriors - 12 with Pulse Rifles
Fire Warriors - 12 with Pulse Rifles
Kroot Squad - 16 Warriors and 4 Hounds

Fast:
Pathfinder - 8 w/ Devilfish Upgraded to have Marker Light

Heavy:
Broadside Battlesuit - Smart Missle System, Railgun, Advanced Stabilisation System
Hammerhead Gunship - Railgun, Smart Missile System
Hammerhead Gunship - Railgun, Smart Missile System

Deployment
The Tyranids won the deployment but gave it to the tau player so Tau got to choose his quarter and deploy first. Tau kept the Kroot in reserves. Tyranids Kept the Genestealers in Reserves. Before turn one the Tau player had a scout move. Then the Tyranids attempted to Seize the Initiative but failed.

More Deployment Pictures Here and Here.

Turn One
The game began with the Tau player attempting to find the best way to see the TMC's but there he ended up having to move the Hammerhead rather close to get LOS while still having LOS on the rest of the things he wanted to shoot with. His movement ended up looking like this.

After some lame shooting and putting two wounds on the TMC's the Tyranid's started the game with a bang. The Pathfinders got owned and one of the Hammerheads was eaten by the Hive Tyrant.

Other angles here and here.

Turn Two
Again the Tau had to maneuver around all of the LOS blocking terrain and as they had lost one of their main weapons it was all they could do but regroup move away and send as many shots into the Nids as possible. The Suits moved over so that they could get shots on the Flyrant as well as almost everything on the board. The Tau movement can bee seen here. The Tau roll for the Kroot Failed but the commander came in exactly where planned. So it was time for shooting which was aimed at the Hive Tyrant... and failed. Though wounded the Tyrant lived and clearly was pissed. After another round of shooting it was the Tyranid turn.

The Genestealers outflanked one on each side of the table, pictures here and here, and thus threatened the other hammerhead. The TMC's moved out and around the Rocky outcropping and then shooting began. The devilfish got stunned an entire squad of Firewarriors was defeated and the suits were damaged and beaten. During assault the Commander was assaulted by the Hive Tyrant and easily defeated.

More here , here and here.

Turn Three
The Tau finally got themselves a moral victory during this turn after two and a half turns the Hive Tyrant finally fell to far too many shots from pulse rifles and missle pods. With the Tyrant down the Tau were free to focus on other things like wiping out in its entirety one squad of the genestealers. After the shooting died down the battlefield looked like this.

The Tyranids just continued to move forward and shoot. Glancing the Devilfish and getting a weapons destroyed result as well as forcing the fire warriors in the forest to run away. Then thinned out the remaining units before the end of turn three.

Turn Four
During this turn the Kroot finally came in they walked on behind the remaining genestealers and proceeded to shoot them into bits. During the movement the Tau moved closer to get some more shots on the carnifexes nearby. Pictured Here. As well as the aftermath here.

Simply put the Tyranids walked forward did more shooting killed more Firewarriors got closer to the devilfish and the Genestealers died in assault to the Kroot.

More here and here.

Turn Five
This turn was really just more of the same. At this point we were just having fun and he was trying as hard as possible to kill the Carnifex that he had been working on killing all game. The Tyranids Killed the Devilfish and most of the remaining Firewarriors.

Turn Six
The last turn of the game was short as there was little left to do. The Tau got a second moral Victory by killing the Carnifex after a game of trying and all that remained at the end for Tau was the Kroot and the Broadside.

Yet another Tyranid Win and bringing me to 4 Wins - 0 Losses - 1 Tie for the Tourny.
On a side note the guy I played last week and that I've been tied with for first place won as well and the shop owner decided as a house rule that Nids coming in Without Number must take a Ld test to count as Scoring or contesting if they aren't in synapse range.

Clockwork Comics Summer 40k Tournament Game 4

2008-08-04T14:17:00.000-04:00

My LGS is currently hosting a 40k Tournament on Sundays, based in 5th edition it's 3 games of 1000 points 3 games of 1500 points and 2 games of 2000 points over 8 Sundays. This past Sunday, yesterday 7/3/08, was the 4th week in the tournament. Going in I knew it was a 1500 point Capture and Control Pitched Battle but no idea who I would be fighting against. My opponent ended up being a guy named John, John won the last tournament as Nids and was now playing as Eldar. Both of us started the game with a 3-0-0 Record so the battle was important.

(My) Tyranid List

HQ:
Hive Tyrant - Wings, Toxin Sacks, Scything Talonsx2
Hive Tyrant - Toxin Sacks, Extended Carapace, Enhanced Senses, Twin-Linked Devourerx2

Elite:
Lictor
(5)Warrior Brood: Toxin Sacks, 4 Deathspitters, Barbed Strangler, Lash Whips

Troops:
Genestealers: 7 Stealers with Acid Maws and Scuttlers
Genestealers: 7 Stealers with Acid Maws and Scuttlers
Genestealers: 7 Stealers with Acid Maws and Scuttlers
Genestealers: 6 Stealers with Feeding Tendrils and Scuttlers
Gaunts: 9 Gaunts Without Number and Flesh Borers

Heavy Support:
Carnifex: Barbed Strangler and Scything Talons
Zoanthrope: 3 with Warp Blast
(Johns) Eldar List:
HQ:
The Avatar of Khaine

Troops:
Pathfinders: x6
Guardians: x10 Warlock w/Embolden ad Spirit Stealer Scatter Laser
Dire Avengers: x10 Exarch w/Aveger Shuriken Catapult x2 and Blade Storm
Wave Serpent: TL Eldar Missle Laucher Shuriken Cannon Spirit Stones
Dire Avengers: x10 Exarch w/Aveger Shuriken Catapult x2 and Blade Storm
Wave Serpent: TL Eldar Missle Laucher Shuriken Cannon Spirit Stones

Heavy Support:
Fire Prism: Prism Cannon Shuriken Cannon Holo-Fields Spirit Stones
Wraithlord: Bright Lance Eldar Missle Launcer Flamerx2
Wraithlord: Bright Lance Eldar Missle Launcer Flamerx2

Pre-Game Information:
Mission - Capture and Control
Deployment - Pitched Battle
Size - 1500
First to Deploy - Eldar (John)
First Turn - Eldar (John)

Deployment
Eldar: On one far side of the board he placed his Fire Prisim and on the other the Wave Serpents. The center of the board was where the rest of his army resided, on the top floor of the building in the middle of his deployment zone were his Rangers while on the other side were the Wraithlords and Warlock/others.

Tyranids: the Big Bugs hid behind a large rock outcropping across from the Fire Prisim hiding the two Hive Tyrants and giving the Carnifex a cover save from fire. In the center of the board open to fire was a line of Gaunts protecting the Warriors also spread out across the center. Then the Zoanthropes were placed behind this line as well rather equally apart for Heavy Support. Finally one group of Genestealers (the squad of 6) deployed in the opening and scouted 6" closer to the Eldar.

Top of Turn 1
The Eldar's first turn was rather uneventful. His movement phase was essentially just shifting everything around on the board. Most of the units on or near the building moved to around for better firing positions while the skimmers moved back away from the board edges and hid. The only real movement that occurred was the Fire Prism moving so that it could get a shot on the Stealers.
Shooting was full of misses and failures. John rolled a lot of ones and twos and after a die roll to decide if the Carnifex was in 50% cover or not it didn't matter because the rangers failed to wound anyhow. The Fire Prism shot missed and scattered away. All in all the Tyranids lost little, just a few Stealers.

Bottom of Turn 1
Tyranid's turn to get closer. Movement was a lot more eventful for the Nids the Big bugs walked into the open and started to open fire on the Eldar. The Gaunts continued to screen the Warriors and Moved and Ran closer to the Eldar. The Zoanthropes and Warriors blasted the rangers to bits (though Only killed two in the end) and the Genestealers got about 2cm out of range from Assault with the Eldar in the building. As for shooting not much really happened some of the rangers died and that was about it.

Top of Turn 2
Starting here is where things get a bit fuzzy. Realizing this is the game for first place we both started to care less about pictures/remembering what was going on and really got into the game. The Eldar again just really shifted around in the building, however this time the Wave Serpents came out to form a defensive shield and disembarked both squads in hope that they could fire. Shooting was no more impressive than the previous round, the disembarked squads were just out of range and the rangers did little. But there were wounds done to the Flying Hive Tyrant and thus it went to ground so it could save it self from total distruction.

Bottom of Turn 2
After one squad of genestealers came on the board and couldn't get close enough to assault the fire prisim things kicked up in this round with the Gaunts headed between the Wave serpents to assault the squad closest to it. The warriors blasted the squad behind that and caused multiple wounds killing almost all of one squad. The Zoanthropes failed miserably at trying to take down Wave Serpents. The Genestealers managed to get into combat with a wraith lord and eat it alive and just before that the other wraithlord was defeated by 12 shots from the devorer guns on the other Hive tyrant.

Now the game was still so close that it was scary. During this turn I lost some of my warriors and my Flying Hive Tyrant, then the DakkaTyrant managed to get some wounds on it as well. I ended up wiping out a squad of his guys and he finished off my Stealers that were in the building. I got in the rest of my army, my lictor deepstriked and got in combat with his Warlock and the squad with it and the genestealer got into some action as well.

The Rest of the Game
As said before the was getting extremely stressful, its a tournament game and though were both being nice were playing to win. Now around turn 4 were starting to get an audience of all the players that were finished with their games and the store owner came to watch. Through out the next two rounds the Avatar got in close combat with my carnifex and they fought until the end of the game with the carnifex finally dying. My Dakka Tyrant died in turn 4's shooting phase and I killed his fire Prisim both wave serpents and all of the squads therein. The game came down to the two objectives. During turn 5 I assaulted and got into contesting range of the objective on his side of the board, locked in close combat with a guy that has a 2+ save made it nearly impossible for him to take that one.

What Decided it all... at the last turn my Gaunt squad came on the board to try and claim my objective. I had lost all the Genestealers during his turn that were in range to claim my objective and all I could do was hope that I passed my LD check on the gaunts so they would count as scoring units. I failed. The game was a Draw!

Now were both in line to have to face off again (if we continue to win against other players) with a 3-0-1 record. Tied for first place. It was probably the best and most stressful game I've played yet in my time.