Warhammer Battles!!!!

The battle had'nt started well and the grey seer knew it. Lord Scummaw's plague monks had pushed their rotting plague wagon into the pink skinned man-things and had been destroyed utterly. The terrified squeaks and the hint of the musk of fear on the breeze had amused the rat mage. It had however annoyed the towering vermin lord, who brooded - chittering with itself in it's infernal tongue. It stared at Skitt'r and pointed at the heavily armoured man things. "Yes yes, bless the man-things with the horned one's favour. They are chosen of their infernal god and are terrible foes" The grey seer's blood ran cold, such power was dangerous as it required vast amounts of raw energy to cast. He began the invocation, the winds of magic swirling about the seer's paws. The rat deamon's nose twitched and sniffed, smelling the scent of the spell as i formed. It began to excitedly chitter until without warning, the spell disipated having failed. The vermin lord drew itself to its full height and growled "Again!......."

Chieftan Grizzit dueled with the sorcerer. The man thing had looked an easy target. Mages being puny warriors and all, though this one was definitely cheating. Yes cheating, for there was no other explanation as to why he wouldnt die. The man thing expertly dodged and parried the blows before landing the flat of his blade across Grizzit's face. The rat hissed with rage but then heard the quiet chittering of disent from his own ranks. The clan rats could sense his weakness and injury and were ready to pounce. Without thinking he squeaked as loud as he could "Great-great vermin lord. Save your most humble....and valued servant!" The vermin lord in a mock bow replied "Of course mighty one, i will save you. You are destined for greatness in the eyes of the horned rat. Yes yes, kill their general you will" and with a contemptuous gesture sent the squealing standard bearer hurtling toward the chaos demon prince. Without a second thought the cowardly rat threw his banner at the enemy general and dived into the under brush. With a shrug of his mighty shoulders the ancient demon laughed then took to the skies to confront the demonic rat. A frenzied flickering of his tail belied the anger of the vermin lord.

Grey Seer Skitt'r looked around nervously. He was in trouble and therefore needed a hasty exit. The vermin lord had stalked off toward the Stormvermin who were feasting upon the the dying bodies of the chaos warriors. This was the perfect opportunity to cut and run. His near victory would be reported to the council of thirteen and it would definitely poor scorn on the useless Scummaw. He had lost them the battle, most definitely.

The Vermin lord silently stalked closer to the gorging stormvermin. With boom it brought it's mighty weapon to strike the ground. The unit looked up and began chittering with terror. Chieftan Vorsk pressed his muzzle to the dirt. "Mighty emmisary of the most beloved Horned Rat, we...er...i gift-give you the fang leader of the man man things" Three burly storm vermin dragged the flailing chaos champion toward the demon, it's eyes glittering with unabated hunger. With a flash of it's yellowed fangs it tore the throat of the screaming northman before descending upon the stormvermin that held him. Within seconds it had consumed the man thing and the three rats. Suddenly it turned it's baleful gaze toward Vorsk "You have pleased me Vorsk. Yes-yes, pleased me, but i hunger for more flesh..." Without a hint of remorse, Vorsk shoved forward two of his own men and jumped clear "I gift-give you my own men. Feast-feast well mighty one" But the vermin lord had already began in earnest on the terrorised stormvermin. As he scrambled away as fast as his legs could carry him he heard the dying screams of his men imploring him for aid. He grinned to himself and began plotting the demise of the fool grey seer Skitt'r. He had earned the praise of a vermin lord - an avatar of the Horned One. Surely this would assure his ascension to Warlord in the eys of the council of thirteen if he could remove the cowardly, yet remarkably lucky Grizzit.

- Simon

Supply Depot

I made some buildings to represent a Supply Depot. We played a game recently where there were house rules for being near the Vehicle Repair Shop, Ammo Store, and Barracks. They don't look great, but building a terrain collection is a slow and steady marathon..

Garage, Barracks (x2), and Fencing

I achieved my hobby goals for August. I'm keeping cool in September..doing whatever I feel like. Having targets certainly gets things done but as soon as it feels like work it's time to chill out.

I will be making a Slaanesh addition to my Chaos 40K army in the coming weeks, they are in the post.

In October, I will likely be engaging in all things Dark Ages, as I'm leaning towards Saxons for Hail Caesar, which will double up as a nice warband for Saga which is looking good.

October 1st I am playing in a big multiplayer, all-day, American Civil War game, so I'll be learning the Fire and Fury rules. I've recently played some 20mm Napoleonics multiplayer battles which were a lot of fun and very very different to what I am used to. So, I am getting out there and seeing what else is around.

-scott

Kthulu 2011 Photos

Here are some photos of Kthulu 2011, taken by some of the other guys:

40K Tournament Report - Kthulu 2011 - Huntingdon (HDWS)

I took part in a 40K tournament for the first time this weekend. I was nervous about the competitive element before I arrived but thankfully almost everybody I met on the day was friendly and fun to play against.

We played four games with a short break for lunch, 9am 'til 6pm, 1750pts. That's quite a pace, it's more games in less time than a day at Throne of Skulls, so it was a good warm-up for that!

Here are my results, seeing as we're talking about a tourney:

Tyranids - Capture and Control, Pitched Battle, Loss (tabled in fact!)
Orks - Seize Ground, Spearhead, Draw
Lunch - Seize Battered Sausage and Chips, Guiness, Win! (whadda'ya mean it don't count!? :-))
Imperial Guard - Annihilation, Dawn of War (!), Win (very tough setup for the IG)
Blood Angels - Kthulu Special Mission, Pitched Battle, Loss

After the first round the Swiss sort kicked in and it was Grey Knights and Space Wolves on the top tables for the rest of the day.

HWDS hosted the event, they have a nice scenery and board collection, so credit to them for that. I think we could do with a terrain weekend or two at Bury having seen what these guys get to play over.

I saw some nice armies and fought against a good variety of players. Overall, lots of fun indeed. I do think my game has improved since getting games in more regular, and my usual list is actually quite competitive at the club, but at a tourney, even a local one like this, you do see how much further you can take things - if you're playing to win. I've got some tweaks in mind for the next competitive event I go to, which is Throne of Skulls at the end of October, but I won't be ditching the more 'friendly' parts of my army altogether, because I enjoy using them.

It's fun to pit our wits and armies against another for the sheer thrill of playing to win - but it's all friends having fun at the end of the day.

Enjoy your gaming. ;-)

-scott

p.s. I will post some photos once they start doing the rounds..

Molendinum VI - Campaign Report - Game 2

After the Space Wolves secured the bastion, their Blood Angels allies arrived planetside to take over garrison of the compound while the Wolves went out to strike deeper into enemy territory. We decided that the forces of Chaos would return under cover of darkness to raid the nearby ammo stores, barracks and vehicle repair shops.

We 'scrolled' the board 3' one way, making use of the modular board sections to make it easy. The bastion now sat on the western end of the table, as it was when captured by the allies, and we put together a compound of buildings and wire fencing to the east. This was to be the target of the Chaos raiding party. We also decided to place two communications towers in the woods bordering one of the lateral lava channels. If captured, these would aid the player in the next game by allowing a small points advantage. The towers' comms. equipment could be used to effectively coordinate an accurate and timely call for reserves. Finally, we decided to use Night Fighting rules for the entire game, as the Chaos were sneaking back at night time!

This was a tough job for the Blood Angels to win, made especially difficult by their general forgetting to deploy an entire assault squad! No comment.. The Chaos krak'd their way into the ammo stores reasonably fast and secured it against the attacking assault squads and terminator raiding party. In the woods, some Plague Marines destroyed a Baal Predator that had been sent to hunt them and then secured the control towers.

The raid was a success. Fully equipped and tooled up to continue the war, the forces of Chaos set off to re-escalate the conflict. This war ain't over!!

Molendinum VI - Campaign Report - Game 1

At long last, we have kicked off some campaign action between us and in an effort to keep it going, I am going to write up a brief report of the first two games here. This is more for our benefit than anybody else's, which is just as well, as nobody ever reads this!

Game 1

We played the standard Planetstrike mission first, with the Space Wolves attacking a reinforced Bastion under the control of esteemed Chaos Sorcerer, Joca the Rusty, and his foul minions of Nurgle. We used some fencing sections I'd recently put together to form a partial perimeter around the bastion, filling the gaps with a bunker, one or two storage buildings, some aegis defence lines, and the lava channels that run here and there on my modular board.

The Space Wolves attacked with speed and cunning from the west, having identified the weakest section of the Chaos defences. Concentrated fire from a team of Obliterators coupled with an assault by my Daemon Prince saw the Thunderwolf Cavalry cut down to a man - the General!. A team of Grey Hunters in their transport were ignited and plasma cannoned by a Predator and Obliterator salvo, and then it was time for the Imperials to breach the line. We ruled the fences could be breached by a tank shock or close assault, with penetrating hits at Arm-10 to smash them down. A Rhino failed to do the job, but half a dozen Krak grenades made short work of the task and the wolves were in!

I put up a fight at the base of the bastion with the remains of my terminators, but having lost my general to Jaws of the Wild Wolf, they were leaderless, and no doubt too busy worrying about whether they could take control of the others or not to pay attention to the battle! A team of Power Fist wielding Obliterators emerged from an escape hatch to finish the Space Wolf general with a flurry of heavy-handed blows. Then, a Space Wolf Rhino stormed forward and touched the bastion with its dozer blade to win the day. The Chaos left in an orderly fashion, knowing full well when they were beaten!

Chaos Afterword

I enjoyed the game. It was close fought and fun, despite losing my Daemon Prince and General to some bad dice rolls - that stuff happens in war! To date I've had the attitude that the Defender in Planetstrike is in for a tough deal and can only hope to bloody the Attacker's nose. To some extent this is true, and the designer's notes from the PS sourcebook agree with the notion. Adding the fences and barricades that I've put together recently though added more of a hurdle for the Space Wolves to get past which balanced the game and offered some reward for making the terrain in the first place. It made me realise how I miss the scenery on a gaming table having a real effect on the gameplay, and the atmosphere. I think we've lost some of that with 5th Edition, which basically says, if it's not impassable, roll a dice, and there's a 5/6 chance you can just walk/drive over it. Walls aren't walls anymore, fences aren't fences, and buildings aren't even buildings.

I don't think I made any mistakes, other than the usual error of taking on the Space Wolves! I targeted the biggest threat from early on, throwing my Daemon Prince into a fight I knew it wouldn't win at the expense of the greater plan - something I'm trying to do more of lately as I think it's the single change I can make to 'improve my game'. Having said that, we both had a good time, so it was successful all round!

Space Wolf Afterword

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Chaos Chosen Rhino

The Chosen are hardened veterans. Their Rhino is equipped with a long distance lo-comms aerial and camo-netting for infiltration work, and a stout tow rope for the inevitable breakdown (of others!).

It's the first time I've tried to make camo netting. In future I'm going to press it down on the vehicle soaked only in water and let it dry into shape before gluing it on, that way it will hug the contours of the vehicle better and lay more realistically. Never mind, we learn by doing!

-scott

Tzeentch wills it.

After many years of  service to the Emperor (and the Hive mind *cough*) I have finally spend my last round, my power sword has resigned itself to a dull hum in the name of righteousness, the fire that burned with the warmth of truth has turned blue, a change, a chance to discard my bolter and use the old ways, to journey back to time where hero's stood in the open at the head of their army.. yes of course I refer to a time before rhino's and landraiders (no, not 2nd ed)! That's right after many years of bypassing the Old World I have decided to go turn my hand to the land that Matt Ward forgot.. Warhammer Fantasy Battle! (what'd ya mean he wrote it!? for fu...)

Pictures of my first unit finished coming soon!

- Ollie

Chaos Chosen

The first of my goals for August's 'Finish the Army' theme is complete. I am finding a couple of beers while painting to be a great help with not obsessing over fine detail and just Getting Things Done (TM).

Hopefully, they look like hardened veterans. :-)

Next up...finish the Daemon Prince!

-scott

Hobby Goals, August, and 2011

GOALS FOR AUGUST 2011

I hereby declare August the 'Month of Final Drill' for my Chaos Space Marines.

I have settled on a 1500pt list for the Bury Wargamers Club 2011/12 League (approx. 12 games), and a 1750pt list for a tourney at the very start of September. So, I have August to finish things off and get a painted army finished, on the shelf, and ready for proud public warfare.

Here is what I need to do in August:

- Finish painting my Chaos Chosen (60% complete)
- Finish painting my Daemon Prince of Nurgle (80% complete)
- Buy and paint an old-school Mk6 Rhino for my Chaos Chosen
- Convert/paint one Plague Marine Icon Bearer
- Convert Terminator Sorcerer's combi-weapon

That's a light schedule, as I'm ramping up on a new project at the same time... Roughly that should break down into Week 1 (Chosen), Week 2 (Daemon Prince and combi-weapon work), Week 3 and 4 (Rhino and Icon Bearer). Then I will have a finished Chaos Space Marines army ready for league warfare and tournament humiliation! (I've never been to a 40k tournament. Ever. Never.)


Rest of Year - 2011

I also have some hobby goals for the rest of this year. I've picked up on something lately reading other gamers' blogs. A production line approach to hobby projects seems to be popular among many of the more productive bloggers.

Now, I'm a convert on the production line approach for painting a lot of figs (not that 28mm hobbyists can use the word 'lots' with confidence around 15mm and 1/72 chaps) - but I've never tried it with projects in general. What I've noticed people doing is while they're painting one thing, they are trickling bits and parts and planning into a box for the next projects, and reading around the one beyond that. I actually did this recently with my Chosen, while I was painting my Daemon Prince and converting Terminator arms and magnetic vehicle weapon racks, I was collecting the bits and parts for the Chosen and planning their conversions out with blu-tack. Result? The Chosen rolled onto the workbench and were underway with an absolute minimum interruption.

So, going forward, as I am painting my Chosen and finishing the Chaos army in August, my next project is on the next table, accumulating missing bits, appropriate base cuts, the needed rules PDFs, and I am networking to find somebody to play some Epic later in the year. Yes, my Epic Eldar are taking shape in the 'WIP' box. When my Chaos are done, the Eldar are going to roll onto the workbench in tiny 6mm glory and work will begin immediately. No delay. I likes it!

And when the Eldar roll onto the table, what will be happening in the WIP box? Well, I'm currently reading around other game systems and visiting nearby games clubs. I am interested in playing some historical, so I am doing the research into what's popular in general, in what scale, in what period, in what system - and (perhaps more importantly) what is actively being played in the local area.

So far, from what I've looked into, I am quite interested in:

- Imperium Romanum. Imperial Romans vs. Gallo Germanic Barbarians. Ancients. 15mm, under either DBA or some 'rookie' rules such as those found in Wargaming: An Introduction, by Neil Thomas.
- English Civil War. Royalists vs. Parliamentarians. Oliver Cromwell! 15mm, either 'rookie' rules, or something like Black Powder, or similar.
- WW2. The smallest leap from 40k. I have tried Flames of War. It is very popular. I also like the look of Rapid Fire, and would tend to 15mm instead of 20mm to keep the other systems open to whatever figs I invest in.

So, I will be playing a little Epic with my Eldar (the latest Epic rules are available in PDF from the GW website, go there now!), and looking to get into another system - 15mm has MANY benefits, and the well established rule systems will be a comfort after the horrific things that have been happening in Warhammer lately. When 6th comes along next year and ruins everything, I want to have other things ready to play - preferably things that have been tuned and polished for over twenty years and that has a community of players interested in campaign play, challenging (unbalanced) scenarios, and an allergy to points values.


GOALS FOR 2011

- Finish Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Space Marines army
- Build a small lot of 40k terrain to round out my 28mm board/scenery collection
- Paint my Epic Eldar army and get some games of Epic going (club play)
- Settle on a historical period and rules system so I can start playing something other than GW
- Have a small, painted playable 15mm army by end of 2011
- Begin growing a 15mm scenery collection at home (and paint the reverse of my lava world board!)



What hobby goodness are you planning? =)

-scott

Fighting the Blood Angels

I've played a few games recently against the Blood Angels (BA). They're certainly popular at the moment. Opinion on the Codex is divided between loving it (those who play it), and it being over-powered and guilty of breaking core game tenets (deep-striking Land Raiders).

I don't like the aspects of the BA Codex that break core 40k tenets, but I don't think the list is over-powered. I play Chaos Space Marines, an army that many believe is woefully under-powered compared to other 5th edition lists. However, a recent Draw and two Wins for me proves the Blood Flies don't win games by themselves - and they are fun to play against, in a way - in the way you can only laugh as things appear out of nowhere at ridiculous speed toting special rules to make grown men cry into their tea! =)

Yeah, I'll have a rumble with the Blood Angels any day!

Some shots from a recent game:

Nice move - but there was nothing left(!) after the Plasma Cannons on a nearby ziggurat returned fire!

Nice move - but landing in front might have stopped it just driving off! (the 4 was for 'smoke')

A beautifully painted Stormraven.

Workbench

Chaos Chosen, magnetised vehicle weapon racks, combi-weapons...

Coming along nicely...

Hobbying, Roster Variants, Chosen

Another fierce two days of gaming have come and gone at the esteemed BritHammer Towers. The trip opened with a Space Wolf and Blood Angels alliance teaming up to field 2500pts against an 'everything from the miniatures cabinet' Chaos list. Suffice to say, the 'loyalists' won it with ease.

We then played a variety of games and drank a copious amount of tea. Ollie even bought me a curry, which was jolly nice of him seeing as I don't have a job at the moment and am thoroughly Skint!

Space Wolves did very well, again, as usual, well done Ollie! - and even the Blood Angels managed a win, just, as the Attacker in a PlanetStrike game. It's a tough crack, attacking in PlanetStrike! =) Boo!!!! Next time blood flies!

The Daemonic Predator guards the flank of the Chaos Marine tactical squad

At least the hill is undercoated! As for the allied commanders...

HOBBYING

Aside from playing games, and painting armies, or squads, or making terrain, sometimes it's the little jobs that are quite pleasing. I've just been up in the loft and pinned a plastic combi-melta to an old skool lead chaos termie shoulderpad. It looks great. I also finally painted up a power weapon and twin-linked bolter arm for my termies which means I can field my regular armament without proxies or improvised weaponry. I no longer have to say, 'everything is as seen except the guy with the heavy flamer and power fist, he's equipped normally'. A small thing, but I think it's worth the effort to kit-bash and convert so things are equipped as seen. Feels good.

New age plastic combi-melta + pin + old skool lead chaos termie shoulderpad  = cheers Ollie!

Allllso....I now have all the bits and pieces I need for a squad of melta-toting Chaos Chosen - old Rogue Trader era minis plus a Rhino that needs some work doing. The meltaguns are arriving in the post tomorrow. Watch this space!


ROSTER VARIANTS

Finally, I have been thinking up some Roster Variants to shake up the regular game a little. It's easy to get in a rut with the list you typically take. This can be good for your game, as fielding the same list over and over really helps you learn it and use it well, but sometimes it's nice to rock the boat, isn't it? Check out the variants below and try one or two out, see how it changes things. Warning! Old skool hobbying alert! Game balance detonation in T-minus 3, 2, 1 <BANG> !!!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22492528/40k-I-forgot-my.doc


Until next time...noob!

-scott

'Who you callin' a rush job?'

I've been experimenting with some speed painting techniques recently, motivated by a desire to spend less time worrying and fretting over perfect blends, and more time just getting stuff done. I'm fortunate, as a Chaos player; experimental painting can often look rather good on daemons and rusty old heresy plate. I doubt the same techniques would apply on Eldar, for example, or those cleanly Astartes. Yuck!

Anyway, I recently painted a Chaos Spawn and Terminator Lord with speed in mind. The two miniatures took me around four hours in all, painted across two or three quick sessions. Nice. I could get used to this. Neither of them stand up to close inspection, but along with the rest of the army they look great, and even have their own unique charm...if you look hard...

'Who you callin' a rush job?'

Without going into too much detail, I used a large brush, chunks of different grades of sponge, cocktail sticks, weathering powders mixed into the paint and stippled on after washes, and wet blending, if you can call it that, but really I just mean not waiting for one coat to dry before over-brushing another one on! The Chaos Spawn even has a filthy black mane made from static grass and Rusted Earth pigment powder. Yuck! Truly Chaos!

At last, I did it, I painted my Planetstrike scenery!

In a final fit of irony, the last miniature I am painting for my current army is also its centrepiece, a Nurgle Daemon Prince with Zombie Dragon wings (just pinned those on actually!). I am currently hawking eBay for a bargain lot of minis to extend my army with. Noise Marines, Defilers and Land Raiders are top of the list.

Looking forward to getting some games in some time soon. Perhaps Planetstrike Weekend Mk II ?

-scott

The lonely tumbleweed blows..

Things have been quiet, but we've had the occasional battle and have each been doing varying amounts of modelling and painting. I've definitely been the least active, but did get in the loft today and paint some planetstrike bits! I'm feeling rusty, but warming up again. The nice thing about this hobby is you can come and go as you like; your army waits patiently until you can return to make more progress.

Here is a shot of the final showdown in a game I played against Ollie's growing Tyranid force. Trunk'hi, Chaos Sorcerer, and general of my army up until now, is staring down the wrong side of a very large and very grisly xeno-maw! I don't remember how this ended - perhaps we could ask the all-knowing Rattaur, who watches from a safe height..

I think the Chaos Marines Codex has some of the most varied and interesting HQ choices going. I've been experimenting with different builds and options over the last few games, and have recently made a new promotion in light of my findings!

A Chaos Lord with Terminator Armour and Daemon Weapon is, it turns out, not to be sniffed at. A good alternative is also a Chaos Sorcerer in Terminator Armour with Warptime. I don't like to tool characters up too much, preferring to find the sweet spot between under-geared and over-priced. I always add Mark of Nurgle to my HQ choices. Although I do have some future additions planned that hail from the other chaos gods, Nurgle will always be my favoured benefactor.

Here is a simple conversion I'm in the process of painting. The sword has been built up and extended, and a nurgly head modelled on.

a new lord for a growing army..

We recently played the most enjoyable three games in my admittedly challenged memory. There was curry and beer too, and Simon made some stunning quiches again. He is a chef, and a gentleman. It's true. Tyrnaids vs. Chaos was a close-fought battle full of twists and turns. Eventually, the hateful alien scum won the day, but not without a pounding. Blood Angels vs. Chaos was a bloody carnage that will no doubt be the cause of much future warfare as recompense is sought by the red brazen hussies. Finally, Space Wolves vs. Chaos was a nail-biting game right up to the last turn and finished as a draw. Tense stuff indeed, and great fun to boot. More of the same please!

So enthused from this great day's gaming, I headed home to the loft, installed a kettle, and got some painting done! I needed a 'quick victory' after not painting in a while, so grabbed some undercoated planetstrike pieces and took to them with the airbrush, sponge, and weathering powders. Didn't use a brush once. They look ok don't they? (be kind!)

the kettle, finally, arrives in the loft (!)

airbrush codex grey + chestnut ink, sponge black/brown, powder/khaki wash

I have also built a Chaos Spawn conversion from an old troll and plastic spider, and...finally pinned together a Daemon Prince of Nurgle!!! This guy is the biggest lump of lead I've ever stroked and spoke to in the night...and he's going to get even bigger when I pin some Zombie Dragon Wings to him. No pics you cry? Well, you'll just have to wait..

..until next time!

-scott