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