Monthly Update: Painting Points

After a very weak June, July was a power month for me. Classes begin again at the end of August, so I expect August to be another good month of painting. After August, I expect my painting time to drop significantly, and thus I will be focusing on single model efforts like vehicles and characters.

Last Month's Total: 24 Points
Points Earned in July: 5 Points
Total Points in 2009: 29 Points

If you would like to see the original post about Painting Points, check out the following link.

Special Thanks to Lone Pilgrim for introducing such a fun idea to the 40K blogsphere.

The Wednesday Peek

Last Week's Answer...



This Week's Peek...

Tournament Tuesdays: Building a Winning Team

One of the efforts that I am trying to make with this blog is to move towards having a standard theme for each day of the week. Saturdays are dedicated to the Online Contest Round Up, and I will be unveiling the Thursday theme in September/October. Monday’s theme looks to be a weekly “On the Bench” segment, while Wednesday is all about the “Wednesday Peek”. Sundays are going to be my day off, so that leaves me with Tuesdays and Fridays. After some consideration, I have decided that Tuesdays are going to become “Tournament Tuesdays”. My standard Tuesday post will discuss something related to tournaments. It could be my twisted views on running one. It could be me discussing how I prepare for one or it could be me recapping one that I attended. The point is that on Tuesdays the focus of this blog will be something related to tournaments.

If I were to equate the game of Warhammer 40K to a style of sport, I would say that it is primarily an individual type event. By this I mean that it is usually one player versus another player. In the last decade though, the team format has grown and become more popular. I believe this is in large part to the success of Adepticon, but other noteworthy events such as Flatcon, have also helped bring this format more recognition. When it comes to this format, I believe that in order to be successful at it, the approach to preparing for it is different from preparing for an individual style tournament.

When it comes to preparing for a team tournament, I feel the first thing that a team needs to do is be honest with its self about why they are attending the event. If the goal is truly to just hang with a couple of close friends and play a few games for fun, there really isn’t much that needs to be done (outside of meeting the minimum requirements to play). However, if the goal is to truly be successful, there are a couple of things that I would suggest doing to increase your odds of doing well.

I Know You

One of the biggest strengths a team can have going into an event is the members of the team knowing each other. It sounds obvious, but a strong team is built upon each player knowing what his partners will do in a certain situation. This helps because it allows for more effective communication between teammates without giving your opponents an idea of your strategy. Knowing each other also helps by allowing for teammates to compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Most of all, it makes for a fun event because you are sharing the experience with people you know and enjoy.

Think Creativity, Not Diversity

In the second Adepticon Team Tournament, the team I was on decided we would each bring our respective armies and create a reason for them aligning together. It was a cool idea and we had fun, but looking back, our theme didn’t really work and didn’t help us when it came to placing in the tournament. If we remove the discussion of unit synergy for a moment (we’ll get back to it), the idea that diversity can make for a good theme can be a double edged sword.

The problem teams typically face when it comes to diversity is that their “story” may not be clear in the brief amount of time the judge has to review the team’s army. In my example, the theme was the Deceiver tricking the armies into working together. We had written up a two page story for the army and did one base that combined elements from each force. In the end though to the casual observer, it was four armies brought together for the event and not a true unified force.

In comparison to what we did, most of the successful teams field armies that are pulled from the same codex or closely aligned ones. Again if we ignore unit synergy, the reason for doing this is that it allows for the building of a theme that is easier to recognize. Four imperial guard forces is a pretty easy theme to understand upon first glance.

So if a team is eager to be diverse, how can they do it without sacrificing their theme? The trick is to be creative and find a theme that fits the diversity. For example, if three players want to play Imperial Guard but the forth is set on fielding Necrons, why not model the necron force to be Adeptus Mechanicus. Another example would be if a team is broken between the various Eldar factions, have one player build a Harlie force and the other three can be Dark, Standard, and Redneck eldar. The point I am trying to make is that diversity doesn’t have to be thrown out the window if some creativity and a little knowledge of the fluff is applied.

People in Your Neighborhood

Having a creative theme is just the beginning of building an effective team. The next piece is breaking down how various units and pairing will work together. In the case of a two man tournament, this can be done over coffee and donuts. When it comes to the majors though, like Adepticon, a four member team really needs to sit down and spend some time figuring out how units will interact with each other. This is where diversity can become very tempting.

While a theme can help win the judges, it may equal slaughter on the battlefield. A single necron force in a team army is going to suffer greatly from phase out issues because it will likely be the focus of the enemy. This doesn’t mean that all four forces need to be identical, just that random pairings are going to reduce effectiveness.

When it comes to each unit in one player’s force, the other members of the team should look at their own forces and figure out which units can work well with them. If any player determines that their force cannot directly support a certain unit, the team should evaluate what is the best course of action for that unit. Unlike in a single player format, their really can be no oddball units in a force if the intention is to place well.

Practice Means Better

No amount of practice will make you perfect, though enough training with Sergeant Slaughter can. (Yo Joe!) Anyways, a team that does not practice is likely not to do well regardless of other skills. The difference between knowing your team mates and practice is that you learn what others can potentially throw at you. Right now, Imperial Guard armies are “in”, so if I was attending a team event in the next few months, I would want to practice against a good number of IG armies.

Another reason to practice is to become familiar with an event’s style of missions. Adepticon uses the PST format, but other events just use the standard missions from the book. Becoming comfortable with an event’s style of missions will remove some of the pregame jitters and make a team’s game play flow better during each round.

At the end of the day, while the team format will never replace the single player format as the most common style of tournament play, it does add an interesting dynamic to the competitive environment. To be successful in a team format, the team must be committed to each other and to winning the event. The combination of players and styles can lead to some struggles when combining such elements, but with a little effort and fore thought, these can be overcome and lead to a winning team.

Tournament Size Poll - A poll has been added asking readers what point size do they prefer for 40K tournaments. The results of the poll will be used in an upcoming Tournament Tuesday article.

On the Bench: Cinematic Effects

While at the local FLG getting plastic glue and bases, I decided to purchase a blister of cinematic effects for the imperial guard. Cinematic Effects, produced by Armorcast, are bitz that can be used to give the appearance of a weapon firing. Armorcast makes cinematic effects for various types of weapons like flamers and plasma cannons. It is a very cool concept that allows the average hobbyist to add a little pop to their models without having to be an expert when it comes to converting.

The blister I decided to purchase was the medium laser muzzle flash (ACFX009). I decided upon it because I thought it would be cool to model some of my guardsmen as if they were in a firing line. It is a simple concept, but one I would have found difficult to do if I attempted it using only greenstuff.



When actually using this bitz, the first challenge I noticed with them was that since they are pewter, they may create a weight issue when combined with plastic models. Fortunately for me, I use George Bases which are solid wood, so they are slightly heavier. Along these same lines, the design of the end which is supposed to attach to barrel seems upon first glance to require pinning if I am going to expect it to stay on. This end does appear to have a pin built into it, but the length of the pin seems to vary with each individual casting, so I am approaching the use of the muzzle flash as if I need to add my own pin.

The actual process of pinning the weapon and effect was not difficult, but it does take a steady hand. I used a 1 mm drill bit, which was just a little larger than what would have been optimal. For the actual pin, I used 0.9 plastic rod, which fitted snuggly into the barrel and cinematic effect.



With the model assembled, I proceeded to paint it with the exception of the cinematic effect.



When it came to the painting of the cinematic effect, I felt that I needed to do a little homework on what others have done with them. I honestly didn’t find the Armorcast site very helpful when it came to actually painting their products unless I was doing the hamster rockets. I did however find some great inspiration on the Painted Dragon website. A poster by the name of Bulldog did some amazing work adding the effects to his marines.

Upon studying Bulldog’s work, I decided I would go with a blue scheme. The base color for the scheme was going to be Vallejo’s electric blue. Shading and highlighting would be based on mixing skull white or magic blue with the base. I also decided that I would try some glazing on the effect using the methods Midloo posted on his outstanding blog.



The end result was satisfactory, but lacked the bang I was hoping for once the model was completed. I think any lack of “pop” is purely based on my abilities as a painter and not the actual cinematic effect. I would however state that I feel that the effects do need a little bit of skill when it comes to painting them if one hopes to get the most out of them. They are simple in design, but sometimes such simple modeling requires skillful painting inorder to bring out the most in a model.



In conclusion, I am really impressed with Cinematic Effects. I feel Armorcast has really hit upon a great idea with them and look forward to adding more of the line to my models. The biggest challenges when using these products is going to be mounting them securely and painting them to get their full effect. However for the cost and “wow” factor, I can’t think of a cooler product than these if one is looking for something to take standard models and make them stand out.

On the Bench: Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons Team

This is just a quick "On the Bench" to kick off the weekend. I am currently working on the heavy weapons team for my veteran sniper squad.

The Wednesday Peek

Last Week's Answer...


This Week's Peek...

Retro Blog: Birth of Legends

A few years ago, I ran an event called Birth of Legends. The idea of the event was to allow each player to build a special character using any HQ choice as the base and purchase wargear, abilities, etc. from any current codex. The characters were then placed into a gladiator pit and fought to the death. There were some very cool conversions and ideas that came out of the event. As I find more old pictures, I will add them to this blog entry.

(Bill E. vs Cal R.)

(Bill E. vs Cal R.)

Update: Imperial Guard Veteran

What is the frequency Kenneth?

Weekly Contest Round Up

The Realms of Equinox Present's
Planetstrike

1. Models MUST be Games Workshop. They may be heavily converted, but it must be clear that they are primarily composed of GW models/bitz. FW models may be used.
2. Entries must be an elite choice from any current codex.
3. You must be a follower of “The Realms of Equinox” prior to submitting an entry.
4. Entries must be painted between July 4, 2009 – August 14th, 2009. Proof of work will be required as part of the submission process (see below).
5. Submissions will be accepted between July 4, 2009 – August 14th, 2009. This gives you plenty of time to build/paint your entry. Minimum of 2 Photos will be required of your entry: Work in Progress showing the unpainted model(s) on the new planetstrike book or the packaging for one of the new terrain kits, and a picture of the completed work. The completed picture file can contain multiple pictures, but only one picture file will be posted per entry. The deadline for submissions will be Aug 14th, 2009 11:59 PM CST. To submit your photos, please email them to: equinox999equinox@yahoo.com
6. All completed submissions may not appear on any other site or blog before August 31st, 2009. Works in progress may be posted on other sites and blogs before August 31st, 2009. (This is to encourage people to talk about their creations and build excitement around the contest) Any entries found to be violating this rule will be banned from the contest.
7. Voting will be done by the readers of “The Realms of Equinox”. Photos will be placed on the blog and each follower will get to vote for their favorite entry. Voting will take place between August 17th, 2009 – August 28th, 2009.
8. The winner will be announced on August 31st, 2009. The winner will receive a gift certificate for the Warstore. (Please note that the Warstore is not sponsoring this event, I am simply using them as they are a preferred vendor and very reliable.)
9. If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section of this blog entry.

Bay Hammer
Chaos Tyranids

The Rules
1. Can be any current or past Tyranid model except ripper swarms, though if doing a scene piece they can be included
2.must feature Chaos Iconography of some kind and or mutation
3.must be in Chaos Colors it doesn't matter which chaos god you pick so run wild
4.Models do not have to be on a scenic/flocked base, though feel free to do so.
5.you must submit at least 2 progress photos along with the final product
6.All entry's must be submitted by August 1st

Submit all entry's to BayHammer@gmail.com

GWpertinent
GWpertinent CONTEST #1 - Old School Minis, 40K edition

The Rules

1. You must be a follower of http://GWpertinent.blogspot.com
2. Miniature MUST be manufactured by Marauder/Chronicle/Citadel/Games Workshop/Iron Claw.
3. Miniature MUST be painted (minimum 3 colours).
4. 40K miniatures only for this contest (I'm thinking to do a seperate contest for various games) Anything from the 40K universe is acceptable (ie. Necromunda/(Advanced) Space Crusade/Space Hulk/Ultramarines/etc.).
5. Photograph must have a piece of paper with "GWpertinent" written on it (to confirm photo is yours).
6. You can submit as many photos as you like, but only one will count towards the contest, if you post multiple photos first photo posted will be assumed to be your contest entry.
7. The contest is open to anyone in the world.
8. Post your photo link as a comment to this post by August 8th.
9. On August 9th, I will use Random.org to determine the winner and post all submitted photos.

THE PRIZE
Winner will receive a complete Ultramarines Captain model, as shown below (Model is stripped well, and includes cloaked backpack & slottabase).

The Wednesday Peek

Last Week's Answer...



This Week's Peek...

2nd + Reserves = Win

Sometimes it is fun to read someone’s bad logic as it can give us a base of comparison for our own. This article may just be one of those cases as I share my logic, aka the bad logic, about why going second in 5th edition may be a good tactic. As you read this article, I need to point out that I am not a tactics guy. So while I enjoy casual discussions about them, take this article with a grain of sea salt and enjoy the insanity.

In a recent post, I had commented about how I had read that some expert gamers were referring to 5th edition as a game about going second. Shortly after making that comment, Ernie asked me about it and I honestly couldn’t really explain what that statement truly meant at the time. Since then, I have been giving it some thought while reading the core rules and believe I have a little bit better understanding of the quote. The secret to the quote is combining the choice of going second with the new reserve rules.

The new reserve rules allow you to hold back any units you want and have them arrive onto the battlefield later in the game. Usually this arrival is going to be random, but some armies, like IG, have ways to improve the odds of getting those units onto the field sooner. In terms of the game, this means that units don’t have to be committed in the beginning, thus increasing the possibility that the unit will have at least one turn to damage the enemy. What this also means is that when combined with going second, units that arrive from reserve can react to the actions of the player that went first.

As an example, let’s take a Leman Russ Battle Tank (LRBT) versus a unit of obliterators. In this scenario, the obliterators have the clear advantage because they can deep strike into an advantageous position. By placing the LRBT in reserve and going second, there is a slightly better chance that the LRBT will arrive after the obliterators and thus eliminating their advantage while giving the LRBT a better chance at damaging them before they can return fire.

Keep in mind that the above scenario is 99% theoretical and doesn’t account for all the variables that can happen during a game. The single unit match-ups rarely occur, but I think the fundamental concept can be applied when doing an army versus army comparison. By going second and using the reserve rules, denial of units/targets can be accomplished. Going second also means that the second player is going to have the advantage of looking at the other player’s "hand" and can act accordingly.

So while going second can have its advantages when combined with the reserve rules, it can also have its disadvantages. The random nature of reserves when combined with placing too much in reserve can result in that army being chewed apart in piecemeal. It also means that the effectiveness of individual units may be diminished as their strengths cannot be utilized to their maximum potential (sorry, that sounds very cliché).

In conclusion, the effectiveness of going second is based on the idea of controlling match-ups. This may work best when combining the reserve rule with going second, though each does have its effective uses when considered independently of each other. To my friend Ernie, I hope this answers the question you posed to me. To my readers, I hope you found this article useful. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and comments about the topic in the comments section.

On the Bench: Veteran Imperial Guardsmen

Just a quick update of where I am at with the sniper squad of veteran guardsmen.

Weekly Online Contest Roundup

The Realms of Equinox Present's
Planetstrike

1. Models MUST be Games Workshop. They may be heavily converted, but it must be clear that they are primarily composed of GW models/bitz. FW models may be used.
2. Entries must be an elite choice from any current codex.
3. You must be a follower of “The Realms of Equinox” prior to submitting an entry.
4. Entries must be painted between July 4, 2009 – August 14th, 2009. Proof of work will be required as part of the submission process (see below).
5. Submissions will be accepted between July 4, 2009 – August 14th, 2009. This gives you plenty of time to build/paint your entry. Minimum of 2 Photos will be required of your entry: Work in Progress showing the unpainted model(s) on the new planetstrike book or the packaging for one of the new terrain kits, and a picture of the completed work. The completed picture file can contain multiple pictures, but only one picture file will be posted per entry. The deadline for submissions will be Aug 14th, 2009 11:59 PM CST. To submit your photos, please email them to: equinox999equinox@yahoo.com
6. All completed submissions may not appear on any other site or blog before August 31st, 2009. Works in progress may be posted on other sites and blogs before August 31st, 2009. (This is to encourage people to talk about their creations and build excitement around the contest) Any entries found to be violating this rule will be banned from the contest.
7. Voting will be done by the readers of “The Realms of Equinox”. Photos will be placed on the blog and each follower will get to vote for their favorite entry. Voting will take place between August 17th, 2009 – August 28th, 2009.
8. The winner will be announced on August 31st, 2009. The winner will receive a gift certificate for the Warstore. (Please note that the Warstore is not sponsoring this event, I am simply using them as they are a preferred vendor and very reliable.)
9. If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section of this blog entry.

Pit of on Oni
Another Year Older, Another Year Wiser

Submit to me via email: Your name, your website if you have one and the special character you’re going to be submitting. I will be accepting entries up until July 6th, after that all entries will be turned away. I will then post all entrants and the character chosen to be submited to the contest. After one (1) week all entrants will be required to submit a photo of their progress which in tern will be posted. After one (1) more week all entrants will need to submit their final photo of their model and voting will commence. Finally after one (1) last week of voting a victor will be determined.

Bay Hammer
Chaos Tyranids

The Rules
1. Can be any current or past Tyranid model except ripper swarms, though if doing a scene piece they can be included
2.must feature Chaos Iconography of some kind and or mutation
3.must be in Chaos Colors it doesn't matter which chaos god you pick so run wild
4.Models do not have to be on a scenic/flocked base, though feel free to do so.
5.you must submit at least 2 progress photos along with the final product
6.All entry's must be submitted by August 1st

Submit all entry's to BayHammer@gmail.com

Santa Cruz Warhammer
Dragon Forge Resin Bases Contest

The Rules
1. Become a follower of the Santa Cruz blog.
2. Leave a comment about Dragon Forge's products.

Update: Imperial Guard Veteran Sniper

Finished a veteran sniper this evening.

Allied Units: A Simple House Rule

When it comes to how I approach the hobby, the actual rules fall low on my level of concern. I enjoy playing the game, but I honestly don’t have every rule memorized nor do I feel compelled to know them all. Simply put, I like to play casually and enjoy opponents who think like me. Sometimes though, I do realize that there are a few rules or scenarios that need to be addressed because they do impact aspects of the hobby that I enjoy, especially army building.

The scenario that I want to address today is how allied units interact with the units in a core army. The fundamental problem with allied units (DH/WH) is that the newer core books, space marines and imperial guard, were not written to account for the older books. This has created the problem of certain combinations of core and allied units being very effective. I have read a few solutions to this problem, but I felt that most of them were more complex than what is really needed. To this end, I am proposing the following house rule that I believe eliminates the majority of abuse while still keeping the ability of allied units to be included within a core army.

“Once the game begins, allied units are only affected by the special rules and abilities of other allied units and not those of the core army. Core army units are not affected by the special rules and abilities of allied units.”

The rule is not perfect, but I believe it goes a long way to remove stuff like Vulcan with SoB and every imperial army including a stripped down inquisitor with 3 mystics just for the free shooting attacks. It does mean that the IG advisor that provides a +1 to reserve rolls would not impact a unit of grey knight terminators, but I feel like that is a small sacrifice. Ultimately, I feel that the rule brings back the original idea of the allied rule, which I believe was two armies sharing a common goal and not a single integrated army.

Protecting Mysteries in the Age of Information

If you asked the average person what is one good thing that can be found online, the answer would be porn. If you asked for another good thing, I would expect a good number of responses to be gossip/rumors. Our hobby is no different. There are forums and blogs built upon and dedicated to rumors about the latest news in the hobby. While I’ll admit that I have enjoyed following all the gossip, I must confess that it does seem to have a negative impact. Specifically, when a product is finally released, it just doesn’t seem as grand as it did in the early 90’s.

When I look back, I remember two releases that have stuck with me till today. The first was the necron release in WD. Looking back on the models today, they weren’t that good, but it was exciting and fresh to open the WD and discover a new model/army. The other one that I remember so fondly is the release of the eldar vyper. I remember the first time I saw that box. The sleek design, which reminded me of Tim Burton’s Batman, was just such an amazing model to see the first time in person.

In comparison to now, almost everything is discussed and shown online months, sometimes years, before they are released. Take the current gossip about the space wolves. A number of cool and interesting things have been dropped about them this week. While we have yet to see any pictures, there have been enough reliable rumors that some of the mystery about the new book has been dissolved.

Maybe in this age of information, we no longer crave the mystery and wonder something simple like a new codex can generate. Instead, we seek to absorb information and dissect every aspect of the hobby down to its most fundamental components and mechanics. This is not a negative thing, as each generation has its own collective goals and desires. As an individual though, each of us needs to decide how much we participate in this generation’s goals.

If I reflect upon myself, I am starting to find that I want to avoid most of the bigger forums and sites and just focus on ones dedicated to individual approaches to the hobby that I find interesting. When it comes to rumors, I feel like maybe I should police myself more when it comes to what sites and discussions I read in the hope that I can bring back some of that mystery I enjoyed as a young man.

So readers, what are your thoughts on the internet and its impact on the release of new products? Does the mystery of the new release hold as much importance to you as it once did for me? If you like keeping new products a surprise until they are released, how have you successfully avoided ruining the surprise while still being active in the online community?

On the Bench: Imperial Guard Veterans

Update from the work I did last night. Hopefully this fellow can be finished tonight.

The Wednesday Peek

Last week's peek was...



This week's peek is...

Wanted: Dark Eldar Codex (2nd printing) and Drazhar

I am on the hunt for a copy of the 2nd edition of the Dark Eldar codex. I am not looking for it new, just in good enough condition that I can read through it. I am also looking for the model Drazhar. I really need this guy to be new and complete. I can offer trade or commission work for the items. If interested, please email me at equinox999equinox@yahoo.com

Note: This is not the start of a dark eldar army and is meant as a potential one-off piece for a contest in November.

Online Orders: Resolving Issues

We live in an age where we can purchase virtually anything online and have it shipped to us within a few days. This has changed the market by providing more outlets for purchasing niche items like Games Workshop products. Overall I am a fan of online stores and purchasing, as it saves me time and money. However, there are times when things don’t go as planned and orders are either incorrect or never arrive. I am currently facing one of those situations with an order I placed originally in April 2009.

On April 19th, 2009, I placed an order with an online store out of the UK that was advertising on a popular website. At the time, the exchange rate plus the store’s advertise discount meant that I was saving quite a bit when compared with other stores. I had also used this business before and found the service to be quick and professional.

On April 30th, 2009, I received the order in the mail. Upon opening it, I discovered that two blisters were missing from the package and instead two completely unrelated blisters were included. I checked the invoice, paper and online, and I had ordered correctly, so I proceeded to email the store. I received a response two days later that apologized for the mistake and stated that they would be sending out the correct models ASAP.

Satisfied with the response, I placed a separate order for a blister on May 15th, 2009. Within about two weeks that blister arrived at my home. Not understanding why I would have received the new order before the replacement order, I emailed the owner to ask for the status of my original order. Six days later, I received an email stating that it shipped. Again, I was a patient and waited for the order.

On May 28th, I emailed the owner yet again to ask for the status of my order. No immediate response. I emailed again on June 6th, 2009 asking for a refund, since at that point I would rather purchase the models elsewhere since one of them was for a friend. This email finally received a response on June 13th, 2009 with the owner stating, “I am not sure why they were not sent out/Haven't got there but I will send them myself first thing in the morning (sunday) and they will go out recorded delivery monday. I will also put some extras in the parcel as an apology.”

Being the trusting person that I am, I took the response at face value and placed another order with the store to ship the prize to a recent contest winner who was located in the UK. Happily, that order was confirmed to have arrived by the winner of the contest on June 26th, 2009.

So that brings us to today’s post. As you can tell, I am not naming the store or owner as the goal of this post is not to blast the business but find a way to resolve the issue. I am not familiar with UK business rules, so I don’t know if there are government agencies like the BBB that we have here in the US. I am also looking for other suggestions on how to best handle a situation like this one as I am sure others have experienced it. So readers, what do you suggest?

Imperial Guard Army - The Next 500 Points

In my post last week, I outlined what I was planning for the core of my imperial guard army. The idea of the army was that it is the guard for a prison housing the cannon fodder used by the Imperium (i.e. criminal/mutant scum). It is also meant to complement my friend Ernie’s army.

HQ – Company Command Squad w/ 2 sniper rifles, 1 heavy bolter and an astropath. [100 pts]
Elite – Ratling Snipers (5 models) [50 pts]
Troop – Veteran squad w/ Harker, 3 snipers, and heavy bolter team [150 pts]
Troop – Veteran squad w/ heavy flamer, 2 flamers, shotguns and hull/turret mounted flamer chimera [155 pts]
Troop – Platoon command squad w/ 4 meltaguns and chimera (hb/hb) 125 pts
2 x Infantry squad w/ lascannon 130 pts (65 pts each) [255 pts]
Fast Attack/Troop – Grey Knights (teleport attack) w/ incinerator [160 pts]
Fast Attack – Bane Wolf [130 pts]

Looking ahead, I struggled with how I want the next 500 points to look for the army. At this point I think I have found a solution that works for me without having to sacrifice the theme of the army.

Since the army is being depicted to be behind friendly lines and not on the frontline, it seemed like a solid idea that the prison would have anti-aircraft weaponry on the off chance that enemy aircraft make it past the front. Along these lines, I figured the addition of two hydra flak tanks would fit this idea.

Heavy Support – 2 Hydra (75 pts each) [150 pts]

Along these lines, another tank that I feel will fit well with this theme is a manticore. Again, the idea for this tank is that the prison breaks it out if enemy forces have reached the walls. The nice thing is that the 24” minimum range helps to support the idea that the weapon is there to protect the prison and is not something that would be particularly useful if the inmates decided to revolt.

Heavy Support – Manticore [160 pts]

The last unit to roundout the army at 1500 points is one that I have talked about before and felt really needed to be added to the final list. The Nutcrackers are just a fun unit for me to paint and imagine, so I needed to get them into my default list.

Elite – Ogryns w/ chimera (hb/hb) [185 pts]

At this point, I have a decent 1495 point list that should provide me with a nice balance of units while still maintaining a theme. I like that the army has a nice splash from each force selection (elite, FA, etc.) without being really loaded in any particular one.

So what do my readers think? What do you feel are going to be the struggles with this army? Do you see any units that really don’t fit into the theme? I am very eager to read comments/feedback on what I am planning.

Update: Gunnery Sergeant Harker

Gunnery Sergeant Harker

On the Bench: Imperial Guard Veterans

Another update...

I really am coming to hate the 4th. I love fountains and bottle rockets, but the ones that shake the house just seem dumb and dangerous. Needless to say, one big firecracker blew by the house and caused my prized fish to freak and jump out of the tank. Didn't find the poor fellow till it was to late.

On the Bench: Imperial Guard Veterans

It is the 4th of July and stuff is exploding all around my house. Needless to say, between a bloodhound bellowing with every firecracker and my darling daughter waking from a nap with each bottle rocket, I decided to focus on one model today. The model of choice today was Harker, as I wanted to finish him first.





Hopefully after everyone goes to bed tonight, I can finish him and work on the other two models tomorrow.

Note: The pictures in this post are saved on photobucket. I will post the completed model pictures on my blog so people can enjoy close-ups.

Weekly Online Contest Roundup

The Aspect Portal Present's:

Competition Time!

The competition is to come up with a special character for a space marine chapter that doesn't already have one (Like the Sabol swords, Fire lords that type of thing) and write rules, fluff and set a points limit for you're character.
The deadline to get you're entires in is the 10th July and then voting will last a fortnight. The voting is not based on having the most overpowered character within reason, it is to make one with a great backround and rules to back it up and is of a reasnable point cost.

The Realms of Equinox Present's
Planetstrike

1. Models MUST be Games Workshop. They may be heavily converted, but it must be clear that they are primarily composed of GW models/bitz. FW models may be used.
2. Entries must be an elite choice from any current codex.
3. You must be a follower of “The Realms of Equinox” prior to submitting an entry.
4. Entries must be painted between July 4, 2009 – August 14th, 2009. Proof of work will be required as part of the submission process (see below).
5. Submissions will be accepted between July 4, 2009 – August 14th, 2009. This gives you plenty of time to build/paint your entry. Minimum of 2 Photos will be required of your entry: Work in Progress showing the unpainted model(s) on the new planetstrike book or the packaging for one of the new terrain kits, and a picture of the completed work. The completed picture file can contain multiple pictures, but only one picture file will be posted per entry. The deadline for submissions will be Aug 14th, 2009 11:59 PM CST. To submit your photos, please email them to: equinox999equinox@yahoo.com
6. All completed submissions may not appear on any other site or blog before August 31st, 2009. Works in progress may be posted on other sites and blogs before August 31st, 2009. (This is to encourage people to talk about their creations and build excitement around the contest) Any entries found to be violating this rule will be banned from the contest.
7. Voting will be done by the readers of “The Realms of Equinox”. Photos will be placed on the blog and each follower will get to vote for their favorite entry. Voting will take place between August 17th, 2009 – August 28th, 2009.
8. The winner will be announced on August 31st, 2009. The winner will receive a gift certificate for the Warstore. (Please note that the Warstore is not sponsoring this event, I am simply using them as they are a preferred vendor and very reliable.)
9. If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section of this blog entry.

Pit of on Oni
Another Year Older, Another Year Wiser

Submit to me via email: Your name, your website if you have one and the special character you’re going to be submitting. I will be accepting entries up until July 6th, after that all entries will be turned away. I will then post all entrants and the character chosen to be submited to the contest. After one (1) week all entrants will be required to submit a photo of their progress which in tern will be posted. After one (1) more week all entrants will need to submit their final photo of their model and voting will commence. Finally after one (1) last week of voting a victor will be determined.

Bay Hammer
Chaos Tyranids

The Rules
1. Can be any current or past Tyranid model except ripper swarms, though if doing a scene piece they can be included
2.must feature Chaos Iconography of some kind and or mutation
3.must be in Chaos Colors it doesn't matter which chaos god you pick so run wild
4.Models do not have to be on a scenic/flocked base, though feel free to do so.
5.you must submit at least 2 progress photos along with the final product
6.All entry's must be submitted by August 1st

Submit all entry's to BayHammer@gmail.com

Santa Cruz Warhammer
Dragon Forge Resin Bases Contest

The Rules
1. Become a follower of the Santa Cruz blog.
2. Leave a comment about Dragon Forge's products.

On the Bench: Imperial Guard Veterans

Another quick update of my progress with the first veteran squad. Going to the drive-in this evening, so I doubt I will get anymore work done. If I do, I plan on giving the "metal" sections another wast of GW badab black before doing any detail work.

On the Bench: Imperial Guard Veterans

This edition of On the Bench is going to be more of a snapshot in time than an actual breakdown of what I am doing with a particular model. The models are meant to represent Guardsman Marbo, a veteran sniper, and Gunnery Harker. Feel free to post any comments or questions.

The veteran squad plus guardsman marbo.