January 2011 Painting Points

We have reached the end of the first month of 2011, so it is time to tally my painting points for 2011. As I write this article, I am realizing that the benefit of the system is not my ability to compare my progress with other bloggers, but to compare myself against prior years and make more realistic plans on what I can accomplish.

January has typically been a good month for me when it comes to getting stuff painted. Over the last few years, I tend to take a vacation for some personal travel and rest, so I have extra time for painting. Using the data collected, I can also see that I tend to attempt a bigger project in February, which usually causes me burnout and a sharp decrease in painting points for the month. Based on that observation, I am going to try and alter my approach and continue to work on individual and small groups of models.

Bronzino – 2 points


Crossbowman - 1 point


Ogre Bellower - 2 points


January 2011 Total – 5 points
January 2010 Total – 6 points
January 2009 Total - ~4 points

If you are interested is reading the system I am using for 2011, check here.

Random Images for 01/30/2011

Unique Gifts and Games Jan 03, 2011.

Invasion Kenosha III – WFB Tournament Rules

Invasion Kenosha III is very excited to announce the the rules for the 2011 WFB tournament are now officially available and can be found here.

New for 2011:
+ The tournament has expanded to 32 players.
+ The army limit has been raised to 1600 points.
+ Games will be played on 6’ x 4’ tables.
+ The tournament will be using a pod format which will group players in mini-tournaments of eight players.
+ Invasion Kenosha will be using the Indy GT Dogs of War list.

WTF Saturdays: The January 2011 Edition

If you don’t know what the acronym means, please look it up. The point of this monthly thread is to provide me a place where I can vent on various stuff I have experienced, seen, or read about the hobby in the last month. The kind of stuff that drives me to write something negative and detract from my general goal of providing inspiration and enjoyment with this site. If you are easily offended, please be advised…

1. Touching other people’s models without permission when you do not know the person. We are not 3 year old children, and honestly my 3 year old is better about this than most adults. Simply ask before you pick up a person’s model to inspect,especially if you do not know them. More so, if you are going to pick it up, pick it up by the base and not the model.

2. Gaming on Sundays. Maybe it is my age, but Sundays are about family and my religion.

3. Please don't reply to a post if all you are going to write is a message to visit your blog.

On the Bench: Crossbowmen [Khaki Pants]

For my second unit of crossbowmen, I am painting the pants a khaki color instead of the leather scheme I used for Vespero's Vendetta and The Marksmen of Vespero.

The painting process actually began with the base coats I referenced a few weeks ago. You can that information here.

Shading was accomplished by applying a couple of thin layers of Vallejo Khaki.


As I moved towards highlighting, I started to include Bleached Bone into the mix. I also used thinner and glaze to keep the paint thin.



As I concluded the highlights, a little drop of Dead White was included in the mixture.

Adepticon 2011: It’s How You Use It - 1000 Point WFB Tournament

Since I have decided to try and play more in 2011, it only seemed right that I give Adepticon another chance and attend purely as a player. I don't hide the fact that in the past I have been pretty hard on the convention, but this is a new year, so I want to try and look at it under a new light.

Currently I am registered for three events, two of which I will share at a later date. Today, I just want to focus on the first event I am playing in at the convention.

Overall, while I love the 1000 point format, this particular rule set feels to much like a 7th edition hangover. I especially dislike the ban on special characters, as it reduces the number of potential themes that can be done (i.e. Centigor herd, Troll army, etc...). A better ban would have been to simply disallow lord level characters (unique or not) as it would have cut out most of the crap that can break small games.

What army I am going to play in the tournament was a simple choice for me. I love my Dogs of War, and will continue to play them every chance I can.

(The Hireling Wizard should be noted as a level 2, not a level 4.)

This is what I am calling the default list. Everything in this list is painted and ready to go. Is it the list I want to play at Adepticon, not really, but it is the list I can bring if life makes other demands and I don't have time to finish anymore projects.

When it comes to modifications or changes to the list, my first goal is to add another unit of crossbowmen. I have some ideas for a second unit, but I am also considering R's Armoured Orcs as an option. Either way, if I get another unit finished, the cursed company will be dropped to replace the new unit.

The Wednesday Peek

Last Week's Answer...

This Week's Peek...

Tournament Tuesdays: AWC #6 Part Three

In this installment, I reflect upon my experience at the tournament.

The struggle of any event is to get people to participate, especially if the event deviates from the norm. Leading up to this tournament, there were some rumblings online about whether or not it would be cancelled because of low turnout. Alot of times, that is what does happen, but not in this case. Greg stood tall and reassured those of us that signed up that the tournament was happening. So for that, I thank him.



Overall, the tournament was alot of fun and I am glad to have gone. None of my opponents made me regret driving to Downers Grove and spending the time away from my family. So for that, I thank them.



Looking back, I generally feel a couple of the missions were not well thought out and punished shooty armies while never hindering assault forces. Now to be fair, I am a bit bias playing Tau, but the fourth mission is a great example of my point. The rolling for ammo quickly handicapped my army and made it unplayable by the third turn. Again, a good general plays thru such challenges, but I do think there should have been a similar "effect" placed on assault armies in one of the other missions. Balance is the key, so a little more is needed for Adepticon.



Due to the small turnout, there was an abundance of marine lists. Can't blame anyone for playing what they want to play, but it does make me wonder if the format favors the marine books. As Greg pointed out, his marine list has gone undefeated in the format and while I am sure that has to do largely because of his skills as a player, I do think there may be an advantage based on book used.



Below are the results that have been posted for the event. Upon review of the results, I noticed a few issues with them, primarily who won the awards compared against the actual scores. This has been brought to the attention of the TO, who does admit the results posted were wrong, but to date, no update has been posted. Not a show stopper for me, but it does cause that red flag to go up in the back of my head since this was a primer for the Adepticon event. Hopefully these scoring issues will be corrected before April.

Name...Battle...Paint...Sports...Overall
Fred Fortman 131 27 158 185
Greg Swanson 107 28 135 163
Tom Curzi 87 25 112 137
John Clemens 77 28 105 133
John Frizzell 75 28 103 131
Vince Hammond 77 27 104 131
Joe Meyer 82 19 101 120
Andrew Karolus 66 28 94 122
Dave Penfold 72 21 93 114
Artur Sot 52 35 87 122
John Gaszak 27 31 58 89
Mike Ruffalo 23 26 49 75

Overall Fred Fortman
General Tom Curzi
Painted Artur Sot
Sportsman John Clemens

The Monday Match-up for 01/24/2011

Monday Match-up for 01/24/2011

The Mission
An invasion by an unknown xenos has forced your army to flee the planet. As your forces make their way to the evac zone, a dark eldar army on the hunt for slaves appears.

The dark eldar player will deploy first, with all units within 12" of the center of the board. Next, you will deploy all of your forces along any board edge (with the exception of deep striking, infiltrators, etc...). The dark eldar player will go first, though you can attempt to seize the initiative.

The winner of the game is determined by a simple point system. The dark eldar player earns a point for each non-vehicle unit wiped out. You earn a point for each non-vehicle unit that you get off the board. To get a unit off the board, you must get it to within 6" of the center of the board and declare it is being evacuated at the end of a turn. Once a unit is evacuated, it is removed from the board and you earn a point.

The Board


The Army


Special Conditions

The mission was written to be fun and not an attempt at a tournament caliber game. Play as you would with a friend.

Readers - If you have a list that you would like to appear in an upcoming Monday Match-up, send it to me at equinox999equinox@yahoo.com.

Random Images for 01/23/2011

The Five - Jan 2011 Edition

What I always enjoy about any type of “Best of” list is the conversation that it generates. In particular I find it fun to read how individuals would change the list and their reasons for why the original is incorrect. “The Five” is my attempt at a monthly top five list related to the hobby.

original image taken from http://english.eastday.com without permission.

Who are the 5 most important supporting characters in the 40k Universe?

This month’s list is what I consider the five characters that have had the biggest influence on the current fluff without being in the main spotlight. We are not talking about the guys that books are based around, but the ones that get name dropped in stories. I also avoided any special characters which have actual game rules and/or models.

5. Arkhan Land
Arkhan Land was the technoarchaeologist that was responsible for finding the original designs that resulted in the land raider and land speeder.

4. Sebastian Thor
Sebastian Thor played a pivotal role in the defeat of Goge Vandire and the birth of the Sisters or Battle.

3. Inquisitor Kryptman
A desperate gambit to halt the Tyranid incursion has resulted in two races becoming stronger.

2. Commander Puretide
All of the Tau’s war philosophy originates with this guy.

1. The Dragon
The C’Tan at the heart of Mars is my choice for the most influential supporting character in the 40K universe because of its affect on the Adeptus Mechanicus.

On the Bench: Bronzino

This week’s ‘On the Bench’ is a quick rundown of how I accomplished some of the details on my Bronzino conversion. In general, I am happy that I was able to salvage the model as I expected it to not come out and was anticipating having to scrap it.

When it came to the cloak, I started with a base coat of Vallejo Hexed Purple. Once this coat dried, I gave the cloak a wash of GW Purple Wash. Once that dried, I did layers of Vallejo Hexed Purple with increasing amounts of Vallejo Dead White and Vallejo Violet-Blue. I also thinned each layer with Vallejo Medium Glaze and acrylic thinner.



The armor was accomplished using a similar approach, only this time with different hues/tones of grey. I started with a base coat of Vallejo Black Grey. Once dry, I gave the metal areas a healthy wash of Badab Black. Once this was dry, I start with a thinned layer of Vallejo Black Grey. As I apply each new layer, I add more Vallejo London Grey and Vallejo Glaze Medium. Near the end of the process, I begin to include Vallejo Light Grey and Dead White to the mixture.

Fantasy Thursdays: Dogs of War vs. Empire Battle Report

“Why is it always at dawn?” shouted the paymaster as he hurried to reach the battlefield.
“I am sure they want to avoid you getting anymore beauty sleep,” responded Chase, captain of the crossbowmen.
“You calling me good looking?” replied the paymaster.
“Hardly, your ugly mug is a great thief deterrent and I would hate for that to change,” harassed the captain as he motioned his men into formation.



In this battle report, my faithful Dogs of War find themselves facing off against 1000 points of Empire fielded by Kevin from Unique Gifts and Games. The scenario for this battle was Dawn Assault played on a 4’ x 4’.

I fielded the same list as in my prior battle report. This time when I rolled for magic, I paid more attention to the results and ended up with Miasma and Pit of Shades.

(The Hireling Wizard should be noted as a level 2, not a level 4.)

My opponent fielded an Empire army that was basically a gunline with a couple units of swordsmen to deter me from getting in close. When it came to my opponent’s magic, he had chosen the Lore of Fire.
Wizard Lord (Level 4)
10 Handgunners
10 Handgunners
10 Huntsmen
20 Empire State Troops
20 Empire State Troops
Helblaster

With this game, I decided to take a more aggressive approach and see how my army does when it goes on the offensive. I started the first turn by moving up the Cursed Company, Vespero’s Vendetta, and Bronzino’s Galloper Guns. In the magic phase, I rolled 12 for my casting dice. Using the flood of magical potential, I hit the huntsmen with Miasma and Pit of Shades. Sadly the Miasma was dispelled ad the pit moved in the wrong direction.

The first turn for the Empire was much more productive, as my movement had placed my forces within the 24” bubble of death. The Helblaster unleashed a devastating round of shots, wiping out the Cursed Company before they had even made it to the middle of the battlefield. Bronzino’s crew was also wiped out by the combined firepower of the huntsmen and handgunners sitting across the table. It was a rough turn, but my confidence was not shaken at this point.

In the second turn of the game, I continued to position Vespero to meet the advance of one of regiments of state troops. I also moved my wizard into a position to avoid the huntsmens. The magic phase once again gave me a decent amount of dice to play with in the phase. The results in this phase were a little better, as I got Miasma off, but the pit once again missed its target.

My opponent’s movement phase was rather uneventful as he needed to push his units forward. He did remember his magic phase this time, with his one spell nailing my crossbowmen, killing 8 of them. Overall, my forces were depleted, but I was still determined to turn this one around.


If you are willing to take the punishment, you're halfway through the battle. That the issues may be trivial, the battle ugly, is another point. (Lillian Hellman)

The third turn actually saw me killing some of his forces. My remaining crossbowmen were able to drop to members of the helblaster crew. During the magic phase, my combination of spells was on target and I was able to reduce one unit of state troops by a few. In comparison, my opponent was unable to kill anything and I actual had won a turn of play by my estimate.

The fourth turn was the final collapse of my army, as a few lucky shots and poor dice rolls cost me my paymaster and wizard. During my opponent’s turn, he charged Vespero’s crew. I elected to challenge and was able to kill the captain. In exchange, he wiped out the unit.

Lessons Learned…
1) I really question the value of having a level 4 wizard in a 1000 point force. While it gives a player more options, the additional +2 towards casting/dispelling didn’t seem to be a factor in the game.
2) A guerilla style of game play may be cool to explore, but I need to beef up my numbers for Adepticon. This game proved to me that 8th edition is a game of numbers and unless I come up with an alternative scheme that works, I need to increase my model count.
3) I need to check the size of the table before the game. I like UGG, but the game tables they have are small and may actually be less than 4’x4’.

Special Thanks to Unique Gifts and Games for providing the gaming space.

The Wednesday Peek

Last Week's Answer...

This Week's Peek...

Tournament Tuesdays: Preparing for Vanguard - Part Six

Since I am doing a DoW gunline army, I wanted to add a big gun that would cost me my rare slot. I had three choices: a generic cannon, the goblin hewer, or Bronzino's Galloper Guns. In the end, I decided to go with Bronzino's Galloper Guns because of the models and the unique way the unit plays on the battlefield.



For those not familiar, Bronzino's Galloper Guns is a mobile cannon. Unlike a standard cannon, it only has a range of 24", but because of how cannons work and the mobility of the unit, the reduction in range is not as much of an issue as I first thought. The unit also comes with a "free" hero that can detach from the crew and harass other units.

When it came to painting the crew, I decided to maintain the purple used on other units, but to avoid the leather pants on the crossbowmen and Vespero's Vendetta. I also decided to replace one of the normal models with an old Empire model to give the unit a little more character.



The cannon was a bit of a challenge when it came to painting it. The wood grain started as a couple coats of scorched brown followed by a heavy wash of badab black. Once the wash was dry, I did a couple thin layers of scorched brown and Reaper woodgrain. The end result came out decent, but I think I may clean it up after the tournament.


Lastly, I decided to convert Bronzino as I was not fond of the original model and his peg leg. I made the conversion using bitz from the outrider kit, crossbow kit, and a brettonian kit. Nothing fantastic, but a simple conversion to meet the requirements of the tournament.

The Monday Match-up for 01/17/2011

All over the internet, people post their army lists and look for feedback, but rarely do I read actual tactical comparisons between armies and how specific missions impact them. That is the goal of the Monday Match-up. Each week, I will post a mission, an army list, and maybe a few “conditions” that will influence how the game will be played. The idea is for readers to post the army they would be playing and how they would approach the mission considering the details provided.

Monday Match-up for 01/17/2011

The Mission
Capture and Control using Pitched Battle Deployment

The Board


(Images from the Chicago Battle Bunker)

The Army


Special Conditions

1. The field has been littered with mines. Whenever a unit moves across anywhere that is outside either player's deployment zone, roll a d6. On a roll of a 1, your opponent can place a small blast template over the unit. Models touched by the template take a STR 3, AP -. If the unit takes any wounds, they must also test for pinning.

Random Images for 01/16/2011

Models from Birth of Legends

Who Deserves to Comment?

Today's post is really a simple question that I am interested in answering. What level of moderation should a blog, this one in particular, have when it comes to who is allowed to post comments?

The simple answer is whatever I want, it is my blog, but I want to dig a little deeper. What has spurred this question was a recent attempt by me to post on another blog. My post was going to be a compliment, but I was unable to post since I was not a follower of that particular blog. My first impression was that this was a means to force people to become followers so that the blogger could increase his follower count. My second thought was that it may just be them really wanting to restrict who comments so that any feedback received is from folks who legitimately care about the content/discussion.

Reflecting on my own blog, I like to know who is posting, but don't feel like I should force anyone to follow me just to share feedback. At the same time though, sometimes I feel like the feedback received is more about pushing that person's agenda and not supporting what I am trying to achieve with my blog. A great example of this was the first comment I received for the first Monday Match-up. Basically it was a generic statement and a comment to visit another blog to get tactics on orks.

So readers, what do you think? How do you moderate who posts on your blog? Should freedom of speech rein, or should the privilege of commenting be an exclusive club?

On the Bench: Crossbowmen [Base Coats]

Today's edition of On the Bench is going to be a little different as I am going to focus on only the base coats for a model and use future editions to cover specific color schemes. I wanted to try base coating everything first and than doing the highlighting in phases to see if the results were different with regards to quality or completion time.

The Base

The base coat for the base is a diluted coat of Vallejo Dark Flesh followed by a wash of GW Devan Mud.

The Khaki Sections

The base coat for the pants and bandages was a mixture of Vallejo Khaki and Vallejo Bestial Brown (8:1). This was applied in multiple layers until the model had smooth coverage.

The Purple Sections

The base coat for the shirt and hat were accomplished using a coat of Vallejo Hexed Purple and a wash of GW Purple.

Skin

The skin was painted using a slightly thinned coat of GW Tallarn and a wash of GW Ogre Fleshtone.


Red and Gold Sections

The red section was given a base coat of Vallejo Heavy Red. [Note: The Vallejo Heavy line is one of the few examples of a Vallejo product being inferior to a GW version. The Vallejo heavy colors just don't cover like the GW Foundation paints.]

The gold sections were given a base coat of Reaper Chestnut Gold and a wash of diluted Vallejo Brown Ink.

Fantasy Thursdays: DoW vs DoC Battle Report

Snow covered the fields as the mercenary warband approached the quiet village of Grayslake. The citizens were mostly huddling inside their cabins and businesses, preparing for the coming holiday. At the direction of the paymaster, the warband unpacked and prepared to resupply their caravan and rest. As the paymaster handed his list of supplies to the store owner, one of his clerks ran up to him and whispered into his ear.

The air filled with the smell of sulfur and brimstone as a chilling wind blew in from the south. Fear and panic began to spread among the locals, the danger about to visit upon them something familiar and yet foreign. The store owner quickly returned the list and stated that the general store was closed for business this evening.

Stepping outside to assess the reason for the panic, the paymaster's view fell upon the eerie lights that were coming from the south. Flickering flames and flashes of other unearthly illuminations signaled the approach of something otherworldly. As they stepped into the village limits, the paymaster could make out the distinct outline of the daemonic forces that were gathering.

In this battle report, my Dogs of War army played a 1000 point game versus Dominique and his Daemons of Chaos.

Dominique's Daemons of Chaos

Skulltaker
19 Bloodletters w/ full command

15 Bloodletters w/ full command

9 Fleshhounds of Khorne

Karanak

3 Flamers

My Dogs of War Army

(The Hireling Wizard should be noted as a level 2, not a level 4.)

The Battlefield
The game the Dawn Raid scenario played on a 4'x4' table.
Recap

The demonic forces of Khorne and Tzeentch moved across the landscape, hungry for the souls of those in the village. As they marched across the snowy fields, the heat from their presence boiled away any tracks that would have been otherwise left behind. This was the coming of evil, and the paymaster knew it.

“What do you have in terms of wealth?” declared the paymaster to the villagers huddled inside the store.

“Not much, but we can fill your list of supplies and provide you with shelter,” responded the clerk hiding behind the counter.

“You just hired the Coin Collectors” responded the paymaster.

At 1000 points, the first turn was not one of grand moves or subtle tactics. My opponent moved all of his forces forward as much as possible. Sitting back could only hurt his chances at a victory, and without a lot of options for attacking at range there wasn’t a more obvious strategy. I used this opportunity to fire a round of crossbow bolts into the closest regiment of bloodletters. To my joy, three of them were killed in the volley.

This was not the kind of fight that Vespero wanted to find himself in. Daemons were not the usual target of the hitman and his band. As he moved between the shadows of the town, he spied the alluring figure of a young woman barricading the windows to the cabin she was taking shelter within. It was at that moment that Vespero realized that there may be something in this town worth saving.

The second round was similar to the first in that nothing of particular note took place. The daemons continued to advance, and I was able to kill a few with a cannon ball and some crossbow shots. The thing that stood out to me in this round was that I knew the next one was going to decide the fate of the game, and I didn’t like my odds.

“It’s a kind of magic…” (Queen)

The third round saw the daemons hit my lines. Vespero was able to kill a few hounds before his regiment was dragged down by them. Since they overran the regiment on the charge, they were able to move forward into the paymaster. The flamers were also in range and fired upon the Cursed Company. Only a single skeleton was destroyed, so I was not particular worried about them. The big moment of the round was my wizard casting a spell and being able to swap positions with the paymaster. Not the most useful tactic, but it allowed me to experiment with how the Lore of Shadows works.

“It’s over. It’s all over…”

The game ended in the fourth round with the bloodletters destroying the Cursed Company and my crossbowmen running of the board. Again, not the most sound tactics, but I was curious to play out how charge reactions work. In the end, the daemons slaughtered my forces and I was left with a sense of motivation that I have not been feeling for the past few weeks.

Lessons Learned…
1) Overall, I really need to spend some quality time with the rule book. 8th edition is a different beast from 7th edition, and I need to do my homework if I have any chance of winning with DoW.
2) I should have swapped one of my two spells for the signature spell.
3) I need to bring more crossbow units and remove the Cursed Company from this list. I love the CC, but I need to dominate shooting and magic if I plan on winning any games at this point level.

Special Thanks to Unique Gifts and Games for providing the gaming space.