On the Bench: Spirit Host #2

The second spirit host for my Age of Sigmar list.  This one came out a little darker than the first because of additional layers I added.

On the Bench: Spirit Host

Complete my first spirit host model this week using the newer kit.  Need to finish 5 more of these before Nov 6th as I am playing Age of Sigmar at the Windy City Throwdown GT.

Episode 52 - Dragon-Fall 40K Championships Preview

This short episode is a full preview of everything that is happening on Oct 3 & 4 at Dragon Fall.  

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Episode Timeline
00:00:15 - Dragon Fall Preview

The Show Email - unstabledice@gmail.com

Show Links

Dragon-Fall
Dragon-Fall 40K Championship Rules
Player2Cast

Sponsors

Heroes Haven Comics & Games: Website | Facebook
A Gathering of Might: Website | Facebook
Scatter Shot Painting: Facebook
Michigan GT: Website

Episode 51 - Goodbye Hot Rod

In this episode, the two Johns get together and talk about 40K, first impressions of the Age of Sigmar, hobby updates and the Michigan GT. 

 

Download: Direct Download | iTunes | RSS


Episode Timeline
00:00:15 - Sponsors
00:02:15 - New Releases
00:34:00 - Marshaling the Host
01:10:00 - Michigan GT Update

The Show Email - unstabledice@gmail.com

Show Links

Player2Cast
Dragon Fall GT

Sponsors

Heroes Haven Comics & Games: Website | Facebook
A Gathering of Might: Website | Facebook
Scatter Shot Painting: Facebook
Michigan GT: Website 

DragonFall 40K GT - Feedback Requested!

Good Evening:

Looking to get some feedback on a 40K GT (Dragon-Fall GT) I will be organizing this October in the Chicago area. The current plan is to run an event that has an atmosphere similar to the 40K Friendly at Adepticon. That said, I want to also encourage attendance and strive to create an environment that most folks who attend GTs will find enjoyable. With those goals in mind, I am looking for feedback on a few initial thoughts I have about the event.

1. What are your thoughts of a 40K GT at the 1500 point level? As a long time player, I personally enjoy 1500 points and would like to see a regional GT at that size. I also like the point size for a few other reasons, but really want to get the thoughts of other players.

2. What kind of restrictions would you like to see when it comes to the following things: A. Lords of War; B. Super Heavies/ Gargantuan Creatures; C. Forgeworld.

3. How many detachments would be you like to see at the event?

4. Which tournament FAQ do you prefer?

5. What other restrictions/rules/features would you like to see that would encourage attendance and/or a more casual/friendly atmosphere.

At this stage, I really want to encourage the local and regional community to share their thoughts and ideas about what they would like to see at the inaugural Dragon-Fall GT. My current goal is to have an official rule set for the event released to the public by July 1st. All feedback is welcome and I want to encourage everyone to check out the Dragon-Fall website (http://www.dragon-fall.com) on a regular basis as more announcements and news are made.

Thanks in advance for helping to support this year's event!

Episode 49 - Craftworld Eldar Wraithost

In this episode, the crew breakdown the new Craftworld Eldar Wraith Host.  We discuss each of the units in the formation, how destroyer weapons work, and how we would use the formation. 

 

Download: Direct Download | iTunes | RSS


Episode Timeline
00:00:15 - Sponsors
00:02:15 - Rumors and New Releases
00:25:00 - Marshaling the Host
00:38:30 - Craftworld Eldar Wraithhost


The Show Email - unstabledice@gmail.com

Show Links

Player2Cast

Sponsors

Heroes Haven Comics & Games: Website | Facebook
A Gathering of Might: Website | Facebook
Scatter Shot Painting: Facebook

Episode 48 - Michigan GT Preview

In this episode, John is joined by Jeff from the Michigan GT to preview this year's event.  Jeff talks about the new additions to the weekend and what the rules will be for the 40K GT.

Download: Direct Download | iTunes | RSS


Episode Timeline
00:00:15 - Sponsors
00:01:45 - Friday Events at The Michigan GT
00:16:45 - 40K GT Rules
00:37:00 - WFB, Bolt Action, and Firestorm Armada Events

The Show Email - unstabledice@gmail.com

Show Links

Michigan GT

Sponsors

Heroes Haven Comics & Games: Website | Facebook
A Gathering of Might: Website | Facebook
Scatter Shot Painting: Facebook

Episode 45 - Khorne Daemonkin

The End Times may have come to a conclusion, but the rage of Khorne continues to spread across the mutliverse.  In this episode, Andrew and John share their first impressions of the new Khorne Daemonkin codex.  We discuss the new formations, the Blood Tithe and a few army ideas John has using the codex.  Before we get into the main topic, the guys talk about the End Times tournament at Adepticon, Andrew talks about his game with Andy Chambers, John plays with his nids, and we talk about our sponsors.  This episode also contains a bonus segment with John Ontto at Adepticon.

 

Download: Direct Download | iTunes | RSS


Episode Timeline
00:00:15 - Sponsors
00:05:30 - End Times @ Adepticon 2015
00:32:00 - Marshaling the Host
01:03:30 - Khorne Daemonkin
01:39:30 - Plugs (Waste Wars XV, 40K Kill Teams)
01:43:00 - Bonus Content (John Ontto at Adepticon 2015)

The Show Email - unstabledice@gmail.com

Show Links

Player2Cast

Sponsors

Heroes Haven Comics & Games: Website | Facebook
A Gathering of Might: Website | Facebook
Scatter Shot Painting: Facebook

Miniature Monday - 04/06/2015

Since the release of the new Khorne Daemonkin book, I have been playing around with painting a couple more Khorne models. Finally broke last week and painted a bloodletter to see if I recall the original painting scheme.  I also decided with this one to change the color scheme of the horns and claws from black to bone to see if I liked the results.

When it came to my daemon army, the original intention was for it to be a quick paint army with minimal effort as I tend to put too much time into individual models (~14 hours per infantry size model).  This fellow took me approximately 6 hours with the obvious bulk of the time spent on the green areas. 

When it came to the horns, I decided to experiment with using layers of wash to gradually go from bone to the black/brown towards the end.  The overall result was ok, but I will need to touch-up some spots where I felt the layering was uneven (notice the streak on the horn in the first picture?). 

Comparing the new model against an older one, I found my most recent attempt to be brighter and to pop slightly better because of the highlighting.  In the picture above, the green appears to be glossy, but I believe that is due to my lack of skills at taking pictures and not the actual model.  I also like the color scheme of the older model's tongue better than what I did with the newer one.  I'll need to dig through my notes and see if I wrote down what I did in the past for it.

Episode 44 - Player2Cast

In this episode, I sit down and talk with Ian and Nikki from the Player2Cast.  We talk about gaming in the UK, discuss the state of WFB, explore John's obsession with his Japanese listener and most importantly, find out about the Player2Cast that started in March.

WARNING: There were sound quality issues on my end that were not picked up until I began editing the show.  I apologize to Ian and Nikki as they sound fantastic in this episode and hope to have them on again soon to talk more about their show and gaming in the UK.

Download: Direct Download | iTunes | RSS


Episode Timeline
00:00:15 - Sponsors
00:01:40 - State of Gaming
00:34:00 - Player2Cast

The Show Email - unstabledice@gmail.com

Show Links

Player2Cast

Sponsors

Heroes Haven Comics & Games: Website | Facebook
A Gathering of Might: Website | Facebook
Scatter Shot Painting: Facebook

Boldly Going Back to Star Trek

Last Saturday I participated in a Star Trek Attack Wing tournament at the Wandering Dragon.  It had been close to a year since I last played, so I was curious to give it another try and see how the meta had developed.  

I was interested in trying the blind booster format that Wizkids has been pushing for the past six months.  The blind booster format works by having each player build a 90 point fleet and than adding a 30 point ship via a blind booster purchased as entry into the tournament.   

One of the first things that I noticed once the tournament started was that the ideal of faction pure fleets was a thing of the past.  The few players in attendance all used mixed fleets that maximized the best combinations for the scenario being played that day.  The Scimitar (from Star Trek: Nemesis) was the default choice for every fleet but mine.  A ship with a forward movement of 6, a large number of hull points/shields, and 2 for evading is nothing to sneeze at and may be a little under-costed.  Clearly it was the choice for trying to attempt to reach the transwarp token on the far side of the board.

As for the scenario itself, it was a poorly conceived one provided by Wizkids.  With nothing between fleets and ½ the board being a deathtrap for most ships, it encouraged players to bring ships that just moved straight ahead and had high damage output.  Granted, the scenario was published in advance so players could plan around it, but again this just went back to players bring the best ships and charging at each other. 

As for the atmosphere, the Warhammer community has spoiled me when it comes to player interaction and sense of community.  A year ago, I was raving about how the Attack Wing community was very open and friendly.  It seems since that time, the competitive element has pushed out the casual one and it now has become a hollow shell of a community.  This may explain why the turnout was so low for an afternoon event with some pretty good prize support.  

Given my recent experience, I am left wondering what my future is when it comes to Attack Wing.  I love the game mechanics and the frequent updates, but dislike the overly competitive focus I experienced and lack of purity when it comes to fleets.  I believe moving forward I will only attend events that promote themselves as faction pure as I like experiencing battles that remind me of my favorite Star Trek episodes.   In the end, the game looks to remain a casual option for me and not something I will pursue on a more frequent basis.

Adepticon 2015 - More from the End Times

Some more images from Adepticon 2015 and our tournament.

End Times Tournament @ Adepticon 2015 - Scenario 3

The final scenario from last week's End Times Tournament at Adepticon.

End Times Tournament @ Adepticon 2015 - Scenario 2

End Times Tournament @ Adepticon 2015 - Scenario 1

Below is the first scenario from the End Times Tournament at Adepticon 2015.

Miniature Monday - 03/23/2015

Decided to change things up and work on a Tyranid model.  Longtime readers of my blog will recall that my original Tyranid army was purple and brown.  I was never fond of the color scheme, but it worked at the time.  This color scheme is closer to what I am wanting in a Nid army.  The biggest challenge with this model was deciding on a conversion that worked but wasn't #ODT.  I also knew it would be a risk to use the same color scheme for the talons and base, but it seems to work for me.

Around the Net: Ad Mech are Coming...

The April 4th release just got a really strong hint via this Saturday's White Dwarf.

Around the Net: Codex Khorne Daemonkin

 

The above picture was taken from L'Astropate

 

Let me begin by stating that the picture above is awesome and I am bitz shopping today to recreate the model for my army.  ARGH....  Cannot resist the draw of this project.   .

 

According to Faeit 212:

 

Codex: Khorne Daemonkin

120pg hardback Codex. Rules for fielding a combined force of Khornate Chaos Space Marines with Daemons of Khorne.

£30

 

Warhammer 40,000 Datacards: Khorne Daemonkin

45 reference cards; 36 tactical objective cards; and 9 large-format ‘Blood for the Blood God’ cards.

Khorne Daemonkin Warband

10 Chaos Space Marines; 5 Possessed Chaos Space Marines; 5 Chaos Terminators; a Chaos Helbrute; 3 Bloodcrushers of Khorne; 12 Khorne Berserkers; and a Resin Herald of Khorne.

£140

Miniature Monday - 03/16/2015

 This Miniature Monday is a little something different since it is Adepticon week.  I completed this model over the weekend for one of the tables at the End Times Tournament.  I admit it is not my best work as I rushed the project and relied on doing a lot of heavy handed washes.  The picture also highlights the additional drybrushing I did on the stone staircase after the washes.  After Adepticon, I may revisit the piece and try to get it up to snuff, but for now, it is playable.
 

 

Miniature Monday - 03/09/2015

The next CSM for the squad. Since this marine is wearing a helmet, I felt the need to add the green element via the clawed hand.  It was a bit of a lazy conversion, but one I figured fit with the overall look of the unit.