Quick deffkopta paintjob

I just finished a quick deffkopta model. I converted it using the AoBR kopta, bits from a sentinel, a havoc launcher, some Mechwarrior clix pieces, and some odds and ends.





I didn't paint it to the level I would my other ork vehicle stuff. That's because, let's face it, deffkoptas die to a stiff breeze. But it was fun to convert at least.

Latest GS Terrain - updated pics

*now with updated pics*

Hey all,

Just some quick snaps of the latest terrain for Gamers Sanctuary. Unfortunately I finished later than intended, so the light wasn't the best. I attempted to take our little bistro table thing to the one patch of direct sunlight still in my yard. But, turns out glass tables make poor backdrops for mini pics!








These were quick, fun little pieces to paint. I spent more time layering the magical fire stuff than anything else. I thought something other than normal flame colors would look neat. Here's hoping others agree!

Warmachine Steamroller Tournament Report - Interview with Chuck E.

Geneguard and I played in the 50 point Steamroller at Gamers Sanctuary on Saturday. I was planning to get my face beat in for the most part but I played pretty well and actually pulled out a win and a super close loss. Initially I was very intimidated to do something like this with 3 different lists, a time limit, and probably playing against dudes who have played for a long time, but I enjoyed myself immensely.

My first game was against Circle with Baldur. This was a tough one - I brought Epic Vlad with Uhlans, Doom Reavers, Fenris, and Kayazy with Drago and Spriggan. He put out a TON of rough terrain and my pathfinder didn't work during his feat turn. I ran Fenris around one flank and the Kayazy around the other and eventually pincered his caster right in the middle with back strikes and RAZOR WIND from Vlad to win the game.

So much rough terrain around. Uhlans jam the middle.

Uhlans pop the middle in the feat turn. Kayazy work their way around the side.

My second game was against Jason and his Khador (Khador made up half the field!). He brought Karchev and a number of 'jacks. Karchev seems tough - his Hell on Earth spell ghetto boosts all his dudes I believe, and tow makes his 'jacks get in quicker. Plus he just has a ton of boxes. I ended up losing this one as I didn't know what to do with Zerkova. This was also my first battle using the Gun Carriage. It ended up being GC vs GC. I took his down pretty fast at the beginning.

Gun carriage vs gun carriage!

A battle line view. The riflemen managed to scare me for a while.

My last battle was against Dennis and his Khador. He brought Harkevich, who I think is really really solid. My whole line of battle got shot up early in the game, but during Strakhov's feat turn I managed to get a really nice overrun and charge with Spriggan into Harkevich. I ended up leaving him with 1 box and I lost the game.

More rough terrain. My dudes got killed pretty quick. See the 'jacks lining up in the middle for the feat turn?

Harkevich is behind that 'jack on the right. I used Overrun to get Spriggan around him and then he beat the hell out of Harkevich. I lost by 1 box :(

My overall thoughts from this format: I had more time to play than I thought I would. I only ran near to 9 minutes left against Karchev, and this is because I couldn't figure out what to do. The character restriction + 3 lists thing is a bit tough for a newer player, but it did make it more interesting.

The boards were very terrain-heavy which I whined about a bit, but commanders cannot choose their battlefield, they fight where the enemies are. Overall I enjoyed myself quite a bit. I managed to interview Chuck E. who won the overall prize for the tournament. You may recognize him from NQ Magazine and the forums. Here are the questions and answers:

1. What did you think of the tournament overall? GS is using a new board layout, did that help?

A:    I thought the tournament had a good format, it was used at GenCon and helps to make sure the tournament players move away from using the same models in every list as to assure the overall winners are those that in some way have a mastery of all models, most of them any ways, in their faction.  The board layout was nice for some tables, being able to have some room to the left or right of you where a table was not being used, however that was the case for only 2 of the tables.  It is nice though that a hobby shop notices a chance for new board layout and tries to put it into affect.

2. How familiar are you with the Steamroller rules? They can be a little intimidating to a newer player, any tips?

A:    I am very familiar with the steamroller rules, I was one of the original 8 press gangers that got to work on it.  My responsibility was to go over the scenarios and make suggestive changes to help with clarity and look for loopholes that could make it hard to understand.  We worked on it for 2 months, it got sent out to the rest of the press gangers for further feedback and then we got to compile the results so as to make it into the version that is used now.  Tips I can suggest would be to read the scenario fully, don't skim over it, before deploying and picking your list.  Knowing what the victory conditions are helps out and allows you to know what your opponent might try.

3. What list did you bring, and why? What was your main strategy?

A:    Since it was character restricted, meaning you can only have any one character model/unit in any of your 3 lists, I went with theme forces as usually 3 different warcasters/warlocks are not able to share character models in their lists.  I played Legion of Everblight and I chose warlocks that were all very different in their play style.  Prime Thagrosh was able to play in a scenario where both players are trying to control one area and his theme list not only brings high armor beasts but an ability to lower your opponents STR, as well as a lot of medium bases to block lanes to beasts and the warlock.  My next list was Bethanye, this list has a lot of ways to move around and a high model count to try to move to multiple zones that you have to control, and an ability to move the opponent off the zones.  My last list was Epic Lythlth, which was used for scenarios that had to defend one zone while trying to take another.

4. What would you change about that tournament setup if anything at all?

A:    I really wouldn't change anything, I like the format of restricting characters in multiple lists and the fact you have to use every list.

5. What is in the near future for you with WM / H? Any events coming up? Any cool stuff in Michigan?

A:    Right now our group is setting off for a tournament in Madison Wi., the mayhem cup.  This is a tournament to win a trophy that every 6 months players from all over the United States comes to compete for.  We are hoping to win the trophy and bring it home not only for the prestige of winning it but the fact that it will draw many players to Michigan to play in a large tournament format.


Finally, some random shots from the tourney:

Bill's troops line up

Paintvagrant's Skorne army

Kayazy begin their flanking manuevers

Chuck's Legion fly through the city ruins

Chuck's Legion vs Dennis' Khador

Jason's Khador. Karchev was mean!

My models. I had one fully painted list. I created a snow based movement board for them the night before.

Bill's Cygnar

Dennis' Khador

Fresh Event: Warmahordes Steamroller - Gamers Sanctuary - 8/20/2011

Each month FreshCoast40k will be highlighting Mid-Michigan events that we plan to attend. This month we are highlighting the Steamroller event at Gamers Sanctuary on August 20th, 2011 at 1 p.m.

We decided to attend this event because we have been building up our Warmachine knowledge all summer and this is an event where we can see even more expertise all in one place. I don't personally plan to win anything (OK I have one list I'd like to win or draw with) but I have been painting furiously so I could have one fully painted list.

The lists are 50 points each, 3 different casters, and character restricted (so you can't have the Black 13th in more than one list). This is really tough as a newbie - you have to obviously throw in more casters than you're used to and the character units you may have used as a crutch aren't available in all three games. I think this will be super tough for me because I use character jacks and the Great Bears etc.

I'm planning on fielding a fully painted 50 point Strakhov force. Strakhov has become my main caster after dabbling with eVlad and Zerkova. My force is totally unconventional and will probably lead to me getting thrown out of the store for being such a mo-ron.

Kommander Strakhov (*6pts)
* Beast-09 (11pts)
* Spriggan (10pts)
* Torch (10pts)
Assault Kommandos (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* 2 Assault Kommando Flame Throwers (2pts)
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)

My plan is to jam the middle as soon as possible with the three 'jacks. The Assassins as always will go around the flank, and the Kommandos will hold the line in objectives. It is tough because I have only painted min units, not max, so 50 point games will be harder.

The tournament starts at 1 p.m. The details:

• Entry Fee: $10.00
• Format: 50pt Steamroller
SR2011 Appendix Rules:
• Three Lists Required
• Warlock/Warcaster Characters Restricted
• Model/Unit Characters Restricted
• Death Clock
• Attrition Scoring

Complete Steamroller Tournament Rules can be found at: http://privateerpress.com/files/Official%20Steamroller%202011%20Rules.pdf

Back to the Old School: Warhammer Fantasy Friday

Warhammer Fantasy has always been my first love when it comes to 28mm wargaming. My best friend got us into it when we were in middle school; my brother and I started with one beastman each, moving across our living room carpet from like 48" away. Ridiculousness.

Soon we moved onto Orcs and Goblins (I had probably 5,000 points) and my brother had Skaven. We must have played two or three times a week on dinner tables. Little to no terrain, we'd start 48" inches apart and my buddy with Undead (no TK and VC at the time) would win every time because the magic back then for Undead was unstoppable. No idea why we didn't actually read the rules. My standard was a unit of 64 goblins marching around 4 ranks wide. So stupid.

I hadn't played fantasy in ages, just 40k, and I didn't plan to play it at all anymore. 7th Edition was broke-r than Randy "The Ram" Robinson. I sold all my Orcs and Goblins. I bought more 40k stuff with it.

At some point in 2009 I decided to pick up Tomb Kings. I love the aesthetic - all these risen warriors fighting for their super pissed off mummy lord. The monsters and chariots are so cool. They sucked really bad, though. Under 7th they were so bad.

8th edition came out last summer and it has been pretty awesome. Lots of kills, lots of dice rolling, fun. Tomb Kings were updated recently and they're pretty cool. Where am I going with all this?

I think Fantasy has gotten a really bad rap lately from big sites who generalize and state their opinion as fact. I think a lot of 40k dudes only play 40k and I've always been about trying a number of games (not a TON! People never want to invest in a ton) so you can actually tell what you like. You'll also be able to look critically at a game like 40k and realize it isn't the end-all-be-all.

There are inherent problems, sure. Tons of models to buy and paint. It is fantasy based (I've always been about sci-fi, but still I like fantasy's world more than 40k's. 40k really is just fantasy in space - space knights, space empire, space elves, chaos, etc.) but the fluff is still great and the things that happen in the fantasy world seem to be much more coherent to me. Things that the Chaos invasion does are all encompassing and affect everyone; in 40k whole systems die and the high command on Terra doesn't care one bit.

This isn't to say Fantasy is better; it is just different and well worth your time. Instead of blindly hating on it because you want to feel better than others, try it out sometime. Learn the differences and actually try to understand it before putting it away. 8th Edition makes a great wargame and is LOVELY for beerdrinking (what GW games are all about. Not "competitive wargaming").

I guess the only reason I decided to post this up was because my buddy and I were playing Fantasy Wednesday night. We had a great time, killed everything on the board. His Stegadons ran down my skeletons and my mummies beat up his dudes. A good time. So good, in fact, that I went out and purchased a starter army for Empire. Totally on a whim - my buddy had started a Wood Elves army at Games Day so I decided to as well.

Why did I choose Empire? They are solid overall, but mostly the fluff. They've always been besieged on all sides by Chaos, Skaven, Orcs and Goblins, Tomb Kings, etc. They fight as well as they know how to and barely hang on by a thread. They are led by badass bald priests with gigantic warhammers; they have insane fire mages that blow things up. They have cannons and handguns and all that. They're just a really cool faction.

It is a shame that the price of the game has gotten so high that it is hard for me to convince our players to try it out. We do have a few players that will play it though, so be on the lookout soon for more battle reports and hobby updates related to Fantasy to balance out our blog!

August Oath - Progress Report (UPDATED)

August oath for Gamers Sanctuary painting challenge: Nurglings x6, troops choice.

Boxed.


Unboxed.


Assembled and primed.


Base coat, drybrush, and wash.


All they need now is some details added and based. Cool little guys. Not sure how much good they'll do me though.

Update: Finished up the Nurglings with some details and a little flair on the bases.

September oath will be Bloodletters. I have 20 finished but another 10 waiting to get a coat of paint. You can never have enough Bloodletters!

Deathwatch - a Reth Campaign Epilogue

Saturday night was the kick-off to our Deathwatch campaign we started. Geneguard and tau4eva have been seriously jonesing for some Deathwatch roleplaying, so I finally gave in and agreed to GM a campaign, since I had done it before, albeit very very little.

Instead of using the setting from the book (the Jericho Reach) I continued with the Reth setting we had used in our 40k spring campaign. During the campaign the Imperials had successfully beaten back the Tyranids and other Xenos that were attacking the planet. This campaign follows a Deathwatch team tasked with traveling to the planet and fulfilling four objectives:

Primary objective: kill Colonel Morton Douglas.

During the final moments of the battle of Reth, elements of Douglas' command were to hold the middle line against an entire tyranid strike force made up of shrikes and genestealers. It is thought that the rapid nature of the attack from the xenos creatures as well as the terror tactics employed caused the commander to go insane and rebel against the allied forces on Reth. The last vox transmission from his chief adjutant is as follows:

   The tyranids... horrors you haven't seen. You have no right to call me a traitor! 

   Send in your best to kill me, but you have no right to judge me. 
   It is impossible for us to describe what is necessary to those who do not know 

   what horror means. 
   Horror... Horror has a true definition in these creatures... Exterminatus. 

   THAT IS THE ONLY ANSWER. BURN IT ALL. BURN IT ALL. BURN IT ALL.

Douglas' troopers and tanks opened up on the regiment on either flank and murdered hundreds of guardsmen, even destroying two stormravens inbound with Blood Angels on board. The high command immediately realized the traitorous actions of Douglas and moved to eradicate him and his entire force. By the time the assault marines had landed to remove the threat, Douglas was gone and his former position was now occupied by over 2,000 dead guardsmen, flayed, hung, disemboweled, crucified, and burned alive.

Secondary objectives:

• Find and kill Sorceror Cayanderus, a Death Guard psyker.
• Find and kill a group of rogue psykers who have broken out of the psyker containment facilities.
• Find and retrieve a data set recorded by Magos Biologos Dern.

We had done character creation (two tactical marines, one devastator, one assault marine, one librarian, one apothecary, and one techmarine) and then we did requisition. Each marine chose their accoutrements and we were ready to go.

The marines listened to their Captain and an Inquisitor tell them their missions, then made planetfall on Reth in a drop pod. Immediately they were besieged by renegade guardsmen. Brother Vulrath had the idea to grapple a guardsman and interview him. They found that they could follow the bodies of dead guardsmen hanging from trees to get to Douglas.

Soon they came upon a village that requested their aid. A silent stalker had been snatching children when they would go to a stream to get water or fish. The village mayor had requested their aid.

The marines hemmed and hawed - they were under no orders to help the local populace. In the end they decided to help the people and ended up fighting a Tyranid warrior and some termagants. The warrior got dangerously close but they were able to fend him off.

Some photos follow. We definitely had a tough time with the rules at first - they're pretty crunchy. We'll get better as we progress.

WFB Terrain

I just finished up this terrain piece, and figured I'd post it here. Gamers Sanctuary regulars will (hopefully) see this on the terrain shelves very soon!

Warmachine Tournament Report - Gamers Sanctuary Quick Tourney

Adam (tau4eva) and I played in a quick player-run tournament last night at Gamers Sanctuary, our usual stomping ground. There were no scenarios, just straight up run at each other and swing. It was pretty cool that way to learn what other armies can do; I haven't fought Cryx yet and I came up against GS regular Ray who is known for being very good at the game (and a great painter). I also got to fight Skorne, which I've never come up against before, and Tau4Eva.

My first game against Ray was tough. He brought Terminus and a ton of small Cryx things. I had a very small army and was outnumbered. I brought:

Points: 25/25
Kommander Strakhov (*6pts)
* Beast-09 (11pts)
* Spriggan (10pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)

A small number of models with no solos or attachments. Probably not a great idea, but Strakhov's feat pushes those jacks and Great Bears and Assassins in so fast. Once I have a Torch model he'll replace Spriggan in this list, and I'll probably take Yuri and a Manhunter next time instead of the Kayazy.

Ray basically beat me down. I killed a few models, so that was nice, but they were sacrifices. Terminus is NASTY.

Photos:

The Great Bears look over the field at their impending doom.

Terminus + a million models = sad panda.

Strakhov surveys the field from behind Beast 09 and Spriggan.

Here comes the pain train.

Game 2 was against Tau4Eva. We've played each others army a few times lately so I knew some of what to expect. Strakhov's feat doesn't work so well against this Ret list because he has spells that can deny my charges. In the end we both jammed the middle - I thought I was high and dry, then Captain Ron came through and force blasted Strakhov, then a Ret assassin thing ran through all my dudes and killed him. I should have made the assassin a priority the turn before but I didn't know it could do that. Fool me once!

The lineup

The last game was against another Adam, who played Skorne. I haven't played against them before. We both basically jammed up the middle. Strakhov got his feat to deliver most of the models in and I did some damage. He did a ton of damage to Spriggan. Time was called and we tied.

Big ole' mess

More big ole' mess

All in all it was a fun way to get in three games. It was also interesting to learn the timed turn mechanic and try to play it out. I did pretty well, but I had a low volume of models.

Other photos from around the store:

It is possible that I'll play in the Gamers Sanctuary 50 point Steamroller on August 20th. I'm super interested in it but I'm afraid because I don't have that many painted models (the unit / character restriction thingy). Not interested in 'Ard Boyz at all so this will be my tournament for the month.

Some photos of Beast 09 and Strakhov that I finished painting recently: