Last Game of 5th Ed. (Probably)

Out with the Old...

I played my last game of 5th Edition 40k Saturday, which happened to also be 

the last game at the Battle Barn. I'm sad to see it go, but I understand why it had to. Plus, now I don't have to feel disloyal for going to one of the many gaming stores that just opened up in the area. It was a fun game, with me playing Copper Dragons (Salamanders+Blood Angels) and my opponent (Eric) fielding a Wildrider Host (Eldar Jetbike Horde). I really didn't think I had a chance with that matchup, but I ended up not doing too badly, over all. I did realize, with the help of Jeff (the guy who owns the Barn), that I'm not very good at making tactical decisions on the fly... I'm pretty sure it is a flaw in my ability to prioritize targets appropriately.

Hive Fleet Mandragora

So... It turns out I can paint Bugs something fancy.

Escape from Tarsis Ultra

*UPDATE* One of the other guys who participated in this game wrote a post on his blog including more pictures. Here's the link: http://thewildriderhost.blogspot.com/2012/06/super-mega-team-battle-go.html

*END UPDATE*

This was the board setup... disregard the inches marks... they're supposed to be feet.

So... I played one of the most awesome games of 40k I've ever played tonight. The mission was... unique, to say the least...

The game went like this:

Background:
Farseer Madiyas of the Saim Hann craftworld after casting the runes saw a swirling vortex that would cost thousands of Eldar lives if not quelled swiftly. At the heart of this maelstrom was a human dignitary from the planet the mon-keigh call Tarsis Ultra. The planet is currently acting as a staging point for several chapters of Space Marines a well as a regiment of Imperial Guard. Knowing that his craftworld lacked the military might necessary to face such an assemblage of forces he and his council of seers decided upon a desperate plan. They would lure a host of their dark kin from the webways and a splinter of hive fleet Leviathan to the planet. Tarsis Ultra would be utterly destroyed by such a force, but the concern of the Eldar is that the machinations of Chaos are stopped, no matter the cost.

Mission Summary:
With Hive Fleet Leviathan bearing down on Tarsis Ultra the forces of order must fight a desperate delaying action to ensure that the remaining planetary dignitaries are evacuated.
Points:
6000pts per side divided among all players on the team
for example if the FoO have 4 players then each player brings 1500 list following normal force org
Board Size 4' x 12'

Forces of Order deploy first anywhere on the table or in reserve
Forces of Disorder go first and can either be in reserve or come in on first turn like dawn of war

Objectives:

Forces of Order
Defend the evacuation craft 
Forces of Disorder
Destroy the evacuation craft before they are able depart the planet
Evacuation Craft

Starting on turn 2 roll a d6. On a 4 up the next evacuation craft arrives. Roll a d3 to determine the number of game turns the craft remains on the planet loading passengers
While landed the evacuation craft have 4+ cover saver from enemy shooting but count as stationary for assault purposes. The evacuation craft can fire their weapons normally during the FoO turn.
After the number of turns have elapsed the evacuation craft depart the battlefield at their max speed toward the defenders board edge.

Evacuation Craft  (Stormraven Gunships)

FA 12 SA 12 RA 12
Fast Skimmer
TL-Multi Melta - Nose
TL-Lascannon - Turret
Ceramite Plating
Power of the Machine Spirit

End of Game

Game ends when either the last craft is destroyed or is safely off the table.
Winning
The side that either defends/destroys the most evacuation craft wins.

Big Kidz Games First Tournament

I went to my second tournament today, and I ended up getting Second overall. Unfortunately, only 6 guys showed up, but it was still fun. All told, there were two Tau Players Yancy and Mike...? (I could be wrong about that one) One Imperial Guard player, Joshua. One Chaos Space Marines player, Jeff Stone. And two Codex: Space Marines players... Aaron, who played Ultramarines and me, with Copper Dragons (Salamanders.)

Funny coincidence. Aaron had the only army that wasn't painted a shade of green. The CSM were quite Nurgley...

All games were played on a 4x4 board, and my list is as follows:
Vulkan, 10 man Tactical Squad with Meltagun & Multimelta in a Rhino x2, Landspeeder with Multimelta and Heavy Flamer x2 (Two groups of one Speeder.)

The Dragons United Pt. 2

The second part of the series where I take a moment and take pictures of all my Copper Dragons models I've been working on. This is mostly so I can have some sort of documented progress, and honestly, I just like to show off a little every now and then.

Pics after the jump.

Meet the twins!

I finally finished both the Paper Landspeeders... and I'm willing to bet most people won't be able to tell unless they picked it up. In any case here's some pictures after paint + random bits I couldn't reliably replicate in paper (the heavy flamers are from the Baal predator kit, and the Marine pilots are the gunners from Rhino kits. I also added the little exhaust fans from the underside of the Drop Pod for engines.)

Pics after the jump.

Paper Speeder Pt. 1

Well, I jumped into the kiddy pool of paper tanks by starting with a Space Marine Land Speeder model (I need two for my Copper Dragons list I want to bring to the 750 pt local tourny this month...) Logic dictates that smaller model = less work, or so I thought. The parts are much more fiddly that anything I've dealt with before, but the model is definitely coming together, and after I get the hang of what goes where the next one(s) should go quicker.

Here's some pictures of the progress so far...

PAPER!!!

I think I might have been bitten by the Paperhammer bug again... I might start a Paper Imperial Guard Tank army (with an appropriate number of heavy weapons squads, and other required infantry models, made of plastic of course... flats are just tacky... IMO)

The pictures are not my work, but definitely examples of what the assembled models can look like with a little time/patience. These particular models were built using Eli Patoroch templates (Some crazy Russian guy...) The level of detail is ridiculous and he covers a wide variety of models (including Xenos, believe it or else!)













In any case here is a collection of links to some of the best templates for paper tanks I have ever found... a word of warning, there are A LOT of duplicates, but none of the collections individually are complete, so, there ya go...

http://www.4shared.com/dir/2PQOMQdP/Eli_Patoroch.html
http://www.4shared.com/dir/vHwFORX4/Eli_Patoroch.html
http://www.4shared.com/folder/yXKvls4G/Eli_Patoroch.html
http://www.4shared.com/dir/pbMRxY9J/Eli_Patoroch.html

Vaya con Dios,
Timothy

Odd week.

Well, the gaming has been slow the last couple weeks, and it probably won't get any better until after Adepticon at least, maybe as much as next month (assuming everyone will probably want to have a break afterwards...) Shoutout to Eric who is one of many Battle Barn vets going to Adepticon this year. Good luck, and have fun.

All that aside, I've been looking into a Descent of Angels build for the Copper Dragons using the aforementioned wings as Jump Pack replacements. The two big questions I've been pondering are:
1.) What is the optimal squad size for DoA jumper units?
2.) What non-jumper units fit in well with the theme of the army, which complement and support the rest of the army?

Any other advice for Blood Angels in general and Descent of Angels lists specifically would be greatly appreciated.

Pics or it didn't happen!

This is just a random post of the pictures Eric took of my army during the Tournament last month. Which were shamlessly stolen from: http://thewildriderhost.blogspot.com/2012/03/tournament-pics.html

Modern Flame War 3... oh wait, maybe not...

I've been looking into playing Flames of War recently, but The Barn seems... well... antagonistic towards the game. In any case, I've (as I tend to do when I get intrigued by something) been reading pretty much every blog with tactica and what not on it and found a really really Mathhammer-y set of articles pertaining to that system.

I'm posting links here, A.) Because I can, B.) In case anyone who actually reads this blog gets even moderately interested in Flames of War, and C.) So I can find them again for future use. See? I'm sort of thinking about all of you! :-P

It been a bad day (please don't take a picture...)

So, my computer crapped out two weeks ago, the day after the tournament (which I failed miserably at... the gaming aspect of my drug [oh I mean hobby...] of choice is getting pretty depressing, by the way. I did enjoy myself at the tourney though... so it wasn't all bad.)

Apart from that, everything else is pretty not bad in general. I have a decently sized force painted to a tabletop standard... nothing stellar, but not bad either. It was more because it was a rush job than anything else, but I can't complain. So the next thing I need to decide is what direction to go with my hobby.

Strikeforce Flarebrass, reporting for duty!

So... here it is, in all its glory! My painting desk! Bah-bah-bah-bum!

I kid, this is the army I'm bringing to the tournament tomorrow (I literally just got done painting the Devastators 1/2 hour ago.)

The list is as follows:


190 Vulkan He'stan
100 Librarian, with Null Zone and Gate of Infinity
215 10 man Tactical Squad, Multimelta, Combimelta, Flamer, Rhino
215 10 man Tactical Squad, Multimelta, Combimelta, Flamer, Rhino
195 5 man Sternguard Squad, Heavy Flamer x2, Combimelta x3, Rhino
195 5 man Sternguard Squad, Heavy Flamer x2, Combimelta x3, Rhino
135 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x3
135 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x3
120 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x2

Out of this whole list, only one Tactical squad was previously painted... so I painted & converted... ~1300 points of models in the last two weeks or so... not bad if I do say so myself. Also, Vulkan strikes an epic pose, smiles at the camera, and then goes on to utterly destroy anyone who opposes him! Bwahahahahaha!

And now for something completely different!

Ok, so, I did it. I hate myself for doing it, and I'll probably be painting models for the rest of the week just to pull this off. But I did it. I found a list that abides in the generally accepted range of "Balanced" and fits my army theme, my models, and my general playstyle. Is it totally optimized? No way in heck. But I'm going to enjoy playing the crap out of this list on Saturday. (As an interesting aside, Thanks Eric for giving someone else on the forums the advice I needed to hear... play a list you know.)

So... here goes nothing:

190 Vulkan He'stan
100 Librarian, Null Zone, Gate of Infinity
215 10 man Tactical Squad, Multimelta, Combimelta, Flamer, Rhino
215 10 man Tactical Squad, Multimelta, Combimelta, Flamer, Rhino
270 8 man Sternguard Squad, Heavy Flamer x2, Combimelta x3, Rhino
270 8 man Sternguard Squad, Heavy Flamer x2, Combimelta x3, Rhino
120 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x2
120 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x2

1500 Total

OR

190 Vulkan He'stan
100 Librarian, Null Zone, Gate of Infinity
215 10 man Tactical Squad, Multimelta, Combimelta, Flamer, Rhino
215 10 man Tactical Squad, Multimelta, Combimelta, Flamer, Rhino
195 5 man Sternguard Squad, Heavy Flamer x2, Combimelta x3, Rhino
195 5 man Sternguard Squad, Heavy Flamer x2, Combimelta x3, Rhino
135 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x3
135 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x3
120 5 man Devastator Squad, Missile Launcher x2

I like the first one better...

Battle Barn 2/24/12 & 3/2/12

So, brave knights, if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy, teeth!

Well, the Copper Dragons haven't been faring well at the Barn for the last two weeks... In my defense, I've been playing against armies that A.) I haven't ever played against, or B.) It's been more than 3 years since the last time I played against that army.

Last week I played against Tyler and his horrible evil "Can I Has A Hug?/Let's Have Babies!" Tyranid army. By the end of the fight I think I may have killed two of his squads of termagaunts...? which ever the shooty gribblies are... and he pretty much just ran my marines over... and then his 'Nids subsequently ate their corpses. It was a sad day. I got a second game in against Reese and his Space Wolves, and they ran me over as well. That day was kinda meh in general for me, so I figured I'd try again next week and see if I fared better...

But I didn't. I ended up challenging Christian and his Black Templar army (never played vs. the Templar, but I figured they couldn't be THAT much different from Vanilla Marines... I was wrong.) and we ended up with a kill points mission. I'm lucky he didn't table my sorry butt. Well, he got 11 (out of 14) kill points and I got... 2 (out of ~8). I may be clinically depressed right now, but I can't tell because of how sad I am. Here's hoping I do better during the tournament next week.

As an interesting aside, Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail was quoted during both of these games... so it wasn't a complete loss. The game against the Tyranids my Dreadnought lost both of his arms and got immobilized and was (on multiple occasions) compared to the Black Knight ('Tis only a flesh wound!) And apparently, the Black Templar are the current owners of all remaining Holy Hand Grenades of Anitoch in the galaxy... Though I did thoroughly enjoy being blown to tiny bits.

Vaya con Dios,
Timothy

Squad Reinforced! Update

Last week, I wrote up a glowing review about the Ebay seller Discount Games Store. Well, here's an update on that situation: They had actually forgotten to ship 1 of the vehicle transfer sheets that are supposed to come with the Rhinos I ordered, which all told wouldn't have even been an issue, until I started assembling my tactical squads and realized they forgot to ship their bases as well. Needless to say, I was not very happy about it, and that was compounded by the close proximity of the tournament they were bought for in the first place...

In any case, I contacted them about the problem and they nearly immediately sent out a package with the missing parts... plus a Dark Angels upgrade sprue thingy... the one with bike fronts and the Typhoon upgrade for Land Speeders... That made me quite happy, as bits are always welcome, especially Marine bits. Also, they sent me 1 extra base. I lol'd a little. ANYWAY... I still fully recommend them as a great place to pick up some models.

Squad Reinforced!

Well, I bought some models off of Ebay on Friday, and they were here when I got home from work today (Monday), so that was an epic win, which turned into a double epic win because they were also on sale for ~26% off retail at the time of purchase. If there's anyone who doesn't know, there is an Ebay store that sells model wargame products minus the box (for ease of shipping I'd presume) at fantastic prices.


That Ebay store is know simply as Discount Games Store and has fantastic prices, ridiculously quick shipping, and great selection. They don't carry one-offs or blister packs (at least that I'm aware of...) but if it comes in a box, you can be fairly certain to find it. The discount margin ranges from 10-35% depending if they have a sale going on or if you buy bulk (Yup, they sell Rhinos in packs of up to 9!) but they average in the 16-20% area for most of their offers. Yes, I know that there are other wargame online stores sell at 20% off on everything, but every once in a while you can hunt down some excellent bargains. So, check them out the next time you are looking to buy some models.

As for the models I bought, they were two Tactical Squads, and two Rhinos, all to be painted in the Copper Dragon color scheme for the March 10th tournament.

Battle Barn 02-17-12

I went to the Barn last night, and decided to play with the Coppers a little bit. I started the Coppers as more of an exercise in painting (with the side benefit of dabbling in another codex) but I'm starting to appreciate the difference in play compared to my Space Wolves. I've made the unfortunate (and major) mistake throughout my early days playing Coppers: They don't play anything like the Space Wolves, but that didn't stop me from trying.

Anyway...

The Dragons United Pt. 1

This is the first group shot of my paint progress thus far.

Also, epic shot of my box-o-bits.

My ever expanding army, hopefully they'll get a whole bookcase to themselves one day...

Pay no attention to the Shadowsword lurking on the bottom shelf...

The reality of the situation is that I just want to show them off...

Vaya con Dios,
Timothy

Captain Avitus of the Drake Wing

I finally (re)started painting my Copper Dragons since the big move... I'm slowly working and already finished the Sargent of my Assault Squad (they have wings, freak out, I know... I don't rightly care, honestly. They look freaking cool.) I even made a fancy little hybrid flying stem+25mm base...

Now for some fluff:

Captain Avitus is the leader of the Copper Dragons 7th Company also known as the Drake Wing, which consists entirely of Assault Marines that bear the Copper Dragon's most outstanding mutation: fully functional dragon wings. Copper Dragons that bear this mutation have an instinctual ability to use the wings to great effect, especially in combat. Furthermore the wings are made of what superficially looks like copper though they are much more flexible, impossibly hard, and immune to intense heat.

As for the Captain himself, he distinguished himself early on in his service to the Emperor as both a fierce combatant and an outstanding tactician, even by Marine standards. He, unlike others of his rank, feels most comfortable leading the battle from the front, and will always lead a hand picked squad of Marines as a Sargent. His weapon of choice is a pair of Lightning Claws he made during his training.

Furthermore, I need a better camera...

Vaya Con Dios,
Timothy

Battle Barn 01-13-12 (Batrep, Pic Heavy)

Well, I had my first game with my 1500 point Space Wolf list, and it did better than I expected.

The Hounds of Hel

The Hounds of Hel are finally making a comeback. For those of you out of the loop, the Hounds are the army I started playing 40k with. They are a Renegade Space Wolves Company (I use the Space Wolf Codex and models, I just hate that freaking powder blue color...) that have been sitting on the shelf since I re-purposed most of the models I collected for them to my Copper Dragons. The reason I did so was two fold, A.) I wanted to try a different army (albeit still Marines), and B.) about 70% of the marine models I had came from Black Reach/Tactical boxes and didn't look very Wolfy.

Battle Barn 01-06-12

In Defense of Interria II

An unlikely coalition occurred tonight. The Blood Angels set aside their hatred for the Copper Dragons for a time in an attempt to defend a Blood Angels vassal world of Interria II. The battle was, unfortunately for the defenders, won before it had begun. Already besieged by the Tau, and numbers dwindling, the defenders of Interria were utterly crushed at the arrival of the Eldar. Seizing the opportunity of mutual advantage, they vastly overpowered the beleaguered defenders, wiping them out completely.

Why the Eldar joined the fray, only they will ever know, but forever more will the world of Interria be known as a gravesite for the Copper Dragons.

Angels and Dragons

Throughout the long history of the Blood Angels chapter, they have been the only known possessors of an artifact recovered during the Great Crusades, the Standard Template Construct for the Predator variant known as the "Baal" pattern. Because of the exclusivity of their ownership, the Blood Angels guard their tanks and even the smoldering wreckage of their tanks very fiercely, lest it fall into the hands of someone who could reverse engineer it.