UNDER PRESSURE: WORKING ON DEADLINES

Well, I've done it again. I have procrastinated when I knew I had a tournament coming up and here I sit at midnight on Tuesday and I have alot of painting/modeling to do. I have a tournament Saturday morning, it is over an hour drive to get there. So, burning the midnight oil is going to be tough. The next three days are going to be tough. I have to assemble and paint a Chimera, a Sentinel, two sniper models, touch ups on the whole army and build a display base(the tournament I am attending gives +2 bonus points for display boards.)

All of this to do and here I am typing this blog..........yep, I'm procrastinating again. Am I the only one that does this?

Tournament Battle Report 12/05/09

In Austin there are two stores to get your tournament fix. Both stores do one 40K event per month. When things work out well, they are not held on the same day. This past weekend there were two events on Saturday. Battle Forge Games was having their year end championship(Unfortunately, I didn't have enough points for the year for that one.) and Dragon's Lair had their monthly tournament. Dragon's Lair does different points levels and also does the occasional team tournament. This month it was 2000pts.

My first opponent Matt is a new player that has been pretty active since arriving on the scene, playing two or three days a week. He is taking part in our campaign and is always ready to throw some dice. Last month was his first tournament experience at BFG. Matt has a nicely painted Ultramarine army. Off of the top of my head his list is:

Sicarius w/ combat squad in a Rhino
combat squad w/ LC
Chaplain w/10 assault troops
5 scouts in a Storm
2x Sternguard in DPs
Tac squad in a DP
dreadnought
dreadnought in a DP
devastator squad HBs/PCs

Matt and I had a great game. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and he got the victory 2-1! So, a minor loss for me. I have to admit, I was a little put off. I had everything set up to clear some objectives on turn 5. So close....Ah well, my dreams of victory were fading. At lunch, I learned that all but one of the games were very close. So, maybe I was still in the running.

My next game was against another guy that I play against atleast one or two games a week. Josh is also fairly new to the game. However, he plays five to eight games a week. He keeps improving every week. This was not Josh's day, though. He was hungover and had lost his first game after a heated rules argument with another guy from our group. I stole the initiative and my dice went into alpha strike mode. At the end of turn two, He had two combat squads in rhinos left and one of them was imoblized. He called the game so, that he could take a nap.

Below is Josh taking his nap. Haaaaahahahahaha!
Josh's SM list

Lysander w/ 5 termies w/assault cannon DP

7 termies with TH/SS in a LRR

Vindicator

2x Thunderfire Cannons

10 Assault troopers

2 tac squads w/rhino

10 sniper scouts w/ Telion

I was feeling a little better about my chances going into round three. I drew Josh's brother Brian as my opponent. He has a pretty tough build.
5x Nob Bikers

10 Nobs Battle Wagon

5 MegNobs in a Battle Wagon

12 Boys in a truck

Warboss on a bike

Ard boyz in a truck

12 Boyz in a truck

We had a close battle. I was ripping him up and then the Nob Bikers hit. Luckily, I took out the pain boy and then hit them hard. I followed that up with weaken resolve and ran them off the board. Then his other Nobs and Mega Nobs hit. I managed to put some wouds on the Meganobs abd then slap them with the PBS. We ended turn four with him having two objectives and me having one and that was the game. I was a little frustrated at this point and I just knew that I was not even close to placing.

However, Dragon's Lair uses a comp score system. I had perfect comp and that nudged me up to 3rd place! I was shocked! I ended up taking home a Canis Wolfborn mini. It is assembled and 90% painted already.

Josh, Matt, and I stayed and played an 8000pt megabattle after the tournament. So, we played 13 hours of 40K on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, frustrating at times but fun. I need to work on my speed play(or stop bulshitting, so much) and I think I'm going to get a digital stop timer to keep a closer track of time.

I am a fan of the 2 hour round. However, this weekend really made me aware that I have to keep track of time( and stop blllshitting so much!). How much time do you prefer for tournament rounds?

Go Roll some Dice!!!

CRP

The Art of Smack Talking: How Much Is Too Much?

Do you talk smack with your buddies or opponents when you are playing 40K? I play with a pretty competitive group and there is always some smack talk going. Lately, that smack talk has escalated to plain old fashioned shit talking. I mean, it is getting ove the top, mothers, fathers, girlfriends, cars, type of armies, anything is fair game,................. and it has been a blast!

Saturday night, we played an 8000pt 4 player game. It was a great, close game and the shit talking got a little LOUD. I didn't realize it at the time because I was caught up in the game and trying to out smack talk my opponents. After the game, we all went out for a burger.

When we were outside my game partner said " Man you were pretty pissed at Chris, huh?"
My reply was "Not at all, I was having fun."

Over dinner/breakfast(what do you call a burger at 1am?) we all talked about the game, the campaign we are all participating in, and finally denigrating into "One Time...." stories.

Later, I got to thinking when does smack talk go to far? We often have other gamers and bystanders think that we are serious. We always laugh it off.

On the flip side of this, I have had some opponents at tournaments that get a little too serious. I don't even think they are having a good time half the time. These are guys that will give you dirty look if you make a light hearted comment. When I get that look, I know I am in for a crappy game. However, this makes me try harder to beat them. I really like to table guys with no sense of humor.

How much smack taking goes on in your group? Do you enjoy smack talking or do you find it annoying? Does it detract or add to your gaming experience?

Later, I have mucho painting to do!

Go Roll Some Dice!

CRP

Tournament Addiction???

In slightly less than a year, I have participated in more tournaments than I have in the previous 8 years combined. What brought this on? When and why did I become such a "tournament whore"? Well, I moved to Austin and started playing with an extremely hyperactive gaming community and I started(out of necessity) an army that I have been wanting to do for years. Last month, I played in 3 tournaments.....3 tournaments...in.....1.....month. Some would say that is a little excessive. But, I am having an AWESOME time!

Below are some pictures from a tournament in Kileen Tx that was at Battlefield Games. It is a great store and Will the owner runs great events, I would play there more often if it was closer than an hour and a half drive. Also, my condolences and prayers go out to all the victims of the tragic shootings at Fort Hood.






I ended up finishing second after a great game on table one(massacre, massacre, and a draw). We ended in a tie and the win came down to a difference of less than 200 victory points. Yes, they used Victory points in Kileen. They also used the 3rd Edition deployment rules. It was great.

Red IG vs. Purple Nids in the final.

7 Valkyries, I had to do a double take. 7, 7 Valkyries. Wow!

This Ork horde had some great looking models.

This players display board was titled "Deep Strike Mishap". Notice the 3 Chaos Terminators.

I played another tournament, yesterday. It was a lot of fun. However, I had terrible results (a draw, a minor loss and another draw). The dice gods hated me, it was fun though. There is a Heavy tournament later this month, too. Hmmmmmm........

Have fun and roll some dice!

CRP

Heavy Hobby?

Lately, it seems that this hobby has been really eating up my time. I have been playing a lot. 30 games in the last month including 2 Apoc games. Thursday is the night most of the 40K crowd converges on Battle Forge Games. It was indeed a full day of gaming. I played 3 200opt games and at midnight we decided to start a 12000 pt Apoc game (SM/IG/SM VS Orks/ Iron Warriors/Orks). We finished up around 4am. I'm sure it will affect the marital status of some that were involved. Thanks for staying open late, Brandon! Saturday, I played in a tournament. I was sick and it affected my playing but, I still had fun.

I have 2 more tournaments to play in this month. BFG's "hobby" tournament is this Saturday. I still need to "detune" my army a little. Then on the 24th there is a tournament about 70 miles from Austin. I attended one of their tournaments in the past and had an absolute blast. The owner runs a great tournament and it's always fun to play a new group of players.

Most of my paint time has been spent on the Space Wolves, lately. I still need to buckle down and get some more Praetorians painted. ..........So, many minis and so little time.

Happy Gaming!!!

BoLScon 09!!! What A Blast!!!

What can be said about the first BoLScon? It was definitely a success. It was a party. It was the best 40K event I have ever attended. The event ran smooth, the players were gracious, even the ones I had disagreements with. It just goes to show that a competitive event doesn't have to be all about WAAC.

The Friday night Lucky 13 game was a great time. It was a little fast paced for me(not by much just a tad). But, I did deploy across the board and ended up fighting 2 armies with less than 3/4 of my forces. I died horribly and it was an absolute epic good time.

I got to bed Saturday morning about 3:30 am, but was back at BolScon by 7:30 am. Saturday was an absolute blast and I had better results than I expected. I didn't bring a real "HARD" army. I was trying to stay away from the "Mech IG" list. I really wanted to bring a gun line but, I didn't get the models done in time. I played against a Space Wolves, SM, a beautiful
IG Vostyran army, and an IG Mech army. I managed to come out on top every game and was the top Austin player going into the second day. I was shocked to say the least.

Saturday was another late night, I sat around talking to some other players and wisely avoided getting drunk. I met John Schaeffer from GW. He was really nice and had a few painting tips. It was early in the morning before I got to bed Sunday morning. My alarm went off waaaaay too early and it was time for day 3. The tournament started early Sunday and I played against a Mech Eldar, Blood Angels, and Mech SM. I managed to win 2 of the 3 games and ended up in 13th place overall. I didn't get max points in a single game. However, with the exception of the loss I scored consistently in the 30s. On game 6, I only scored 3 pts. I will always remember that Corbulo is NOT Fearless lol. A critical mistake on my part.

Overall, it was the most fun I have had in a long time. I will definitely be there next year. I hope to see a lot of you there, too. I can't recommend this event enough. Yes, it was that great! Below is a copy of my list. What do you think?

HQ

Command- Bolter, LC, 2x Sniper Rifle

Primaris Psyker

TROOPS

Command-Bolter, LC, 2x Sniper Rifle

Squad 1- AC, Sniper Rifle

Squad 2- HB, Sniper Rifle

Squad 3- Melta

HWS 1- 3x LC

HWS 2- 3x LC

Penal Legion

Vet Squad 1- Sgt w/pw & plasma pistol, 2x plasma, melta, demo

Vet Squad 2- Harker 3x melta, demo, Chimera

ELITE

Ratlings x3

Ratlings x4

PBS x9, Chimera

FAST ATTACK

Valkyrie- Multi rocket pods

HEAVY

Demolisher- LC, 2x PC

LRBT- 3x HB

2 x Hydra

Praetorian Penal Legion and Vets

As I promised last week, here are some pics of my latest Praetorian troops. The Vet Squad are the Black and Tans. They get a black jacket to signify their veteran status. Otherwise, they are painted just like my normal troops. They are equipped with extra ammo pouches and grenades. There are also quite a few minor conversions in the squad.

First of all, since GW never gave the Praetorians plasma, I had to make my own. I used the plasma pistol barrel bit from the old close combat accessory sprue that GW used to sell as a blister. It involved cutting up a flamer trooper and some filing. it's a retty straight forward conversion.

The basic vets all have shotguns. I converted their lasguns into double barreled under & overs. I used brass tubing for this. While it does look a bit clunky, I like the results. Also, one of the shotgunners has a demo charge. This was made out of a Catachan vox unit.

The Sgt. was given a plasma pistol from a Space Wolf Blood Claw sprue and a power ax from the above mentioned close combat accessory sprue.

The banner bearer is still waiting for a banner. I cut away the original banner pole and used brass rod in it's place, adding the original top piece to it.

The Penal Legion still need final detailing. I thought about using plastic models instead. But, now I'm glad I didn't. I like the orange uniforms with the black P on the back and no "bling". I have enjoyed fielding this unit. They have already done some epic missions and they have also failed completely. But, they are fun.

What are you using for Vets and Penal Legion?

HYDRA TURRET CONVERSION TUTORIAL: Part 2 PRAETORIAN

All the major pieces got a primer coat. I primed the search light black because it wasn't getting any red surfaces. The guns normally would have gotten sprayed black. But, the sensor arrays have red covers. I hate painting red over black!

Everything after the first base coat. For red, I usually do 3-5 thinned coats of red.

Here the rough details are done. Now they get a thinned wash of black ink....Yes, I still use the old inks.

Another view before ink and details.

The finished turret.

Another view....one of these days I'm going to get a grown up camera.LOL

Finished and sitting on its' new home.

Side view.

I think I'm going to build 4 of these. I'm very tempted to run 2 squadrons. I normally don't run squadrons but.........I am thinking about it. It's a lot of fire power for very little points cost.

HYDRA TURRET CONVERSION TUTORIAL: Part 1

Howdy! I wanted to add some Hydras to my army on occasion. However, I wanted to be able to field more Chimeras at times, as well. So, I decided to convert some Hydra turrets without chopping up my Chimeras. Some of my Chimeras will be doing double duty. Here is the result.

The above picture shows all the parts needed to assemble a Hydra turret. All parts came out of the Aegis Defense Line kit. The only additional parts needed are brass rod, and a bit of plasticard.

Assemble the armor sections as normal, except the top armor. It will be put on the bottom. Next cut a piece of Plasti-card out to fill the top section. I had to shave a little off the back tabs of the armor sections to get the platicard to fit flush.

Drill a hole in each of the side armor plates. I used the center point between the 2nd "bolts"near the back corner to make sure the holes lined up. Cut brass rod to size. Drill the auto cannons to accept the rod and assemble. The "top" armor is glued to the bottom and a strip of plasticard is needed to fill the gap. Next, add the bottom gun mount and drill it to accept some brass rod to allow the Hydra turret to fit in the stock turrets mounting hole.

Side view of assembled turret.

Here is the finished product. The guns elevate and the turret will be able to swivel as well.
Now, I just have to get it painted. Part 2 will go through the paint process and show what this turret looks like on the Chimera hull.

Please, let me know what you think about this project.

BACK TO WORK! MORE PRAETORIANS

Well, I have been side tracked a bit, lately. I've played a few tournaments, Lucky 13s, Ard Boyz, built the pod racer, and most recently have been working on terrain for BoLScon 09. Do you have your place secured, yet? It is going to be a blast! But....I digress.

Having taken a break for awhile I am ready to get back into the swing of things. There is a hobby tournament coming up at Battleforge Games(battleforgegames.com 20% off all GW products! Give them a try!). I am thinking that I may run a good old fashioned gun line for this tournament....with a twist. Yes, I know it probably won't be competitive. But, it will be fun. I plan to get some more troops painted. Probably a 35 man platoon w/heavy weapons squads.....Also with BoLScon around the corner, I need to get the army in presentable shape. So, repairs, touch ups and some changes to my list require additional painting as well(maybe some more Chimeras and more Vets). I'm still not sure on that, though.

Even though, I have not posted any Praetorians lately, I have finished two squads. I did a Praetorian Penal Legion and a Praetorian Vet Squad w/ plasma guns, double barreled shotguns, a Sgt. w/ a power ax and plasma pistol and a demo charge trooper. I havent had a chance to take pictures but, I should have some pics up by the end of the week.

Who's coming to BoLScon? Let me know and maybe we can get a game in during open gaming.

GOOD LUCK AT 'ARD BOYZ!!!

Good luck to everyone playing in 'Ard Boyz today! Have fun!

SPORTSMANSHIP.

In the past few months, I have been playing a lot of 40K. Usually, I play 2 or 3 games every Thursday, 1 or 2 games on Friday, and I try to play 2 tournaments a month.....and I sometimes get pickup game during the week. Most of my experiences have been very enjoyable. However, every now and then there is a squabble over rules or I encounter some one that is just no fun to play against. Winning or losing has very little to do with this. Hell, some of my most enjoyable games were ones where I had my ass handed to me. I had one such game yesterday. In my book, nothing is as much of a buzzkill as a bad sport.

How do you handle playing a sore loser or worse a sore winner? Are you a sore loser or is some one you know a sore loser? Should sportsmanship scores be a higher percentage of overall points?

GETTING SMOKED

Last night I went up to Battleforge Games(battleforgegames.com 20% off all GW products!!!) and played a few games. Talk about two totally different games. The first game I played a shooty IG list @ 1500pts. My opponent was a new player. He was playing SM. The game started and I tried to hold back but, it was one of those games where I was hitting everything and he was rolling the "bad dice from hell". The game ended in turn 4.

I backed this up with a practice game for Ard Boyz. Once again I played against SM. This was a totally different game. Drop pods with Lysander, CC Termies, and melta equiped SM, were in my lines on turn 1. It was pretty brutal. Turn 3 I called it. I could still do damage but, it was apparent that it was a losing battle, and it was close to closing time. I have no doubt that I would have been tabled. But, I learned a lesson about deployment and the level of the lists that will be on the tables at Ard Boyz. This should be fun.

How are you preparing for Ard Boyz?

BoLScon Pod Racing!!! Here's mine!!!

I decided to take a very short break from the Praetorians. I have been working on them alot lately and just needed a change. Two weeks ago while at Battleforge Games(battleforgegames.com 20% off all GW products!) I was able to run my Valkyrie in a play test for the pod race rules. The game played fast and was a ton of fun.....annnnd I won! Yesterday, I dug through my bits box and came up with the parts to make my Ork Pod Racer. I apologize for the poor picture quality. But, I think you can get the general idea from the pictures. Are you going to participate? If so, what kind of racer are you going to run?

Switching Armies

Saturday, I am playing in a 1500pt tournament at Battlefield Games in Kileen Tx. The twist is that in the first two rounds my opponents will play my army and I will be playing their armies. The third round everyone plays their own army as in any other tournament. This should be very interesting, as I have been out of the hobby for a few years. Trying to adapt to what could be two more entirely different armies will definitely be a challenge.

Here is the list I will be taking:

HQ

Command- Senior officer w/bolter, Lascannon, 2x sniper rifles and Master of Ordance.
Chimera

TROOPS

Command- Jr. officer w/bolter, Lascannon, 2x sniper rifles

Squad 1- Auto cannon, grenade launcher

Squad 2- Heavy bolter, plasma

Heavy weapon Squad- 3x Lascannon

Penal Squad

Veteran Squad- Sgt w/ power weapon and plasma pistol, 2x plasma, melta, demo charge, and shotguns

FAST ATTACK

Valkyrie- Multilaser and multi rocket pods

HEAVY SUPPORT

Leman Russ- 3x Heavy bolter

Demolisher- Lascannon, 2x plasma cannons

ELITE

Psyker Battle Squad- x 9
Chimera

Ratlings x 5

Ratlings x 5

I think this list is pretty solid with 6 scoring units and a possible 4 pie plates a turn. What do you think?

Have any of you ever done a tournament in this format before? If so, what was your experience like?

BAD DICE

Have you ever just had a some really bad dice rolls? I mean, really bad dice. I have had quite a few games like that, lately. I'm not taking anything away from my opponents. I have played some truly top tier players in the last few weeks. But, 2000pts of IG shooting for 2 turns and killing 1 Killa Kan, 5 Boyz, and 6 Lootas. that is some horrific shooting. Try 2000pts of IG shooting at 2000pts of Dark Eldar.......one shaken Raider........ONE!!!

How do you personally deal with bad dice? Some people buy new dice, some change colors, and I even knew one guy that kept a small sledge hammer in his car. If he had bad dice, it was HAMMERTIME! My old gaming group always got a kick out of watching him smash 36 dice on the sidewalk in front of my old store. I especially liked it because I knew he'd be buying more dice. Please, post about your own personal way of dealing with BAD DICE.......

2000pt Tournament

Well, I finally got 2000pts fully painted.....almost anyway. I still have to finish the Leman Russ, the Hull Heavy Bolter and surrounding armor section were lost in Hurricane Ike. I have acquired the parts and it will be completed for the next tournament.


My first game was against another IG player. The objective was to get the most kill points. It was as expected a very bloody close battle. The final score was 6 to 7, a minor victory for my opponent.



The second round was against Tyranids. My opponent used to work in a bronze factory and had recast all of his figures out of bronze. Talk about Eavy Metal. This round went well for me and was a major victory, even though Col. Straken was dragged down by 2 ripper swarms.




The third round I faced Orks. I was feeling pretty confident. 2 rounds of shooting and I killed a Killa Kan, 5 boyz, and 6 Lootas. Not good, the dice gods had deserted me, completely. My opponent brought his Kommandos in behind my lines and his Ard Boyz and Nobz hit me from the front. Thanks to the Valkyrie coming in on the last turn I was able to contest one objective. it was a major victory for my opponent. He won the overall and I ended up getting 3rd place.





I had a great time and learned quite a bit. 5th Ed. is a lot different from 4th and I am playing catch up. I look forward to the next Tournament. This one was definitely a good time.







2000pts painted at last.