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.