I lied...

...instead of my regularly scheduled programming, this post is non-hobby related. We carved pumpkins last night, and afterwards I was too wiped out to bother with taking photos of minis and whatnot. So instead you can just see the end result of our evening's endeavors:

The initial lighting on the kitchen table.

Here they are, all lit up on our front porch!

Happy Halloween everybody!

Well THAT was anti-climatic...or was it?

o/

Those poor Orks. Even when one is offered for free, there's still hardly anyone who wants them. That or few people read thru to the end of my prior post (the most-likely case). Nonetheless, thank you for the congratulatory remarks, and of the three who left one, Greg Hess (a.k.a.: Greggles) won my drawing for Masta Blasta. I've already emailed you Greg on your google page, and await your mailing info.

Whilst the lack of comments would seem like something of a poor showing for my 500th post, that really isn't the case. Indeed, as you can see below, last Thursday's post is already my 2nd highest in terms of page hits over the life of the blog!

Wow!!!

A such, I'm quite pleased with that. Anyways, I can assure you that this coming Thursday I'll go back to my regular scheduled programming.

My 500th blog post!!!!

Damn!

Most people I know personally will (all to frequently) say that I don't know when to shut up. Looking for new audiences, I turned to teh interwebz and by the 500th post, you'd think I'd be hard-pressed to find something to ramble on about...right?

Nope.

I have no intentions of stopping my incessant bitching, whining, ranting, posting half-assed battle reports, showcasing whatever it is that I'm currently working on, and of course my incessant gramatical errors. In the beginning...(all the way back to Janurary 2010, wow!) Da Long Wayz Dezert Groop was almost exclusively a 40k related blog. Since then...this blog has gone in all manner of gaming directions, and 40k is kinda a rarity these days. Oh well, nothing stays the same right?

Right.

In an attempt to inject a bit more 40k back into Da Groop, I plan on having a forthcoming (and most likely intermittent) series called: The state of my 40k. In these posts I'll detail what state (in most cases sad) my armies are currently in, my future plans on expansion of them (if any) and what the potential threat is for them popping up on ebay (which is nothing new for me, as any of my long-time readers will already know).

Speaking of my readers...check this out:

Holy shit Batman!!!

Ya know when I started this blog, I also pondered buying one of these to go with it...lol. Luckily in my case, that shirt isn't accurate. My 'test blog' perhaps, but not this one, and I thank all of my readers for that! Honestly, thank you! Without you, I might not have become a narcissist.

Now my minions-ermm, uh fellow gamers (?), read on...

Yes, now if you've read this far into my glorious  ego-stroking-extravaganza, then there is a (potential) reward for you...if ya want it of course.

It is well known that my general impression of the new Ork codex is much like my thoughts on 7th ed 40k. Basically, they both suck! As such my Ork Army has (State of my 40k SPOILER ALERT!) suffered heavily in its war with the great devourer itself. Yes, I'm talking about ebay. That said, I still have more HQ choices than I'll ever need. As such, since this is my 500th post, I figured I'd give away a member of Da Long Wayz Dezert Groop to you! (sorry, right now we're too poor to offer ya something new)

Thus I offer up to you: Masta Blasta!

Suck it Spess Puppy players!

He's metal, not that FAILshit! Lacking any other meg-nobs, he's served as a Big Mek in my armies for years, racking up many victories in the process! He also comes with his trusty (but not pictured) Fenrisian Attack Squig!  He's wearing SW colors not out of respect (no self respektin' Ork haz dat for da beakies!) but out of pure mockery!

The usual method for this sort of thing (Read: I stole the idea from other blogs) is to just leave me a comment on this post by say...7pm EST on Sunday, and then I'll put all of the names in a hat, pick one out, and announce the winner in my next post (jeez, talk about milking this shit out...), and I'll ship it out after getting their mailing info (and yes I'll ship internationally).

So, here's to 500 more...

A brief crash course in Infinity

o/

Our buddy Hoss offered and having accepted, he gave Wolfy and I crash course in Corvus Belli's Infinity this past Saturday. Wolfy played the Nomads after Hoss described them as Space Gypsies (or as I called them 'Spipsies'), and I used the PanOceania. The Pan'O are something of an evil empire in the game's universe...I think. No idea on points, no mission other than kill each other, and unfortunately, real life reared its ugly head and cut our game short (at about the two thirds point). So we weren't even able to get a full game in.

A clear illustration of my lack of rules comprehension...

Poor Hoss, he kept apologizing for not explaining things well/clearly. In response I kept telling him that I suck at learning rules, and was trying to dragoon Rob and Screech to figure it out for me (my usual method of learning new stuff...). On that front, my efforts have thus far come to naught.

Look at them buns of steel! Or uh...pewter. lol, yet another ridiculously posed 'Look! She's sexy and has a BIG gun!' type of mini that so often infects the gaming industry.

I thought the unconscious tokens were amusing till my troops started collecting them. :-/

My Lieutenant, and ORC Trooper who was green as is good'n propa!

As stated (and pictured) above, I suck at new rules comprehension. The 'you need to roll under this, but she rolled that so you need to roll above that number' was really hard to wrap our heads around. I'm sure that will still take us some time to figure out.

Corvus Belli's free, online Army builder is a nice touch (still feels odd considering GW's 'WHAT!?!?! GIVE THEM SOMETHING FOR FREE???' mentality). That said I still find it kinda confusing to use.

This was a poor time for distraction, as my Fusilier opened the door, spotted an enemy Commando and...

...she took a hit and was knocked unconscious. Luckily, my Sniper (the buns of pewter chick above) killed the commando! Our game ended at this point though leaving the engagement as something of a draw.

Shrugs...oh well, seems like it has potential and we have plenty of time to figure it all out.

Grymn Flyer WIP part 2

o/

With all of our X-Wing minis painted and in no position to buy anymore right now, I decided to do a bit of work on my infinite backlog of projects. About halfway thru yet another Grymn mini, I had the typical 'SQUIRREL!' moment and switched to my Grymn flyer's base instead.

Yeah, I kinda like it!

I purchased a bag of these tiny little bricks from Secret Weapon Miniatures some ways back, and decided to try my hand at brick laying. I didn't want the (also SWM) force field generator sitting in the sand. Besides, I'm going to need some stairs for my vertically challenged Grymn to actually reach the buttons/monitors, lol.

Looks like I need to tidy up the displays on those monitors.

They're a bit fiddly to work with, but I got the hang of it. Luckily, I wanted it to look old, so the crooked lines are more a case of: 'working as intended' rather than 'fuck! I suck at this!' (though I'm sure a few of you will insist its the other way around...). The Red sand of the Grymn's bases will go into the nooks, crannies and around the edges to tie it all in with the rest of the army. I also need to rust up the generator like I did to my Grymn's antique heavy bolter.

All in good time though, for now I think it's coming along nicely!

The Empire's Bloodshot Squadron

o/

The Empire is...rather monochromatic in its color schemes. Its kinda boring really. The Royal TIE and the lone Interceptor ace TIE  offer the only stock variations. So, going with a minimalist type of approach, I just repainted the cockpit frames and a few other odd bits, including the rear cockpits on all but the already red Royal TIE.

They look good I think, and they stand out in the crowd when we play our (quite frequent) 300 point slugfests. Speaking of, we played such a game Saturday night after some last minute substitutions...and rather than rehash that game (especially as I lack any photos of it), Kushial posted a battle report here.

And this folks, is why Lando is always at the wheel....

Battle of Yavin? Ummm...sorry, we're...uh, 'busy' (and now you know why the Lando Calrissian and his goofy piloting sidekick weren't in the original Star Wars movie).

lol, fringe benefits for the win! I was just trying to take a group shot of our completed Purple Wing (except for clear coating the canopies of my new X-Wing and Headhunter), honest! When just for laughs, Wolfy said: 'here, I gotta idea...' and the Scarlot Harlot skipped straight to 2nd base!

The Purple Squadron along with the typical smuggler hangers-on.

I'll be shooting at this bunch (and their friends) along with I.R./Voril in a 6-player, 300 point game this weekend. One player per side will be a total noob, but those two are already trash talking to each other like veterans...lol.

Revenge!!!

o/

Attendance was light this weekend at the FLGS, and with no other opponents for X-Wing, Wolfy and I went for a rematch form our last game. We switched sides as she's only played the Rebels maybe 2., or 3 times at most. As such I've used the Empire about the same, and wanted to give the TIE bpmber another try.

Things went quite well for the my Imperial squadron, despite the Rebels using every method of distraction (or at least every one for a public location...) in their arsenal. As such, this photo was taken moments before her last X-Wing's demise.

Major Rhymer did fairly well, though I didn't get to use his seismic charge and with R2 units negating stress on all 1 and 2 speed maneuvers, the twin-volleys of Flechette torpedoes wasn't too impressive. That said, trying Imperial Recruitment's suggestion of giving Rhymer Deadeye did make the TIE bomber a lot more useful!

It was a fun game, though the feast or famine turnout of X-Wing players is kinda worrisome for the long-term staying power of the game...

Let's try an X-Wing scenario this time...

o/

To date, all of our games of X-Wing have been suicidal fights to the death. Whilst fun, that can get a little old, thus Wolfy and I decided to try out one of the scenarios instead. Nest of Thieves, or something like that, basically the Rebels (me) were trying to capture Imperial prototypes which the Empire was trying to escort from the table. We opted to go with 125 point lists, so that I could try out my new toys!

My list was:

Wedge with Swarm Tactics and an R2 droid
Tarn Mison with R2 Droid
Bandit Squadron Z-95 with Ion Pulse Missiles and Munitions Failsafe
Gold Squadron Y-Wing with R5 Droid and Ion Cannon
Knave Squadron E-Wing with Fire Control System

Wolfy's Imperials had (to the best of my knowledge):

Darth Vader with Cluster missiles and a Munitions Failsafe (Mission Escort)
TIE Bomber with Proximity Mine, Ion Pulse Missiles, and some other type of missiles.
LT. Lorrir with Targeting Computer and shield upgrade (Mission Escort)
Night Beast with Targeting Computer
Mauler Mithel with Targeting Computer

...and now for the best part, my typically half-assed attempt at a Bat Rep:

The Rebels surround the Empire on deployment, though with Darth Escorting the far-side objective, I all but ceded that one as lost.

I was hoping to pop that TIE  on the right (Night Beast) in turn 1, but only managed to get 2 hits thru with some abysmal rolling all around. Tarn took a crit which would cause further damage if he flew into something which he promptly did on the following turn...idiot.

The Bomber Drops a Proximity mine while Night Beast is about to get double teamed...

The Y-Wing, benefiting from Swarm Tactics, misses completely! However the E-Wing finished off Night Beast, who was the first to fall.

Speaking of failing, the Y-Wing also failed to secure an objective as well...

Vader, passing thru the center pops a shieldless Wedge in one volley and panic ensues amongst my rebels as Tarn (with a mere PS:3) becomes wing commander! Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!!!

The E-Wing begins a long and drawn out session of: I can't secure the objective...

The already badly wounded Y-Wing disintegrates in the crossfire whilst the Headhunter manages to launch its missiles and ion Lorrir's interceptor (which escorts an objective off of the table anyway).

Well, after 3 turns of flailing about, the E-Wing actually secures one objective.

With one each, it suddenly becomes a mad scramble to the center objective!

Yeah, about that...the Headhunter fails to capture the objective before it flees the table. Additionally Tarn's brief command ended in a fiery fashion, and the Empire carried the day.

Well...at least it came down to the wire.

We're still having trouble using the bombers effectively. Aesthetically, the Y-Wing has always been my favorite Rebel Fighter, now if that damned point sink of a ship could actually just do something while its on the table! Likewise, with Wolfy and I each only having 1 game using the TIE Bomber, neither of us have much of any success with it. I'm going to try my hand at the Empire this coming weekend, which will give me another go with it. Not sure what its good for though, other than soaking up points like a sponge.  :-/