RAMMING SPEED!!!

o/

As I was still suffering from the crud, we opted to just stay home pretty much all weekend and play some X-Wing instead of going to the FLGS. Fielding my new toys, we tried the 'Interdiction' scenario included with the Decimator. I opted for a different list than the recommended one as I wanted to ram stuff. Why else would you want a Decimator, right?

Of course this was our first game of X-Wing in quite awhile, so we forgot quite a bit of things, the two main ones being the scenario's 'Ruthless' special rule, and my accuracy correctors (doh!).

My 1st (failed) ramming attempt...

Airen Cracken had tried to flee to the far side to survive till the reinforcements showed up, but my TIEs would have none of it!

Speaking of reinforcements, Tyco and Tarn wait in the wings...

...and show up whilst that damned Z-95 is still on the table!

DAMMIT! THAT doesn't count! The friggin bases were still a 1/16th inch apart!

Note, that greasy smear (debris field) next to the Decimator was Cracken, and the Decimator's first ramming kill, huzzah!

Speaking of, I wonder just how much stress Tyco can take?

Yeah, he went 'splat'! Note Wolfy's fancy formation flying in the background.

Trying futilely to get a bead on my favorite X-Wing pilot, Tarn Mison.

It should be noted that by this point, both of my TIEs were gone, and it was down to just these two. However my Decimator had the shit kicked out of it, and Tarn actually had more hit points than it did! To make matters worse, the steering was damaged and hard turns were red maneuvers, having already had stress on it in the previous turn, and after a green maneuver my ship was in danger of flying off of the board!

Whew! A close call, but one that no doubt had flames, debris, and random crew flying off of the board as the ship itself narrowly avoided that fate...

...blurry though it may be, here we see Tarn making the kill shot!

...and with that, Wolfy tabled me. Round two, we played her Hit and Run scenario. She used the same list, whereas I tweaked mine a little bit trading the (as usual) worthless gunner upgrade and an Advanced TIE for 2 Obsidian TIEs.

Whee!!! I rammed Cracken and then the the anti-pursuit lasers nailed the incoming X-Wing!

Coming round the asteroids (as required by the scenario) always results in heavy traffic!

SURPRISE BUTT SEX! in 3...2...1...

Having run down Cracken yet again, Captain Oicunn gives the order to 'Get this bitch moving!' and the TIEs are thrown into confusion as they try (and fail) to get out of its way! Luckily I don't take damage from friendly collisions...

With Tarn's surprisingly quick death, and also Tyco's demise shortly thereafter, Wolfy had no chance of killing anything before the Decimator fled the field unscathed and with it's requisite kill, so we called it.

That left us tied for the weekend. My initial impressions of the Decimator? It handles like a whale, but I like it! Wolfy's thoughts: (quote) 'I fucking hate that ship.' lol, as a frequent Empire player herself however, it won't be too long before we possibly find ourselves with the exact opposite thoughts of the Decimator!

Imperial reinforcements

o/

Well, since writing my last post, papa Nurgle decided pay me a little visit. As such I've felt more or less like death warmed over ever since. To be honest I wasn't even going to bother with a 2nd blog post this week, but my birthday toys arrived in the mail yesterday so I figured I'd show them off.

With the new TIE advanced Title having been released, and the accuracy corrector being an auto-take (if still kinda mediocre) item, I figured I'd get a 2nd of my favorite TIE. No, no Raider for me, but the X-Wing builder I use has it conveniently listed for use. That won't fly in a tourney, but I don't play in any of those anyways so is no matter.

I've also wanted a Decimator ever since its Wave-something release. I don't see us getting any huge ships, so this will probably be the biggest boat in our X-Wing inventory (unless we eventually get the Ghost as well).

Following my last mention of buying the above, Adam commented on just using a die roll generator in lieu of buying more dice but...yeah, no. We already stare at our damned phones too much as it is. I've used those apps in the past (when I forgot my dice and opted for a quick download instead of buying replacements), but I never liked using them.

These will remain sealed for now, and will be opened when my contagions finally go away (or I keel over, whichever comes first).

There's a 3-alarm fire 5 hexes out, let's move!

o/

Real life conspired to wipe out all of my hobby time since my last post, including our planned game of X-Wing. Though there was the exception of a fun-filled Friday night of burgers on the grill, Exploding Kittens and Cards Against Humanity with some friends. As such the YT-2400 still isn't finished. Sad Face.  Luckily I have another side project to pull out of the archives to fill the blog-content void...

Through the years I've tried just about every major variation of infantry in Battletech in an attempt to find a type that does something other than just slow the game down. To date, all of those attempts have effectively failed. So after my GHQ stand-ins for mechanized infantry took a bath in the simple green and then got some repainting/basing, I'm going to give motorized infantry a try. Motorized firefighter infantry to be exact.

Yes, because that makes sense...

lol, there are all sorts of things on the CBT battlefield that'll start a fire. Explosives of every sort, incendiary weapons, lasers, burning mechs and tanks, the majority of which are fusion powered, the list goes on. The way I see it, Battletech firefighter units need to be Hazmat, EoD, and NBC trained specialists in addition to firefighters.

Hrmmm, I seem to have forgotten the flashing blue lights...

In a campaign setting, defending territory is great and all, unless you leave it a blazing inferno which just burns down whatever you were defending to begin with. That said, we never play campaigns, just one-off games once in awhile, so who the hell care about the battlefield afterwards-right? Well, luckily, firefighters are armed as well. Their weapons' range, their speed, and damage potential are all kinda meh at best (which has always been my issue with conventional infantry).

However the one thing they have going for them is that they're well armored (for infantry). Firefighters have a damage divisor of 2, meaning all incoming damage is halved, or for simplicity's sake, the double damage to infantry when they're in the wide open (which is where they always are given how slow they move) is simply negated.

Huzzah!

I hope this results in something decent in a game, but as usual, that's probably wishful thinking. I could try them out as Heavy Support Motorized Infantry, which have more than double the damage potential, and almost double the range, however they're as slow as foot-sloggers. Bleh. On a slightly different note, after finishing the infantry bases above, most of my CBT stuff is now painted. That said, I do still have a few projects and next on the CBT list will be these:

A Level II of tanks, not gonna tell who they'll be fightin' for yet though...

Voilet Tendencies (WIP)

o/

Everything goes in cycles and now its X-Wing's time at the front of the painting queue. As such, I finally started working on repainting Wolfy's YT-2400. She requested a purple version of this beauty:

I don't who to give credit to for this, but they did a hellova job on it!

Using that as my inspiration, I've come pretty far along but as you can see below, I still have a ways yet to go:

She seems pretty happy with it so far, and I rather like it too. Of course just as important as its paint job, every proper ship also needs a name. For the time being I've come up with the name Violet Tendencies. Wolfy's responded warmly to that, but its not yet been given her final approval.

On a slightly different note, I was given a few gift cards for my birthday, and so far all of them have gone towards Star Wars stuff. First up, I have a VT-49 Decimator, a 2nd TIE Advanced and some more X-Wing dice on order from Amazon. Secondly Wolfy found this little gem at Barnes & Noble and I just had to get it! Its kinda like the old Imperial Guardsman's Uplifting Primer books that GW sold some years back and has been a fun read so far.

We haven't played any games of X-Wing in quite awhile, but are planning on remedying that this coming weekend. :-)

Lordy, Lordy, Da Masta Cheef is Forty!

Yeah, yeah, whatever...its all fun and games and then it happens to you. Eh, I'm still playing with 'toys' so its safe to say by this point that I'm never gonna grow up! Speaking of toys, it only seems appropriate here on Da Long Wayz Groop, to mark the occasion by showing off my most recently painted Orks:

Wen stelf iz needed, Da Boss sens out da 'Sneeky Git' to do da job!

Perhaps he's genetically programmed to be a Deff Skull, or perhaps he just knows dat 'bloo's a lukky color.' Regardless he's da cheef spanner (I'm going to have at least 2) in my mob.

Gorkamorka has rekindled my love of the Orks and as such they've returned to the painting queue (due mainly to the fact that virtually all of the painted ones went the way of ebay). Their bases are 'a little bland' in Wolfy's opinion (needz more skullz?), but they are in a dezert. I wanted them to be based with something different than my normal 'generic' 40k flock-mix. That way da boyz specifically painted for GorkaMorka to stand out from the rest of my army.  

For the 1st time in my 20 years of gaming, I DON'T have a Space Marine army!

How did that happen?

Oh that's right: ebay.

Yes, this pic came from their ebay auction.

The most recent marines sold (the Storm Wardens) were ironically made up of almost all of the exact same models as I got 20 years ago in the 2nd ed 40k starter box. At my height (somewhere between 4th & 5th ed) I topped out at 19 40k armies! Don't ask where the hell I stored them all, because even now I can't figure that madness out. Currently, I have 3 (Orks & Eldar, both of which struggle to reach the 1500 point mark and my Grymn Militarum and friends who can't even reach 1k). Wolfy still has her Fem Fa'Tau though, which is easily the largest 40k army in the house.

What can I say, the twin travesties of 7th ed 40k and more recently the Age of Sigmeh have really strained my love of all things GW. However their redemption may possibly be in the near future. Ya see, unlike so many miniatures that have gone the way of ebay over the past year or so to keep the lights on, food on the table, credit cards at bay, etc., the Storm Wardens have a higher purpose. Their funds are going into a savings account, to await the day that plastic 30k arrives.

We've all seen the sprue pics, so we know its going to happen, the question is when. Luckily GW's marketing division likes to keep their customers completely in the dark, so who the hell knows. Right before Christmas is my guess. Regardless, I'm generally not in the position to make a triple-digit impulse buy (which often seems like GW's overall marketing scheme). Thus the Storm Wardens' funds will await that release. I may add to it in the intervening days/months/years as well...we'll see.

I do still have marines though. My current inventory of them is as follows:

Dark Hands/Subjugators: I have the periodically retired predator that I got an honorable mention with at Gamesday Atlanta some years ago, along with my Subjugators Librarian. Not sure why I kept him, I just like the mini I guess.

Exorcists: Yes, the accursed Matt Fucking Ward still exists, in my game room...I forgot about that model until just recently actually.

ANGRY MAHREENS!!!: Floyd Uberson is the only one I actually painted, and the only one I have left...and he's really fucking pissed off about it!!!

Aurora Chapter:  How in the FUCK can there still be a damned Aurora scout sniper left in this house?!?!?! I've sold them to Sweden (literally), given them away, repainted them and then given them away, and yet there's another half painted, headless one in the fucking mini case! Its like a god damned conspiracy or something...

Techmarine: He's a 'non-denominational' techmarine, meaning he's bereft of chapter iconography as I got tired of switching/repainting his shoulder pads (you can see him in Floyd Uberson's link above). He has 2 heavy bolter servitors that have been primed green for years now.

Blackshields: My former Emperor's Children, 30k contingent. Currently I have the recently painted Centurion and 5 recon marines (a.k.a. Scouts), a Techmarine with a conversion beamer along with a pair of Servo-Automata flunkies to serve as ablative wounds for him. I also have the now former Captain I killed Draigo (11th pic down, fighting some losers...), swimming in simple green who will be demoted to a mere grunt, an original rhino that's swimming with him, and my original predator which is the very first 40k model that I ever bought (in another year, that tank will of legal drinking age in this country!).

Storm Wardens: (3) bikers, of which only one is assembled and painted. These are the first minis my beloved Wolfy bought me, and thus they have sentimental value, yes even on the sprue.

Red Corsairs: with the demise of my Chaos marines, Centurion Niro has found himself retired to my Hall of Heros awaiting the day he can scratch the cowardly name of Tigurious off of his Murder Sword...

*****

I was going to further list the chapters I've fielded in the past as the number far exceeds the total number of marines listed above, but...I'm kinda tired and its getting late,  so screw it.

Maybe some other time.

GorkaMorka called...

...it wants it's Red Gobbo back.

I hope you didn't want to buy one on ebay. Holy crap! Look at those prices! For a stinkin' GROT!?!?!? I don't care if its a long out-of-production special character, that's just stupid! Now, whilst I don't think I'll be fielding a rebel grot force, I would like that model for my mob, and it just so happens that I have him already...

Dis, iz (or rather wuz) Da Redd Barrun! A minor chieftain in my 2nd O&G army, and Da Warlord of my 3rd and final, purely goblin Warhammer army. Ironically, of all of my green skinned fantasy armies, the all goblin vesrion was the most effective (and I only had 6 fanatics!). As you can see, his slugga was removed and replaced with a shield taken from the old Dogs of War general Lorenzo Lupo (and now you know why that guy disappeared from existence, the gobbo's ate him!).

These photos were taken shortly after Da Barun was taken out of retirement in my Hall of Heroes and just before he went into the Simple green for a much needed bath. He joined the (now former) Captain I killed Draigo of Storm Wardens' fame, and an old, original rhino with waaay too many layers of paint on it. The latter two will go to my 30k Blackshields, whereas the barun will go to GorkaMorka (though the color of his coat remains to be determined...

Age of Sigmar, one month in.

A third post this week? A Friday rant even? Score!

This morning I read yet another BoLS post extolling the virtues of AoS, and how it ought to be applied to 40k. That makes what? A half dozen or so now, more or less saying the same thing? Granted that one shockingly wasn't all wine and roses like the others have been. Still it just seems so fucking redundant.

Seriously what the hell? 

Annoyed, and wanting to see what else they had available, I after that went scrolling thru their recent posts only to find yesterday's post about how well AoS is selling on Amazon. Almost every day BoLS brings us another AoS is awesome! post.

Fanbois much?

Ya know, there are a hellova lot of people out there who either don't like or just flat out hate the game, but dissenting opinions and/or counterpoints on BoLS are apparently only for the comment section. Speaking of, whilst browsing the comments, I found this one below and couldn't agree more (and said as much in my reply to it).

lol, ya gotta love FFG for putting GW in it's place.

Also, given the subject matter of the BoLS post itself, I couldn't help but not crop out the reply about X-Wing blow it. Gives ya some perspective doesn't it? I can't wait till FFG topples 40k from the highest grossing mini game though sadly I won't be able to be the proverbial 'fly on the wall' during that GW board meeting, lol. Its going to happen...

Of course its also widely acknowledged in the Amazon post's comments (and elsewhere) that many people are buying the AoS starter to use the minis as Chaos cultists in 40k, and to convert Sigmarines into Space marines/Custodes. Best not to read into any of that though, just keep following BoLS' bludgeoning insistence that: AoS is THE BEST THING EVAR!

Bleh.

30k Blackshield Centurion

o/

As a follow-up to my last post, I finished my Centurion for the Blackshields. Unlike my recon marine squad (well, the 3 painted so far), he didn't choose to completely obliterate his old Emperor's Children colors. Instead merely the legion/company markings were removed. Add to that, the constant wear and tear of battle which hasn't been repaired/cleaned off, and the resulting look would qualify as a criminal offense within the EC's pretty boy ranks prior to the Horus Heresy!

The rear view on the left gives a good view of his bionic arm, the replacement for the flesh and blood appendage which was taken from him via the accursed Xenos blade that he now carries as his own.

Actually, rather than paint everything precisely, and then dirty it up, I opted to just go for basic and splotchy base colors to further add to the lacking in maintenance look of his armor. Amusingly, I can't any difference from my regular methods on the finished model (which may speed up future paint jobs significantly!). An air bubble on the chest plate (thank you for that Forgeworld) has been turned into a puncture wound in his armor. Indeed despite the robust and recuperative qualities of an Astartes' physique, it seems as though one of his 2 hearts are bleeding out (and onto a fallen Alpha Legionnaire's helmet).

My meager painted force thus far...

Next up will either be the remaining two recon marines, or my Techmarine. I was going to ask if anyone knew whether or not 30k techmarines painted their armor red like their 40k counterparts do, but its kindova moot point as I'll probably just paint him predominantly black anyways.

The Sundered and the Black

Disclaimer: Real life events weren't too kind to us late last week, and as a result it torpedoed our gaming plans for this past weekend, as such look for Da Fort's return to GorkaMorka and hopefully some Bolt Action action next week. Luckily like most gamers, I suffer from the hobbyist's version of adult ADHD and thus have more than one thing going at once. I usually hang onto these sorts of side projects to blog about when RL tosses a wrench into the works, and this is one of those posts:

*****

I've been wanting to start a 30k army and so far my handful of minis have been hopping from legion to legion with little to no paint to show for it. However we've all seen the 'plastic 30k' sprue pics floating about, and with that news my interest in starting a small 30k army has been renewed once more but my problem persists: which legion?  Well, how about none of them? Or better yet, maybe a conglomeration of several legions...

Recently I found the following story & accompanying artwork in the Horus Heresy Book 4 - Conquest, along with a few other references from the previous HH FW books, and they've really piqued my interest. As such I've started work on my now former Emperor's Children Centurion, and my also former but not Imperial Fist recon marines are good to go as is. Additionally I won't have to worry much about decals and legion insignia which is convenient. Anyways, here they are:

The Sundered and the Black 

Almost from the outset, the war of the Horus Heresy was a vast cataclysm and one whose events moved with such quicksilver pace that mystery, supposition, lies and simple ignorance cloaked much of the bloodshed even as it occurred, casting a veil over much that would never be lifted. Though the roll call of Space Marine Legions, Titan Legio, Auxilia regiments and Mechanicum Taghmata that sided with the Arch-Traitor and those who remained loyal is largely known and accepted, the full truth is far more complex and far more mysterious than commonly believed.

Of those who fell at Istvaan V during the Dropsite Massacre, there were survivors, remnants and fleeing fragments shorn of command and driven half mad by treachery; from that point onwards they were isolated, alone. These were the shattered Legions and, while some swiftly returned to the Imperial fold, some did not or would not. Some would go on to wage a bitter war of vengeance alone, some would simply disappear, their fates unknown, their stories untold. But there were others of a darker hue. It has long been refuted, but is indelibly the case that in the Legions that remained loyal there were elements, sometimes whole companies and commands, that did not. In some cases the infection of the Warmaster's 'warrior lodges' has been blamed, while in others perhaps grievances long smoldering were the cause, just as infiltration by outside forces, or simply a darker truth applies, that given the option, some legiones Astartes believed Horus had the superior cause and the superior right to command their allegiance, not the Emperor, while some retained the loyalty to their Emperor and the Great Crusade over that of their own Primarch's will. It is true that some quietly slipped anchor and turned their coats to serve another master, and that this happened on both sides of the divide.

Thus can perhaps be explained, at least in part, persistent stories and evidence long since suppressed of midnight clad warriors in defaced Night Lords heraldry savagely attacking Traitor forces at the liberation of Estaban III, or of recurring reports of multiple Space Marine strike forces seemingly in the resurrected livery of the Dusk Raiders thwarting the Iron Warriors at Kibron and Malinche's Fall. Likewise also should be considered the long-denied evidence of a Great Company of the Space Wolves Legion bearing the symbol of the Serpent's Eye slaughtering millions at Neo Cadiz in 008.M31, or of a company of Legiones Astartes present at the Siege of Mezoa bearing the hybrid arms and panoply of the Iron Hands and Sons of Horus Legions both. These were merely a handful of still infamous cases, but here are many more unsubstantiated or simply now forgotten which paint a more complex and uncertain picture of this great civil war than is normally accounted. Further to this, and perhaps an even more sinister enigma, are the persistent reports of Space Marine forces appearing bearing no sign or seal of heraldry or origin at all, or stranger yet, heraldry which bears no mark known during the Great Crusade.  Although whether the "black" Legionaries were merely turncoats or, as some have whispered, perhaps raised by the Traitors from the chimeric gene-seed of the Istvaan dead for their own terrible purposes, none can now say for certain.

Story and Artwork copyright of Forgeworld and/or Games Workshop, and obviously used without permission as they came from an illegally made Russian PDF of the Horus Heresy Book 4 - Conquest.