Leader of the pack

     Well I received this awesome model from Forgeworld this week. This is my first full Forgeworld model that I've had to build. I feel that I need to state just how much a pain in the ass this model was. Sure, there's tons of detail, but to that end, there's TONS of little fiddly bits that require an amazing amount of frustration to get these parts to come together properly.

     The worst part had to be the guns. Now there is some slick detail here indeed. They have a belt of ammo going up to each gun from a box slung under the chassis. Coming out of each gun are a stream of empty shells and a dangling bit of empty ammo belt. Here's a pic:

     The gun is one piece but the full belt, empty belt, and shells are all small seperate parts. The amount of time I spent on those parts is just stupid. Sure, it looks good, but why the hell did I do that? Hopefully it'll be worth it when it's painted.

     Obviously my main concern is that there are absolutely no instructions. It's just a few pictures of the completed model, then on the reverse side a picture of the contents of the box with a few words to describe the parts. That's great, but I was left with two parts that were described as "dampeners" and I have NO idea where these things are supposed to go. I assumed these are shocks, but I can't tell how they're supposed to be hooked up. I've looked at the Forgeworld site and eyed their pics up and down and can't spot these tiny little bits on their model at all. I'm just leaving them off.

     Regardless of all this, I'm very much looking forward to painting it. I've got some great ideas of how I want it to look, so now I have some motivation to get cracking on my Ork Kommandos so that I can start work on this bad boy.

     Unrelated note: Played some games on Saturday, good times were had by all. Battle Missions book is totally full of win. It's official.

Mission Success

     I had a really good day at the CLGS today. I won every game I played, I had a pretty good time, and the Battle Missions book seems to be pretty slick.

     First, my orks! They performed excellent. The Trukk showed to be an extremely lethal addition to the army. I played a 1000 point game against my friend Sean with his Eldar army. Turn one was a down right murder! I flung my three Nob bikers and the Trukk filled with 10 Nobz and my Big Mek up the right flank. The awesome open-topped-ness of the trukk allowed me to disembark far enough out front to setup a truly epic assault. With the Nobz plowing through the Eldar in assault, my 20 'Ard Boyz just sat back on our objective, making sure no sneaky Striking Scorpions tried to take it. I had pretty much wiped the Eldar by the end of turn three. For as awesome as this all sounds, it was assisted by some exceedingly terrible rolls on my friend's side. I found myself in that uncomfortable position of feeling bad for him.

     After that first game, we got the Battle Missions book and played a game of Kill Teams. I really dig it, but I must say that this game type needs a few rule clarifications. If you and your opponent have an understanding before the game starts, then it's totally cool. This game type seems like it might be easily broken by certain armies (namely horde armies). I got one more two on two kill teams game in before I left, and this too was tons of fun.

     I got Vulcan Hes'tan in the mail the other day, along with some squigs that I plan on using on both objective markers and potentially with the Warboss on Bike that I'm getting for Forgeworld. Vulcan represents really the beginnings of my "third" army. Really I'm just building a variant of my current SM list to be more Salamandar-ish. I really still want to do a Imperial Guard army next, but that will have to wait for a while. I've got plenty to paint until then.

Battle Missions = Excited!

     Man oh man! I couldn't be any more excited about this Battle Missions book than I am right now! One of the biggest things that pulled me into this hobby/game was the narrative. I was hooked when I began to learn how gritty and unique this sci-fi fantasy really was. This book taps directly into that vein.

     The primary motivation I have for painting my models is that I want them too look complete on the table. I want my opponent to feel the same way so that, when we're playing, you can SEE the story play out. There's fantastic subtext to everything, sometimes even the rules themselves! My tactical marines all are unique in some way. There's a story there. I have rank markings, runes, and reasons for all of it. As the game unfolds, I've found myself choosing particular marines out of the squad as casualties. Not because it has massive strategic purpose but because I have a story in my head about it. It's like being young again and playing Cowboys and Indians, but now that I'm 31 I think this 40K game is a bit more reasonable for my age.

     I have a friend who has, in less than a year, amassed four armies. All but one was directly selected purely because of the story behind the army. This is what we crave! Now seriously Kris, get to painting. Hah! Just kidding... but seriously... paint.

     I hope I enjoy this book, and I really look forward to exploring the template of creative missions provided. I'm going to be introducing some people to 40K this weekend, and this might be the perfect opportunity.

Knee Jerks

     Okay so I will freely admit that I still consider myself to be a relative newbie to 40K, let alone table-top gaming in general. I've got a small observation to make: The community seems to be very VERY reactionary to rule updates. This could manifest itself in an updated army codex, a FAQ, or even a rumor.

     Now one arena I'm surely not a newb in is video games. I've been playing all my life. I remember the fond nights spent in front of the glow of my Commodore 64, my brother's Odyssey, and even our Pong set-top box. I'm certainly "old school" when it comes to the PC/console side of the house. I used to be much more of an early adopter, and one of my knacks was conquering a steep learning curve very quickly. I could start in on a completely fresh game and have a ton of the tricks sussed out very early. It would almost always show up as a nearly unfair advantage against other players who weren't so fast to catch on.

     I'm not bragging, I just noticed that this was a strength. I tend to switch games pretty often (less so now that I'm in the military and my horrible pay doesn't really afford me the support of both my hobbies in full) and this played to that special ability I had. The one place where I tended to linger was always MMOs.

     Anyone who has spent a significant time in any MMO knows that one of the constant evils that shadows this particular genre is the cries of "NERFED!" or "OVERPOWERED!" This was something I thought I had left in the digital realm but I'm finding it alive and well within the table-top kingdom.

    A recent update to the Ork 40K FAQ added a bonus to having a Deff-rolla. Being a new Ork player, I was interested in that little tid-bit but I certainly didn't immediately punch in the Games Workshop site and order up a bunch of rollas. I recognized it for what it was: An added advantage with plenty of risks.

    I really didn't give much more thought on the matter until about two or three days later when Bell of Lost Souls ran two stories, back to back, about the rule change filled with great wailing and gnashing of teeth. One article went so far as to proclaim mechanized lists dead.

     This is a systemic problem here. People get so worked up about codices and rule updates that it really just descends into a noise, a cacophony of complaints that really doesn't serve much good for the hobby. I think that new players (and really; speaking as one) will most probably find this distracting and confusing. I know that many new players are looking to get the biggest bang for their buck from their first army. If they're anything like myself, they're going to research the hobby/game intensely before choosing which army to start investing in (and lets face it; it's an investment). This kind of "Army X is the best, oh wait now Army Y is" just doesn't speak to the generally calm people I've associated with in this hobby.

     Perhaps it's just the hyperbaric chamber that is the Internet that causes these over-reactions. Whatever the case, I encourage my fellow gamers to find calm and peace and know that "This too shall pass." can be a mantra in which you find solace.

Beep Beep!

     Trukk is DONE! I'm very happy with the trukk. The only thing I wasn't thrilled with was the gunner. He doesn't want to fit in the gunner's mount so well. I managed to get him glued in such that it wasn't a problem, but other than that, I think everything came together quite well. I've got some extra little bitz I'm going to be attaching to the trukk later, and I'll post pics when I do.

     I've ordered some more fun stuff. I have five squigs headed my way as well as Vulcan Hestan, which represents my baby steps back into the SM arena. My goal is to have a Salamanders variant of my core SM army ready within the next six months. I do have plenty more Orks to do, but I've purchased the last of my Orks for my 1500 point list. The only things I'm desperate to add to my Orks are a Deff dread and a weird boy. Those are more just for S&Gs so I'm in no great hurry.

     I stopped by my CLGS and ran into a new face. He's another Navy guy who is getting back into 40K. Excellent news! I was happy to lend him some advice about our CLGS. He informed me that he was completing an Eldar army at the moment. Our CLGS has a terrible Eldar player that has effectively ruined the army in the eyes of the regulars because he's an absolute power gamer and doesn't exactly play the rules so well. Saying "Eldar" around the store usually elicits some rather negative responses. One of my friends from work who's also getting back into 40K is playing Eldar as well and found this to be the reception. I told him that it was up to him to change everyones' mind. God speed Sean... God speed.

     Here are some more shots of my trukk:

Feel No Pain

     It has been a bit since I've shown some progress on my Orks. It's time to do that. Here is my Painboy, which will be running with my 10 man Nob squad deployed in a Trukk. I've got a few touches that I need to put on this guy, nothing huge though. I've played a few games with him in the squad and he does quite well. My only difficulty is deciding if I should take 'Eavy Armor on my Nobz. Technically this would make the Painboy more useful, or I should say that I would be using his Feel No Pain saves more frequently. Hmmm just not sure. I had fun making the tarnished brass look on his syringe and tank on his back. Here's some more pics:

  

    I've started working on the Trukk for my Big Mek, Nobz, and Painboy to ride in. I've decided that I'm going to try a technique I saw at Iron Dog Studios on the Tator Titan. I've started with the Tin Bitz layer, then I'll be doing a nice Boltgun layer. After that, I'll be picking out what I want to be black and orange and I'll go from there with more detailed painting. I think this will give a nice worn look that won't take too much time to complete. I've done the first pass tonight and here are the results:

     I'll have some options for my project following the Trukk. I've got my Kommandos all cleaned up and ready for painting, or I could go ahead and assemble my Lootas. I've gained some respect for the Lootas potent abilities, so I'm half tempted to jump ahead to them. Hmmmm but Snikrot is just an AWESOME model. Tough decisions!

Ugh! Know your core rules!

I swear! I've had nothing by bad in so many pick-up games as of late. My CLGS is supremely sub-par just to start. Terrible tables that rarely actually measure to 6x4, and never have painted or textured surface through-out. I suppose that's fine if you like to have all your battles on Planet Particle-Boardia. I'm growing weary of that through.

The A-#1 kick in the soft-bits is the people I've had the chance to play against. So far I've encountered no less than three regulars that either routinely forget rules, twist rules, make up wargear, or are still playing freaking 4th edition because they haven't fully learned 5th. The last bit seems to be fairly common. So far my best games have actually been with fairly new players. Like me, they've learned only 5th, and thus tend not to adamantly demand they're right about some crusty rule that might be as old as 3rd edition!!!

Yesterday, I had TWO games ruined by one made-up piece of wargear. I don't own every codex, and I've been playing for less than a year, but when I'm playing against Mr. I've-been-playing-since-Moses-started-40K, I tend to yield on a lot of the armies that are foreign to me. This has resulted in MULTIPLE disasters. Let me describe my most recent disappointment.

My lowly 1000 points of Orks found themselves facing down a Necron gun-line. I honestly had very little hope of survival. I managed to struggle forward, losing most of my army in turn 2. I had only my group of 20 'Ard Boyz (had to take them as that to make up the points) and my big-bad Warboss. I managed to call a Whaagh! and make assault. I spread out my boys into multiple unit combat. I was stuck in with a group of 10 Warriors, 10 Immortals, and a Necron Lord. I had positioned myself such that I could allocate most attacks against the Warriors, and my Warboss' attacks against the Immortals. The result was EPIC! I managed to cause an unsaved wound differential of 12! SUCCESS! My opponent had his back up against the table edge to try and give his gun line the best chance of whittling me down. This now was backfiring hugely as he was about to fail leadership with his two big point units; Immortals and his Lord. I was ready to fist-pump all the way home when my opponent announced that he had taken some wargear on his Lord that made him Fearless along with whatever unit he joined.

WHAAAAAA!

Now, not knowing the Necrons, I just assumed that was correct. HUGE MISTAKE! He promptly made most of the saves for the additional wounds, and began his turn. He used the Veil of Shadows, pulling his Lord and Immortals out of assault. His devastated Warrior squad only saw three make their "We'll Be Back" rolls and were forced to join a nearby Warriors squad that was not in combat. This left my Orks out in the cold. I was immediately hit by a Monolith template weapon killing 15 Boyz. The remainder were gunned down by the Immortals.

When I got home I loaded up my Necrons PDF codex (Shhhh!! Don't tell anyone) and I couldn't find ANYTHING that would make them fearless. Quite the opposite! I found the explicit explanation of why they DO take leadership tests despite being Undead Zombie Space Robots for the Future. GAAAAHHHHH! Ruined game! What's worse, we played another game and he repeated this SAME violation on me, claiming this imaginary wargear. What's worse, he wanted me to take a negative modifier after one assault because he "Outnumbered" me. WTH guy! Even I know that was a 4th Edition rule that wasn't in 5th! What sucked was that he INSISTED it was in the codex and took 10 minutes to look for it... IN MY RULE BOOK!

To summarize: I love 40K... I hate 40K players! KNOW THE CORE RULES PLEASE! I don't CARE that you were around when GW invented Space Marines! I don't care that your army hasn't seen a new codex since tight-rolled jeans were in style! I WANT YOU TO READ YOUR RULE BOOK!

*sigh* I feel better now. Although I'm never playing that guy again.