Valkyrie Progress and 6th Edition Games

Valkyrie Ain't Easy Being Un-Finished-y


Work on the Valkyrie has continued, though clearly slow.  I glued down the canopy so my work on the canopy is finished for sure.  Here are some shots:

I've completed all of the base coating for the outside of the vehicle.  I also tried just dry brushing to bring out edge highlighting, but I just wasn't happy with that.  I then took the longer hard road of edge highlighting.  That was pretty tedious.  Turns out there are a crap ton of edges on this bastard.  I took my time.  Results were good though, and I took the opportunity to do some scratches and general light weathering.

Still got a lot of work to do, and I'll eventually ... do it.  I guess.

6th Edition Games


I've now finished two games of 6th edition and I've got to say that I've found it to be absolutely enjoyable.  The random charge ranges have made for some really interesting turns in these games.  In one particular failed charge by my opponent, it completely gave me an advantage in escaping what could have been a potentially fatal assault.  My opponent would have been able to make the assault in 5th edition.  The life span of vehicles does seem to really be limited, but thankfully my Ork Trukk was pretty soft before.  I'm doing alright.  I am sad that someone at the store walked up to me, glanced at my Nob Bikers and said "I've really got to get those for my Ork army, because now they're just AMAZING!"  Er... ok.  They're slightly better but some things are slightly worse.  On the measure, I'd say you had just as much reason to take them in 5th as you did in 6th.  Perhaps some of those reasons are different.

First Game of Sixth Edition

The Beast Has Arrived


     I played my first game of Warhammer 40K 6th edition today.  It... took... awhile.  Many readers might not know that I actually haven't been into 40K that long.  I got started almost a year after 5th edition had launched.  I had completed my first 1500 point army and played my first game about the time that 5th edition was celebrating it's first birthday.  Starting a game as complex as 40K (or really most table top war games) is difficult, but it helps if there are plenty of blogs, Youtube videos, and podcasts that are almost wholly concerned with sussing out some new rules.  That's exactly how I managed to figure out 5th edition, at least as much that I felt like I could put some models on a table, shuffle them about, and roll some dice with a modicum of confidence that some of that conformed with the rules.

     This is my first rules shift.  Many vets out there have been there, done that, purchased the over-priced limited collector's edition T-shirt.  I certainly haven't and I'm a bit worried.  One of my least favorite experiences in this hobby to date was one of my first ever public pick-up game.  One of the regulars at the gaming store I visited agreed to play against me in a low point game.  My first few games I had played with a friend, and I had a blast learning the rules with him.  This pick-up game was different.  This guy didn't care to teach me anything, other than how to try and piece back my ego.  Ultimately, the sore spot for me wasn't that I lost (I've had plenty of that since) but the way that I lost.

     He used 4th edition and even 3rd edition rules that favored him.  True line of sight? PFFT!  Not if it meant I had caught him at a disadvantage.  There were many more instances of creative rule blending, and it made me furious because I found out AFTER the fact.  Not only that but he had played far more points against me.  He had just dropped some models on the table and ran rough shod over the "newb" and didn't care what that meant for the community.

     It had occurred to me that perhaps he didn't know what he was doing.  Perhaps he was just a bit of a bumbling idiot that generally forgot what edition he was playing, or had a difficult time sorting out the rules in his head.  Maybe he added up his army wrong when he put together his 1300 pt "1000 pt" Eldar army.

     Bollocks!  He was a punk.  I'm worried that I might fail to pickup 6th edition rules and 5th edition rules will pop out instead, so I'm trying extra hard to dump 5th edition, and learn 6th quickly.  I don't someone to think I was trying to be the bastard against them.

So How Was It?


     Well, it was "fine."  That might seem a bit lack-luster for a review, but I'm not sure one game is enough to tell anything.  Just reading the rule book made me feel like my Orks had taken a bit of a pummeling.  Some of that beating showed up on the table, but I'm learning to cope.  The allies rule allowed me to dust off those Grey Knights I had made for that exact purpose back when the Demon Hunter codex allowed allies.  They performed admirably on the table, but 6th has really dull the razor sharp tip of the Grey Knights spear.  It was needed, don't get me wrong, but if your Grey Knights come face to face with Thunder Hammer wielding Terminators, get ready to pluck some models off the table.

     The wound allocation method is certainly "logical" and a little forethought goes a long way if you position your units properly.  I had not spent much time learning the rules for wound allocation in close combat, but as it so happens I did it right.  This was mainly because the allocation rules between shooting and close combat are pretty much the same, and seemed second nature to me.  I'm sure the beard-ier members of the community might be hating it right now, but for a more "cinematic" game (which we've heard multiple time from GW that this was the intent of this edition) they really have hit the nail firmly on the head.

     The mission that we played was number 6 on the list: The Relic.  It just so happens that I had made up a very similar mission one day while playing a friendly game.  It's an entertaining mission and one that forced me to play counter to the Ork ethos.

Orks in 6th


     Much has been made about the effect this edition has on a number of armies.  Generally there is conscensus that assaulting has been negatively impacted, while shooting has been positively so.  Here is a quick list of things I feel hurt and also help my Orks in 6th:

Bad Stuff
- Furious charge is only +1 strength, and not +1 strength and +1 initiative
- Feel No Pain is only on a 5+
- Cover saves are generally lower
- No assaulting from reserves
- Fleet no longer allows assaulting after running but a re-roll of a run die, and the charge dice so a slight net loss (this is only a benefit to units that innately have Fleet, not gain it for a single turn like the Orks with their WAAAGH! rule)
- Wound allocation by wargear is gone (needed to be fixed anyways)
- Overwatch means I get shot at when I assault (I tend to do a lot of assaulting)

Good Stuff
- No more Fearless wounds
- Look Out Sir allows some wound allocation schenanigans for my Nobz (which brings me to...)
- Nobz are all characters (challenges, precise strikes/shots, and Look out sir)
- Bike +1 toughness is accounted for when determining Instant Death (HUGE!)
- Reserves come in on 3+ on both turn 2 and 3.  Automatically arrive on turn 4.
- Snap Fire means I'm only shooting at one less Ballistic Skill than normal!  Never a tough choice.
- More Night Fighting missions.  People hate it, but for assaulting armies, it's great.
- Feel No Pain only negated by Instant Death wounds not AP1, AP2, and Instant Death

     There is more, I'm sure, that I simply can't remember at this time.  There is plenty of "neutral" stuff that I haven't figured out if it's a boon or bust for me just yet.  The random charge ranges seem like a random element I could have done without, but on the table, it creates some interesting situations and surprises.  My Deff Dread stomped up 9 inches on a charge!  He was in assault in turn 3, which was previously unheard of.

     This has turned into a wall of text.  I'm stopping here.  I'll be back later with more thoughts about 6th edition.  Feel free to ask me any questions concerning 6th, my Orks, or anything else 40K related.  I won the game that I played, by the way.  4 victory points to 1.  Good start to the new edition.

Pretty on the inside?

Before assembling...
     With the idea of using this Valkyrie on a display board, I wanted to make sure that I showed it some extra love.  That meant making sure that the interior was painted.  The exterior of the Valkyrie will be mostly a charcoal black color, and that meant that I needed to brighten up the interior a little.  I selected Bleached Bone as the base color, and I washed it with some Gryphonne Sepia.  I spent a little time detailing the various other components with silver metalics and some simple red and green buttons.  I weathered with some Scorched Earth

     I was able to do some more assembly since this was all painted, but I need to finish the cockpit before I can fully assemble the Valkyrie.  Lots of painting ahead, that's for sure.  With the pending release of Diablo 3, I need to make some progress.  I also picked up some accessories for my display board.  Fun times!

Adepticon 2012 Coverage
     If you were interested in the most in-depth coverage of Adepticon, you could do worse than checking out the Youtube channel of Blue Table Painting.  If you're not familiar with this company, they are a painting service for miniatures of all varieties.  Shawn, the owner of the company, is a pretty positive guy.  He's a little corny at times, sure, but he has a real love for table top war games.  His coverage of Adepticon is fun because it's very much a take-it-as-it-comes tour of Adepticon.

Internet Famous Model
     So I've had a model used on Bell of Lost Souls and my Deff Dread was on Games Workshop's blog and just the other day I stumbled across another model of mine being used.  I stopped by the Independent Characters' Podcast page and noticed my Imperial Vox Caster featured on a banner on the right side of the page.  Apparently they call him Lynyrd, and it's really weird to see your stuff being used like that without knowing about it.  Now I'm not a stick in the mud, and I'm not complaining.  I'm flattered, actually, and I listen to their podcast from time to time, so it's fine by me.  Crazy stuff!

Anyways, here are some more pictures of the Valkyrie's interior:

Saturday at the Bowie Battle Bunker

A Day at the Bunker


     I spent a good portion of the afternoon at the Bowie Battle Bunker in Bowie Maryland (go figure, right?).  A few friends were meeting up to play some Warhammer Fantasy.  While spectating the game, I thought I'd putter around the store and take a look at some of the 40K games going on, and snap a few pics.

     I was disappointed to find only two fully painted armies being played.  The most impressive was this Thousand Sons army that was being played using the vanilla Space Marine codex.  There were some interesting conversions, and some creative "counts as" models.  There were Space Marines on horse back that were being played as SM bikers, and Blood Crushers adorned with weapons that were counts-as attack bikes as an example.  Some great modeling work going on here.

Cool but... um...
     So that's a $640 worth of Thunderhawk Transporter.  From distance, it looks ok.  But when I inspected it a bit closer, it made me sad.

     So the paint that's on there is super thin, and the Land Raider... dear God where do I start.  Some of the model has been, well I guess primed?  Not sure what I would call that.  Yikes.  This thing has been on display for some time now.

     I'll just leave you with a few more random shots...

Now Witness the Power of this Fully Armed umm... pile of... Valkyrie?

Some Assembly Required


     I've been spending some time on my first Valkyrie kit.  This isn't the easiest kit I've assembled, but it really isn't incredibly hard.  My concepts for magnetizing bits and making this vehicle a bit more "tricked out" have been foiled by the reality I encounter as I proceed with the actual model assembly.  What I mean is that my mind's eye concept of how the Valkyrie SHOULD go together and how it ACTUALLY does go together are quite often different.  I had this neat idea of magnetizing the side doors such that they would easily be set in either open or closed position and wouldn't be prone to change during handling of the model.  That was foiled by the fact that the side doors are only slightly larger than the doorway they cover.

     There's more than the doors that I've struggled with, but it's symptomatic of my problem: no experience with this model.  That's okay, as I have a second one of these waiting for me under my desk.  I don't know how that makes me feel, exactly.  I can certainly move faster in the assembly, but there's another problem...

Paint before Assembly


     Yup!  I'm going to have to prime and paint quite a bit of this model before I really can put this bad boy together.  The obvious culprits are the cockpit and crew compartment.  The cockpit isn't large, but it is certainly detailed.  The crew compartment, for the most part, should be pretty straight forward.  The door gunners and their heavy bolters might be a bit of an issue.

     Really, if they had just made the heavy bolters ONLY attach to the bulkhead (or wall), and NOT the bulkhead AND the deck (or floor) in the crew compartment, it would have been no problem.  Now I've got some extra steps to take.  Hopefully I don't do something out of order and screw the whole mess up.

Bunker Visit


     I'll likely be at the Bowie, MD Battle Bunker on Saturday.  I'll just be there to spectate, but looking forward to getting some hours in the atmosphere of some table top gamin'!  See you there!

Chimera (mostly) done!

She's ready for battle! (sorta)


     So here it is!  I like the way it came out.  I hemmed and hawed about so many details, and honestly it was worth it.  This being the first test for what should be a fairly large number of vehicles for my Imperial Guard army, it was very important to get it right.  I think there are certainly some larger risks I can take with subsequent vehicles, now that I've tested some theories.

     I'm going to make sure that I do more to hide the decal outlines.  I used the Micro Sol agent on the skull and the 501, but it didn't dull the look enough.  I'm going to make sure that on my other vehicles I paint over the clear portions lightly enough to take that plastic sheen off.  I hit it up with some matte finish, but it's still there.  All of the infantry didn't show the decals like that, granted they're significantly smaller decals.

     What am I referring to when I say that it's "mostly finished?"  Well perhaps you've noticed it already but the hull weapon is unpainted.  I've magnetized the two choices but I somehow forgot to prime them.  I'll just make sure they get primed next time I've got the airbrush out and filled with primer.

Army Parade


     I've decided that I'm going to participate in the Games Workshop Armies on Parade competition.  One of my early experiences in this hobby, from a competitive point of view, was an early "Army Parade" deal done at the Games Workshop store in Grapevine Mills mall in Grapevine, Texas.  The result of that was a little disappointing to me, but I learned some important lessons:

1.  Size matters! -  Big models get big attention.
2.  Bases count.  -  Dull bases?  Pffftt.... shows you didn't try.
3.  Bring a converted Tau tank you've turned into a Titan.  -  Yeah... for real.
4.  Don't get your hopes up for prizes.  -  It'll be a book... a... book.

     1 and 2, take those to heart for sure.  3 is still important because that happened.  The guy's army was painted ok.  I would say better than average, but it didn't matter because of the massive converted Tau Titan.  Stole the freakin' show.  But number 4 also happened, so I didn't feel so bad about losing.  Hah!

     The main challenge for me, on a personal level, with this competition is going to be the display board.  I've never done terrain, apart from bases, and I'm only moderately competent in that.  This is going to mean lots of foam carving and plenty of mistakes, I'm sure.

     Next up?  Valkyrie!  Until then, here are some more pics of my Chimera, enjoy:

Streaming some more painting

(Stopped broadcasting around 10:31pm Eastern.  Stop back by later for more streaming!  Cheers!)

I'm back and doing some finishing up on that Chimera.  I'll be streaming some 40K Radio to boot so join in and be AMAZED!  I MIGHT be overselling that just a bit.  Okay... watch paint dry on the Internet! Hurray!



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