Where is Square One?

THEN WHO WAS FLUFF?

Greetings Gentlereaders,

I'm sorry we haven't been publishing much recently.  Most of my gaming effort has been going into Corvus' latest DnD campaign, where my effort at a closed sheet led to a rather ostentatious paladin, and into a Magic deck based around throwing minions at my opponents (note to self: acquire minions faster).  Any way these have helped me come back to a question fundamental to any endeavor: why put effort into this?

The Big Crunch (Pt. 2)

Last article for us saw a documented list of some of what ails our true blue friend. As indicated previously, we shall widen our gaze from the cost of a single tactical marine and examine the tactical squad and the options of the codex on the whole, though this article specifically focuses on the expanded options available to tactical squads.

Good Game?

Greetings Gentlereaders,

I've been thinking about a concept for a while and Son of Horus and A. brought it up in a way that I think framed it well.  Specifically, I've been thinking about what it means to have played a good game.  Saying "good game" after a game wraps up is almost obligatory in gaming and sport but, if we want to figure out how to grow and improve our hobby, we need to understand what we mean when we say "good game."

Happy Birthday Rites!

In other news; is it cheesecake?

Greetings Gentlereaders,

This monday was  our fourth birthday here at Rites of Battle.  All our lives, inside and outside the hobby, have changed quite a bit since then.  We've moved out of the basement and try to make a respectable blog out of our site.  We've moved out of the dorms and have our own fortress-monastery.  Corvus has joined our writing staff while Dramatt and Ishmael are busy in graduate school.  I've taken up a few different armies over that time, and found that there are some good people out there on the internet.

I'm glad that you follow this blog and that most of you read most of the posts, some multiple times, but there's no point to us spouting off non-sense without knowing what you think.  I've learned from you all and I've enjoyed hearing new perspectives on the game while the gaming scene in Muncie dwindles.  We want to hear from you, what you hear, what you think, what you would like to know.  But we weren't gifted (or cursed) to be psykers, so we rely on you to comment and let us know what's going on  with you.

If you are a regular commenter, please tell us why you choose to comment.  If you aren't a regular commenter, please tell us why you don't choose to comment.  We want to make this blog enjoyable for you as well as for us and want to know what would make this more enjoyable for you.

I'm Underground Heretic and I get to live with that every day.

Progress Report: Godfrey's Death Korps III

Greetings!

Recently, Ball State University had it's usual winter break, and I found myself with a fair bit of time to really spend on myself.  While still being productive in my work life, it gave me a lot of time to devote to the hobby side of 40k.  With 6th edition, I have been getting a fair few number of games in, and I have been deeply enjoying the new rules.  But as I said, I spent a good number of hours over the break devoted to putting paint on models.  One could say it was something along the lines of a painting Blitzkrieg.  (fnar! fnar!)

Recently I acquired quite a few vehicles from a friend who decided Guard wasn't where he wanted to go.  My last Progress Report detailed a large induction of infantry models I got from Games Day 2012.  Well... I finished them all... and the tanks, and even some extra fun models I picked up on the side.  The full list of items painted since the last report are as follows.

Basilisk x1
Leman Russ Demolisher x2
Bane Wolf x1
Deathstrike Missile x1
Death Korps Commissar x3
Platoon Command Squad x1
Infantry Squad x1
Heavy Weapons Team x9
Veterans (Krieg Engineers) x10
Penal Legion (Including Games Day Enforcer Model) x10
Ogryns (including Games Day Ogryn) x6
Shadowsword x1

Bloodthirster (FW Khorne Daemon Prince)
Khorne Herald
Blooodletters x9 (in progress)

But Hey, I can talk about the models all day, but that doesn't mean much without pictures!

Caliban Rises!

Name this shot for an internet cookie

Greetings Gentlereaders!

Today is an auspicious day, the official release of the Dark Angels sees my running a tournament at The Wizard's Keep and Godfrey and I both assembling the first components to build opposing armies.  I am going to be busy most of the day with the tournament, but I've spent the last few hours looking at the Dark Angels codex and think that it has some serious possibilities, especially if you like themes or want to run widely varying lists out of a single codex.  There have been some very noticeable changes both in the story of the Dark Angels and with the design of marines that I hope will carry over to other codices.  Specifics after the break.

The Tomb World Awakens: 100

When ten thousand years old you are, dance this good, you will not.

Greetings fleshbags! The awakening is all but complete, there are but two chambers yet to arise to glorious command, and today wakes one of those, full of fine specimens indeed, wonders of Necrontyr engineering of the highest form: speed, grace, and ruthless efficiency. The fast attack is ours to command!

If any slot in this codex shines bright as the troops, it is the fast attack slot. Excellent point for point options, as well as truly fulfilling its moniker. These options are all about speed and mobility, all the while maintaining various degrees of that Necron durability. Top it off with the capacity to be scoring, and you've got a lot of big winners here.

What a Trooper! What, a Trooper?

Hold this point!  If we can...

Greetings Gentlereaders!

I've been wondering more about the rumors of a new Tau codex since my current army can't seem to get a break on the gaming table and thus hasn't been seeing the hobby table much either.  One of the more interesting rumors that has persisted for over a year regards a revolutionary change to how Tau organize their forces, that there will be no units that are troops in the absence of a specific headquarters choice.  That got me to thinking about the issue of units changing the scoring status of their army through special rules and how it effects the game.  I'm going to try to get some ideas on how different units do this trick differently, but I would love to hear your opinions on how it has effected the state of the game.  More after the break.

Boltguns & Brushstrokes- Dark Angels Ravenwing

Boltguns & Brushstrokes- Ravenwing Bikers

                These days, it seems everyone is excited for the imminent release of Codex: Dark Angels. Space Marine releases are always a big deal, and rarely is there a release with so many models that rival the detail and intricacy of Forge World on the first wave schedule.  So, with that in mind, I present the first of a two-part feature on the elite formations of the Dark Angels Chapter—the Ravenwing, and the Deathwing.

                The Ravenwing is the Dark Angels’ Second Company, and specialize in assault reconnaissance operations. They provide surgical strikes to quietly eliminate enemy assets before the main Dark Angels strike force arrives. They also hunt “targets of interest” for the Inner Circle—the exact nature of these interests are often unknown to all but the Master of the Ravenwing, but they are second to none in riding down elusive foes and providing a teleport homer for the inevitable Deathwing assault.

                Unlike the rest of the Chapter, the Ravenwing wear pitch black armor. Black is a surprisingly difficult color to paint well. Ninety percent of the work is spraying the model black. However, adding realistic depth to the model without turning the model grey is something few painters ever really master. For the purposes of tabletop quality gaming, you can get away with a drybrush of grey around the edges of the model and perhaps washing it black to tone things down.

New Year, New Life

Whooo!

Greetings Gentlereaders,

I want to wish you all a happy new year.  I'm sorry no one got around to wishing you a merry Christmas, but we were generally busy with family ourselves.  So I'm hoping you all had a good holiday season and are ready to get the new year by the horns and tell it what for.  As far as new year's resolutions, the closest I can offer is that I want to have a painted tournament army by the end of the year, preferably my Tau.  I'll post up some photos regularly if you'd like.  But until then, I'm wondering if one of the underrated units in one of the more underrated codices is actually good.  Fitting with tonight's theme of fireworks, let's talk Thunderfire Cannons.