Roadtrip and the Revial of an Army

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well. I can't say I've had much to write about recently, but I've got some news I hope you'll like.

As you may or may not know, my interest in 40k has been waning recently because of the 6th edition rumors that were floating around the net. Before I let the new sisters make you feel worse, I'd like to say that my attitude has been very much too serious regarding our game. Like a lot of us in the Muncie area, I've been looking into Warmachine and built a list.

I don't know if I would want to build my list, but I do know that it is friggin cool. Everyone in the army does electrical damage, that is my army shoots LIGHTNING! That is really cool to me. I know that if I ran into someone whose army was immune to electricity I would be screwed, but it struck me as a really fun army to play despite that weakness.

Right now I'm taking part in a seminar at Wake Forest. For those of you that don't know I hate flying, so I drove here. I had a good time during my ten-hour drive and started out listening to one of my favorite podcasts: The History of Rome (I would highly recommend it). Despite my enjoyment of the show, eventually I had to change it up a bit and decided to start listening to the most recent of another podcast, The 11th Company, and heard an interview they did with LKHero about his Salamanders army. that interview made me want to take a second look at my own.

So I thought about what models I had left, as I sold part of my motorpool to Ishmael for his army. I realized that I don't really have much left as far as ground vehicles, but I do have some really nice drop pods. While I know the list I'll put down isn't going to be optimal and could be done better with other codices, but like that Warmachine army, it's more about being cool than necessarily being good. And it's cheap to boot!

Vulcan He'stan 190
Dreadnought with Multi-melta and heavy flamer in a drop pod 150
Dreadnought with Multi-melta and heavy flamer in a drop pod 150
Terminators in a Land Raider Redeemer with Multi-melta 450
Tactical squad with meltagun, multimelta and sergeant with combi-flamer and combi-melta in drop pod 230
Tactical squad with meltagun, multimelta and sergeant with combi-flamer and combi-melta in drop pod 230
Devastator squad with four missile launchers 150
Devastator squad with four missile launchers 150
Devastator squad with four missile launchers 150

I would only need to buy missile bits, a drop pod and proxy my crusader as a redeemer for a while. Basic plan is to send the dreads in first, then just send everything at the enemy. It may lose a good bit of the time but all I can picture is Vulcan jumping out of a pod or the redeemer yelling "Their defenses are broken! Let the slaughter begin!" So that's my fun list that might just be better, to keep me enjoying the game than the optimal.

I would have waited an eternity for this. It's over, Prime.

How Fine is Finecast?

Hello everyone. Today I wanted to talk about Citadel's new line of Finecast minis. As we are well aware, the new models use resin, replacing the pewter models of old. While at first I was celebrating GW for their perceived step forward... I have had to stop and really ponder their actions after a few looks into these new models.

Now, this isn't completely a rant on how terrible things are or another angry post concerning GW's market strategies, so there is some good. The one major benefit to come from this change is the heightened detail this new material brings to the model ranges. Take for example this comparison. A fantasy (yes I know it's square based, but it was the best comparison I could find) Chaos Lord. Look at the difference in detain in the chain mail as well as the leather straps on the weapon handle. This is the type of stuff I really love to see when new models from Forgeworld come out; it brings a tear to my eye when I see the crisp details brought out.

Another little benefit that comes from the new resin models is the weight. It's obvious that weight can be a pretty big factor when looking at keeping models upright, especially when terrain is involved. Perhaps no box set in the new Finecast line appreciates this more than that of the Chaos Raptors. Not only does it help keep them stable, but the new material comes into play with my next point of goodies.

Conversion is a breeze (relatively speaking) in comparison with that of the old metal versions. All of the models in the line are much more easily changed to fit more unique tastes these days. My big example here is the Hive Tyrant. What was once a huge chunk of flashed metal, is now resin.

Now there are the inevitable downsides to the use of resin. The first being the molding process. While the flash is much easier to remove, there is a lot more of it on the models. It can be annoying to prime a model you have cleaned, only to find a few bits of hidden flash here and there that still cling to the model just to ruin your day.

The other issue is fragility in the molding process. Sometimes the resin does not fill completely, breaks, or has air pockets that pock and ruin the models. After looking at some of the models being shipped out... I have to wonder if GW takes the time to really do a quality control check. Take a look at this portion of a model. This goes beyond the "minor fixes required" that GW mentions, and frankly for the price they ask for these minis is rather insulting.

But perhaps the biggest issue I take with the new Finecast minis is the problem with heat. Now, as a gamer who has to travel from one place to another to attend events, it is a given that my models must travel with me. The issue here is that the new resin that GW uses is cheap, and will actually bend and melt with very little heat. Even leaving the model in the sun on a cool summer day will cause bits of it to sag and bend. This sword from Skulltaker is a prime example of the effects of heat wear and tear.

All in all, I am glad to see GW is taking steps to update their line up. I have always been a huge fan of the use of resin in today's gaming circles. The detail they can achieve with this material is unbelievable, and the material itself it much easier to work with as a hobbyist. However, if GW can't get the issues with this material under control soon... they might find themselves without a player base to serve soon. With the popularity of Warmachine on the rise (especially around our neck of the woods) GW can't really afford many more of these foul-ups.

I open the floor to you the readers. I welcome any personal experiences or feelings towards Finecast, and how it may effect your experience in 40k.

Cheers!

Monster Madness

As per usual, Scibor Monster mini's is at it again. Here's a look at a few of their newest, most detailed new models.

Their newest line of models includes new "Templar" shoulders, "Spartan" vehicle add-ons, and new full models... including a very well done alternative Sanguinor.

Scibor Minis

Check it out today!

Happy Independence Day!

Good morning to you all. I hope you and yours are all well and safe. We can all name someone we know who has served in the armed services and we should take the time to remember them today. For those of you interested in learning more about the principles our nation was founded upon, I would suggest you follow the link below. You can find accurate reproductions of some of the most prominent documents of each of the last few centuries and documents from antiquity. Have a good day, remember what is important to you and happy reading.

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/

Heretic Mia

Sorry for my long absence and not having either photos or a discussion of melee marine units. I have to say that my hobby energy has been taken up by something else recently. Because I have this wonderful night desk job and have basically no one to talk to for those seven hours, I've been playing a lot of a new-to-me game League of Legends (LoL). Loki and I have both been playing, but being as his job is actually producing something, I have a lot more time to goof around with LoL.

There are some things I really enjoy about LoL (if not it wouldn't be taking up my energy), but there are also some really bad things about it. First off, the basic structure of the game is that you and either two or four other random internet people join up to bash in the skulls of three or five other internet people by killing the and destroying their base. Each player chooses a character before the game, with no two being able to choose the same character as their teammates, and different abilities to go along with that champion. Each champion has its own abilities and unique style of play. During the game each player earns gold for killing various things in game and can spend them to buy items that buff their character in different ways. How each player decides to build their character will affect the game for the rest of the team and how the player should play their character.

Depending on the group you get matched with your game can be abysmal because no one warns you that the other team might be ganging up on you or stellar, if your team can coordinate to gang up on the other team. If you're really lucky you'll get people who play your character also and will be willing to help you learn how to play that character better. If you aren't well you may be accused of having a mental disability. In the end it's all luck of the draw who you get matched up with unless you and some of your friends decide to invite each other to play.

But this isn't a LoL blog, it's a 40k blog and I thank you for enduring that. Some of you know where I'm going with this, so (if of legal age) take a shot whenever you predicted one of my points. Unlike 40k LoL is a co-operative game and you always are helping and being helped by your fellow players in game. With 40k it's just you and your opponent who may only give you advice after the fact if at all. When you can get help with 40k is generally any time you're not in game as there are dozens of websites you can go to if all of your 40k buddies are asleep (like mine are now) or busy. In either case the advice you get can be good or bad (look for Advice Pete memes coming up), but the quality of the advice is only really as important as how much you put it into action.

Before you play you get to choose a character in LoL and an army in 40k, though characters are much less expensive to acquire than armies. But like armies, each character is good at some things and horrible at others and knowing what your can and can't do with your chosen is vital to doing well with them. Also, armies and characters both have very distinct builds (e.g. alpha strike, mechspam & DPS, tank), many of which you can also find on the internet. Like everything on the internet though Your Mileage May Vary with these builds. You've all heard of the units in 40k that are generally derided, but "well they work for me," e.g. vespids, and those that "take no skill" e.g. ... you know these already, moving on. What matters with your choices is not whether it is the consensus, but whether it makes you happier to play than your next best choice.

And that's the crux of the problem I'm having with LoL right now. I very much enjoy taking risks with my little cartoon man and that leads to me dying...a lot. There are people, as with anything on the internet, that take LoL very (even too) seriously. These people get offended when I fail at staying alive and winning, though I do understand that my failing pulls the team down as well. I don't mind people getting upset, but some of these people can get discourteous to the point that their mothers will leave the street corners to slap them. This makes me sad. I'm the kind of person who really enjoys making other people happy, but there is a lack of courtesy and any effort to help others improve in the people I've played with online.

Which brings me to the best aspect of 40k, for me: our local community. Sure we can get mad at each other and the dice sometimes (I've been discourteous myself recently, sorry Zeb), but when the dice come down we spend more time talking about random things than we do playing. I've lost plenty of sleep listening to B go on about hilarious things and I've worried that Chuck would pass out laughing. the game is a lot of fun and what brings us together, but it's a great way to make friends and meet people. That is what I love about 40k and why I am glad to keep playing, especially with you all.

Sixth Sixth Sixth

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=15933

So with rumors as to what sixth may be bringing to the realm of 40k, it is looking very similar to what was done with Fantasy. Quite a few major changes to the game can be noticed when looking at things such as game turn order, how specific mechanics such as Ballistic Skill and USR's work. Rumors also look to make IC's a little more scary on the table. The biggest one for me is how first turn is determined, and the idea of pseudo-stratagems being introduced. All of these seem to bolster the idea that 40k is going to be a massively different game.

When talking with the folks down at our FLGS, both 40k players and non, the main reason for those who don't play is obviously the money... which given the current economic times is quite understandable. However the close second is simply the time it takes to play a game of 40k. In relative terms it generally takes about and hour + to play a good game at the usual 1850 - 2000 point level. That's a bit of time to invest in a single round of the game, and generally the want or time to play another round is often far off when I've played as well. With these new changes that we can only guess at now, it's still a mystery to me as to whether this new 40k (aka 6th) will effect the time it requires to play. My first guess is that it may increase the time to play, as there seems to be more to consider when it comes to situational questions and general rolling.

The next topic of interest to me is the idea of first turn. From what it looks like, there is now a bidding war that happens by the players... and whatever points were not used to try and go first can be used to purchase some sort of stratagem style bolster for a unit or the army. This to me feels a little unbalanced. Now it fits with the concept that 40k has announced "We want 40k to be more about strategy than chance." This is fair, but the system they have created feels like it could be gamed fairly easily... but I'll reserve judgement until I see the official rules in the new BRB.

As a side note, I did notice the part that Black Templar are going to be a 6th-style codex before the rules hit (similar to Orks of the 4th to 5th changeover). I can only hope that we do better in the new system than Orks have fared in 5th. I'll just look forward to new kits, and hope the new codex does the army justice. I know the new codex will most likely be a Ward creation, but I'll still hold out hope Graham McNeill will come back to write again... Shut up, I can still dream :P


In the end, I will look to 6th edition with great interest. I am not sure it is what I was wanting, but I have long felt that the love GW has poured into Warhammer Fantasy has been absent in 40k. With Fantasy getting full color codexes, fancy starter kits, rule overhauls, and generally faster FAQ's, 40k felt like the child they never really loved. Now is the time to see if this new overhaul of the 40th millennium will put the two games on a more level playing field in terms of quality.

What rumors about the sixth coming of 40k have you most intrigued (for good or bad)? Any additional rumors that I missed? I look forward to seeing where it leads, but time will tell.

Cheers!