Deathwing Assault - All things Dark Angels & other gaming stuff

Video Games - Things I Bought with Diablo 3

2013-05-22T22:44:00.001-07:00

I bought Diablo 3 about a year ago not because it's a good game, but more of an economic experiment. The real money auction house (RMAH) intrigued me as it was the only game at the time (and I think still is the only the game) that allows people to sell their loot to other people for real money without having to go through a third party like eBay.

I wanted to see if I could make an appreciable amount of money by playing the game whether through actual grinding of content or auction house flipping. To start things off I bought the game using money from selling a bunch of MTGO tickets. For those who don't play MTGO, tickets are sort of an unofficial in-game currency. You normally obtain them by buying them from the MTGO store but if you speculate on card values well, you can actually gain tickets which I did rather successfully (an aside, when I figured this out I financed an entire year's worth of drafts and online release tournaments with an initial investment of something like $20).

My first goal was to see if I could get the game to pay for itself. Surprisingly this didn't take as long as I thought it would. I think within a month I had paid for Diablo 3 with Diablo 3. After that initial goal was reached I didn't have any other goals set so I just set about making money and using it to finance other hobbies. I bought a bunch of games off of Steam, I built my MTG Cube using Diablo 3 funds and I bought a bunch of skins for the champions I use regularly on League of Legends. I was considering buying some Warhammer but that was around the time I came to the conclusion that Warhammer wasn't worth spending money on and instead went and bought more LoL skins. This was about 3 or 4 months after the game broke even and then we ended up moving to a new house.

The house came equipped with a fairly large dining room but we needed a table so it became my goal to raise enough money to get a nice table and chairs for the dining room. This was around Christmas time and Diablo 3 sales were quite good so I was able to raise the money for the table in about 4 weeks, though it took much longer to raise the money for the chairs (I think a few months, but to be fair I wasn't as committed to selling in those months as I had been around Christmas). Altogether the table and chairs cost around $700+.

Now I suppose it might have been easier to just get a second job as minimum wage work pays more than playing Diablo 3 on an hourly basis. However, think of it this way, I generally spend around 15-30 minutes a night playing Diablo 3, I don't have to drive anywhere, it doesn't take much effort (some of the initial research can though) and I can usually do my auction house surfing when I take a break from marking papers. Pretty easy gig even if it pays less than minimum wage.

Anyways, I think my experiment succeeded as I was able to actually get a substantial amount of stuff from the sale of virtual goods. My next goal is to raise enough money by the fall to get a new set of winter tires for my car as I do a lot of driving (the school I work at is actually about 100km away from where I live).

Warhamer 40k - New Deathwing models

2013-05-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

I managed to find some time to start putting some new Deathwing models together (from the box my sister sent me a few weeks ago). I have to say that the box was quite impressive considering all the parts and weapons and stuff on the sprue. Here's a preview pic of what I did.

Sadly I still don't think the box is worth the price tag GW is asking (no disrespect to my sister, it was a very thoughtful gift and I will enjoy it immensely). The hobby has really become a luxury that I definately cannot afford on a regular basis. Thankfully I have a large 40k army already so I won't need to actually buy anything for years to come (when they make Deathwing terminators 15 points a piece, then maybe I will need to buy more).

I had thoughts about magnetizing the models but decided against it as I tend to have fixed squad compositions (mostly so it's easy to remember which model is part of which squad). Similarly I dont want to paint multiple arms. I find it much easier to just paint the whole model. This did give me a dilemma as to how to assemble my new squad. There are a lot of options both with the models themselves and the options in the book. In the end I decided to make a thunder hammer/storm shield squad with a heavy flamer from the limited edition Space Hulk set released a few years ago. The fifth model was built into an assault cannon and will be used with another unpainted squad I have (see pictures below). I used the maces as then I can swap them as Deathwing Knights whenever I feel like using a different elite unit. I had no need to make a command squad as I already did that with a Grey Knight box (won from a free tournament). They also make really cool armoured knight models for my D&D campaigns (except maybe the assault cannon guy but since I always have a magic-tech setting it's not that out of place).

So my two new squads are going to be a thunder hammer/storm shield squad with heavy flamer (the assault cannon guy I built is shown in the picture, but in game it will be a heavy flamer)

and the second squad will be my modded Dark Vengeance terminator squad (the assault cannon guy from the previous picture will replace the regular terminator in this squad)

Close up pictures of the models can be found here
Hopefully I will get around to finishing both squads before the school year is over and if not, then definately by Orktoberfest 2013. Speaking of Orktoberfest, I better get the info together and let everyone in the area know about it.

League of Legends - Grouping Up

2013-05-03T00:17:00.002-07:00

League is getting fun again. After a few days of struggling to climb Silver V and getting nowhere, I decided to stop playing ranked and try something else. As I mentioned in my last League of Legends post, I convinced my friends to get futuristic skins/champions and we could all play as a themed team. It was quite fun and we managed a few wins against some random folk. No ranked play as only two of us have lv30 accounts (our midlaner is almost 30 but our top laner and support are only 15 and 8 respectively).

Our current set up is (our summoner names in brackets)

Top lane (Salcomine) - Galactic Renekton
Jungle (Deathwing40k) - Galactic Nasus
Midlane (ManEatingDuck)- Cryocore Brand
ADC (Eloesha) - Pulsefire Ezrael
Support (alexwarrior) - iBlitzcrank

Mind you if we're not all together we just play whatever. I've gotten really good at playing Miss Fortune, especially when paired up with our iBlitzcrank support. Those rocket grabs and power fist knock ups give me so much time to just unleash Miss Fortune's abilities on to the poor unfortunate soul. Of course almost any ADC will work well with Blitzcrank's style of support. Salcomine plays a lot of Malphite which works really well with my junglers (usually Xin or Jarvan) so we have some awesome initiates which are devastating if our team capitalizes.

Did I stop my attempt to get to Gold division? Hardly, I just don't grind ranked games anymore. I've taken to playing one ranked game every day or every other day. So far it's been working great and I'm on a win streak (finally!). Still in Silver V but slowly earning league points and about half way to the promotion series. In the meanwhile I've taken to playing ARAM games.

I'm very glad that ARAM queues got implemented too as it gives me something to do in between ranked games that's kind of relaxing. It's strangely satisfying to roll a totally random champion and then just fight the other team. No jungle to worry about, no ganks to worry about, just fighting.

Warhammer 40k - Deathwing Terminators & Orktoberfest 2013

2013-04-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

So my birthday came and went and I got a pleasant surprise from my sister (who happens to live on the other side of the country). She was kind enough to send a box of Deathwing Terminators in her care package to our parents (who live in the same city as me) and I picked it up while having dinner at their place.

Haven't quite gotten a chance to open it up and start building but quite excited as I've been wanting them for a while now but between the price and GW's business practices have been totally put off. Getting the box was also great as I had just gotten into talks with the folks who run NPC-Con and we decided to run both NPC-Con 2013 and Orktoberfest 2013 at the same venue. This does a bunch of things for both parties. We can share the cost of the venue, share sponsors and share players. Win-win for everyone involved. The only thing is I might have to cap the participants for Orktoberfest due to space limitations but that's ok as I've never hit the maximum of 32 in the past 3 years. Always around 20-24 which is just right for the venue that NPC-Con is using.

Unfortunately though, with GW's recent behaviour towards Faeit212 and BoLS, not sure if I want to promote 40k as the system for Orktoberfest 2013. Seriously considering switching to Warmachine/Hordes as there are a lot of those players in northern BC. The only thing stopping me is that I don't play that system and I don't want to shell out a bunch of money to start playing that system.

League of Legends - Adventures in Silver Division V

2013-04-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I started my trek into League of Legends ranked play and I have to say it's been quite an up and down ride. Getting out of Bronze Division I was easy enough (only took 15 games I think?) but I'm having a hell of a time climbing Silver Division V. Currently I've played some 20+ games in the new division and I haven't gotten anywhere. Seems like I win one or two games but then lose 3 or 4 right after.

What bugs me is that the opponents I'm facing are no different than those I faced in Bronze Division I and I had a way easier time against them when I was in Bronze Division I. Even more frustrating is that I haven't really run into a lot of ragers/afkers/toxic folk so the games are actually decent (except for the losing part). One thing I did consider is that I'm not playing my favourite/best role as a jungler in a lot of my recent games. Getting used to a new role takes a bit of learning and my first few games as an ADC (attack damage carry) was not the greatest. I'm getting better though especially after I decided to practice some of the basic skills (like last-hitting and positioning) in normal games.

Gonna try and rank up some more and hope to hit Gold by the end of Season 3 (I want that shiny gold name plate!). In between ranked games though I've been playing with my friends in duo or trio queues. One of them picked up Blitzcrank and the cool iBlitzcrank skin and I got the brilliant idea to convince everyone to get a champion with a cool futuristic/mechanical/space like skin. Each of us thankfully has a favourite role so it just came down to finding a champ that fit each role. As such our proposed team is going to be composed of the following champions

Top lane Galactic Renekton
Jungler (me) Galactice Nasus or Full Metal Jayce
Mid-Lane undecided so far. He might end up playing Full Metal Jayce mid.
ADC Pulsefire Ezrael
Support iBlitzcrank

We've yet to actually all get together as a full team but it's quite fun even duo-queueing with themed skins.

Outlaw Shizzle - The Story so far (episodes 4-6 recap)

2013-04-06T00:02:00.001-07:00

Been a bit behind with the story of Outlaw Shizzle. Lots of stuff going so what I present here is just a quick recap of what occured in the last 3 episodes.

Episode 4 - The Fall of the Fox
The group manages to fight their way through the Fox's undead minions and his magical traps and eventually confront the Fox in his lair. A vicious fight ensues with the elite undead guards of the Fox and the Fox himself. The adventurers use every technique in their arsenal and manage to bring the Fox down.
Looting his lair, they learn that the Rage's family has been sending food stuffs and other supplies to the denizens of the Northern Reaches, a mountain chain east and north of Babel Gilga. In return, necromantic reagents are being smuggled into the city.

Episode 5 - Return to Riverside
A few days after the affair with the Fox, Masaloza calls upon the services of Outlaw Shizzle to retrieve a missing lockbox from the ruined city of Babel Isla in the east. The box contains something important to the Masons and it appears that the Syndicate wants it as well. As the group prepares to depart on their next mission, one of Slater Jr.'s childhood friends, Kcaz, appears in the Chimera desperate to find Slater.
He explains to Slater that a strange cult has taken residence in their small fishing village of Riverside and that Slater's father has gone missing after he confronted the cultists. With Riverside on the way to Babel Isla, Masaloza gave Slater permission to investigate but impressed upon the group that the lockbox is their priority.
When the group arrived at Riverside, they found the cultists to be unobtrusive and not overly hostile until they followed a group into the swamps on the otherside of the river. In the swamps, Outlaw Shizzle discovered the cultists were making deals with the goblin tribes from the Northern Reaches. The group sprung into action and quickly killed or subdued the cultists and goblins. From the survivors they learned of the cultists main headquarters in a tower deep in the forests west of Riverside. It was there that they had taken Slater's father to keep his voice silent so the villagers wouldn't question the cultists covert behaviour.

Episode 6 - Storming the Tower
Outlaw Shizzle marched through the woods and reached the cultist tower. It wasn't hard to find as it stood in the centre of a desolate, barren part of the wood. The group initially tried a stealthy approach with Angel successfully sneaking into the tower posing as a member of the cult. This, however, was quickly foiled when Ray accidentally ran into a patrol while entering the tower.
What followed was a brutal battle that stretched from dusk until dawn as Outlaw Shizzle fought the cultists on each floor of the tower until they reached the peak. It was there they faced down a pair of dark priests of Asmodeus. Spurred on by Slater (both Jr and Sr), the group fought through the dark magic of the demon worshippers and secured a bloody victory.
Searching the tower, the group learned that the goblins of the Northern Reaches were to join forces with the demon worshippers in an effort to bring down the civilized settlements near Babel Gilga and establish a foothold for the new demon-goblin nation.

League of Legends - Ranking up

2013-03-25T01:00:00.004-07:00

With the price increases by GW and the general lack of anyone playing Warhammer in the area (either fantasy or 40k) I've been spending more and more of my free time playing League of Legends. I've even started watching some of the more prominant streamers as I want to improve my game play. That last bit baffled my wife as she didn't quite understand why I would want to watch someone else play. At which point I told her it's just like a sport (the only real difference is LoL is played on a computer and most other sports are played in a larger arena). To be honest, after watching some of this weekend's European LCS, you'll think League of Legends was a major sporting event.

Anyways, the most interesting aspect I find about competitive LoL is their impressive ranked play system which I never did participate in when it was first introduced about 3 years ago. Since I'm currently on my spring break it was only natural I spend some time gaming and I managed to grind out enough in-game points to get enough champions so I could start playing ranked matches.

Oddly enough ranked matches are really no different than normal matches and I actually really like the draft format of the ranked matches (reminds me of drafting MTG which I don't do enough of either). After my 10 placement matches I managed to land in Tier 1 of the Bronze Division which in layman's terms is basically the best of newly ranked players (see my profile here). Will I play enough to get higher? I dunno, but I do want to try and hit Gold division (at that point I think my nameplate becomes a cool golden colour).

So begins my journey through all the ragers, haters, leavers, afkers and feeders to try and reach Gold division. For anyone interested my summoner name is Deathwing40k and I like to jungle (though I have played every role now and it has dawned on me that I need to get a few champions for each role)

League of Legends - Returning to the League

2013-03-11T23:42:00.003-07:00

So as mentioned in my last post, I have recently gotten back into League of Legends (otherwise known as LoL). Not entirely sure how or why to be honest. One of my friends just asked if I played and I said yes and he invited me to a game. I kinda felt bad though as I have a lv30 account and he just started so the skill disparity was quite obvious (even if I had not played in about two years I stopped just before season 1 started).

Mind you that's all it took to get hooked again and I've been playing a lot the last few weeks as it's quite fun even if sometimes the random people I get matched with aren't the best players or flame people when the team isn't doing well (regardless of who's fault it is). Those matches are few and far between thankfully and the introduction of the ignore command is amazing as I can just tune out anyone who flames too badly and focus on doing what I can do to salvage a game.

The one major change I noticed is that there is now an unwritten arrangement of teams. When I first started it was common to go 2 top, 1 mid and 2 bottom and team composition wasn't that important. In the beginning the jungle was hard to work because few champions could do it effectively and the whole idea behind ganking from the jungle was still kinda new. I guess a few seasons of pro play changed the strategies and it took me a while to adjust to the 1-1-1-2 strategy that most teams employ as well as some of the new terminology.

Anyways, when I decided to jump into the normal queues I wanted to play top or bottom ADC but it became very apparent that I couldn't play those roles very well (and everyone else wanted to play those roles). I wanted to be more interactive during all parts of the game and being a jungler was the best role for what I wanted. Took a while to get used to the jungle but there are so many useful videos on youtube and with season 3 starting, I watched a few of the pro junglers. My jungling skills have improved and the game is fun again. My current favourite champions are Xin Zhao, Jarvan IV and Nami (sometimes I play support as it is more interactive than top, mid or bot adc, plus people like good support players).

My next goal in LoL is to eventually finish my ranked placement matches (currently did 1 of 10 which was a win). I'm being slow about it because I find that if I'm not in the right mood to play competitively, I end up losing pretty bad. I also want to get better at playing Jayce as I picked up his Full Metal skin on sale and it's just freaking cool. It's just a shame he's not that great of a jungler compared to Xin or Jarvan.

Outlaw Shizzle - Episode 3 - How they found the Fox

2013-03-03T04:47:00.000-08:00

Alright, so it's been a while since I wrote about Outlaw Shizzle mostly because it's been a while since we all got together. To give an idea of our group, we're all old gamers around our 30s (maybe not as old as some gamers and definately not as young as some) so we've got obligations outside of gaming. Being a teacher, I tend to have a bunch of stuff to mark or plan (and this planning isn't about what monster or insane dungeon to throw at the party) so some weekends just don't work for me. Others in the group have out of town jobs or kids or work late or whatever.

We're all still gamers at heart so we try to get together as often as our schedule permits to game out. If we can't get together, well there's a lot of online games we play (lately the group has been playing a lot of League of Legends). Speaking of League of Legends (or LoL as it's come to be known as), I've been playing the game since it got out of beta off and on and I am amazed at how popular it has become as well as the plethora of champions available (I remember when Udyr, the first non-beta champion, came out). Currently I've been playing as a jungler with Xin Zhao or Jarvan IV mostly because of their way awesome Warring Kingdoms skins.

Anyways on to a recap of Outlaw Shizzle Episode 3 - How they found the Fox.

After recovering the crates of silver Outlaw Shizzle regrouped at the Chimera. There they gave the majority of the silver to Masaloza and the Masons. Masaloza let them keep enough to silver their weapons and told them to meet Ray at his smithy just outside of town. Once the group arrived, Ray immediately set out to make silver weapons to combat the Fox.

Soon after Ray started hammering away in his shop, a group of bandits and skeletons assaulted the smithy. Outlaw Shizzle fought hard and managed to dispatch the bandits and capture their leader. They brought him to Masaloza with the hope that the bandit leader could shed some light on the Fox.

Careful questioning of the bandit leader revealed that someone at the Rage's estate was helping the Fox get into Babel Gilga so Masaloza sent Outlaw Shizzle to the Rage's estate to investigate. Upon arriving the group found the estate covered in darkness, not a light to be found which was odd as the Rage belonged to a prominant noble family and often hosted guests for their various business transactions.

Careful investigation of the estate revealed a secret passage beneath one of the towers that led to an underground tunnel. Before the group could investigate the tunnel further however, the Fox attacked the adventurers with hordes of undead. Outlaw Shizzle fought fiercely in the dimly lit tunnel and beat back the skeletons and quickly made their way down the tunnel.

They emerged outside the city in the marshlands south of Babel Gilga. Much to their surprise there were wagon tracks leading away from the tunnel entrance further south and the group decided to follow them. After a day of travel they entered the dark forests near the halfling settlement of Holf Zweis.

In the forest, Outlaw Shizzle came upon the skeletal remains of a giant and received a warning from the Fox that those skeletal remains were a warning to all who dare trifle in his matters. Sensing desperation from the Fox, the adventurers pressed on but were soon attacked by a skeletal horde larger than they had faced before.

Ray was the first to fall as he was swarmed by several spear wielding skeletons. Grudge was able to bring him back with a word of prayer before turning to smite a few skeletons with his radiant lance. Slater charged into the horde and swung his great axe in wide arcs smashing aside bone and sending skeletal fragments everywhere. Anvil showed off his magical prowess and hurled his anvil shaped magic missiles at his foes. Whenever an anvil struck, a skeleton collapsed or shattered. Angel meanwhile put on a masterful display of agility and monk skills turning several into ash with his phoenix techniques.

After the fight, the group was exhausted but not deterred. Anvil quickly sensed the illusion hiding the Fox's lair and dispelled it for all to see. After resting a short while to ensure everyone was well, Outlaw Shizzle descended into the Fox's lair intent on ending this threat to Babel Gilga.....

Outlaw Shizzle - Episode 2 - How they got the Silver

2013-01-24T00:36:00.001-08:00

This week's adventure was interesting considering the last adventure kind of ended on a sour note with the Fox getting the better of the group. It was the first time I think I ended a session where the PCs thought they had the victory but it turned out it was what the villain wanted.

When last we left Outlaw Shizzle they had finished burning down The Red Herron in the southern district of Babel Gilga. However, from the ashes of the burning tavern the group saw the dead patrons rising up from the inferno as zombies with the Fox taunting them in the background.

Now the group had not only the Fox to deal with, but a newly arisen army of the dead....

Outlaw Shizzle decided to vacate the scene as not to cause any suspicion as to their involvement with the burning undead horde. Anvil left the group to attend to some matters so it was up to Grudge, Slater, Angel Ripper and Pretty Boy Ray to inform Masaloza of what transpired. They met up with Masaloza at the Chimera and were informed of another lead to the Fox.

Apparently the Mason's spies got wind that a man named Benny the Bull was a lieutenant of the Fox and appeared to be recruiting willing low life scum from the southern district. The Mason's didn't know where Benny was exactly so the task fell to Outlaw Shizzle.

The following morning the fog had rolled in to Babel Gilga from the coast and shrouded the city. Outlaw Shizzle tried to get to the south district through the gates but found the way was barred by the city guard. The entrance was a scene of chaos as guards were rushing into district or trying to keep hysterical townsfolk from leaving. Realizing the group needed to get in another way, Ray remembered he had a boat in his blacksmith shop on the edge of the swamp and could reach the border of the south district through the swamp.

The swamp outside Babel Gilga sat just outside the southern most buildings. None of the group were familiar with the layout of this particular part of the city and the thick fog didn't help. Despite that the group found a tavern and several of its patrons from the night before unconscious outside. After some interrogation Grudge found out that Benny had been at the tavern the night before looking for recruits. As part of the initiation, Benny had his personal henchmen fight potential recruits and those that survived were taken. Those that didn't were beaten senseless and robbed. Sensing an opportunity, Outlaw Shizzle waited until evening.

During the wait they visited the burned out ruin of the Red Herron and realized they had unleashed a zombie infestation on the south district. Several guards were slain and much to the horror of the surviving guards had risen to join the ranks of the undead. Ray's knowledge of undead suggested this was not like other zombie infestations and a powerful curse must have been cast to allow zombies to spontaneously rise from the dead.

When night fell, Benny entered the tavern and immediately made bold statements of finding worthy recruits for his endeavour. After trading words with Angel Ripper, Benny offered him and any of his friends a chance to show their worth. Angel, accompanied by Grudge and Slater, obliged Benny and followed him to an empty lot not far from the Tavern. Ray meanwhile stealthily followed them in the night careful not to be seen. At the lot, Benny's goons attacked but were easily fended off by the more experienced Outlaw Shizzle. When Benny tried to interfere, Ray made his move and sunk his blade deep into Benny nearly ending his life. Benny's remaining henchmen fled upon seeing their master fall and Grudge quickly restored Benny to consciousness.

A quick interrogation folllowed and Outlaw Shizzle learned the Fox communicated to Benny via an animal messenger usually sent to the Red Herron. Now that the Red Herron had been destroyed, Benny assumed the messenger would meet him at his apartment in the west district. Outlaw Shizzle forced Benny to take them there and they awaited the messenger. It was morning when a black crow came to the window and spoke to Benny. Benny told the group of his orders but was vastly outnumbered and was quickly dispatched by Slater.

Grudge quickly deduced that the crow was under a spell with a limited range so after some detective work, the group narrowed the possible locations to two warehouses, one in the western industrial district of Babel Gilga and the other in the market bazaar district. The group decided to hit the warehouse in the market first.

By now the city had been placed under curfew but the group, most of them being experts in stealth, managed to sneak into the warehouse. Inside, they discovered crates full of silver stamped with the seal of Babel Gilga. Unfortunately for the group the crates were protected by traps which inadvertently set the warehouse on fire. Although most of the group succumbed to the smoke of the burning building, Slater was able to carry them all to safety as well as a few cratefuls of silver (thanks to the pot of holding that Ray's cousin Vinny provided for them).

Now they had the silver necessary to fight the Fox but they made quite a spectacle which no doubt attract both the authorities and the Fox......

Sometimes I HATE Games Workshop

2013-01-05T12:59:00.001-08:00

The Dark Angels up for advance order on the Games Workshop page and with it the realization that I will probably no longer support the company that produces them with the same gusto as I have before. Now I won't go out and say that I won't buy any of their overpriced goods (those Deathwing models are too awesome looking to not buy at least one box, just not sure when) but their prices have really driven me to consider where I spend my hobby money a lot more carefully.

When I was in high school my mom always said that my money was spent long before I actually earn it (and back in those days any money I made was hobby money) and even now after being married for almost a decade my wife says the same thing (and even though I make more money now than in high school, my disposable hobby money is about the same if not slightly higher due to other expenses). One of the worst parts of being older is that my hobby time is a lot more valuable and as such my hobby money too. I can't just spend it willy-nilly on a $70 box set of 5 figures when I could put that money to good use elsewhere for a lot more value.

To put it another way, I've been wanting to start a new Fantasy army for a while now. My Bretonnians, while nice looking models, were boring to play in the game. Their magic phase was un-interesting, they had shooting but it was kinda bad and the new rules made their units very unwieldy (12+ units of knights are a pain to move around in lance formation). So I decided I wanted to build a Dogs of War/Empire army but the Warhammer Empire models are really expensive ($20-50 for a box of 10 figures). However, there are comparable figures from other companies which are much more affordable (see my posts about the plastic Samurai and Mantic Games). I think the average is around $25 for 20-25 figures so I can feasibly build a decently sized and fairly competitive army for around $100-150 (when combined with the other figures I have, if I built an army from scratch it would cost around $200)

When I build a similar army using just Games Workshop models, the total comes to something ridiculous like $1000 or so. That's just unacceptable as I could buy so many more other hobby things for that price. God forbid I start an army like Goblins or Skaven where a $50 box only gets you something like 100 points out of a 2000 point army.

Now with the new Dark Angels I'm kind of in a different boat. I don't need to start a new army as I already have around 5000 points of Dark Angels (half of it Deathwing, and the other half Ravenwing and regular marines). I'd love to add new models as the Ravenwing Flyer and Deathwing Knights are awesome, but their price is prohibitive. The other thing is, it seems very few people are playing 40k in the area nowadays so those models would end up being paper weights, dust collectors or tea party guests for my daughter. I don't know whether it's because the cost is too expensive or the rules suck or other games (I'm looking at you Warmahordes) are just getting more popular (again maybe due to the cost or rules).

Most of my gaming friends haven't bought anything GW in years or if they have they are just small purchases. One of my gaming friends from high school has been wanting to get into the GW hobby for years now but the cost has just been too prohibitive for him. Despite him knowing a lot about the game and the background, the cost of building a decent sized and competitive army is way too much for him to sink his time and money into.

Some might argue that the cost of getting into the hobby is a lot but once you're in, you won't have to buy much new stuff. I can agree with that as I don't actually spend much on GW things. The last thing I bought was the Dark Vengeance box set and before that I think was stuff from the Black Reach box set via eBay. So my purchases are usually a few years apart. If GW prices were more reasonable I would probably start a new army (especially one for Fantasy) or at least add/replace things in my existing army on a more regular basis. As it stands if I want to get into a new wargame I will probably look at Warmahordes or one of the many from Spartan Games and if I am going to start a Fantasy army it won't be with GW models (see Mantic Games and Wargames Factory).

Orktoberfest 2013 might not even be a Games Workshop game system if this keeps up (mostly due to lack of players in the area). Mind you with all the Warmahordes players out there if I make it a Warmahordes event it might even get more players than previous.

On the plus side, less Warhammer means more Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering which more of my friends can enjoy as it's a lot cheaper to play (D&D is practically free with their DNDnext playtest and MTG can be as cheap or as expensive as you want especially with the awesome cube format).

To be clear, I'm not giving up on wargaming at all (or playing Warhammer 40k and Fantasy), just what companies I choose to support with my precious hobby money.

My MTG Cube Archetypes

2013-01-04T14:02:00.001-08:00

This holiday season saw me run my cube a few times for my gaming friends and they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Most of them have played Magic: The Gathering before but it's been years since many of them picked up a deck so for all intents and purposes they are pretty new. Regardless of the MTG experience at the table, everyone seemed to have a great time and due to the nature of the cube, everyone had playable cards to make a decent deck.

For reference my cube list is here.

From what I observed in the sealed deck flights and drafts that I ran the following decks were quite common:

Ux Mill - There's a lot of blue milling in my cube and a few artifacts to support it so all a player needs is to draft another colour to defend while the mill cards do their deed. I thought green would be the best pair for the additional defenders but it seems black (for creature removal) and white (for more control) were most effective.
Mono-Red - One player twice managed to draft a bunch of burn and cheap fast creatures for a powerful sligh deck. The addition of Brimstone Mage gave the red player something to do with spare mana as did Burst Lightning.
GW Mid-range/Tokens - I think this deck could go either way depending on what cards are present. My cube is 450 cards so in an 8-man draft up to 90 cards will get rotated out every draft. Lots of good tricks from white, mana ramp from green and tokens from both colours make this combination a force to be reckoned with if there isn't too much removal from the other side.
Bx or Gx Infect - Saw this paired up a few times oddly enough with the blue milling cards. Not sure how effective it is as the infect creatures in my cube just aren't that big or imposing. I might try to add a Phyrexian Vatmother, Phyrexian Swarmlord and/or Phyrexian Hydra to give the infect players a little more oomph. Phyrexian Crusader doesn't always show up but when he does, it's pretty easy to get the win.
UW Skies - Lots of flyers and tricks make this a very powerful archetype in my cube. There are a lot of flyers from both colours and if you curve out (especially with Mist Raven) the opponent will have a hard time keeping up unless they have a lot of removal. I won the last draft of the holidays with a UWb skies deck splashing black for Unburial Rites, Knight of Infamy and Go for the Throat. Coupled with a few card draw spells and some big flyers (managed to snag Isperia in the middle of pack 1) it made for quite a deadly deck.
UWR Metalcraft - This one was only drafted by my brother who last played MTG in Ice Age I think when we were both in grade 8. He just saw big gold creatures, artifacts and a bunch of Metalcraft. Early plays were things like Sickleslicer, Lightning Greaves, Chrome Steed and then were followed up by big things like Jor Kadeen, Niv Mizzet, and Ulamog's Crusher. Even Spire Serpent was quite deadly in this deck. My favourite play of that draft was watching my brother play Ulamog's Crusher then equip it with Lightning Greaves and attack with Spire Serpent, Jor Kadeen and the Crusher while having metalcraft up.

So those are the current top archetypes in my cube. Some of the archetypes I tried to put it in just didn't seem to be drafted but that could just be because of the knowledge of my frends. I might bring my cube down to the FLGS and see what kind of decks get drafted by more experienced players.

Thoughts on the New Dark Angels

2012-12-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

Like most Dark Angels players I've been waiting quite a while for an update to our late 4th edition codex (or was it an early 5th codex?). Most of the rumours I've been reading are from Faeit 212 and to be honest I'm looking forward to what's in store for the Emperor's 1st legion.

The new Deathwing box is what has me most excited. If the new Deathwing terminator box is similar to the Wolf Guard terminator or Grey Knight terminator box it's going to mean a lot of extra bits which I can use to customize my spare Dark Vengeance terminators and maybe even the marines and bikes too.

Seeing as I play mostly Deathwing the rest of the new kits don't matter to me as much but I am looking forward to maybe picking up the new Ravenwing flyer and maybe one of those freaky looking land speeders for completion's sake. I will probably stay away from the new character models though as I have my own Belial which I have been using for years and I've custom made a Sammael on an attack-quad to represent his jet bike form.

Definately looking forward to the complete rules on the Deathwing and the Deathwing Knights. From what has been rumoured the Knights are quite a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully they aren't too expensive in game to make them unfieldable, would be a shame considering the models look pretty darn cool although I would replace the hooded heads with full helmets; probably a Grey Knight helmet as I have a bunch of those from when I made Belial's command squad.

Some people are worried the Deathwing will lose their Fearless but I think the new Inner Circle rule will give them Fearless (as all Inner Circle in previous editions were Fearless) and possibly something else (probably wargear related or a chapter specific rule that affects Inner Circle and non-Inner Circle units). Really curious to see what kind of Chapter Tactics rule the Dark Angels get and if the normal marines get anything nifty. Mind you, since the Dark Angels are just like any other marine chapter aside from their 1st and 2nd companies, I don't think I'd mind if the regular tactical, assault and devestator marines don't get anything special. After all, it's the Deathwing (and the characters who are part of the Deathwing) and Ravenwing that make the Dark Angels unique.

Anyways, looks like my hobby money will be spent once January hits.

Outlaw Shizzle - Episode 1 - How they met Anvil

2012-12-27T09:51:00.002-08:00

In my last post about Outlaw Shizzle I remade some of the characters to fit the new playtest package. However, after consulting with some of the players we went with a slightly different route for some of them. The following characters are different from what I posted earlier in the Outlaw Shizzle retcon post.

Grudge Jr.

Race: Hill Dwarf
Class: Cleric - Lifegiver
Background: Bounty Hunter
Specialty: Hedge Magician

Angel Ripper the Third

Race: Wood Elf
Class: Monk of the Phoenix
Background: Thug
Specialty: Two-weapon fighter

Pretty Boy Ray

Race: Halfling Lightfoot
Class: Rogue - Scout
Background: Artisan - Blacksmith
Specialty: Expert

Similar to what I decided but Grudge is now a full on healer (the players were joking he's like Dog the Bounty Hunter now, trying to make people turn good) and Angel Ripper is a better thug (kind of reminds of the Tattooed Men from the Legend of the Five Rings setting). We also changed the Masons to be more of an underhand of the government of Babel Gilga so the Masons are now an organized crime group that works for the government.
Unfortunately for the Masons, and by extension Outlaw Shizzle, the Syndicate is trying to gain a foothold in Babel Gilga and threatens the prosperous relationship the Masons have with the city-state's government.

So when last we left Outlaw Shizzle, the group had escaped The Fox's trap in the church. The old man's clues led to a tavern in the lawless south district of Babel Gilga called the Red Herron. The Red Herron was a popular hangout for all those wishing to live a life crime but lacked the connections to get into the Masons or the Syndicate. The seediest and most undesirable bunch frequented the Red Herron.

The group decided to head out but not before consulting with one of the Mason's lieutenants, Masaloza. Masaloza is an experienced leader in the Masons and runs his operations from a tavern called The Chimera in the western district of Babel Gilga. He has direct control over Slater and Angel Ripper's actions and the pair often consult Masaloza before conducting any clandestine operations.

When the group reached Masaloza, he had already learned of The Fox's attack against them in the church. Masaloza warned the group that The Fox is a lycanthrope and the full moon that night would mean The Fox is at his most powerful so striking out against him tonight might not be the best idea. Masaloza also mentioned to the group of a mysterious vigilante named Anvil who generally kept the bad guys in line in the south districtand didn't want the Anvil fighting against the Masons. Other members of the Masons tried to recruit the Anvil but to no avail so Masaloza gave the order to Outlaw Shizzle to try and recruit Anvil to their side. The group took Masaloza's advice and decided not to attack the Red Herron on a full moon so waited until morning before making their move.

The following morning Outlaw Shizzle headed to the south district of Babel Gilga. The southern district of Babel Gilga may as well be known as the slums as the whole area is full of ramshackle buildings, poor peasants and the other undesirables of the city. They had no luck finding any information or rumours about Anvil when they asked around, but they soon witnessed his handiwork first hand after he stopped a small gang of thugs from breaking into a small shop. Angel Ripper quickly convinced Anvil of the necessity to join forces to stop The Fox from destroying the south district.

After recruiting Anvil, their first order of business was to find some silver to destroy the lycanthrope. As it stood only Pretty Boy Ray had a silver weapon so they needed some silver ore to forge new weapons for the rest of the group. Upon investigation for a source of silver, they discovered that the large silver stores in the city bank and the jewelers in the bazaar had all been robbed the night before. The group reported back to Masaloza who then directed them to one of the Mason's private storerooms to check on their silver supply. To their surprise the storeroom was vacant of all sources of silver. On their way out they were once again ambushed by The Fox's undead minions. The skeletons were quickly dispatched and Outlaw Shizzle rushed back to The Chimera.

At The Chimera the got a message from Masaloza to dispatch The Fox as quickly as they could. The Mason's could not afford to have this Syndicate upstart in their territory. That night Outlaw Shizzle made their way to the Red Herron and proceeded to board up the place. The patrons didn't notice as it was a rowdy crowd and a few knocks on wood with a hammer were easily overlooked. Pretty Boy Ray then climbed to the top of the building and proceeded to pour large amounts of lantern oil down the chimney into the fireplace. Within minutes the entire tavern was ablaze and the patrons inside were burning alive. When the roof collapsed and everyone inside died, The Fox made his appearance again as a voice declaring they fell for his trap and now he could raise a larger army of undead. As Outlaw Shizzle left the scene they could hear and see the burning corpses rising up and out of the burning wreck of the Red Herron with the symbol of The Fox emblazoned on their burnt skulls.

To be continued...

Outlaw Shizzle Retcon time

2012-12-21T13:47:00.001-08:00

Just as I started my new D&D next campaign, Wizards of the Coast goes and releases a new playtest package (https://www.wizards.com/DnD/DnDNext.aspx) which is great and all but changes some of the classes a bit and actually removes some too. Soooo I'm going to go and retcon some of the characters to fit the new playtest materials.

For reference here's the original cast as rolled with the previous playtest package

The Rage - Stout Halfling Cleric Guardian Noble
Grudge Jr. - Hill Dwarf Warlock Bounty Hunter Healer
Slater Jr. - Human Fighter Thief Acolyte
Angel Ripper the Third - Wood Elf Sorcerer Thug Necromancer
Pretty Boy Ray - Halfling Lightfoot Rogue Blacksmith Jack of all Trades
Anvil - Human Wizard Knight Lurker

Thankfully the races haven't been changed to much so there's not much to do there. With the new classes, backgrounds and specialties I think I will change the cast to the following

Rage

Race: Stout Halfling
Class: Cleric - Warbringer
Background: Noble
Specialty: Defender

Grudge Jr.

Race: Hill Dwarf
Class: Cleric - Stormbringer
Background: Bounty Hunter
Specialty: Hedge Magician

Slater Jr.

Race: Human
Class: Fighter - Slayer
Background: Guild Thief
Specialty: Mystical Healer

Angel Ripper the Third

Race: Wood Elf
Class: Evocation Wizard
Background: Thug
Specialty: Metamagician

Pretty Boy Ray

Race: Halfling Lightfoot
Class: Rogue - Treasure Hunter
Background: Artisan - Blacksmith
Specialty: Expert

Anvil

Race: Human
Class: Illusion Wizard
Background: Knight
Specialty: Ambusher

I believe those changes keep the spirit of the randomly rolled combinations from the old playtest package with the material from the new playtest package. The classes are balanced from a composition point of view so hopefully everything works out well.

Next episode of Outlaw Shizzle to be played this Sunday.

Outlaw Shizzle - The Pilot Episode

2012-12-17T21:54:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday saw the reboot of my D&D campaign with my old play group. To recap, I had my players roll their race, class, background and specialty all randomly and they were given a random wrestler name from one of the many wrestler name apps out there.

Here's what Outlaw Shizzle ended up being.

The Rage - Stout Halfling Cleric Guardian Noble
Grudge Jr. - Hill Dwarf Warlock Bounty Hunter Healer
Slater Jr. - Human Fighter Thief Acolyte
Angel Ripper the Third - Wood Elf Sorcerer Thug Necromancer
Pretty Boy Ray - Halfling Lightfoot Rogue Blacksmith Jack of all Trades
Anvil - Human Wizard Knight Lurker (was originally a High Elf but I had a cooler looking human wizard model so I changed him to a Human)

How the party came together was quite interesting. I used the strategy of having one player connect their character with the player to their left or right and then go around the table (I think it's from one of the 4th edition Dungeon Master Guides) and this is what we came up with:

The Rage is a cleric of war who comes from a prominant noble family in the city the campaign is based out of (name of the city is Babel Gilga). He knows Grudge Jr. because Grudge happens to be his family's groundskeeper/personal security (sort of like Higgins from Magnum, P.I.).
Grudge knows Angel Ripper as one of his underground contacts for finding bounties or getting new contracts. Grudge may or may not know about Angel Ripper's ties to the Masons (one of the two major organized crime groups in the region) mostly because I forgot to ask the two players to clarify that part of their relationship.
Angel Ripper knows Slater Jr. because they are both in the Masons. Angel's thug-like attitude allowed him to get into the criminal organization and the two are often deployed together. Slater as muscle while Angel Ripper as the diplomat (whopping 18 charisma)
Slater Jr. is a trained thief for the Masons who has also become a devoted follower of the Church of War. He knows The Rage because they are part of the same religious group and Slater is studying as an acolyte under The Rage and will smite the foes of his church.

The players for Pretty Boy Ray and Anvil weren't around so we just made up a story for them that would fit well.

Pretty Boy Ray runs a blacksmith for the Masons which is sometimes used as a safe house, hideout or even to launder money. Being a rogue it made sense for this character to have ties to the Masons.
Anvil is a vigilante in the lawless parts of southern Babel Gilga keeping the peace as best as he can. The group will meet up with him later as they continue to adventure in Babel Gilga.

Running an organized crime adventure group is kind of out of the norm as most adventurer groups operate on the other side of the law. However, I envisioned the Masons not so much as evil organized crime but more of a keeping the status quo type of organized crime. They maintain order in their parts and as long as the regular authorities keep out of their way, the Masons will keep their activities under the radar. Of course this will change when the Syndicate (the other major crime group in the area) wants to change the balance of power in their favour.

I'll post a little more about the setting in a future post so some of these names, places and organizations make more sense.

Anyways on to their first adventure in which they are introduced to one of the Syndicate's capos.

So the campaign started up with the Rage, Grudge, Slater and Angel Ripper at Pretty Boy Ray's smithy which is situated in the marshy area just outside Babel Gilga. Grudge and Angel Ripper were discussing new bounties which is when the group found out the Syndicate sent a new capo to try and gain a foothold in Babel Gilga (where the crime is predominantly controlled by the Masons). Unfortunately the Masons only knew this new capo by a symbol. At this point Slater noticed something in the marshes and they concluded their meeting but not before a gang of skeletons emerged from the marsh and attacked the group.

The skeletons proved no match for the group and Grudge quickly noticed that the skulls had been branded by the symbol of the Syndicate's new capo. After some investigative work by Grudge, he found an old grizzled man who had more info about the new capo and agreed to meet with them at the Church of War. At the same time, Slater and Angel Ripper asked their superiors about this new capo and were tasked with finding this upstart and disposing of him. The Masons would not tolerate someone else muscling in on their territory.

Later that evening at the church, Grudge and Rage met up with his new contact but found he had been attacked and his legs sheared off by what looked like a beast. Before his contact lost consciousness he told Grudge that the Syndicate's man in Babel Gilga was known to some as 'The Fox'. It was fortunate that Slater arrived just as this happened and managed to stabilize the dying man. At this point The Fox made his appearance but only as a voice and attempted, once again, to kill the group with a group of skeletons. Outlaw Shizzle showed their mettle and disposed of The Fox's minions.

Afterwards, they brought the old man to the Temple of Healing and using Angel Ripper's influence (bad reputation as a Thug) managed a free healing service and limb reattachment (they found the sheared off legs elsewhere in the church). The old man divulged all he knew in return for the group hiding him from the Syndicate. Rage obliged the old man and his family gained another servant to work their lands.

The old man's information pointed the group to a tavern called the Red Herron in the lawless south district of Babel Gilga. If the Syndicate wanted a fight, Outlaw Shizzle seems happy to oblige.

To be continued...

My MTG Cube

2012-12-07T13:37:00.002-08:00

For anyone who has read about MTG cubing or done MTG cubing it's a very fun format. You get to draft in an environment where your pack will almost always be good (unless you are playing with a reject rare cube or something silly like that). Unfortunately, I dropped out of MTG for a few years so lost quite a bit of my old stuff that normally goes into a power cube like Sol Ring or the original dual lands and what not (I never did get my hands on the Power 9 though). Fortunately, there are so many cards in existence now that one can make a powerful cube without all those old staples and that's what I decided to do with my cube.

The majority of the cards in my cube ended up being from Zendikar block onward (so Zendikar block, Scars block, Innistrad block, Return to Ravnica block plus M11-M13) as that is around the time when I picked up MTG again. For the record I started playing in Revised up to Visions, then stopped. When Onslaught rolled around I started again cause some of my friends started up again. I continued until the end of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block as I started my teacher program at that time and had no time to play and then when Scars came out I jumped back into the MTG pool as I liked the orginal Mirrodin block and revisiting the place was a cool concept. Anyways, enough about my history of playing MTG.

Building my cube using cards from Zendikar to now does provide some pretty cool interactions despite not having a lot of the older power staples. Zendikar and Innistrad have a lot of vampires so the vampire tribal theme in black is quite well represented in my cube. All the artifacts from Scars provides lots of fixing (and ramp) so the multi-colored cards from Innistrad and Ravnica as well as the giant creatures from Zendikar are easy to cast. There's a bunch of high-quality equipment so creatures are important but at the same time there's plenty of strong removal to keep them in check. Proliferate works great with all the blocks (level counters, +1/+1 counters, -1/-1 counters, poison counters and charge counters all benefit from that mechanic). Another bonus is that, for the most part, all the mechanics are pretty easy to understand. Nothing like Cumulative Upkeep from Ice Age/Coldsnap or Suspend/Vanish from Time Spiral. All in all I think the 4 blocks provide a great starter cube for me and my group.

I figure I will eventually make the cube into a 4 block + 2 core cube which will probably eventually transition into a Type 2 cube (for those folks who don't remember, Type 2 was the old name for Standard). As the sets rotate I will probably dump the old cards into a secondary modern cube (which will most likely be a tribal cube of some form or another as I like creatures and I'm a Timmy at heart)

For those curious, my current cube is here. The yellow cards are cards I haven't physically added to the cube yet but are in my possession.

Tournaments, MTG Cubing & D&D Next

2012-12-01T19:15:00.003-08:00

Orctoberfest 2012 came and went and seemed to be a success again. Had the biggest turnout this year, surprisingly I think Orctoberfest had more people show up than the annual Remembrance Day tournament that has been going on in the area for the last 15 years. I suppose advertising helps?

Hopefully the turnout for next year's Orktoberfest will be just as big. I'm expecting so as next year will be a 40k year for the event and 40k should be more popular with more 6th edition books coming out between now and next October. More details in the new year.

The only unfortunate thing about this year's Orctoberfest was that I didn't get any pictures. We were in the middle of packing for a move which never occurred and I totally forgot to pack my camera or ask to borrow my dad's digital SLR. Oh well, next year for sure I will have pictures.

Kinda bummed I missed out on this year's Remembrance Day Challenge but house hunting was more important. The owners of Great White did mention they were going to be putting on a Warhammer Fantasy tournament in the spring so maybe I'll try to attend that one. Just need a fantasy army.

As for other wargaming, not much has occurred. I picked up the Dark Vengeance box. Mostly for the rulebook but I did manage to trade the Chaos half for more Dark Angels. The models in hindsight, while good looking and well detailed, were unnecessary as I have a complete army already. It's been a few months since I got them and I've only put together two Tactical Squads and one Deathwing squad. Still have the two Ravenwing squadrons and a Deathwing squad on sprue plus the commander and librarian and special edition chaplain. Tempted to sell the non-Deathwing stuff I have as I read there are rumors of a Deathwing box being released with the new Dark Angels codex and I hardly ever play with anything other than a full Deathwing army nowadays.

So what have I been doing to keep my gaming self satisfied? Got around to building an MTG cube with a bunch of MTG cards I had lying around plus some generous donations from my brother-in-law. I had heard about the format before but never played. After some reading about cubing, it sounded like fun so I put one together and played with some of my old high school friends. Turns out they enjoyed the cube and wouldn't mind cubing again.

I wasn't happy with the original cube though so I scoured channelfireball.com for some cheap cards to make some of the themes and archetypes stand out a bit more. Most of my friends haven't played MTG in years so aren't familiar with many of the newer mechanics or synergies so my cube is a pseudo-noob friendly cube. Mostly basic mechanics and strategies with a few intermediate-advanced strategies and the cards I bought should make those strategies more obvious. Just gotta wait a few days for the cards to arrive and then I can update my cube!

This brings up an amusing anecdote from the first run through of my cube. I was mentioning that there was a lot of red burn being passed around in the first pack and after the draft had finished, one of my friends who had never played before beat me quite handily with a pure red burn deck. He ended up picking every high damage burn spell and just burned me out both games. Maybe I had too many burn spells but at least that is a noob friendly strategy. Hoping to see what other strategies show up as we cube over the holiday season.

In addition to the construction of my MTG cube, I had my same high school friends make up D&D characters so we could play test D&D Next. We ended up doing random race, class, background and specialty and a random wrestler name. So the group (they decided would be called Outlaw Shizzle to honour the last group we had) is as follows:

The Rage - Stout Halfling Cleric Guardian Noble
Grudge Jr. - Hill Dwarf Warlock Bounty Hunter Healer
Slater Jr. - Human Fighter Thief Acolyte
Angel Ripper the Third - Wood Elf Sorcerer Thug Necromancer
Pretty Boy Ray - Halfling Lightfoot Rogue Blacksmith Jack of all Trades (we were all disappointed that this guy turned out very archetypal)
Anvil - High Elf Wizard Knight Lurker

You'll have to sign up for the play test to find out what all those terms mean but needless to say, the group makeup is quite interesting. I think I will have them flesh out their backgrounds when we meet up next so we can have some idea of how this bizarre crew got together in the first place. I think I will run the campaign like a serial action TV series similar to shows like The A-Team, MacGuyver and similar. Less planning and no need for an overall story arc (though given my style of story telling I will probably put some recurring themes which will eventually fit into an overall story arc)

Looking forward to a nice holiday season of gaming with my friends.

Entering my First 6th Edition 40k Tournament

2012-08-08T20:31:00.002-07:00

This weekend I've decided to go to a 6th edition tournament being held in a town about an hour away. Haven't played much 6th edition yet but from what I have played, the Deathwing are pretty darn strong. No need to fear power weapons anymore, land raiders are resilient enough to deliver cargo and typhoon speeders went from awesome to something better than awesome.

Anyways, the tournament is 1500 points and I've decided to take the following list

Belial - Claws
Deathwing Squad 1 - Apothecary, 3 TH & SS, Heavy Flamer
Deathwing Squad 2 - 1 TH & SS, 1 Chainfist, 1 Pair of Lightning Claws, Cyclone
Deathwing Squad 3 - 1 TH & SS, 1 Chainfist, Cyclone
Deathwing Squad 4 - 1 TH & SS, 1 Chainfist, Cyclone
Land Raider Crusader
Ravenwing Typhoon Speeder
Ravenwing Typhoon Speeder

Went with 4 squads this time rather than 3 as I found 3 scoring units was not enough for objective based missions in the last 1500pt tournament. Mind you the only army that gave me trouble last time was a Grey Knight army that got into close combat. That same army wouldn't hurt so much as their nemesis weapons aren't AP2.

Maybe I should drop one of my Deathwing squads for another land raider? Two squads in raiders and 1 squad using Deathwing Assault could make for some nifty rapid deployment strategies. Super easy to pack as well. Although there is a really good player attending with Necrons so vehicles won't be that great against him (and who knows how many other Necron players might be present). Still, having to deal with 20 scoring terminators will be tough for any army to deal with at 1500 points.

Samurai Cavalry! (in plastic!)

2012-06-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Super excited about seeing these guys from Wargames Factory

Samurai Cavalry

Totally messes up my plan for purchasing a fantasy army though. I was going to use my Bretonnian knights as Dogs of War heavy cavalry but with these figures out I might try and build a straight samurai army. Kind of a shame as I really liked the viking huscarl figures but I can't figure a way to include them and samurai in the same army.
Even using dogs of war I would most likely end up using a majority of the Rising Sun line (the ashigaru spearmen look like great pikemen) and having one or two units of bearded viking marauders would look out of place I think.

So my revised plan would be the following
Samurai cavalry to represent Dogs of War heavy cavalry or Empire knightly orders
Ashigaru spearmen to represent Dogs of War pikemen or Empire spearmen
Ashigaru muskets/archers to represent Dogs of War crossbowmen or Empire handgunners/archers
Samurai Warriors to represent Dogs of War paymaster bodyguard/Empire swordsmen or greatswords
I could add artillery if I can get my hands on some 28mm cannons for cheap and crew them with any extra ashigaru.

Thought about using the figures to proxy a high elf army but the high elf rules seems only appropriate for samurai and not ashigaru. The empire or dogs of war books seem more appropriate, maybe warriors of chaos but the warriors lack ranged weaponry.

Anyways, need to toss around some 2000-2500 point lists with a few books and see which one results in the cheapest competitive army using the Rising Sun line.

The Price of Gaming (Games Workshop Style)

2012-05-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

It's probably common knowledge to anyone who plays wargames that Games Workshop is increasing prices again. I kind of understand the business side of things and totally understand that this is a hobby so it's not like raising the price on food, but still it is kind of depressing to see a hobby get more and more expensive. Especially so when extra funds are limited and when I want to get back into Warhammer Fantasy gaming.

One fortunate thing about Fantasy games though is that there are a lot of companies out there that produce fantasy figures at a much reduced price compared to GWs. GW (in my view) kind of has the futuristic grimdark setting monopoly (no other company could produce space marine like figures without getting a lot of legal flak) but in the fantasy realm they don't (a dwarf is a dwarf whether it is a GW dwarf or a non-GW dwarf). So I've decided to build a Dogs of War/Empire army using figures from other companies.

It's going to be much cheaper and hopefully after a coat of paint look just as good. I decided not to do a dwarf army (see previous post about Mantic Dwarves) as I really don't like their playstyle and besides, I can always fit dwarves into a Dogs of War army if I decide to buy some Mantic Dwarves in the future.

I already have a bunch of knights, heroes and wizards from Bretonnia that could easily fit in with any DoW/Empire army so part of the army is already made. I just need infantry and I think I'll take those from Wargames Factory.

I could use their Samurai Warriors to represent swordsmen/greatswords/paymaster bodyguard (armed with katana), the Ashigaru Yari Troops as pikemen/spearmen, the Ashigaru Missile Troops as crossbowmen/handgunners and their Viking Huscarls to represent norse marauders/flagellants.

As an Empire army using the vastly different styles of models might be awkward but for a Dogs of War army not so much I think. After all the Dogs of War are mercenaries from all over the world. I just hope the local gamer folk don't mind me using alternate figures to play Warhammer Fantasy. Admittedly I could just try and get ancients/historical gaming going but that I think is going to be harder as it requires investment from more people.

Tournament Results

2012-05-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Store tournament was this past weekend and I took the list from my previous post to it.

Escaped with a 2-1-1 record. EDIT: Apparently this was good enough for 2nd place (out of 8) after taking soft scores into account. Either that shows the intense level of competition in that no one escaped with a perfect record, or the soft scores factored in quite predominantly.

Game 1 vs Necrons - Win
- First time playing Necrons in an annihilation mission. The player didn't take a super-nasty list so I was able to pull out a win. He seemed surprised that my terminator squads could weather two squads worth of firepower. I told him after the game that he should dedicate twice that if he wants to bring down a terminator squad with regular anti-infantry guns (I did the math once and it requires a ridiculous amount of wounds to reliably kill a squad of terminators in one round of shooting)

Game 2 vs Grey Knights - Loss
- First time playing Grey Knights. It was Capture & Control and I think the only reason I lost was his grand master and grey knight terminators were able to assault my Deathwing. I grounded their ride, but they were still close enough. Those 4 guys tore through all 15 of my terminators without too much trouble (initiative S6 power weapons and the grand master with a 2+ ward save really sucked). By the time I killed them I had no troops left. His shooting took down the land speeders so couldn't contest in my last turn.

Game 3 vs. Daemons - Draw
- First time playing Daemons. Sieze Ground with 4 objectives. 12 blood crushers, blood thirster and 3 soul grinders. My shooting was enough to nullify the blood thirster and soul grinders but those blood crushers annihilated my terminators (made the mistake of disembarking from the land raider a turn too early). Forced a draw by killing all of his horrors and contesting the one objective from the one horror I couldn't kill.

Game 4 vs. Chaos - Win
- Nothing really of note, his vehicles were rendered useless for the most part by my shooting. He had a vindicator that was pretty ineffective and a land raider of berserkers that spent 2 turns shooting at my land raider. His rhinos and the squishy squads inside were his downfall. Easy KPs for my rockets and terminators.

Next 40k tournament should be in July and I think I'll bring a more competitive list. The lists that were present were much more competitive than I expected (probably because everyone was from out of town). Time to go and paint some more terminators.

1500pt Dark Angels

2012-05-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

Looking over the models I have, this is the list I plan on taking to the first of these monthly tournaments that the FLGS is hosting later this month. Keep in mind that the goal of the tournament is to introduce new players to tournament game play. They aren't meant to be super competitive WAAC type games (though inevitably I will make it that way against whomever I play simply because I like a good competition)

HQ
Belial - Lightning Claws

Troops
Deathwing Squad 1 - Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, Cyclone, Chainfist, 1 pair of Lightning Claws, Apothecary
Deathwing Squad 2 - Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, Cyclone, Chainfist,
Deathwing Squad 3 - Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, Cyclone, Chainfist,

Fast Attack
Ravenwing Land Speeder - Multi-melta, typhoon missiles
Ravenwing Land Speeder - Multi-melta, typhoon missiles

Heavy Support
Land Raider Crusader
Predator - Twin-lascannon turret, pintle storm bolter
Predator - Twin-lascannon turret, pintle storm bolter

Seems kind of hard at 1500 points, lots of armor, lots of missiles, lots of powerfists and who is going to suspect 15 terminators? Mind you if I run up against melta/plasma/power weapon spam I'm screwed. Could be worse, I could have taken 5 squads of hammernators with cyclones I suppose (thankfully for the opposition I don't have that many painted hammernators.... yet).

Should be competitive enough yet not cheesy enough to dissuade new tournament players. I originally planned to run with two land raiders, but figured that would be over the top; and it doesn't help the second land raider isn't fully painted. The second land raider is a scratch built model and I am in the process of adding rivets and details to it (it is painted except for the minor details).

Tournament News

2012-05-07T21:39:00.002-07:00

Popped into one of the FLGS in town last week and found out they are planning on hosting small monthly tournaments in addition to their larger Remembrance Day Challenge and Spring Fantasy tournament. It appears tournament attendance has been low so they are trying to get more interest in tournaments by hosting smaller and friendlier events.

I whole heartedly approve of this. Mind you I only really care about this because the more people that are interested in tournaments means the more people who might be interested in attending Orctoberfest in October.

For my part I'm going to try and attend as many of these tournaments as possible so I can push Orctoberfest 2012 and hopefully get a few more people than I have the past two years. I keep hearing that it is an absolute blast to play in and everyone would love to attend but the numbers just don't show it. Mind you I think I picked a bad weekend for Orktoberfest 2011 (Canadian Thanksgiving weekend) and I changed the format from Fantasy in 2010 to 40k in 2011. Orctoberfest 2012 will be Fantasy again so that might affect numbers. Still, I am hoping that I get more fantasy players this year than in 2010.

First tournament is a 1500 point 40k tournament. Although I did sell some of my Deathwing (the black reach half) I still have enough painted models to bring a decently competitive force. I probably should hold back as the tournaments are meant to bring in new tournament players, but what good are new tourament players if they don't play to win or can't stomach losing? Anyways, got about 2 weeks to think about the army I will bring to this first tournament.

In a galaxy far, far away...

2012-04-26T22:42:00.004-07:00

Oh my it has been a while since I last posted anything. Not much to say other than been busy with stuff outside of wargaming.

Some friends and I got into Star Wars: The Old Republic. Reminded me of my old World of Warcraft days only back then I didn't play with any of my friends, but had a nice guild that kept me in until teacher school got too time consuming. Never got back into the whole MMORPG since then. Being a teacher takes up a lot of time outside of school surprisingly.

When Old Republic was released, things changed. Being a fan of the Star Wars universe made it easy for me to decide to try it. Thankfully my friends played and we now have regular gaming nights which is nice. So that, I suppose, is where most of my free gaming time has gone.

For those curious I play on the Master Gnost-Dural server on both sides. My friends and I started a guild on the Imperial side under the name Imperial Medical Service. All the characters so far are doctors (mine is bounty hunter named Dr'akagi, cookie for those who know who I named her after, lol). I have to wonder if anyone notices the connection. Republic side we aren't nearly as organized my main is a Jedi Sentinel named Paro'cena. I've got alts of all the classes as well but they are really just crafting bots for the most part.

On the tabletop gaming side of things, I haven't really done much. I sold off some of my Deathwing (the black reach squads and the land raider) as I wanted to finance a new fantasy army a few months. Unfortunately I haven't seen anything that I would like to play in Fantasy. I have a bunch of miscellaneous fantasy models and I was thinking of building a Dogs of War army but they seem kind of underpowered. That is until I saw the fan based 8th edition Dogs of War book (Regiments of Reknown here). What surprised me about this book was that Adepticon adopted it for their tournament so it must be fairly well balanced. I'm going to look at it over the next couple of weeks and see if I can make a competitive army with it without breaking the bank.

Oh yeah, one last thing before I sign out. Orctoberfest 2012 will be Fantasy this year. Hopefully I can get enough people to break even or make a profit (profit meaning more prizes for everyone!)