MCT's Gaming Blog

Love Mechs? Join the Hawken Beta

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:19:00 +0000

Everyone loves big Robots right? for a chance to join the Hawken Beta later this year follow the link below and register.

http://playhawken.com/?ref=sk4091hq

See you on the battlefield!

Bovington Tiger I Videos

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:08:00 +0000

Found these vids on Youtube of the working Tiger I at the Bovington Tank Museum. Amazing!

Some internal shots in this one

Mmmm Maybach goodness!

Flames of War Army Lists (work in progress)

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:22:00 +0000

I thought a little post about the two army lists I’m working on would be a good idea. The two forces I have decided to work on both had briefings available for free from the Flames of War website. Units in red represent possible future purchases.

Soviet Heavy Guards Tank Regiment (KV-1, Late War)

Now there is nothing more moving than the thought of a Soviet Heavy Guards Tank Regiment moving at speed across the countryside. Walls and hedgerows would simply cease to exist as the unstoppable behemoths crushed them beneath their heavy tracks. The sound of their guns thundering across the plains as they pick off another hapless German Tank.

However the unstoppable KV-1 behemoths of the early war are now the second line tanks of the Soviet Army. Not as invulnerable to enemy fire as they once were. Their superiority on the Battlefield is over, maybe numbers will win the day…

1 KV-1e 75

Company 1

5 KV-1e 370

Company 2

4 KV-1e 295

Company 3

5 KV-1e 370

Company 4

5 KV-1e 370

Corps Support

Priority Air Support

IL-2 Shturmovik 270

Total 740 (1750)

German 653. Schwere Panzerjager Abtelung (Late War)

Facing the seemingly unstoppable Soviet advance is a small ad-hoc company with elements of the 653 Schwere Panzerjager Abtelung supported by other Heer Panzer units. The 88mm Pak 43 guns mounted on the Elefants will make short work of the once invulnerable Soviet armour facing them, but numbers favour the Russians. Will quality defeat quantity?

HQ.

1 Elefant Tank Hunter 300

Platoon 1

2 Elefant Tank Hunters 600

Panzer Anti-Aircraft Platoon

2 Sd Kfz 7/1 (Quad 2cm) 90

Heer Support Platoons

Assault Gun Platoon

2 StuG G’s 190

Heavy Tank Platoon

1 Tiger 1E 215 (Gotta have a Tiger!)

Panzer Platoon

5 Panzer IV H 475

Total 1090 (1870)

So there we are. I’m part way there and looking forward to buying, building and eventually painting (oh and possibly gaming with) these two forces!

The Elefants Have Arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Waiting for me when I got back from work today were my three new German Elefant Tank Hunters. These three vehicles alone are worth more in points than my ten Soviet KV-1 tanks. I will post some more shots once they are built.

And here are five of my KV-1 tanks. Ready to try and take them on.

So there we are

Some Painted FoW Tanks

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:52:00 +0000

Here’s a couple of shots of the Tanks you get in the Flames of War Open Fire! starter set.

StuG III

M4 Sherman

This is my first time painting in 1/100 scale and also my first time using anything other than Citadel paints. I used Tamiya paints in the main that I picked up nice and cheap from a local hobby store and I think they look pretty good. They didn’t take long to paint and certainly look table ready.

Built KV-1

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:35:00 +0000

Well after getting home from work last night I quickly put one of the KV-1’s together. As the box says they do just clip together quite nicely (although I think I will glue them after cleaning them up a bit).

As you can see the model is great, it looks like a KV should and the detail is nice and crisp. Based on this I will be looking at more Zvezda models for Flames of War in the future (got my eye on the Schturmoviks for a start).

I’m still waiting for the Elefants from Battlefront.

Dead Graphics Card Sadness

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

Well after a long period of sterling duty, my PC’s graphics card had finally overheated and blown.

It’s an old nVidia 512mb slimline card and it regularly would reach temps in excess of 105 degrees Celsius.

This means that I will be on an enforced holiday from World of Tanks till I can find another card that will fit in my small PC’s case.

This makes me sad

My 10 Zvezda KV-1’s have arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:04:00 +0000

Ordered from the plastic soldier company and promptly delivered. No proper pictures yet (I’m about to leave for a full shift at work) but I will post some unboxing pics tomorrow.

Hawken New Year Update

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:40:00 +0000

The guys over at Adhesive Games Ltd have given us a few concept pictures to keep us keen, waiting for that all but impossible dream of a good modern mech game.

As you can see from the above pictures, it looks like dark brooding BladerRunneresque Cities and Post apocalyptic ruins are all the rage in Hawken but they sure look nice and I look forward to seeing some more game renders and videos.

Now these Mech concepts look interesting, I like the blend of Mechwarrior like running gear with more real world ablative/ reactive armour. I’m guessing this is some kind of light or scout Mech as itl looks sleek and fast (I would call it a SC-1B Scarab but hey that’s just me)

So for all you Battletech Players waiting for a new game or you players of Heavy Gear, keep your eyes open and check out Hawkens Facebook page for loads more info including some early gameplay vids.

Hip Hip Hooray! A new Mech game is on its way!

Flames of War, Hunting on the Eastern Front

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:52:00 +0000

Well since moving and due to a general lack of space for anything 40k related at home I have been looking at Flames of War again. Its smaller 15mm scale makes my small living room floor makes for a much better battlefield when the tanks are only 2 inches long! (that is if the cat doesn’t get involved)

Anyway I have taken the plunge with some Christmas money and made my first post Open Fire (The FoW started kit) purchases.

First of are 3 Elefant Panzerjagers. I’m having a go at creating the 653 Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung. This plus my two StuG G’s from Open Fire give me an awesome tank destroying force. They are going to be needing that firepower because on the other side of the living room floor will be:

10 Zvezda (courtesy of the Plastic Soldier Company) Soviet KV-1e’s. Since playing World of Tanks I have fallen in love with this early war Soviet behemoth and am hoping to build a late war Guard Heavy Tank Regiment but before being refitted with the IS-2. This was available on the FOW website as a free PDF but it has been removed and placed in the Red Bear book.

I look forward to unboxing them and pushing them around the floor, cat permitting of course.

BTW for more info on the Russian Zvezda kits take a look over at antons wargame blog, there is some great content there with plenty info for FoW gaming on a budget.

12/12/2011 an update

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:31:00 +0000

Ok so I haven't posted for a while (again!). In all honesty this has mostly been down to moving house (now living in Gloucester) and a host of other grown up stuff that I as a 32 year old should be well experienced at coping with but clearly am not (I mean in this day and why should I take 2 mins out of my busy schedule of watching Beasts of War and playing World of Tanks to record a meter reading or go to Tescos customer services because an offer on Frij milkshake hasn't worked? Oh? The limited edition isn't part of the offer? WELL DON’T PUT IT RIGHT NEXT TO ALL THE OTHER F*CK*NG FRIJ MILKSHAES THAT ARE IN THE OFFER THEN!)

Rant Over

In real terms living in a new place has given me easier access to both GW Gloucester and the Cheltenham Warchiefs gaming group oh and my Roleplaying buddies over at IWARPUK but in all honesty I haven't had a chance to go to any of them since moving, and now with the Christmas season being upon us (and me feeling rather Christmassy this year) I doubt I will have a chance this year.

but… there is always next year and I hope to lead or more true gamer lifestyle from this January onwards.

Watch this space

The Codex Astartes is a Lie!

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:55:00 +0000

After the terrible events of the Horus Heresy it was Robute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines that would have the longest lasting effect on the remaining loyalist Astartes Legions. In his legendary tome the Codex Astartes, he covered all aspects of Astartes warfare. From squad organisation, heraldry and unit markings, tactics and deployment. However the greatest effect he would have was his decision to see the once proud Legions decimated into Chapters of no more than 1000 marines.

Ten thousand years later the majority of the estimated thousand remaining Astartes Chapters claim to adhere to the Codex. Some like the Space Wolves, Black Templars, Dark Angels etc do have minor deviances from the Codex but very few stray very far from the 1000 Battle Brothers commandment.

However this figure of 1000 Battle Brothers is a grossly misleading figure and the number of fully trained Astartes a Chapter could bring to bear could be much much greater.

As an example we will look at the Blood Angles Chapter.

After the fateful events at the end of the Horus Heresy that saw the Blood Angels decimated and leaderless, the Sons of Baal were believed to be one of the first Legions to adopt the directives of the Codex, seeing it as a way to return stability to the now fractured Legion.

Today the Blood Angels are for all intents and purposes a Codex chapter, they have ten companies, each with one hundred Marines organised into the correct number of Tactical, Assault and Devastator Squads. It must be noted that the Blood Angels do have several extra and ad-hoc units such as the Sanguinary Guard and the mythical Death Company, this is not a particularly relevant fact and the reader will soon see that the finding in this text can be applied to any Chapter.

Anyone with access to Codex Blood Angels will note in the Chapter Ordering of the Host that we have a full Order of Battle for the Blood Angels Chapter. It is on this page we see the unravelling of the Codex Astartes.

These hidden Marines can be found in those non Company organisations within the Blood Angles Chapter these will be broken down by element.

1) The Armoury

36 Techmarines, these are ALL fully trained battle brothers.

144 Vehicles including Stormraven Gunships, All of these vehicles need multiple crew to operate and even with a conservative number of one Marine per vehicle we already have an extra 144.

2) The Librarius

31 Librarian Marines. This alone is a staggering figure

3) Fleet Command

64 Space going vessels including Battle Barges as big if not bigger than the larges Ships of the Imperial Fleet. Again with a conservative estimate of three marines per ship we gain another 192 Battle Brothers

4) Reclusiam

14 Chaplains

5) Sanguinary Priesthood*

22 Sanguinary Priests

*This is a unique organisation to the Blood Angels however in a codex chapter it would be substituted with an apothacarion either as a separate logistical organisation like the Priesthood or integrated into each company at command level.

By just looking at the logistical part of the Chapter we have found an extra fully trained, equipped and deadly 467 Battle Brothers. Not only that but this figure includes specialist formations including trained psykers and veterans. Also this does not include any crew of transportation vehicles assigned to the battle companies themselves. This figure could easily put the number past five hundred.

In conclusion the actual force a Space Marine Chapter can deploy could be upward of 50% of the Codex standard. This could possibly explain the extreme reluctance the Inquisition has in declaring even heavily deviant Chapters Excommunicate Traitoris. As seen with the Astral Claws during the Badab war, a Space Marine Chapter with its back to the wall is a terrible thing to behold.

Not the most thought out of comments!

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:28:00 +0000

I just read the review of Space Marine for PC over at PC gamer and noticed the following in the comments section:

“I feel the same way, the whole of the demo seems to have that "rinse and repeat" element about it. Deffo not on my purchace list. I had really high hopes for this game having played 40K since Rogue Trader days but it's just meele spam at the end of the day :(“

Melee spam? If you ask me that would fit in with later versions of 40k perfectly!

lol

StuG of the Dump

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 21:58:00 +0000

I have been a bit ill over the last few days and in between moping around all achey and feeling sorry for myself I have found the time to finally unlock a tier five Tank in World of Tanks and it’s a StuG!

Oh Yeah! I’m loving it so far although I seem to get more higher tier games than I would like.

Blood Angels vs Tyranids 750 points.

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:58:00 +0000

Popped down to Gloucester GW yesterday and had a quick game of 40k with a nice chap (can’t remember his name sorry but I’m rubbish with names) I brought 750 points of Blood Angels. The army list I was intending on using for the Cities of Death League next month. He managed to come up with a 750 point Tyranid army from a huge army he had just completed.

The lists were roughly:

Blood Angels

HQ – Librarian with Jump Pack.

Elite – Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack, Hand Flamer, Power Weapon

Troops – Tactical Squad (10) Flamer, Missile Launcher

Assault Squad (5) Melta Gun, Sgt with Powerfist, Plasma Pistol

Assault Squad (5) Flamer, Sgt with Plasma Pistol

Scout Squad (5) Heavy Bolter

Tyranids

HQ – Hive Tyrant, (death spitter, lash whip I think) with 3 Tyrant Guard (boneswords)

Troops – Tyranid Warriors (3) not sure on weapons, no ranged though

Termigaunts (30) flesh borers

We set the table up for a Cities of Death game but decided to just play a standard mission.

We rolled Dawn of War and Annihilation.

Things went badly from the start for me. Tyranids deployed first and dominated the centre of the table, Tyrant and Guard on my right, Gaunts in the centre and the Warriors on my left. I decided to deploy my Tactical Squad in the centre at the back and infiltrated my scouts to his rear table edge keeping my Assault units and characters in reserve.

Turn 1.

Tyranids – Warriors and Gaunts turn to confront the Scouts, both units run and end up aprox 8 inches away, no shooting, no assault. The Tyrant and Guard advance towards the Tactical Squad and take two down with some precise shooting from the Tyrants Death Spitter.

Blood Angels - The scouts are doomed but they decide to engage the Warriors at ranged combat doing 0 wounds. (10 dice all crap!). The Tactical squad (also doomed) make a stupid move sort of away from the Tyrant, rapid fire and would one Guard.

Turn 2.

Tyranids – Gaunts and Warriors advance on scouts, the Gaunts take down two with shooting and the Warriors munch through the rest in the assault phase although the scouts do take one of the down and wound another. The Tyrant and Guard advance and chomp down the remains of the Tactical squad in the assault phase. I have no units left on the table (there was some debate as to if this was the end of the game but as I still had units in reserve the game was still on).

Blood Angels – Ok so I can’t really win but I will see what I can kill. I make my rolls for reserves, no units arrive this turn (honestly I rolled so many ones it was unbelievable)

Turn 3 -

Tyranids – All units move back towards the centre of the table.

Blood Angels – I roll again for the decent of angels,The unit with my Librarian turns up and I deploy it to the rear of the enemy behind the Gaunts and the Warriors, (far too close as it turns out) I get zero out of the shooting phase and can not assault. The second unit deploys but scatters into the swarm of Gaunts, rolls a 6 on this mishap table and goes back into reserve!

Turn 4 -

Tyranids – The Warriors and the Gaunts munch through the Librarian and his unit with no problems.

Blood Angels – The Sanguinary Priest seeing the demise of the Librarian and his squad decide to deploy some distance away from the enemy and in cover. using a run move to spread out.

Turn 5 -

Tyranids – All units move towards the last remaining Assault squad, the Tyrant and retinue smashing their way through the central ruin.

Blood Angels – Jumping out from cover the Marines do a suicide attack on the whole Tyranid army. Downing over half of the Gaunts in a torrent of Flamer, Bolter and Chainsword madness. The Gaunts however do not run due to the sigh of their Tyrant looming over the shoulders of the Space Marines.

We rolled for random game length and the game continued.

Turn 6 -

Tyranids – Well the Tyrant moved in and between it and the Gaunts the Marines got chomped.

Final Result:

Blood Angels 0 - 6 Tyranids

Aftermath – after shaking hands with my opponent I went through the list of things I did wrong.

1) Deployed my starting units in stupid places. The scouts were dead the moment I placed them on the table, the tactical squad wasn’t much better either.

2) Didn’t roll for Red Thirst (I keep forgetting this)

3) Deployed my first Assault Squad too close to the enemy. Again I have made this mistake a couple of times.

4) Didn’t use a single Psychic power. This is the first time I used a Librarian and need to be confident about the rules.

5) Underestimated the effect of a large unit.

Well you live and you learn. I will be tweaking my army list for the start of the league as I didn’t really have anything that can take down big monsters and I will focus on using my units far more effectively next time.

5 Reasons Space Marine Kicks Ass!

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:28:00 +0000

Thank you Angry Joe, nice to see someone with a bit of 40k Love

Link: Blistered Thumbs

Some Work in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:58:00 +0000

A few shots of what is cluttering up my desk (or shit pit as my GF calls it).

My new Librarian, not quite ready to lead the Blood Angels into victory in the Cities of Death Campaign yet.

My Venerable Dreadnought, not the amount of dust gathering on him. I really need to finish off his paint job.

My semi complete StormRaven.

Cites of Death Campaign pt 3

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:46:00 +0000

Well I have built my Manufactorum and I am quite pleased with the result. If I get a chance I will be adding some detritus to the base before the campaign starts but this also depends on available funds.

Should look quite good when it’s painted up, need to get more Bolt Gun Metal though unless I get all unorthodox and try something weird with Tin Bitz.

Disaster!

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:25:00 +0000

Argh! I've run out of Boltgun Metal. How will I survive?

Codex Cityfight

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:09:00 +0000

On a trip into town today I managed to pick up a copy of the old Codex Cityfight at an Oxfam bookstore. Neat find for just a couple of quid eh?

Cities of Death Campaign pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:45:00 +0000

A quick update on the upcoming Cities of Death campaign at my local GW. The point value has been upped from 500 to 750. We also have to bring along a piece of Cityfight Terrain.

This give me a great opportunity to finally buy some terrain. The piece I have decided on first? Why the Manufactorum of course. The Shrine of the Aquila came a close second (and may be an additional purchase soon)

I have also tweaked my Army list:

Librarian with Jump Pack 125

Elites

Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack, Melta Bombs, Hand Flamer and Power Weapon 95

Troops

Assault Squad. Sgt with Powerfist, Plasma Pistol & Melta Bombs + Meltagun 155

Assault Squad. Sgt with Plasma Pistol & Melta Bombs + Flamer 125

Heavy Support

Stormraven Gunship with TL Multi Melta, TL Assault Cannons, Hurricane Bolters & Extra Armour. 245

I’m hoping it all acts as a hard hitting elite assault force.

Birthday stuff

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Well it was my Birthday this weekend and it brought with it a whole host of Wargaming goodies:

1) A Stormraven Gunship from my Bro, well looking forward to building painting then weeping as it gets destroyed in the first round of every game it plays.

2) R.U.S.E. This I bought with some extra money I had. It’s a great idea for an RTS and I like the overall command table aesthetic the main game has.

3) Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team. Oh yeah! For when you absolutely need to kill every Ork on the Kroozer.

4) Battlefield 1943, Nice to get a classic.

5) Cities of Death Book.

6) Some Imperial Guard and some grey paints. I’m going to try me some urban camouflage on them maybe this could be the start of an Imperial Guard army who knows.

7)… and I will be placing orders this week for some Warhammer 40k Terrain a Librarian and a pre-order for Space Marine.

was a good year.

Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:54:00 +0000

Spotted this little fella at the GW site today:

That there is a Contemptor-Mortis pattern Dreadnought with Kheres pattern Assault Cannons, Cyclone Missile Launcher and a Helical Targeting Array. First seen (and sold I believe) at Games Day Germany and the latest Dreadnought to come out of Forgeworld.

Looks like a mini Titan to me and gets a 9.3 on my cool as F**K! scale

Cities of Death Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:19:00 +0000

I popped into my local Games Workshop today to kill some time and ended up chatting to the new manager. Turns out he is a pretty cool guy and not as pushy on the sales front as other managers I have encountered in recent years. Anyway in September they are running a Cities of Death Campaign and I think I’m going to have a crack at it.

It’s all pretty standard fayre. You start off with 500 points and you get and extra 250 to add each week. Other requirements are the Cities of Death book (obviously) and one CoD terrain piece.

So first off here’s my army list:

Librarian 100

Troops

Assault Squad 100

1 Sgt Plasma Pistol, Powerfist +45

5 Marines, Bolt Pistol & Close Combat Weapon (2 marines + 36)

1 Marine, Meltagun +10

191

Assault Squad 100

Sgt Thunderhammer +30

3 Marines Bolt Pistol & Close Combat Weapon

1 Marine Inferno Pistol & Close Combat Weapon +15

Trade Jpacks for Razorback with TL Lascannon, Search Light and Dozer Blade +61

200

497

Obviously you are very limited at 500 points with any Marine force but I think this is a well rounded Blood Angels force and can be easily built upon.

Whatdya guys think?

Ben

For Fans of Panzer General

noreply@blogger.com (MCT) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:58:00 +0000

Found this game purely by chance while looking for strategy games for my PSP.

Panzer Corps is a PC game that makes no secret of its illustrious predecessor. It really does look like a modern remake.

I guess anyone familiar with the old Panzer General titles can see from the above screenshot that this is something worth getting a little excited about.

Find out more at Matrix Games

Ben