Friday, October 31, 2008

Mighty Empires IV- Round 6

10/28 Games Workshop, Oak Park



STANDING AFTER ROUND 5
Night Goblins- 18- Capital
Ogres- 15 Capital
Vampire Counts - 12 capital
Dwarfs-10 capital
Dark Elves- 8 capital
Tomb Kings-8 capital
Empire- 7 capital
Warriors of Chaos - 4
Skaven- 3
High Elves- 2

Eliminated
Vampire Counts (red)- by Night Goblins, Capital loss blowback.
High Elves- by Dwarfs


STRATEGIC EVENTS
High Elves (Black)- All or Nothing
Skaven- War Tax
Warriors of Chaos- Survey the Battlefield
Empire- Sabotage
Dark Elves- Diplomacy@ Mike
Tomb Kings- Scouts
Dwarfs- Fortune favors the bold
Vampire Counts (Pink)- No Guts, No Glory
Ogres- Building Boom
Night Goblins- Land Grab
CAMPAIGN EVENTS

High Elves (Black)- Fame
Skaven- Rebellion (lose castle)
Warriors of Chaos- All is Well
Empire- Harvest Moon +250 gp
Dark Elves- Harvest Moon +250 gp
Tomb Kings-Hidden Cache
Dwarfs- All is well
Vampire Counts (Pink)- Harvest Moon = Castle G1
Ogres- All is well
Night Goblins- All is well


REVENUE

Skaven- 75 + War Tax 100= 175
Warriors of Chaos- 100
Empire- 350 + Havest Moon 250gp ( buys 1 EP)
Night Goblins- 650
Tomb Kings- 200
Dark Elves- 300 + Havest Moon 250gp ( buys 1 EP)
High Elves (Black)- 50
Dwarfs- 350 + 1 ep cashes = 250 = 600. (carried over EP)
Vampire Counts (Pink)- 325
Ogres- 675 ( andre point carried over?)

CHALLENGES
All Players are default 2000 points before reinforcement purchases

OPEN CHALLENGES

HIGH ELVES VS OGRES
OGRES- SOLID VICTORY

WARRIORS OF CHAOS VS TOMB KINGS
WARRIORS OF CHAOS- MASSACRE

INVASIONS

SKAVEN VS NIGHT GOBLINS C4-D4

EMPIRE VS NIGHT GOBLINS E6-F6- Concession

DARK ELVES VS NIGHT GOBLINS G6-F5

DWARFS VS NIGHT GOBLINS D4-D3

NIGHT GOBLINS- MASSACRES X 4

TOMB KINGS VS OGRES I3-J4
OGRES-MASSACRE

VAMPIRE COUNTS VS DWARFS E3-F3
DWARFS- SOLID VICTORY




Special Characters

Special Characters will join their respective armies via special events and your Empire's accomplishments.

Joined in round 1

TOMB KINGS- KHALIDA via campaign event
HIGH ELVES (Black)- TECLIS via campaign event
CHAOS- ARCHAON via campaign event

Joined in round 2-

HIGH ELVES (Black) takes 100 gold
VAMPIRE COUNTS (red) - MANNFRED VON CARSTEIN via campaign event
VAMPIRE COUNTS (pink)- VLAD VON CARSTEIN via campaign event
DWARFS- THOREK IRONBROW via campaign event

Joined in round 3

VAMPIRE COUNTS (pink)- CONRAD VON CARSTEIN - 1st City
ISABELLA VON CARSTEIN- Capital

Joined in Round 4

HIGH ELVES (Purple) - KORHIL - 1st City
HIGH ELVES (Black) CARADRYAN- 1st City
DARK ELVES- SHADOWBLADE- 1st City
EMPIRE- LUTHOR HUSS- 1st- City
SKAVEN-??? 1st City
NIGHT GOBLINS- 1st City

Joined in Round 5

SKAVEN- Thrott, Thanquel
DARK ELVES- Malus Darkblade, Morathi
DWARFS- Joseph Bugman


Last Round of another great campaign!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

More on the table debacle.

This is a rant and the first one I've posted I believe so if you dont want listen to me bitch, stop reading now. Like most of you guys I visit various other forums for both WFB and 40K and things I am reading from both 40K and Fantasy players about the new "Realms of Battle" table from GW are really crossing the line. Now I learned a long time ago arguing with anonymous people on the internet is total waste of time, so I don't bother to respond to anyone I don't personally know or have the opportunity to get to know. You have much better chance of getting your point across or reaching a compromise in person, so there is no point getting all worked up over the idiocy of some nameless person from across the void. I've met numerous people over the years who where complete assholes over the internet and who turned out to be A-OK in real life. My point here is I am not condemning the folks I am going to point out in moment to be assholes. It just what they are saying makes them sound like an "Asshole". there is a big difference.

There seems to be two schools of thought about the GW table that are really getting under my skin and both are complete bullshit. Number one is the table "sucks" (ok, your opinion) and that you can build something similar for as little as $40.00. Number two is far worse and I am paraphasing here but the gist of the point is that "if" you buy this table its because you are a "lazy hobbyist" and are not somehow participating in the hobby by buying this product over building your own. The second and much more offensive of these "ideas" being put out there is what prompted today's editorial over at Bell of Lost Souls.

First of all I don't care where you live or how cheap building materials are you can't build a 6" X 4" modular table that is crosswise re-configureable for $40...a sheet of 3/4 plywood is twenty something dollars and 1/2" and 3/4" foam is about $10 a sheet and you'd need several. That is forty bucks for the base materials right there. Sure you can use OSB or some other bullshit but it wont be as sturdy and its not the same. Not mention you need to own tools to do it at a minimum a good circular saw and some clamps and your hobby tools. All the stuff that costs money that you don't need to buy the table. Not to mention the paint, glue and flock and all the little extras that make it nice and most of all time. You know how long its going to take me to finish the new GW table start to finish? 6 hours. 1 hour each section. You know how I know that? because I've built several of the GW modular hills and its that same thing..maybe I put an extra hour in at the end for fine detailing. IF I get it on a saturday..I'll be using it on a sunday. Ok now I am one the fortunate people that has the tools and skills and the space to build my own and I know how long that would take me as well. 2 hours to go buy the stuff, 2 hours to cut it up and glue up the basics, couple more hours to sculpt the foam hills, then onto painting, flock and finishing...I guarantee it would take me month of sundays to get the thing done and I work pretty fast when it comes to terrain. So lets stop the complete bullshit, you can't build anything close to similar for $40 in an afternoon, for the simple reason you need more than $40 in tools to even begin with...IF you think you can even do it for $40 of materials, please do- send me some pics with evidence of the time it took we'll compare it to my finished in afternoon Realms of Battle table, if yours is better, I will post photos of it here and bow to you as a modeling god. I won't hold my breath waiting.

On to the next stupid thing.."buying this makes you a lazy hobbyist", the simple answer to that
is "go fuck yourself" I've built tons of shit from scratch and three full highly detailed tables..my work speaks for itself am I a "lazy hobbyist" because I want this thing? No, I want because it is cool. Not to mention its modular and portable. The gist of the BoLS editorial shouldn't of been "Please don't judge each others dedication to the hobby", it should have been "go fuck yourself" for suggesting such a stupid thing. Marginalizing all the people who don't have the time, or space or the storage capacity for to build there own was really really below the belt.

The bottom line on the table is this..No one is justifying the price increase, everyone thinks the price sucks. (However I only recently noticed the nifty carrying case coming with it, what's that worth? and that's included in the price.) Begruding the people that want this as merely GW fanbois or lazy hobbyist is pathetic. Either you like it or don't, if you do- buy it- if you don't- dont. end of story.

How much you want to bet the haters will be glad to play on someone elses finished table when presented the chance? To all the guys out crying about it not being finished for that price or you could buy two new armies for that price, blah blah. get with program, if you need pre finished terrain go buy some its way more expensive than you think and personally I'd rather have more terrain than a new army, but thats just me. ok, so ENOUGH ABOUT THE TABLE ALREADY, thank you.
/end rant.

10/29- Thanks for the feedback on this. I received some private emails too and while looking around I came across two threads of people trying to create modular tables, the first one is direct attempt to recreate the GW board at the $40 price Unfortunately this fellow is going about it all the wrong way. Using cheap materials may create an initial nice looking product but this thing will fall apart and be damaged in no time. I know from my own experience foam core surfaces are just not durable with regular play..things like big hills are a disaster after just a few games of use not to mention repairs looks like hell. I saw the GW table close up last night and that thing looks nigh indestructible..the insane amount of cross bracing on the bottoms will likely even prevent the warping I've heard about if you leave GW plastics in the trunk of you car during the summer (nods to Bill). I also found a guy making a modular table the right way and its obviously much more time and cost intensive Again costs of tools and time to purchase materials aren't figured in either...but here you go FYI

The Wrong Way

The Right Way

Leaving Macragge

As I briefly mentioned yesterday I have made the decision to divest myself completely of my Ultramarine force for 40K. It's tough decision but the reality is there aren't enough hours in the day to play every game and I am fooling myself in to thinking I'll make the time as it just isnt a priority given all the other stuff I am more interested in. I put alot of work into these guys ( lots of painstakingly done freehand icons, with still more to do.) What I want to do is finish the up the army and sell it to someone who can appreciate it. I still need to finish painting the Assault squad and build the Devastator Squad, and touch up a few guys.

The final army for sale will be:
1 Commander - Iron Halo, Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol
28 Marines (3 Sgts, 2 Missile Launchers, 2 Plasma Guns, 2 Flamers)
-10 of these guys are Macragge (the rest tact squad box)
6 Assault Marines- (Sgt with Bolt Pistol, Shield and Power Fist, , 1 with Plasma Pistol and Chainsword, 3 with BP and CS, and one with a Flamer)
5 Devastator Marines (1 Sgt, 4 guys with??? these are unbuilt, what do you guys with the new Codex think?, I was thinking 2 Plasma Cannon. 2 Heavy Bolters?
1 Rhino is included with these guys

Anyway 40 Marines total, everyone is painted as 3rd Company (red trim), as you can see from the photos there are lots of custom details. I am not going to model my extra vehicles as they are too time consuming, so I will be selling 2 rhinos, each with a set of Forge World extra armor..and a Razorback separately. Scott from Citizen Nick Hobby Center called dibs on the 2 Rhinos...so unless he passes its really just the Razorback. my other question is whats a fair price? the infantry models themselves cost well over $100.00, as far as painting goes I am thinking $5 a piece. I am thinking $300.00 sounds like a fair price in order to move it quick. I'll even throw in some of extras like a bag of bits. What do you guys think?

As far the rest of 4oK stuff goes I am keeping my terrain, new rule book and templates...in case I do eventually end up playing. If I do I wouldn't play marines so I would be starting a new force from scratch and that would probably be Tau or Imperial Guard. Time will tell. Anyway I am looking forward to finishing these guys up right and finding them a good home!!!












Obviously this is not everything, there are a few unpainted guys and the Dev squad is still sprued. the missing assault guy is still in pieces awaiting paint, this is just where I am currently at.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Osgiliath Project- Phase Three

Phase three- The city construction is the longest and most complicated phase. Its been about 7 weeks since the last update and while I've been working on lots of other things this is always near the top of the list. Figuring out exactly "what" my city was going to be was half the battle. I managed to collect the bulk of models during the month of September and have recently gone to work on them. While nowhere near complete, I have finished a section of wall and the collapsing church centerpiece is ready to be painted, all other buildings are in pieces. I've added alot of photos here so you can get the idea..the next step will be to build and paint everything, the final step will be detailing.



Above you can see a finished section of 0uter wall, the brick facade has be added with the arches clearly visible from the deteriorating wall of a city under siege. There are 3 feet of wall, that is smallest section. I'm thinking about bringing a up another shade in color but need to wait to see some more painted structures before I decide. (walls are Hirst Arts)

Flip side of the same wall, I am going to paint some block detail on the flat unfinished surfaces.



The half ruined church from Armorcast is of resin and the table center piece...they make two versions of this "full" and "totally destroyed", I bought half of each and combined them to a
"half destroyed" version. The roof is plastruct pieces supported by strips of wood.


The Interior of the church, the floor is again Plastruct card stock, the rear section is test paint, again I want to brighten that up more..few more shades to go. Only the front half is fixed to the base, the rear half is completely removable and the roof is removeable so you can get in there an move stuff if you have to.


Front of the church, almost looks whole from this angle.



Here is a long shot, where you can get some idea of length and scale. My celt barbarian stands on the wall vigilant. Eventually everything will be based on hardboard like the church, even the streets.I want it all to fit together, so you don't see much of the green other then near the waters edge and outer walls.

My Empire Warrior priest stands in for Scale purposes.



Church interior, it will be rubble strewn but with plenty of room to fight.


Looking out of the church toward the water, again a scale shot.



Mordor Orcs hitting the beach, my Celt doesn't stand a chance!.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Realms of Battle or (Money)



Minor scoop here as I am not seeing it anywhere else yet...my local GW rep called me to inform me that the price of the Realm of Battle game board has gone from $175 (when I pre ordered) to $200 now to $275.00. I was told that they mis-underestimated the initial demand and costs and that they (GW) were going to eat alot of crow on this. Unfortunately while this an awesome product..they are going to lose alot of interest at that price point. People over BoLS where all ready griping about it at $200...this is literally going to kill this product..too bad as it was going to re-invent terrain building The idea of offering modular pieces over time was brilliant..they just wont get the sales to justify it, in my opinion. Yes, - yours truly is biting the bullet and keeping mine. I am going to eBay some some vintage D&D crap to pay for it, that's the only way I can swallow it.

9/20- Just wanted to update this entry. As suspected people on various forums are beyond outraged, Bell of Lost Souls in particular is an all out total hate fest, with not 1 single person in two threads and a hundred fifty comments saying they are buying one. Funny thing is the biggest gripe seems to be that the table is unfinished? which is totally odd as when the hell has GW ever sold anything finished? People seem to be afraid they will dump the money and it will look like shit. Personally that never even entered into my head, I have most of the new GW terrain that's come out in the last year and half...it was very easy to do and came out excellent.

I spoke to Eric at our shop the other day and he said he had very few cancellations from pre orders after people where informed of the price increase. Several people had ordered "2" and had dropped it to one, and one person cancelled outright.. not sure what to make out the lack of freakout up here, sure people are pissed off...but they still want it. I don't think this product is dead in the water yet. I believe once it starts showing up in Shops and at Tourneys expertly done more and more people are going to want one. Is it stupid expensive yeah, but so is an iPhone.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Better luck with Wizards



Haven't had much luck with Wizards in my WFB gaming...I never seem to be able to get a spell off- either bad dice or my opponent has 10+ dispel dice..anyways this guy has been waiting for some paint for long time, I so I painted him up this while I still was on a painting groove. Hoping a new model will bring me some luck as I really want to work a wizard back into my list. I'll be working on Osgiliath this weekend, not sure whether I'll get enough done for an update.







Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Mighty Empires IV - Round 5

10/7 @ Games Workshop, Oak Park



STANDING AFTER ROUND 5

Ogres- 11 capital
Vampire Counts (pink)- 10 capital
Vampire Counts (red)- 10 capital
Night Goblins- 8
Dwarfs-8 capital
Dark Elves- 7 capital
Tomb Kings-7 capital
Warriors of Chaos - 6
Skaven- 5
Empire- 4
High Elves- 3
High Elves- 1


STRATEGIC EVENTS

Skaven- All or Nothing
High Elves (Purple)- Praise be to the Oracle
Warriors of Chaos- Survey the Battlefield
Vampire Counts (Red)- Land Grab
Empire- Building Boom
Night Goblins- event via praise week 4??
Tomb Kings- War Tax
Dark Elves- Diplomacy@ Mike
High Elves (Black)- Sabotage
Dwarfs- Fortune favors the bold
Vampire Counts (Pink)- Scouts
Ogres- No Guts, No Glory


CAMPAIGN EVENTS

Skaven- Harvest Moon ( City D7)
High Elves (Purple)-All is Well
Warriors of Chaos- Hidden Cache ( 2 dispel scrolls)
Vampire Counts (Red)- Harvest Moon (+250gp)
Empire- All is well
Night Goblins- All is well
Tomb Kings- All is Well
Dark Elves- Treasure Trove
High Elves (Black)- Corruption
Dwarfs- Corruption
Vampire Counts (Pink)- All is Well
Ogres- All is Well


REVENUE

Skaven- 125
High Elves (Purple)- 25
Warriors of Chaos- 150
Vampire Counts (Red)-400 + 1 Ep carried over
Empire- 250
Night Goblins- 275 + 1 Ep carried over
Tomb Kings- 275 + war tax = 375 ( john buy Ep?)
Dark Elves- 275
High Elves (Black)- 0
Dwarfs-450
Vampire Counts (Pink)- 525
Ogres- 250 + 1 Ep carried over

CHALLENGES
All Players are default 2000 points before reinforcement purchases

OPEN CHALLENGES

HIGH ELVES (black) VS EMPIRE
EMPIRE- Massacre by Concession

DARK ELVES VS SKAVEN
DRAW!!!- 2EP

TOMBS KINGS VS OGRES
OGRES- MASSACRE!- 5 EP

INVASIONS

EMPIRE VS SKAVEN D6-F6
EMPIRE MASSACRE! 5EP

HIGH ELVES (purple) VS DWARFS D3-E3
DWARFS MASSACRE!- 5EP

WARRIORS OF CHAOS VS VAMPIRE COUNTS (Pink) F3-G3
VAMPIRE COUNTS SOLID VICTORY -5EP

VAMPIRE COUNTS (Red) VS NIGHT GOBLINS D4-E5 capital invasion
NIGHT GOBLINS MASSACRE- 5EP!

OGRES VS HIGH ELVES (black) K6-K7
OGRES- MASSACRE!- 5 EP


Special Characters

Special Characters will join their respective armies via special events and your Empire's accomplishments.

Joined in round 1

TOMB KINGS- KHALIDA via campaign event
HIGH ELVES (Black)- TECLIS via campaign event
CHAOS- ARCHAON via campaign event

Joined in round 2-

HIGH ELVES (Black) takes 100 gold
VAMPIRE COUNTS (red) - MANNFRED VON CARSTEIN via campaign event
VAMPIRE COUNTS (pink)- VLAD VON CARSTEIN via campaign event
DWARFS- THOREK IRONBROW via campaign event

Joined in round 3

VAMPIRE COUNTS (pink)- CONRAD VON CARSTEIN - 1st City
ISABELLA VON CARSTEIN- Capital

Joined in Round 4

HIGH ELVES (Purple) - KORHIL - 1st City
HIGH ELVES (Black) CARADRYAN- 1st City
DARK ELVES- SHADOWBLADE- 1st City
EMPIRE- LUTHOR HUSS- 1st- City
SKAVEN-??? 1st City
NIGHT GOBLINS- 1st City

Joined in Round 5

SKAVEN- Thrott, Thanquel
DARK ELVES- Malus Darkblade, Morathi
DWARFS- Joseph Bugman

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Chicago GT Wraps!!

10/5/2008 @ Crowne Plaza O'hare

Welp the Chicago GT ended today, I went from being very happy with my performance on Saturday to being pretty disappointed by todays. I should start by saying the Chicago GT is a very well run event, everyone was on the ball and very professional, the tables were well set and referee's were numerous. While its lacks the flair, attendance and event selection that is Adepticon. The one thing I can say for the GT that it was verywell staffed, if you needed anything someone was right there.

Attendance was lower than I expected but with poor economic times the $125.00 ticket was steep. They did give away alot of product along with the winning trophys, Awards such as Best Sportsman, General, and Painted are now given with 1st through 3rd Places a total of 11 awards for WFB. The other events where similar. They also gave serious swag away in the name of new 40K drop pods to around 10 people random selected from hat as Door Prizes, so don't say GW isn't stepping up the GT trying to please the masses, Dave Taylor is clearly listening to feedback and trying to make the GT's the best events possible. Attendance numbers where 40K -54 players, WFB 44 Players, LotR 12 players. Nowhere near Adepticon numbers, but alot of players did come from all over the Midwest.

I ran a pretty similar list to what I normally run with Empire- I always get told my lists are too "soft' for a competitive tournament without running a War Altar or Steam Tank. I ran an Arch Lector on a Horse, two Priests, (one being Luthor Huss) and a BSB with the Imperial Banner, with as much infantry and shooting as I could jam in.
There were of course brutal lists..but not of the variety I had been "Warned" about. While Demons and VC where numerous, There where only 3 Bloodthirsters (one winning the whole thing) VC lists where all over the map and new Dark Elves did very well. The top 10 players broke down to 4 Demons, 2 VC, 1 Dark Elf, 1 Wood Elf and 2 Empire. In short the Empire can compete it just a matter of "how". The were 5 Empire Players total, no one ran "4 Cannons" and "two steam tanks" I placed 4th of the 5 Empire Players the 1st having a lone steam tank, the second with both Stank and War Altar, the third with just the War Altar, The last place finishing Empire player had and Infantry artillery list similar to mine and did similarly well in battle points (39 to my 40) I finished 30th of 44 players with Score of 125, Again my Painting and Sportsmanship or "soft scores" where almost maximum pulling me to the top of bottom third.

Game 1 VS Orcs.- (Jon from Pittsburgh) This list was way off the map crazy, 40 Squig Hoppers, 5 Pump Wagons, Two big blocks of Savage Orcs...Level Shaman. Great Game, I took out all his characters with Cannonballs, except his Black Orc Boss who my Arch Lector killed in Challenge with Von Horstmans Speculum. My Lector was eventually killed but In the end my main block survived and that is alot of my points. DRAW but + 271 in my favor...missing a MV by a few points.

Game 2 vs Orcs. ( Dave from Columbus)- Standard Orc stuff I faces tons of times, Two big blocks of Boyz with Characters, 2 Chariots, a Giant, 4 Spear Chucka's ..A Doom Diver, etc.. My Cannons where Aces..Taking out lots of Warmachines and both Chariots..the Helblaster Blew up but with a "6" (30 shots) Shredding the Giant like tissue paper. Hard fought great game...a DRAW at 90 points in my favor. Dave was choice for Favorite Opponent.

Game 3 vs Dwarfs ( Jeff from Michigan)- this was Thorek and Anvil with a gunline the dreaded, nastiest / cheese style Dwarf list. It was also on a very open Desert Table..I figured I was toast so I would just go for it. The first two turns...the Anvil just brutalized me...his Organ guns also brutalized me...I literally lost 1/2 my Army by the second turn. I did manage to take out both his cannons however before they hurt me. Turn 3 it turned around for me. The Anvil misfired and was held up until turn 5. That allowed my to get my main block into combat with his Hammerers (the only infantry unit) and Luthor with one Suriving Knight and 1 lone Pistolier into combat with Anvil..The keep chipping away and winning combat so I had Thorek ties up the rest of game and Anvil did me know more harm. My Swordsmen broke the hammerers in turn 5 and ran them down...one detachment did wonders tying up so thunderers saving me from shooting..I had one cannon left and kept popping war machines. When the smoke cleared I was up +431 points
and has a MINOR VICTORY..I figure If I can beat this list..I can beat anything with a bit of luck

Game 4 vs Vampire Counts ( Paul from out of town) Typical stuff...Grave Guard, Drachenhof Banner, Conrad, Corpse Cart.. 6 Banshee which scared me because I had nothing except Soul Fire prayer to kill them. It looked positive from the get go he did not roll "Dance" which is key to VC strategy. Ok I have played VC tons, have the book..I know what to do -problem is nothing worked, the Dice let me down time and time again...Knights get with Curse of Years again don't dispel until it wipes out most the unit (including luthor)..they panic anyway from some banshee howls and run..fail to rally, rally on the second chance. Dice a creaming me...can hit anything or am hitting everything and he is making his saves...Paul his running his General around solo on foot unprotected throwing 3 and 4 dice every spell ( my friend Bill would call this INSANE) I hit his General with THREE cannonballs and failed to score a single wound, nor did he throw a single miscast with 11 power dice. I killed the Varghulf but it tied up my greatswords for too long and a misplaced detachment allowed his Graveguard to overun with an "11"!!! and just reach the flank of my Swordsmen block...I hold the first turn after taking heavy losses from the the flank cant get my characters into combat and my pistoliers who are hitting his flank as support can not make the leadership "9" with TWO chances...then they flee "17" of a potential "18" taking them off the table by an inch, So on and So on.. I lose by MASSACRE -.My opponent told me I should melt my dice after game...He got massacred the next round by Dark Elves..go figure. Super nice guy..frustrating game

Game 5 vs Wood Elves ( Eric from Pittsburgh) - Ancient Treeman, 4 Treekin, 5 Wild Riders 12 War Dancers. 10 Glade Guard x 2, 5 Glade Riders x 2, 8 Dryads X 2...Board has three forests on it...I knew I was in trouble. all the forests kept me from deploying my blocks close together
once the Tree Singing started, I had a tough time maneuvering my Cavalry...his shooting was brutal, mine cannons went cold...I started rolling "10" on my guess range every time for the first 3 shots over shooting everything, then a couple misfires and my Artillery was toast..had 1 cannon in turn 4 with awesome grapeshot that would pasted some annoying dryads and left me clear shots at the treeman for the rest of game, misfires, blows up. Greatswords break the Treekin but can't catch...Wardancers and Dryads charge the next turn finish them...my main block broke some glad riders and wardancers but could catch either..I even got off a nice Soulfire on some dryads..in the end he got at my block from all sides, and even after using the VHSpeculum to swap stats with Ancient in a Challenge..all it did was save me some wounds and put 1 on him.. eventually I broke...game over... MASSACRE for him...I had movement issues and when I needed to capitalize I couldn't. Also Eric's WE army was awesome..best looking WE army since James Hyde's I have seen...awesome scratch built treeman...I didn't get any pics but GW staff did..so look for it an upcoming White Dwarf.

1 Win, 2 Draws, 2 Losses..in the end....1 decent win today and I really could have placed well, hell a massacre would have put me in the top 10..that's way it goes I guess..a couple bad dice rolls is all that really stands in the way between the top 10 and bottom 10. I am serious considering getting a Steam Tank for Adepticon in the Spring just to be more competitive.

Finally let me say this about Best Appearance. Coming off fresh my second Best Appearance win in local tourneys I was cautiously optimistic. Tim Lison was WFB judge so it was scored by a pro, I got 35 out of 40- I know I got knocked on my Display base and 1 point or 2 for conversions..(I don't have any "full" scratch builds) a..and maybe a 1 point or 2 on the overall for "extreme highlighting or Blends" Anyway...I know I need to jazz up my base...while mine was nicer than most as is and the Forge World cannon emplacement really helped, (glad I got them done)but it still needs more. I know where work needs to be done on my army I'll do more by April for sure.

Below are some shots of the winners in painting for the GT, I didn't expect to win and there were 4 Armies definitely way better than mine and several that were equally comparable...If we placed in painting..I consider myself 5th only because I got more player's choice votes that others with identical scores to mine.



Jeff Schiltgen's Empire Army.. 3rd Best Appearance ( Jeff came is 2nd place overall and won last yeats Championships at Adepticon I don't know how he wins with that army as it looks like to low of a model count for my style of play- but he rocks it..I am taking notes)



Mike Butchers- Nurgle Legion 2nd Best Appearance.- While I voted for Jeff as he's Empire after all In my opinion this was the top painted Army. This Army did well on the battlefield as well placing 5th overall.

Scratch Conversions like this will get 40 out of 40 for painting scores Impressive.



Shawn Welte's Khorne Deamons. Chicago GT 2008Best Appearance
While very impressive- not as strong as the Nurgle Legion or in my opinion Jeff's Empire or the Wood Elf army I spoke of.. The display base thou was freaking beautiful and really helped carry this army to the top spot- while the many shades of red were stellar the glossy finish made it "too red" for me. Many details where buried on first glance and it wasn't until I sat down and really looked at it during lunch today that I could appreciate it. Don't get me wrong I like it..I just think it needs a more subtle touch. (It's a taste thing I am not a gloss finish guy)
This army didn't do too well on battlefield placing below me...I don't know what happened there a Bloodthirster and a bunch of Bloodcrushers should have owned.

Finally congrats to Chris Grafton from Club Night at the Oak Park Shop for winning Players Choice Favorite Opponent!- yeah Chris!! at least one of us won something!!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Chicago GT

I am just about to crash for about 5 hours before I get up to go to the Chicago GT, as promised here are some shots of the display I am bringing. Lot of late nights the last few weeks in order to polish everything up, I would have loved another week but whatever. New Display base- Done. Forge World- Cannon Emplacements- Done, New Swordsmen Detachment- Done..I touched up all my bases so they match but fell short on touching a up few lose ends (my one unit of 6th ed Handgunners is really just basic table top compared to some the rest.) I am running a bunch of stuff I haven't had much of chance to practice with like the Arch Lector with two warriors priests, and a few Items I don't usually use..I'm just gonna wing it- but I know how to play this army if the dice gods cut me a break I think I'll do ok, I will report back after day 1 and you know how I did.




The model I use as Karl Franz ( with his superman style custom cape) is my Arch Lector
I am real happy with the way the display base came out my new miter box and borrowed nail gun did the trick..thanks Joe!!






 

blogger templates | Make Money Online