More pics of my ever-evolving army. It's all been re-based and more touch ups added..

Ok it's been awhile since I've posted anything here, mostly because I haven't been doing much painting.  The release of IoB with all those wonderful HE models has reinvigorated my desire to paint, but I refuse to start those until I finish some of the projects I was already working on.   That being said, here's one that I've been working on.  It's got a long way to go, but so far I like it.

Been a busy couple of days. I finished off my special weapons guys, and all of my Wolf Guard. Here's a picture. Next up for me is the Long Fang pack leaders.

It may boggle the mind to find out that GW is actually putting out FAQs in a timely manner (but really, how long can we expect it to continue?) but they have already updated all of the army books and the main rule book within a very short span of time. Plus many of the army books have already had their new 8th ed. FAQs updated since the initial release.

Some inventive gentleman in England has created a script that scans the GW site for new FAQs and sends out an email to anyone that subscribes to his email list.

Jump on over to the North West Warriors forums to check it out!

So with War Games Con over, I can get back to work on my Wolves. My Special weapons guys are pretty much done, they just need the wolf pelts on their shoulder pads and some need back packs.

So I took part in War Games Con's first working sessions and I had such a blast I don't even know where to begin!

I didn't play in the "couples" tournament because a) I'm a pussy and b) once I heard that Dave Taylor was doing a number of workshops I had a nerdgasm!

I walked around the hall quite a few times and it was very busy. There was the 40k and WHFB couples tournament a well as Flames of War and Warmachine Tournaments on the first day and then the WHFB and 40k singles tournaments on Saturday and Sunday along with three narrative Appoc battles.

So here is the 40K rules quiz they gave out this year at War Games Con, enjoy!

1) How many models must a 12-man unit of Chaos Space marines lose in one shooting phase in order to be required to take a morale test?

2) How close can a unit Scout towards an enemy unit?

3) Frag Grenades have what strength against vehicles?

Four albums and 252 pictures from Day 2!

40k

WHFB

Narrative Campaign

Painting Competition 

99 photos from today here and here, plus the best team write up, right there

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I'm ready for a fun-tastic fun-filled fun-venture with Dave Taylor today. I plan on getting down there early so I can take pictures before the "couples" tournament starts.

Pictures this evening.

So in the last week, I worked on a number of my space wolves. I moved heads around, and I worked on the paint job of the minis that I told to BoLScon last year. I worked on about 12 Grey Hunters and 10 Blood Claws. I took their painting quality from table top-quality to, in my opinion... < drum-roll >... good table-top quality!

So I have more of my GHs and BCs to get to this new quality (all the ones that already had bare-heads at BoLScon last year), but I've decided to work on my special weapons. I am pretty much building every combination of special weapons I think I could use, so that means 6 meltaguns, 2 flamers, and 2 plasmaguns. I really can't see me using more than this at one time.

About half of these guys already had some work done on them, and only one or two I started from scratch. All of my special weapons squads will have the wolf pelts on their right shoulders, and at the moment, only 3 of them have finished pelts, five of the remaining haven't even been started yet.

I've got the heads, base coats and bases down for everyone. My next step is to do highlights and washes. I have ordered some bits for my four wulfen, and when I get those in I will do some green stuff up for the wolf pelts and fur for the back of the clawed hands.

Oh, and btw, I hate painting yellow...

So I got my hands on another of Black Library's audio books. This time it is Heart of Rage by James Swallow.

The book details a Blood Angels squad entering a dead Tyranid hive ship in order to find an Adeptus Mechanicus team that had previously been sent in to the ship.

This book is read by Toby Longworth he reads all of the BL audio books and he does an excellent job. I was a little critical of some of his voices in Thunder from Fenris (because one of them sounded like a certain California Governor) but I really have no complaints in this one. He voices about 10 different people throughout the book and manages to make each of them pretty distinct.

So I am planning on running a Space Wolf Scout Pack in my army. I love the fact that you can really trick out the scouts (although they can be a huge points sink). The thought of 10 dudes coming in from the back field with a melta, 2 power weapons and a MoW dude can be quite scary if your opponent leaves someone in the back field. Now what I am considering doing is attaching a Wolf Guard squad leader to come in with them, but I'm not sure what I want to outfit him with. I was thinking of Mark of the Wulfen because the only thing that really seems better than one crazy mother F'er is two! But I got to wondering if there were better options, that lead me to break out the old probability hammer and figure it out.

So Wolf Guard are an intricate part of any space wolf army. Or at the very least they are in my Space Wolf Army. Now Grey Hunters are great because they can take just about any type of war gear in the Space Wolf arsenal from Terminator Armor to combi weapons to power weapons, frost weapons, wolf claws and even thunder hammers with storm shields.

Now I don't tend to drop a lot of points into my Wolf Guard. Most of them get a power fist, and thats about it.

So due to my spray issues, I haven't continued with my "next project." I going to have to break down and buy some GW spray on payday, the Armory isn't cutting it even in the house with low heat and humidity.

Anywho, what I am currently working on is updating my Space Wolves. Way back at x-mas, the wife bought me the Space Wolf Battle Force and I really haven't worked on it much other than to turn the scouts into Black Templar neophytes.

I did put most of the 20 dudes together way back when, but then I got caught up in another project.

So, the kids and I have been playing alot of Star Wars Miniatures games. They are quick to set up and play AND the rules are just simple enough that even Jake knows how to play. Also, both of the boys LOVE the Baldur's gate game for the PS2 that Calvin let us borrow. There are even 2 of Dustin's friends (both are cool kids, but geeks like Dustin and I), who have been coming over just to play with Dustin on Baldur's gate.

I've been thinking of moving on to something else for them. I first looked into the board game, Descent, which looks like a really cool game and if I'm correct, your character evolves as you keep going through adventures. It looks pretty easy to set up and can be played with just two people, plus the GM. The only problem I see with it is the lack of creativity you have with your character. Your only option is to pick a pre-set character.

I've also looked into DnD, which would allow the boys to be more creative with their characters and let their imagination explore more. The problem I have is the amount of effort that I will have to put into it to come up with suitable adventures, create maps of what their doing, and keeping track of stuff.

Price wise, it's about the same investment to do either. DnD would be ther more expensive up front with buying the 3 books needed, but they will take through quite abit of adventuring, while Descent, once you go through the intial box, each new adventure box is another $50 bucks..


Anyone have some good advise or opinions with what I can do?

So with the new edition of WHFB coming out, we have new rules. All wizards are allowed to use as many dice as they like (suck it druchii) so you can have a level 1 Warlock Engineer throwing six dice at the Dreaded Thirteenth spell in order to get that 25+. And it might seem like a very good idea, I mean, who wants to miscast with your (possibly) very expensive level 4 wizard? The downfall of a miscast now is much more devastating that it was in 7th edition, so what are your odds?

When we look at rolling the dice and we look at rolling double sixes it is pretty easy to understand that when you roll two dice, the chance that you'll get a six on the first die is 1/6 and the chance you'll get a six on the second is also a 1/6. The rules of probability say that in situations like this, you multiply the two results, so the chances of getting an irresistible force/miscast on two dice is 1/36.

C.L. Werner is fast becoming my favorite Warhammer Fantasy authors. Blood Money is the first book of the Brunner the Bounty Hunter Omnibus. It tells the story, oddly enough, of Brunner the Bounty Hunter.

Talk about the quintessential anti-hero. This guy is a total D-bag, but I couldn't help but love him. This book is a series of short stories that tell of Brunner's adventures in Bretonnia and the Border Princes, penned by a writer from the Empire.

I like the use of the short stories with Brunner as they give us many views of how he plies his trade and all the different ways he can be a bastard.

I think that what I like the most about Brunner is that he doesn't appear super-natural like many of the fantasy heroes such as Gotrek, and he doesn't rely on magic. What he does is use his mind as a weapon along with his very prodigious fighting skills.

I am very much looking forward to continuing to the next story Blood and Steal.

I give this book four collected bounties out of five.

So as the resident math nerd, I figure I'd do a semi-regular article on the probability behind some of the things we see in 40k and WHFB.

This time I'm going to look at weapons that "Gets Hot!" So what I looked at was the chance of surviving firing one of these weapons. So for a "Gets Hot!" if you roll a 1 on the to hit roll, the weapon has overloaded and the firing model suffers a wound.

This is the second book about Sigmar Heldenhammer. In the first book, Sigmar unites all of the tribes of humans under one banner, in this book he is crowned Emperor and must keep his fledgling empire from splitting apart.

I gotta say, the beginning of this book was a bit, "oh no! theres something terrible happening!" So Sigmar rides in with his trusty sword-brethren and after a terrific fight, comes out victorious! This happens 2-3 times before the story changes, and thats when the book becomes interesting.

Sigmar is tempted by the gods of Chaos and almost succumbs to their temptations, but it isn't until the last battle where the book really shines. This battle is written very well. It is visceral, and I could totally envision what was happening in my head as if I were watching a movie of what Mr. McNiell had written.

Codex: Daemonhunters

Army Book: Ogre Kingdoms

Plus I got an anthology book with a lot of the big names in Black Library. All in all, a pretty good weekend.

Well I finished off my squad of Black Templars. I think they look pretty good. I think painting the Dwarfs helped with my control, although at times my hands still get a bit shaky.

Here is a semi-close up of the chaplain. The crozius didn't come out as well as I had hoped. I'm not exactly sure why but its not very smooth.

As a response to John's reply of my post, I got to thinking of which chapter each of us would choose if we were to make character for the Deathwatch RPG. So this is what I came up with. Please consider tongue firmly in cheek.

First, me. Well I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that I would make a Space Wolf. According to the web site.

The Battle-Brothers of the Space Wolves are ferocious and aggressive warriors. Though far from mindless berserkers, they are certainly possessed of a feral exuberance for battle. They have an overriding sense of duty and honour, and are driven ever onwards by a strong desire to right the many wrongs that have befallen the Imperium of Man since the heady days of the Great Crusade. Space Wolves exhibit a fierce sense of loyalty to their comrades in arms and this is on occasion extended to their compatriots in other branches of the Imperium’s military.

This all really appeals to me. Well that and I'm too bloody predictable and generally unoriginal to pick something else.

Well the RPG is supposed to be out at GenCon which I believe is the first weekend of August. The first chapters have been announced, they are:
Space Wolves
Ultramarines
Dark Angles
Black Templars
Blood Angles
Storm Wardens

The last chapter is a fan-brewed chapter that came about through a contest. There is, at this time, no way to make a Space Marine from a chapter other than these 6, but I guess thats what updates are for.

I'm really looking forward to this.

This is totally a gimmick army. I wouldn't play this in a regular game, but I would like to take it one time against Tom's Armor company to see if it is decent or not.

HQ
Logan Grimnar, The Great Wolf in Terminator Armor
Belt of Russ, Wolf Tail Talisman, Wolftooth Necklace, Storm Bolter, Axe of Morkai

Rune Priest in Power Armor
Wolftooth Necklace, Bolt Pistol, Runic Weapon, Chooser of the Slain, Jaws of the World Wolf, Living Lightning

Wolf Priest in Power Armor
Fang of Morkai, Wolf Amulet, Wolf Tail Talisman, Wolftooth Necklace, Bolt Pistol, Crozius Arcanum

So here are my first attempts at Black Templars. I'm pretty pleased with the Neophyte, but not so much with the Initiate. I still have to do the writing on the Neophytes purity seals, and of course the bases, but other than that they are done.

I went with a khaki color for the robes and the pants and whatnot because I wanted it to look different than the scrolls. I think it came out pretty well.

So I was wandering around the BoLS site and I keep seeing that ad right up at the top for BFG. Well today I noticed for the first time that they have an online store that is offering 25% off GW prices. So I clicked on the link and wondered around a bit. One of the first things I noticed was a link that said "Darkwynn's Imperial Guard Leafblower" so I checked it out. If you don't know, Darkwynn won the 2009 'Ard Boys and the 2010 Adepticon Gladiator with this list. Its called a leafblower because it is designed to blow your opponent off the board first turn. You can find the actual list for 'Ard Boys here, not sure if it changed for Adepticon.

HQ:

I think this is what I'll be playing for a while.

HQ
Wolf Lord
Runic Armor, Wolf Tail Talisman, Wolftooth Necklace, Bolt Pistol, Frost Weapon, Saga of the Bear

Rune Priest
Wolftooth Necklace, Bolt Pistol, Runic Weapon, Jaws of the World Wolf, Living Lightning

Rune Priest
Wolftooth Necklace, Bolt Pistol, Runic Weapon, Murderous Hurricane, Living Lightning

HQ:
Warboss (Lhok'ar) Combi-Scorcha/Powerklaw/Bosspole/Cybork/Eavy armor/Attack Sqig

Elite:
12 Commandos with 2 burnas and Stinkrot (I really like the sneaky backstabby Orks)

10 Lootas (Possibilty of 30 Str 7 shots coming from this unit)

Troops:
8 Nobs in Eavy armor with Painboy, Waaagh banner, 2 big Choppas, 2 PKs, 1 BP, and a Combi scorcha (Warboss in this unit) - (WS5, Furious Charge - Str 5 for most, AS 4 and FNP) (Will run behind the boys for a cover save until they get to the enemy.

So I spent the afternoon putting tags (Labels) on all the posts for the blog (all 163 odd posts). If you have a minute, go through your posts and see if I have done an adequate job tagging your posts. If you think it is tagged wrong, feel free to change it, I just ask that you look through all the tags to see if there is one that fits your post before you create a new one. If you feel I have tagged one of your posts incorrectly, I'm sorry, I was doing my best.

Anywho... so yeah, this is day 4 of my vacation...

This book by Chris Roberson tells the tale of some Imperial Fists as they go from being "regular" humans through their induction into the Fists, their time as scouts and their eventual elevation to full battle brothers.

This book is interesting because in the book Heroes of the Space Marines which was published a year or so ago, we see the main characters in the short story Gauntlet Run.  So this first story falls somewhere in the timeline of the novel, but isn't really discussed.

Heres the new Lemun Russ model that I assembled and painted for display at Wonko's. It's sitting next to the "now" old style Lemun Russ. I like it. The turret is longer and not as blocky and weapon swaps are easy.

So the Mark of the Wulfen upgrade that I can put in one of my Grey Hunters, Blood Claws or Wolf Guard Units. The dude in the unit that has the mark replaces the number of attacks he normally has with D6+1 attacks with rending. If someone has a special weapon (fist, claws etc.) the special rules for the weapon are not used. This is still frigging awesome. I have charged a sole survivor with the mark into a full squad of Tau fire warriors and wiped them out.

For the modeling side of this, I wanted to get a box of the 13th Company Wulfen from the old 3rd ed mini-dex Eye of Terror. These minis are pretty cool and show the fluff of the model. It says that the marked Space Wolf has shunned the use of any close combat weapons and is clawing at his opponent.

So I was thinking I was going to skip BoLScon this year. At first it was because of the seven 2000 point games. I am just too old and too fat and too crappy at 40k to spend so much time over one weekend standing around. Another thing is that with the 40k tourney I didn't get to see anything else going on, there were Space Hulk demonstrations going on last year that I really would have liked to have sat in on. So the tournament was right out for me.

Would anyone else besides me want to play it? Or should I not bother with it?

New terrain I've finished...