Hive fleet Zhuran in Apocalypse

By TheGraveMind

A few weekends ago there was a couple of Apoc games that went on. I managed to make it to one of these, bringing 4k worth of Nids with me. It was somewhere around 40 termagaunts, 60 hormagaunts, 75 genestealers, 20 warriors and 4 trygons. This is mostly what I have painted, and wanted to bring.

Dark Angels revealed!

By TheGraveMind

Author is Jeremy Vetock, (skaven writer)

So this was passed on to me. Seems green marines are truly around the corner. Here are some White dwarf pictures that are out. (updating as I go)

Some Shrooms

By TheGraveMind

 

 I had purchased the new under-empire basing kit not too long ago, as I was looking for some good cavernous growth to use on bases. This is one of the new kits GW came out with, and they are priced $5 more than the normal basing kits. I figured I would go through what you get so those interested could see.

Which Game Wins On Complexity?

by SandWyrm

Brent did what he does best yesterday, by throwing out a hand grenade on BoLS. In the flood of comments about the 'success' of 40K, Zingbaby made a comment that 40K's rules have every other game beat on unit/weapon variety. I just can't let that go without a detailed reply. :)

A Real Heavy Bolter

by SandWyrm

The glass of water trick is nice. Enjoy!

Year End 1500 point 40k tournament on December 22nd at Games 2die4

By Spaguatyrine




I am running the last tournament of 2012 at Games 2 Die 4 in Avon. 

Check out the details and make this last event a great one!  We are using the 6th edition rules you have wanted.....

A Plague and Biomass

 By TheGraveMind

I had recently gotten a game in against Nemisis and his Deathguard Tally list. Multiple objectives (3) and diagonal deployment. I got something useless on my Tyrant for a warlord trait, and I think his was something like scoring for his nurgle bike lord. This isn't his only practice game against Tyranids. You can read the battle report here when he faced our other Nid player. He rolled for his boon of mutation, got 2 boons, one being +1W, the other being +1T. Nurgle smiles upon his followers it seems.

The Ultimate Mary Sue

by SandWyrm

"Captain Ward was born on Macragge. Upon turning five, he asked to enlist in the Ultramarines (best chapter of them all) like his father to help Daddy kill the aliens. He was taken in as the youngest ever initiate due to his superior marks in schools, blinding speed, and deadly strength..."

Dare we open it...?

by Anonymous Foodie

My Dark Eldar army has gone through three editions now, and (huzzah!) a single codex change.  Every army changes with either of these things... weapon load-outs become more or less optimal, transport options come into the light or under fire... even something as simple as squad size may come into question.

Looking through my warriors today (I had a few touch-ups to do on pewter figs) I got to wondering; after so many incarnations (and it's really less than most armies deal with), so many changes of "what is my basic troop"... if I pulled out all of my warriors and broke them into squads, utilizing as many as possible while retaining useful choices, what would I be looking at?

I will do it... for Science!!!

by Anonymous Foodie

A friend of mine somehow convinced his institute of higher education that we wargamers are worth one of them thar fancy science studies... in internet questionnaire form, of course.

A Tale of Terrain and Cleavage. . .

By Outremer

I've been in a hobby funk for a couple of months. . . think getting everything ready for Nova burnt me out a bit.  The old creative juices have been flowing again and I've been trying to spend at least an hour or two working on projects everyday.  Here's a big steaming pile of what I've been up to!  And no, the cleavage isn't just a ploy to pull you in. . . there really are boobs after the jump!

Adepticon destroys last year's records!

By Spaguatyrine




So I met a couple of buddies from church at BW3 to watch the 1st half of the Monday Night Football game then the plan was to go home and sign up for the Warhammer 40k Championship Qualifiers.  I got home to register and the problem was....

Some Interesting 40K Scale Comparisons

by SandWyrm

Here's a couple of quick scale comparisons that I find amusing. :)

Escalation league

By TheGraveMind

I've recently started up an escalation league with my tyranids. I've decided to go back and finish painting them as I've never really had a finished and well painted army. I almost had my bugs finished right before the new codex hit, but then I had to switch out most of my units. My blood angels I painted to three colors the night before the Indy Open last year, so they really aren't to the standard I know I can paint. We've started off at 500 point, and we'll be progressing at 250 increments. (speaking of 500, looks like we just hit 500 followers. WOO HOO!) Here is how 500 points has gone so far.

That's NOT Just The Way It Is

by SandWyrm

Spag I think, speaks for a lot of regular folks when he says that Big Businesses are all the same. It's a fatalistic view, and one that also excuses GW's (and Disney's, and Microsoft's, and Apple's) bad and/or stupid behaviors. But it's just that. Bad/stupid behavior. Which is made worse by the incentives companies have to make bad decisions when they're publicly traded.

The Vice That's Squeezing GW

by SandWyrm

BoLS actually posted an interesting article yesterday. Where they got hold of some fairly candid comments from GW designer Robin Cruddice. Three points stood out to me...

Indy Open 2013!

by: farmpunk

Yes, It's that time of the year again, and we've got something in the works...

Someone said Necrons are OP?

By Spaguatyrine



I think this picture says it all!!! 

Are Necrons Over Powered?  They were the first codex written closest to 6th edition that obviously benefit from new rules, cool and new abilities, and awesome looking models. But overpowered??????

Monthly 40K tournament in Chicago. Who wants to go?

By Spaguatyrine



As I have been looking for more tournaments to go to within traveling distance from Indianapolis.  Most of the Grand Tournaments are 5+ hours away.

That being said.......

Weathering Models: 2 Easy Spray Paint Effects

by SandWyrm

Sam wanted me to describe how to bounce-spray and dust with canned spray-paint in order to get some airbrush-style effects. Since I worked them out myself, I don't know what other painters call them, but I refer to them as bounce-spraying and dusting.

Channeling My Inner Iron Man

by SandWyrm

The Dark Vengeance Chosen models have these nice little jewel-things in the middle of their chests. So I've been playing around with some lighting effects. :)

Duel Con and Alan Campbell

By Spaguatyrine




I met an awesome up and coming player at The Midwest Massacre in Kansas City, MO.  Alan had such an impact on my playing experience I am changing my primary living army list......

Ymgarl genestealers

By TheGravemind

So 6th edition changes have taken a bit of getting used to, but armies adapt. For Tyranids, Hiveguard used to be the staple of the elite slot. Now with the decline of mech that is changing. I've been replacing my hiveguard units with ymgarl squads. They are the new amazing unit this edition in my opinion. I want to talk about how I've been using them.

Why my 5th ed list didn't work at NOVA 2012

By Spaguatyrine



That' what it felt like at Nova this year.  While my 5th edition Grey Knight list was terribly difficult to beat. In fact I never actually lost at a tournament with it......

Grey Knights for sale or rent...

by: farmpunk

I'm finally doing it. I'm selling off my GK's if anyone wants to buy them send an e-mail to the blog. I've got a strike squad, and several halberdier squads. (I used them as purifiers) This is the bulk of the same force I took to NOVA.

TH/SS terminators!

By Spaguatyrine



I went to the Midwest Massacre GT a few weekends ago and decided to take something a little different that no one would expect..........

Marines in 6th Trial and Error

By TheGraveMind

 When 6th edition hit I tried a few games with my Blood angels and couldn't seem to get them to work right. Razorback spam wasn't working the same with the limitations on assaulting from vehicles and hull points. My jumpers list didn't like the furious charge, FNP and reserve changes either. The jumpers were always the list I liked the most, so I was determined to make it work. With the prevalence of more infantry based lists, I was sure I could find something.

Realistic 40K Weapon Ranges

by SandWyrm

Ok, so we all know that the weapon ranges in 40K are unrealistically gimped for the sake of the game. But exactly how gimped are they? Well, I spent a good part of the day finding out just so that I could show you. Enjoy!

Interesting Trends In 40K Gaming

by SandWyrm

If you've never played with Google Trends, you're really missing something. If you enter a search term, Google will show you a graph of that term's search popularity back to 2004. It gives you a sense of what the Google-using population of the world is thinking about over time. Well, I wondered, what are they thinking about our hobby?

And the verdict is...

by Anonymous Foodie

If anyone missed it, GW dropped their rulebook FAQ over the weekend.  So what's it entail?

I Love Grenades!

By Outremer

 

I've been too busy/out of town the last few weeks to make it to my regular Monday night game.  Was able to meet up with Totengraber this week for a shit's and giggles game and was absolutely blown away by who my MVP units were!

 

Who Wants To Trade For Some Blood Angels?

by Sandwyrm

I got to see the new Dark Vengeance set opened last night at the FLGS... and I want 2. Who wants to trade me for my Sanguinary Guard army?

Outremer at the Nova Open 2012. . . the Agony and the Ecstasy.

By Outremer

Spag invited me to attend Nova with him several months ago.  After much angst ridden debate, I finally decided to go.  I say angst ridden debate because I still feel like a bit of a lame duck at tournaments due to my serious lack of experience.  The Nova Open is a huge step up from the local tournaments I've played in thus far and I felt very intimidated.  In the end I realized I needed to quit worrying about winning any games, have some fun, and just consider it all good experience.  When I realized there was going to be a painting contest I knew where to focus my energies!  I may not be an uber competitive player, but I'm all about the hobby side. . .

Nova Open 2012: The good, the bad, and the meta change....

By Spaguatyrine

THE META

I will say I believe the 6th meta has been established for me.  I know some say there isn't a meta out right now, that it is too new.  I disagree for a few reasons.

The top tables which I played on the entire weekend had similar patterns. 
#1 The patterns where either Necrons with flyers/wraiths/annihilation barges/spiders etc.
#2 All scoring/denial units such as daemons, all foot armies such as SW, GK, Guard, etc.
#3 Had large numbers of flying vehicles and or creatures

Now there were a few that were combinations of the above patters and a few mech armies such as mine that did ok.  But with the missions the way they were run, and trying to fit in table quarters made patterns 1 thru 3 above the top competitors. 

I also believe a meta is forming as a defense against the nasty flyers.  This is accomplished by....

Where's All The NOVA Talk?

by SandWyrm

Ok, I have to ask... What's with the deafening silence about NOVA this week from the competitive community? I can understand the promised update feed glitching out during the event itself. But where's the commentary and the stories? Where's the impressions of 6th Edition and it's first major competitive tourney? Was it good? Bad? Mixed? Who won the invitational? How many games did Stelek actually lose? What are the greater meta implications of the armies that showed up?

Midwest Massacre GT 2012 (September 15-16) Reminder

 ByTheGraveMind

 Just a reminder to all about another GT that is coming up soon.

Tournament Size: 2000 pts
Tournament System: Warhammer 40k
Tournament Format: Win/Loss GT
Tournament Size: 64 Players

Prize Support: Over $1000 (Not including the Champions Belt!!!)
Entree Fee: $45
Date of Even: Sept. 15th-16th 2012
Location: Fall Recruits which will be held at Lee Summit High School. (link to there spring recruits but this information is good for the fall hotels, directions, etc... http://recruits.mtswebsites.com/Site.php
Address: Lee's Summit High School (LSHS) is at 400 SE Blue Parkway, Lee's Summit, MO 64063

Who doesn't like terminators?

By TheGravemind

I've always liked terminators, but could never figure out a way to really get them into my blood angel lists. So a while ago I decided to take the plunge and grab up a terminator army. Black reach and bits got me most of the way, and a few last purchases recently finished it up. Well, with the news of Dark angels coming closer and closer, I figured I better finish them up so I can at least use them as deathwing once before the new codex hits and I have to change things up.

Dark Vengeance comes out soon, and I have mine pre-ordered so I'm hoping to get it soon. I'll do a review whenever I get to open it up.

If I hadn't already started...

by: farmpunk

At Gencon, I passed by and glanced at something. I should have stopped and examined some new plastics more closely....

Destroy This List - 2k Tyranids

by Anonymous Foodie

So here's the deal - I post my 2000 point, all-comer's Nid list, and you tell me how/why it fails at life. 

6th Edition and Double Force Orgs

by Anonymous Foodie

There have been a lot of things floating around about 6th... a few rules "quandaries" that seem extremely one-sided to me (of course, I'm a bit biased when it comes to my own opinions), and other shenanigans.  However, there is one thing that people are mussed about that I can do naught but stare and cock my head to the side...

Gencon: The Costumes - Part 2

by Sandwyrm

Gandalf needs high heels!

Here's the rest of the costume pics. Enjoy!

Gencon: The Costumes - Part 1

by SandWyrm

So a Guardsman, a Vindicare, and a Techpriest walk into a bar... :)

Seriously though, one of the best things about Gencon is seeing all of the costumes folks show up in. I've got 71 of these pics, so I'm going to break this up into 2 parts. But I didn't even get pics of half the cool costumes I saw. They were everywhere you went in the convention center and the attached mall. Enjoy!

Gencon: Appreciating The Scale

by Sandwyrm

Having never been to Gencon before, it was a bit of a shock to see just how freakin' huge the show was compared to say, Adepticon. Let me take you on a tour of what I saw.

First 6th Tournament

By TheGraveMind

"My life for the swarm!"

So while Gencon was going on this weekend I went to my first Tournament. There was relatively small turn out, but with a good representation of vanilla marines, dark angels, templar, blood angels, Tau, my Tyranids and others. I had decided to just bring my tyranids as I have them mostly painted and I'm still not sure what I want to do with my Blood Angles. And this is how it went...

Well, At Least I Got Best Painted!

by Sandwyrm

Farmpunk and I played in the Mid-War Flames tournament on Saturday at Gencon. Where I got the schooling I had expected to get at our last tournament. Lost all 3 games. Though the first and second losses were against the guys who came in first and second for best General. So at least I got beat by the best. :)

My DAKs Are Ready For Gencon!

by Sandwyrm

Farmpunk is enjoying himself at Gencon today while I'm stuck at home doing a bunch of chores for Mrs. Sandwyrm (stupid weekend houseguests). But I'll be down there for all of the next two days. Tomorrow I'll be walking around and helping Able Kompanie run their big North Africa tank battle demo. While on Saturday I'll be playing in the Mid-War tournament. So, since I've gotten my painting done (GASP!) early, I thought I'd take a few pics of my 1625 German Panzer army and put them up for all to see.

NOVA Open (Repost)

by MVB

The NOVA Cometh - A True Wargaming CONVENTION, Not Just a Tournament - Prep Guide and Excitement!

Well, the NOVA Open is 2 weeks away. Skip the next few paragraphs if you don't enjoy the idea of memory lane with me, and go down to the enumerated paragraphs.

Using Rule book Missions/deployment.

By TheGravemind

I tried out my tyranids the other day, and lets say it was an interesting game. It was against tau, and a relatively casual list. My Nid list was based off of my 5th ed tourney list, but I was trying a few things, so it wasn't that amazing. Up to this point  in 6th I had been playing NOVA missions (all two games I had played) so we decided to play from the BRB.

Gencon: Run through the jungle

by: farmpunk

I'm going to Gencon. I'm kind of excited. Even though I've lived in Indy for 4 years now, I've only done GenCon Indy once. Even then, it was only for a daytrip with Chambers.

Oh how I love "Marbo"

By Spaguatyrine



As I practice more for 6th I have used Marbo a few times and man does he pack a punch.

A model in labor

By TheGravemind

I've had a little bit of free time lately, and I've been spending it on the hobby side. Today I've been trying to finish up my Tervigon. As you can see it isn't on it's base. That's because I'm painting the base seperate and trying to put a good amount of detail into it.