Small Hobby This and Thats

Been really busy with work and getting ready for the new baby who finally arrived yesterday.  Hooray!  So now we're just hanging out in the hotel hospital room as we can't go home until tomorrow.  So with time to kill I might as well update this blog with what's been going on lately.

I did get out to Celesticon again this year, and like past years had a great time.  I took my drop pods out for 1500 which is not my favorite point level but for a one day 3 game event this was mostly just for fun.  In some ways I regret not taking some other fun list out (Orks), but since it was an ITC event I still was hoping to grab some nice points!

Vulcan
Command Squad, 5 Meltas, Pod
10 Tacticals, Melta, MM, Combi Plasma, Pod
10 Tacticals, Melta, MM, Combi Plasma, Pod
10 Tacticals, Melta, MM, Combi Plasma, Pod
10 Tacticals, Melta, MM, Combi Plasma, Pod
10 Tacticals, Melta, MM, Combi Plasma, Pod
5 Assault Marines, 2 Flamers, Melta Bomb, Pod

It is pretty much a no nonsense list that relies on a hard hitting drop and lots of OBSEC units to take objectives.

My first round I played a Bike/Rhino white scar list with Coteaz.  Funny enough the one practice game I ended up losing leading up to this was Frankie running my bikes!  I ended up not deploying great thanks to coteaz mucking about with his bikes, and he made every cover save turn one.  DRAT!  So I was working uphill all game.  I managed to tie the primary and lose the secondary so ended up with a loss.

My second round I played a rhino CSM/min noise marines + Nurgle Spawm list.  This game was the relic which usually I do great with pods.  The reason is I can deploy very in the face in front of the Relic with most of my army and then one small unit can grab the relic turn one.  The rest of the game I can do a bit of a fighting retreat with my main line and keep the relic squad pretty safe.  This is what happened this game as well, though had the game gone on longer he just might have caught up to me with those fast moving spawn!

Game 3 was against a CSM/Daemon list that had a Bastion.  I don't recall the mission but this is one of those games where things mostly just went my way.  I was downing FMCs and getting those last wounds on when I needed.  Meanwhile his reserves showed up piecemeal and just generally couldn't get over the first drop down if I recall.  I think this ended up being a full 10 points for me.

So I went 2-1 and placed 11th in battle points out of 38.  All of my opponents were new guys I'd never played and were lots of fun.  I'd like to know how my paint score was but knew I wouldn't have won as soon as Master Painter Israel showed up with his Tau!

http://www.frontlinegaming.org/community/frontline-gamings-independent-tournament-circuit/

That currently cracks me into 5th place overall in the ITC standings.  Of course you only get your top 4 scores, and currently there are only a handful of us that have all 4 events complete.  As more of the leaderboard with 3 events cracks their 4th score I'm sure it is going to be awfully tight in the top 10.  I've got some decent scores at the 4 events I have but nothing game changing either.  I've got 2 ITC events on the docket to attend still that hopefully I can increase that score a bit with a huge win (or at least a really good showing)!  Even still if I crack 300 I'd be pretty happy, but I am not sure that will be quite enough to hold on to a top 10 spot.  It's still fun to just mess with, but I wonder if next year I'll just pick Orks or Dark Angels and go for a 'Best of' Top Spot that is less crowded than Space Marines.

On the hobby side of things I've been doing lots of this or that; no big projects so to speak.  The main thing I've been doing is updating some of my buddy, Dave's, Tyranids.  Sadly I don't have any before pictures but once I get through the last of them I'll so post some pictures.  It is mostly some cleanups and added layers just to kick the painting up a bit.

I also previous to Celesticon had finished the insides of all my drop pods.  I had only gotten two done for the BAO and now I can say that 1850 army is completely done!

I was also looking to just mix in some modeling one of the last weekends while watching some Sunday football.  So I brought down my Carnosaur kit that I've had in the closet but just never had a need to put together.  I'm not sure if I'll ever really use him but he does look cool!

I'm excited to see the changes coming around in Fantasy.  I hope it gets a bit more popular as it is fun to mix in to the gaming rotation. 

I've also had on my to do list updating Anthony's Coteaz.  I wish I had some before pictures because it was a pretty terrible ebay paint job.  I debated stripping the metal model but decided I would just overpaint and see how it worked.

I used the same Gold techniques I used on Helbrect on Coteaz and it came out great again.  I was also really happy with the cloak, as I think I've got a good red plan going on now (which I've been using on Dave's bugs) that gives off a really nice bright red and some rich darks too.  I tried a technique on the fur I had tested years ago on a Tau model that I never put into production but it makes a cool blue/white effect on the fur.  I also really like his head, which probably happened more by happy accident than anything else.  I was trying to get some different flesh tones in there to make the big bald head be more interesting and I think it came out wonderfully!

The only part I'm a little disapointed with is the eagle.  This is the main area that stripping the paint probably would have helped as some of the head and body just had too thick paint to give nice quick highlights to them.  I spent some more time trying to get those details in there and it is ok, but still I think it is the one sore spot on a nice paint job.  Still he's 1000x better than the 'barely basecoated' model off ebay.

So next on the calendar I have Brawl in the Fall down in Clovis.  This is a 1750 2 day event using the BAO missions and rules in early October.  I've been wanting to get the bikes back on the table for awhile now and since there isn't any soft score factor going in here the toss up between pods and bikes is about the same.  They are both solid armies and fun to play, but the pods look several notches better than the bikes.  So I think I'll bring them out more when there is some overall scoring that goes on in some of the smaller events.  For Brawl being another ITC event I'd like to have a fun time and of course improve my overall standing if I can!  So I've had a few White Scars practice games and am going through more list revisions.

Given some of those games I've had, and now that I'm still holding on to this Coteaz model and seeing him in my earlier opponents White Scar list I'm thinking of running the following.

Khan, Moondraken
Command Squad, 5 Metlas, Melta Bomb, Pod
5 Bikes, 2x Melta, Combi Melta, Melta Bomb
5 Bikes, 2x Melta, Combi Melta, Melta Bomb
5 Bikes, 2x Grav, Combi Grav
5 Bikes, 2x Grav, Combi Grav
5 Bikes, 2x Grav, Combi Grav
5 Bikes, 2x Grav, Combi Grav
Storm Talon, Skyhammers
Storm Talon, Skyhammers
Thunderfire
Thunderfire
Coteaz

So this list is a bit different than previous lists I've run.  I think it hits like a ton of bricks and has even more bikes than I've ever brought to the table!  However it does give up some of the resiliency I've had in the past.  The first most noticeable absence is the lack of the super stud Chapter Master from hell.  His 2+/3++ eterernal warrior used to just soak up the bullets.  However I've had a number of games where with the new jink and even night fight the whole army potentially can have a 2+ cover save!  Not so helpful for wave serpants though so I'll be needed to make clutch 3+ armor saves.  It also takes out a bit of my assault punch as well which can indeed be useful.  Technically I lose the threat of the Orbital strike, but that was really a red herring anyway that never did crap.  Most opponents are already spreading out because of the TFCs anyway.

Also of note there are no attack bikes in this list.  Back when I started playing bikes I had tons of attack bikes both in the troops as well as the fast slot!  Of course these days I need the air support the Storm Talons bring.  However losing that attack bike in the troop units means no 6th wound on the squad, and occasionally I get to do shenanigans of taking two wounds but not having to take a break test.  However with marines this usually is not that crippling.

The other thing I'm worried about is super heavy vehicles and Knights.  While the MM attack bikes are great the big thing is just getting as many Meltas you can in range.  This is where the pods excel but the bikes have been lacking with my traditionally heavy Grav builds.  So out come the attack bikes, more bodies have been added to the list and two dedicated bike melta units are out for heavy tank hunting.  The attack bikes are just a bit pricey for what I'm getting I think.

I've also added a command squad back in the list which I haven't used with White Scars since Feast last year.  Originally I was going to do more bikes as I have in the past, but I'm actually out of bikers!  I do have a pod and marines for this army that I used to use as Sterngaurd (back at BAO 2013).  A couple of melta guns later and now I've brought some of the hitting power of my pod army into my bike list.

Lastly is Coats McGoats of course in the list who I have yet to actually use to see if this makes sense.  Of course as anybody knows he brings a lot to any list.  The chance to get first turn increases, the lvl 2 psy, some extra psy dice protection, the 'if all I get is prescience then great' for his powers.  The one thing I'm not sure I'll get much mileage out of is the 'I've been expecting you' super interceptor power unless I'm playing a heavy drop army where I can then put him with a grav bike unit.  That kinda ruined my whole plan at Celesticon!  I don't really have the long range fire that makes that such an amazing ability in many other Imperial lists.

I think most of the time he probably stands in the back with a Thunderfire Cannon and gives out powers as he can.  Of course I have the option of putting him in that Command Squad drop pod and really trying to kick in the teeth of a Knight or Baneblade turn one.  If he's already gotten me turn one then hell, I'm either going to really make my bed that turn or fail miserably.  Him standing in the back watching that super heavy obliterate my army isn't going to turn the tides later in the game!

So we'll see how it goes!  I have to turn in a list in the next few days so I'll probably be going in with this regardless.  Hopefully I'll still get a chance to give it a game or two to see how it comes together!

With a brand new baby that might be tough to do!