New Banners!

I have four more banners lined up at the moment with 3 more on the burner.

Firstly, I have another Space Wolves chapter banner lined up. Easy enough, I've done it before and I have the banner ready to go. Just need to find time to paint.

But also I have a huge job in the works.  A new gaming store about to open has commissioned a series of 6 banners, thats right, SIX!!!

The first half of the commisssion is three banners. One more customized and two traditional.  The first was originally meant to be a WHFB Empire banner, but as I evolved the idea, turned it into a banner for the store.  The second two? Preheresy Word Bearers and Raven Guard. Too cool..

Here we go with pics.

On a red banner I taped out a rectangular shape with masking tape and laid in the back background.

Then I drew the shield and painted it a couple shades of red, and put in my usual scrolling.

Then did some more shading on the red, and a black shape for a sword and skull.

More work on the shape of the shield, scrolling and the shading.

Time for details!  The skull, in profile, gets its layers.

Skull mostly done.

Big jump here. I put in the lettering on teh scrolls and finished the skull with lighter shades of bone.

I also painted the sword grey and put in a more cool grey base for half of it.

Also I put in the shape of a wreath on the skull, and added another scroll, much smaller,

upon which I will add the date of the founding of the store.

Here it is!  90% done.  

I am wrapping up my mid year grading at school, so I will have my class room space again soon, which means I will be able to spread out and get more work done. I will keep you updated!

Up next, I paint a NMM Grey Knight Standard Bearer for charity, and the countdown begins for The Walking Dead!

Jawaballs

American Idol!

I admit, my 40k life has been fairly nonexistent lately. So my blogging has taken a back seat. I've been playing SWTOR, and working on banners. But the issue is simply the man cave!  Before I moved my computer was easily accessible. I could take five minutes, go into my man room, and work here and there. Now though I have to go all the way to the basement and it makes the wife crazy. When I finally do get downstairs to my lair, I have so many things to do that I get overloaded!

But really, I have had little to write about.  There are enough guys giving daily opinions about 40k, you don't need me adding to the soup.  Just look at my blogroll!  The Walking Dead is out of action for a few more weeks so I cant do Zombie Theory.  Hell on Wheels, while a decent show, left little to the imagination.

Enter American Idol.

I started watching this crap a couple years ago. The wife sucked me in. Well it started again this week. The wife made me watch. Thats my story and I'm sticking with it.

I have to say though, that I enjoy it! Yes, that's right, I like this contrived crapturd of a show.  But not because it is about people singing... when you watch it with a critical eye, and pay attention to what is real and what is produced drama, then you start to enjoy it as a show.

For example. On Wednesday, there was a brother and sister pair. The previous year they auditioned as a duo, the boy made it to the next round, the girl did not.  He was soon cut.  This year he "chose" not to audition and she decided to go it alone.  In as obvious a piece of produced TV as I have ever seen, the judges insisted that he come in and audition too! That he should not give up, that he should try again. After some fake hesitance he decided to sing, and knocked it out of the park.  Then the producers went on to imply some sort of sibling rivalry by showing shots of her looking less than pleased.

I call shit! Pardon my francais.

First of all, there is no way any one who performs at such a high level could walk into a room cold and blast out an audition. I am no singer, but I do know that vocal cords, like muscles, need to warm up.  If this kid was there to support his sister and not audition, he would not be ready. It would be like pulling Peyton Manning out of his street clothes and throwing him into a game in the second quarter after he has not played all year.

There are a few implications here.

First, was the kid actually was there to audition? He either was there to sing, or he was not.  If he was there to audition, he actually did warm up and was ready because he was put on the spot and walked in to sing. The producers want us to believe that the judges encouraged this kid to come in and try out to show that any one can do it blah blah.

I can buy it that the kid did not need warmup time.  Again, I am not a singer, so I guess a singer could walk into a room cold and belt it out.  But I don't buy it for a second that he was not there to audition.  It's too cute a story. Too made for TV.

But also, the few seconds of camera time given to the girl scream over production.  They no doubt had a camera on her every second she was in the room, but once she was done singing, they only showed her for a few glimpses. And of course, every time they showed her, she was not looking happy. OM MY what is going on do we have drama? Do we have a sibling fight in the brewings spurred on by the judges? Could little Molly Sunshine be upset because she was trying to get out from under her brother's wing but he spoiled it?  I mean seriously, look at her face! She must be upset, every time they flash to her she is not smiling.

Oh the magic of Television.  God knows how long they were actually in that room. And yes, you can bet there was a camera on them the entire time.  All it took was 10 seconds of her lost in thought, reflecting on her performance, muscling down nerves, politely burping under her breath, and the hack producers have all they need.  "Ok guys, we have a little story here, the kid is giving Steven Tyler a hug, quick queue up an image of the girl we caught 10 minutes ago as she was inspecting her own fart."

Sure there could be sibling rivalry. But frankly, if the story is as it was portrayed, she should be thanking her brother. Without him she is just another Janis Joplin/Mellisa Ethridge copy cat karoke singer.  The fact that her brother made it to the second round last year made her interesting. Little else. Now the producers are just going to milk the drama out of their relationship that they can, and will no doubt zoom in on her face when she gets the bad news that she is not making to the next round and her brother is.  Oh by the way, I'm calling it. Brother goes beyond next round. Sister is sent packing.

There were a dozen other stories. Some times piled on so thick I wanted to puke. The kid who's mother walked out on him, leaving him and his father homeless and his dad in the hospital.  He was up there begging for his chance and they gave it to him. He was terrible! Other kids who did better were sent home while he was given a golden ticket because he had a sobbier story.  Oh how the producers love the sob stories!

The coal miner kid, the big blonde who tried to commit suicide.  (Yes she was actually good.)  Frankly the most enjoyable part of this weeks episodes was the tall brunette who just wanted a piece of Steven Tyler. That made me laugh. I swear she looks like some chick I hooked up with in college that stalked me for weeks. I had weird shivers.   Then there is the lecherous way ST looks every chick up and down as they walk in and out the room.  One of those girls was 15 and he oogled her like a Playboy centerfold on television.

There should be no kids on the show. You should be 18. I think it was last year they had a young girl on there, and there was a scene where they tried to make her look sexy because she was singing with a hot older girl. It failed. It was awkward, and every one knew it, especially the young girl. She was uncomfortable and was forced into it by the producers.  Terrible. How about the adolsecent virgin teenage boy singing songs about sex? Well it's gona happen again, they gave another Justin Bieber look alike a golden ticket.  I don't think they should have children up there singing songs about life they have not lived.  How is that 15 year old girl supposed to compete with the last blonde they showed who hit rock bottom after scraping by on the New York City streets.  We are defined by our struggles, and that young girl's only hardship was no doubt being picked on in middle school for being a chorus nerd. How is she going to relate when J-Lo gives her advice about digging deep into her emotions and experiences?

Get em off the show.

My favorite parts are any bits with Ryan Seacrest. He is such a goober and doesn't even know it. He has no regard for the regular people he is interacting with and has no idea how to relate to them.  I get a kick out of watching him mess up on air, then get all bent out of shape when he gets called on it. It doesn't happen much because Simon is gone and he was good at calling Ryan out.  But it made me laugh when he paraded that African dude back in with a trio of 7 year old kids and some old redneck because they liked the guys singing. That was entertaining TV.

Ok enough for now, here is to another season of JLO holding out her arms and pointing out her goosebumps, Randy yelling "Dog", Steven Tyler making no sense and poor desperate kids embarrassing themselves on National TV. I only hope they got more priceless moments like the one kid who had a hissy fit and freaked out at the guys following him out the building. Good Stuff.

Please hurry February 12... please. Television needs TWD.

Jawaballs

Alabama CAGE Match banner done!

Here you go!

I finished some highlights on parts I painted previously like the gemstones on the chalice. Then I painted the yellow thunderhammer and the rest of the stuff on the bottom. I did the copy on the bottom scroll, a quote from a battle speech.  I finished it with a tribute to all of our Battle brothers.

On the left I went with a simple Crux Terminatus.  Then I put in some name plaques for the names of the winners.  This was a fun banner to paint!

Up next I have FOUR MORE!

I just got an order in for a Space Wolves chapter banner so I will be doing another one of those, but I also got an order for 3 banners for a new gaming store.  Word Bearers preheresy, Raven Guard and WHFB Empire!  These are gona be great.

If you would like a banner for your club, group or man cave, give me a shout!

Jawaballs

A Vindicator Retort?

Hi Folks!  A bit ago I posted up about Vindicators and we had some great discussion. Well, I got this email concerning the subject and wanted to share it with you all.  

Hey there Jawaballs, this is Craig forum name Mr. Biscuits down at Librarium Online. I’ve been a long time reader of yours but recently noticed you talking down the Vindicator so I thought I’d run a few tactics and a bunch of numbers by ya in defense of this truly awesome tank.

In my lists I almost always include all 3 possible Vindicators for many tactical purposes, but for the sake of argument I will show you how they perform in my 1750 point competitive list:

HQ

Librarian Shield of Sanguineous Fear of the Darkness ***

Troops

5 Assault Marines Remove Jump Packs 100

Razorback Lascannon Twin Linked Plasmaguns Dozer Blade Hunter Killer Missile 70

5 Assault Marines Remove Jump Packs 100

Razorback Lascannon Twin Linked Plasmaguns Dozer Blade Hunter Killer Missile 70

5 Assault Marines Remove Jump Packs 100

Razorback Twin Linked Assault Cannon Dozer Blade 60

5 Assault Marines Remove Jump Packs 100

Razorback Lascannon Twin Linked Plasmaguns Dozer Blade Hunter Killer Missile 70

5 Assault Marines Remove Jump Packs 100

Razorback Lascannon Twin Linked Plasmaguns Dozer Blade Hunter Killer Missile 70

Fast Attack

2 Land Speeders Typhoon Missile Launchers 180

Land Speeder Typhoon Missile Launcher 90

Land Speeder Typhoon Missile Launcher 90

Heavy Support

Vindicator Dozer Blade 150

Vindicator Dozer Blade 150

Vindicator Dozer Blade 150

In this list I literally use my Vindicators as mobile shooty Razorback shields. 3 Vindicators angled properly so that the back edges are touching can create a shield where the front AVs of 13 are the only available to an opponent early game that doesn't use a refused flank deployment or an Outflanking/ Deep Striking unit. Behind this shield I put 3 of my Razor squads whose elevated weapon platforms are able to fire upon my enemy without generating cover saves from my Vindicator screen until they are about 8" away from the Vindicator or less in the case of armored targets. The centre most of the 3 Razorbacks will always be the one containing my Librarian in order to give 5+ cover saves to my screening Vindicators and my other Razorbacks should I be flanked. Approximate diagram follows:

      

ENEMY DEPLOYMENT

   [ ]  O [] ooo

       O     oooo  [ ]

      [  ]      oo  X  

    MY DEPLOYMENT

         \   \[ ]/   /

           [ ][ ][ ]

Furthermore, a Vindicator on a Fast chassis is often able to avoid up to 40% of the cover saves your opponent may try to get from them, primarily units hiding behind features like forests, buildings and rubble to avoid difficult terrain. 12 inches is a quarter of the entire board in a single turn after all.

As to the accuracy, with BS of 4 you are looking at an accuracy chart of:

Direct Hit                    44.4445%

1” Scatter                    7.4074%

2” Scatter                    9.2592%

3” Scatter                    11.1111%

4” Scatter                    9.2592%

5” Scatter                    7.4074%

6” Scatter                    5.5555%

7” Scatter                    3.7037%

8” Scatter                    1.8519%

Against most tanks you are looking at having the hole over your target on any direct hit or 1” scatter which is 53.8519% of the time but against a vehicle with a Land Raider sized chassis you will hit about half of the time on a 2’ scatter thanks to the tank being roughly 6” long but only 4” wide (I measured while writing this to ensure accuracy) which means your accuracy will be about 58.4815%, much more than the 33% most people give the tank credit for. Anyways these numbers will translate into the following based upon the target:

BS4 Demolisher Cannon vs. AV10 regular tank chassis, 53.8519% hit:

0% Glance                   53.8519% Penetrate    53.8519% inflict damage

8.9753% of shots will result in Shaken

8.9753% of shots will result in Stunned

8.9753% of shots will result in Weapon Destroyed

8.9753% of shots will result in Immobilized

8.9753% of shots will result in Wrecked

8.9753% of shots will result in Exploded

BS4 Demolisher Cannon vs. AV11 regular tank chassis, 53.8519% hit:

1.4959% Glance          52.3560% Penetrate    53.8519% inflict damage

9.4739% of shots will result in Shaken

8.9753% of shots will result in Stunned

8.9753% of shots will result in Weapon Destroyed

8.7260% of shots will result in Immobilized

8.7260% of shots will result in Wrecked

8.7260% of shots will result in Exploded

BS4 Demolisher Cannon vs. AV12 regular tank chassis, 53.8519% hit:

4.4877% Glance          47.8683% Penetrate    52.3560% inflict damage

9.9220% of shots will result in Shaken

8.4261% of shots will result in Stunned

8.4261% of shots will result in Weapon Destroyed

8.4261% of shots will result in Immobilized

7.9781% of shots will result in Wrecked

7.9781% of shots will result in Exploded

BS4 Demolisher Cannon vs. AV13 regular tank chassis, 53.8519% hit:

4.4877% Glance          40.3889% Penetrate    44.8766% inflict damage

8.9754% of shots will result in Shaken

7.4795% of shots will result in Stunned

7.4795% of shots will result in Weapon Destroyed

7.4795% of shots will result in Immobilized

6.7480% of shots will result in Wrecked

6.7315% of shots will result in Exploded

BS4 Demolisher Cannon vs. AV14 regular tank chassis, 53.8519% hit:

4.4877% Glance          29.9177% Penetrate    % inflict damage

7.2303% of shots will result in Shaken

5.7343% of shots will result in Stunned

5.7343% of shots will result in Weapon Destroyed

5.7343% of shots will result in Immobilized

4.9863% of shots will result in Wrecked

4.9863% of shots will result in Exploded

BS4 Demolisher Cannon vs. AV14 Land Raider chassis, 58.4815% hit:

4.8735% Glance          32.4897% Penetrate    % inflict damage

7.8516% of shots will result in Shaken

6.2272% of shots will result in Stunned

6.2272% of shots will result in Weapon Destroyed

6.2272% of shots will result in Immobilized

5.4150% of shots will result in Wrecked

5.4150% of shots will result in Exploded

Although these percentages may seem low to many players they are in fact quite significant. In comparison an Autocannon Predator with Lascannon Sponsons will only do the following against any vehicle with an AV of 14:

BS4 Predator vs. AV14 vehicle

22.2222% Glance        22.2222% Penetrate    44.4444% inflict damage

14.8148% of turns firing will result in Shaken

7.4074% of turns firing will result in Stunned

7.4074% of turns firing will result in Weapon Destroyed

7.4074% of turns firing will result in Immobilized

3.7004% of turns firing will result in Wrecked

3.7004% of turns firing will result in Exploded

Based upon these numbers the Predator in your proposed build will be more effective at hindering AV 14 vehicles such as Land Raiders where as the Vindicator will be more effective at neutralizing them thanks to a much greater chance of penetrating whilst still keeping the maneuverability to fire whilst maintaining a high movement rate when the Predator would be restricted to a 6” move if you would want fire at full effect.

Simply put, you got lucky blasting the 7 Land Raider list off the table at ‘Ard Boyz and by the numbers would have had a much better shot (pun intended) had you gone with Vindicators instead of you Auto/Las Predators.

If this wasn’t enough the Vindicator’s main armament, the Demolisher Cannon, is one of the most flexible weapons in the game. Thanks to their impressive Strength and AP they can instant kill some of the really nasty elite Deathstar units such as Grey Knight Paladins, Nob Bikers and Thunderwolf Cavalry without allowing saves. My 3 Vindicators have caused endless headaches for an Ork Green Tide player in my area who is forced to bunch up his more than 150 Boyz for me as they literally don’t have enough table to spread out early on and like you said, they can reliably kill 4 Space Marines a turn IF your opponent was wise enough to spread out the squad. If he isn’t, well we’ve all heard the 1 shot 10 kill stories…

The Vindicator may “make people pee their pants”, but this isn’t because they are an over-rated 4^th edition unit preying on those who can’t wrap their heads on 5^th edition. It’s because it is an effective unit rightfully feared on any battlefield on the 41^st Millennium. 

What can I say other than fantastic! This response is the spirit of what is good about the internet. Instead of blasting off like a troll, he disagreed with me, but wrote a well thought out, logical and appropriate response supported by fact!  And more fact, and more fact.  (Well stats, and we all know that stats are in deed NOT fact, ask Ted Nagle who lost 4 terminators to a volley of bolt pistol fire from my assault squad, but still.) 

 Well, rather than argue, I will put three vindicators on the table and find out for myself.  it's time to bust out the old models. Now to find a victim... FRITZ! Look for some batreps soon! And thanks for the submission Mr. Biscuits.

Jawaballs

Conflict GT incoming!

The Conflict GT is almost here! The time to get involved is running short, (Or may have expired already, however, I bet Aaron could figure out a way to get you in if you really want to go.) If you really want to go to the conflict but for some silly reason have not yet registered or purchased your ticket, contact Aaron HERE.

Why do you want to go to the conflict?  To slap around me and Fritz of course!  He and I will be playing in the doubles tournament which starts on Friday the 13th and culminates late on Saturday after the singles games.

What is cool about The Conflict? I have spoken about it before so I will be brief, but what is NOT cool?  The venue is a fantastic choice in the difficult NYC area. Holding events is NOT cheap around here, but The Conflict has solved the problem by holding it at one of the biggest malls in the state. Plenty of parking, lots of restaurants and most of all, a huge amount of space. Too many events are crammed into tiny conference rooms.  At the conflict we can spread out. Space is a very underrated commodity.

Aaron has expanded this year's conflict to include Flames of War and Warmachines, as well as 40k and WHFB, and is supporting Doubles and Singles tournaments for each.  Now that is ambitious! More and more events are becoming "destination" events that encompass entire weekends like Adepticon. This is a very good thing.  My only concern is gamer burnout!  Aaron has expanded the GT to 6 games this year. Frankly I don't think more than five games is necessary. A six game GT along with three games of doubles means that over the span of two and a half days we will be playing for about 25 hours at least. On an hour per dollar basis, this is an outstanding value, but when do we get to do my favorite part of these things... socialize!  To me these GTs are just as much about hanging out with like minded dudes and making jokes as they are about beating face or getting your face beaten.

I'm not sure that adding another game to the GT is a good thing. Big events like The Nova leave us longing for the days of the simple, relaxing 5 game GT. If it aint broke, don't fix it!  It is not a detractor to The Conflict in any way to play more games, and I know for a fact that a lot of you agree that you want to get in more games for your buck.  So I am interested to see how this year's conflict will work.  What I like about adding more games is that Aaron is continually pushing to evolve.  He is making a bold statement this year, that he wants to be one of the big boys.  I can see The Conflict being spoken of in the same manner as The Nova, Wargamescon and Feast of Blades!  All very tough, very good, and very different acts to match up to.

So this year Fritz and I are grabbing fate by the horns and throwing down in doubles. I am of course bringing my Blood Angels and Fritz is bringing his new secret weapon.  I don't know how we will do on the tables up against 2k point doubles armies of Grey Knights and IG, but we are sure going to have fun.  Hopefully I will see you guys at The Conflict.

What is next on the plate? Templecon!  Running on the heals of The Conflict, Templecon is a few short weeks after.  It very quietly is exploding onto the GT circuit this year.  Last year was the first year they held 40k events, and they were a HUGE success.  This year 40k is getting top billing. Instead of being stuffed into the dingy basement, we are getting a major ball room.  But the best part of Templecon is not even 40k. It is the scene. It is nerdgasm in it's finest. Last year I was shocked to see a thriving community of gamers hanging from the rafters and people in costume galore.  The theme for this year's event is Retro-Futurism.  Think the style of The Jetsons or the 50s corny sci-fi design. Remember all those silly "space fins" and chrome finish on cars? The black and white movies with silly rockets flying around and enemies with outrageous costumes and Ray guns.  Well that is the style that people are encouraged to embrace this year.  I can't wait to see all of the great costumes!

Templecon features get togethers, parties, Warmachine, dances, dinners, games and fun and more!.  Last year there were dudes in every corner of the hotel playing DnD, saber fighting, or marching in rank dressed as Stormtroopers.

Yes my friends... Nerdgasm.

Between The Conflict, Templecon and The Superbowl, Jan 13 to Feb 6 is going to be a great couple weeks.

Jawaballs