Deathwing Terminator and my own Kickstart coming soon

Deathwing Terminator!

So I figured I would take a break from yellow and checks to work on some bone loving. This here is one of my Dark Vengeance terminators!  I decided to go with a very bright basing style for this army since the Deathwing and Ravenwing colors are so non colorful, but I tied in the colors of the terminator with the base, the bone skull, the nonmetallic gun and grill match the rock, the oranges/reds of the foliage are close to the gun.

The base by the way was done from a tutorial posted on Bell of Lost Souls.  My thanks go out to Lazuli Miniature Studios for posting that. I wanted a redish ground with grey rock and bright foliage, so it was timely that I found his tutorial on Bols.

As I do more bases, I will do my own step by step post.

Oh and the knee is not done yet, I am waiting to see how I intend to squad markings for the army before I finish it.

In the background you can see a Deathwing Land Raider. This thing has been painted a bunch of times. It started it's life as an Ultramarine Land Raider, then went Black Templars, then Blood Angels, then got used as an Airbrush tester model for all sorts of colors including my lamenters themes.  It makes me happy to say that the old venerable will finish it's life span as a Deathwing tank.

Thats it for now!  Be sure to check out my live shows on the Miniwargaming vault. I am doing my Jawaballs Live every Tuesday at 8pm EST.  Dave has opened it up for all to view for free! Tonight I will probably be doing cork bases and discussing tactics again!

Also I will be launching a Kickstarter soon for my own DVDs.  It is time for me to revamp my lineup and update my offerings to reflect my improved painting and the new colors available!  But I need some capital to get the DVDs made. I will be releasing a six disc set that covers all of the major colors, detailing and handpainting, and hobby tools and tricks including basing and display.  Each disc will be a full DVD, with menus and full color images on the disc, complete in a full color, shrinkwrapped sleeve! Painting the Jawa way!

If you love my stuff show your support by backing me in the kickstarter! Be looking for that announcement in a few days once I finish setting it up.

More to come.

Jawaballs

Poor decision?

GW got me. They got me to pay 50 bucks for a new Dark Angels codex.  It was not a difficult decision because I won a 50 dollar credit at a LGS for Best Painted at a tournament. So I just picked up the codex.

But here is the error of their ways.

In 2006 when I got into 40k, codex books were 20 bucks.  Actually I picked up the Blood Angels one for 15.00.

It was outdated and quickly replaced with a download/ White Dwarf PDF.

The first ones I bought were Demon Hunters Black Templars for 20 bucks each.

Shortly after they jumped to 22 or some such. I grumbled when the little store from which I was buying my stuff put new price sticker over the old one.  But I understand, inflation. Whatever.

20, 22 or 25 though, it didn't matter. I still bought the books.  All of them. I owned every codex from 4th edition which was the game I started playing. It changed about a year after I got into it. At the low to mid 20s, the books were affordable and allowed me to buy them all.

But then GW started creeping up.

The Space Marine codex turned into a huge all encompassing book. I didn't gripe though, it was a good book, about twice the size of it's predecessor. I don't remember it's cost. It didn't matter though because it was still a value for the price.

But the IG book was also bigger, better and more expensive. I didn't buy it. But Jwolf gave me a copy when I went to Bolscon!  

33.00

20.00

Then GW started getting froggy.

Codex Blood Angels came out and forgive me if I am wrong, was about 33 bucks.  Woah! A 33% increase? But I had to have it.  I snatched it off the shelf.

But wait. I just noticed. Another book is also 33 dollars.

Wait what?  How could the price of a book go from 20 dollars to 33 in just a couple years? The same book... That's not right!

Sadly, I could not afford to buy the other books any more.  I got the new Space Wolves book,

but for the cost of the SW and BA books, I should have been able to, and would have, bought the Tyranid and Ork books.

I didn't.

Nope

Nope

 (I know the release dates of these books are a big jumbled and the prices are approximates. I don't remember the order and exact prices. The point I am illustrating is that I bought the Eldar, Imperial Guard, Demon Hunters, Space Marine, Ork, Tyranid, Space Wolves and other books all for about 20 bucks a piece.)

You see GW, you got the same amount of money out of me. But I got less value. Does that work?

I can't imagine for long.

As prices started rising, I started having to pick and choose which ones I bought.

Welcome to 2012.  Six years later. We have seen a 150% increase in price.

The era of the 50 dollar codex has begun.

From 18, to 33, to 50!

I think I made my point.

I just paid 50 bucks for Codex: Dark Angels.

I will not be buying Codex: Chaos Space Marines. Or Codex: Chaos Demons or even The Tau. When if the books were 25 bucks a piece, or even 30, I would have.

I would have happily scooped up every book they released at a reasonable price. However now in the era of the 50.00 Codex, I have to pick and choose.

I bought Dark Angels, and will buy Eldar and Blood Angels. But that is it!

For 150 bucks, I should be able to buy most of them. GW, you would have gotten my money any way.

The worst part is my 50.00 book was already out of date the week it was released, forcing the use of a downloadable PDF to make it valid.

Don't even get me started on a 75.00 land speeder.  I defended them when they released a 65.00 Storm Raven, it was a huge and well done model. (Though it is now 82.50, a 33% price increase in the two years since it's release... )

That is like raising a pot of paint from 2.50 to 4.00.  Ridiculous... oh wait...

Jawaballs

Unbeatable list in assault?

I think I encountered it! The Dark Eldar/Eldar combo of doom.

Image borrowed from HERE

 I found myself against Sean Nayden this weekend at a tournament and knew I was doomed.

I know he packs one of the nastiest assault lists I have ever seen, and knew it could only get worse with allies. My first words to him were: "Let me guess, you added Eldrad and jet bike troops" Yup.

 Lets start with his list:

Dark Eldar mother list:
Baron
Vect

15 Wyches- Haywires, hekatix, PGL, Venom Blade
15 Wyches- Hawyires, hekatix, PGL, Venomblade

20 Warriors- 2 splinter cannons, sybarite

5 Beast Masters- 5 Kymerra, 8 Razorwings

3 Reavers- Heatlance
3 Reavers- Heatlance

3 Trueborn- 2 splinter cannons
3 Trueborn- 2 splinter cannons
3 Trueborn- 2 splinter cannons

Eldar Allies:
Eldrad
3 Guardian Jetbikes- Shuriken cannon
3 Guaridan Jetbikes- Shuriken cannon

Aegis Defense Line- Quad Gun

First of all. This is not a gripe, it is a congrats to Sean for fielding an uber list.

I am not a Dark Eldar player so I don't know all of the ins and outs of this list. I only know it from my side of the table. And it is nasty.

First, the list does have some possible achiles heels. In order for it to be optimal effective, Eldrad has to roll Invisibility.  But he has four chances to do so. So Sean has to be VERY unlucky to not get it.

Invisibility essentially gives his army a 2+ cover save to shooting.

We figured out that it would take 65+ bolter shots just to kill a single Razorwing, which costs 15 points a model.

The other weakness is STR 6 shooting, preferably templates, which preferably ignore cover, like Heldrakes I believe. A few of those could probably ruin his day.

In the assault, STR 6 hits hurt him as well. Mephiston vs his beasts for example. However, Sean is very good at not letting you do that.

Why STR 6?

Well that will instant kill his beasts. Otherwise they have five wounds a piece and absorb hits like a Detroit Lions quarterback.

Case in point:

I assaulted his beast unit with two 10 man assault squads, 3 priests, a librarian, five terminators (4 LC 1 TH) and Mephiston.  While it took him a couple turns to take me out due to Feel No Pain and 2+ saves, I believe I managed to kill about a dozen bases of his.  Mostly in the second wave as I focused my hits against his Wyches and their lowly 4+ invulnerable and the warriors.

It only lasted that long because Vect did not get into it until late.

Sorry I don't have any pics of the list but I did discuss the list with Sean on Video:



So there you go!  If you can stomach playing this list, you now have the tools to have a shot at winning any GT you go to.  Enjoy!

Jawaballs

Jawa-imposter

Here is a quarterly heads up! Some poser douchebag used my name to make a Twitter account. I do not own a twitter account. I had one for a short time to get codes for Xbox but have cancelled it. I never had the name Jawaballs on Twitter. If you are following, or get a message from Chris/Jawaballs it is NOT me. Tell him how much of a douche he is then block him or whatever.

Some day I will find this guy and poop on his keyboard. Jawaballs

Local mini tournaments: Great practice for the big time!

Almost all of my games are at the big time GT level. I build and paint armies designed to win both in painting and on the tables. But how do I know if my army works? I literally get to play next to zero pickup games. So how do I get to practice for a GT? Well I try to find as many small tournaments as I can in my area. Luckily for me, there are a LOT of places to go in the NY/NJ/CT area. What it comes down to is wife agro. Leaving the house to play 40k will consume most of a day, whether I am playing one or three games. So I try to maximize the return for the hate I get! Plus mini tournaments tend to offer a bit stiffer competition than I would find showing up at the mall and hoping for an opponent. I have two such tournaments coming up. One is this weekend, the 13th, at GamingETC in Stratford, CT.

GamingETC is a HUGE gaming store in Stratford who's specialization is card games like Magic. But their 40k scene is small, perhaps two or three guys gather there to play at their dedicated 40k nights. The potential is there, with space to hold 60+ 40k players in a tournament and a good proximity to both New York and Boston, this place could be a destination gaming mecca for 40k tournaments. But they are trying. Brendan Gallagher, a local GT attendee has taken the reigns on organizing tournaments for the store. His experienced perspective plus connections to some of the clubs in the area are bringing players to GamingETC's events. Last time there were 22 guys at a 3 game tournament and this weekend stands to be even bigger.< / e > The tables and terrain need some work, but all in good time. I for one will be there this Sunday, January 13 for a 2k point tournament. I think there is a 10 or 15 dollar entry fee. Last time I went I was eliminated from the win by Brendan's nasty GK list. (He was not organizing at that time.) And then coming up next weekend is yet another mini tournament. I will be grabbing some of the boys from Battle for Salvation and heading up to Catskill NY for Kirwin's Gaming Store! I have never been there, but the TO posts on the boards for Battle for Salvation, which I am also tuned into. I hear that the last tournament held up there was a blast! The 2k point, 3 game tournament is being held on January 19. Here is the address: Kirwan's Game Store 369 Main Street Catskill, NY 12414

The best part about going to these is the variety. You will encounter hardened vets and apprehensive noobies but all in a relaxed setting. I always enjoy chatting with the beginners who are anxious for advice from an experienced circuit player and painter. Ok, tomorrow I will be posting about my list! EDIT: Weird, I formatted paragraph breaks, but Blogger ignored them. I just tried to fix the block 0 texts but it didnt work! Any one got any feedback on why? Jawaballs

The dates roll in!

Mechanicon 2013 has been announced so you can add this one to your schedule!

Tony Spino and crew always put on a nice event. Last year they joined forces with The Warstore and held Mechanicon at The Warstore Weekend, and despite the looming weather that weekend, (Any one remember Sandy?) all that attended had a great time. The Mechanicon boasts some of the best tables I have ever played on at any GT, unique and interesting missions, a hobby friendly gaming atmosphere since the focus on the Mechanicon is putting pretty armies on the table rather than beating face, and finally an entire weekend of gaming organized by Neal at Thewarstore! Add November 8th to your calender! Jawaballs

Summer loving...

So with my tightened wallet I need to plan more wisely on my trips. Templecon this year is just not going to be in the cards as the main hotel is already booked to capacity plus my holiday traveling consumed my spending money. The Conflict GT is MIA. I missed Adepticon registration, though I am planning on going next year and teaming up with some secret buds. My wife has already given me the face palm for Mike Clark's SVDM. That leaves little more for the early 2013 events! One event that is on my list is The Colonial GT. I don't even know if they are taking registration yet, but they always sell out. I have heard nothing but great things about improvement and fun, so I want to give these guys another shot! But would like to announce that I have decided to put some effort into hitting the two major bookends for this summer. That's right, Wargamescon and The Nova Open. Last year by freak of scheduling, Wargamescon fell on my last day of school, and Nova fell on my first. (More or less) The short of it is that the events wrapped around the only days of the year I CANNOT take off. (Not really true I found out the hard way it was not so easy to get days off when I tried to go to The Feast of Blades last October.) But you get the point.

SO this year, after discussing it with Fritz, I am planning on not making my yearly pilgrimage to Gamesday. I really was only planning on going so I could try to win five banner competitions in a row, but Gamesday has honestly been sucking more and more and I just cannot justify the plane ticket and hotel for a few hours of gaming and a banner entry. Not when I can fly to Texas for a kickass weekend with Goatboy and Brent! So there you have it. The first rule is that I am not allowed to use my credit card. SO I have to sell some banners and models and build up some Paypal money. Then I have to make sure my wife has no plans for me. So as of now, The Nova is just about 100% for me, and Wargamescon is looking at about 75! After that comes Battle for Salvation, Mechanicon and DaBoyz. It looks like my Lamenters will get a workout against some of the best painters in the country... I'm pointing at YOU Joe Johnson! We will see if I can squeeze in The Colonial. Only if the army is ready by then! Jawaballs