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

Alabama CAGE Match banner near completion

Tonight I am uploading some quick pictures of my newest custom banner for The Alabama CAGE Match.  As for progress I am almost done. I painted the wings white and outlined them with black, and outlined every thing else with black too. I finished the chalice except for the gems with more highlights, and I did the halo on top with some bronze and silver. I need to do some more highlights on it and the blood drop.

For the words I started by tracing the size of the scroll on some paper, then laid out the letters on the paper to save trial and error.  Once satisfied, I redrew the letters on the scroll and painted them black.  For things like this you want Soft Body acrylic paint because it flows easier.

All that is left is the yellow hammer on the grey circle, words on the lower scroll, name plaques, and a fist in the lower left with a few other highlights and I am done!  I will be finished tomorrow.

Oh, I added some red shading in the X. Thought it was a nice touch. :)

Jawaballs

Alabama CAGE match banner progress

Here are some more WIP pics.

This banner has presented a challenge to me.  My seamstress sewed it a bit differently, and as such as the paint dries it has been wrinkling the fabric, kind of warping it.  It seems there is some slack in the surface and when the paint pulls on the slack it fights against the seams.  It is not a major issue, except that it is making it hard for me to make straight lines!  Every piece of art is difference, and sometimes we have to go with what is presented to us.  This one does not want to have straight lines, so, I am going to embrace that.  :)

On this one I have done most of the painting of the chalice. I have to do final highlights to bring out the details. On the white I have started doing some grey shading and the scrolling is mostly complete. I am still undecided on the wings, whether I am going to make them highlighted black or shaded white. I will do the black first and see how they come out. I kinda like the black wing shapes as is now. I think some simple highlights to define the wings will really work.

The halo at the top will get some gold metallic treatment and on the bottom picture I actually painted the circle at the bottom right grey in prep for the yellow hammer to be painted on top. I should be done with this by next Friday. Holidays present a tough obstacle to getting jobs done.  Plus SWTOR is out. :)

I have a commission for seven more of these coming up soon! It's gona be a busy 2012 for me!

If you would like a banner for yourself or your club, let me know!

Jawaballs

Blood Angels Vindicators? 2k list help.

Hey folks, I recently got an email from a reader asking about a list:

Hey,

I'm relatively new to Warhammer 40K and right from the beginning I was drawn to the Blood Angels. I was actually wondering if you might be able to give me some pointers on my list.

2000 pts. list

HQ

Captain - Combi Melta - 110 pts.

Troops

(5) Assault Squad – Meltagun - 110 pts.

Razorback - TLLC, EA - 70 pts.

(5) Assault Squad – Meltagun - 110 pts.

Razorback - TLLC, EA - 70 pts.

(5) Assault Squad – Meltagun - 110 pts.

Razorback - TLLC, EA - 70 pts.

(5) Assault Squad – Meltagun - 110 pts.

Razorback - TLLC, EA - 70 pts.

(5) Assault Squad – Meltagun - 110 pts.

Razorback - TLLC, EA - 70 pts.

Fast Attack

Baal Predator - TLAS, EA, HKM - 140 pts.

Baal Predator - TLAS, EA, HKM - 140 pts.

Baal Predator - TLAS, EA, HKM - 140 pts.

Heavy Support

Vindicator - Siege Shield, EA - 170 pts.

Vindicator - Siege Shield, EA -170 pts.

Vindicator - Siege Shield, EA -170 pts.

Total – 1940 pts.

 My response?  My first reaction was to tell him to simply swap out the captain for a Librarian and go with it. There is NO reason, other than fluff, to play a BA Captain.  Not when you can get a Librarian for the same price who is incredibly more effective. The rest of his list is not bad. Razorspam is still effective. Baal Predators can be very effective, though I suggest he changes out the HK missiles and give them heavy bolters to help do their jobs and mow down infantry.  

But the glaring problem? The Vindicators. Especially his kitted out at 170 points a piece.

The Vindicator, probably more than any other 40k unit, is suffering from 4th ed over rating. Not that this reader would know, I think he is newer to the game and does not really know about the Vindicator of old, but  the Vindicator is just not that scary. 

In 4th Ed the vindicator was one of the most feared tanks in the game.  Cover saves were hard to come by and AP 2 was not as readily available. (Nowadays it is not uncommon to see over 20 plasma guns in a guard army.)  But most important, was the Ordinance Damage Chart.  In 4th Edition there were three damage tables.  Glancing Hits, Penetrating Hits, and Ordinance.  Vindicators rolled on the ordinance chart which pretty much meant that a hit was a kill. But not only that, a 6 on the ordinance chart was a fantastic explosion that not only obliterated the transport you were shooting at, but all of the troops inside.  

Holy Crap! They were truly feared. Some of the strongest Marine lists, including the one played by Danny Internets, had three of them.  The Vindicator made people pee their pants.

Fast Forward to the new BA Codex and 5th Ed.  Among the top five whining complaints about the book was FAST VINDICATORS!  Matt Ward must be insane right?  But who cares about fast vindicators now?  The consolidation of the damage charts into one single chart with modifiers effectively neutered the feared Vindicator. Gone was the threat of exploding entire squads at a time while they hid in their rhino.  Easy to get cover saves finished them off.  The first time I dropped a vindicator pie plate on a squad of orks I figured it out.  I must have gotten 19 orks under that circle, but only about 4 died.  The guy had wrapped the rest around a low rising crater, effectively obscuring, at least partially, 50% of the bases.  

Welcome to 5th Edition, and So long Vindicator!  But I still see it popping up here and there. 

If you are going to play one, only Blood Angels should because of it's movement.  But why bother?  They are more expensive. They don't come with a Storm Bolter.  (I don't believe they do, I don't remember off hand and don't have my codex here.)  So they are a single weapon destroyed away from becoming an expensive battering ram.  

Siege Shield? Waste of points.  If you are playing a BAV, you should be taking advantage of it's strength, fast movement. So that thing should never be moving less than 12".  I am speaking in generalities here and there will always be circumstances that contradict what I am saying, but for the most part here is how a vindicator breaks down in combat. On Turn One you move it 12" and hopefully get into range.  (Siege Shield only works if you move up to 6")  Maybe you get a turn one shot. Then you should be in range of something, and if you moved it right, should be in range the rest of the game. This means that you don't really need to move more than a few inches again, so your siege shield is useful right?  

Not really. It is worth the risk to not spend the points.  Odds are that if you DO get immobilized, you are still going to be in range of something for the rest of the game after that first movement.  But that brings me back to the 12" thing.  If you are in range to shoot your vindi gun, you are probably in range to get assaulted by something nasty.  You really should be moving that thing at least 7" to force your opponent to hit on a 6 in the assault.  (No shield)  So if you spend the points on the shield, you will likely only get a chance to use it once but should probably not use it at all.  (Again, there are always circumstances that will defy this, I am speaking generally.)  

Extra armor is a good investment.  I always support taking it.

But getting back to Vindicator range, it's short range necessitates exposing it to melta fire.  You have to play them aggressively, this means that they die quick. Plus, getting back to their over rated fear factor, they really die quick because they previously made people pee their pants.  That fear lingers.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, as this can help force battlefield control. Just don't count on your vindicator getting off more than one or two shots.

Alternative?

The Auto/Las pred of course.  You don't need extra armor because you probably won't move them far from where you deployed them.  Being able to move if stunned really matters little in this case. But the advantage to these is the four high strength shots.  The vindicator gives you one single shot, IF you manage to not scatter the hole off the top of the tank.  The Predator is a transport killer, is effective at least at silencing other predators, and can even take down land raiders.  I played a 7 land raider redeemer list at Hardboys and proceeded to blast him off the table with my predators.  

With Vindicator scatter, I imagine the average number of models you are going to get under the pie plate is around 4 when shooting at a well placed 10 man squad.  (Again, generalities, this is not based on proof, just experience.)  Give them cover saves and the number of dead is cut in half.  Cover saves apply to auto/las preds too, but the average of shots you can place on a well placed 10 man squad of marines?  4.  The predator can be just as effective as the Vindi at anti troop.  

Of course we only ever hear about those big blasts that kill 10 man squads of marines in a single shot.  The truth is, this just does not happen much.  

|When I play against them, I ignore them.  Sure I have to play smart, but I let them hang until I feel like dealing with them.  If I go up against an opponent who has spent 25% of his points on three vindicators in a tournament, I would just smile.

My final advice for this list? Take auto/las preds instead, use all the extra points to turn you Captain into Mephiston.  Drop the HK missiles, and give a couple power weapons to squads. Try to squeeze in a priest.  Have fun! :)

Jawaballs

Alabama CAGE Match Banner Commission!

Here are some WIP pics of my banner for the Alabama CAGE Match state wide tournament. Visit the site and if you are an Alabamer, get out to one of the participating stores!

I'm not sure how well the pencil lines show up for you, but here is the next step. I printed out the image that we came up with. Since what they wanted was pretty straightforward, I did not need to do any sketch work. I was able to work right from the image.  In this case the challenge was making the lines in the X line up. I started with the wings and chalice, then drew the scroll on the bottom.  Then I framed it with the box, and drew the X in the background.  I didn't bother making all of the lines on the chalice and wings dark since I will be painting them as black shapes then painting on details after.

In my last post I put out a mention for ideas on what to write in the scrolling at the bottom, well I got this submission straight from one of the boys:

Jawa,

I tired to post as a comment on your page but it wouldn't let me using my google account login. So I figured I'd just email ya a good quote.

and a idea or two. Good spot on knowing were the Yellowhammer, I love the idea of the Yellow thunderhammer.

"My dead and wounded were nearly as great in number as those still on duty. They literally covered the ground. The blood stood in puddles in some places on the rocks; the ground was soaked with the blood of as brave men as ever fell on the red field of battle."
Good qoute from Oates from Little Big Top that applies to AL history.  Couldbe used in 40K though I would drop it to just,
"The blood stood in puddles, in some places on the rocks; the ground was soaked with the blood of, as brave men as ever fell on the red field of battle."
Just a thought, being from AL and all. For the blood drops Im not sure the state flower wouldn't mesh well I'd say do something Crimson Tide but I'm sure an Auburn fan would cry. Maybe do a Crimson power Fist smashing into a Orange power Fist. Since we are a state divided.
It's awesome to hear that you are doing the banner for this tournament, hopefully I will get a chance to see it. If I can get my army ready in time for the CC event in Tuscaloosa.

If this was posted like 5 times, sorry my PC showed it not being able to be posted as a comment so I tired a few times, I wasn't trying to spam ya. THanks again for doing the banner, it will make this tournament all the more awesome now.

Thanks,

Matt.

Thanks for the input Matt, I think it is this sort communication that makes some of these banners really special. Chandler from Feast of Blades and I spoke a lot as his banner developed and I think the final design was great as a result. 

I think that the stylized fist idea is a good one. I will do some sketching for that and put up pics soon.  Any way, more to come soon as I start working!  Now the fun part begins.

Jawaballs

New Banner Project: Alabama CAGE Match!

Hey folks, my next full sized banner project is a custom one for the Alabama CAGE match.

Information about the Alabama CAGE match can be found HERE. But in short it is a member of a growing community of elite gaming GTs that focus on producing a "State Champion".  Feast of Blades is pioneering the concept by offering a huge invitational GT where the state champs from all over the country meet to duke it out for the ultimate title. It would be cool if the Alabama winner could go to Feast of Blades and parade in this banner!

So what am I doing?  I am working with the boys from Alabama to create their custom image.

First they wanted to base their banner on the Alabama State Flag:

The Alabama State Flag is a white field with a red X. This screams Death Company! So they chose the Blood Angels banner here to start:

It's a perfect way to begin!  This sets a good idea for me to go on visually.

From here we talked about content and I gave some advice. Through our back and forth we arrived at something like this:

These guys made my job easy!

I am replacing the angled arrow in the bottom right with a yellow thunder hammer because, well, obviously the Alabama state bird is the Yellow Hammer!  Instead of Blood Angels it will say Alabama CAGE Match.  I will do some appropriate scrolling below, with little empty name slots for winners.  I don't know what I will write in the large central scroll. I will either go with something inspirational from GW canon, or I will check out the Alabama history books and see if I can find a snippet from a Civil War battle or something.  I'm not sold on the blood drops though.  I think I may look for something more appropriate for these guys.

So step one for me is to get the banner made.  Unfortunately, I had told the guys I hoped I would get the banner done by the end of November, and I did not get the banner in my hands until Friday December 9.  Some times shit happens!  Believe me, finding reliable people to work for you is the hardest part of business.  But the fault is partly mine, I did not communicate my desires to the seamstress well enough, and it took a long time to get this one done. Mostly because the bottom was different from any banner she has done before.  It took forever to get that going.

So, here is the banner all sewn:

I need to break out an iron!  And one of the kids in my room wiped their grubby hands on it on the way out the door... oh the dangers of mixing work and play.

I learned from experience not to use pure white fabric. I did a Templars banner some time ago on pure white, and it picked up every bit of dust and dirt within 10 feet of it.  So I suggested an off white color.

Next step?  I need to draw the image on the banner, after I iron it of course.  From here it should go pretty quick. I just need to get it sketched out on the fabric and paint!

More on that next time!

So check out the Alabama CAGE Match and if you live in Alabama, get yourself to one of the events.

Jawaballs

Craftworld Ulthwe Eldar: Warlock Mark 1 Part Two

Here are some updated pics of my Warlock Mark 1.

The first two are updated ones and the one on the white base is the old on previously posted. I added more edging with a mix of my base black with a bit of bone color, and I also enhanced the black shadows on the robe.

Baby steps!

I've definitely considered going blues as suggested before, but I really want to take on the challenge of painting black.  I think it will make me grow as a painter and give me another weapon to use in my quest to win a Golden Demon some day.  (Haha, some day a long way away.)

I also added a few more edges on the sword.  Being a witchblade and not a power sword I wanted to keep it toned down.

I can say that the camera definitely is not doing this model justice. The contrast between the lights and darks is way too extreme in these pics.  The camera is not picking up some of the subtle shades of black.  Maybe a really thinned down black wash will help...

More to come, this is fun!

Jawaballs

Craftworld Ulthwe Eldar: Warlock Mark I

Here is my first attempt at painting black for my new Craftworld Ulthwe Eldar army!  I got a set of colors called Andrea Color, Black Set which is a series of 6 shades of grey intended to make it easier to get a nice black.

The paint is a bit thick in some spots. This was a previously painted Iyanden warlock that I Sprayed black, then did several base coats of grey.  I went with blue eyes, sword and sword gems to balance out the orange/red gems on his helmet. (Orange and Blue are complimentary colors after all.)

So what do you think? Should I push the shadows and highlights on the robe even harder? I botched the bone hands, but thats ok, I spent a lot of time on the helmet using the Andread White paint set.  I think maybe a few grey/bone highlights on the extreme edges of the robe?

Enjoy, lots more coming!  I tapped my friend the one and only Dave Taylor for advice on painting my Fire Dragon Wave Serpent.  Look for that soon!

Jawaballs

How to paint Necrons!

I have had this one for a while, but figured I would throw it out here for you!  I have a deluxe How to Paint Necrons video set available!  This set of videos is actually three tutorials.

Tutorial One:
You learn how to quickly and easily paint a tabletop level in no time at all.

Tutorial Two:
You learn how to bring tabletop to the next level by learning advanced highlighting techniques in painting a Metallic necron.

Tutorial Three:
You learn how to paint a bone colored necron that can easily compete for Best Painted at any tournament you go to!

The pictures show the bone colored and the phase one Necrons. CLICK HERE and you can purchase the video set directly from my site as a digital download. OR email me and we can arrange a physical purchase.

Enjoy! :)

Jawaballs

Craftworld Ulthwe Eldar: Black Guardian Biker, Eldrad, Guardians

Here are a few more WIP pics of my Craftworld Ulthwe Eldar army.

Here is an image of my first five Black Guardians.  The one on the right is complete except for a banner I will do last. I like to put a banner in each of my squads.  

I know, nothing great as far as conversions.  It's just using High Elf models as Eldar. Nothing ground breaking, but I have yet to see any thing like these at any tournament I have gone to. So to me they are special.

Here is a close up of the standard bearer.  For these guys I am using Dire Avenger heads and weapons with High Elf Phoenix Guard bodies.  But rather than just swap out Dire Avenger arms, I am cutting the arms to fit the Phoenix Guard upper arms.  You can see that the upper arm has a bit of scale armor helping it blend with the rest of the body. It looked silly with the Dire Avenger's jacked shoulders jutting out of the PG torso. 

Here is what I mean. I used the upper arm bit from the PG and glued it into place on this guy. I also used the DA ammo belt.

Here is an example where I fit the DA forearm to the PG upper arm.  I tried to cut it so that the forearm looks like it is coming out of the scale upper arm.  

Here is another close up of the other Black Guardians.  

And here is a Black Guardian on a Jetbike!  For him I used a silver helm mounted model.  The legs took a lot of cutting and fitting to make them sit right on the bike.  I did the same thing with the left arm, cutting the silver helm arm and Eldar arm and fitting them. This took a lot of careful slicing a sliver at a time from the arm to make sure it fit right.  I only had one crack at it.  I have not attacked the banner pole arm yet since I need access to the chest and dash details.  For my bikers I am using the DA Exarch heads. I like the unique biker look.  

A closer look.  Once it dries I will shave the flashing. I did not glue the canopy to allow me to paint details.

Thanks to Dave from Battle for Salvation I have Storm Guardian bits!  I traded him some Black Reach orks for his SG bits, just enough to fill out a squad of 10!  I know, Storm Guardians suck. Well this is an Ulthwe army!  It pretty much demands the use of them.  I will be doing the same PG treatment with these guys, however, I am interested in different heads for them. I have two rules, no topknots (Eliminating the Storm Guardian heads) and must have helmets. Any suggestions?  High Elf Silverhelms might work, but with the body being all PG I think I should use Eldar heads.  I could go with Banshee heads... Or perhaps even something simple like Dark Eldar warriors... What do you think?

And of course, a Failcast Eldrad!  Actually this finecast is not too bad.  There is a bubble under his right arm, and the sword is bent as well as his helmet crest.  Neither of the bends should be too bad to fix after warming the model and bending it. I've never tried.  The bubble is not noticeable if you are not looking. 

What's next? Well I am sort of in a holding pattern. The last thing I want to do is assemble 30 models and have them sitting on my table. That is demoralizing and always a bad idea.  I am waiting for my new paints to arrive. I ordered some special sets for painting black, bone and white.  Once I get them I will do a few normal guardian testers, then rock out on these guys.  So as not to get bored I will jump around a bit. These 5 guardians, the biker, a warlock, and then the Forgeworld Wraithseer.  By that time I should have received any Xmas presents from the wife, and purchased the rest of the models she fails to buy me from Spiky Bits. Oh hey Rob, my wife will be calling! Take care of her.  :)

What is down the pipes? Well I am hoping for some great news for the Eldar as the next 6 months unfolds.  I am not just doing this army as a side trek. I want to compete with it.  I am going to get owned for sure if I play this army in 5th ed.  I am seriously hoping for some 6th ed New Codex love. At that point I will be keeping the paint scheme, and theme, but going full min/max competitive list.  That probably means dropping the guardians in favor of Dire Avengers. But wait... I am already using DA parts... smart huh?  

At this point any discussion about what might be in this army in 6 months is pointless. I have not been keeping up with the rumors.  All I can do is hope for some wicked codex creep.  What has to happen? Eldar have to be made cheaper, and making them a bit better in the assault would not hurt.  They would actually be competitive now if their point costs were not so out of reach.  A wave serpent costs as much as a vendetta. A Falcon costs 50 points more than a ac/lc pred.  Sure they have advantages, but I think you can see what I mean as far as costs.  By the way, I am just pointing out obvious flaws and stating examples of the flaw.  In other words the first person that calls me an Eldar whiner is getting a /smack.

What I love about the Eldar is the variety. I love the different aspects and their varied colors.  They really do allow you to paint any color you want.  This is a nightmare trying to tie them all into a cohesive force, but it is possible.  

Ok, back to work for me. The wife is home in two hours and this is the only free time I get!  :)

Jawaballs