Showing posts with label Bolscon 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bolscon 2009. Show all posts

Still More Bolscon!

My batreps are coming up soon, I'm sorry it has taken so long but school started back up and I had to move this week. Here is some behind the scenes video of Bolscon. Also there is a little pregame stuff, Fritz and myself on the plane etc. Be looking for those batreps this week! I will add the video to this post once it loads on youtube. Jawaballs!

The Jawaballs Report: Bolscon 2009 part 2

I know, it's old news, but I needed to get up more video and reviews of Bolscon! Sorry I've had a busy week with school starting up.

I got an interview with Jwolf, Bigred and Adam from Bols, and that will be posted here once it loads. Well, it was mostly Fritz and myself blabbing while the camera was on the guys, but whatever, its content! Here is my summary of Bolscon:

First of all, Jwolf emailed Fritz and Myself an invitation to go down to Bolscon, along with some other bloggers and internet idententies. We decided instantly to take him up on the offer! First of all, it would be good blog content, but also, we wanted a chance to get Jwolf on the table after a recent Bols article talking about how the Blood Angels suck. So we bought our tickets and put it in the books!

I would like to say that the guys were nothing but gracious and accomodating. Jwolf even bought us breakfast and gave us a ride to the airport! All of the Bols guys were nothing but friendly and helpful. They welcomed us into their ranks and that is extremely appreciated. There is nothing like traveling three thousand miles and being treated like friends by complete strangers. Thanks guys!

Friday Night:
The room was set up around 5pm, and open gaming began. Fritz got a game in against Jwolf, while I played another guy who was hanging around. Batrep to come. I would say about 25 to 30 guys were there taking advantage of the open gaming tables. But the highlight of the night was a massive appocalypse game! At about 9pm, Bigred called the game to start and we got it going. I had the chance to team up with Fritz and some other boys to take on some Chaos scum. I have been involved with a few appocalypse games, and they have been mostly bleh. Around here they tend to be 10 hour marathons of needless tactical bickering. But we played a game with 15 thousand points+ PER SIDE in about 2 hours. Yup, you read right! Those Bols boys know their shit! The secret was a strict 10 minute limit per turn. You will be surprised how fast guys get in all their shots when they are forced to. This eliminates all the piehole shooting and crap. Guys just roll dice and do damage! The game ended with a good guy victory with the Blood Angels and Saim Hann saving the game. Fritz manipulated the main battle so that at the end he was contesting multiple objectives, while I flank marched onto the table behind a reaver titan, and destroyed it with two dreadnoughts and 5 death company models! Then my troops went on to secure two objectives! Giving us the victory, 3-2. Well run boys.

Saturday:
4 two thousand point games, starting at 9ish, and ending at 5! In about 8 hours, we got in the entire first round of the tournament. I have never been to a 3 game 1750 tournament that took less time. I ended up 1-1-2 on the day. My first game was a blow out victory over one of the Bols boys, and game two was a draw. Game three had me up against 40 plague marines, and saw me only score 3 points though. Just wasnt my game! Then game four was a half hearted draw. I could have maybe gotten a win, but the difference in points was only 10 points and had no effect in my overall standings.

The day was efficient and well run. If you had a question, the guys were attentive and answered it instantly. They all knew what they were doing, and what was going on at all times. The best part, was that about every half an hour or so, some loot was being given out! Guys were winning random drawings, loot from Battlefoam.com for pulling off certain requirements in game, loot from Battleforge Games for doing nothing, and loot from Jwolf for just being cool dudes! If he saw pleasent guys who were always smiling and having a good time, he gave them prizes... and not just little blisters, one such prize was a top quality painted Forgeworld model that was graciously donated by Blue Table Painting! Nice job BTP. They donated a few prizes.

And speaking of Prize Support... I did manage to get some video of the loot haul. It was amazing! However,Jwolf learned a valuable lesson... he should have had the loot off limits to the public. Instead, gamers could enter the area freely and walk right up to the table, that was being unmonitored. In a perfect world, this would be ok, but of course, some of the loot walked away. Oh well.

Later on Saturday, after my headache went away... I made it back into the game room for Pod Racing. It was cool! You picked a fast moving vehicle, I chose a Blood Angels speeder, and played by some established GW rules and raced them around a track. I came in dead last of course... but it was still a fun time!

Sunday:

By 4pm, I was sitting in the hotel restaurant eating dinner and drinking a beer. The entire Bolscon was over! The boys managed to get in 3 more 2k point games, plus an awards ceremony in under 8 hours. Amazing. I pulled three draws on the day myself, but played some great players including another Bols boy named Chris. His Lamenters made off with some loot counters due to some whacky special mission rules and saved him the tie. I managed to take down Lysander... with bolter fire! :) At the end of the day, Jwolf quickly and efficiently handed out the prizes with little pomp and circumstance and unnecessary drama. It was a nice, refreshing change... especially to some of the other GTs based in Baltimore... hint hint... who keep you corraled for an hour waiting for them to get organized, then make you sit through some annoying product pushing before handing out meager prizes. Guys were literally walking away with armloads of loot! I myself scored a Land Raier Crusader for winning Best Painted 40k Vehicle with my blood angels Baal Pred. I also won a DoWII for being the farthest traveler to Bolscon, and a Daemonette box set because my team did well. They randomly assigned people to teams, mine was slanesh. During the games, they pulled names from those teams who were doing well, and gave them prizes... my name was drawn and Monty from Bols threw a box set on the table in front of me and I didnt even know it was happening!

In the end, it was an absolute fantastic success. The games ran fast and fun. There were a minimal of douchebags. Loot was flowing like beer, and beer was flowing like water since there was a cash bar right outside the game hall and we could have a few while we played. While it was a challenge to get in some of the games for some of the larger horde armies, for the most part, I think the 2 hour time limit was a great thing. So there you go! I cant wait for Bolscon 2010, and am psyched that Bols plans on doing sometig in the NYC area. Ok, enough, my fingers hurt. Watch the video!

The Jawaballs Report: BOLSCON 20009 Part 1



Adam, Jwolf, Bigred, Jawaballs, Fritz and Goatboy in the front.



I have a LOT to go over. I am currently copying over 10 gigs of video and pictures taken from Bolscon 2009. Where should I begin? I think I will start with the end since Fritz is already covering the beginning. To put it quick and easy, Bolscon was the best 40k event I have attended any where since I got into the game 2.5 years ago. I've been to GW Gamesdays and GTs, Conflicts, many tournaments, apocalypse events... but this one has been tops. Jwolf and company ran the most efficient and effective tournament I have seen. On saturday, we got in four 2k point games faster then any other 1750 three game tournament I have been to. That says every thing. It was well run and fun! I have a lot to say about all of it and will be making videos for the next two weeks on youtube covering it all. Here is a taste of whats to come:

Exclusive interviews with Jwolf, Bigred, Goatboy and the crew from Bols.
Batrep of my Jwolf challenge game.
Batreps of the 40k tourament. (limited...sorry... it went fast!)
Behind the scenes video of the event.
Friday night apocalypse. JB takes down a Reaver Titan with 2 furioso dreads and 5 Death Co,
Saturday night pod racing.
And most importantly, a special interview with jwolf announcing another upcoming event...

I will start with the big news first, so be looking for the interviews with Bols and Jwolf as soon as I get them uploaded to Youtube!

Jawaballs

Hi from Bolscon!

I don't have time to report much, but I have to say Bolscon has been an outstanding success so far! I will give plenty of details later, but so far Fritz and I played in an appocalypse game on Friday where we owned some Chaos scum and we got in some open gaming. I played a cool dude and Fritz played Jwolf... Sadly Fritz failed to represent and got crushed. But never fear! Jawaballs and Dante will step up and take him down tonight after the festivities are over. On day one of the tournament, I did not fare so well. I all but rolled a Flylord off the table in game one, then drew against a Space wolf player in game two. Game three found me against 40 plague marines, a defiler, a winged prince and more in a kill point mission... I did not do well at all and got slaughtered... In game 4 I had a strong draw... against Eldar! He used Fritz tactics on me... Any way, the tournament is now going to be divided into two seperate brackets, based on battle points. The top half go into the winner's tournament, and the bottom half... well they are losers so who cares. :) I am ranked 17th out of 70 or so with three games to play today. I am not too optimistic about my chances to win... I have to make up 68 points and can only score a max of about 120... But it is all about fun any way so it's all good!

Time to go get ready to rock round two. Much more to come!

Jawaballs

Fritz causes problems at the airport!

Well, we almost did not make it through security. My bags went through fine, but Fritz got stopped and they searched his scum Eldar bag. It turns out even airport security guys have issues with Eldar and their Fire Prism tanks. Next time I am just going to shout something obnoxious and run through the terminal scream "For the Emperor!".

The Time is Upon Us! Bolscon is here...

So, Tomorrow morning Fritz and I fly out to Texas for what should prove to be an awesome weekend of gaming! To start it off, we have the blogger challenge... Fritz and I have games lined up against Jwolf and any one else from the Flylords who want a piece of us. On top of that, it would be great if any one else from the area that will be at the hotel on Friday night could drop in and say hi! On Saturday, I have decided to thwrow in my lot with the 2k point 7 game tournament. I am not delusional about my chances, but with a little luck, I could do well. Fritz has decided to enter the big game apocalypse event in search of personal glory. He will be zooming around with his farseer army subtly manipulating events from afar...

On saturday night, we plan on hitting the tables again for more open gaming. We will be there to take on any challengers who might want to see what the 5th Dimension is all about.

Sunday will see the convention wrapping up. I am not sure if there are open gaming tables available, but we will still be there! Our flight leaves on Monday afternoon, so if we can get in any more challlenge games on Sunday night, it will be great.

Or goals for the weekend? Fun. I am looking forward to hanging with Fritz and meeting lots of great people... and hopefully placing some faces on the names like at Gamesday. It would be great to win some games, but if I go down there, and get beat down 10 times in a row, it matters not. It would be great to beat Jwolf, but if he slaps me around, I will still be a better player for it, we both win.

Since I am a painter first, player second, that is where I have placed my eggs. I would be a liar if I said I was not optimistic and hopeful about my chances to score in the painting competition. Just this week alone I have poured about 40 hours into my army... Instead of practicing games, I spent my time before this weekend painting. I replaced half of my tired old assault marines, and added a speeder, attack bike and rhino. As I write this, I am staring at my Blood Knights who need a couple hours of love themselves... and am trying to muster up the motivation... My back is cramping and my fingers are giving out from holding brushes... But it is Jawalove!

So there you have it! 24 hours from now I will be some where over Tennessee. Shortly thereafter, I will be starting 48 hours of 40k joy. Come on out and say hi!

Jawaballs

Why do I think I will beat Jwolf?

Lets get back to the heart of the matter. Why do I think I will beat Jwolf? First of all, I have no delusions about my chances in the 7 game BoLScon tournament. I will be up against some rough competition, and most of those guys will have been playing 2k point games on a regular basis. I play 1750 games, and have only in the last few weeks started playing 2k to get ready. Believe it or not, that 250 points makes a HUGE difference! My army is optimized to play 1750 through two years of playing. I feel that I cannot field a better Blood Angels 1750 list, and my recent success has proven that... But, is there a better combination of points then what is in my list for a 2k point game? I dont know!

One thing that I think I have going for me is experience playing my game. From what I understand, and please correct me if I am wrong, Jwolf and most of his cadre down there play the "Brick in the face" approach most of the time. His theory is that if my entire army is dead, I cannot win! Well, most guys up here play that way too! Guys I face on a regular basis. My advantage is that my army list and tactics are proven to work against that mentality.

I have written pages about my tactics, but reading about them and playing against them are two different things. I do believe that helps my chances in the tournament as well. I think most of the guys in the tournament will have insane lists that excel at blowing each other off the table, and more then likely, the winner will be one of those guys who does it the best. But what about some one like me who is used to playing against those lists, and has built an army that is good at surviving? I have been reduced to a handful of models and pulled victories or draws while my opponent has 90% of his army still on the table. I think that the one thing I have going for me is that even now, a lot of guys know just what I am going to do, yet are still surprised when I do it, and win.

Will I win BoLSCOn? Probably not. Will I beat Jwolf? I plan on it, may the dice god shine upon me. Will I make a name for the boys in red? I firmly believe that when BoLSCOn is over, I will have earned respect for The Blood Angels, and some of the guys that encounter me will wake up with Jawaballs! echoing in their ears.

The Challenge Builds! Jwolf is going down at BoLScon.

I want to preface this by saying that I in no way consider myself 40k elite. I wallowed in the 60s tables for most of the last GT and when I did get a table in the teens, I got owned by Ork Bikers. Just last week, I got mopped up by my buddy Dan in a test game for a 2k point list. (No batrep since I was trying a list I wanted to keep secret.) I could win every game I play for the rest of the year and still not break even in my overall 40k record.

But the fact remains that I have found a way to win games in the last 10 months, and NOT by playing a flavor of the month list. Im not boasting or bragging so please don't take my smack talk wrong! Jwolf called the Blood Angels a bottom tier army, and my intention is to rewrite his definition of 'tier'. :) When forming opinions, lets just remember that 99% of this is Hype, mixed with a little pride. I write for YOU guys, and try to create entertaining, and sometimes educational content. I hope I am successful!

Now, here is my standard list:

Dante
Corbulo
Assault Squad, PW, Rhino xtra armor
Assault Squad, PW, Rhino xtra armor
Assault Squad, PW, Rhino xtra armor
Tactical Squad, PW, Lascanon, Meltagun, Rhino
Death Company Furioso Dread xtra armor, HF
Death Co. x4, in rhino xtra armor
Baal Pred x3, heavy bolters, storm bolters, xtra armor,

I play back and forth with 2 dreads or 3 assault squads.

Addition to make 2k points:
Speeder Squad x2, MM and HF
Attack Bike with MM
Attack Bike with MM

I know what I will be facing down there, and I know my tactics. So, I figured some fast moving melta guns would be my best bet. In order for my 1750 list to do its thing, I have to reduce my opponent to a 1750 list as well.

So there we go! Fritz and I have games scheduled against Jwolf for Friday night at BoLScon. He posted his list at that link so go check it out! I am looking forward to some great games and a LOT of smack talk.

More to Come,

Jawaballs

The Challenge... Jwolf... Jlunch? Jawawolf???

I have to say, I have not looked forward to something this much since I asked for the Millenium Falcon for Christmas almost 30 years ago. As you all know, Fritz and I are flying to Texas to take on Jwolf and also enter the BoLScon tournament in August. I have been anticipating this like a giddy kid! I dropped some smack on Jwolf not long ago, and he has responded on BoLS. We are going to test "40k in the 5th Dimension" against Jwolf and Companies "Kill em all" approach. Should be some good natured fun! Thanks for making my summer Jwolf!

Maybe if I beat him he will change his name to JawaWolf for a week.

Jawaballs

If you cant beat em... join em! My BoLSCON plans...


I have been quite staunch in my opposition to playing Terminators in my Blood Angels list... however, in thinking about what list to play at BoLSCON, I have decided to fight fire with fire! I already know I will face a lot of heavy weapons and tanks. My answer? Land Raiders! What is inside of them? Well Terminators of course... along with Corbulo and Dante (Dante hanging out behind of course). I pity any fool who gets within range... Die Texas!

I attached a pic of some Terminator death.

Jawaballs

BoLScon 2009 Here we come!




So today I booked the hotel room for BoLScon 2009 and registered for the 40k tournament! So there you go guys, August 21-24 I will be in Austin, Texas. Fritz is coming as well, and we will be at the open gaming tables on Friday where I plan on getting my hands on Jwolf and showing him what for. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

I just noticed that the point total is 2k points for the tournament though... this worries me. I have not had a chance to playtest much 2k armies, and I feel that the extra 250 points will vastly change the dynamic of the game from how I play... Any suggestions? I think I will be using my same list, and just adding a jacked out Honor Guard to go with Dante, with the chapter banner. The one I entered in Golden Daemon. Gona be a great weekend! JB