X-Wing Battle Report: Devasatator and Echo vs Rebel Scum

Hey folks!

Last night I got to play Xwing with my buddy Smurf.  I played a new Imperial list with a Devastator and Phantom vs his rebel list with the Falcon, a headhunter and E-wing.

My list:
Devastator- Rear Adiral Chiraneau
Engine Upgrade
Mara Jade
Isard
Rebel Captive

Phantom- Echo
Veteran Instincts
Advanced Cloaking
Intelligence Agent
Sensor Jammer

I forget exactly what Jim used, he does go over it in the video though.

Head Hunter
E-Wing with Coran Horn
Freighter with Fring Smuggler

I am still fairly new to X-wing. This was my first game with the Devastator and I had no clue what to do with it. So I reverted to what I know best... ramming my stuff down my opponent's throat.

Jim started out by dancing around with his ships, and I charged mine directly forward as far as they could go, and I boosted my Dev and cloaked Echo. I immediately regretted this though, because the Dev was right in the firing arc of all three of Jim's ships.

My tactic was to take out Horn first. So falling back on my standard 40k philosophy, I focus fired on him, continuing to shoot at him even though there may have been better shots.  I ignored his freighter and the head hunter. Horn was the threat with his burst fire ability.

In his first round of shooting, my Dev lost all the shields and suffered two crits and two hull points.  Yikes!  I dealt some shield damage to Horn.  Jim was feeling pretty good and I was thinking I was in trouble. But then we realized just how many hull points 12 is...  After that round, Isard kicked in and started giving me the free evade, eliminating one of his hits.  Then the Dev, in its hugeness, was smacked up against one of Jim's ships, eliminating that from shooting it.  Horn made his pass and fired twice, stopping it from shooting the second round.

So in the second round, the only real shots delivered were by me.  I kept Echo cloaked and passed him through the combat, and fired on Horn again with the Dev, dealing minimal damage while dishing out Stress to all of Jim's ships.

Third round, I did a K turn flip with Echo and dropped his shields.  The Dev is pretty hard to turn so I did my best, especially with the damage it had sustained. At this point it had suffered 2 crits and like 5 hull points.

My phantom released a volley at Horn from far range, delivering two hits and two crits... Horn would not survive.  This essentially sealed the game.  Even if we played it out, with Jim only getting a total of 4 shots a round at survivable ships, he would not out last me. I would shoot down the Head Hunter next, then maybe lose my Dev to his freighter, then dance around with Echo and whittle down the freighter.

We realized that we had hit the 75 minute mark which is tournament standard I believe. So we called it with me getting the win.

The telling tale in this game was the synergy of my list.

A. Devastators are beef.  With 12 hull points, 4 shields, plus Isard evading a few more damage, it takes a LOT of shots to take one down.

B. The Phantom is a great compliment to the Dev because it's evade encourages people to shoot the Dev... which is where I want the shots going.

C. Echo is better for me than Whisper. Whisper's special power relies on dice, while Echo's power is about movement. We all know that when it comes to dice, I suck.  So I prefer not to rely on dice. Whisper's power is to turn eyeballs into evades. This is great if you roll the eyeballs!  But Echo's power is to be able to use the lazy 2 turn for his decloak barrel roll, rather than the straight 2.  This gives me a HUGE amount of maneuverability option.  One of my strengths is spatial awareness, so being able to plan on and use this movement is huge for me.  It allows me to keep Echo out of trouble, and use him more effectively than I would Whisper.

D. Engine Upgrade?  From what I saw online it was the tits, but I don't see it here. I only used it that first turn, which just sped up getting shot at.  I have to believe that for my style those 4 points can be better spent.

E. Rebel Captive? Not necessary.  Mara Jade hands out Stress like skittles and giving a stress to the first ship that shoots at me is not required.

So I plan on dropping those cards, moving Intel Agent over to the Dev, adding the upgrade that lets me wound a ship I am base with, and maybe picking up a mine or something?

What do you guys think?

Here is the video:

Nova Narrative... List building begins

Ok... time to dive back into 40k. Enough time off.

For the last six months I have been going through some serious life stuff. Divorce... custody... blah blah. The primary reason why I have fallen off the face of the earth digitally. I am currently living in my sister's basement while I save up money to buy a condo.  Needless to say the creative juices took a serious flow blockage. By the way, if you guys have been on the fence about buying my videos, now would be a great time to show that support! HERE is my webstore. I could use it. :) The sooner I get out of my sisters basement, the happier a Jawa I am going to be!

I finally got myself a paint station set up and most of my stuff dug out of the storage bins I had packed my life into and I am ready to start painting again!  But the question is what?

I think a good goal for me is The Nova Open.  Part of my custody leaves me free to travel on Labor Day. So I am taking advantage of it this year and going to Nova!  However, I am too far out of 40k to make a competitive run at it. Plus my friend John Stiening has been having a fantastic time doing the Narrative. So I have decided to throw in my lot there.  I will be joining the fight for mankind!

That being said. I cannot show up and play 8 games in a weekend with a weak ass list like I did with my Lamenters at BFS.  I need to be at least a little competitive. I am starting my new army now.  I am going back to basics and doing another red Blood Angels army.

What I can use is Nova list building advice. Maybe some one who is familiar with the Nova Narrative rules can help?  I believe the Narrative is 1850 right? Here is the required Nova supplement:

Blood Angels All Factions –
Blood Angels Control From the Skies: All units without the Independent Character USR equipped with Jump Packs are considered Scoring. This only applies to Death Company within Section 5.2.3 below. All other units without the IC USR equipped with Jump Packs are considered Objective Secured.

All Scoring units with a model within 3" of an Objective gain the Feel No Pain (5+) USR. If the unit already has Feel No Pain, improve it by +1.

Humanity –  (I choose Humanity or Virtue)
Aspect of Retribution –
Blood Angels All Blood Angels vehicles gain the It Will Not Die USR
All Blood Angels vehicles ignore the effects of Stunned and Shaken
All Blood Angels vehicles are reduced to BS3
Any Blood Angels vehicle may elect to fire its weapons twice in a turn; these shots must be made at the same time and at the same target as the first firing; if this is done, ALL weapons must be fired twice; further, every shot (the first and second volley) gains the "Gets Hot!" USR (declare before firing any weapons with the unit, and you may not cleverly avoid firing certain weapons to try and minimize Gets Hot! results)

The Virtue –
Aspect of Insanity –
Blood Angels Death Company lose the 0-1 Limit.
Death Company Dreadnoughts do not take up a Force Organization Slot.
All Death Company (excepting Dreadnoughts) become Scoring and Denial, so long as NO other Blood Angels Tactical Marines, Assault Marines, Scouts, Vanguard Veterans or Sanguinary Guard are included in the army.
Activating the Rage: At any point in the game, any Death Company or Death Company Dreadnought unit may activate the deepest depths of the Black Rage. The unit immediately gains a 4+ Invulnerable Save and the Rending USR. When the game ends, before victory conditions are determined, remove any model activated in this way from the game as if it was destroyed.

Take a moment to absorb that info.

What do I like?

Tactical Squads
Assault Marines
Terminators
Dreads
Storm Ravens
Priests
Pods

With that in mind I did a little looking into the rules. From what I understand, the list building is using Combined Arms, and up to two detachments, with a requirment to use the rules printed in the special Nova supplement.

Here is what I came up with for my first go:

Primary Detachment, Combined Arms: Blood Angels
Priest with the new 20 point ap2 sword.
Tactical x10 with Flamer, Flame Pistol and Heavy Flamer in a pod (dealing some serious wounds)
x5 scouts with cloaks and snipers (cheap troop to come out of reserve and hold an objective)
Angels Fury Spearhead Force detachment:
3x Storm Ravens
3x Tacticals x10 with homers

The strike force enables assaulting upon landing from Deep Strike if done within 12" of a homer.  So Dreads and Termies can assault when they land from pods or teleport.

And the punch:

x5 terminator assault squad wth SS/Th
DC Dread in Pod with Talons
(assaulting when they land)

This leaves me with 50 points or so to buy upgrades for the tacticals.

So the special supplement rules only apply to the main detachment, but since this is a combined arms detachment, does that mean that the Storm Ravens get the bonuses from the Nova supplement?

Something else that I have been considering... something very different from what I just laid out...

Parking lot assault squad rhino spam.  Using Unbound for just under 1500 points you can get 14 assault squads in Rhinos with 28 total melta guns.  All of those rhinos and marines would look awesome! Unbound is not allowed in Nova, but there has to be a way using formations to get close to this?  And for that I defer to you guys. Thoughts?

OR something that takes advantage of the supplement for Nova. All jump pack troops are Objective Secured.

Ok lets chat this up!

Looking for Blood Red

Any one have any?  I am looking for GW Blood Red.  Not valejo copies or whatever.

PLEASE! :) I want to paint Blood Angels.

Jawaballs

Missing from my life...

Connecticut Painting Competitions?

Hey folks! I know I know... quiet... I'm trying!

I have some great Xwing content coming up, and maybe will even get out and play some 40k tonight... I will Batrep if I do!

But I am here today to tell you about one of the biggest new painting competitions in the North East.

My friends over at The Battle Standard in Manchester, Ct are running their third annual painting competition called Battle Cry on April 11.

I have decided to make it happen this year! The previous two years I was out of town at various conventions. But this year it turns out I will be around and able to attend.

I will be entering all three Scifi categories. Squad, single mini and large model.  But now to decide what to enter.  I have several squads that come to mind, but I am thinking I want to enter my Terminators from my Lamenters army.

But I am torn between them and my bad luck bikers.  I have been thinking about dusting off my old Blood Angels scouts too...

Large model will come down to a choice between my Lamenters Dread and a Warmachine death jack.  The Dread will require me to remodel it a bit... the batter embedded in the base died. I need to add a new one... some how.

And for single mini I am considering busting out my new NMM Dante that took 2nd in Scifi at Templecon this year, or my NMM Sanguinor for a bit more glory... though I may just bring out a Sanguinary Priest...

At any rate, all of the models require finishing or touch up, and need to be based on more heroic displays. I will be working on that this month and posting the progress here.

So here is to Jared and Wayne at The Battle Standard for running yet another great event!

Check HERE for more details.

Jawaballs

The Walking Dead?

Hi folks, it has been a while since I posted any thing but I wanted to chat a bit about TWD today!  If you have not watched the episode, click away. NOW.  Here is harmless picture before I start talking about the plot of Sunday's episode. As always, if you have comic book knowledge, please keep it to yourself unless asked!  This discussion is about the TV show.

The first question is who will be the first of the above two to be killed off?

Ok thats not really why I wanted to write today.

My question, and this can be answered by you comic book readers if needed, is what time is this world set in?  Obviously it is recent... but how recent? Or is it an alternative universe sort of setting? As I understand the comic setting, there was no zombie culture... so the word does not exist and this is why we get different groups calling the undead different names.

But can we zoom in on a time? I am guessing 1998 or so.  Why?

Well first, there is not a lot of difference in style between now and the late 90s.  Not that our characters are paragons of style any way, but Khaki pants, jeans, boots, corduroy, etc.

Weaponry is very much the same too.

There were some new cars like the Dodge Charger, but that is just about advertising, not continuity.

So why are we in the late 90s?  Well cell phones were still fairly in their infancy. not EVERYONE had one.  I did not own a cell until late 1999. And at most they were simply still just phones then. In none of the flashback scenes that I can think of do we see a cell phone in any ones hands.  There may have been one in the background here and there... Example? Take the flashback scene with Shane and Lori, Carol and her Husband on the road when Atlanta got fire bombed.  Were that today, every person sitting around, including Carol's husband, would have had their eyes glued to their devices... holding them up in the air trying to get service... etc.  This addiction to cell phones is a post 2005 thing.

You also don't see any cell towers. I drive down a parkway to get to work every day. There are cell towers every couple miles. Not only that, any water tower, stand alone or on a roof, or chimmey also has cell receivers on it.  In TWD, you don't see em any where. The water tower in the last episode had none of these. Granted the south is less populated and needs less cell towers... but still.  The lack of people on their devices and lack of evident cell towers screams pre 2005 and more closer to 2000.

Why is this even an issue?

The ghostly black and white photographs that Aaron used to try to convince the gang to join Alexandria.

Even in today's world, finding actual film in a film camera is a challenge. Finding the chemicals to develop them?  Good luck. I teach in one of the most Art supportive states in the country and even here most high schools have cut traditional photography. You really wont just find this stuff hanging around.  In a zombie apocalypse version of today's world?  I just can't imagine finding dark room supplies. Aaron explained that the camera was damaged and there were limited supplies or whatever so he couldnt print a pic of people.  But this is my problem.  Why restrict yourself to a film camera? Even if Aaron was skilled in developing film... why spend the time?

Reason two why TWD takes place pre 2000!

No digital cameras.

The leader of Alexandria sent out his recruitment scouts to try to bring in more deserving survivors, armed with horrible prints of ghostly, unpopulated walls and such.  Why???  If getting more survivors was such a priority, and using photographs to lure them in was their main tactic, why wouldnt they use good pictures?

While finding a working film camera, working film, and chemicals to develop it would be a chore in today's world... I would imagine every empty house in zombie apocalypse Alexandria would have at least one working digital camera, Ipad, phone... you name it.  Also there has to be at least one house per block that has a computer and a working printer.  Why not just devote some gasoline to a generator for ten minutes, scrounge up a working PC and printer, and print some nice pictures? Cant find a camera? While not having traditional film stuff available, ANY school will have dozens of computers, printers and digital cameras neatly organized on shelves. Police stations, hospitals, libraries... any of these places would have these devices in working condition.  (In addition to just about any residential.)  Not to mention any grocery store, Radio Shack or Best Buy. Digital pocket cameras would simply not be a priority when scavenging for the apocalypse... these things would simply be ALL OVER the place.  20 minutes plugged into a running generator and a ream of office paper with a printer and these guys can make all the great pictures they want. "What? That printer ran out of ink? Throw it away we have 32 more!"

The leader would have devoted some resources to making this happen.  Since it did not happen, and Aaron is showing off a collection of prints that look like they were taken off some 1950 bulletin board... I have to assume TWD happens in a pre 2000 era where digital cameras were an expensive novelty and many households lacked computers still, and many more lacked printers.  There have been laptops here and there... the office that Daryl and Carol were in... and I think Milton used a tablet when researching the zombies?  I would have to rewatch those episodes... some one fill remind me.  But the world is mostly devoid of high tech, much like the pre tech days of the late 90s.

Want more? Photo albums.  Rick and Lori are in their Mid 30s? Early 40s?  They, like most of us are children of the digital age.  Printing and making photo albums is tedious when we have Facebook, Photobucket and Snapfish.  Few people these days make photo albums.  You know when I used to?  Pre 2000.

Phew! Got that off my chest.

The rest of the episode was spot on... except for one more mild point.  I don't care how convinced Rick became, there is NO WAY he would have carried his baby through those gates and watched them slam closed behind him.  He would have insisted upon most of the group staying outside the gate, hidden, with one of the two scouts to use as bargaining. He even took the time to hide a pistol... just in case... why not hide... I dont know... the baby?

 He, with a few of the party would have gone into town to investigate.

Just a few weeks prior they were blasted out of their prison and then encountered Terminus.  When they got to Terminus, they took the time to scout and infiltrate, and that place proved to be a death trap. Alexandria? Rick would still have physical wounds from the beating at Terminus, not to mention emotional ones.  He would have investigated. He would have looked and made sure it was safe. Especially after a whole episode of not trusting.  But no... after threatening and beating the scout, and arguing with every one, bordering on near insanity... he walks into Alexandria with not an inkling as to what is on the other side... baby in arms.  What if they were just playing the sound of children on a speaker?

Duh...

Jawaballs

New Necron Info!

Hi guys. I received this info today via email from an anonymous source about the new Necron codex. He seems to know mostly what he is talking about! I thought you would appreciate!  I don't know much about the Necrons but figure some of you would enjoy. Jawaballs

 I do have the Necron codex 
however and I'd like to point out something that allot of people are 
getting wrong at the moment. Listening to the 11th Company podcast atm 
and they mention that Reanimation Protocols are pretty much useless, 
they don't have the codex yet and are going by rumours and for some 
reason think RP is on 6+. 

 Reanimation Protocols is basically FNP or Regeneration from Fantasy but 
with less restrictions.

It's not a saving throw so can be used against attacks that state 'no 
saves of any kind are allowed'
May be taken against Instant Death.
May NOT be taken against Destroyer weapons or attacks that 'remove from 
play'.
If you have FNP and RP you may only chose one of them, RP will always be 
better (Sure both rolls may be 5+ but RP has less restrictions so is 
technically better even if the roll may be the same).

Take armour/invulnerable saves, fail those and you may make a RP roll. 
On 5+ you are ok, the 5+ can be improved by different effects that are 
all cumulative but RP can NEVER be better than 4+. You could make 3+ RP 
(Decurion and Cryptek, if there are other things that increase it you 
would have been able to have a 2+ which makes your army unkillable so 
the restricted it to 4+). 

 Crypteks are pretty much useless now.
They have the "Technomancer" rule which improves RP by +1 so a 4+. Well 
that isn't so bad is it? They cost 65pts compared to Lord 50, have -1S, 
T, A and Sv.
All they have going for them is the Technomancer rule which the Lord 
doesn't have.

The thing that makes them useless is the new Decurion Detachment. Sure 
there are some restrictions when taking it but every model in the 
detachment gets the Ever-living special rule

Ever-living: Models in theis Detachment with the Reanimation Protocols 
special rule receive a +1 bonus to RP rolls. Models in this Detachment 
with the Living Metal rule ignore the effects of Crew Stunned and Crew 
Shaken (but still lose a Hull Point).

What this means is as long as you take a Decurion Detachment your entire 
army will have 4+RP making Crypteks useless and a waste of points 
(unless I'm missing something.). There are no special Cryptek versions 
any more, Lords can take everything a Cryptek can and more whilst the 
Cryptek is restricted on a few items.

The only thing a Cryptek can take that Lords can't is the Chronometron 
which gives any unit the Cryptek is attached to a 5++ against shooting. 
90pts to give a unit a 5++ vs shooting attacks? 

I guess it would work vs 
Tau/Eldar with all their Ignore Cover bullshit?


I'm also quite happy with my favourite Necron unit, the Flayed Ones. 
Still the new shitty fluff with them being hungry (I prefer the insanity 
of losing their flesh so they try to wear the skin of other races to get 
some resemblance of their Necronity (humanity doesn't quite fit) back.  

As all my armies are female as far as possible the fluff is that all my 
flayed ones used to be female Necrontyr and now they want their skin back.

Anyway, the thing that makes they so much better now are:
Wargear:
Two flayer claws - S User, Ap5, Melee Shred
They also gave them Fear which is pretty much useless as most allot of 
armies are immune to it. 

 I believe the above changes is the same that they got in the FW book but 
I can't be bothered to check.
Anyway, with the changes to RP and with the easy of making it a 4+ 
through Decurion Detachments I can see these girls being able to 
actually do something in close combat. They have 4 attacks base (3+ 
2CCW) and 5 attacks on the charge at WS4 and S4. 4+ RP means they wont 
get shot off the table turn one and with Infiltrate you can get them 
quite close to your opponent for a turn 2 charge. 

I would have given them Hatred Everyone (due to my own fluff of them 
being women who want their flesh back so they hate every living creature 
that has flesh) but shred is statistically a better rule to have. Still 
13pts though, I would have preferred them to be 10pts or so for what 
they are but RP makes them really good now so I'm looking forwards to 
see some games with them used.


Triach Stalker are pretty interesting now as the Targeting Relay gives 
all friendly non-vehicle units within 6" +1 to their Ballistic skill.  

This is extremely good with you have Praetorians or other models nearby 
with really deadly weapons. BS5, S5 Ap2 attacks are nothing to ignore, 
especially from Praetorians that are jump infantry.

Lychguard at 25pts a pop is really good as well, for +5pts per model 
they get power swords and 3++. Not the best but it's still just 30pts 
for 3+/3++ and RP.

Night Scythes are now Fast attack and the only change, besides the 
+30point cost, is that if it has moved 24" or more units disembarking 
can only fire Snap Shots. Passengers ignore all ill effects and if 
destroyed enter ongoing reserves just like in the old book. 

With the change to Fast attack this means I can start with 15 Flayed 
Ones inside it whilst still in reserves right?


Wraiths are better, they went up +5pts but for that they got +1T, they 
are now Beasts but with Wraithflight can move over all other models and 
terrain. I believe they made this change so you wouldn't be able to put 
them in Night Scythes.

 As for points cost :
Old/New
Wraith 35/40
Whip coils 10/3 - 45 vs 43
Particle Caster 5/5 - 40 vs 45
Transdimensional beamer 15/10 - 50 vs 50

So the whip coil version became cheaper compared to the old cost and 
afaik this is the most used config. They become I5 with whipcoils (+3I) 
but I do believe they are reduced to I1 when moving through terrain. 

 Wraithflight: When moving, Canoptek Wraiths can move over all other 
models and terrain as if they were open ground. However, they cannot end 
their move on top of other models and can only end their move on top of 
impassable terrain if it is possible to actually place the models on top 
of it.

 Now the question is does charging into assault count as movement or is 
it assaulting? If it's movement they you count as moving through open 
terrain and wouldn't have you initiative reduced? Right?


Scarabs no longer eat armour values, they just auto wound and glance on 
6+ To Wound/Pen. They now cost 20pts so +5pts, still usable and scary in 
CC vs vehicles and perhaps MCs but other than that they are pretty meh.

 Doom Scythe is 15pts cheaper but deathray is nerfed to hell as we've all 
seen from the rumours. 24" S10 Ap1 Heavy 1, Blast, Lance
Sure it glances every vehicle in the game on 2+ but still. They could 
have given it a 2 profile weapon or something. Like S7 Ap3 Large blast 
or Heavy 6 S7 Ap3.
I guess one positive thing is that you could technically take 20-40 Doom 
Scythes through the Decurion Detachment and each Deathbringer Flight 
(2-4 Doom Scythes) causes models within 12" to have -1Ld

Monolith is same old, either good or shit depending on how you rule the 
Deepstriking Skimmer problem of them not being able to mishap from 
landing on friendly or enemy models or say the rule doesn't take effect 
because deep strike isn't movement/ mishap happens before movement so 
the rule wouldn't apply or whatever other reason you can think of why 
this rule wouldn't apply. 

They can however no longer suck in models and eat them :(


C'tans and Mind Shackle Scarabs
C'tans are a bit more interesting imo and they combo with each other as 
well as with MSS.
The Deciever has the Dread rule which causes all units within 12" to 
suffer -2 to their Leadership. Nightbringer has the Gaze of Death which 
is a shooting power with 12" range that causes wounds equal to 3D6 minus 
leadership on the target unit at Ap2 with Ignores Cover.

 Meh but still a 
combo, same goes for MSS.
If you have the Deceiver within 12" you the Fear check is even harder 
for your opponent to pass. 3D6 on a fear check is pretty good but as it 
doesn't work on Space Mehreenez it will be considered useless by most 
people. They really should remove "And they shall know no fear", 30K 
does well without it and it's an op piece of shit rule that makes it 
annoying to fight SM that are already pointed too cheaply for what you 
get (imo, I'm biased because I pay 12pts for a battle sister that's 
complete shit compared to a SM for +1-2pts). 

 The 3 C'tans are pretty meh, but I think they are more interesting than 
the old book even if you can't customize them in any way. Guess we'll 
have to wait for a C'tan kit before they do that again.


Out of the Formations in the book only one stood out for me.
Canoptek Harvest
1 Spyder, 1 unit of Wraiths, 1 unit of Scarabs
Special Rules: Move Through Cover, Relentless
Adaptive Subroutines: At the start of each of the controlling player's 
movement phases, chose one of the following special rules: Fleet, 
Reanimation Protocols or Shred.

As you can take this formation as part of your Decurion Detachment it 
means you can give your Spyder, Wraiths and Scarabs a 4+ RP. It almost 
means you can move and fire the Transdimensional Beamers on the Wraiths 
as the entire unit has Relentless. Wraiths and Scarabs with Shred is 
pretty nasty as well :D

I wish there was a Flayed Ones formation but at least there is a 
Decurion Detachment so you can take 10 units of them if you want hue hue 
hue...

 I'd love to see a Flayed Ones supplement, making them troops, having a 
flayed Overlord and Lords, allowing ghost arks to rebuild flayed ones.
They could at least have made them fearless...

They mentioned on the 11th Company podcast that you can get a 2+ 
re-rollable save but I'm not seeing it, perhaps you need to use items 
from one of the BA vs Nids books. All I can find in the book is the 
Nightmare Shroud which gives you 2+ and Fear, once per game instead of 
shooting you can nominate an enemy unit within 18" and that unit has to 
take a Morale check (Fearless and ATSKNF ignore this). This could 
potentially be extremely good as a unit that's falling back 
automatically fail Morale checks if I'm not mistaken.


Anyway, this was allot longer than I intended, was only going to point 
out the Flayed Ones change but threw in some of the others because I was 
bored.

The Jawa Forge Returns!! 32mm Scenic Resin Bases

Hey all!  My army of Jawas have been working hard and I present to you the first fruits of their labors...

32mm Scenic Resin Bases!

This first set from the new Jawa Forge is based on a crystaline cron tomb world.  Crystals of various sizes are jutting up from the charred earth, some broken, some standing tall.  There are a variety of grades of gravel for you to paint, and one is even accented with a long forgotten skull!

This set of five bases are the new GW standard 32mm scale. These bases will be coming with most new GW box sets in the future as evidenced by the new Blood Angels Tactical squad and the Deathstorm boxset. So you might as well get a head start and start rebasing your army now!

As I find time I will paint some up in different colors to show you more variety.  These finely crafted resin bases are available now for 5.99 per set of five. The new Necrons are coming... BE READY!

I will have these crystaline bases available in all GW base sizes very soon including the new ones!

I also have two new variety of my classic broken rock coming. One is more of a smooth exposed rock, and one is a more jagged broken rock. They will mesh seamlessly to add more variety to your army.

If the interest is there, I will also create another set of five 32mm Crystaline bases.

More to come!

Jawaballs

NMM Gold Dante

Hi guys!

I wanted to share today some WIP images of my Nonmetallic Metal Gold Dante!

Nonmetallic Metal Dante

NMM Dante

I need to work on the lighting for my images but these came out decent.  I used the old Sanguinor Heavy Metal NMM tutorial from White Dwarf, converting the paints to the new Citadel Paints of course.

He is not done, I still need to paint the Axe Mortalis and touch up the wings and some other details.  For the base I used a bit of broken column scenery from Secret Weapon Miniatures.  They were left overs from last years Nova Charity project that he donated. Justin is a great guy and deserves your business so if you are looking for some cool basing bits, or cool bases themselves, look him up!

Back to Dante.  This is one of my favorite models so I was happy when they made him usable again. I dropped the old jump pack though and replaced it with a Sanguinary Guard pack with wings. I just can't imagine Dante letting his subordinates have cooler packs than him!  I finished the base with some brown then red dry brushing to represent Baal Prime and some long grass with a warmer hue.

My direct and edgy painting style shows through on this.  I have been working on getting away from that and instead working on more smooth blending, but honestly every one does that. I am going back to my roots, what I do well, with my new Blood Angels army and letting my style show.  But yes I did cut my paints! :)

Feel free to give thoughts and advice. I am painting a whole honor guard like this so would benefit from input.  If any one can point me towards a NMM Gold walkthrough that is better than the White Dwarf one please do.  It is hard to beat!

More nids, as well as my own review of the Leviathan, Exterminatus and the Sanguinary Guard Codex book sets as well as Deathstorm are on the way soon.

Oh and while I do love Justin and Secret Weapon, I would like to announce a rebirth of the Jawa Forge!  It is clear that GW is going towards 32mm bases as the standard. The new BA tac squad comes with them.  You can imagine that all models will come on them eventually. We might as well embrace this and make the change!  I have a new Broken Rock (my most popular from my old line) set, as well as a Crystaline Tomb World as a nod to the Necron Codex enroute.  I will have a set of bases in each style to base the Deathstorm box set.  The bases are sculpted and ready for casting and will be going into the mold making phase tonight!  I could have them available for sale this weekend... :)  Stay tuned!

Jawaballs

Leviathan Tyranids!

Tyranid Leviathan Brood Lord Deathstorm

Hey folks! Merry Christmas.

I wanted to share a little WIP I have going on today. The Broodlord from Deathstorm!  I picked up the Deathstorm box set because I wanted the new rule book, the character termie and I have always wanted to paint some Nids. SO I figured I would try my hand at Leviathan seeing as how they are set to invade Baal Prime and all.

But that was before I knew what their color scheme was... White and Black/Purple... Hmmm...

Oh well. Off to work I went.  Knowing that I have a LOT of these to paint since I am going to do a full army, I wanted to keep the black simple. Rather than the many shades of grey I do for my usual black, I went with straight black with highlights. I did some Xereus Purple and Genesteal purple, then mixed in a bit of Ulthuan Grey to the genestealer for a final highlight.

For the skin though, in all of the artwork in the Terminatus book the nids are very much NOT white.  I wanted to avoid a chalky look that you see all too often.  (I still got a bit chaulky on the head and other parts but I will redo)  So I went with Ushabti bone as a base coat then washed with Baal red.  I then highlighted with Ushabti, then Screaming skull, then mixed in some white with the Screaming skull, then a few touches of pure white.

In the vents of the arms I used Nagaroth Night wash.

For the claws I used my standard red, Khorne highlighted with Mephiston, washed with Baal, then highlted with Mephiston and some of my very last bit of Blood Red... sniff... will miss that color.

So what do you guys think?  I gave him a layer of Matte Varnish before taking pics and am planning on a layer of Satin. I will probably redo the head as I am not happy with the horn or the back of the skull. I am also planning on pushing the edges of the red claws.

Wait til you see what I have planned for the display!  :)

After Christmas I am going to do a full review of the Sanguinary Guard codex, Leviathan and Terminatus book sets and the Deathstorm box set.

I am also working on a new line of resin bases done in the new base sizes.  They should be ready for purchase in a couple weeks or sooner!  I am doing the old favorite Broken Rock, and a Cron Tomb World to start.  Time to get our armies all based on the new sizes!

So with that I would like to wish all my old friends a Merry Christmas, Fritz, Bobby, James, Matt, Ed, and the same to my con friends, Simon, Ted, Bill, John and every one else. :)  Thinking about you all, and looking forward to a new year.

More to come.

Jawaballs

First Blood Angels list design fail!

 My favorite models to convert have always been Sanguinary Priests.  With them being a single model HQ now I decided to add a Command Squad to my army because that is the only way to get another one.  Looking at the command squad, I at first thought I could give any of them a Storm Shield, so I immediately started drooling about a priest with a 3+ invul.  Sadly as I was looking through the entry, I noticed that they make a distinction between the Priest, Champion and Veterans, and that only the Veterans may take Storm Shields.  :(  Boooo!

Above is the priest I made for the squad. I used the apothecary chest piece from a command squad set, the apothecary arm and shoulder pad from a Dark Angels Biker sprue, an older Dark Angels robed running legs, and a blood angels head with Sanguinary guard jump pack.  I cut the lights off the Apothecary backpack and glued them onto the jump pack.  He is holding a grail from Maximini.  They have an accessory sprue that has 2 or 3 grails, some candles and books and other cool things. I used the arm from the Sang Guard sprue that is holding a double bladed axe, and cut the top and bottom ends off. Then I cut the middle of the grail out and glued the top and bottom to the hand... it turned out nice! I was going to add the shield to the right arm, attached to the wrist.  Oh well! Oh the other bits on the jump pack are from the Dark Angels biker sprue as well.

I have not decided how to paint him yet. The rest of the squad is getting the NMM gold treatment along with Dante. They are all made using Sang Guard artificer armor and will match him nicely like an Honor Guard.  But the priests are different. I am thinking he is going to be more like the color scheme of the new priest in the codex, or maybe good ole red with white trim like Corbulo.  Perhaps bone colored armor with a white helm?  I see the priests as their own entity within the Blood Angels and they join command squads to lend their abilities, but don't quite mesh with the unit... probably because they consider themselves part of the HQ and this leads to leadership issues with the Company Champion!  Maybe I will give him some NMM trim to help him fit in with the squad, but keep his base Sanguinary colors...

I have not been excited about 40k since painting Lamenters over the summer. So this makes me happy! Now to replan the rest of the models in the squad. I assembled them mostly, but now have to rip arms off the Champion because I gave him a SS as well. Back to his combat shield... weird that he can't upgrade..

In talking with my friend and 40k great Alex Fennel I think I have decided to add a few Space Wolves to my army list. The list has plenty of units to be tactically viable but with the lack of ICs in this edition is lacking a little punch.  But with the Fenris supplement I can actually add a detachment that has up to 4 HQ models!  This will give me a nice Wolf Lord to add to this Honor Guard to run amok with Dante, and one or two more models in the Land Raider with my termies, captain and priest.  Oh I am taking a captain with artificer armor and that AP2 sword.  Since I cant take him, a priest and Meph, I have to add the space wolves to replace that Meph punch. So I am thinking a wolf lord with a Thunder Hammer or something.

Oh and by the way any Space Wolves who have the honor of joining a Blood Angels army under my command will be forced to wear their helmets and rid themselves of those ridiculous pelts.  I wont have them stinking up my Land Raiders.  :)


So painting starts soon and I will document that for you.  I ordered the Sanguinary Guard limited edition codex and I am hoping there is a new NMM gold tutorial in the painting guide. Otherwise I will use one of the many I found online.

More to come!
Jawaballs

New Blood Angels!

I am still trying to wrap my head around 7th edition but I have some first thoughts on the new codex!

I think it is a great improvement. I pointed out my Lamenters list from BFS and saved about enough to buy another whole unit.  Some stuff is much cheaper and unfortunately some stuff is more expensive.

The winners:

Dante!  He is usable again. They made his ax go at normal initiative allowing him to take advantage of his high I score and swing away, and it is still STR +2 and AP2.  With his six attacks on the charge going at initiative 7 things are gona die.

He is now a must have for any assaulty BA army.

Oh and he is a Lord of War, which means you can take him in addition to 2 HQ choices.

Death Company.

The biggest issue with them was points. Without Jump Packs it was difficult to get them into combat. But Jump Packs used to cost 15 points for them which made it stupid.  Now JP cost 3 points a piece. This instantly turns JP equipped DC into a viable unit and a must have. A squad of 10 of them equipped with a few Power Swords and a fist will be among the top assault units in the game if they get the charge off.

Command Squad:
Maybe not so great a choice, but for 200 points you can get them on the table with jump packs, upgraded weapons and Storm Shields. A great unit for Dante to join.

Captain:
The BA had undeniably the worst SM captain in 40k. He was a joke. Now he is sick. Why? Well for 130 points you can get a 2+/4+ marine with 5 attacks on the charge at I6 and an AP2 power sword by taking the BA relic.  It is only 5 points more than a regular power sword!  What a steal!

+1 elite choice:
Fantastic seeing as how all of the good units are now elites...

Detachment:
+1 Initiative on charge! Welcome back to pre 6th ed assault glory!

And here is some of the bad...

Elite and HQ choices.  All of the wonderful killy stuff is wrapped up in Elite and HQ.  The priest got promoted and reduced to a single model per selection. No more flooding the table with FNP.  The Chaplain got promoted as well.  They are now competing with Librarians, Mephiston and the upgraded captain.  And it seems that every thing got slid into the Elite slot. DC, DC Dreads, Furiosos, Sang Guard, Van and Stern Vets, Termies. Holy Cluster of competition for available slots. Lucky we have four!

Dreadnoughts:
Not only are they more expensive, but a lot less killy with the removal of the meat grinder blood talons.  This is sad because BA still lack the torrent of fire that many armies had and the old talons helped balance that.  I simply can't see myself taking a dread any more with a BA force.

Troop Assault Marines:
Gone. Moved to Fast Attack.  Not a huge deal with the way the new game works cause you can still flood the table with assault marines, but JP troops were always a trademark of the BA and will be missed.

Troops:
Only 2 choices... Tacs and Scouts.  Scouts are crazy cheap though, 65 points for 5 snipers with cloaks.  Five tacs in a rhino are about 100.  But why bother. 240 points buys you 4 scout squads that your opponent will simply get bored of shooting at as they go to ground for 2+ saves and the ability to do some real, and annoying damage by picking out models and wounding big stuff.

What are my plans?  I am making a new army, going back to my roots.  Land raider of death with assault termies and a bunch of ICs.  The only problem is that it is much more difficult to do it.  I want that new Captain in there, and doing so means I only get one more HQ... so I get to choose between Priest, Meph who is now an IC and a Chap.  Priest lost the FNP bubble so he must be in the unit so he is needed which means I cant get my chap and meph.

How do I solve this?  Allies? Can I take a second BA detachment?  Or do I have to go with SM or SW allied force?  Rules guys help me out here!

jawaballs

New Blood Angels Incoming!

So from what I just saw the new BA codex is set to drop next week, along with a new BA centered tactical squad.  The rumors have been back and forth on this, but from what it appears on the cover of the new White Dwarf, it looks like a new BA tac squad kit!  Finally...  :)

Now to figure out how to fund a new army with my new financial situation... I am sure a lot of us have the same problem, especially with the holidays around. What happens if Santa doesn't stop at our house and we want the new Blood Angels?

Maybe this new program at The Battle Standard will do the trick!  (If you live close enough to take advantage of it that is.) Visit the site HERE. Sounds like a winner to me! More gaming stores should run programs like this. Jawaballs

Re-Rolled Miniatures Program

At The Battle Standard we are on a never-ending quest to accommodate all tabletop gamers.  From those that appreciate the modeling side of miniature gaming to those that just want every army at their disposal regardless of how it looks on the tabletop.  This is why we created the Re-Rolled Miniatures Program.

What is the Re-Rolled Miniatures Program?

Have you purchased an army with the intent to use it and just never seemed to get around to using it?  Have you received a miniature as a gift that after using it for a while, just doesn’t suit your play style?  Are you simply uninterested in the building and painting aspect of the hobby?  If any of these examples sound familiar, the Re-Rolled Miniatures Program might be right for you.

• Sellers: The Battle Standard does the work for you.  We take in any number of your used miniatures whether they are assembled, painted or otherwise and display them for sale for you.  You name the price and we do the work.  Our trained staff works around miniatures daily and they will sell your miniatures with the same knowledge and enthusiasm that we sell our new, in-box products.  A brightly lit, glass display case will showcase your items in a location where people are looking to find them.  Say goodbye to ebay sales where shipping is always an issue and in the end you lose money to ebay charges.  Gone are the days of posting on countless forums and through social media hoping for a response from someone reputable.  Simply bring in what you’re selling, we sell it, and you receive the exact same amount of store credit it sold for on a reusable gift card good for any product in the store or available via special order.  It really is that easy.
• Buyers:  For those customers looking to get into the excitement of Tabletop Miniature Gaming for the first time, a used army is an appealing solution.  Perhaps you have an army already but you’d like to expand?  Taking on a gently used regiment or squad can be a quick way to enhance your game.  Buy used and buy for less.  Receive more for your gaming dollar.  No need to buy online.  No need to wait for shipping.  No need to worry about broken miniatures arriving at your door.  See what you want on display and take it home that day.  We are constantly rotating used product so come visit us and see what’s on display today!

Whether you’re looking for that inexpensive gateway into Tabletop Miniature Gaming or you want to sell off that army that’s been battling nothing but dust bunnies in your closet all year, The experts agree that The Battle Standard’s Re-Rolled Miniatures Program is the solution for you!

It's been quiet

Hi Folks,

So I have been extremely quiet of late. I have not been posting to Youtube, doing my live show, or blogging. I just have not been doing any painting or gaming at all. I am not gone, just taking a hobby hiatus while I am working out family stuff. Without getting too into it, I am separating from the wife and dealing with all of the emotional and financial fun that goes with it.  On top of that is graduate school, a thesis research project and blah blah.

 Pretty much the worst environment known to man  in terms of blogging and hobby.

Things will start to normalize in a couple of months and I will get back to regular posting.

In the meantime I will be working on my Robotech Tactics army when I find time, and patiently waiting for the new Blood Angels codex. When the book drops, I will be painting a new army.

Until then I am trying to raise funds! I need to pay off debt and work towards getting my own place.

I am selling all three of my current armies.

My Red Blood Angels assault army. This is my fairly famous army from Nova a few years ago which was a finalist for best army. It won 5 other GT best painted, a handful of players choice, and over a dozen small tournament best painted awards.  The army comes complete with a custom fit Battle Foam Pack Go.

My Tau army. I painted this army with love but only played it a few times. It actually won a tournament best painted when it wasn't even finished!  The army comes with a transport case, hard cover Tau codex, and 5 or 6 tanks that have been assembled and base painted including devilfish and a skyray. There are also new in box vespid, fire warriors and some more kroot.

My Lamenters.  Hand painted checks and all.

You know the quality of my armies and have followed them here for years and all three of these will win best painted at just about any tournament you go to.  I am entertaining reasonable interest. Contact me and we can talk.

I also am still selling my painting tutorial DVDs.  Find them HERE.

And finally I am still accepting orders for full sized banners.  :)

Thanks for all the support over the years!

Jawaballs

Lamenters WIP for Battle for Salvation!

Battle for Salvation is next weekend!  If you have not already signed up, now is your chance. There is less than ten spots left!  Don't be left out of one of the best GTs on the East Coast.

BFS is not just about 40k though, there are tournaments for Malifaux, X-Wing, and Youngbloods! (14 and under).  It has been a couple of years since I went. It seemed that the last couple years things kept popping up that would keep me away from the con.  Not this time!

I am taking my poor cursed Lamenters for their second major round of action. Last time I brought them out was at Templecon and while I got crushed on the tables, they did win Players Choice and Best Painted (though I had to choose one to actually receive.)  I hope to perform well at BFS too, though I am up against some stiff competition with John Steining showing up, as well as my old friend Joe Johnson if he comes and many other great painters.  This should be a stiff field!

Here is a LINK for BFS.

Here are some WIP shots of the unluckiest squad in the unluckiest chapter:

The melta gunner has not actually befallen any bad luck yet... but that can change!

Hope to see you all at BFS!

Jawaballs

Tournament Report!

WOO I managed to squeeze in a tournament! This was my first action since Templecon in February. Needless to say I was a tad rusty. That, and this was my first 40k action in 7th edition... and I was playing my Lamenters.  I had very low expectations for the day!

Sorry no footage, when I pulled out my camera after leaving it plugged in all night, it was out of charge.. not sure what the dilly is.

It did not take long to get bad news. The Lamenter Curse was strong.  My first draw was my friend Alex Fennel.  Take one of the best 40k players in the world, give him a fairly good White Scars bike army whith a knight and thunderfire, pretty much designed to slaughter mech space marines, and this would spell doom for my poor boys in yellow. Aside from my Vanguard Vets heroic assaulting his Thunderfire and killing the techmarine... the only wounds I inflicted upon him were from the explosions of my vehicles.  In fact it got to a point that I was ramming my tanks into his ranks just so they would explode and cause wounds!  Not much to say about the game. Alex tabled me in 3 turns after shooting down my Storm Raven and killing all inside.

Game two found me up against a nasty Ork list.  My opponent wasted no time boxing me into a corner and tightening the noose. But one valiant sergeant with a power fist charged his large squad of bikes that was about to run down my back ranks, and challenged his warboss. The warboss failed to kill the Sgt though. He had some weapon that was rending or something, not a klaw.  He failed to rend and I got saves... made them all, then punched him in the face... killing him and winning combat, thus chasing off the rest of the squad!  (I shot them up with the storm raven.)  This turned the tide. The storm raven was in play and he had little he could do about it and my termies and dread were running amok in his ranks. His most dangerous squad to them, mega nobs with klaws, was committed in the corner of the table, which I vacated with fast vehicles.  They were much out of reach.  So my heavy hitters proceeded to slaughter two full squads of orks and two battle wagons. Meanwhile my fast rhino was zooming off to take an objective while my vets heroic assaulted his sole remaining troops squad, some grots, and wiped them out. Next thing you know the game was over and I was the victor!  Steve was a fun opponent and the game was a pleasure. This time the dice favored me and I escaped with a win!

My last game was against a nasty flying demon army. He had 5 or so, plus a walker thing and a summoning portal which he threw into the middle of the table on an objective that was worth 5 points. This was where the action would take place.  He had a lot of nasty tricks including invisibility which pretty much rendered a squad of dog things unkillable. He also had abilities that gave some of his flying demons a 2+ jink, and lots of bonuses to his invuls.  I reserved every thing, and then it all came on at once except for the vets.  The scouts committed by charging his back ranks. He had some 4 wound per base nurgle things, and a squad of cultists. The scouts ran up and popped their pistol shots then waited for oblivion since they cannot charge. Thankfully my opponent left them pretty much unmolested since he did not see them as a threat. Boy was he wrong!

The scouts would go on to wipe out the nurglings, then the cultists, as they were left unaided because the vets were again held up in deepstrike.  They would not come on until the 4th round, when they heroic assaulted a squad of demonetes, wiping them out. They would later go on to claim an objective.  So after my initial charge was mostly wiped out, my Raven dropped off the termies and dread who went to work doing their thing. The Termies tarpitted the walker and dogs, while the captain split off to assault some plague bearers with the dread. I wiped them almost all out, but by some chaos trickery, he rolled double 1s on his test and managed to get them all back on the table.  But after another round or so I finished them off.  The dread would remain to wipe out the portal that was summoning demons and the captain moved on to take out more nurglings and claim an objective. The scouts would remain the rest of the game with their cloaks giving them a 2+ cover save.  The raven would start dealing heavy damage once I figured out which demons to shoot with it... I threw what was left of my assault marines at his demons to slow them down, then moved to take the objectives. In the end, I was sitting on most of them and won the game!

Yet another great game. Ray was a polite and professional player and he taught me a lot about the new psychic game, patiently answering all of my questions and humoring my naivety. You cannot ask for a better opponent!

In all I had a good day, taking 4th or 5th and scoring 2 wins for Sanguinius. It proved that with smart tactics, the right opponents and a lot of luck, I can win some games.

 Could this mean possible glory at Battle for Salvation?

More to come!

Dawn of War?

Hey would any one happen to have MP3s of the Dreadnought and Land Raider quotes from the Dawn of War games? Or be able to rip them for me?  I would reimburse you for your time!

Jawaballs

Need a Skyshield!

Hey guys I need a Skyshield Landing Pad ASAP.  On sprue, or assembled and painted. So long as the barriers move. Any one have one for sale/trade?

Jawa

Gaming fun in CT! and new Lamenters list.

News Flash!  There is an 1850 point tournament coming up on Sunday September 28 at The Battlestandard in Manchester, CT!

This ties in with yesterday's post announcing my signing up for Battle for Salvation.  I have had zero playing time this year, literally so I can use the practice!  More on that in a bit.

If you look at the link I posted, that will bring you to their events page. Notice how it is packed!  They literally have something going on every day! From Historical Gaming to  Fantasy and 40k.  If it is not tabletop gaming, it is Magic or another cardgame.

Another monthly event they run is the Paula Netto booster draft, sponsored by her son Michael in her name.  It is set up with kids in mind to reflect her passion for making kids smile. It is completely free and open to only kids 15 and younger.  A great chance to break your own kids into a fun hobby!  What a fantastic event. You want to bet when my own son is old enough I will be bringing him to events like this.

The Paula Netto Boster Draft is October 1.  Check the events page for more details!  CLICKHERE.

So I came up with my list for Battle for Salvation.  Blood Angels of course. I will be playing my Lamenters, mostly the same list from Templecon with a few changes.

Terminator Captain
JP Librarian withSword

5 combat scouts with cloaks
5 man RAZ with heavy flamer turret
5 mas RAS with Land Raider Crusader!  (New addition)
5 man Tactical with Rhino
Furioso with HF and Blades
Storm Raven extra armor, multi, ass can, sponsons
5 man shooty termies with flamer
5 man Vanguard Vets
Priest on bike with fist

I dropped the stupid costly Death company. I will simply use my DCmodels as one of my assault squads. I am still considering how I want to paint the Land Raider.  I want to make it the DCs ride, but am not sure that I want to paint it white(my DC are white) or yellow. I kindof want to go yellow and push the boundries with weathering and such...  I suspect I will simply go yellow and let the white DC ride in side.

I really need a new codex!  My prices are whack. But I really have no true hope of winning any way. :)  I registered for the regular BFS GT. I know some time ago I was planning on a Masters Invitational, however I don't know if that is happening as we are now a month away and I have yet to get info on it.  At this point "the masters" will have needed more notice to be able to compete at such a high level!  Besides, I kinda want to take a shot at Ren Man again.  There are six games, and I think with a close to max painting and sportsman score, and 3 out of 6 wins, I can have a shot.  That just means I have to win three games, be a nice guy, and put a beautiful army on the table!

I have my work cut out for me in the next month! So look for me at The Battle Standard September 28 as I play three practice games with what I consider a mid range competitive list.  The only way I am going to learn 7th edition is to get out of my basement and get into the game!  That is what The Battle Standard is all about.

Jawaballs