Back at it.

So, I haven't painted a fig in over a week, and not due to a lack of motivation. With the "Return to Locara" (http://gamesummit.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2770)campaign and tournament kicking off this coming Sunday, I have plenty. Thing is, I have been down and out with a severe cold, not to mention my wife having laser eye surgery and all that it entails when she is healing up. I have less than a week to complete my 1250pt list, and to do so I need to paint up 1) Slaanesh Sorcerer in power armor (I converted him up from bits I already had) 2) 1 custom built Obliterator and 3) my Vindicator tank. Doesn't seem like a ton, and I am pleased that I have painted the rest over the past month, but time is limited. I only paint once the little one is in bed, so I can only commit to a couple hours a night. I estimate I will need at least 8 hours to complete the 3 models to a tabletop standard, saving fine details for afterward. I will post a couple picks of the sorcerer and obliterator tonight, prior to priming them so I can show everyone the conversion and "green-stuff" work. It will also serve as a reminder and point of reference for the remaining obliterators I plan to make.

I am looking forward to the tournament this Sunday. I have a freshly painted army, and the venue seems to be great - lunch is even provided at Pub 101! Nice touch there, as ordered in pizza and soda is old. I will have to keep going with my slaanesh marines, because the winter Game Summit ( www.gamesummit.ca ) is coming in soon, and the army will need to be up to 1750pts for then. As for what I will add to get the army up to 1750pts - I'm planning on getting up to 3 obliterators, fleshing out the troops a little more, and adding either a landraider OR a 10 man Raptor unit. Not sure which at this point. Anyways, expect some pics updated tonight. Till then....

New Table has arrived!

So, my "Xmas" gift from my wife arrived today, and I set it up in the dining room (rather than take out both folding table and put it up in the basement where I plan to use it) to see what it looked like. I must say for $75 USD, I don't think I could make anything better. On top of that, it tears down to a 2'x2' x 6inch stack, so it's really easy to store ie. keep out of my little one's hands. Anyways here are some pics!

It is rubberized flock and sand, and it hardly shed any when taking it out of the box, he mentioned a little may come off over time, but not much - and it seems to be true so far.

List update

So 5 or 6 play tests and I have refined the list some. Looks like this now:

HQ
Chaos Sorcerer – Mark of Slaanesh, Lash of Submission – 125pts

TROOPS
Noise Marines x5 – Sonic Blasters x 4, Blastmaster x 1 – 160pts
Noise Marines x8 – Sonic Blasters x 7, Noise Champion w/ Power Weapon and Doom Siren, Mounted in Rhino – 275pts
Noise Marines x5 – Noise Champion w/ Power weapon, Doom Siren, Personal Icon, Mounted in Rhino – 185pts
Chaos Space Marines x5 – Plasma Gun – 90pts

ELITES
Chaos Terminators x5 – Icon of Slaanesh, Heavy Flamer, Chain Fist x1, Power Fist x1 -- 195pts

HEAVY SUPPORT
Vindicator w/ Demonic Possession– 145pts
Obliterator x1 – 75pts


1250pts

I have now completed the painting of both Rhinos, all the troops, and the terminators, pics will be up this weekend!

1250pt List for upcoming Return to Locara: Tournament & Campaign

So with the upcoming Return to Locara: Tournament & Campaign I am putting together a 1250pt list. Here is my list so far. Keep in mind I have play tested it 4 times, and it started out very differently. I had the Sorcerer in with the terminators (in termy armor) originally, and also had the CSM as a 10 man. Splitting them and removing the armor on the Sorcerer allows the Sorcerer to join any squad and give me another possible scoring unit. I have also been contemplating taking 2 more Obliterators in exchange for the Vindicator, but it has proven its worth in about 50% of the games (kill points wise) and has been a HUGE distraction/target in all the games. I'm really torn as to which is best. I plan to reserve the Vindicator always, because it can move on and shoot, and the Terminators will be deep striking because I have Icons on two units, so I won't have to worry about scatter.



Here is the list so far:

HQ

Chaos Sorcerer – Mark of Slaanesh, Lash of Submission – 125pts

TROOPS

Noise Marines x5 – Sonic Blasters x 4, Blastmaster x 1, Personal Icon – 165pts

Noise Marines x8 – Sonic Blasters x 7, Noise Champion w/ Power Weapon and Doom Siren, Personal Icon, Mounted in Rhino – 280pts

Chaos Space Marines x5 – Melta Gun, Icon of Slaanesh, Aspiring Champion w/ Power weapon, Mounted in Rhino – 175pts

Chaos Space Marines x5 – Plasma Gun – 90pts

ELITES

Chaos Terminators x5 – Icon of Slaanesh, Heavy Flamer, Chain Fist x1, Power Fist x1, Combi-Melta x1 - 195pts

HEAVY SUPPORT

Vindicator w/ Demonic Possession– 145pts

Obliterator x1 – 75pts

1250pts

With 5 points free, I could give the other Noise Marine squad a personal icon too - I guess I can add that now. *EDIT*

Emperor's Children under way

So, in the past little bit I have painted up a 8 man Noise Marine unit (with Rhino) and a 5 man with blastmaster to hold local objectives. Here is what they look like so far:

I have added static grass since the pic was taken.

Continuing work on the force, pressing towards 1250pts for the upcoming local Return to Locara: Tournament & Campaign.

What a concept - lower tournament points limits

Just read this comment on BoLS site (see link on right) about the creep of game size and its impact on tournaments and list creativity. I find it really interesting that in the UK all GTs are 1500pts -to encourage creative thinking and compromise, as opposed to the Us where 200pts it common and people just max certain selection. I may as well just post the whole comment here - this is a quote:

Conrad_Dakarn 21 hours ago

"I've noted one thing when speaking to people in America about their games and tournaments and that's to do with the points costs. Almost every game you have is 2000pt or over. Even the tournaments seem to be centred around over 2000pts.

The 40k rulebook recommends that you play 1500-2000pts on a 6 by 4 board.

The MAJOR GW throne of skulls tournament is set at 1500pt, thus showing that GW believe 1500 is the ideal size for a tournament setting on a 6 by 4 board.

Most US games take place using over 2000pt in their tournaments.

Why am I bringing up points cost as an argument about balanced lists....simple really. You get more stuff for more points. In a 2000+ army you can afford to take pretty much anything you want because you've got the point spare to cram in those 3 land raiders or what-ever else and still take a decent set of troops and the like. In 1500 you're much more limited to your options and can't simply slap a list together using the hardest of everything because you'll find you quickly run out of points. An example would be 7 terminators with lightning claws, 1 chaplain and a land raid crusader....coming in at over 500 points. This takes up the main portion of your army for very little in terms of models. The other 1000 would have to contain the troops and any further support. If you're spamming your list as a combat heavy list (using the terminator example) you'd probably take 2 of the above and then take minimum troops and suddenly you're out of points for anything else. That's 2 armour 14 vehicles and a subsequent 16 wounds worth of models for over 1000 points.

A balanced list in 1500pt will contain enough of everything to deal with an orientated list any day of the week. The above example would, for example, find itself in trouble at the sight of a single Vindicator for only 115pt and perhaps 2-3 attack bikes with multi-meltas at 100-150pt. For a quarter of the value you've got two units that can take out the land raider and then the terminators inside with relative ease and do the same again the next turn....all the while, the terminators are trying to get to you to engage in combat. For 265pt, the 1000 odd has been delt with. You can then think on the other side of the box with the other 1235pt of your army for what else you might want to take....the theory works sound in any situation and you can create a list that can deal with any threat as well as maintaining a good balance all round.

A combat heavy army is always going to have the problem that they have to get to the opponent and when they do get their, they have to ensure they can't be shot after they've destroyed the unit they've charged.

A gun line army has to be able to deal with a combat army that can jump on them by turn 2....or even worse....try and compete with another gun line army of equal magnitude.

By creating these sorts of lists for limited points, you've put inherent weakness in your army. Sure, in over 2000pt it's a lot easier to get rid of these weaknesses but that's kind of my point.....1500pt is more challenging for list building in my opinion.

However....I'm over the pond in the UK and we do play a very different style of game to yourselves. Not just in the points but our tactics and game play seem to vary from certain things that you do. So, my opinion may not be valid in terms of a US situation....but, I do plan on coming over eventually for a week's holiday and taking part in one of your larger tournaments, just to get a feel for it....so, who knows? I may learn a few things or hand out some lessons.

A current favoured marine list is quite balanced for all round but with a few small space weaknesses which are covered with the method of the build and my gaming style. My list is also built around 6 games with the different set ups as detailed in the 40k book and a 1500pt limit (UK GT). I've won every game so far with this list...and not just against standard players or other standard lists. I've played a 6 AV14 guard tank army, a space wolf army, a 10 terminator and chaplain marine army and a seer council build Eldar list. Each game with different mission types and deployment. The list is, for me, a balanced list."

Wow- this guy nails it. I think I will push for 1500pt games more often.

Chaos has taken hold....

So, the dark powers have taken my soul, and I have started into the army of the Emperor's Children with a fever. Here is a WIP (work in progress) Rhino that I just built.

More to come!