Monday, September 26, 2011
Found Some Pictures
I found a few pictures taken at Armies on Parade '11. Thanks to whoever took them (John maybe?). I think the first one is just a random assortment of Space Wolf stuff on one of the sections from my 40k table. The second one is my Rune Priest that was my HQ in the Gateway GT.
Trouble with Tyranids
I played my brother's Tyranids yesterday with my pups at around 1850pts. He didn't tell me what was in his list and he made me deploy first. I nonchalantly deployed my army to capture the two objectives and he proceeded to use an all reserves list to euthanize my dogs. It was a fun afternoon beer and pretzels game but I did come away with a few insights into my new list.
1. I still don't like Drop Pods
I used one pod to deploy a 10 man Grey Hunter unit with two meltas onto his objective. This is the unit that is supposed to drop down and hurt enemy armor. They died unsupported to a Genestealer charge on turn two. (this is when the poo hit the fan) I may have to reevaluate my use of even one pod. I may try to paint another Rhino/Razorback or even drop my Terminators in favor of sticking a Grey Hunter unit in the Land Raider.
2. My Terminators are underachievers
Here is the epic ballad* of my precious 250+ point Wolf Guard Terminator unit:
We ride to battle in an impenetrable horse (Land Raider Redeemer),
Brain bugs falling from the skies (Zoanthropes in Mycetic Spore),
Boom (two pens, explosion),
Ouch (I fail 2/4 saves),
Rally brothers and charge (Trygon),
Die gloriously! (fail all invulnerable saves, don't get to swing at the 1 wound Trygon)
I'm not a poet/musician. I also suck at rolling 3++ saves.
3. Wolf Scouts rock my socks
Definitely painting the rest of this squad, possibly a second. They outperformed my Grey Hunters and I didn't even have a Wolf Guard with them (yet).
4. I'm still searching for a close combat HQ
I used a proxy for a Wolf Guard Battle Leader and he was extremely disappointing. I think it's go big or go home time.
That's all for now, I may set up my photo booth this week, we'll see. No more ballads.
-Noah
* I DON'T KNOW WHAT A BALLAD IS, NOR DO I INTEND TO GOOGLE IT TO FIND OUT.
1. I still don't like Drop Pods
I used one pod to deploy a 10 man Grey Hunter unit with two meltas onto his objective. This is the unit that is supposed to drop down and hurt enemy armor. They died unsupported to a Genestealer charge on turn two. (this is when the poo hit the fan) I may have to reevaluate my use of even one pod. I may try to paint another Rhino/Razorback or even drop my Terminators in favor of sticking a Grey Hunter unit in the Land Raider.
2. My Terminators are underachievers
Here is the epic ballad* of my precious 250+ point Wolf Guard Terminator unit:
We ride to battle in an impenetrable horse (Land Raider Redeemer),
Brain bugs falling from the skies (Zoanthropes in Mycetic Spore),
Boom (two pens, explosion),
Ouch (I fail 2/4 saves),
Rally brothers and charge (Trygon),
Die gloriously! (fail all invulnerable saves, don't get to swing at the 1 wound Trygon)
I'm not a poet/musician. I also suck at rolling 3++ saves.
3. Wolf Scouts rock my socks
Definitely painting the rest of this squad, possibly a second. They outperformed my Grey Hunters and I didn't even have a Wolf Guard with them (yet).
4. I'm still searching for a close combat HQ
I used a proxy for a Wolf Guard Battle Leader and he was extremely disappointing. I think it's go big or go home time.
That's all for now, I may set up my photo booth this week, we'll see. No more ballads.
-Noah
* I DON'T KNOW WHAT A BALLAD IS, NOR DO I INTEND TO GOOGLE IT TO FIND OUT.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Space Wolves mk.II
Here's what I'm aiming or for the Gentlemen's GT in November. Aside from having to drop 150 points off my Gateway GT list, I think it's time for a change to the overall make-up of the list. After playing approximately 10-12 games with the wolves, I have come to several conclusions:
1. Drop Dreadnoughts are underwhelming.
On paper, my two drop dreads were meant to come down first turn and multimelta a vital target (Land Raider, Leman Russ, Battlewagon, ect). In reality, they come down, miss or fail to destroy their target, then die to meltas. If I cut these out, I have 260pts back.
2. The jury is still out on Drop Pods
It could be just me, but I think that Grey Hunters in Drop Pods are vastly inferior to ones in Rhinos. It seems like every game I played with the drop wolves involves me dropping in, doing a bit of damage and then getting chewed up by my opponent while standing out in the open. Riding around in Rhinos, shooting the occasional melta out the top hatch and making your opponent pop your transport before engaging your troops just seems like the more viable option. I'll be honest, I may just be bad with pods but I thought they would be more effective.
3. Lascannon Razorbacks makes me waste Grey Hunters
The theory behind the Grey Hunters in the Razorbacks was to provide long range support while also taking objectives in my deployment zone. In reality, my model count is deceivingly large when you consider I waste 25 models (15 Long Fangs, 10 Grey Hunters in Razorbacks) just sitting back and firing a few long range weapons. I found that what would happen in games I would lose is that my 20 Grey Hunters in pods died due to lack of support but in games I would win, it was often because I was forced to use my two fives man squads in more aggressive ways. I would love to combine the squads and put them in a Rhino, but I don't know if I'll have time to paint one before the GGT.
4. I want a close combat character
I don't have a big scary character and I want one. Period. I'm used to having Daemon Princes/Lysander erase a lot of my mistakes when I play my other armies. My Rune Priest does not fill that role at all. I was thinking about running a Wolf Lord(termi armour, chainfist, storm shield) with the Wolf Guard in the Land Raider, we'll see if I can scrounge the points. (~180+ pts)
5. I want Wolf Scouts
If I'm going to cut out my lascannon Razorbacks, I'll need some more anti-armour and I think some Wolf Scouts add that as well as some much appreciated unpredictability/versatility.
I'll put some numbers on paper in the next day or so and see what I can put together. Maybe I'll even paint something, who knows?
-Noah
1. Drop Dreadnoughts are underwhelming.
On paper, my two drop dreads were meant to come down first turn and multimelta a vital target (Land Raider, Leman Russ, Battlewagon, ect). In reality, they come down, miss or fail to destroy their target, then die to meltas. If I cut these out, I have 260pts back.
2. The jury is still out on Drop Pods
It could be just me, but I think that Grey Hunters in Drop Pods are vastly inferior to ones in Rhinos. It seems like every game I played with the drop wolves involves me dropping in, doing a bit of damage and then getting chewed up by my opponent while standing out in the open. Riding around in Rhinos, shooting the occasional melta out the top hatch and making your opponent pop your transport before engaging your troops just seems like the more viable option. I'll be honest, I may just be bad with pods but I thought they would be more effective.
3. Lascannon Razorbacks makes me waste Grey Hunters
The theory behind the Grey Hunters in the Razorbacks was to provide long range support while also taking objectives in my deployment zone. In reality, my model count is deceivingly large when you consider I waste 25 models (15 Long Fangs, 10 Grey Hunters in Razorbacks) just sitting back and firing a few long range weapons. I found that what would happen in games I would lose is that my 20 Grey Hunters in pods died due to lack of support but in games I would win, it was often because I was forced to use my two fives man squads in more aggressive ways. I would love to combine the squads and put them in a Rhino, but I don't know if I'll have time to paint one before the GGT.
4. I want a close combat character
I don't have a big scary character and I want one. Period. I'm used to having Daemon Princes/Lysander erase a lot of my mistakes when I play my other armies. My Rune Priest does not fill that role at all. I was thinking about running a Wolf Lord(termi armour, chainfist, storm shield) with the Wolf Guard in the Land Raider, we'll see if I can scrounge the points. (~180+ pts)
5. I want Wolf Scouts
If I'm going to cut out my lascannon Razorbacks, I'll need some more anti-armour and I think some Wolf Scouts add that as well as some much appreciated unpredictability/versatility.
I'll put some numbers on paper in the next day or so and see what I can put together. Maybe I'll even paint something, who knows?
-Noah
Friday, September 23, 2011
Calling all podcasts
My new job allows me to have headphones on most of the day and I'm burning through 11th Company podcasts like it's nobody's business. I finally caught up to Episode 84 this week which leaves me without anything to listen to next week except Episode 85. I enjoy 40kUk as well but I can only concentrate on translating the English accents for so long each day. I'm hoping to find some more goodies this weekend.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Is this heaven? It's Iowa.
I'm back in the greatest state in the Union! I could go on and on about the great things about coming home to Iowa after three years working for Games Workshop; family, friends, Iowa State sports, stress free job...but this is a blog about wargaming, so I'll look at it from the hobby perspective.
Iowa is where hobby store's go to die. In my lifetime, I have seen a dozen or more hobby stores come and go here in Iowa. This is a harsh contrast to what I experienced out in Rockford. I had about 20 stores within a couple hours that regularly held gaming events. The problem then was that I was always at work at my shop and could rarely get away. Now I've got nights and weekends off but have limited options for finding a decent game.
There are two stores within driving distance of my current location, both called Mayhem Collectibles. The stores are pretty awesome but the Warhammer/40k scene leaves something to be desired. I've heard that the competitive players are all lusting over Warmachine/Hordes. Its bad enough that you'll even see some Retribution of Scyrah models listed over in my painting reel as I momentarily lost my senses and bought/played Warmachine. It was a dark few weeks, I assure you.
Luckily, I have since regained my sanity and begun working on my Space Wolves again. I really need to thank my brother for inspiring me with his Tyranids. He was all about getting back into 40k now that I live in the area and his excitement was contagious. I really need to get involved with the locals because my own gaming setup here is a significant step back from what I had back in Rockford. I went from having a fully stocked man cave to having to shove what doesn't fit on my desk and bookshelf into storage (gasp!).
I'll admit that my motivation is flagging. Fortunately, I have a potential tournament coming up November 4th-6th in Rockford. It's called the Gentlemen's Grand Tournament at Rock-Con. It's a two-day 1850pt tournament. I considered taking my Imperial Fists in a new Shrike-themed format, but I think that I would have to compromise too much competitively, monetarily and painting-ily. So I'm going to modify my puppies from the 2000pt army that I took to the Gateway GT last June. I'll post the list tomorrow maybe. Time for bed, got to get up early for work (another side effect of Iowa).
-Noah
Iowa is where hobby store's go to die. In my lifetime, I have seen a dozen or more hobby stores come and go here in Iowa. This is a harsh contrast to what I experienced out in Rockford. I had about 20 stores within a couple hours that regularly held gaming events. The problem then was that I was always at work at my shop and could rarely get away. Now I've got nights and weekends off but have limited options for finding a decent game.
There are two stores within driving distance of my current location, both called Mayhem Collectibles. The stores are pretty awesome but the Warhammer/40k scene leaves something to be desired. I've heard that the competitive players are all lusting over Warmachine/Hordes. Its bad enough that you'll even see some Retribution of Scyrah models listed over in my painting reel as I momentarily lost my senses and bought/played Warmachine. It was a dark few weeks, I assure you.
Luckily, I have since regained my sanity and begun working on my Space Wolves again. I really need to thank my brother for inspiring me with his Tyranids. He was all about getting back into 40k now that I live in the area and his excitement was contagious. I really need to get involved with the locals because my own gaming setup here is a significant step back from what I had back in Rockford. I went from having a fully stocked man cave to having to shove what doesn't fit on my desk and bookshelf into storage (gasp!).
I'll admit that my motivation is flagging. Fortunately, I have a potential tournament coming up November 4th-6th in Rockford. It's called the Gentlemen's Grand Tournament at Rock-Con. It's a two-day 1850pt tournament. I considered taking my Imperial Fists in a new Shrike-themed format, but I think that I would have to compromise too much competitively, monetarily and painting-ily. So I'm going to modify my puppies from the 2000pt army that I took to the Gateway GT last June. I'll post the list tomorrow maybe. Time for bed, got to get up early for work (another side effect of Iowa).
-Noah
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