Project Update: Freebooterz and No Motivation....

Well, I tried to get the first Boyz squad completely finished this past weekend. And it just didn't happen. There's just been a lot going on here at home, and I haven't been in the mood. I have to be in the mood to paint, otherwise I just can't get into it. If I can't get into it, then I feel myself just going through the paces and the quality drops. With this army, I want each figure from Big Mek Badruk to the smallest squig to look the best I can make them. Unfortunately this weekend it didn't happen. The sad thing is all I had to finish on them is the squad markings to make them Snakebites and they're done.

The best stripper miniature's and resin , EVER!

On the upside, I did manage to get my old Ultrawing army out of its Simple Green bath and scrubbed clean. I had to clean these guys twice due to the clear varnish I used to protect them. Apparently the Simple Green only worked its way through the varnish and then I had to scrub them all and let them soak again to let it work through the paint! Once I got everything nice and clean, I rinsed them all of with warm water and let them sit in front of one of my air conditioner vents to dry for a day. I've got a new Belial conversion finished on Sunday from the figures I stripped, so at least the weekend wasn't a complete loss. Maybe this week I can get some stuff done and posted. Sorry for the delay.

Project Confusion: Howling Griffons, Dark Angels, and Space Wolves?

Yesterday evening I finally got around to breaking down my Ultrawing army and getting them into their Simple Green bath. All of the arms have been separated from the bodies and the figures where removed from their bases. I separated the arms so I can start using magnets, something I should have done years ago.

Takin' a bath!

Originally I was going to turn this army into Howling Griffons. The majority of them however, are being split up into two armies, my Space Wolves and Dark Angels. That's right, Dark Angels. I have enough pieces and parts sitting around to make a decent themed Dark Angels army list. Most of these pieces are coming from the scouts and tactical marines I built a few months back from the AoBR box set. I need to swap out the sergeants sniper rifles for bolt pistols to make them a legal unit, but other than that all of these guys are ready to be primed and painted. I also have the Limited Dark Angel Chapter Master that I can use as well. It's probably my favorite Dark Angel model that GW has done. Not to mention that I have the Forgeworld Dark Angel dreadnought as well. All I need to buy for now is a razorback and some Army Painter spray paints.

Dark Angels, the forgotten Space Marine Army

Don't worry, I haven't been neglecting my Freebooterz. The Nobz are 98% done,I just have to finish the weapon details and take a few photos. I should have a post up by tomorrow evening at the latest!

1800pt Tourney Results

Well I didn't place in the top three, but I didn't come in last either! I came in next to last!! Actually the last time I played in a tournament I scored negative battle points with my Ultrawing. That's right, negative. I could have done better by staying at home!! This time around I scored 18 battle points (first was around 50?).

First round I got face of against a great guy at the shop who was running an Iron Hands army fulll of the beautiful Heresy era Forgeworld models. You check out a few of them here at his blog. The mission was to get as many units in table quarters other than your own. Having only eight units in my entire army, this mission was not in my favor! Regardless, the game was great and very well fought. In the end though, he did a much better job of grabbing those table quarters than I did. I should have been a little more aggressive towards the end with my terminators and ran them into the other table quarters. By the time every thing was totaled up, it was a massacre. Oh well, it was a great game either way. I really need to get in more games with this guy!

Round two I had to face off against a marine gun-line backed up by a crusader with null zone librarian and 7 TH / SS terminators. Mission was five objectives, but the deployment zone was half of the table long ways. Another twist to this mission was that troops units that were completely killed could come back on from there table edge. In the end, I got three of the five objectives and managed to score a minor win. Should have been another massacre, but the guy didn't use his heavy hitters at all!

In the final round I got to face off against my usual weekly opponent ans his Space Wolf army. I know his army well, and even helped him finalize his list. This mission was kill points, but with modified points values depending on the units. The first 5 turns saw very little in the way of movement until his 3 thunderwolves with storm shields and a power fist hit my lines. These three guys destroyed a Land Raider, a terminator squad, and finally a venerable dreadnought! When you combine the loss of those three units with my inability to not take out any of his units except a rhino, there was no way I could this one. In the end it was another massacre!

Out of all three games the longest game I had was little over an hour and it went the full 7 turns! The turn out was a little smaller than I expected with only ten people showing up. Hopefully the rest of the touranments this year will be as fun as this one. And, at least I didn't score negative points this time!

In the end though it would be a Dark Eldar vs. Dark Eldar match to decide who took first place. After all the dice were rolled, it was the veteran Dark Eldar taking the win with his 3rd edition figures. Hopefully he'll use some of that store credit to get some new figures, and not more Flames of War stuff!

Tournament Tomorrow!

Tomorrow at my local game store they are having their first 40K tournament of the year. The point size is 1800, which may seem a little weird for folks not from this area. For the last few years, the middle TN area has been home to a fantastic tournament called "The Battle for Stones River". The tournament is named after the civil war battle that took place in the area in 1863. That also happens to be the points limit for the tournament that is held just a few miles from the actual civil war battlefield.

I have helped out the tournament organizer several times in the past years getting things ready for the tournament, and this year is no exception. The two of us along with a few others have been busy getting terrain and tables together for this huge 50 person event. So far with registration only being open since January 1st, we already have 33 of those spots filled! If you're reading this and want to come out and have a great time at a great event, contact Grand Adventures and reserve your spot for February 26th.

Which brings me back to tomorrows tournament. The 1800 points limit is a primer for the Battle for Stones River. I've decided to bring my Ultrawing and play them for possibly the last time in a tournament. I say possibly because they will also be used as the Battle for Stones River "by" army in case we have an odd number of people show up or someone has to leave. After that, these guys will be getting the simple green bath and returning as a new and improved army (cough,...Howling Griffons,...cough, cough). Well enough rambling, here is my list for tomorrow. You'll notice that it has barely anything in it that got updated in the new FAQ's except the Apothecary and Cyclone Missiles which have been there since I started the army. I would like to add one thunder hammer and storm shield model to each unit, but that can wait until the repaint.

1800 Pts - Dark Angels Roster - '''1800pt Deathwing'''



HQ: Belial, Master of the Deathwing (1#, 130 pts)

:'''1 Belial, Master of the Deathwing''', 130 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Lightning Claws (pair); Fearless; Independent Character; Rites of Battle)



Elite: Venerable Dreadnought (1#, 180 pts)

:'''1 Venerable Dreadnought''', 180 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Upgrade to Venerable; Dreadnought CCW; Storm Bolter; Twin Linked Lascannon; Venerable)



Troops: Upgraded Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 270 pts)

:'''4 Upgraded Deathwing Terminator Squad''', 270 pts (Deathwing Company Banner; Narthecium/Reductor; Terminator Armor; Power Fist x2; Storm Bolter x2; Lightning Claws (pair) x2; Apothecary; Standard Bearer)

::'''1 Sergeant''' (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Sword x1; Storm Bolter x1; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)



Troops: Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 235 pts)

:'''4 Deathwing Terminator Squad''', 235 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Fist x3; Storm Bolter x3; Lightning Claws (pair) x1; Cyclone Missile Launcher; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)

::'''1 Sergeant''' (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Sword x1; Storm Bolter x1; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)



Troops: Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 235 pts)

:'''4 Deathwing Terminator Squad''', 235 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Fist x3; Storm Bolter x3; Lightning Claws (pair) x1; Cyclone Missile Launcher; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)

::'''1 Sergeant''' (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armor; Power Sword x1; Storm Bolter x1; Deathwing Assault; Fearless)



Heavy Support: Land Raider Crusader (1#, 250 pts)

:'''1 Land Raider Crusader''', 250 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 16 models; Access Points: 3; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)



Heavy Support: Land Raider (1#, 250 pts)

:'''1 Land Raider''', 250 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; 2x Twin Linked Lascannons; Twin Linked Heavy Bolter; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)



Heavy Support: Land Raider (1#, 250 pts)

:'''1 Land Raider''', 250 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; 2x Twin Linked Lascannons; Twin Linked Heavy Bolter; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)



Validation Report:

c-1. File Version: 1.12.0.0 For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; b-1. Roster Options: Special Characters; a-1. Scenario: Normal Mission; 1. Chapter: Dark Angels

Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules



Composition Report:

HQ: 1 (1 - 2)

Elite: 1 (0 - 3)

Troops: 3 (2 - 6)

Fast: 0 (0 - 3)

Heavy: 3 (0 - 3)



Total Roster Cost: 1800



Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com

Still thinking!

Yesterday I posted saying that I was thinking about repainting my Ultrawing to something other than Ultramarines. I've also thought about painting them as Brazen Claws, which would be easier as I would only have to repaint half of my models in red. Of course I would also have to redo all of my decals as well.

I've also been looking at the paint scheme for the Howling Griffons. This quartered scheme has always been a favorite of mine, but like the Angels of Redemption color scheme it will require the whole army to be stripped down.

The main reason I want to do this is that I always get these crazy ideas for a new marine army in various codex's. Like a sanguinary guard Blood Angel army or an all dreadnought Iron Hands army. I guess I could always just paint up a squad in their own chapters colors and make a giant crusade type army. Each squad and transport would be from a different chapter but centered around a common theme. This way I could still have my Ultrawing and my Space Wolves, but I could still add in a unit of Blood Angels, Black Templars, or even the infamous Rainbow Warriors!

Thinking of a change.....

After the upcoming tourney in January, I am seriously considering repainting my Ultrawing. I never have liked the solid bone color of tradional Deathwing or their pre-heresy solid black. So, after seeing a few examples of this scheme in other places I'm thinking of painting them as Angels of Redemption. For those of you unfamiliar with this scheme, here is an example using the space marine painter on Bolter & Chainsword.

I've got a Assault on Black Reach tactical squad built that I may try the scheme on first to see if I really want to strip the entire army. Of course, there is always the option to sell them and start from scratch....

Resolutions?

With the new year, a lot of folks set up resolutions for themselves. My wife made a few small ones and asked me if I had any. My quick reply, "Nope!". I never have really made any sort of new years resolutions. But this year I think I will set up a few goals for my self.

First is to get my wife and I ready to go do a week long backpacking trip in Yosemite National Park next year. My wife has always enjoyed hiking at the local parks and she has decided to take this up as a full blown hobby. If you thought Warhammer was expensive take a look again! Training for the trip should be fun as it lets the two of us do something together. Over the last year and a half we have lost somewhere between 80 and 90 pounds together. Personally I have lost 50 pounds and I still have about 10 more to go. Getting out and hiking will mean less time for my little plastic men now, but it's 100% worth it.

My second goal is more related to this blog. I've decided this year to attend every 40K tournament at the shop I play at with a fully painted and based army. My local gaming store is having its first 40K tournament of the year on January 22. It's a 1800pt, 3 round tourney. I don't think I'll win but that's not my goal. What I want to do is get out and get in more games with folks I don't usually play against and have fun. I'll probably run my Ultrawing since it is all painted. Or I could run my Space Wolves but that would mean a lot of painting in a short period of time.....

From Black Reach to Venerable

Last time I showed you a quick teaser photo of my converted Assault on Black Reach dreanought. By using a few parts from my bits bin, I took this guy from plain to venerable. Never throw away your old bits! Clip them from their sprues and organize them in containers to use later. I personally use a set of bins designed to hold screws and bolts that I got from Lowe's or Home Depot for around $15.

Ultrawing Scout Squad and Venerable Dread

This morning I managed to finish building my 2 Sniper Scout squads. Now that I have these guys I can start to use my Ultrawing with Codex: Space marines as well as Codex: dark Angels.

Both squads are fairly straight forward, with very little in the way of conversions. The most obvious are the two powerfists on the squad sargents. Why the powerfists? Because it looks cool and to keep them from getting dragged down by a monstrous creature. One of the power fists came from the old Space Marine upgrade sprue and the other from the Dark Angels upgrade sprue. I also used a few Space Wolf heads as well as a hooded head from the same Dark Angels sprue.

Ultra-Wing

Here's some photos of my mostly finished Ultrawing. The army represents the Ultramarines 1st Company and uses the Deathwing rules found in Codex: Dark Angels. As of now, it is my most completed army. Up next for these guys is finishing the Librarian, finish another Miniature Scenery Troop Lander, and adding 2 squads of Sniper Scouts, a Master of the Forge on Jetbike, and the contents of the Assualt on Black Reach box set. Those last few items will allow me to use the majority of the army with Codex: Space Marines. My camera batteries died just as I started to take photos, so until I get new ones here are a few photos taken with my Droid.