And we're back

172132MAY10
Well, it's been awhile. I owe the handful of you who actually come to my blog an apology and an explanation. The past month or so has been nonsensically nasty (and my camera died) between the end-of-semester crunch Virginia Defense Force activities (I commanded a composite company out at the Apple Blossom Festival this year; 2 days of command, 2 months of lead-up work, strangely some of the most fun I've had as in the VDF yet), and completing my Basic MEMS (Military Emergency Management Specialist) training. Thanks for sticking around.
Okay, so I've got about a month of updates to go over . . .

Warhammer Fantasy
I've been playing Fantasy as my primary game for the past month or so. I consider it the better game (compared to 40k), being more complicated, more thought-provoking, and far more challenging. My Empire army has grown tremendously, and I've been focusing what little painting I've done on them. You can see the numbers at the top (which I have been updating, despite the lack of actual posts); the Army of Brewheim now has a 1,000 points legal army fully painted (it would likely get trashed, due to a noticeable lack of detachments for the Core choice done so far, but hey, it's a fully-painted army).

What everyone knows about by now is the upcoming release of Warhammer 8th edition. I haven't been a hobbyist for long (about a year now I'd say) and have only just gotten used to 7th ed. As a result I don't have much to say on it, though if you poke around the internet and/or your local GW store I'm sure you'll find/hear/see plenty of information on what people think is coming in 8th. I'll keep my peace until I have something confirmed by GW.

I have considered what I want to do for my inaugural 8th ed. army. As there are very few people in my local community who do Beastmen (that I've met at least), I had considered them and even bought the army book and wrote a list. That said, both thematically and how the army seems to play isn't really that appealing. The look of the army doesn't really strike me as that interesting (half-naked things with back-jointed legs, hooves, and cow-faces? no thanks).

I do have my old Warriors of Chaos army that has been begging for an update. The army, as it stands, is totally Tzeentch-themed, which, after careful thought, isn't really a good way to run an army. I picked Tzeentch because Tzeentch struck me as the most Chaos-y of the Chaos gods. In terms of gameplay, however, a 6+ Ward save only goes so far. I'm looking at adding some Khorne and Nurgle to round it out and strengthen the army into something more playable.

Warhammer 40,000
I haven't been neglecting my Space Wolves too much. I've almost finished the first pack of Grey Hunters, and I've been adding on to the Blood Claws to make a full pack (I have a vision of a full pack with a Wolf Guard Battle Leader charging out of a Land Raider Crusader). The Blood Claws have served as one of my Kill Teams, though due to a lack of 40k playing they haven't had a chance to do anything but die to Bill's Eldar team (I have an axe to grind with that Relentless Ranger).

My second Kill Team is not a team in the strictest sense. I have been using a Blood Angels Furioso Librarian (converted from an Ironclad Dreadnought), which I have found is something that works if played very conservatively. The Furioso's back armor is still only 10, so, as I've discovered, enough Ork Shoota shots into the back will bring it down. As will a meltagun to the face. Still, it's fun, and there's something delightful about seeing a Fleet (special rule specifically for Kill Teams, it's not a Furioso thing) with the Wings of Sanguinius power (allowing it to move as Jump Infantry) dreadnought run around and smash things to pieces with terrifying ease.

I haven't done much else with the Blood Angels, however. Nor have I done much about rebuilding my Imperial Guard, and part of that was a realization that making my list my theme was a bad idea (not to mention expensive). I sat on that for awhile, then came up with a grand idea. You see, Empire Militia and Archers fit really well with Cadian bits. The result is a unique look (and now I really wish I had a functional camera to show you my test model). With some modification to the test model's look, and at the suggestion of several fellows at the local GW store, I'm now leaning towards making a mechanised Guard list depicting the Fenrisian PDF (having been somewhat motivated by the new IG tank kits coming out). Below is a theoretical list.

1/9 Fenrisian PDF: Imperial Guard 2,000 points

HQ
Company Command Squad with a power fist, medi-pack, a meltagun, carapace armour, 2 bodyguards, and an Officer of the Fleet: 185

Troops
Veteran Squad with a power fist, and 3 meltaguns, with a Chimera with a heavy bolter and a heavy stubber: 180
Veteran Squad with a power fist, and 3 meltaguns, with a Chimera with a heavy bolter and a heavy stubber: 180
Veteran Squad with a power fist, and 3 meltaguns, with a Chimera with a heavy bolter and a heavy stubber: 180

Fast Attack
Valkyrie Assault Carrier with a lascannon and multiple rocket pods: 145
Scout Sentinel Squadron with 2 autocannon-armed Scout Sentinels and 1 lascannon-armed Scout Sentinel: 130
Scout Sentinel Squadron with 2 autocannon-armed Scout Sentinels and 1 lascannon-armed Scout Sentinel: 130

Heavy Support
Leman Russ Squadron with a Leman Russ Battle Tank with a hull-mounted lascannon and a Leman Russ Exterminator with multi-melta sponsons: 345
Leman Russ Squadron with a Leman Russ Battle Tank with a hull-mounted lascannon and a Leman Russ Punisher with heavy bolter sponsons: 365
Manticore Rocket Launcher: 160
Total: 2,000 points

This list is likely to go through a few iterations before seeing the tabletop, but as it stands it strikes me as being crazily hard-hitting and surprisingly durable (mostly thanks to the sheer amount of stuff an opponent would have to cut through).

Well, it's been a long block-o'-text (that's what happens when you don't post for a month), thanks for sticking around, and I'll have pictures of my stuff for you once I get the camera up and running again.

Keepers update

142242MAR10
Google Analytics is awesome. For example, I know that there have been people poking around this blog and reading this drivel from several states in the U.S. (primarily Virginia, of course, but I recall seeing New York and California in there), and even some European countries (the U.K., Germany, and Spain). I honestly hadn't expected anything of the sort before several months had passed. Is not that just cool?
Now, I know I've waxed lyrical about my themed Imperial Guard army, but I find I have very little interest in actually making that army right now. Oh, I intend to in the future, but I just don't feel like it at the moment. What I do feel like doing, however, is concentrating on the Keepers.
Remember that Captain from not-so-long-ago?

Unfortunately, after making this guy I finalized the theme and design of the Keepers slightly differently from how he's painted. Rather than mess with his paint scheme, however, I think I'll leave him as a sort of record of how the Keepers have evolved over the months.
I couldn't come up with a satisfactory theme for the longest time; would the Keepers be a new chapter? Old? Converted to depict a raid on an Eldar craftworld? Fighting Tyranids? Orks? Traitors? How would I base it?
None of those ideas really stood out at me. Instead I went with focusing on the chapter's lore. It took awhile, but I eventually arrived at the idea of using Japanese mythology as my basis. The squads are all named after legendary dragons (e.g. the Yamata no Orochi), and individual named models take names from similar sources (e.g. Captain Susanoo and Honoured Brother Urashima). The chapter itself is from the 21st "Cursed" Founding; their misfortune is represented by constant raids on their recruiting worlds, including the total loss of their homeworld Amaterasu (along with over 70% of their chapter, leaving them in a nearly Crimson Fists-like state). They now operate out of the deep space station/Fortress-Monastery they call the Citadel.
There's word of a painting contest at GW Sugarland starting up in the near future: build, convert, and paint a 1,000 point army of any game system. This provides a fine excuse to finally rebuild my Keepers. I'm still playing around with the list, but here's what I'm thinking of:

HQ
Space Marine Captain (Captain Susanoo) w/ a power fist, a combi-melta, and artificer armour: 150

Elites
Venerable Dreadnought (Honoured Brother Urashima) w/ a plasma cannon: 175
Terminator Assault Squad (Squad Ryuujin) w/ thunder hammers and storm shields: 200

Troops
Tactical Squad (Squad Orochi) w/ ten Marines, a flamer, a missile launcher, a combi-melta, and a Rhino: 215
Combat Squad (Squad Watatsumi) w/ five Marines and a Razorback: 130
Combat Squad (Squad Mizuchi) w/ five Marines and a Razorback: 130

Total point cost: 1,000

It needs work, of that I have no doubt; there's barely anything to take out enemy armor, for example. (Okay, there's a missile launcher and a plasma cannon, which can take down light to medium armor from range, Susanoo and Squad Ryuujin all have tank-buster melee weapons, and a couple of combi-meltas, but there's nothing beyond Strength 8 right now; something to consider for the inevitable army expansions.) Mayhaps the handful of people who read this drivel have some suggestions (I know some of you are experienced Space Marine players) or comments on the theme?

WIPs and Blood Angel thoughts

072051MAR10
I have now empirically proven that a great way to get funny looks (which I would advise against) is to interrupt the Commanding General in the middle of his address with a hearty "Oorrah!" Unless, of course, you want to irritate all of the colonels and sergeants major around you.
Reflex reactions may save your life one day, but they can also leave you feeling mighty uncomfortable on another.
Anyhow, Gamer's Lounge has put up their second podcast, go listen. Apparently Jay and Bill read this drivel because they mention my last post in it. Grand stuff, though I must point out that I'm not making a Traitor Guard list; that's Cathal at 4 Ones (http://4-ones.blogspot.com/). I hate pointing out errors in an otherwise delightful podcast, but I'd rather not be known as a Traitor player. The irony is that I have yet to play a game against either of those two. One of these days I'll have to take care of that; they'll probably wreck me, but that's immaterial to the notion of the amount of fun to be had.
As the post's title points out, I have some works-in-progress for you. The first is one of the new Space Marine Venerable Dreadnoughts. This kit is, without a doubt, one of the most awesome kits I have ever messed with (that may not be saying much, but whatever), and even if you don't play Space Marines or 40k, you may want to get one just because it is awesome. I have left the arms unglued so I can swap them out as necessary.

You ever see that great picture of a bomber (a B-52 if memory serves) with its payload laid out in front of it and a football-esque caption? That's what I think of. "The Xenos have won the toss, and have elected to receive."
Next up is my codex chapter's (the Keepers) Captain. He's not done, but should look all manner of awesome when he is. (He's also taken two days to get to this point, so it won't be anytime soon.)

His cloak is something of an exercise in blending, and his shoulder pad (and eventually the banner) is one in free-handing.

Finally, some finished works. The first are a bunch of Space Wolves; the fuzzy-ish one on the left is a Long Fang (and dear God what a pain his shoulder pad was), the ones other two are Grey Hunters. Difficult though they may be, I am rather pleased with how they turned out.

The fellow on the far right has proven himself in the Kill Teams scenario in the new Battle Missions book. Great book.
Finally, we have a Fantasy Imperial Marksman. Note the Outrider's cloak, I think it gives him a rather romantic (or, perhaps, elitist) look.

On a completely separate note, I stopped by GW Sugarland earlier today (to pick up their last Venerable Dreadnought), and found an absolutely delightful surprise: the black box containing the Blood Angels preview. Those sprues are amazing, and just based on those I feel compelled to make a Blood Angels (or, more likely a Blood Angels successor chapter) army. What cinches it, however, is what I found in the codex itself, specifically the Blood Angels army list: the Furioso Dreadnought, an Elites-choice psyker (yes, psyker); the regular Dreadnought playing Heavy Support; and, best of all, a Troops choice dreadnought whose name I can't remember at the moment. That means you can field up to twelve (!) dreadnoughts per army. Alas, there is no choice for an HQ dreadnought (like the Wolves have), but you can bet, without any shadow of doubt, I will be making a Blood Angels army consisting of a mass of dreadnoughts, properly upgraded, likely in Drop Pods (if I can convince myself to make and paint more of the blasted things), with the final points filled up with HQ choices. Will it be a successful list? Probably not, but let's face it, a mass of dreadnoughts would be ridiculously fun to play with and an awesome sight on the field.
That's all for now. Old Booj, Out.

75th Leads the Way

252005FEB10
Should I be concerned when Higher tells me they've got plans for me? Eh, whatever.
If you have not gone to Gamer's Lounge (http://gamerslounge.coda.net/), run by a couple of fellow Sugarland GW gamers, do so. I bring this up not just to publicize a great podcast, but also because of this:
Way back (actually not that far, only since last August or so) when I first got into this hobby seriously (ie I was doing more than ten Tactical Marines per year), I decided to go Imperial Guard to replace my wrecked Space Marines. Unfortunately, I had no idea what I was doing. I believe I won twice with it over several months of playing it (it wasn't just poor composition, I had no idea how to use the army and was making stupid mistakes left and right). It originally had a theme of urban warfare light infantry, but somewhere along the line, that got lost in the interest of getting more of those tanks that make the Guard so very popular (thus losing the notion of light infantry).
Listening to all that talk of theme and composition in the podcast caused me to revisit the idea of an army made for theme, would be fun to play, and would, hopefully, do tolerably well in games.
I am currently working out a 2000 point Guard list that features no tanks. Instead, there are well over 100 Guardsmen, loaded with enough heavy weapons to make up for the lack of tanks, supported by a bunch of ogryns and psykers. Rummaging in the bitz box, I found enough bits to make a spare Guardsman and painted him up as a proof-of-concept model for this new army, the 75th Strathmoran.

So I went from urban to desert. This is a crazy-easy paint scheme; I figure I can do a full squad in two days, tops (which, when you consider the number of Guardsmen involved, is a very good thing). Unfortunately, considering the amount of stuff I have to do, just in regards to the hobby (painting Space Wolves, building up and painting Empire, restarting my Codex Chapter Space Marines, and now this), it's going to be awhile before that list sees the light of day. But when it does . . . well, it's going to take forever to finish my turn in games, that's for sure. But heck if it won't be fun as hell.

More pictures

012331FEB10
You ever get a song stuck in your head that you wish you had never heard before? 'Cause I bet if I went to a Random-Song-No-One-Has-Ever-Heard-Of-Stuck-In-Your-Head competition, I'd get at least the bronze medal.
But you didn't want to read about that.
I think I've worked out fairly nasty lists for 40k at 1850 pts, both for my Wolves and my Guard (not it's not completely mechanized). I've also figured out a 2250 pt Empire list, but it's going to be a helluva long time before that's ready. On the other hand, my Warriors of Chaos only require a few things here and there to bring up to that point level, so they may be seen on the field again (now under the thrall of all four Dark Gods as opposed to just the one).
I also grabbed some Lord of the Rings Dwarves, so perhaps Gimli will be seen on the field at some point in the near future.
I also come with pictures.

These are the last two of my Wolf Guard. Note the Chaos Marauder sword the one on the right is wielding. Kinda ironic how the Chaos bits work so nicely with the Space Puppies.

My first Grey Hunter. Those shoulder pads are a bitch.

This is a better view of the shoulder pad.

Switching tracks here, this is the command group for my Empire Swordsmen. I have just over half of the block painted and hope to finish off the rest of the unit in the near future. These guys were done before I started working on a solution for the contrast in skin tones, so at least everyone else should start looking better.
All for now.