The Heavy Flamers! (and Ferrus Manus too...)

Still plugging away - all the Necrons and Nids for this weekend's Wargames con are base painted, so it's on to airbrushing and detailing.  Given that time is quickly running away with me, I'm going for a solid 'army appearance' in general with more attention paid to the characters.  More on that tomorrow.

Until then, here's a cool pic of Ferrus Manus - proxied as a Grey Knight at Adepticon, 'cause why not, said the new owner - and some super-awesome pics of the Heavy Flamers!  Woot!

What Happens at Adepticon...

...should stay at Adepticon!

This is one of my favorite clips from Adepticon.  I'm working on the editing before uploading it to the public at large, but you'll appreciate it nonetheless.

Rated PG-13

Following that tidbit - and Mike was a good sport to go along with that gag (heh!), here's a brief video from the Church of Kelly.  It's banned in 50 countries and 32 systems, from what I understand...

Adepticon Game 4 w James Wappel

Many more after the jump!

Adepticon 2012 Day 2 (and 3!), 92 Photos...

Here's Day 2 and 3 - I combined them - from Adepticon.  Included are most of the pictures from the Heavy Flamers Team Tournament games...

...with the exception of those on my phone, but what evs...

...as well as the Gladiator pics.  Which are just cool!

299 Pictures of Adepticon 2012, Day 1

These pictures include snaps from the four games from the 40K Championship.  I'll probably do some quick battle reports at some point, but suffice it to say I went 2-2, earned 50th place, and actually increased my standing over last year!

How?  I knew I couldn't play in the Championship Rounds on Sunday - regardless of whether I made it or not - so my goal was to increase my Sportsmanship and Painting scores.  Which I did!

My army suffered from lack of squad markings... which technically I could have earned points on, had I thought to point out how each unit was differentiated from one another, but that though didn't occur until later... and lack of display board.

There's only so much you can do with a carry-on bag!

Anyway, there's a ton of army pictures in here, most of which are after Game 1 (against Black Templar).

Airbrushing, 1st Attempt

I couldn't resist breaking out my new, top-of-the-line-how-did-I-get-you-so-cheap airbrush and trying it out.  This is really my first attempt at applying paint to a model, since I've always been a bit afraid, but the latest acquisition demands to be used.

(No excuses, man up.)

Regarding Adepticon... great, awesome, fun, lucrative... and there's a lot to say.  This Empty Digital Headache is entirely too beat to go into it just now.  Suffice it to say I went 2-2 in the Championship, earning 50th place and achieving my goal of improving my Sportsmanship and Painting scores, and the Heavy Flamers earned 6th place in our first time out at the Team Tournament on Saturday.

Moving on, as with most of my experiments, I break out one of the Card Pimp's models...

Footdar? For Adepticon..?

Yup!  One way or another, I'm taking Footdar to Adepticon.  Either I'll play in the Championship or I won't, but certainly there will be opportunities to get some video battle reports in.  Regarding the former, my goal is to improve my sportsmanship and painting over last year.  Regarding the latter?  Just have fun and take some good video!

Still and all, it'll take some doing to get the army updated for the task.  Here's where I'm at currently...

Contemplating the Wargames Con Team Tourney

Next week already?

*sigh*

I feel almost criminally guilty.  My primary tournament this year the team tournament, and Goatboy is responsible for all the work!  It makes sense, to keep the look of the armies consistent, but there you go.  All in all though, it's probably a good thing.  All my painting time has been toward the Grey Knight commission...

...which I mentioned in my weekly Terrible Tuesday offering on Bell of Lost Souls.  If you haven't read it yet, here's the link.

* * * 

Speaking of Adepticon, I have two options:  1) try to play in Saturday's 40K Championships or 2) play pickup games against other players for video battle reports for Bell.  The first is only really a problem because, assuming I made it to the finals again this year, I wouldn't be able to finish the games on Sunday.  That's when my plane leaves.  The latter is a fun option, assuming I can get some decent games in.

What's your take?

* * * 

Most of my prep is aimed firmly at Wargames Con.  I'm teaming with the Card Pimp in Question and playing practice games against the Mighty Mighty Carlos and Gauthic, who are also making the trip down this year.  We've gone back and forth with lists and ideas, and it really isn't evident which direction any of us are going to take.

Adepticon 2011, Game 1

Although I like Gauthic's most recent take (he'd previously been using Chaos Space Marines), in support of the Imperial Guard!  He sent the following list via email.

(Bet he wasn't expecting Brent to drop it in the Strictly Average wading pool.)

Eldrad 210
x3 Guardians on Jetbike w Shuriken Cannon 76
x3 Guardians on Jetbike w Shuriken Cannon 76
x3 Guardians on Jetbike w Shuriken Cannon 76
x3 War Walker with double Scatter Laser 180
x3 War Walker with double Scatter Laser 180
Fire Prism 125

Again, you have to look at this in regards to its role with the Imperial Guard.  By memory, the Mighty Mighty Carlos has:

Command w Plasma in a Chimera
Veterans w Plasma in a Chimera
Veterans w Plasma in a Chimera
Veterans w Melta in a Chimera
Unit (?) with Shotguns in a Chimera
Vendetta
Vendetta

The unit of shotguns is transported in one of the Vendettas for capturing forward objectives.  Carlos' first army used two Colossi instead of the Vendettas... frankly, I think one of each is more flexible.

Adepticon 2011, Game 2

So Gauthic's army plugs some obvious holes.  Eldrad is boss, and either you know what he's capable of or you don't, and the War Walkers are very useful - like a street sweeper!  You might as well stand on the table with a broom, especially with Guide and Doom.  And of course Eldrad can support both, while providing psychic defense.  Tricksy, he.

The Guardians are purely a reserve for late game capture / contest of objectives - vital, in tournaments, which tend to feature these in every mission.  Personally, I'd reserve them every game then race them around for a 3+ save until they're needed.  To that end, I'd ditch the Cannon and spend the points elsewhere.

Speaking of, "One of these things does not belong here, one of these things is different!"

Can you see it, children?  I knew you could!  What's with the Fire Prism?

Looking at both lists as a whole, it seems out of place.  The one obvious area of improvement is to add a squad (of ablative wounds) for Eldrad.  Here are some options...

5 Pathfinders, 120
14 Storm Guardians w Flamers, 124
7 Dire Avengers w Exarch w Shimmershield and Defend, 126

You could drop the Cannons from the three squads of Jetbikes for an additional two Dire Avengers.  Speaking of, I prefer the Power Weapon and Shimmershield w Defend over the double Shuriken Catapults w Blade Storm option in this case, given the role of the unit is primarily defensive.

* * * 

The big, obvious weakness of these two armies is close assault, to which I say, "Okay."  I don't come from the camp that believes one team has to concentrate on shooting and the other close assault.  Personally, I tend to include a counter-attack unit - something with which to take on units in my line - but it's not the only way to go...

Adepticon 2011, Game 3

...since sometimes the best way to deal with an over-expensive rock unit is to isolate its combat potential.  Usually, this means feeding / avoiding / blocking it.  That's an article in itself, but most of you are familiar with the concept.

Still, another good route for the Fire Prism's points is to plug this gap.  We look to the Elite's section:

7 Harlequins, 126
7 Banshees / Scorpions, 112

The latter doesn't fit quite as neatly, so you'd need to drop some Cannons and / or play with the options.    There are a number of things you could do.

* * * 

So, examining these options, which is 'best?'  I can't answer that, since the conversation would no doubt spiral into an argument over what best means.  Leaving all that aside, here's what I'd do.

5 Harlequins w two Kisses plus a Death Jester for 126.

That's 1000 points exactly, and you have a unit that can truly support Eldrad and provide decent counter-attack options.  And shoot a Shuriken Cannon, just 'cause!

Adepticon 2011, Game 4; with this win, I went 4-0 and into the finals!

Thoughts?  Comments?  And so on?

Gentleman's Ones and Strictly Average: Which B..?

You know how it's the simplest questions that are the hardest to answer?  Just such a question has become  a topic of conversation with Brian, the Gentlemen in Question behind the Read Up To Keep Up Blog, A Gentlemen's Ones.

You're probably familiar!

Since this series promises to lead right up to and through Adepticon, let's set up a standard opening with hyperlinks.  That's a very bloggie, forumy thing to do, right?

*and key music*  

Mike's Tyranids (and some nifty ideas!)

I played Mike in Round III of the Adepticon Championships, and I think I may have mentioned already just how much I enjoyed this game.  It was the best of the weekend, easily - but that's saying something! I had a bunch of great opponents to choose from.

Anyway, here's a quick snapshot of Mike's Tyranid army.

Venomthropes... I think these are underrated.  Certainly they were central to Mike's army, providing a 5+ cover say to an army that doesn't normally get one.  I'm seriously considering these for my Bugs! army, since I'm not sure there is another way to make my units of Carnibugs works.

Adepticon Championships, Game 4

So, here we are, Game 4 - my worry at this point was making sure I didn't choke.  Seriously.  Because otherwise it would have been a long ride home!

My opponent in this game had a beautiful Kharn-lead Berzerkers army.  It was the most optimized version of this army, in my opinion, and given my the dude was an experienced tournament player I figured he knew how to use it!

Still, I'll admit I was satisfied with the draw, because this is the type of army mine is designed to play, a straight-forward Meq powerhouse.

We're playing for Objectives, Kill Points, and... something else.  He deploys in a tight formation, protecting his Defilers from shooting.

Adepticon Championships, Game 3 (Tyranids!)

Let's get back to the blind luck of a 256-person national tournament.  Here's Game 3 of the Adepticon Championships.

Let's interrupt the blind luck of a 256-person national tournament.  I just wanted to point out some interesting conversations happening in the Blogosphere right now.  The Back 40K has an interesting piece on Orks which interestingly I both agree and disagree with, but it's informative and the tone is open to a dialogue.  I always dig that!  Next is Whiskey and 40K, where Mike draws a comparison between two army lists; I like this one because I've been pushing my Competitive is Consistent mantra lately and Mike's theme touches on mine some.  Carry on!

On the Way to a FNIF, I Wrote This. News and Daemons at 11.

Caption Contest or What?

This may be the strangest article to come out of my (divided) digital mind to date.  I was trying to write a Friday Night Internet Fight, since Dethtron has a paper that's due, but I just ended up writing a long opinion piece.  I'm back to the drawing board, but you get to suffer through the scraps.

There's a lot being said online about Daemons right now.  Some of it I can understand, even if I don't necessarily agree.  Some of it's just ignorant; here's my favorite!

I'm pretty sure I'm drawing the intended conclusion.  Namely, that the Daemon Codex (or Necrons, or Orks, or...) is so poor that any success with it automatically renders that success suspect.  That the gap between Daemons and the competitive Codexes is so great that only poor event format, poorly skilled opponents, or blind luck can account for any success, even in the hands of a skilled player.

Lordy, but that's genius ego on a whole new level!  I literally laughed 'till I cried.  Still, as much as I thought some of the comments were ignorant (and written by Yes-Men), the same can be true on any major blog or forum... except my articles, of course!  Here's the original article on Yes the Truth Hurts, which is worth a quick once over:

Adepticon Championships, Game 2 (Mech Guard!)

This was a tough match up - a very tough match up.  While this isn't the Guard army I would build, it's still a great build... but worse, from my point of view, it seemed custom made to beat me.

He had three units of two Hydras with Heavy Bolters and Heavy Stubbers: Str6 Twin-Linked, Str5, Str4... and separated across each third of the board.  Most of the game they pivoted and fired, pivoted and fired.  And that's just a portion of the army - you can see the rest in the picture.

Daemons Adepticon, Addendum

This article is an addendum to my Bell of Lost Souls Tuesday post.  If it seems incomplete, it kinda is!  Go check it out and leave a comment or three. :)

A Philosophy

In order to write this article, I had to accept I'd have to share some of my army design strategies and philosophies.  I don't have an issue sharing, because anything worthwhile isn't lost through spreading it around... so why haven't I done it before?

I have, here and there, but anyone who's read my articles over the last few years knows I don't generally write 'competitive' articles talking about what's 'best.'  I don't have a problem with writing contentious material, my issue is there are numerous routes to enjoyment of this hobby.  For some, that means playing a well-painted, fluffy army in a friendly atmosphere; for others, it's more about squeezing a list until it's trimmed of everything nice then throwing it into the deep end of tournament play.

I'm definitely with Conan on this one: there's a dude who knew what was best in life!

So I like competitive play; even so, I roll my eyes when someone says, "This army is the best," and, "that army is unplayable."  While there's no arguing some armies are better than others, usually that's because they have the most options.

Any army is capable of winning if you're willing to put in the effort.  The best players on the tournament scene do one thing, over and over again...

Practice.  So when people say they were surprised I took Daemons to the 6th seed in the Top 16, I realize those are the folks who don't realize I've done nothing but play Daemons for the last few years, perfecting my game.

That kind of effort always rewards.  Adepticon wasn't the only top result I've pulled in with my Daemons list, just the biggest!

Adepticon Championships, Game 1

I have a lot to say about the games I played at the Adepticon, both from a generalist and army specific standpoint... I just don't have time to say it all right now!  To that end, I'm going to quickly cover Game 1 and we'll use it as a starting point to the the rest of the conversation.

My opponent was a true gentleman, a very nice dude and sportsman.  This is always good, since I'm usually a wreck for the first round of any event.  (It's a combination of nerves and a bad leg.)

Bugs! Harpy Conversions

So there's no Harpy model but I want to use 'em - what's a Strictly Average hobbyist to do?

So I want to justify the insane resources I spent on 2nd and 3rd Edition metal Nids models - what's a Strictly Average hobbyist to do?

So I wanted to get metal shavings all over the living room floor so my long-suffering wife can step on them - what's a Strictly Average hobbyist to do?

So I want you to hurry this thing along - what's a Green With Envy Digital Ego to do?

Adepticon Interview: The Independent Characters

Well, really only one of the above.  My interview is with Karl (it is with a 'k' right?) prior to the Championship Rounds of the 40K tournament.

Basically, this shows off the rig these dudes used to capture the finals in all its ugly glory!



(NOTE:  This is something of a preview, as this will ultimately end up on Bell.)

Adepticon: So When Do I Recover, Exactly? (and Pics!)

It's Friday and I've been home for days now.  I managed to make it to work on the Tuesday following our epic drive home - despite only adding a few hours sleep to the not-so-glorious total for the weekend.

I had to save the world, after all!  (Although, strangely, everything was okay when I got back...)

I'm still exhausted.  I've had the extra sleep, but I still wake up just as tired as when I laid my head down.  Seriously, a weekend format like that takes it out of you.  I was tired on Saturday - by Sunday I was exhausted!

Those of you in the states may know we had a wind storm blow through the midwest.  Yea, me and JWolf piloted a 15-passenger van through that.  I have callouses.

Adepticon Armies